Plot: International Rescue are fully operational, saving the world on a regular basis with their advanced machinery. But in this second half of the series, not everyone is as keen to have them in business. With the Hood organising chaos from behind the scenes, the Tracy boys must deal with both natural disasters and human-made ones as they are forced to prove themselves more than once.
But with the GDF and Lady Penelope on their side, there is not a lot that can stand in their way. The only thing that can stop them comes from within their own family.
Quote: `But keeping our family safe is equally important.`
Opinion: If you read my review for the first part of the series (found here), you’ll know I had some issues. Mainly the amount of screen time each of the brothers had. I was eager to see if the writers had managed to rectify this in the second half of the series.
To my delight, it seemed they had. Rather than John and Alan being responsible for every rescue, there was a more equal divide over who was doing what. The audience got a much better understanding of all of the brothers and the banter between them was perfectly written. There were so many good lines throughout this second half that it was hard to pick what to use as a quote.
The one thing that really caught my attention was the amount of “fan” things the writers seemed to address. This could be coincidence, but it didn’t feel like it. For instance, there was a whole scene where nicknames were talked about. The same nicknames, I might add, that nearly every fanfiction writer has given the brothers. It felt like a direct message and nod to the fans. Maybe it’s my imagination. Maybe not. But I liked it.
The final few episodes felt extremely weak. There are still no answers as to what has happened to Jeff Tracy despite him suddenly coming up in conversation a lot in the final episode – basically being used as a hook to the next series rather than being beneficial to the plot.
The main weakness – for me – was Kayo. Putting her in the centre role ruined a lot of episodes. She comes across as a petulant child – disobeying every order that her commander – aka Scott – gives her and trying to change the very nature of International Rescue. She doesn’t seem to develop or adapt. As the only “new” character compared to the originals, this is highly frustrating.
The finale was a disappointment. It could have been such a good episode and it just teetered on the edge before falling the wrong side of epic-ness. Again, this is because it focused so much on Kayo with no true result rather than embracing the whole family.
Overall, I felt this second half was a longer stronger than the first, but there is still room to make it even better. Looking forward to series 2!
A Rambling Reviewer 