that's why it's called that
The One With… Thunderbird 2 getting shot down.International Rescue helps put out a vast oilfield fire. On the way out, Ned Cook, NTBS News, tries to record Thunderbird 1 - and gets the film being used, wiped by the magnetic beam. While crossing the Pacific, worse is to come; the new USS Sentinel, a warship capable of over 200 knots, mistakenly fires upon Thunderbird 2, crippling its engines and forcing a dangerous crash landing on Tracy Island.
In New York, the final stage of the plan to move the Empire State Building commences. However, previously unsuspected subsidence causes the vast tower to collapse, trapping Ned Cook and his cameraman in an underground chamber which is slowly filling with water. Without Thunderbird 2, International Rescue can't use their heavy equipment - how will they rescue the trapped men?
- Almost Out of Oxygen: Thunderbird 4 does not reach Ned Cook and Joe the cameraman until their air tanks are completely empty and they are starting to lose consciousness.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Of course the historically-significant Empire State Building should be conserved in the face of new construction projects. But rather than spending what must be billions of dollars to lift it up, move it to another plot of land, and put it back down again, could you not just build your new building on the plot of land to which you're moving the Empire State?
- Appetite Equals Health: As Virgil begins to recover from the injuries he sustained in Thunderbird 2's crash, Kyrano notes that it is good to see him eating again.
- Badass in Distress: Virgil is shot down on his return to base due to a misunderstanding by the US Navy and barely survives the resulting crash landing. Most fans will be just as upset to see Thunderbird 2, the most popular craft in International Rescue's fleet, shot down in flames.
- Batman Cold Open: The episode begins with International Rescue neck deep in putting out a fire at an oil field. This serves two purposes: introducing Ned Cook as a ruthless and fearless reporter, and giving Thunderbird 2 a reason to be flying so it can be attacked.
- Big Applesauce: It's right there in the title, yet it's rather a Downplayed Trope. If it weren't for the fact that the building destroyed is the Empire State Building, the rescue could be taking place in any old city with generic office buildings. No shots of the Statue of Liberty, the UN Building, Central Park, etc.
- Big Disaster Plot: Even by the standards of this disaster-heavy series, this episode takes the cake. Viewers are still reeling from Thunderbird 2 having been shot down in flames, when the iconic Empire State Building collapses into rubble. Having the destruction of both the most popular of the Thunderbirds vehicles and of such a familiar, real-life skyscraper in the same episode really packs a punch.
- Bullying a Dragon: Ned Cook has the audacity to film the Thunderbirds taking off after a rescue and refuses to destroy the footage, despite their having been known to shoot people off the road who try to steal their secrets. However, he becomes a Bully Turned Buddy by the end of the episode when he invites them to his show and thanks them wholeheartedly for saving his and his cameraman's lives.
- Chekhov's Gun: The first half of the episode is filled with them:
- Ned Cook and cameraman Joe try to film Thunderbird 1 leaving the danger zone at the start of the episode. It is they who need rescuing in the second half, having been caught in the collapse of the Empire State Building, the result of their earlier-demonstrated willingness to take big risks to get the big stories.
- The USS Sentinel that shoots down Thunderbird 2 in the opening plays a key part later by transporting Thunderbird 4 to New York City. Virgil even comments on its extraordinary speed for an ocean-going vessel.
- As Scott and Virgil are returning to base after the opening rescue, Jeff is dictating a letter to Tin-Tin about an upcoming plan to relocate the Empire State Building. After the lengthy and striking sequence of Thunderbird 2 being shot down, we see that scheme being carried out, and the second half of the episode deals with its consequences.
- Coming in Hot: By the time Thunderbird 2 makes it home to Tracy Island, its damage is so severe and Virgil is in such poor health that it is all he can do to get the aircraft down on the runway. The force of the landing causes the wheels to collapse, and Thunderbird 2 skids to a stop, only saved from being completely consumed with fire by the foam dispensers that line the runway's edge.Virgil: I can't hold her! I... I'm gonna crash!
