Mobile Armored Podcast Show
Computer, select the best agents for this mission!
The Mobile Armored Podcast Show is a rewatch podcast of the 80’s cartoon series M.A.S.K. Hosts Adam Moore and PJ McNerney are hitting the rewind button and taking you on a wild ride back to the era of neon, synthesizers, and cartoons that were blatant toy commercials—but oh, so unforgettable.
Remember the thrill of Matt Trakker's adventures and his crew of oddly skilled agents? Well, Adam and PJ sure do, and they're dissecting all 75 episodes with the perfect mix of fondness, bafflement, and a hefty dose of "Did they really just say that?!"
Listen along as we peel back the layers of this 80’s classic, pondering over the show's logic-defying moments and the peculiar decisions of its characters. From the bizarre case of Professor Stevens waking up in Matt Trakker's library to the absurdity of Alex Sector's animal care fiascos; from the physics-defying flights of a certain red Camaro to Matt Trakker’s questionable parenting and leadership strategies, Adam and PJ invite you to laugh, rethink, and maybe cringe a little as they uncover the curious charm of this 80’s gem.
Whether you're a die-hard fan or just another Child of the 80’s like us, tune in every Monday for a trip down memory lane with a twist. Buckle up for the Mobile Armored Podcast Show—it's going to be a hilariously bumpy ride through nostalgia and beyond. Catch you on the airwaves, M.A.S.K. fans!
Mobile Armored Podcast Show
Mayhem's Colonic Disruptor
Send a Priority One Message to M.A.S.K. HQ!
We thought Miles was going into the medical equipment business until we realized he was saying "cyclonic" disruptor. We're still a bit disappointed, tbh. Also, "funny-looking domes", dirty bombs, Matt uses Scott and T-Bob as canaries in a coal mine, and Gloria reveals even new levels of her hard core adrenaline junkie-ness. All that and more in this week's pod!
All right. Well, I'm ready. If you are,
Track 1:do this.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:let's go. Let's go. All right. In three, two, Welcome to the mobile armored podcast show, the podcast that transforms into a boat with depth charges and a freeze ray. I am Adam Moore PJ McNerney. How are you doing PJ?
Track 1:doing great. Once again, very excited for this episode. It's Stunning in so many ways that a 22 minute cartoon show can produce so many questions.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yes, we were just saying before the pod started that we have nine pages of notes on a 22 minute episode of animation. This is also the first podcast we're recording now that the pod is out there in the wild and real live human beings are listening to it. And hello listeners. It's great to be hearing back from you about your opinions on the podcast. So far, it's been all positive. We'll wait and see how things go as we continue forward.
Track 1:They're about to encounter like mask episode one. So we've, we've had some preamble stuff out there. Do we apologize in advance or look folks, if you're offended by uh, Our commentary and 80s cartoon. Just don't listen.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:And there goes our last listener. But while we had them, what I think was fun is that Sharon Noble, Gloria Baker herself, Vanessa Warfield herself,
Track 1:the computer.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Oh, that's right. She has a computer and a cuckoo clock. Among many other voices on the show. She reached out to her. Say thanks for all the great memories so how's it going, Sharon? to hear from you and a quick what's up to uh, your friend spooky on Instagram who reached out and is loving the show. If any of you want to follow us on Instagram, you can just search for us at mask podcast. That's M dot a dot S. podcast, and you can find us on Instagram and you can tell us how much you love or are apathetic about the podcast.
Track 1:Or hate. We'll accept hate as well. That's fine. That shows you feel something.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Unlike Matt Tracker
Track 1:Matt.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:about his son.
Track 1:I don't know whether to hug you or spank you. Make up a decision. Alright, Matt. Scott's waiting for you.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Well, Today's episode is mask episode seven. The ultimate weapon in which Venom obtains a device that jams the control systems of Mask's vehicles, rendering their opposition immobile.
Track 1:Terrible tagline because it's not immobile. They just go haywire. But, Whatever. I don't know if anyone's really paying attention to the taglines.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:and folks, we do have a trigger warning for you. If you get triggered by sensitive topics, we recommend that you stop listening just before the more you know segment at the end of the episode. So you can listen to the whole thing, then maybe pause a few minutes before we, we wrap up. And you will see what we mean when we get
Track 1:We realize it seems bizarre that we have to put so many trigger warnings on an eighties cartoon show. But this is where we're at folks.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:So hey, by the way, with episode 7 we are over 10 percent of our way through the season.
Track 1:Yeah. And just under 10 percent of our way through the series. It's wild to think about, but it's, both a long season and yet at the same time, it's a relatively short run when you think
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:it is.
