Mobile Armored Podcast Show

I Need Thunderhawk, Bruce!

• Adam Moore and PJ McNerney • Season 1 • Episode 8

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This week, we dive into Mask Episode 8: "The Roteks," where Venom decides metal-eating bugs are the next big thing. Because why not? Also, Matt's grilling hot dogs like he’s had one too many, Hondo’s got an attitude, and the team's mask powers are put to the most questionable use yet.

And can we talk about the animation? It’s actually good. Who knew they could pull that off? But seriously, this episode’s logic is almost airtight, which is rare for MASK.

Join us as we dissect every absurd and hilarious moment, from Matt’s casual racism to the unintentional comedy gold. If you're into sarcasm, nostalgia, and some good ol' fashion M.A.S.K. fun, this episode is for you.

https://www.instagram.com/m.a.s.k.podcast/

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Exactly. Um, alright, are you ready?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I'm ready, man.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

to do this?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I'm ready to do this.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Alright, here we go. In three, two Welcome to the Mobile Armored Podcast Show, the podcast that transforms into a true crime podcast. Welcome to the Mobile Armored Podcast Show, the podcast that transforms into a true crime podcast. I am Adam Moore alongside my co host and best friend PJ McNerney. How's it going PJ?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I'm doing well, man. I'm excited. This is a really good one.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

It is a really good episode of Mask, I have to say. We've spoken offline about this, There's not too much to rip apart, which is kind of in the foundation of our podcast for the first several episodes. Uh, So we're taking a turn, everybody, but we're looking forward to it. I want to uh, say hi to all our listeners. This is the second podcast. We're recording since we released it out into the wild. And we have a great group of hardcore fans. Hi, Dan Rosenstein. Wishing you all the luck with your pinball podcast, which we can't wait To listen to and cross promote. But let's dive right in, shall we, to Mask Episode 8? it's called The Rotex. Venom steals a swarm of metal eating bugs secretly developed by the military. So first, before we even dive into the story, The animation in this episode is different and particularly good. And I haven't watched ahead yet, so I'm not sure if they lock into this animation style and continue with it. But it's really good.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

is really good. And I. I decided to go back again and rewatch it. And they're doing some really complicated shots where they're like changing the angle of the camera. And just to be sure folks, you might take it for granted today because 3d animation makes us so much easier, but to try and do it well for hand drawn 2d animation is really tough. And I think we should give a lot of credit. To the care and just energy and dynamism that was put into this episode. I don't want to undersell that. You're right. There's a lot of really good animation in here,

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

And some great character depth, which we're going to dive into uh, as well. So, Really great work all around. But, we open on a campground. Matt, Scott, and T Bob are out camping. In the woods there, in an RV, camper van. Matt's grillin up hot dogs on the grill while sitting down. And I kind of love this beat, where he's sitting down grilling, I personally think he's been drinking. And can't, can't stand up straight. Meanwhile, Scott is off playing with a weird remote control. It's his bird caller. And T Bob jumps out of a bush and all these birds flock to T Bob's head. And Scott's like, Look, Dad, it really works. And Matt replies, That's great, Scott. Maybe you'll get an A on your science project. Hey, Scott, let's see if your device can call Daddy another brewski, huh? At this point I would like to point out that Matt is wearing yet another new outfit. While Scott is wearing, you guessed it, his same old outfit, but Matt's kind of wearing this like blue polo shirt, a rugby shirt with a white collar. PJ, you are wearing that rugby shirt

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I am. I got it through. Some clothing service, online service. So I don't know if they were like Hey, this is the Matt Tracker collection.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Are you in your forties? Are you a boy? Do you like watching cartoons?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

guess what? We'll give you all of Matt's clothing and 10 copies of Scott's.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

That's why you have so many blue suits.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

It's true. I did decide like, what would Matt be wearing underneath the polo shirt? So if you give me just one second.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Uh Oh. He is getting undressed. He has stepped off camera. PJ is getting undressed. We don't need to see your pants off. Put your pants back on, PJ. Ha PJ is wearing a t shirt that says, Best. Dad. Ever.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Cause I think, I think this might be what's in Matt's head is like, you know what? I'm pretty awesome.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

