Gatchaman Episode 51 – Cataroller: the Revolving Beast

Gatchaman Episode 51 – Cataroller: the Revolving Beast



We begin with the Daily Fish Parade (tm). But this is not accompanied by the usual peaceful music. Instead, a blast of trumpets announces that the Science Ninja Team has been urgently called into action. And as we look inside the Crescent Base, we see that it is so urgent that…





Yep, they’re all just waiting around.

Dr. Nambu casually walks into the room, a slightly effeminate swish to his hips. He checks his watch.



“Fast!” he says approvingly. “Just what I’d expect from you guys. It only took you eighteen minutes to get here!”

“It’s Galactor, isn’t it?” Ken stands up. “Give us our orders! We’re ready!”

“Yeah, come on!” Jinpei complained. “I had to stop in the middle of a comic book for this!”



“Very well, Science Ninja Team.” Nambu says, ignoring Jinpei’s comment. “I order you to go to the Republic of Hontwal.”

“And our objective, Hakase?” Ken asks.

“For a vacation.” Nambu smirks.

Okay, who thinks this sounds hokey? There’s no way Nambu would just send them off ‘for a vacation’ on their own, when the threat of Galactor hasn’t yet been eliminated.

The Team seems surprised, so I guess they agree with me.



“I think everyone deserves a vacation, so go have a good time.” Nambu said warmly. “And that’s an order!”

Now I’m convinced that there’s something wrong.

“Yeah!” Jinpei cries joyfully. “I’ve been waiting to take a trip! Thanks Hakase!”



“I could use a nice long soak in a hot spring,” Ryu says dreamily, “to cure my athlete’s foot.”



Gee, I wonder if Ryu got that athlete’s foot in the shower at the fleabag motel the Team stayed in last episode?

“Remember not to let anyone know that you’re part of the Science Ninja Team.” Nambu reminds them. Clearly he suspects that upon hearing the word ‘vacation’, all common sense has left their heads.

And the Team accepts this new assignment with a hearty ‘Roger!’



And now we get the peaceful, lazy music that signifies that everything is perfect and wonderful, as the narrator shows us the capital of Hontwal. We are told that it is one of the most beautiful and peaceful countries in the world. We see a picturesque town on a lake, with a large castle/fortress-style building sitting on a small peninsula, jutting out into the clear blue water.

We find out that the Science Ninja Team flew there in the God Phoenix. So much for keeping their identities a secret!

But now we see Jun and Jinpei in civvies. They are waving and laughing from the back of a boat.



And whom are they waving at? Why, Joe and Ryu, of course!



The Condor and the Owl are on some kind of water paddle bikes, splashing through the water. I always thought it was kind of strange that they weren’t in their bathing suits to ride these things, especially since they are ‘on vacation’ and don’t have to be ‘ready for duty’ at all times.

“Come on, Ken! This is a blast! Come on!” Ryu calls out, but the Eagle does not respond.



“Ryu, just leave him alone.” Joe tells the Owl. “Come on!”

Ryu shrugs and follows after Joe, nearly sinking into the water in the process.



Meanwhile, Ken lounges on the beach at some kind of outdoor café, a drink by his side.



“This lake… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.” Ken thinks to himself. “It’s beautiful! I wish the rest of the world could be as peaceful as here.”



“But as long as Galactor’s around, there’ll be no such thing as true peace, I’m afraid.” Ken thinks sadly. He kicks a rock, temporarily marring the perfect mirror image of the water at the lake’s edge.

Okay, I know this is for atmospheric value and all, but how can the water at the edge of the lake be so still when boats and guys in paddle bicycles are going by? Just wondering, is all…

“I wonder why the Doctor decided to send us on vacation, out of the blue like this.” Ken thinks. “Something’s up.”

At least we know that Ken’s brain hasn’t taken a vacation.

The Eagle looks over suspiciously as a man approaches him.



“Beautiful! This is truly a beautiful country.” the man says. Ken looks over to see… a rich, Columbian drug lord! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s Ricardo Montalban!



Seriously… I always start thinking about ‘rich, Columbian coffee beans’ whenever I see this.

“However, its beauty and peace is all just a façade.” the man says calmly. Ken isn’t too impressed.



“Good day.” the man says, turning around and raising his hat to Ken. “Looks like you’re enjoying yourself.” Clearly this man is forgetting his ‘grim foreshadowing’ comment of a few seconds before.



“Are those your friends?” the man asks.

“That’s right. We came here for a little R&R.” Ken replies.

“Well enjoy yourselves. You’ll see all kinds of characters in this place.” the man says. “Some are good, and some are… bad…” His voice lowers ominously at this last word.