Track 1:all cartoons or television shows out there. So I just want to pour one out for the first 10 percent we've made it through with adventures in Various forms of alien species, dinosaur boys multiple secret cults in Colorado, apparently. And,
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Oh, and a giant laser that can fire from Colorado to Corpus Christi, Let's kick this one off. Matt, Scott, and T Bob are going to see a quote unquote space war movie. T Bob says that they bore him. But Scott says you'll like this one. They've got a great movie. Bunch of great special effects. And Matt, of course, is wearing his dashing blue suit to the movies. I love that he dresses up for the movies. He's my kind of guy. Scott, as usual, in the same outfit he always wears. Uh, They're going to like a big Cinerama Dome to see this movie. And we do get a shot of the Space War movie a couple times while they're watching it. And it looks like a pretty crappy movie, to be honest. T Bob might be right, He thinks the special effects look fake. And Scott's just talking to him the whole time. Wow, these are great, T Bob, look at the special effects. It's like, dude, Scott, shut up. There's a movie on. You're ruining it by talking. Didn't you listen to Nicole Kidman at the beginning of the show? Saying, don't talk during the movie? What about the sort of thinly veiled reference to Star Wars?
Track 1:It's funny, basically, because they're taking these shots at it, because it's like space war. It's worthwhile noting though that a lot of the sound effects ended up in 80s cartoons. This was before I think you had computers like scanning every single, element of the audio or video. And so, you know, you hear it in Transformers, GI Joe, like lots of places where Star Wars special effects ended up.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:and of course, there's a Cinerama Dome, which for those of you who know Los Angeles is located on Sunset Boulevard, a very iconic movie theater and still exists to this day and is a historic landmark, but I don't think there's one of those in Colorado in 1985.
Track 1:is the thing. As far as I know, there's only one Cineramidome. unless basically we're saying it got destroyed. Sometime, but as far as I know, like it's singular, like there's one's in a Rama dome. It's on sunset in LA. It's a great place to watch movies. It's going to reopen 2025. I think.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:But Venom did destroy it to a degree, so maybe that explains why there isn't one. in, in Colorado. But, speaking of Venom, while the movie is going on inside and Scott is loving all the special effects, which I'm sorry, that's all he's into. He's not into the plot, he's not into the characters, he's just into the special effects. But, like I said, Venom has shown up. We got Sly, we got Cliff, we got Miles. Switchblade opens fire on the dome. He says, the roof is still intact. And then Sly Rax tries to blow it up, nothing happens. Cliff tries, and has one of his great lines, I always did want to break into the movies. They're trying to cut a hole into the, the Cinerama dome.
Track 1:I'll be very honest, at this point in time, not understanding why they were doing this. My first question is, why does this have to be done in the middle of the day? They're in broad daylight. They've shown up to start destroying this dome. It's like, I hate movies! And, you gotta, I mean, Vanessa Warfield is not there because clearly it was like, No guys, nope, not gonna do it. No. Not today.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:She respects cinema too much to do something like that.
Track 1:She was a big fan of the French New Wave.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Indeed she was. Hey, so meanwhile, inside, Scott is like, this is so great. The effects are so real. And Matt stands up and says, yes, too real. Hey, Matt, sit down. There's a movie going on.
Track 1:What?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Stop blocking it.
Track 1:great about this is that Matt maintains his composition. but he's like in that, that uncanny Valley, because there's Matt, there's times when you're not supposed to yell fire in a movie. This is one of those times because literally it will come down on your head and every other movie goers. So. Maybe move it along like don't half ass it and just block people's view. Inform people you're going to die. Save
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Hey, let's all get out of here.
Track 1:my own skin and you guys so quietly leave. Let all these suckers die.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:I love that a billionaire like Matt still takes his kid just to an afternoon matinee screening of a movie. I think that shows that he's still in touch with the common man. I love that.
Track 1:He wants to save money.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:That, and not giving Scott a new pair of clothes. That's where he saves them. You gotta pay, you gotta pay for masks somehow. These vehicles don't pay for themselves. So anyways, all the theatergoers escape the building, and Venom gets away. Why would Venom go through all that trouble just to ruin a movie is what Scott wants to know, and Matt says, that's what I'm going to find out. And Scott really wants to help out, but Matt, of course, says it's too dangerous and Scott will have to stay behind. And Scott is like really crestfallen by this. Did he think Matt was going to let him come? Does he not know his own father?
Track 1:There's also some weird stuff. It's like, Scott asked him, will you call mask? And his response is, that depends what I find out from the computer. It's like, wait a minute. What? It's very clearly Venom. There is zero doubt. Are there times that mask doesn't go after Venom? Like, Oh, you know what? That site was scheduled for demolition. So Venom actually was contracted. It's fine. It's all good.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:And also when they're driving back to Mask HQ in Thunderhawk, T Bob is sitting on Scott's lap. first of all, doesn't Thunderhawk have a backseat? Also, how heavy is T Bob? Is he like crushing Scott's pelvis?
Track 1:It's possible that Matt found another body in the ravine. It's like, oh, nope. That's, That's going in the back. T Bob, you're sitting up front, buddy. Heh
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:first.
