Starring:
Colonel White, Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue, Captain Ochre, Captain Grey, Lieutenant Green & Destiny, Harmony, Melody & Rhapsody Angels.
With appearances from:
Two Mysteron replicants break into the particle collider at the Laroux Research Facility in Louisiana. Everything appears to be going to plan until Captain Scarlet appears. He stops one replicant easily, but the other one evades him. Scarlet shoots, and a stray bullet ruptures a tank of yellow gas. Scarlet runs through the gas after the Mysteron, and tracks him into the sewers.
Dispatching the second replicant, Scarlet reports that all is well before climbing back up into the facility, where the Mysterons have worked on the yellow gas and Scarlet comes face to face with himself! The fake Scarlet shoots the real one and dumps him in a nearby swamp for the alligators to take care of.
The fake Scarlet then heads back to Skybase, where he comes into contact with a technician, Wheatley. Out of sight in the lift, he briefly assumes Wheatley’s form. He then comes into contact with Destiny, who invites him to the Observation Deck. He excuses himself on the grounds of tiredness, and touches Destiny. She comments on how cold his hand is, which he puts down to being tired.
Meanwhile, the real Scarlet has been rescued from the swamp by Eli and Zachary, a pair of red-neck brothers interested in stealing his belongings for their own gains. When they go to bury him the next morning, Scarlet revives in the shallow grave and the pair run screaming, believing him to be a zombie.
The fake Scarlet walks into the gym, intent on assassinating Colonel White. Blue tackles him to the ground, but in the scuffle a bullet pierces the outside window. ‘Scarlet’ is sucked out before the emergency door can drop, and White and Blue mourn a friend, assuming he has been taken by the Mysterons again.
On the ground, the real Scarlet tracks down and accesses a Rhino. The activation triggers an alert on Skybase, and White dispatches the Angels in order to finish Scarlet once and for all. Scarlet contacts them on the radio and tries to explain what has happened, but neither White nor Blue believe him. The Angels fail to destroy the Rhino, and White sends the captains to find out what has happened. All they find, however, is the Rhino, sunk in a reservoir. Scarlet is nowhere to be seen. Blue starts to doubt himself, recalling how cold Scarlet had been during the altercation in the gym.
Back on Skybase, Harmony and Rhapsody discuss that they are glad Scarlet escaped. Destiny tells them not to be and locks herself in her quarters. This gives the shape shifter (who simply vanished into the structure of Skybase, rather than falling from the gym) an opportunity to use her shape. It visits Green, knocks her out and uses her shape to get onto the Control Deck.
Scarlet visits Laroux again, and the chief scientist, Reinhard, explains that the yellow gas is a form of synthesised matter; it is atoms waiting to become something. In theory, it could be used to copy anything, but the technology won’t exist for generations. Blue walks in, stating the Mysterons already have the technology to synthesise matter and tells Scarlet to come with him. Together they contact Skybase, but the fake Green cuts all communications. White comments on the communication ‘failure’. Fake Green assures him she is fixing it. White touches her shoulder before leaving her to it.
The shape shifter assumes White’s shape, heads to Engineering and sends Skybase plummeting towards Houston, Texas. White contacts Engineering, only to see his own face!
Scarlet and Blue arrive back and explain everything to White in person. He immediately orders the evacuation of Skybase and explains to the pair that the shape shifter has barred all entry into Engineering. Scarlet, however, takes an EV suit and breaks in from the outside. After a struggle, during which the shape shifter assumes his form, Scarlet throws the fake into the matter stream powering Skybase. He is then able to restart the engines and save both Skybase and Houston.
Quotable Scarlet
CW: How did you destroy it, Scarlet?
CS: You can’t destroy matter, Colonel, but you can change it into energy. You could say I’ve left it charging our batteries.
Did you spot...?
- The reflection of the ceiling in the gym windows. Awesome attention to detail.
Episode Rating: 
Cast your vote on the Datalink forum
Reviewer's Rating: 4/5
I really quite like this. Shape shifters are familiar to most sci-fi fans (see Maya), as is the concept of replicating matter. Marrying the two is excellent, and just a bit creepy. There's no terrible dialogue, and little touches like the interaction between Harmony, Rhapsody and Destiny are very good and encourage kids to question what they see.
I actually can't tell you why this doesn't quite get a '5'. It's so almost there I now feel bad for only giving it a '4'.
Written by Phil Ford
Directed by David Lane
Animated by Scarlet team
Transmission date: 12 November 2005
Appears on DVD 4
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