“What are you trying to tell me, Mister?” Ken asks, annoyed.



“You’ll figure that out soon enough, Kid.” the man laughs condescendingly, pulling on a pair of dark gloves that don’t go with his white suit at all.

“Take a look!” the man says, pointing.

We see a thug knocking over a pot of sand… maybe a potted plant? And another knocks over a table at the café. Next thing you know, Ken and the man are surrounded!



“I hope you’re ready for us!” one of the thugs says. “Go on!” And his men don’t need much encouragement. They’re launching themselves at the man in white. Yet the man in white seems to hold his own, defeating his assailants with a number of fast martial arts chops. One thug grabs the man in white around the neck, and gets thrown over toward Ken for his trouble.

Ken is surprised to see thugs flying his way!



He barely makes it out of there as they crash into the table.



Annoyed that they spilled his drink. Ken leaps into action!





A thug swings at Ken, and he jumps backward, ending up back to back with the man in white.



“Hurry up, man! Get out of here!” Ken shouts.

“Thanks, Kid!” the man cries, as he runs away. Ken leaps into the air, confounding the thugs.



Ken bashes the thugs a little more.



Meanwhile, the man in white gets away on a red speedboat, that happens to be conveniently parked nearby.



Ken is ready to take on more thugs!



“You’ve got some nerve, pal!” one of the thugs accuses Ken.

“All of you ganging up on one guy isn’t playing fair, man!” Ken retorts. “Who are you guys?”

“We are Hontwal Secret Police.” the thug says, pulling open his jacket to reveal a badge. Ken is aghast!

__________________

“But… but you’re…” Ken stutters.



“Gatchaman, it looks like you’ve gotten a little carried away.” the man laughs.

“Can it, Galactor fiend!” Ken shouts. “I’ll take you down!” He raises his boomerang in a threatening manner.



“Really? You’re going to try to defeat me?” the man in white snickers.
Ken leaps up into the air, throwing his boomerang at the man.



The man ducks the weapon, although it does manage to slice off his hat.



The boomerang bounced off the red jet, and the man catches it easily on the rebound.

“I thought you were supposed to keep your identity a secret while you were here!” he lectures Ken. Then he throws the boomerang back toward Ken.



The weapon sheaths itself as it lands in Gatchaman’s holster. Ken gasps in shock.



The man in white leaps behind his plane, and when he reemerges from behind the jet, he is revealed to be… Red Impulse!

Can you stand the shock?

A number of panels fall off of the red jet. Honestly, when I first saw this episode, I didn’t realize until this moment that the jet was supposed to be disguised. It really doesn’t look very different with its ‘disguise’. I had thought that Ken knew he was following the Red Impulse jet, but was surprised to see a ‘different’ pilot.

Ah well. Let’s just take it as fact that the panels disguised Red Impulse’s jet so well that Ken had no way of recognizing it. Even though we did. Yeah.

“So you’re Red Impulse!” Ken states the obvious.



“That’s right.” Red Impulse smirks. “You know, it’s not polite to attack someone right after they save you. I was just returning the favor from yesterday.”

“Who were those guys that attacked you?” Ken asks.



“They’re the Defense Minister’s attack dogs.” Red Impulse replies.

“You mean those guys yesterday were from Galactor?” Ken’s confused. First the Hontwal Secret Police say Red Impulse is from Galactor, and then Red Impulse says that the Hontwal Secret Police is with Galactor. Holy multiple accusations, Batman!

“That’s right, Ken.” the Colonel says condescendingly. “This entire country has been taken over by Galactor.”

“I see!” Ken exclaims, the lightbulb finally going off in his head. “So that must be why Dr. Nambu sent us here, then!”



“Yes.” Red Impulse confirms. “I asked Dr. Nambu not to tell you I was here. In order to fool your enemies, you must be able to fool your allies.” Interesting how he says this. I believe there’s something similar that ‘Red Impulse’ says later on, in episode 61.

“Man! I just knew Hakase was up to something with this vacation stuff!” Ken smirks.



And suddenly it’s nightime. We see a cabin in the mountains, and smoke is emerging from the chimney. Inside, a fire is blazing, and Ken (now back in civvies) is speaking with Red Impulse over cups of coffee. Hmmm…. another interesting parallel with episode 61, where ‘Red Impulse’ offers Ken a cup of coffee…



“Hontwal’s Defense Minister has secretly joined forces with Galactor.” Red Impulse reveals. “He’s hoping to topple the pacifist President and take over the entire country.”

“But if he knows, then why isn’t the President doing anything about it?” Ken asks.



