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tatsunokofan tatsunokofan is a Male
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Hi all!

quote:
There were references to 'the last war' in a few episodes, so I wasn't sure what was intended.


Specifics, please. Which episode, and the like.

quote:
Could have been a local conflict between Utoland and another country. Franbell, the former military dictatorship, comes to mind.


Well, Utoland is a city, not a country, but I know what you mean.

Aside from its civil war, we don't know of any other conflicts (If any) that Franbell was involved in.

James

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Thanks again for your clarifications, James! There are so much odds and ends mentioned through the original series, edited ones and the movie to come, not leaving out fandom, that it's easy to get misguided or confused sometimes!

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I know for certain they mentioned a world war in 'Counterattack! The Underground Torpedo Operation.' The international airport (over the Galactor base) was described as being an air force base during the war. When the SNT find the torpedo horde, Ken first speculates they might be surplus from the last war (before Joe notices that they're new weapons). There might have been other references, but I saw that episode again recently, so I know for certain.

Utoland is a city. In what country? I've assumed it was in Europe somewhere (perhaps the capital of a country called Utoland).

I thought Utoland was a country because 'That's G-4' mentions the border. The Blackbirds are stopped at the sort of gate one sees at national borders (or the entrances to official or factory campuses), the bridge in the climax is at another border.

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Hi all!

quote:
I know for certain they mentioned a world war in 'Counterattack! The Underground Torpedo Operation.'


They do mention the last World War, but not which World War that is. Most likely it was World War II that was in the minds of the writers, as the description of the airport being used by military forces before being converted to civilian use is the same as what happened with Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which was the main international airport in Tokyo at the time Gatchaman was being produced. It's history was likely familiar to most adult Tokyoites of the time, and was the likely basis for the airport was seen in that episode.

This isn't the first time that real world locations were imitated in Gatchaman. The Gorakuen Baseball Stadium from episode #63 was based on the Korakuen Baseball Stadium in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, right down to the nearby amusement park. Though, instead of having the Monsters play there, Korakuen Stadium was the home of the Yomiuri Giants.

quote:
Utoland is a city. In what country?


They don't say, but it is referred to specifically as Utoland City, not Utoland Country.

quote:
I thought Utoland was a country because 'That's G-4' mentions the border.


It could easily be a city along the border of whatever country it is part of.

James

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Back in order, for our emotional trauma.

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Got some great screenshots of Jun!

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quote:
Originally posted by AllentownDarkWater
Got some great screenshots of Jun!


Saturn does make great screencaps, and she is a "Swan" herself.

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BOTP Episode: The Sky is Falling Part 1

We begin, as usual, with the exterior view of Center Neptune and Zark’s voice.

“Down here at Center Neptune, where I keep constant watch throughout the universe for any sign of alien invaders from outer space,” [where else would alien invaders be from?] says Zark, “I’m many fathoms beneath the sea.”

And we cut to a view of Zark taking a shower as 1-Rover-1 waits patiently with a proffered towel.

“Of course I’m always completely warm and dry,” continues Zark, scrubbing his back, “Except when I take a refreshing oil shower,” and he proceeds to sing a “Doo, doo, doo, la, la, la,” sort of showering song.

“There’s nothing like a brisk, invigorating scrub in peanut oil,” he finally says, “I’m just nutty about it!” He chuckles and adds “Who says I wasn’t programmed for humor?”

Groan, I say you weren’t.

He opens the shower stall door and takes the towel that 1-Rover-1 has been holding out all this time, thanking him. After wiping himself down, he wraps the towel around his nether region and it looks like he’s wearing a diaper.

His intercom starts beeping, causing Zark to say “Oh dear, the intercom always starts buzzing when I’m bathing,” but he responds.

Naturally, it’s Susan.

“Zark,” she says, and the silly robot who walks around unclothed 99 % of the time hauls up his towel in a misplaced show of modesty, “This is Susan at the early warning station out on planet Pluto.”

“Hi, Susan!” says Zark, still clutching his towel.

“My interstellar probes,” says Susan, “tell me there is trouble brewing out on planet Riga.”

“That’s bad,” says Zark, forgetting about his towel finally, “For years we’ve known that Spectra has been secretly constructing the most awesome weapon ever built in the history of the Galaxy out there on Riga!”