- Conveniently Empty Building: The Fulmer Finance Building which falls over in the episode's climax due to the spreading geological instability triggered by the Empire State's collapse. An Invoked Trope as the police officers on the scene mention that the area has been evacuated due to the risk of that exact event.
- Cool Boat: The USS Sentinel is the US Navy's pride and joy, capable of incredible speeds for an ocean-going vessel and armed with missiles sophisticated enough to overcome even a Thunderbird's jamming technology.
- Deadline News: Ned Cook and his cameraman are seen falling into the underground chamber while they are giving live coverage of the movement, and subsequent destruction, of the Empire State Building. They were warned by the police to evacuate, but responded too late.
- The Determinator: Ned Cook, without a doubt. He will do anything to get that big story, whether it means going up against International Rescue or standing beneath a skyscraper that's about to collapse.
- This quality actually saves his life and that of cameraman Joe. Even when their air tanks are empty, he pushes himself and encourages Joe to keep swimming through the effects of hypoxia to reach Thunderbird 4 before another tower collapses, the shockwave of which would pulverise their bones and liquefy their organs.
- Going for the Big Scoop: Ned Cook.
- Impairment Shot: After Virgil has crash landed Thunderbird 2 on Tracy Island, he finds himself in the sick room, seeing the blurred shapes of Scott and Jeff looking down on him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ned Cook comes across as somewhat antagonistic with his attempts to photograph Thunderbird 1 for a news story. He learns to appreciate International Rescue at the end.Ned Cook: Nobody knows who they are or where they come from, but come they do, and help they bring.
- Militaries Are Useless: Played straight when the USS Sentinel shoots down Thunderbird 2. They don't even try to make contact before opening fire — a major procedural breach. The crew attempt to set it right by transporting Gordon later, but it takes a lot longer than it would otherwise. Gordon understandably gets quite impatient about the whole thing.
- Monumental Damage: The Empire State Building is destroyed when it topples over. It's rebuilt by the time of "The Duchess Assignment" and reappears again in "Thunderbird 6".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The crew of the USS Sentinel, who shoot down Thunderbird 2. However, they were just doing their duty and cease the attack the instant they find out who they're firing on. Furthermore, they help International Rescue later in the episode by transporting Thunderbird 4 to New York.
- Poor Communication Kills: International Rescue's own secrecy comes back to bite them here, as it causes the crew of the USS Sentinel to open fire on Thunderbird 2. Washington orders then to end the attack immediately after finding out who they're firing at.
- Take a Third Option: Brains determines they might be able to bring Thunderbird 4 to Cook and his cameraman via an underground stream, but with Thunderbird 2 out of action, Thunderbird 4 cannot be airlifted into position, and Thunderbird 4 itself is too slow to get there in time if it went all the way by sea. The answer is to get the USS Sentinel to bring Thunderbird 4 to New York, which also serves as the US Navy apologising for their shootdown of Thunderbird 2.
- Technology Porn: Thunderbird 2's crash while on fire is arguably Technology Gorn.
- The Tag: After Ned Cook has been rescued, he appears at his own show in a wheelchair, thanking International Rescue from the bottom of his heart; unaware that they are all in the audience.Ned Cook: Nobody knows who they are or where they come from, but come they do, and help they bring.
- A Way Out of a Cave-In: Trapped beneath the ruins of the Empire State Building, Ned and Joe have to find out where the water is getting in as a way for them to get out.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: This episode actually provides an explanation for how International Rescue is able to get new components to maintain or repair the Thunderbird vehicles without attracting attention; components are bought from a variety of different manufacturers — presumably through various shell companies — and no one part is significant enough to clue someone in as to who and what it is going towards.
- Zeerust: Tintin uses a manual typewriter, when Jeff dictates a letter, which will presumably be sent in the mail.
