The Heart of New York (Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons)

Plot

Bank robbers Kruger, Doig and Carl break into the Spectrum Security Vaults but find only classified information. Kruger becomes fascinated by documents about Earth's war with the Mysterons and devises a plan to exploit it. The Mysterons inform Spectrum they intend to destroy the "heart of New York". The city is evacuated and roadblocked, while Captains Scarlet and Blue search for explosives.

Kruger, Doig and Carl stop at a fire tower, feign drunkenness, then destroy their car over a cliff to fake their deaths. They tell the lookout they are Mysteron reconstructions planning to destroy the Second National Bank of New York. Colonel White orders Spectrum to retreat from the bank. They aim to steal the East Coast gold reserve but are followed by Captain Black, who traps them in a vault.

Scarlet deduces they faked their deaths and are robbing the bank. He and Blue speed to the bank but turn around upon seeing Black driving the men's car. The Mysterons teleport Black to safety, and the bank explodes, killing the thieves. White concludes the men exemplified the greed the Mysterons denounced, but insists humanity's good will prevail.

Production

The Mysteron's vanishing power appears for the first time in this episode, also featured in "Model Spy", "Expo 2068" and "Inferno". The scale model of the Second National Bank exterior was designed by special effects assistant Mike Trim. Captain Black is played by a modified version of the Black puppet from the first episode's opening scenes, before the character is taken over by the Mysterons, making him look subtly different here than in other episodes.

The Carl puppet previously appeared as Lieutenant Belmont in "White As Snow". The fire lookout also played Major Brooks in "Point 783" and Air Commodore Goddard in "The Trap". The Spectrum Vaults security guard puppet, after re-wigging, appeared in Joe 90 as Shane Weston. Continuity errors include trees and bushes visible in puppet shots of New York streets but absent in model shots, and Kruger's jacket changing colour between scale puppet shots and close-ups with his human body double.

Broadcast and reception

When BBC Two began repeats of Captain Scarlet in September 2001, "The Heart of New York" was originally scheduled as the 11th episode but was postponed along with "Winged Assassin" and "Big Ben Strikes Again" due to perceived similarities to the September 11 attacks. It was eventually broadcast several weeks later. James Stansfield of Den of Geek considers it the second-best episode, calling it "memorable and unique" because the Mysterons are not really the villains, and praising the deserted New York scenes.

Writer Fred McNamara calls it "something of a triumph" for its focus on characters and commentary on humanity's darker side, noting its minimalism and "off-kilter feel" from emphasizing the bank robbers. He sees it as a "character study on the consequences of greed" with a "grey depiction of morality" unusual for a children's series, later describing it as an "oddly low-key" moralistic fable.