I take my kid camping, look at us! Camping like normal people! Do in the world.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I found it fascinating Matt didn't really care that he was going to get grease on himself. He's sitting down really close to the grill

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

who sits down at a grill? Anyways, how do you think Matt's paying for uh, all of his clothes?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

These are business write offs. And uh, Scots are not, however. So that's why he out the same outfit 10 different times, apparently, because he blew all the money on T Bob.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Well, You know speaking of T Bob, he, uh, he suddenly complains of something biting him. And Scott says, You're a machine, T Bob. Nothing could bite you. You have no soul and therefore you can't feel anything. You are not alive. Like, just But then Matt actually notices that T Bob's foot is chewed off. And then their camper van starts to fall apart, which, just as an aside, I felt that Matt would have had something cooler being a billionaire and all than just like camper van from Daniel Snow Eagle's mother earlier in the season.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

It feels like we've gotten spoiled by these bus sized touring campervans that Matt surely would own at least one or more. It might transform into a rocket, but, to be fair, the campervan falls apart because it's mainly made of metal and not of plastic. So Matt probably did spring a little bit for like a rugged vehicle, American vehicle made of metal. Unfortunately, now it's being chewed apart.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

He does like American made vehicles. The Jeep, the Camaro, for sure. Anyways they discover these like beetle, spider, kind of robot bugs eating the camper. Which caused T Bop to totally freak out, and he like, transforms to scooter mode, and he drives away.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

t Bob's been programmed with a survival instinct. And. That survival instinct is overriding any care for anyone else.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Throughout the entire episode, by the way, it is his kinda neurotic thing. Matt tries to use the radio and he says, Matt Tracker calling Buddy Hawks. A couple questions there. First of all, is someone else ever trying to call Buddy? And, does Buddy have another person in his life named Matt? And then, finally, is Matt talking on like an open channel? I mean, There's a lot of questions I have about this. Why is Matt calling Buddy in this situation?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, this is a bizarre thing. Cause like, if you see these beetles Alex is your animal expert. Bruce is clearly your science expert, but he's the team mechanic. And I was like, does he want to blame buddy for the van falling apart at that point in time?

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Drops a big hunk of scrap metal in front of the gas station at Boulder Hill. Hey, buddy, fix this. I was camping with my kid, and now look what you made me do. Heh. We cut to the mansion, and my big question is, how did they get there, if their own, do they walk all the way? Or were they just camping in Matt's backyard? Anyways, they're all hanging out in the computer room, Matt, Scott, and T Bop, and Matt calls the PNA, the Peaceful Nations Alliance, and there's our buddy Dwayne again. And Dwayne reveals that these bugs are called Rotex, and that they were designed in a top secret military lab for warfare. The lab confirmed that one of their colonies had gone missing. And they are due to multiply in 12 hours. All the metal in the world will eventually be destroyed. To which Matt says, Mask is going into the pest exterminator business. Wow, I mean that could probably make a bunch of money, Matt. I mean, The paramilitary thing doesn't work out, not a bad idea.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Matt there's so many ways your inventions could be used for good like lifter jackrabbit for construction You can do pest extermination as well. But oh my god, this entire scene with Dwayne is crazy when you start to think about it. Okay? Now bit is the military is working on advanced weapons tech outside of M. A. S. K. And even outside the knowledge of M. A. S. K. And this is mind blowing and if we, again, if we take the geography into account, there's got to be some military base that's near the woods in Colorado. Colorado Springs has a major Air Force base, which means they were camping west. Wait, that's near me. It's in Divide or Woodland Park.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Let's go go back to the Rotex themselves as weapons. They are a pretty Awesome weapon system, right?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

They're crazy. Like we're, they're autonomous. And, they need to get him back because apparently they don't have a kill switch And if they multiply, that means they can't be stopped in enemy territories. So it's really fucking scary. This is like the AI nightmare that we talk about today. About just AI run amok. But it's nicely encapsulated basically in here. Sure, it's great for taking out Soviet nukes. it feels like they're missing a feature too. Don't take over the world. That's awesome.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah, exactly The kill switch is missing and this is definitely a precursor to a Terminator type world guess what happens next? It's everyone's favorite moment in the episode. It's the agent selection scene. So computer, help Matt figure out which of his friends he should call to help. Number one is Brad Turner. Uh, I'm kind of disappointed by this one, I have to say. He's just tuning his guitar again. And breaks another string again. Then he kind of shrugs at the audience breaking the fourth wall. Like what? Wha