“There isn’t enough evidence to prove it.” the Colonel replies. “I’ve been searching for that evidence for over a decade. You see, this has been my life’s mission.”



“It’s the whole reason I had to leave my home… my wife… my son!” Red Impulse cries, dramatically slamming his fist onto the mantle above the roaring fire.

“Do you have any ideas about where your son might be now?” Ken asks, cluelessly sipping his coffee.



Red Impulse turns around, Ken’s image reflected in his visor.



“I’ve let him down.” Red Impulse says, casting his gaze to the ground. He pause for poignancy, then laughs self-deprecatingly.

“Huh! I didn’t expect our conversation to take that turn.” Red Impulse says, changing the subject. “Ken, my goal is to keep Hontwal beautiful and peaceful forever. I left my only son to save this wonderful country.”

“I think I kind of get what you’re saying.” Ken says, approaching him. “Ever since I’ve gotten to Hontwal, I’ve had this weird feeling of nostalgia.
It’s almost as if I’d been here before.” Their images are reflected in the glass windowpane.



Red Impulse gasps in surprise, but doesn’t comment.



“I think it’s kind of funny that you actually mistook me for Galactor.” Red Impulse laughs, changing the subject. “I think we’d better take a break before we get back to work.”

Okay, is it just me, or is Ken being incredibly clueless here? Red Impulse has admitted that he left his wife and son behind to pursue important work, and Ken has a feeling of familiarity, being in Hontwal. Not to mention that in the past, Ken has admitted that he thinks/hopes his father is still alive. And waaaaay back in the Blue Hawk episode, Ken even considered the possibility that Red Impulse might be his father.

So why isn’t he putting two and two together now? Heck, my five year old figured out that Red Impulse was Ken’s father, way back in the Blue Hawk episode.

But I digress. I guess this isn’t as big a plot hole as the ‘numbered shirts preserve secret identities’ fiasco. So I’ll drop it for now.

So now, Ken and Red Impulse are sleeping on the couches. What, doesn’t this cabin have any beds?



As Ken sleeps, a shaft of moonlight covers his head, giving him a young, angelic appearance.



Red Impulse stares at Ken.



He thinks back, and we see his images of the past. Red Impulse is standing with a woman and a young boy, dressed in his Columbian drug lord white suit. He sees his toddler son crawling, and crying.

“Ken, you’ve grown into an amazing young man.” Red Impulse says. So even if Ken is clueless, hopefully the audience isn’t, and is putting two and two together.

Tears slip down Red Impulse’s cheeks, and… we’re off to a commercial break, with gold-wrapped chocolate Ken!

When we return, Ken is dreaming of his life as a young child. He remembers a lot of detail, but his parents’ faces are blacked out.

Preschooler Ken flies a toy plane.



A nervous toddler Ken stands on the shore, as his father waves at him to come into the water.



He jumps in, and manages to splash his way over to his father, crying the entire time. Sp what does his loving father do, to reward Ken for overcoming his fears and making such an effort?

Ken’s father tries to drown him.



Yep, and his father is laughing nastily the entire time.



Poor Ken! Okay, I know that this isn’t supposed to be an ‘attempted drowning’ scene, but you could sure fool me! The way Ken’s father is laughing maliciously and holding a clearly distraught and struggling toddler under the water doesn’t speak of any kind of loving behavior or mercy at all. In fact, I’d personally term this child abuse. But that’s just me. I didn’t grow up in Japan. To each their own.

We fade back to Red Impulse, who is shaking Ken awake.

“Ken! Ken!” he says.” Listen, Ken, it’s time to get up. We’ve got to get going.”

Ken appears to be in shock at having been woken from his rest.



“Can’t you just let me sleep a little longer? Didn’t we just go to bed?” he moans.



I guess this is supposed to make up for years of Ken’s father not being there to drag his son out of bed for school?

“Quit whining like a child!” Red Impulse shouts, ripping the blanket from Ken’s body.



“Hey!” Ken protests.

“Ken, I’m determined to find the evidence I need tonight!” Red Impulse lectures. “Please, I really need your help, Kid.”

“Fine!” Ken groans, lying back down on the couch.

__________________

Ken and Red Impulse dash toward a tall window at the end of the hallway. The opening overlooks the rushing water.

“We’re going to have to jump into the river.” Red Impulse tells Ken. “Hurry up Ken!”



Red Impulse leaps smoothly from the sill and into the fast-moving waters beneath. “Follow me!”

Ken comes out onto the window ledge, staring down at Red Impulse in the water below.



“Come on, Ken!”, Red Impulse waves encouragingly to Ken.

But Ken is overwhelmed by his traumatizing childhood memory of his father waving him into the water for a drowning… uh, swimming… lesson.