If you’ve known all this for years, then they couldn’t have been doing it all that secretly.

“Right,” says Susan, “And now my sensors tell me they’re ready to put it into action.”

“Good work, Susan!” enthuses Zark, “Just as soon as I throw something on [his #7 sweater perhaps?], I’ll contact G-Force on monitor.”

And we cut to the Ready Room, where Princess and Keyop are at it on guitar and drums, Tiny is eating space burgers, and Jason and Mark are playing ping pong.

Like any of them would be anything else…

“I sure work up an appetite watching you people,” remarks the sedentary Tiny, reaching for another burger, “I could eat five more space burgers.”

“What do you mean you could?” remarks Jason, “you will! You’re getting to look like a space burger.”

“Yeah?” says Tiny, “Well I’m going on a diet. It’s going to be my next New Year’s resolution.”
“Tiny,” says Princess, pausing in her strumming, “You’ve been making that New Year’s resolution every year since I’ve known you. If you want to lose weight, stop eating heavy space burgers and go to something light.”

“And work out,” adds Keyop, before doing a vigorous drum solo.

I cannot help but think of that Robot Chicken G-Force skit…

http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/66404/detail/

At any rate, Mark kindly attempts to kick-start Tiny’s diet by knocking the burger out of his hand with a ping pong ball.

“Okay,” says Tiny, “I’ll go to something light, but ping pong balls? That’s ridiculous!”

Suddenly Zark appears on the monitor behind Tiny.

“Attention G-Force, I have an emergency alert. This is a big one –planet Spectra may be about to launch its greatest invasion against Earth from planet Riga. For years they’ve been secretly building a monstrous weapon there and we’ve been unable to stop them. Now, it’s ready.”

Everyone is lined up in a row, listening. [Why do they always make Jason shorter than he’s supposed to be?]

“You’re all on stand-by alert,” continues Zark, “Await briefing from Security Chief Anderson. And Commander, I have a personal message for you. We picked up a wounded man on a street in the city. We haven’t been able to learn much about him, but he claims to be one of your old friends from the Space Academy.”

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We get a close up of awkwardly-drawn-Mark now.

“His first name is Tom –that’s all we know,” concludes Zark, “He’s not wounded seriously [of course not!] but he doesn’t seem to have a home.”

“Tom? He was my best friend at the Academy,” exclaims Mark, “Have him taken to my shack at the airfield and I’ll get to him just as soon as I can.”

Zark agrees to do this, and then tells them all that Chief Anderson is currently at the Inter-Galactic Science Headquarters, “locked in an urgent meeting with Dr. Zellars who’s flown down from planet Riga.”

As Zark is saying this, we cut to a view of tall buildings in a large city and then to Chief Anderson standing before a high window overlooking the cityscape.

“You mean to say that the Spectra doomsday weapon is operational?” Anderson is saying, and we see an elderly man –presumably Dr. Zellars of Riga- sitting at a table behind him.

“Right, it only remains to be tested,” says Dr. Zellars.

“Madness!” declares Anderson, turning partly away from the window, “It must be stopped.”

“That’s precisely why I’m here,” replies Dr. Zellars, clutching his cane.

“Explain,” says Anderson, facing him now.

“It requires a message be sent to all members of the Galaxy.”

“What kind of message?” asks Anderson, sounding a tad indignant, hands on hips.

“One asking all Federation planets to surrender to Spectra at once –it’s our only hope.”

Anderson is shocked, then he looks away, eyes closed in dismay.

“Or else Spectra launches the X-3,” continues Dr. Zellars, his expression rather crafty and sinister for someone who is merely a Rigan scientist delivering bad news.

“No!” gasps Chief Anderson.

And with that, we cut to Tom, asleep in Mark’s bed at his airfield shack.

But he wakes up, looks around briefly and then sits up, revealing that his left shoulder and ribs are wrapped in bandages. He clutches his shoulder briefly, but then Mark enters.

“Feeling better, Tom?” he asks. “Yes, thanks to you,” replies Tom.

“You’re lucky the wound wasn’t serious,” says Mark.

“Is this your place?” asks Tom as Mark goes over to the window, through which his plane is visible, parked outside.