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

yeah, this is like this is an interesting repeat thematically we saw this exact same thing last episode where he's alone in the recording room He breaks a string this band done with his bullshit

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Second is Alex sector. He is trying to catch a hissing cobra. He gets the call and he just runs away. I assume he was trying to catch the snake so it didn't attack other people. But he just abandons it.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

There's a great moment in that call scene where he's just looking at it and he just turns around and slams the door behind him Like a real leaving in a huff fuck it moment

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Go bite someone else. We catch up with Bruce. And he's just doing a Bruce thing. He's playing with some sort of robotic arm to build a house of cards. The dude actually gets paid for this? It's not really realistic.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

And then when he gets the call, the House of Cards collapses, and he has this really dejected look on his face. He's not rushing out of there, he's like, oh, my robot arm House of Cards thing didn't work.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

I'm gonna say that he kinda has a bit of a dusty situation going on at work. He hasn't necessarily developed any good toys that I've seen. And whoever he works for that we've seen in that one episode doesn't seem to care about him all that much. I think Bruce is good at a lot of things, but I don't know if toy design is what he's great at. Next up, everyone's favorite, Hondo McClane! So Hondo is walking through the library carrying a massive stack of books.. He gets the call and he hands the giant stack of books to some random woman Like you could have just put them down on the desk next to you. Hondo get again, another dick move from Hondo. It's the same as the sandwich from a few episodes ago where he just put it on top of the other guy's sandwich like Hondo. What are you doing? Is this your way of flirting with the woman? Because it's not working. You just gave her like 50 pounds of books. And probably a bad back now. What is going on?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

It's really fascinating because like time and time again, we have seen Hondo like as an agent be so upright. He's a bad ass. Like he is like brave. He puts his life on the line constantly. So many call sequences though, show him being an asshole. Oh, I'm just going to spike the ball. I'm going to put the sandwich on top. I'm going to give you this. Fucking giant pile of books It's like, Hey man you know what? Just maybe a little common courtesy.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Look, maybe they put up with Hondo because he's just such a good looking dude.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, he is.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

just like, Oh man, Hondo. stack of books any time. The final member of our team. The mechanic at Boulder Hill. So he is fixing an old VW Beetle. Clearly, Bumblebee. And he's fixing it for an old couple. Who are clearly in a rush. He gets the call and he leaves. And the man asks, where are you going? And Buddy's like, I gotta go. You can use that car over there. And what he's pointing to is a bicycle. Another dick move by a mask agent. These people are old. They're stranded at Boulder Hill, which we know is in the middle of nowhere, and you want them to ride a bicycle built for two out of there? They're gonna die. What are you doing?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

it really is remarkable. I know we've just discussed Hondo doing a lot of dick moves, but truly buddy still. Ups the game constantly where he can do an even worse dick move and it's like he's at boulder hill he's got 20 minutes to wait. So call the old people a cab don't abandon them

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Well, Buddy and Hondo both getting the Asshole of the Week award, So now we're inside MASC headquarters and Brad is pissed. You called us together to chase bugs? Shut up, Brad.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Brad

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

do what I tell you to do.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

You play daytime raves to audiences I pay

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

If I want to call you to chase bugs, you're gonna chase bugs. But anyways,

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

unplugging, I'm calling you in buddy. Try and hocus pocus that.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

heh now we all settle in for the sacred masking ceremony. And what I found interesting this time around is that everyone says energize in unison. Really good timing. They clearly all worked on that and rehearsed it. Like, I can picture Matt having them over for dinner. And they're just practicing Energize in unison over and over and over again until they got it down pat.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, I was like, hey guys, glad our rehearsals really paid off because this is bringing us together as a team.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

has added a real cherry on top to the whole sacred masking ceremony. I think we've got something here. 30 minutes later. Let's go find the bugs!

