Line #9 Recap/ThunderbirdsS1E10TheUninvited


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thunderbirds_the_uninvited.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:They're just bearded people]]
3	JustForFun/TheOneWith a race of bearded poeple called the Zombites.
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5	Returning home from an aborted mission, Thunderbird 1 is gunned down by a trio of mysterious fighters manned by a group of people called the Zombites. Scott Tracy, badly wounded in the attack, is saved by a pair of passing explorers named Wilson and Lindsay. The explorers radio for help and Thunderbird 2 arrives shortly thereafter. Discussing the situation, International Rescue discover the two explorers are seeking the Lost Pyramid of Khamandides, a fabled structure filled with unimaginable wealth. Wishing them luck, the Thunderbirds return home.
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7	However, luck is not with the explorers; their trailer, containing food, water, gas and their radio, falls down a dune and explodes. Without supplies and with their radio badly damaged, the two desperately attempt to reach safety. They find... the Lost Pyramid of Khamandides, filled with gold and a still working fountain. Unfortunately, it turns out to be the hideout of the Zombites.
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11	* AdvancedAncientHumans: The Zombites, apparently.
12	* AdventureArchaeologist: Wilson and Lindsay, the two explorers.
13	* AllMythsAreTrue: The lost pyramid does indeed exist, is filled with treasure, and just happens to be within walking distance of where its seekers crashed their truck!
14	* AncientTomb: The Lost Pyramid of Khamandides. At least on the surface, it's a standard Pharaoh's pyramid. How much of it is the original tomb and how much has been added by the basement-dwelling Zombites is unclear.
15	* AnnoyingPatient: Trying to take advantage of AppetiteEqualsHealth, Scott pleads the injuries he sustained in Thunderbird 1's crash as an excuse to get extra helpings of apple pie. Grandma doesn't buy it.
16	* AwesomeButImpractical: A secret base, complete with jet fighter facility, built into a lost pyramid is undoubtedly awesome, and comes with privacy guaranteed. Setting up and running the place must have been a logistical nightmare.
17	* BadassInDistress: Scott is shot down in the middle of the desert on his way back to base. With his radio destroyed in the impact, International Rescue only know where to find him because a team of explorers happen to pass by his crash site.
18	* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Lindsey manages this incredible feat not once, but ''twice'' in the same gunfight against Scott, first shooting his communicator and then his gun, leaving Scott helpless.
19	* BuildLikeAnEgyptian: Khamandides couldn't just have a lost tomb, could he? No no, he has a full-blown pyramid.
20	* CataclysmClimax: Having just discovered the lost pyramid, Scott and the archaeologists must escape its depths as it explodes around them.
21	* ClosedCircle: From the moment the pyramid door closes behind Scott, it is just him, Lindsey and Wilson trying to survive the Zombites (and, initially, each other) whilst trying desperately to find a way to escape.
22	** In a variation of this trope, at first Scott still has communication with International Rescue and summons ''Thunderbird 2'', so it looks like they will just have to sit quietly long enough to be broken out, risking a DefiedTrope. However, before long he loses his communicator, they are forced deeper into the pyramid by the Zombites, and they finally escape using only their ingenuity (or dumb luck), so the trope stands.
23	* ComingInHot: ''Thunderbird 1'' is shot down in the desert, and falls from the sky so quickly that Jeff barely has time to advise Scott to keep the aircraft's nose up before it hits the sand. Incredibly, ''Thunderbird 1'' remains completely intact throughout its crash landing, and only requires light repairs before it can be flown back to base.
24	* ConLang: The Zombites speak in their own non-English language.
25	* ContrivedCoincidence: Scott just happens to crash land right in the path of a pair of explorers in the middle of Earth's largest desert. Furthermore, those same explorers just happen to find the lost pyramid they had been seeking for years the very hour their car exploded taking all their supplies with it. I sure hope one of them bought a lottery ticket before they set out.
26	* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: Lindsey has an unarmed Scott held at gunpoint, when the Zombites unexpectedly shoot his gun out of his hand having entered through their secret door behind Lindsey.
27	* CoolClearWater: Lindsey and Wilson don't think twice before drinking from the mysterious fountain in the pyramid. Justified in that they'd been in the merciless Saharan heat all day, and had no means of purifying or testing for contaminants anyway.
28	* CoolPlane: The Zombites' fighters, which have an interesting, unique design and can keep pace with ''Thunderbird freaking 1''.
29	* ADayInTheLimelight: The most heavily Scott-centered episode.