Track 1:heh heh.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Anyways, to Mask HQ. So in fact they do arrive at Boulder Hill. And Buddy is there. He meets them and he says uh, what's going on, Matt? And Buddy legitimately seems surprised that Matt is showing up there. What's that all about?
Track 1:I feel like Matt could be like I fucking own this place. I'll show up any goddamn time I want to. And buddy's has to sheepishly admit I was running a craps game in the back. I figured it was a Saturday. I figured Venom took the weekend off. I'm sorry. Huh?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:I don't have the place set up for our Thing yet Matt I thought it was happening tonight Nope, I already found the body We gotta get going Anyways enough about ravines and bodies. There are no ravines or bodies in this episode Matt After claiming how dangerous everything is Tell Scott and T Bob to head off on their own to the park or the library It's too dangerous, Scott. Why don't you two go alone to the park or library? So there's a father of the year moment Scott whines about how much he loves space films and space. So Matt tells him to go to the observatory. They opened a new exhibit on the solar system and Scott is overjoyed by the idea of a new, Exhibit about the solar system. He's uh, entertained by very simple things
Track 1:Look, man, he's got to find his joy somewhere. He really is that model latchkey kid. And so I think there is like an element where we both get to relate on this. But, as we pointed out, T Bob at least has a radio now and they ride off into the sunset. It's a Western vista as like whatever barren land that exists between Boulder Hill and the city. It would have been really nice had Matt dropped him off at said place, as opposed to making Scott ride back in the hot sun. But whatevs, right? Just whatevs.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:And as Matt watched them go into the sunset he thought good luck out there Scott. Hope I see you again someday Anyways on with the mission Matt and Buddy are in Mask HQ and they're working with the computer trying to figure out why would Venom want to attack a movie theater? And Buddy's shrug is like so nonchalant. He's like, I don't know.
Track 1:It's like, I don't know Matt, I barely understand why Venom or anyone else does anything. I'm just, I'm just here. I fix the vehicles. I throw stamps at people.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:And the computer says, Analysis unsuccessful. Data insufficient. To which Buddy says, I could have come up with that.
Track 1:That is what you came up with buddy. Nothing. All right, you should have just stood there and said nothing because that's exactly what you've been contributing.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:It's time to move to our favorite part of the episode, the agent selection scene. let's see who the computer chooses for this episode's team. First up, Gloria Baker, champion race car driver, black belt in kung fu, team hottie. She's at the dojo, standing next to some big guy, and they both have these large rock caroms in front of them. And the guy next to her does like a judo chop, and smashes the top rock on his. Gloria's about to do the same, but she gets the call, and then she hits her rocks, and they disintegrate! Into ashes! Like, Holy crap, Gloria!
Track 1:Yeah, she does this like move that is like, you know, it seems like she's not touching it at all. And then they just disintegrate. You do not fuck with this woman. All right. That is what she is saying in that moment. Like I will, I not only will I murder you, but there will be nothing left of your body.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:You do not want to meet her in a dark alley. Brad Turner's next. Brad is in the rehearsal studio. He's tuning his guitar and uh, breaks a string. He kind of shakes his head like, Ah, stupid string.
Track 1:That broken string, I feel like is a metaphor for his relationship with his band. Broken. He does have the mental wherewithal to place the guitar carefully on the chair. And I don't really mean to compare mask agents, but I think if Dusty was in that same position, he would just like throw it against the wall as he runs out of the room.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:And that would actually be very rock and roll.
Track 1:It really would. Maybe that's why Brad is a mid level band frontman.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Cause he won't wreck his instruments.
Track 1:It won't wreck his instruments. He runs out of his band constantly and he won't wreck his instruments.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Alex Sector is next. Rhino Co Pilot. He's washing a very small dog in a very big tub. Like the dog is clearly underwater. This tub is so big. Like he's holding a dog underwater while scrubbing it. So anyways, he gets the call. He pulls the dog out and he hands it dripping wet to the owner who is standing right next to him, supervising his bathing of her dog.
Track 1:Which
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Maybe not a bad idea.
Track 1:I've heard about you, Alex. I want to make sure my dog's okay. On balance, this does show a lot more concern for the pets than we've seen in the past where. It's like throw a carrot to an alligator or overfeed fish and we can presume that this dog will actually live, unlike the dog that we've seen Alex wash in the past and just left there in the tub.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:The final member of the team is Buddy Hawks, intelligence expert. And then the computer says, contacts with the underworld. Huh? Never heard that one before. What underworld is the computer referring to?
Track 1:What's great about buddy. Is that. He never seems to get like a better look to him, on episode one, he starts off as racist by not understanding Bruce and, and multiple times not caring to, he's pretty terrible at his job, at least in terms of being courteous to the customers. He's a master of disguise. And it's like, what's that all about? Now, he has Underworld contacts. Maybe the criminal Underworld threw him in the ravine and Matt rescued him?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Now that's the team notably missing is Hondo. So Buddy is solo in Firecracker and Bruce, which means that Alex is solo in, in Rhino.