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

The bugs that are going to cause civilization's destruction if we don't stop them in time. Yeah,

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Let's roll out! Uh, So Mask does in fact roll out to the campsite. And Bruce has a great Bruce line here. He says, when the stronger many, they are stronger than the strongest. To which Hondo replies, Hey Bruce, I almost understood that. Must be something wrong with me. Which, congratulations Hondo, you are our nominee for the Buddy Hawks award. Ha ha ha

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

This definitely was a moment of, Oh, come on, Hondo, really? Like you're a teacher, you're supposed to be learned. Like I know we see this out of Buddy and Dusty most of the time and occasionally Alex, who I think is just a snob, but man, like we're settling into this pattern of casual racism that really seems to be about cultural appropriation and intentionally. Not understanding Bruce.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah, and then making fun of themselves for when they do, understand Bruce? Hondo, you're better than this. You're better, that's all I have to say. You're way better than this. Anyways, they split up, and they go looking for the Rotex. Rhino gets hit first, the Axel gets eaten away. Matt tries to fly to meet them, but the Rotex have gotten into Thunderhawk. And Firecracker gets hit too. Fortunately, Brad is flying above it all on Condor. Nice. Well done.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

It's actually it's funny the way that Alex tells the other folks. Because like, he takes his sweet time, he's like, gentlemen, we have met the enemy.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Was not an editing issue with the podcast. That is literally how long Alex waits before Saying the line.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

It's like, again, time is of the essence. That can eat your vehicles in seconds. Maybe pick up the pace a bit. We spend a lot of time in that rehearsal for Energize. That's it. Couple of like notes here again, it's between the lines, but it's cool stuff. Like the Rotex and Thunderhawk, they either were able to get to Thunderhawk undetected or they like got onto Thunderhawk before it started flying. And either way, they attacked it when it was at the point to maximize damage. That is Thunderhawk's in a free fall, basically. It's going down because the Rotex have gotten to it. So it's like, were they programmed that way? Because it's darkly brilliant if they were. Or did they learn that? Which is horrifying. A serious threat we have here. All the goofiness that we've had before with Venom and, maybe Earthquake Machine aside, these guys are proving to be a very credible threat, both to Mask and anyone else who might go up against them. It's, it's scary to think about.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah, all these vehicles get screwed up. A firecracker goes into the drink. No idea how they got it out. Nonetheless, the Rotex, they catch a bunch of them, and Alex calmly explains that the ones they caught are just scouts. How does he know this? He's very good at leaving animals to die, or leaving animals that can kill people free. But how does he know that these robotic bugs are scouts?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

yeah, I was wondering, I thought about this where it was like, if Alex has some knowledge of insects, ants will send out scouts and those scouts will leave pheromone trails. So maybe he's recognizing that similar behavior patterns there, he basically says, Oh, the Rotex are doing a similar thing with their ultrasonic signal back to the colony. And that's how they're going to backtrace him. The logic of the episode is hanging together, which is crazy.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

This is what we said at the beginning, right? Is that we can't really knock the logic of the episode too much. There's occasional leaps in logic here and there, this being one of them, but Logically, everything is clicking together, like this puzzle fits. Now, Alex can somehow recreate the signal of the Rotex scouts to help find the nest. And, here's an awesome moment, an awesome toy moment, is that the Rhino ATV is called into action for the first time. So the back of Rhino disconnects, and Bruce and Alex go off driving to, to find the nest. So that's pretty cool. Not sure how it was not affected by the Rotex, but uh, let's just leave that aside for the time being. So Alex finds the nest, and what I love here is that Hondo and Bruce actually coordinate their mask powers. To do something helpful. Hondo uses blaster to kind of carve out the ground. And then Bruce uses lifter to pull the nest out of the ground. And it's a, big box.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I would do want to comment on this, like this really good use of masks here, like you said where nice coordination of them. I do, I did wonder why Alex wasn't wearing his mask because

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

only, he's the only one not wearing a mask.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

yeah, these Rotex go after metal iron is an important part of our bloodstream. So like what would happen when they ran out of easy sources of metal? Do they start consuming humans? The other bit is that I don't know, we've seen Blaster vaporize steel before. Shouldn't he have just destroyed the Rotex there and then? Feels like that's the simplest answer.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Not a single mask power is used against the Rotex in the episode until Spectrum, which is actually just used to find their frequency and redirect them.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, that's a really good point. There's no, human on Rotex. Violence.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

They're all peace loving folk in the Mobile Armored Strike Command robot or not, they won't harm a living thing. They will tell robots that they're not alive, but they won't harm them physically, only emotionally. Guess who shows up?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Who could it possibly be?

