Just one of many thoughts from this episode.
"But it's just a plane."
"It's also a symbol of your father's determination." Grandma came a sat beside him. "Ever since he was a boy, your father dreamed he'd be the fastest pilot who ever flew."
"So he and Brains built the TV-21."
"It was beautiful. A dream come true."
"Until The Hood crashed it." Now the elder put her arm around his shoulders.
"But it didn't crash his dream. Your dad didn't care about being fastest anymore. He only cared about being first. First on the scene when people need help. First to act when someone's in trouble. And instead of one ship to do it all, he built five. The TV-21 was the beginning of International Rescue."
Their family was bigger but when it came to the origins there was a simple truth.
It was always five. It always would be five. They were five brothers in arms, a family of five sons, a family of five rescuers with five handcrafted ships in which to fulfil that destiny.
He had been wrong to think of the TV-21 as just a plane. It would be out of the question to ever think of Thunderbird Three as "just a spaceship" so he supposed there really was no difference with their father's craft. For that was what the TV-21 truly was. It was Jeff Tracy's Thunderbird just as One was Scott's, Two Virgil's, Three his, Four Gordon's and Five John's.
Five was a lucky number, a favourite number probably for them all. It had a different meaning today.
For Grandma was right. The TV-21 was the beginning of International Rescue. It sparked a belief, a dream that something could be done to make a difference, to help people, to save lives, to rescue those in need and it led to this legacy. It wasn't just the Thunderbirds that represented everything Jeff Tracy was and always would be.
The Hood crashed nothing then and he wasn't going to now either. He may have crashed the TV-21, he may have crashed dad, he may have crashed Thunderbird Four, have nearly crashed Thunderbird One, but he hadn't crashed them. And they weren't going to drown if he caused them to fall into the ocean: they were going to swim, to keep their heads above the water even if they ended up swallowing gulps of it. Together they were stronger – the five of them could do it together. They could beat back the tide.
International Rescue was a dream come true.
Family was also a dream come true.
Whether Jeff Tracy had always intended to have five sons or to build five wonderful crafts that was what he got, that was the product of his lifetime. His family of five.
Five sons with Five Thunderbirds. Living on for their father, for his legacy, to help those in need.
One ship (even with five pilots) would never had been enough. No, International Rescue, an operation of this magnitude took them all, it took all five of them working together in their best place to make the team. Without Scott responding as quickly and calmly as he did to gather the facts; John to actually give them the details to guide them through the dark; Virgil to bring their equipment and the high strength; Gordon to brave the depths and risk hell or high water to uncover the ocean floor; and Alan to fly the hours away, to reach further than many would ever dare in the highest reaches…
There was no better team. There could be no other team. There had to be Five ships, Five brothers; a team of five, a family of five, that was the only way.
No, the TV-21 wasn't just a plane just as the Thunderbirds weren't just ships. They all had meaning. TV-21 was the patriarch of five, just as Jeff Tracy was – the father of five.
He stood, hoping it was with at least half of the same determination as his father had and all of the heart.
"We have to get that plane back."