“Just space I rent at a private airfield,” says Mark, opening the window and gesturing towards his plane, “So, tell me what you’re doing these days.”

“Since “I dropped out of the Academy,” replies Tom, hands around his knees, “I’ve just been hanging out.”

Mark frowns worriedly, asking “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“You don’t have to fight my battles anymore, Mark,” says Tom, a bit defensively, “I’m not a baby –I can take care of myself!”

“I know you can, Tom,” says Mark, eyes closed now, “But if you’re in trouble, I want to help.”

“Sorry, Mark, I guess I’m a little edgy,” says Tom, pulling his knees in closer to his chest, “I haven’t been thinking too clearly since I injured my shoulder.”

Suddenly he looks up. “Say, that reminds me! You must be real happy about your father.” [How does his shoulder remind him of this?]

Mark stares at him, really frowning now.

“You know my father disappeared years ago!”

“But I just met him on a trip to planet Riga,” claims Tom.

“Riga? It can’t be!”

“But it is,” avers Tom, “Remember, you used to show me his photograph?”

“Yes, that one,” says Mark, looking to a photo on his wall showing a man in a suit, and a woman sitting on a chair holding a small boy –Mark- on her lap, “Why has Colonel Cronus never seen my father on Riga?”

“I don’t know,” says Tom, looking at the photo on the wall, “But I ran across him at an overnight space lodge.”

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Now we see Tom’s memory of this event, wherein he’s walking through a room lined with sleeping bunks, carrying a rucksack. He stumbles over the feet of a man sitting on a lower bunk, causing the man to drop a photo he’d been looking at. Tom apologizes and stoops to pick up the photo from the floor in front of the man –whose face we do not see, though he’s wearing a white suit. Tom looks at the photo and, sure enough, it’s the one from Mark’s wall.

But the man snatches it out of Tom’s hands, and now we see him. It’s Colonel Cronus, dressed exactly as he was in the “Peaks of Planet Odin” episode –Oh wait, we’re probably not supposed to notice that. ;-)

Tom gives him a “Fine, be that way!” look and goes off towards an empty bunk.

“I couldn’t imagine why he snatched the picture so angrily,” voice-overs Tom as we see him climbing to an upper bunk and lying down, “Then I realized it was the same photograph you used to show me.”

Tom looks over at the man again, who’s still gazing at the photo.

“And I know you never believed your father was really dead.”

We fade back to the present and to Tom still sitting on Mark’s bed.

“Tell me, when did this happen?” asks Mark intensely.

“A week ago.”

“A week ago?” says Mark, putting a hand to his chin, “What were you doing on Riga?”

“What’s the difference?” replies Tom, rubbing his head with one hand and not looking at Mark, “The point is, I was there and I saw your father. Mark, he’s alive!”

Now he looks at Mark, adding “How much more do you need to know?”

Mark, looking more than a little affected by this news, walks away towards the window again.

“My father’s alive,” he repeats in a shaken voice, resting his hands on the sill, “Just as I’ve always believed –I’ve got to see him!”

Tom gives him a sidelong look.

Mark hits a nearby switch, turning on the lights. Eyes clenched shut and head bowed, he cries “I will!”

And we cut to Jill’s Diner. Or is it?

“This is great,” says Princess sourly, “Washing dishes.” She is doing just that, as Keyop moves chairs around.

“Sorry, Princess,” burbles Keyop, “Thought I had enough… to pay the check.”

So Jill makes them work off unpaid meals with dishwashing labor? I thought she was supposed to be Princess’ friend. Or is this some other diner?

Wherever it is, Mark seems to know where to find them. He opens the door and silently gestures to Keyop to join him outside while Princess, who has her back to all this, continues “Well it’s the last time I accept an invitation to go to dinner with you, big spender!”

“What’s up?” whispers Keyop, approaching Mark, but he puts a finger to his lips and Keyop follows him outside, shutting the door behind them.

“Hush hush?” queries Keyop.

“I’m taking off for planet Riga,” says Mark in a confidential tone.

Keyop burbles in alarm, “Alone?”

“Tom saw my father,” says Mark, as we see Tom lounging against a wall in the background, waiting, “And I’m going up to find him.”

“Can he… be trusted?” asks an apprehensive Keyop.