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

We'll find out after these messages.

Mask doesn't know what it's getting into. We'll be right back. Now back to mask and venom.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

We're back, and guess who showed up? That's right, Switchblade shows up, and Miles says, I've got to keep them away from my Rotex. And so, Mask races off into the woods. They're in Thunderhawk. Firecracker's motorcycle, which also by the way gets its first appearance here,

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah,

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

ATV. So yeah, they all race off into the woods.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

was like again if you take it from the perspective of just watching the episode, we're halfway through, we're like a 10 or 11 minutes right now, and this is the first mention of venom. So it's a nice reveal. Again, it's not unexpected, just given the tagline. But, and there's kind of a nice, again, use of masks here. Switchblade fires a missile off to destroy these guys. It's a very direct action by Venom. And Hondo uses Blaster to vaporize that thing. It's awesome. Yeah, once again, like Hey Mask, maybe we should take care of Venom before they, destroy the world with these awful robotic insects.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

That would end the whole cat and mouse game of Mask versus Venom, which we know Matt is very invested in.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

we nearly had Venom detonating a dirty bomb. This time they have AI run amok. I think maybe we should consider them a little more seriously now.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Well compared to what's about to happen in season two,

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Oh my god.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Anyways, so they all start running away And as Alex is running away, he drops the box of Rotex, which pops open and they all get out. It's like, seriously man he didn't even stop to try to put them all back in. He's like, oh well, and he just ran away. Come on.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Matt and Brad Buddy and Hondo just took off without any regard to the safety of that box. So Bruce stuck around to save Alex. And again, this would have been a good place for Alex to have had Jackrabbit on to affect a quicker getaway. So yeah, it's like, you know, put your mask on, man.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah. As they're escaping, Brad uses Hocus Pocus to trick Miles. Into thinking he's firing at Thunderhawk. And then Condor goes up against Switchblade, which you don't see very often. We haven't seen this before in the series. And uh, Switchblade shows its superior firepower by just blowing the rotors right off of Condor. But somehow, Brad lands safely on the ground?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah. So first off, this was again, a good use of mask. Like we're seeing this repeatedly in this episode. So they fooled miles with hocus pocus. Nicely done, Brad, like good thinking there. And yeah, it hit the rotors and I think what happened, I don't know if it blew the rotors off, but I think it went into like auto gyro mode where like a helicopter, basically

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

stand by for science corner with

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

if a, If a helicopter's rotors stop rotating to go up, as the helicopter comes down, it'll rotate in the opposite direction, which actually creates a downward force and which actually can basically lessen, but yeah, it's a fucking hard landing either way. Last episode, Condor fucked up Shark with an uncontrolled landing. And so my only thought was maybe this is an upgrade that they made to Condor after last episode,

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

so, Venom Shows up to chase after Brad. Brad's got the only vehicle going at this point. Aside from the right of way TV. So he's on the ground and Venom's chasing after him with everything they got. Laser blast being pretty much all they've got. The Rhino ATV fires some smoke bombs, some Thunderhawks wing lasers fire. But Venom is once again doing a great job at attacking Mask.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

They really are. This is a credible threat. They're pressing their advantage against a mask that is hobbled. Their vehicles are, mostly down at this point in time. They nearly just took out Condor, which was the only Undamaged vehicle. And now they're going after the rest of mask. This is a good battle.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

yeah, it's a good battle and a smart battle. This episode is well written from a character standpoint, a dialogue standpoint a a mask versus venom, wants versus needs standpoint. well structured, well written across the board. I mean, No note well, plenty of notes, but a hearty congrats to the writer for writing what so far is the best episode so far.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I'm sure that this is going to be the same quality of episodes we see from here on out.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