30	* DeadlyGas: What the Zombites use to fuel their fighters. It becomes their downfall when Scott accidentally releases it and it starts exploding.
31	* DoomedPredecessor: After the archaeologists enter the pyramid, the door closes, leaving them trapped inside. They have a moment of OhCrap when they notice a skeleton just inside the door.
32	--> '''Lindsey:''' You don't think...
33	--> '''Wilson:''' Yep, this guy tried to get the door open too. He never made it.
34	* DrivesLikeCrazy: Wilson, despite Lindsay's warnings to respect the sand. His reckless driving results in the accident in which they lose their trailer.
35	* EvilCounterpart: The Zombites to International Rescue. Both are secret organisations with technology that far surpasses the rest of the world. However, while International Rescue use their knowledge to save lives that would otherwise be doomed, the Zombites are only seen to use theirs to attack and destroy (although we never learn what their plans or motives are).
36	* ForgotAboutHisPowers: We know from [[AllThereintheManual promotional material]] that Thunderbird one is capable of reaching speeds up to 15,000 miles per hour (Mach 22.6). In other words, much faster than any fighter jet. And since Thunderbird 1 has its wings extended when flying over the Sahara, it is obviously not going anywhere near top speed. If Scott had just retracted Thunderbird 1's wings and put the pedal to the metal at the first sign of danger, he would have easily escaped from his attackers. Instead, he keeps flying at his current speed and only tries some evasive manoeuvres.
37	* FuturisticPyramid: ZigzaggedTrope; the pyramid itself is thousands of years old, but the Zombites have heavily modified it when they made it their headquarters, such as installing missile launchers in the sides. Underground it houses a complex for servicing jet fighters so advanced they managed to sneak up on and shoot down ''Thunderbird 1''.
38	* GhostButler: The pyramid has a door which suddenly opens to let the visitors in, and then closes behind them, trapping them inside.
39	* GoldFever: When Scott arrives in the pyramid, Lindsay, instead of accepting rescue, engages Scott in a gunfight, as he thinks Scott wants to steal the treasure he and Wilson just found. It could be partly because of the water he drank from the fountain earlier (although Wilson also drank it, and he keeps his cool).
40	* {{Idiot Ball}} / {{Jerkass Ball}}:
41	** Lindsay when under the influence of the gold fever.
42	** Lindsay's mate Wilson gets in on the action when their trailer crashes due to his reckless driving.
43	** Arguably, Tintin, Virgil and Scott; who just after rescuing Scott, camp in the desert in ordinary tents. Would this not be rather dangerous, with the possibility of the fighters close by, and Jeff having warned Tintin against going in the first place, and is now sleeping alone, with only a tent to protect her?
44	* ImprobableAimingSkills: While delusional due to dehydration and heatstroke, Lindsey manages to [[ShootingItOutOfTheirHands disarm Scott of both his communicator and his gun]]. He then proceeds to consistently shoot the same spot on the leg of the stone statue Scott is hiding behind until it is severed completely and the statue topples to the ground.
45	* NuclearCandle: In "The Uninvited", the interior of the pyramid is brightly lit, with no lamps visible. At first, this is unexplained, until the party enters the villains' lair, where a complicated fuel system is visible.
46	* TenderTears: Tin-Tin is crying when she tells Virgil that Thunderbird 1's radio is dead.
47	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Scott and Wilson for Act One and Two respectively.
48	** As noted above, Scott didn't use Thunderbird 1's full speed when the Zombites attacked. If he had just gunned the engines, he may have been able to outrun the enemy fighters and would thus never have been shot down or needed to be rescued.
49	** Wilson does exactly the opposite the following day. Having grown fed up with the expedition, he puts his pedal to the metal so that he and Lindsay can get out of the desert as quickly as possible. Lindsay repeatedly pleads with his friend to slow down, but his warnings are ignored. Unfortunately, as any off-road driver will tell you, sand is not the easiest terrain to drive over even at the best of times. To make matters worse, the pair are driving over rough sand dunes. This eventually takes its toll and after one sharp turn too many, the jeep's trailer, which is carrying the archaeologist's equipment, water and fuel breaks free and explodes. This leaves the two men trapped with a jeep that will soon run out of fuel, no food, no water and damaged radio. If not for Wilson's quick thinking in sending a message to International Rescue, the two men would have eventually succumbed to dehydration and heatstroke.

Context Recap / ThunderbirdsS1E10TheUninvited