“Easy, Keyop,” says Mark, giving him a bit of a shove in the head, “There’s no reason to talk that way about my friend.” He’s frowning, arms folded in indignation.

“Ought to notify… the Chief,” persists Keyop.

“No way, I’ll be up and back before anyone knows I’m gone,” says Mark, still frowning as he turns away from Keyop to walk towards Tom.

Tom puts a hand on Mark’s shoulder and they walk away together.

Keyop looks worriedly in their wake, but just then his wrist communicator chimes.

“What are you doing out here?” asks Princess, suddenly peering out of the diner’s door, “Security is giving us an urgent call.”

“I heard!” retorts Keyop, scowling. He puts a hand to his face, in anxious thought, saying “Bad timing,” to himself.

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We cut to an annoyed looking Chief Anderson rising abruptly to his feet behind a desk.

“What? Mark went to planet Riga alone?”

Keyop is there before him, head hanging guiltily as he endures this and the combined glares of Princess, Tiny and Jason that are directed at him from behind.

“Looking for… father,” explains Keyop.

“He should have checked with me before going off,” says Anderson sternly.

Keyop cringes.

“A space shuttle alone could be dangerous,” says Princess, still glaring at poor Keyop.

“Can’t we reach him by radio?” asks Jason.

“Tried,” says Keyop, “Mark’s signal… jammed.”

Anderson sighs in frustration, both hands planted on his desk. “Jason is usually the impulsive one,” he announces, bowing his head, “This time it’s Mark? Well, I don’t like it but I have to send you on this mission without him.”

No response from Jason to this blunt assessment. Anderson turns towards a screen on the wall behind his desk, hits a switch and brings up an aerial image of some terrain bordering a lake.

“And it happens that planet Riga,” continues Anderson, “is your objective.”

We see a close up image of a rocket or missile’s nose protruding from a launch tube in the side of a rocky slope.

“It’s a mighty mean looking bird sticking its ugly beak out of that cave,” says Tiny, wide-eyed.

“That is the X-3 launching site Spectra built on Riga without our knowledge or consent,” says Anderson [Wait, didn’t Zark claim they’ve known all along about this?], “Your mission –demolish it!” Anderson makes a grand, sweeping gesture with his arm.

“Exactly what is the X-3 plan?” asks Jason. Wait, you’re impulsive, Jason –shouldn’t you have been out the door at the word “demolish”?

Anderson changes the image to one of Earth seen from space.

“There is a magnetic band that covers the entire Earth,” he says, as we see these bands now around the image of the Earth, “It starts at 600 miles above the ground and fades out at 40,000.”

“I know what that is,” says Princess. “The Van Allen radiation belt,” chimes in Tiny, as Keyop stares at Princess and then Tiny.

“Precisely,” says Anderson and Keyop now looks completely baffled, “This magnetic zone protects the Earth from the full radiation of the sun’s rays [we see a ray hitting the belt and being scattered by it]. The X-3 plan would lower the altitude of the Van Allen belt using the special device I have just shown you.”

Anderson gestures towards the image of Earth itself. “In effect, X-3 is a doomsday machine!” he intones grimly.

“Bad news!” burbles Keyop, having figured out that much.

“Suppose the X-3 plan was a success,” continues Anderson gravely, “Can you imagine what would happen?”

We get to see images of what would happen. Lots of swirling orange radiation…

“Radioactivity would contaminate our environment,” says Anderson.

Now we see bubbling pools of lava with an orange sky in the background.

“Gradually, all of mankind would disappear from this Earth.”

“And all womankind,” adds Keyop, taking a stand against the English language’s sexist use of the masculine to reference both genders.

“This is a tough mission,” says Jason, “”We’ll just have to make it without Mark, which won’t be easy.” [Nah, you can do it, Jason! ;-) ]

“That’s right,” says Princess, “Without our Commander, the Team effort will be weakened.”

“This calls for action, not alibis,” says Anderson, frowning, “Good luck, Team.”

We hear a rousing group cheer of “G-Force!” as we cut to the Phoenix flying through the sky.

What? No recycled footage of the Phoenix leaving Center Neptune?

“That was a perfect launch, Team,” voice-overs Zark, “Even without your Commander.”

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Egad, Zark –I think it’s hardly surprising they can put the Phoenix in the air without Mark’s guidance!