It had 75 episodes, PJ. Surely there's a reason.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, this was the turning point. They had their, trying to find their way and now they're locked in and it's all good to go. Like we're gonna drop all of the indigenous people, racist tropes that we've seen before, and we're just gonna be, we're gonna be riding high on really well structured, logical episodes where Mask and Venom are both operating logically.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

I agree. I think we're done with all the Buddy Hawks award nominees. So for example, like the swarm of Rotex, they start devouring the mask vehicles. And then Matt captures a bunch of them in a plastic box and he says, Bruce, I'm Here Bruce calling Bruce like he's a dog. Oh, man Just when we thought we were over it Here comes another nominee for the buddy Hawks award Matt calling Bruce as if he was a dog Bruce here Bruce. It's actually a pretty cool cuz Bruce uses lifter to lift up the box of rotex into the sky And land on van vehicles, but come on, Matt, really?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, Matt. You didn't need to say that. That said, it was a nice attempt by Mask to try and turn the Rotex against Venom. Like, It's a good plan, again. They're thinking on their feet, and they're pivoting as they need to.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah, aside from the casual racism, no notes. Now Miles uses some kind of signal to draw the Rotex back to his special box. And then he flies away with the Rotex. And Miles explains to anyone who's listening, including Mask, that he has to get the Rotex to larger living quarters before they multiply.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, I kinda wondered, cause like, it's very clear that Miles is on the radio to Mask explaining this. And I, I was like, Miles, why are you doing that, man? Are you concerned about their feelings? That if Venom just leaves? That they'll feel bad? Because, you don't need to do that. You can just go. And do your dastardly plan.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

There's still some honor amongst thieves.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

That is true. Miles wants to be known as an honorable international terrorist who wants to destroy civilization.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Now we know there's actually some kind of a control device, right? Like some kind of a semi kill switch.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah! This is again, it's a cool detail. And it's obviously, omitted from Dwayne earlier. So obviously he didn't know it or he didn't reveal it, which again, speaks a bit to what is this kind of information flow that is, or isn't there either between the military and Dwayne or Dwayne and mask? There's some gaps there, and is there some degree of distrust that's going on? I can't imagine that the military wants the ROTEC's existence to be known. It feels very much against certain Geneva Conventions, probably. Especially if it starts chomping on kids, or something like that.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

All we know is it's the Peaceful Nations Alliance. Which is a very vague gray area, as of right now in this series,

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yes.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

It's an unknown, fuzzy kind of group. Who are these nations? What is Dwayne's relationship in terms of representing them? Do they have their own military? Is it a United Nations kind of force? Is it a NATO force? Right, We don't really know what's going on. But, now Mask is left alone in the forest with basically no weapons. Their vehicles are trashed. The road techs are going to multiply in less than four hours. And Miles can control them. guess that's it. Goodbye, civilization. Cut to black, end of episode and series.

Secret Raiders Who

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Venom wins, Mask loses, the end. But Matt turns to Bruce and he asks, basically, what can he put together with all they've got left? And Bruce says, Pogo stick? And Matt responds with, what is so far my favorite Matt line in this series. And there have been many, such as, some of my friends found you unconscious in a ravine, But he responds to Bruce, Come on, I need Thunderhawk, Bruce. You can do it. the way he says it, I'm gonna drop the line right here in the podcast cause you have to hear the way he says it.

I need Thunderhawk, Bruce.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

I love it. It's all, though, a bit condescending on Matt's part,

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah. Yeah, it really was.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Come on, Bruce. You know what I'm talking about.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I figure out what you're saying from your crazy Coens all the fucking time. Just do me a solid here and know that I need my vehicle back.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

But also, Matt, why didn't you just say you needed a Thunderhawk?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, that's a good point. Like, Why are you playing this game? Look, this is not about your relationship with Gloria. We have to figure out right here and now, like, how we solve this. By the way, I think Matt's under a bit of time pressure. Because there's less than four hours left. Let's do a little math, though, for a second. When he talked to Duane, there was twelve. What all was going on in the eight hours in between, like, how long does that mask ceremony take?