Track 1:Yeah this is really interesting because I I think this is the smallest Mask team we've seen so far. It's the first episode, I think, that Bruce is missing. Also I'll comment that, a staple so far has been Dusty Hayes, and he is also missing. This particular lineup is uncomfortably white. Basically like, we've got one woman and a whole bunch of white men. So I actually am nominating the computer for the Buddy Hawks Racism Award.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Excellent. Buddy Hawks Award nominee, The Computer. Let's see how that pans out by the end of the episode.
Track 1:see. We'll
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:The whole Mask team gets together at Mask HQ, and Matt asks Buddy if his contacts in the Underworld have any information. And Buddy, almost matter of factly, almost bored, replies, Yeah, my source tells me Venom's next strike is going to be the McKenzie Observatory. Okay. Dude, why didn't you say something earlier? And when did you discover this? It's gotten T Bobber there. Speaking of cutting to the observatory, Scott and T Bob are there looking at the world's worst solar system exhibit
Track 1:maybe like this was the reason why, but he didn't say anything because he thought that Oh, it can't be the McKenzie Observatory because that's the shittiest exhibit ever. Like surely Matt being a parent would not send their child there.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Mask shows up at the observatory just in time to catch venom and it's everyone into defense mode.
Track 1:So I, I want to give credit where credit is due. So like we find out this line from miles and this is smart. He planted the info in the underworld for where his next attack was going to be.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah it's a good plan from venom and mask shows up. To catch Venom However, Miles has a device that makes the mask vehicles inoperable. Cliff and Sly cause, you guessed it, Boulders to fall on the road. And everyone's having trouble with their vehicles. No sonic boom, no battering ram, No belly cannons, no power stroke, No ultra And T Bob starts malfunctioning too. And when we're inside the observatory, seeing T Bob malfunctioning other guests at the observatory are looking at him oddly. Why aren't people blown away by a walking Ever notice that? No one even bats an eyelash
Track 1:it's a really good point and there's no like explanation that's ever given for why like, I mean, cause he's in a movie theater. they're walking around. They're going to go to carnival later on. And no one actually cares. Maybe if they're comfortable with flying Camaros, then it's A OK to have like an egg shaped robot walking around. Another little bit of credit where credit's due and it again, it, you have to fill in the blanks here a bit, but Miles has got enough scientific knowledge about the mask vehicles to actually disable them. And it goes to that idea that Miles is very involved in the creation of them. And he has also protected the Venom vehicles so they don't get similarly affected. It's like a uh, Captain Kirk over Khan in a wrath of Khan kind of thing. They've got the command codes.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah, so far Venom's battened a thousand in this episode. And they do in fact succeed in slicing a hole in the observatory dome and they steal the telescope. But with masks completely inoperable, here's my question. Why doesn't Venom take this opportunity to just wipe them out?
Track 1:Yeah. And this is where I got to pull some of the credit back from venom because again, they did a great job of setting up the ambush, having the device. This is the right time to blow up mask. And, as a little check, Miles has enough scientific knowledge to build a jamming device for an advanced vehicle system but he needs to steal a telescope? These aren't new, they're not that complex, we were doing them, what, back in the renaissance. What are you doing, man?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Later on the episode, the police report that they found the telescope abandoned like in the side of the road or in a ravine or something like that. So clearly they were just playing around.
Track 1:a dick move. We're gonna steal the telescope, and then smash it. Because, that's what international terrorism has come to in the 80s.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Look, we've pointed this out many times before. Venom loves their job. So sometimes they just steal stuff. For the heck of it. But, All the vehicles, are malfunctioning and brad is losing control of condor and He falls to the ground and condor and crashes into shark and completely totals her and they pull a wounded gloria out of shark Is she gonna be okay? Alex says it doesn't look good and brad covers his face. It's all his fault. But what's gonna happen pj
Track 1:DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:We will find out after these messages
Come on, Jeebop. Mask will be right back. Oh, boy. Back to mask.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:And we're back. So when we left you brad had crashed Condor into shark, and it looks like Gloria is not long for this world, PJ.
Track 1:a couple things on that when Brad is crashing from the sky, I know it's not as dramatic in terms of scale as like a plane and aircraft carrier, but that's a fucking hard thing to do. It's a dangerous maneuver. Gloria is a vastly smaller target, and obviously I know Condor is a much smaller helicopter. But it takes a lot of fucking work to actually crash Condor into Shark. So I'm like, is Brad just being some kind of jackass by trying to like, impress Gloria with how cool he is? Cause Shark is fucked up at that point in time. And presumably Condor.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Also, what about Scott and T Bob, PJ?