But we do get a view, on the bridge, of Mark’s empty chair to emphasize his absence. Somehow, Tiny is coping.

“Mark may be the Commander of G-Force,” Jason is saying, “But we can do without him.” He’s coping too.

Keyop, a thoroughly disgruntled look on his face, says “Rather do it… with him.” Okay, he’s not.

We see Earth from space, receding into the distance behind them.

“Beautiful lift off!” we hear Zark saying, “Set your orbital arc for X190, the constellation Orion and planet Riga.”

“Orbit fixed, Zark,” says Princess’ voice as we see the Phoenix moving through space, “Bye bye to the Milky Way!”

“Convert to automatic,” says Zark, “I’m putting you in time warp.” We see a glowing dot moving through space.

“Automatic set,” says Princess, “Make it disappear, Zark!”

Now all we see are a bunch of erratically moving white streaks on a black background –I guess this represents time warp?

“You’ve entered constellation Orion,” says Zark, overlooking the fact that constellations are based on how stars’ positions are perceived solely from Earth without regard for their distances from Earth and that the stars in Orion are actually nowhere near each other in space, “And are approaching planet Riga. Activate retro-jets.”

“Retro-jets on!” says Princess, as we see the Phoenix passing some sort of vaguely cylindrical space ship –no word on what it is though.

“No word from Mark,” says Zark, “But my scanners indicate that he’s up there on planet Riga somewhere.”

We get a view of the Phoenix entering the planet’s atmosphere.

“Now, going into radio silence,” says Zark [and about time, too], “Good luck, Team.”

But, as the Phoenix is flying along, a wheel-shaped ship appears before them.

[Hey, it looks just like the ship the Spectrans were using on planet Odin, 14 episodes back. I guess that gave them plenty of time to bring it to Riga.]

“Look!” says a wide-eyed Tiny, “That’s got to be Spectra’s newest killer ship!”

[Tiny doesn’t have a good memory for these things, it seems…]

Sharp spikes now protrude from the perimeter of the killer ship and it begins to rotate rapidly in the air.

It and the Phoenix begin flying around each other.

“Buzz saw,” says Keyop, looking nervous.

“Let’s bring it to ‘em!” says Jason, looking impulsive [heh].

“I’m the pilot, and I’ll decide,” says Tiny, looking confident.

“Now we know what we need most,” says Princess, looking like someone who’s unwarrantedly clutching her head in despair and then raising her hands to stare upward imploringly, “Mark. We need our Commander!”

But we cut to Mark and Tom standing in an empty city street in front of a building.

“Is this where you saw my father?” asks Mark. He doesn’t wait for Tom to answer and goes to open the building’s door. He steps inside, not followed by Tom, and suddenly he turns to see that Tom is nowhere in sight and that he himself is standing on a platform that’s descending below ground.

“Hey!” cries Mark as a voice says “Welcome, Earthling.”

Mark turns around to see where the voice is coming from. There a blinding glow of light but when it disperses, he sees a man flanked by about a dozen Spectran soldiers.

“I’m Chief of the Secret Spectra Forces on Riga,” the man explains [lest Mark think he’s the police captain from planet Odin –I mean, he looks just like him.]

“Thanks,” retorts a glowering Mark, “I could have guessed that without your help.”

“I didn’t believe one of our agents could capture the head of G-Force so easily,” says the Chief.

I guess this is one of those episodes where the G-Force secret identities are not-so-secret.

“You mean Tom is a Spectra agent?” demands Mark, appalled.

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“One of our best,” says the Chief, “He’s given us you!”

Mark’s eyebrows are aquiver as the treachery of his old friend becomes fully apparent to him. He closes his eyes, head bowed, but then stares up in outrage, saying “Tom, you traitor!”

And we cut to Zark pacing at Center Neptune as 1-Rover-1 sits nearby.

“Worry, worry, worry,” he’s saying, “My factory programmer told me there’d be days like this. The G-Force Team is doing the best it can to foil the X-3 plan but without Mark, it’s like me operating without a selective quantometer.”

[Zark, sometimes I think you’re the main reason I became a Jason fan…]

“The worst part of all,” he continues, “is not hearing from anyone. All I know about Mark is what Keyop told Chief Anderson!”