“But this… this is just like in my dream!” Ken thinks. I guess he’s afraid that Red Impulse is going to try and hold him under water?



“What are you waiting for?” Red Impulse hollers.

Finally, Ken dives off of the ledge, plunging into the water below, and then swimming to Red Impulse.




They laugh in relief, and Red Impulse places a hand on Ken’s shoulder.



But a hail of bullets rains down, and they have to swim away.



“We’ll have to split up!” Red Impulse cries as he swims off. “’Till we meet again!” He leaves, and Ken is left to fend for himself.



But Ken and Red Impulse both safely get away, much to the Captain’s disgust.

However, now Katse is aware of what’s happening. He consults with the Defense Minster via the transmission screen.



“So Gatchaman did show up.” Katse says. “I see. I also just received a message from my spy at the ISO.” Wait… wasn’t that the Defense Minister’s spy?

“Lord Katse, if our secret is leaked to the President, then the plan we’ve worked so hard on for years will go up in smoke!” the Defense Minister protests. Years? They’ve worked on this for years? Seems to me that this isn’t a high priority job for Galactor. They can build mecha in a matter of days or weeks, but it’s taken years to get one ready for this guy’s political ambitions?

“What should we do, Sir?” the Defense Minster asks.

“Trap him!” Katse orders. “It can’t be helped! I’ll order the Cataroller to wreak havoc.”



“And I’m quite certain the Science Ninja Team will be at the President’s birthday party tomorrow!” the Defense Minster gloats.



“Excellent!” Katse replies. “Don’t let this chance slip away. Understand?”

And suddenly, it’s ‘tomorrow’ and trumpets are playing a fanfare at the President’s birthday party. A large group of children are standing in front of the President’s mansion, cheering him as he waves at them from the balcony.

And yes, as predicted, the Science Ninja Team is definitely there to enjoy the party.



“I can’t believe the guy we helped out was really Red Impulse!” Ryu comments in between mouthfuls of food.



“I knew that whole vacation thing was too good to be true!” Jinpei adds, scarfing down his own fair share.



“Hey, Ken,” Jun reminds the Eagle, “you should hurry and give the President that evidence.”



Um, how come Ken hasn’t given the President the tape already? It seems like he should have handed it over the moment he got back!

“Right…” Ken agrees sheepishly, holding the tape in his hand.



But at that moment, the ground shakes, and Jun reaches out to Ken in surprise.



A massive fireball shoots into the sky from the center of the capital city. The children begin to run into the Presidential Palace in fright.

“Galactor rears its ugly head.” Ken mutters. “Listen, we’ve got to protect the President, and the children!”



“Roger!”

The Team runs toward the Palace. Well…. except Jinpei, who stays for a bit more food.



A ship off the coast of Hontwal is cut in two, and in flames. A round mecha emerges from beneath it, rolling onto the shore. The mecha crashes through buildings, on a direct heading for the President’s Palace.

The mecha is Cataroller: the wheel we saw previously being built. It looks like it has a road wrapped around it, and a dotted yellow line circles the outside.



Needless to say, the guards at the gate are doomed.

The President’s advisors escort the Hontwal President inside. Cataroller smashes over the tables of food and then stops. Goons emerge on spikes sticking out of its sides.



The Hontwal military are also gathered outside of the Palace. An elevation platform on Cataroller rises up, revealing Berg Katse.



“This country now belongs to Galactor!” Katse shouts.

“Open fire on those bastards!” cries a member of the Hontwal Military. But unfortunately Galactor is ahead of the game. The goons fire first, and the Hontwal soldiers fall to ground, screaming.



Cut from BOTP:



“Over there! Pick up the President’s mansion!” Katse shouts.



Yep, he said ‘pick it up’. Cataroller sprouts giant arms from its hubcaps, which reached for the Presidential Palace. The entire building is removed from its foundations, the structure crumbling under the mecha’s strength.



“Ha ha!” Katse cackles. “Oh yes! Now the President is smashed like a toad!”

“Don’t start the party yet, Berg Katse!” Ken shouts.

“I know that voice!” Katse cries angrily.

The members of the Science Ninja Team leap out of their place of concealment in the rubble of the Presidential Palace, flying through the air, landing on the roof of the mangled mansion.



“Science Ninja Team, Gatchaman!” Everyone shouts in unison, in case you’ve forgotten who they are.

*\

“Think we’re on vacation, or something?” Ken jokes. “With our help, the President and the children safely escaped through an underground passageway.”



“Better luck next time, Rat Fink!” Jinpei taunts the Galactor Leader.