Track 1:I don't know. No one checked. Are they okay? Oh, we gotta worry about Gloria. Uh, you know, were they injured in the observatory? This was the MacGuffin that got them there. We gotta get there right away, cause Scott and T Bob are there. Ah, whatever.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Like T Bob comes running out, quick, Matt, Scott got hurt. Be quiet. Gloria is on the ground here. Can't you see that? Show some respect. Well, We're at the hospital and we have the very pensive version of the mask music playing and Gloria's condition is critical and Brad says, it was all my fault. I'll never forgive myself.
Track 1:Yeah, Brad, it is your fault. You were trying to look good in front of Gloria. And you managed to crash your dinky helicopter into one of the smallest masked vehicles out there. Only Gator is smaller than Shark. That's on you. But I'm actually okay with Matt just letting Brad stay behind because, we now have not one but two vehicles that are wrecked. And Brad is clearly not in the right headspace. So it's okay. It does beg, though, a question, though, doesn't it, Adam?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:It does indeed. Wouldn't this be a good time to call in other mask agents?
Track 1:Yeah, huh? I mean, It's a relatively short staffed team. Well, You actually said it's the smallest team we've had so far. And now we've lost two agents and two vehicles.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Apparently the computer only works once a day. You can only choose the team once. And also, as we pointed out, Matt has no idea how to choose a mask team.
Track 1:This would be a great opportunity. This would be a great opportunity to be like, Hey, Hondo, Bruce, Dusty, can you guys get out here and gator?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Indeed. We go back to Boulder Hill. And Alex and Buddy are repairing Rhino and Firecracker in the garage. And Alex explains that Venom has created a cyclonic disruptor to affect the mask vehicles and T Bob. So T Bob is obviously the same technology as the mask vehicles. But, Alex has developed a way to counteract the effects of the Disruptor. And they've even built one for T Bob. So on the next mission, Scott and T Bob are gonna ride in Rhino, and T Bob will be their canary in a coal mine. Showing no regard whatsoever for T Bob's safety, or Scott's safety for that matter. So that goes from, no Scott, stay behind, it's too dangerous, to, we are going to put you right in the coal mine. To the middle of the battle and have your robot be an essential piece of Making sure that the mask vehicles don't get destroyed
Track 1:Scott's getting his dream. It does feel again like, uh, an argument to be made of Hey, why don't we have one other vehicle there instead of putting your son and robot in danger? Which, by the way, I guess Scott and T Bob are all right, because they're back at Boulder Hill. I presume they stole another dump truck to get home. I don't know.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Well, as We know, Alex and Buddy have a defense against the Cyclonic. Disruptor, and they reveal that they spent all night installing these neutralizers into the vehicles. Yeah.
Track 1:so they're either completely exhausted or it's the eighties and buddy and Alex are hopped up on amphetamines and coffee. So let's, let's go back to the scoreboard on this one right now. We've got two agents and two vehicles down. And now we have two agents going into battle without sleep
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Or completely stoned out of their mind like, coked out of their minds.
Track 1:So Scott and T Bob are gonna be in Rhino driven by an exhausted man Like, like, I don't want to keep score. This is not Scott's fault this time. In fact, Scott is not to blame for anything in this episode. And there's this line though, it's kind of interesting because Matt says to Scott, I only told Alex, or I told Alex,, the only way you could go was if you stayed in Rhino's computer room. Which means that Alex was the brainchild of this idea. Matt probably thought it was a bad one, which shows concern. But Alex convinced him and then Alex basically was like, Oh, Scott should go too, because if anything happened to T Bob, Scott would be devastated. So if they're going to die, they should die together.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Also, Rhino is the biggest target that Mask has.
Track 1:It really is.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:So it's the easiest one to blow up. Well, at Mask HQ, the computer has found something interesting. Both Venom targets have domes. Whoa! That is one heck of a computer. Or, as Scott calls them, funny looking domes! the computer identifies Venom's next target, which is the Phelps Breeder Reactor. and they've just received a big shipment of plutonium. What is the deal with Venom and plutonium?
Track 1:It's the eighties back to the future. Just come out, plutonium's all the rage. I do want to like, make a statement here so the notion that we're trying to connect the dots to from the computer is that, Hey, the Cinerama dome is made of concrete, presumably the McKenzie observatory is made of concrete and this breeder reactor is also made of concrete. I hate to tell folks this, but there's different types of concrete and like, I don't expect a concrete used to protect against the radiation of plutonium is the same one used in the cinerama dome. Like there's going to be a market difference here. If only for like going with the lowest bidder for the job. As much as I'll give credit for doing practice, I do think this is Miles showing a bit of classism here. It's like, I don't even need to understand any kind of blue collar concrete stuff. It's all the same. I'm working on my colonic disruptor. And that's advanced science here. So I do think it's a bit of classist BS.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:I completely agree. And by the way, I think the name of the episode has to be colonic disruptor. Alright Venom shows up at the Phelps Breeder Reactor. To cut a hole in it. But, Mask arrives to stop them, and the cyclonic neutralizers work.