Yes, things are truly in a state if Zark doesn’t know more than everyone else!

He flaps his cape and flies over to his monitors.

“As for the rest of G-Force, they’ve been under radio silence since they arrived on planet Riga. If I don’t hear something pretty soon, I may pop a circuit breaker.”

Well, what Zark is not hearing is that the Spectran wheel ship is trying to slice up the Phoenix.

“They’re wiping us out!” snarls Jason, as cracks appear along the radar screen in front of him.

“That salami slicer’s got too much speed for us,” declares Tiny, as it comes in for another swipe at the Phoenix with its rotating spikes.

“Okay… got the point,” says the witty Keyop through clenched teeth.

Suddenly Princess stands up and dashes towards the exit from the bridge.

“Hey!” says Keyop.

“I’m going to activate the bird missile!” declares Princess.

“Good,” says Tiny, “You should have done it sooner.”

“I thought one of you geniuses might,” she says sarcastically, “And save this embarrassment.”

This confuses me. What is this special “bird missile” on the Phoenix that requires someone to leave the bridge in order to activate it? And Princess, if you know all about it, then why the heck were you waiting for one of the guys to suggest its use (while the Phoenix, embarrassingly, gets sliced up)?

“She’s something,” remarks Tiny as she leaves the bridge.

Princess runs down a corridor of the Phoenix, and then tosses her yoyo up very high in order to raise herself up to where the bird missile is located.

But, strangely, when she gets up there, there is no missile of any kind in sight.

“Release the hydraulic arms!” she orders into her wrist communicator –presumably to Tiny.

So, two docking clamps now extend from the walls, stopping while still several feet apart.

On the bridge, Jason suddenly stands up and says “She did it!”

This confuses me even more. As far as I can tell, she didn’t do much of anything! Why did she even have to go up there at all? Tiny –or the ship’s hydraulics- did all the work.

Yeah, I know that BOTP is trying to work around the whole Gatchaman no-missiles-fired-unless-all-five-vehicles-are-combined thing, but I think the writers could have done a better job adapting this scene.

At any rate, the Spectran wheel ship is still flying around the Phoenix but now Jason has his hand poised over the shiny red button. “Okay Tiny, let’s take ‘em!” he says.

So now, Jason fires two missiles (even though Princess had said she was activating “the bird missile”) and they both pierce right through the Spectran ship’s exterior, and then he fires two more of them.

However, now we’re seeing the two “hydraulic arms” that were extended and three glowing strands of electric current are flowing between them –until suddenly these strands snap –ceasing the current- and it sure looks like thin black cables have just snapped. I don’t know where those came from, since we weren’t shown Princess stringing her yoyo’s cord between the hydraulic arms or anything like that –maybe she found cables somewhere else and we just weren’t shown that part?

“All right!” cheers Jason, apparently unperturbed by the cessation of electric current between the hydraulic arms, “We’ve got a bull’s eye!”

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They sure do –the entire Spectran wheel ship is destroyed in a massive explosion. (I sure hope all the soldiers on board had a chance to get to the escape pods!)

We cut to Zoltar, somewhere, looking at an on-screen Spectran soldier while a man sits at a desk just behind him.

“Our killer ship is destroyed?” Zoltar is saying angrily. “Yes, sir,” says the soldier, “It was struck by a bird missile!”

I think it was struck by four of them –two for sure.

“You underestimated G-Force again!” rants Zoltar.

“G-Force?” says the man at the desk (a man who bears a striking resemblance to Chief Alban of planet Odin), “That means Anderson has turned down our proposal.”

“Now we will carry out the X-3 plan!” declares Zoltar.

We cut to a view of a very large underground hangar, where we can see a very large rocket or missile-like ship.

“Stand by! Ready for launch!” a voice is announcing and we can see that whatever is being readied for launch has the same pointy head that was seen protruding from the “secret” installation that Anderson showed to G-Force (minus Mark) as an on-screen image when he told them about the “doomsday plan” against Earth’s Van Allen belts.

“These are my final instructions,” announces Zoltar’s voice, and then we see him on a view screen addressing a soldier at a console, “Clear the launching area and begin the countdown!”

“Yes, Sir,” says the soldier, and Zoltar’s image cuts out.