“Damn it!” Katse swears. “You’ve interfered again, you freaking Bird Boys!”



Let me take this opportunity to point out that Jun is, in fact, a girl. A truth which is amply demonstrated by her individual Birdstyle.

“You want to destroy the beauty and peace of this country!” the Eagle accuses Katse. “Well it’s not happening on our watch!”



I’m not sure why Ken’s holding out his fist; Perhaps this is meant to be a threatening gesture? It looks more like a game of ‘guess which hand is holding the quarter’.

“Shoot them all down!” Katse screams in response. “I want them all dead!”

Immediately, the Cataroller finishes crushing the Presidential Palace, and the five ninjas jump off of the crumbling structure.



They land safely on the ground, in Tornado Fighter formation. In case you didn’t realize this, Jinpei shouts out the name of the maneuver.



They initiate the maneuver immediately. Goons fly through the air.



Katse isn’t having much luck against the Tornado Fighter either.



But he manages to scramble inside and take control of Cataroller.

“Damn it!” Katse shouts. “When am I going to win?”

__________________

BOTP Episode 65 – Peaks of Planet Odin

Center Neptune, deep beneath the ocean’s surface on Planet Earth, is the defense complex that protects the Galactic Federation of peaceful planets against invasion by aliens from hostile outer worlds.

So why is Zark pacing?



“If my calculations are correct, and I’m not programmed for error, then there’s some very serious trouble heading our way!” Zark says, as he slides back and forth across the room.

Susan has sent Zark and early warning, so he’s been keeping a close watch on Planet Odin, in the Herald Galaxy.

“I have a disturbing flutter in my FOSDIC!” Zark informs us. Unfortunately, Zark’s disturbing flutter is one disturbing mental image. Ewwwww….

“Humans call it a hunch.” Zark explains. “Spectra is unfolding some terrible scheme up on Odin.” He flies over to his monitors.

“I don’t want to alert G-Force until I have solid evidence.” Zark says. Um, Zark, shouldn’t that be for Chief Anderson to decide?

“But I don’t want to wait until Spectra has attacked, either!” Zark continues. “I’m in a quandary!”

1-Rover-1 barks.



“Thanks for the vote of confidence, 1-Rover-1,” Zark says, “You’re absolutely right! I have to trust my FOSDIC! I’ll notify the Chief at once!”



Thank goodness someone has some sense around here! And it’s the robot who eats metal wrenches. Huh.

We cut to the G-Force Team in full uniform, sitting around in a room and looking bored.

Chief Anderson sashays into the room, then looks at his watch.

“Zark just contacted me. We have a problem.” Anderson says, still staring at his watch. “Is the Phoenix ready for action?”

Okay, this is a really stupid question. Of course it’s ready for action! And if it weren’t, couldn’t you check the repair schedule yourself, Chief? Maybe we could put a readout onto your watch, since you seem so fascinated by it.

“The Phoenix is ready and standing by, Chief.” Mark says, standing up.

“Give the word!” Keyop cries, with more burbling gibberish than usual.

“There may not be anything to worry about, but you’d better go and have a look.” Anderson tells them.

“Up, out, or down?” Mark asks.

“To Planet Odin.” Anderson says with a smirk.

“Odin!” everyone exclaims in unison. They look at each other in surprise.

“I don’t suppose you have any objections to spending some time up on Planet Odin?” Anderson asks slyly.

“You kidding?” Keyop jumps out of his seat with a huge grin. “Favorite place!”

“Gee, is this a mission we’re going on, or is it our long overdue vacation?” Tiny asks.

“It’s a mission, if you call looking for Zoltar a vacation.” says the Chief. I don’t quite get it, but I think I understand what he’s trying to say.

“G-Force!” everyone cries, and we get to see stock footage of the Phoenix launching from Center Neptune.

Now we’re in space, watching the Earth get smaller as we zoom away, and Zark tells us that G-Force is ‘off to outer space’.

“The moon is only a hop. Saturn, a skip!” Zark says. And look! The Phoenix is passing Saturn as he says this!



“And the edge of the Milky Way: a small jump.” Zark goes on. “It’s times like these when I wish I were human, like G-Force. They never have to worry about their oscillators burning out or getting dust in their micro-modulators. I’d love to blast through the stars with them! “

Fortunately for us, that’s never going to happen. Although personally, I’d love to shoot Zark into outer space….

“The Phoenix has entered Hyperspace!” Zark says in an excited whisper. “They’re travelling faster than the speed of light! And soon, they’ll be moving faster than human thought!”

Um… faster than human thought? So, I could think right now that Zark is an annoying tin can, and they’d be to Odin and back before I was finished?