Track 1:So there's a smart plan by Matt here. Because he tells them all make them think that their vehicles are going haywire again while closing the distance. This is a smart bit of strategy on Matt's part. He doesn't want to give away the game too fast and it makes Venom basically put their guard down. So it's again, credit, like this is a smart idea.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yep, And Slyrax and Cliff Dagger are doing their thing to cut through the the reactor dome there. And Sly says, just like cutting through a piece of cake. To which Dagger's response is, It is my favorite flavor, Plutonium!
Track 1:I feel so sad in this moment for Dagger because he must have grown up in the fifties and sixties when they included radium in chemistry kits, and it's like, you're going to die very soon if you're getting that close to plutonium,
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:But by the way, none of them are wearing radiation suits as they're carrying off this operation.
Track 1:No. Miles cares nothing for them. He has not equipped these guys at all. It's like, eh, these guys will die. I'll find some other guys.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:But so Mask reveals, ha ha, we were kidding. Our vehicles actually work, and they go after Venom, but then Miles finds a way to crank up the Cyclonic Disruptor. And Alex says they found a way to neutralize our neutralizers. Very unsporting of them, I have to say, says Alex. He's a real class act.
Track 1:Yeah it's pretty strange that Alex didn't think to like, have their own neutralizers, get to crank up the power, but that's what happens when you try to install shit overnight, like you're going to miss a few things, buddy.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Cliff and Sly enter the power plant to get the plutonium, and they encounter some workers. And uh, Stiletto is once again used to pin people against the wall. Venom is only into mass casualty events? It seems like Venom will destroy a whole city with an earthquake device? But killing one or two people isn't their vibe. It's either thousands or no one.
Track 1:They really don't want to like get involved in PTSD like, Cliff won't use torch to burn someone alive, nor will Sly, daggerize someone with like stilettos. I think they like to make it impersonal. They don't want people to haunt their dreams because like, I got to imagine you'd wake up screaming.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Maybe that's Miles whole thing. He's like, look, don't kill one on one. Trust me. about this.
Track 1:I wake up every night thinking about Andy. And it's not good, okay?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Thanks to Miles cranking up the Cyclonic Disruptor, the mask vehicles stop working, so they've got to abandon their vehicles. Fortunately, their masks still work, so that's helpful. Alex uses Jackrabbit to lift him, Matt, and Buddy into the power plant, and it's like a floating group hug.
Track 1:It's a real hug there. Real like, you know, solid hug. And it's like a huddle that turns into a hug, as they grip each other for dear life.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:It's the strangest, like their legs aren't even moving as they're floating across the sky.
Track 1:I know. I know. And they've got to have amazing upper body strength to hold that position like that. And Alex does not give them any warning. He's just like, Hey, come here. Jack rabbit on and buddy doesn't even say what the fuck. Wait, hold on.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:They're floating through the sky and Miles is about to shoot them, which is a great idea. Cause they're completely unprotected while floating in a group hug across the Colorado sky. When suddenly like dozens of masked vehicles show up. And it turns out, it's just Brad using Hocus Pocus.
Track 1:Yeah it's kind of a remarkable moment.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Deus Ex Helmet.
Track 1:Deus Ex helmet. And again it begs the question a bit of like, why is Condor now? Okay. But Thanks for showing up, Brad. And it does go to a bit of like, Hey, we needed what, at least one more mask agent and not just, T Bob and Scott who are still abandoned inside of Rhino right now.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah, can we talk about that? First of all, by the way, Brad is abandoning the bedside vigil for glorious health to come out and help the boys, which is fine. But, as Alex, Matt, and Buddy have their group hug flight through the sky, Scott and T Bob. Are just stuck in Rhino with no way out.
Track 1:I know we talked about the weight of T Bob earlier. Thank God, like T Bob did not flail in such a way to Throw his heavy robotic body against Scott because that would have killed him
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Something I find interesting is that despite only ever seeing like a single version of every mask vehicle and maybe half a dozen at most. Miles Mayhem thinks that they are completely surrounded by mask agents and he calls for a full retreat. How is that possible?
Track 1:well A couple things to be fair He does try to use the colonic disruptor on those vehicles, and it doesn't work So it's kind of like ah shoot. He's also an older gentleman. He might get spooked easily I don't know like let's point out that miles is attacking a nuclear reactor. It would have made a lot of sense, to call in as many agents as possible. And maybe the military to stop Venom from fucking with the reactor so there's a logic for Miles at this point in time, which is like, Oh yeah, Matt must have called in all these forces because I'm trying to mess with a nuclear reactor.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:yeah, Miles totally overthinks it
Track 1:He
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:and assumes that Matt is more competent than he actually
Track 1:He's like, you know what? This makes a lot of sense. We're out of here, huh? Probably shouldn't have attacked the cineramidome that might have telegraphed it. Or stolen that telescope. Because you know what? That was a dick move. I didn't need to do that. There's a lot of introspection I think Miles is going through right now.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:I hope he has a good therapist. But despite the fact that Venom goes into full retreat, Sly and Cliff leave behind an explosive attached to the plutonium storage unit.