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

We've explained that. It's a solid two hours. For starters. And then, they probably do a little tweaking of the masks and, Meanwhile, we cut back to the mansion, and Scott is searching for T Bob, who is freaking out about being eaten to death. And Scott finds him hiding in a toy chest.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

T Bob has significant trauma at this point in time from having his foot chewed off. And as far as we know, once again, Scott is left alone at home and now he doesn't even have his support robot to watch after him. Like he has to watch after his support robot. Oh my God, just so much emotional, like burden still being placed in this, this young boy's life.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

So now we cut back to Mask, and Matt and Alex are having this casual convo in the back of Rhino. Matt's got his legs crossed and everything. Like, all he needed is a little cup of coffee. So tell me, Alex, about your life. How are things going? No, no, No. How are things really going, Alex? You okay? I'm okay. I know the boa constrictor thing was a little scary. Everything good, but

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

he just chewed Bruce out now he's just like kicking it like, Alex, you know, I know you're a science guy. You could probably help out with fixing Thunderhawk, but why don't you just kick it with me and Rhino put the AC on and just chat.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Oh, then Matt checks in with Hondo about how Bruce is doing. And Hondo says well, either he's gonna fix it, or he's gonna blow us all up.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

He's got some sass, man.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah Hondo's off today. He's under a lot of stress. Probably because Matt won't let him use Blaster to save the day.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, exactly. It's like, Hey Matt, I can destroy the Rotex. If you just let me go. Cyclops from X Men on these things.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

We have 22 minutes to fill, Hondo. If you do that now We'll have nothing for the final 11 minutes of the episode. Uh, Then we cut back to Venom, and Miles explains, Soon we will have an unstoppable army. And Sly has a great line, he's like, I hate them bugs, they ain't natural. Which, I like the depth of character that we're getting from some of this dialogue. With even the Sly and the Dagger characters in this episode. Just really great great writing. Dagger actually rags on Sly for not liking the bugs. And Miles gives a good natured chuckle. He really loves these guys. Miles loves working with these guys, committing terrorist acts, and causing wanton destruction, and death, and damage. Look, between the two groups, it just seems Venom's having the more fun. I might be more likely to join Venom.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

at this stage, Venom has more fun and is less racist.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

100%. Though they are all white as an organization. There's an inherent diversity issue there.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

There is. There really is.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

But Miles says, any country that dares oppose us Will be instantly sent back to the Stone Age.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

This is, again, it's accurate. Again, everything we've built up to and know, like this RoTech thing, is a genuine threat to all of humanity. And it's a solid plan from Venom. The one bit though that really occurred to me, and it, and it because of the, sort of the organism nature of these things, you know, whenever you have organisms, they will, evolve, they will change. there is this danger, even though we have this notion of a kill switch right now, that if enough generations of Rotex multiply, would they actually lose the ability to kill them? like all you need is one bit of code to go off and then all of a sudden, like you have Rotex that are uncontrollable at that point in time.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

No matter how you slice it, the creation of the Rotex was a colossally terrible idea by these military scientists. On paper, it sounds great. In practice, it's the end of human life. It's like nuclear weapons and Rotex. Heh heh

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

this is not theoretical stuff, or I guess it is thank God theoretical, but this is a conversation that AI researchers have today about robots like this run amok. So it's prescient in so many ways. And again, a lot of credit to the writers.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

I, for one, salute our new Rotex overlords. Heh. We cut back to the forest here. And now we unveil the repaired Thunderhawk. Which uses that sputter and pop sound effect that you've heard from Jalopies in a million different cartoons over the years. And, Thunderhawk is legitimately messed up. And they have cobbled this thing together with whatever pieces they could find. And just a little story from my own childhood. Maybe inspired by this episode. But I would take my toys apart and reassemble them with parts from different toys. Which, my mother was very disappointed at having spent, 20, 30 bucks on some cool vehicle or some cool transformer. Only to see me take it apart with a screwdriver. see if I can put that arm from Optimus Prime onto Thunderhawk somehow. So that's literally what Bruce does. Bruce acts out my childhood fantasies. And then he actually uses Lifter to get Thunderhawk in the sky, and then sling him around and launch him into flight, which is actually a really cool idea.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