“It’s like, when you think you’re approaching the Big Dipper, but you’re already past it.” Zark feebly attempts to explain. Uh, yeah… right, Zark.

“G-Force is homing in on Planet Odin.” Zark’s commentary continues. “I hope they don’t find a trace of Spectra, but I’m worried! I’ll be with them in spirit! But I’d rather be with them in the flesh! If I had any…”

Just thinking about Zark having flesh creeps me out.

“But I know that this is where I belong!” Zark says firmly, as we finally see images of Odin on our screen. “Right here in Center Neptune Control, where I can maintain the communications and information necessary to outsmart and outmaneuver those evil pirates from Planet Spectra.”

And as Zark finally finishes talking (Seriously, I thought his monologue was going to go on forever!) we see Princess and Keyop on a boat, smiling and waving. Tiny and Jason are riding paddle bikes in the water; strangely enough, in their full clothing instead of bathing suits.

“Hey Mark, come on!” Tiny calls to the shore. “This is a blast!”

“Forget him! He’s dreaming!” Jason says. “I’ll race ya!” And with that, Jason takes off. Tiny nearly sinks trying to catch up.

Onshore, sad and pensive music is playing as Mark looks out at the lake.

“This place is beautiful!” he thinks to himself. “The weather’s perfect. Everybody’s having a ball. So why have I got cold fingers crawling up and down my spine? What’s bothering me? It’s like I know for sure there’s going to be trouble, but I don’t know what kind. Or why, or where!”

“Well, well, if it isn’t my old friend, Mark, the G-Force Ace himself!” says a loud voice. Great. Way to blow his cover, dimwit. Did you notice he’s in civvies?

“On a little vacation, friend?” the voice asks. We see that the man speaking is dressed in a white suit.

“I knew there was trouble coming.” Mark says. Clearly he has appropriate suspicions of Cronus.

“You don’t look too thrilled to see me… or you’ve forgotten who I am.” the man says.

Mark doesn’t respond.

“Cronus. Gentleman, scholar, and fantastic jet pilot.” the man introduces himself with a tip of his hat. Gee, Cronus, modesty isn’t among your many wonderful qualities, is it?

“And every time I’m with you I get into trouble.” Mark says.

“That’s the old Cronus. I’m completely changed, Mark.” Cronus insists. “That’s why you didn’t recognize me. I’m a different man now.”

“You promise you won’t start any trouble?” Mark asks suspiciously.

“Of course, I won’t start any trouble.” Cronus laughs mockingly, slipping on a pair of gloves. “They will!” He points to a bunch of thugs knocking over planters and tables. In short order, Mark and Cronus are surrounded by the thugs.

“Let’s see you get away this time, Cronus!” says Jason. Oops, it’s the head thug. But he sure sounds like Jason.

Cronus dodges some punches and throws a man who grabs him from behind. Mark stands up as his table is destroyed. Then we see Cronus running away to a red speedboat. Mark pretty much does nothing.

The head thug turns and points at Mark.

“Alright! At least we’ve got you!” he says, his Jason voice more gravelly now.

“What you’ve got is a problem! Care to tell me who you are and what this is all about?” Mark scowls.

“This is who we are, and you’re coming with us!” the head thug pulls open his jacket to reveal a badge.

“Police?” Mark is surprised.

“Mark!” shouts Tiny, running up.

“Okay, Skipper, we’ll take a piece of the action!” Jason adds, appearing on Mark’s other side.

“In that case, you can all come along!” the Head Thug says, raising his fist.

A motorcycle with sidecar pulls up, bearing two men in uniform.

“What’s going on, Sergeant?” asks the man in the sidecar. “Who are they?” He sounds suspiciously like Zoltar… is this a clue, or are they just stretching the voice actor budget?

“Friends of Cronus!” the head thug-Sergeant replies. “But he got away.”

“Well don’t just stand there! Find Cronus!” the sidecar man orders.

“Yes, Sir!” the thugs reply, as the motorcycle speeds away.

“I knew it! Cronus in trouble.” sighs Mark.

The motorcycle and sidecar speed to a fortress-castle. Inside, a portly man with a cigar is speaking with Zoltar via a computer screen.

“The Luminous One sends greetings to the Chief .” says Zoltar. “He wishes to know how our plans progress.”

“Splendidly, Zoltar!” the man replies. “The people suspect absolutely nothing. It is only a matter of time before we capture Cronus.”

“Remember, the Great Spirit has chosen you to rule this planet!” Zoltar reminds the man, as he shows pictures of a massive robot wheel under construction. “And to help you, we are building a brand new weapon, that nothing will be able to stand against! Nothing!”

