New Captain Scarlet's Greatest Episodes: Dominion

In celebration of New Captain Scarlet's 20th anniversary and its definitive Blu-ray release, we're examining some of our all-time favourite episodes of Gerry Anderson's last television series. In Dominion, Captain Black emerges from a desperate battle claiming to have been freed of the Mysterons. However, only Captain Scarlet believes his former friend, prompting the pair to rally against their Spectrum colleagues and journey to Mars for the final showdown against the Mysterons!

For all of the perceived superiority of one War of Nerves over the other, only one incarnation of Captain Scarlet offers some finality to the interplanetary conflict between Spectrum and the Mysterons. Dominion brings the events of New Captain Scarlet to a darkly thrilling conclusion by dangling the prospect of an end to the war before Spectrum when a captured Captain Black subsequently claims to have been freed of the Mysterons. The episode opens in brutalist manner with a visually explosive demonstration of New Captain Scarlet's action-orientated credentials.

The opening Druzynik blitzkrieg between Black and Scarlet reads like bringing one of the series' most beloved guest vehicles back into action for a final hurrah, certainly when much of the episode following on from these scenes is a relatively tensely coiled affair. After this dependably thrillingly opener, the episode's momentum becomes confidently carried by character interactions that range from tragically heartfelt to dangerously paranoid. 

Dominion boasts a modest cast, working for and against itself. Colonel White, Captain Blue and Destiny Angel are the only other characters with the most significant roles to play, with much of the drama is elicited by the combined tension between Scarlet and Black. They're the ones who started this war and they're the ones to finish it; the first and last characters seen in the series. Conrad and Destiny are permitted a brief yet tragic reunion that only serves to confirm their severed romance. Conrad's determination in avoiding Destiny owing to his uncertainty if the Mysterons really have let him go speaks to the episode's efforts to ensure that the audience believes this really is Conrad Lefkon. Then again, the unknowable tension remains part of the appeal.

Dominion compellingly builds on the relationship between Scarlet and Black by allowing Conrad to, seemingly, take the initiative in convincing Paul to engage with the former Mysteron operative at his own psychologically damaged level. Quite the reversal of roles from Best of Enemies. Scarlet rallying against his trusted colleagues and superiors in favour of believing his former friend leaps out of the events of that earlier episode, emphasising how the War of Nerves has perhaps been Scarlet and Black's story all along.  

Once the pair journey to Mars, the Mysteron city is every bit as creepily unhuman as Enigma. The inside of the Mysteron city witnessed by Scarlet and Black has more than a design similarity to the one seen in the opening scenes of The Mysterons from the classic series. Nigel Plaskitt's vulnerable performance brilliantly sells the idea of the man breaking out of the alien doppelganger, ensuring that the audience is kept guessing about Conrad's actions as much as the rest of Spectrum is. Wayne Forester's swansong performance as Paul Metcalfe (at least until the newly produced House of Dolls audio adaptation) is as calmly measured as always.

Ultimately, Conrad's tragic state of unbeing is maintained by him not permitted to enjoy a return to the world of the living. In a cruel twist of finality, the Mysterons allowing him to believe he had in fact broken free of their grip calls into question the moral juxtaposition of the war of nerves. Spectrum never attacked the Mysterons out of aggression, but acts like these demonstrate how volatile the Mysterons are depicted in New Captain Scarlet compared to their more neutral introduction in classic series. Here, the Mysterons have forever maintained their disdain of humanity. Does this puncture the moral greyness between human and alien that makes the very nature of Captain Scarlet's premise, both in Supermarionation and CGI, all the more compelling? 

What distinguishes the two series then is how the city's subsequent destruction at the hands of Captain Scarlet feels more justifiable than the classic series' depiction of Spectrum wishing to find neutral ground with the Mysterons. A final, destructive confirmation that the enemy cannot be reasoned with or made into allies. In a final quirk of transmission error, Dominion's intention as the final episode was neutered when it became the penultimate episode broadcast instead inexplicably swapped with Grey Skulls. 

Much as Dominion feels purpose-built to conclude the War of Nerves, the episode was still envisioned to allow the series to continue. In Phil Ford's script, the episode was to conclude with the frightening vision of the Mysteron city emerging unscathed as Scarlet leaves Mars. This was changed to the more ambiguous ending of one lone figure witnessing Scarlet's departure, believing his mission to have been successfully completed. 

Dominion would prove to be the final television production of Gerry Anderson's career. Despite always working towards future ingenious and captivating concepts, worlds and characters, this final episode of New Captain Scarlet unintentionally brought the curtain down on Gerry's sprawling, imaginative career. That significance heaped upon the episode gives extra emotional weight to an already expertly crafted example of dramatic science-fiction adventure. The story of New Captain Scarlet would continue across comics and audio, but for the time being, the War of Nerves had drawn to an explosively riveting close...

Discover this underrated reinvention of the War of Nerves now with the New Captain Scarlet Collectors Edition Blu-ray! Dive deeper into New Captain Scarlet with our previous retrospectives of the series' most essential episodes: Enigma, Best of Enemies, Touch of the Reaper and The Achilles Messenger!

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