Track 1:So many questions. Did they bring that with them just in case? Do they always have an explosive with them just in case? And had they succeeded, we should point out this would have been the first detonation of a dirty bomb on U. S. territory. Every U. S. agency would have put a kill order out on them. It's no fucking around, Matt. Not anymore. We're bringing G. I. Joe in, and they've got a kill order, sniper shot, two miles ahead as soon as possible.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:How would they ever find Venom? Because they are cleverly disguised as a beatnik riding around in a motorcycle with a sidecar. Hard to find those. It's a real needle in a haystack. so, Rather than stop Sly and Cliff and Miles, Matt and company now have to deal with the explosive attached to the plutonium storage unit. Matt uses Spectrum to discover, it's a bomb.
Track 1:Oh no! Ha
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:You really needed your math to tell you that, buddy? Like really? It's clearly ticking down. It's a bomb.
Track 1:There's so much exposition and it's like, Oh, there's 30 seconds left. And then they continue to talk about it. it's like, guys, what are you doing? Stop, get off the ground. Do something else.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah, there's something else they do is Alex removes a piece of the jackrabbit mask. He calls it a rocket pack. And attaches it to the explosive and then hucks it flying into the air and it works. But by the way, that is one heck of an explosion, right? Like it's fireworks and it keeps on going on for like 10, 15, 20, 30 seconds. It's like, uh, flashing in their faces, like blue, red, and green. I mean, What are they using as their detonator?
Track 1:Which again, it begs the question, like miles mayhem must've come up with that explosive had that gone off on the reactor. Cliff and Sly would be dead. If the explosion is that large from that far away, it would have cast so much plutonium effectively, Miles would be like gotta get some new venom agents.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Good thing I've got Vanessa. Anyways. Venom defeated, we can go back to the hospital. And everyone's walking out with Gloria, whose only wound Again, Condor crashed into Shark while Gloria was in it. Shark was totaled. Gloria's only wound appears to be her arm in a sling. Okay. She is a tough gal, as we know, so That's fine. Scott says, You sure healed fast, Gloria. And Gloria's response is, I had no choice. After all, your father and the team were having all that fun with Venom. I am telling you, this woman is hard core. Like, She is an adrenaline junkie. She does not feel alive unless people are trying to kill her. Or she's trying to kill someone.
Track 1:The fun they were having with Venom. Venom. was stopping them from exploding a nuclear reactor. Like the gravity of that situation is really intense. It's like, Oh, I missed out on it. Wow. I wish I was there.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah, but then Matt basically asks her, you call that fun? And Gloria says, yeah, I do. And Matt's response, you know what? She's right. And they all bust out laughing. Matt, this is so inappropriate. Venom is trying to cause mass destruction, mass murder. They are a terrorist organization and you get a kick. Out of chasing around the country, trying to stop their antics. Okay, man, yeah,
Track 1:How much fun Venom clearly has. They love their jobs. And you know what, this is Mask loving their jobs and not having a group laugh around something racist. So let's just take that in for a second and be like, all right you're all pretty messed up at this point in time. If you're all like enjoying that kind of laugh, what is your collective damage?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:they're absolutely, absolutely damaged, but that's our, that's our fade out of the main episode. So PJ, you bet me last episode.
Track 1:I did. And it was very complex parlay bet.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Uh, There were going to be five words
Track 1:That were going to come out of nowhere that were going to cause you to laugh, say, wait, did they just say that? Rewind it and then say, oh my God, they just said that.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:And I have to say, because you didn't set up what it was going to be, I was listening throughout the entire episode to figure out what it was. At one point, my best guess was contacts with the underworld. But, that's not, that's like four, unless you split under and world, and that becomes five. That's the best I had. Until the very end, the last five words of the episode. And as I was wrapping up, I was just kind of like, you know, typing my notes and saying, Okay we're done. I wonder
Track 1:PJ, PJ lost the bet.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah, I mean, I was really like, PJ lost the bet. And I was about to, I watch the episodes on YouTube. So I was about to close out the YouTube page and go about my day, and then Matt says his final five words, and I did laugh, and then I did have to stop, and be like wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, what? And I went back, and I listened to it again, and I said, that is amazing. So did I say exactly what you said? No, but I think that the intent was accurate. And you know me too well, my friend, and you won that bet. We're gonna make our final trigger warning here.
Track 1:This is like stop now. If you get easily triggered and again, it's fucked up that we have to say this right before the more you know section of an 80s cartoon. But here we are with that.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:You have been warned. The more you know moment. Scott, Matt, and T Bob are walking down the street. And Scott points out a boy on the other side of the street. And he says, hey look, Jeff's hitchhiking. And Matt says, hitchhiking is dangerous. You never know who's going to pick you up. The person who picks him up could be a Venom Agent. Or worse, a child molester.