“The rebel Cronus is the only one who stands in our way, but that won’t be for long!” the cigar-smoking man assures Zoltar. “We’ll sweep him up with the rest of the trash! “

Both men laugh.

“Good! I am happy to see that we picked the right man.” Zoltar says, before ending the communication.

Next we cut to a scene of Mark flying in his Cessna. It wouldn’t be remarkable, except that the ‘exciting encounter’ music is playing. Sure enough, jets are sneaking up behind him!

“Hey, I’d better quit daydreaming.” Mark says to himself. “I never even saw those robot planes!” Yep, we haven’t seen the goons piloting them. Just robot planes.

But no sooner has he finished this thought than the planes start shooting at him. Mark gasps in surprise, but manages to dodge the missiles.

“This is just great! How am I going to get out of this one?” Mark shouts.

And…. we cut to a commercial break.

__________________

We cut to uniformed men playing trumpets in a fanfare. Children are having a party with balloons and cake in front of a mansion.

“This is the biggest holiday for Planet Odin.” Zark informs us. “And all the people of the Capital City are gathered in the Great Plaza, before the Presidential Palace.”

And sure enough, the G-Force Team is there as well, in civvies, enjoying the holiday.

“One thing about this planet: they sure know how to have a holiday!” Tiny exclaims as he stuffs his face.

“Fiesta!” Keyop broops between mouthfuls.

“Mark, those plans you took from the Police Chief.” Princess reminds the Commander.

“Here.” Mark says, pulling them out of his pocket just as a massive explosion is heard from the city.

“This could only be Spectra!” Mark says grimly. “Zoltar must have changed his plans. We can’t wait any longer. Let’s go!”

Everyone runs off, except Keyop, who grabs some food for the road.

“Go to waste!” he burbles.

A massive robot wheel rolls out of the harbor, leaving a destroyed ship behind it. It then crashes right into the gates of the Presidential Palace! I guess the palace was on the waterfront.

“Resistance is useless!” Zoltar cries, appearing on the top of the robot. Maybe in his next like he becomes a Borg?

“Throw down your arms!” Zoltar demands.

“Repel the invaders!” orders a military Captain on the ground. His men raise their guns.

“They need a lesson. Destroy the city!” Zoltar shouts. The wheel sprouts arms and picks up the Presidential Palace. Or maybe it’s not the palace. Perhaps they want us to think it’s some random other building, so we don’t worry about the safety of the President and the children?

“Soon this planet will be nothing but a pile of rubble!” Zoltar laughs.

“Not yet, Zoltar!” shouts Mark. But we can’t see him. Zoltar is startled.

“Who questions my word?” he demands angrily.

The G-Force Team flies out of a hole in the ground where the Palace used to be and lands on the roof of the building in the robot wheel’s claws.

“We do, Zoltar! G-Force!” everyone shouts in unison. Wow… do they practice that, in the Ready Room?

“You again?” Zoltar is shocked.

“You’ll never take Odin while we’re in your way, Zoltar!” Mark tells him. “If you want it, you’ll have to come through us!”

“Purple pirate!” Keyop burbles.

“I thank the Shining One for this double pleasure!” Zoltar says.

“Thank him now, Zoltar, because we’re about to put out his light!” Mark says, holding up his fist in a vaguely threatening manner.

“They dare to insult the Great Luminous One?” Zoltar is enraged. “Crush them!”

The building upon which the Team is standing crumbles, and the Team jumps off. They land in Whirlwind Pyramid formation, and Keyop announces the name of the maneuver.

Zoltar jumps into the robot wheel.

“I must retreat, Great Spirit!” he says. But the robot wheel tries to crush the whirlwind.

Suddenly, Jason and Keyop are on the robot’s arm, and jumping out of the way. Tiny is nearly crushed by a hand. The arms retract.

“Take cover! They’re preparing to blast off!” Mark shouts, and everyone dives behind some rocks.

“There they go!” Mark says. But his face seems much angrier than his words.

“Great Spirit, they have stopped us again!” Zoltar says, inside of his fleeing robot wheel. “Will we never be rid of that interfering G-Force?”

Once Zoltar is gone, Mark contacts Chief Anderson.

“You’ve all done a great job, Mark.” Anderson replies. “Tell the Team I’m proud of them. But I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you. Zark advises that Cronus has been missing since the first attack by the Wheel.”

“No! Cronus can’t be…” Mark says, his arm shaking.

“Mark, all he said was ‘missing’.” Anderson reminds the Commander.

“Missing? All right then, I’ll find him!” Mark says. He runs off. Strangely, he seems to be smiling.

“Mark, I’ll go with you!” Princess calls.