“Clear the launching area!” announces the soldier’s voice as we get a last glimpse of the missile/rocket.

We cut to Tom, happily fingering a thick wad of money in his breast pocket. But suddenly a hand grabs his shoulder and his eyes widen in alarm…

But we cut to Mark, who is manacled, hands over his head, to a metal girder. Suddenly Colonel Cronus is there, firing a gun and Mark’s manacles break apart. Then we see that two other Rigan Red Rangers are there too, and manacles are also shot off of Mark’s ankles.

“You’re free, my friend,” says Colonel Cronus, flanked by his two fellow Red Rangers, “Let’s go!”

The other two Rangers dash from the room but Mark asks “Where’s my father, Cronus?”

Cronus pauses and looks back at him. Mark just stands there, awaiting an answer.

“Your old friend played a cruel trick on you, Mark,” says Cronus, “Forget it for now. Because of this delay in rescuing you, Zoltar has been given additional time to complete preparations for the X-3 plan.”

Maybe this is where Mark should be asking “What’s the X-3 plan?” because he wasn’t at Anderson’s briefing, but perhaps the Chief of the Secret Spectra Forces on Riga told him about it.

But Mark says nothing.

“Your father isn’t here,” continues Cronus, “Don’t you think if he were, I’d know? And I’d have to let you know?”

Mark still doesn’t say anything. Cronus dashes from the room too now.

But then he reappears, herding Tom before him. Now we know whose hand that was that grabbed Tom’s shoulder before.

“Here’s the man who betrayed you,” says Cronus, holding Tom’s arms pinned behind his back, “Do what you like with him.” With that, he gives Tom a big shove, sending him sprawling –then he dashes from the room again.

Tom sits up, looking terrified as Mark walks towards him. “Forgive me, I was scared,” he says, trembling with guilt and fear.

“I trusted you because you were my friend,” says Mark, not looking at him, “but you lied to me about my father, and that’s the lowest! And when you pretended to be injured, that was just another cheap trick!”

Tom just stared at him.

“I was suspicious but I made myself believe you,” continues Mark, “For old times, I had faith in you. You betrayed that faith!”

Tom throws himself against the wall, as if terrified, crying “Mark, you’ve got to believe me!” He turns to look at Mark. “I was trapped and I was scared! They threatened to kill me unless I followed their orders.” He huddles himself up now, still trembling. “Mark, please try to understand, I know I did the wrong thing but I had no choice! Go easy! I’ll do anything, please!”

Mark’s looking at him now.

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“You haven’t changed,” he retorts, “When we were in the Academy and you were in trouble, you always came crying to me for help!” He turns his back to Tom. “Well I’m through helping you, Tom!”

Mark starts walking out of the room.

“Wait!” wails Tom.

“Traitor!” snaps Mark, “You played the role –now live with it!”

And then Mark is gone. Tom hangs his head in despair.

And we cut to rocket/missile engines igniting, as Zark’s voice says “Mark is concerned about his friend, but he’d be even more concerned if he knew, that not far away, on Riga, Zoltar is now ready to launch a rocket into the Van Allen belt that could mean disaster for Earth!”

How does Zark know if Mark is concerned or not –I thought he didn’t even know where on Riga Mark is?

However, Zark is correct that the X-3 rocket is indeed launching.

Jason, Princess, Tiny and Keyop are standing just outside the “secret” launch tube by the lake that they were shown an image of by Anderson, and they are witness to the massive rocket blasting off into the sky (and cringe and duck at the wash of hot air and vapor that hits them). They’re too late to stop it now.

“They got it off,” growls Tiny, looking up from the ground. “If we’d only been a minute earlier…” says Jason bitterly.

Somewhere that looks like it’s nearby, Cronus and his fellow Rangers are standing near their jets and also watching the rocket go streaking off into the sky.

“Well, it’s done,” says Cronus grimly, “The X-3 plan is in action.”

The X-3 rocket is out of the Rigan atmosphere now, and its lower sections drops away, leaving the pointy upper section to continue on towards Earth.

The Phoenix is now resting on the surface of the lake (or some other body of water) as sea gulls fly around in circles above them.

On the bridge, Jason, Princess, Keyop and Tiny are there, talking to an on-screen Chief Anderson.