Track 1:Whoa. Yeah.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:molester. Cut to black. End of episode. Wow, I don't I don't even know. I don't know. Before we get into any of this I need to meet the writer of this episode or whoever wrote that. I just want to have a chat. I want to buy you a coffee or a drink. You don't have to come on the pod or anything. I just want to have a chat about was this your idea for the lesson? Or did this come from some higher up, some suit at the company, at Kenner Toys? Who came up with that? Because it certainly scares me away from hitchhiking. Even at my age, now. It's great. this is the best The More You Know moment so far of the entire series. And may end up being the best of the whole series for me.
Track 1:it's wild because again, is it an important lesson? Absolutely. We're gonna take nothing away from that or the seriousness of the crime. But my god can we recap the lessons to date now? Episode 1, look both ways when crossing the street. Episode 2, Don't touch unknown dogs. Episode 3, buckle that seatbelt. Episode 4, check the depth of water before you go in. Episode 5, use T Bob's leg as a stabilizer for ladders. And episode 6, which is a little bit of a retread, is cross at crosswalks. And now we've got cars of child molesters in them! It's a huge escalation! Like it's whoa! Where did this come from?
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Notably Matt is not the one that warns Jeff the kid who's about to hitch like Scott is
Track 1:Yeah, it begs the question would Matt have warned Jeff? Cause Jeff has the door open. He's about to get in the car.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:dude that car is sketchy
Track 1:It's totally
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:can't see you can't see through the window It's you know, it's some kind of Oldsmobile It's it's it's Sketchville and it's actually it's going in the opposite direction You of where Matt, T Bob, and Scott were walking, just to point
Track 1:Yeah, good point. Really good point. I wonder if this is like a part of, Matt's mo like mask is not a proactive organization. It is very reactive. So I wonder if Matt was waiting for the boy to enter the car before running over and beating the shit out of the driver. Like maybe he was just, he wants like a cause of Bella to like, go after and attack it. Oh,
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:collects them after having fallen in ravines. He doesn't proactively stop them from doing something. He reacts to their attacks. He doesn't stop child molesters. He goes after them vigilante style after they've done the molesting.
Track 1:I'll be honest, I remember this episode really well because I remember the whole detach the anti grav pack and putting it on the explosive. I'm also 80 percent sure I saw this lesson as a kid and that I asked my mom because I didn't know what this was. What's a child molester? How many awkward conversations were had after this episode? Episode 7 of a cartoon show.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah. Do you remember what your mom's response was?
Track 1:It was exceptionally like awkward, you know, adults who will do bad things to kids I didn't understand, but it was clearly like she did not want to have that conversation at that moment in time.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah. What parent does?
Track 1:Yeah. And cartoon for for showcasing this.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:and any kids who are listening to our podcast, where are your parents? They shouldn't be letting you listen to this podcast.
Track 1:You shouldn't be listening to this podcast. We marked it as explicit. We say a lot of bad words. Kids, you shouldn't be listening to it.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:We are going to award the Buddy Hawks Award for Racism to The Computer! For choosing the all white team. So congratulations, Computer. It's, I believe, your first award.
Track 1:I kind of wish basically we could get away with one episode where we couldn't award that award. But it's, it seems just, I don't know. And maybe this is a little shirt tale in this one, but once again, like so many opportunities either to have included them initially, or like some like some other member of mask that we've seen before, or add them in later on.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Agreed. Next episode is a fan favorite, actually. It's episode 8, called The Rotex. Venom steals a swarm of metal eating bugs, secretly developed by the military. Do you remember this one?
Track 1:I don't, but I watched it recently and I'm actually, I'm very excited about this one because I think it's a fan favorite for good reasons. There's a nice bit of world building in there that we're going to see, and the tagline unfortunately gives away a bit of the surprise, but we can discuss a little bit ahead of that for some of the, things that you really get to figure out through the Rotex episode. And I know it sounds weird, but it's actually kind of interesting when you kind of like, again, read between the lines.
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Yeah. So the world is getting bigger. well, We want to thank you all for listening. We would love it if you give us a rating and a comment and you add us to your podcast app of choice and don't forget you can be like your friend Spooky on Instagram and follow us there at Mask Podcast M dot A dot S dot com. K podcast say hi to us, say what's up, slide into our DMS if you want to. And we can talk about all the things we've learned so far from mask. We'll see you next week. But for now we've got to transform and head back to headquarters. I am Adam Moore.
Track 1:And I am PJ McNerney,
adam_1_04-12-2024_100203:Buh bye.
Track 1:buh bye.
The mobile armored podcast show is written, produced and edited. Bye Adam Moore. And PJ McNerney.