“Princess, you can’t help him with this.” Jason tells her. “He has to do it alone.” I’m not sure why this is, but hey, I’ll trust Jason.

“Friendship between humans is a beautiful thing.” Zark voices over as we watch Mark running through a forest. “Friendship between all creatures is beautiful. Seeing Mark go to the aid of his friend makes me proud to be a member of G-Force! If Cronus is alive, I’m sure Mark will find him!”

We cut to Zark, who is taking a ten second oil break.



“You may wonder how I can leave Center Neptune Control, when Mark has gone off without his teammates to find Cronus and his family.” Zark says. “Well I’m just studying this new book, called, ‘The Power of Positive Computing’. It helps me cope with things like this, because I know that everything will work out fine.” Bleargh….



“It gives me a calm circuitry, so I’ll never worry, or be nervous again.” Now that’s impossible. Zark is the very definition of ‘nervous Nellie’.

A message comes in, and Zark stands up, scared.

“Oh my! Another emergency!” he shouts. “This is 7-Neptune-7! I mean, this is Center Zark! I mean… oh, I don’t know what I mean…”

And of course, the message is from Susan.

“Zark, you poor thing!” says Susan. “I know how jangled your tri-axial connectors get when you’re worried. Well, you can relax.”

“I can?” Zark asks.

“Yes. Mark has found Cronus, and together they rescued Cronus’ wife and baby son.” Susan tells Zark. “So it all worked out perfectly.”

“Susan, that’s wonderful!” Zark exclaims. “And you saved me some money too.”



“I did?” Susan is confused.

“Yes.” Zark replies. “I’m going to return the book I’m reading and get a refund. I just realized, I only need you to give me a calm mind and keep me from worry! Thanks, Susan, and bye!”

“Bye, Zark!” says Susan. And so do I, because the episode ends.

__________________

Yeah, that scene with young Ken is problematic.

If it weren't for all those instant mecha, the long-term project in Hontwarl wouldn't be so odd. In real-life terms, ten years for the V2 plan is plausible. It might even be too short.

Were the BOTP people thinking when they gave Cronus a second wife and child?

'Galactor insurance.' Protection, gangster style.

__________________
Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

UW, I agree. 10 years for the Hontwal project/V2 Plan wouldn't seem unrealistic if they weren't pumping out new mecha every other week. And let's not forget those numerous secret bases! And so many other countries were 'taken over' (or Galactor attempted to take them over) during the first 50 episodes, which was a span of roughly one year.

Of course, we discover in episode 52 that the 'vault' in the Defense Minister's office is actually a door to the secret underground Galactor base. So again, I have to wonder: how long was RI investigating this place, and he was unable to notice the base construction? Even better, in episode 52 (or maybe 53) we see 'observational photos' the RI Team has taken of a hillside, showing a missile sticking out. Did they only *just* discover that opening? Or did RI know about it months/years ago? And If so, why didn't he sneak in there? Sigh... Anf they want to make *Ken* seem incompetent... IMHP, BOTP did it much better where they were reciprocating and saving *each other* (and far more than once, in Mark's case). If anything, it almost seemed as if Mark was the 'better agent'. This makes it totally believable at the end that *only with Mark's help* is Cronus able to rescue his wife and son.

I'm totally guessing here (and I suspect James will chime in here with his wonderful font of knowledge) but I would think that when the BOTP people did this episode, they weren't thinking at all of Cronus and Mark being related. SO they brushed that under the rug with Cronus 'having another family'. Although you're right... it could just have easily been the other members of the Red Rangers who were missing, since you didn't see Cronus' Team in this, nor did they include the flashbacks of Mark as a child.

Then, when the other 2 episodes came along in BOTP production, it was so close to the end of the series run that they probably said WTH and wrote it in. I'm guessing BOTP was short on long-term planning.

And Marie, you're totally right! For years I've been thinking of RI as a Columbian Drug Lord with 'rich, Columbian coffee beans', and not making the connection with him offering coffee!

__________________

Interesting point... i never thought of that aspect of it. I guess I just assumed that Galactor was coming underground and building after the stadium was already there. Yeah, that's a tough engineering feat, but Galactor is supposed to have superior scientific power, plus a lot of experience at building these things.

Making it interesting to the child audience... all they'd have to dowould be throw in chases and fights. Not had to do.

__________________

Glad you enjoyed it, Child of Sosai! And since we're doing episode reviews in order, the reviews for the next two weeks will have plenty of Red Impulse for you to enjoy!

__________________

I don't recall any further mention of Cronus' new wife, or Timmy, but I'm not so up on it. I'm sure James will chime in, here.

__________________