“Sorry, Chief,” says Princess sadly, “We got here just a little late to stop the launching.”

“We spent too much time fighting the killer ship,” adds Jason.

“And we missed Mark,” adds Tiny.

“Forget Mark!” snaps Jason, looking at Tiny, “Looks like he did his best to forget us.”

“Don’t blame Mark,” says Anderson, surprisingly calm considering the X-3 plan will bring about the end of mankind (and womankind), “I’m to blame for everything that’s happened there on Riga.”

Princess and Jason are staring at him blankly from a viewscreen as Anderson continues, “This story begins many years ago. We knew then that Spectra was developing the X-3 plan on Riga. I needed someone to steal that plan or destroy it.”

We see his memories now and an image of him talking to Cronus.

“It was a dangerous assignment, and I chose one of my best test pilots to sneak into Riga.”

We see an image of Cronus running while carrying a briefcase, wearing the white suit and hat.

“It was a perilous espionage against a vicious organization.”

We see an image of Cronus handing a very small Mark over to Anderson.

“The man worried that his family might be harmed, so he left his four year old son to me.”

We see an image of Cronus waving farewell, heading towards his jet.

“He also pretended to be missing in a plane accident.”

We see an image of a plane, trailing black smoke, heading towards an ocean’s surface.

“He changed his name and disguised himself when he went to Riga with two other Red Rangers.”

We see an image of Cronus, in his Red Ranger uniform.

“That man is Colonel Cronus… Mark’s father,” concludes Chief Anderson.

On the bridge of the Phoenix, everyone is stunned and silent for a moment at this revelation.

“All this time,” Princess says, deeply moved, “Mark never knew Cronus was his father.”

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“Know… how he feels,” burbles Keyop sadly.

“I know it was wrong,” says Anderson, “I should have told him long ago but Cronus didn’t want me to.”

Princess stares, a tear running from her eye. “Mark…” she whispers.

Meanwhile, Mark is standing on the shore of some large body of water as waves lap near his feet, staring grimly into the distance where an orange and purple sunset is streaking the sky.

It’s still not clear if he knows anything about the X-3 plan or not. He starts walking down the beach.

And we cut to what I assume is Earth, and an explosion, followed by an orange cloud of radiation fills the sky over a sea filled with ice bergs.

“Bad news,” voice-overs Zark, “My sonic detectors tell me Zoltar’s missile has triggered the descent of the Van Allen radiation belt.”

We see the ice bergs shrinking away.

“Ice bergs are melting in the Arctic Ocean, ships are foundering, tidal waves are churning up the sea.”

As he says this, we see a ship being tossed by high waves.

“I’m very nervous about Mark,” continues Zark as we see Mark’s feet (presumably still on Riga) being lapped by waves at the beach, “Why doesn’t he rejoin the Team? Because –let’s face it- if G-Force isn’t able to stop Zoltar’s mad plan, who will?”

Mark continues to stare at the setting sun…

And we cut to Zark at Center Neptune.

“I know Mark is trying to find his father, but without him, G-Force has no trained leader. Worst of all, Mark is up on planet Riga and doesn’t even know Zoltar had already launched his terrible x-3 plan from there!”

“It looks like it’s going to be one of those steady, round the clock alerts,” continues Zark, now at his monitors, “But I’ll be right here waiting to help.”

Now he breaks the fourth wall, facing forward and saying “And I hope you’ll stick with me and be back for the next episode to cheer G-Force on to victory in this battle against Spectra’s doomsday machine!”

The End.

Well, not really.

To be continued…

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Thank you so much for adding this BOTP recap to your review, LB! It really adds a lot to the thread.

Zark loves peanut oil... sheesh. Could we make him allergic, and he breaks out in a rash, or cant breathe? Devil1

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I saw the Robot Chicken sketch. Soooo evil.

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quote:
Originally posted by UnpublishedWriter
I saw the Robot Chicken sketch. Soooo evil.


Yeah, the ending... I know I shouldn't laugh, really, but I just can't help it.

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quote:
Originally posted by Transmute Jun
Zark loves peanut oil... sheesh. Could we make him allergic, and he breaks out in a rash, or cant breathe? Devil1


ROFL 2 I'll definitely be glad to provide some, if necessary!

Thanks a lot for this addition, LB!

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