We're seeing this synergy of the vehicles and the masks really come together. This is a really smart thing.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Another fun moment too is when Thunderhawk drops a rocket onto Jackhammer. Causing it to kind of like speed away down the road. And then we cut to that old couple from Boulder Hill. Like a great callback to the old couple from Boulder Hill who are hitchhiking. Laughter. And like, Jackhammer just like speeds right by them. And the old man frowns. That's a legitimately funny callback.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

it's such a nice callback. And again, like it's tying the episode together really in a really cool way. They actually have the bike with them. So I mean, either they did take the bike to right away, and the tire blew, or they got too tired. Either way, it's a nice little reminder that Buddy's a giant dick.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Now, Matt uses Spectrum to try to screw up the Rotex. He's got like the signal that Alex created and put into Spectrum. But it doesn't work. And we actually then have a really cool dogfight between Thunderhawk and Switchblade. The best one I've actually seen where they're trying to like one up each other. And Matt realizes that the first sound that attracted the Rotex was Scott's bird call machine. So he asks Alex to reach out to Scott to try to get a sample of that signal.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah. there's not a lot of time in this sequence, but so much stuff packed in. Like you said that the fight animation is off the hook. This is where they're doing all those cool camera shots. and it looks great. And then also spectrum, you know, we often think about as being visible light or near visible light, like infrared or ultraviolet. They're actually leaning into the notion that the electromagnetic spectrum is actually huge. And so they're like, Oh, okay Spectrum can actually go into like ultrasonics territory. And so it's, again, it's it's smart. They're not having to invent a new Spectrum power we're actually leaning into what's on the tin. And that's cool. yeah,

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

fires lasers from Piranha and actually hits Thunderhawk forcing Matt to have an emergency landing. And he kind of crash lands and like topples over, like the car is flipping over. This is like a holy crap moment. Whoa, is Matt gonna survive this?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

this is such a cool shot again, because you see Switchblade and Thunderhawk in the distance approaching, like, where Thunderhawk is behind Switchblade. So Switchblade passes over. And Sly, times it to hit Thunderhawk. So again, smart move by Venom to bring down a masked flight vehicle. I do hope that Matt has airbags.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Does he? Will he survive this crash?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I don't know! I don't know!

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

We'll find out after these messages.

Hold on. There's a battle we have to tend to. Be right back. We got them. Now back to the show.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

And we're back. And when we last spoke Matt had crashed to the ground once again Animation style is so cool in this because we're like Tracking in front of him as he's doing the crash landing and then it starts to tumble over and the camera keeps moving While the car slows down and comes to a stop. So just, really great animation across the board in this episode.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

but, before we find out what happens to Matt, we go back to Scott and T Bob. Uh, And T Bob is now building a brick box around himself. And he says it's better than being eaten alive by horrid little bugs. To which Scott replies, How many times do I have to tell you? You're not alive. Scott, it's so cold.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah. Where are you learning this stuff from, Scott?

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

From you, alright. I learned it by watching you.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

This is what I'll say about T Bob's plan, I mean, it's not, good long term thinking. The Rotex don't eat through brick. So, you know, Hey put a shield around yourself that's not metal. He'll run out of power, and then he truly won't exist, but Rotex ate T Bob and then somehow took on his personality.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Now you're really talking about the apocalypse. Millions of very annoying, metal eating bugs.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Like neurotic paranoia.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

T Map's neurosis is really an issue. Maybe it's because he's constantly being told he's not alive.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah, maybe show a little love, Scott. Speaking of love Mask is calling Scott on T Bob's radio?

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah, how about that?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

My dad loves me.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah, cause that's what Scott says. Mask? Calling me? Oh, sorry Scott, wrong number. We meant to call someone who matters. But meanwhile, we cut to Matt, who's crawling out of the absolutely totaled Thunderhawk. That car is done. And Switchblade is about to fire on him. And then it's Spectrum on. And It plays Scott's bird call frequency. And this is a really actually tense moment, because he's waiting for Alex like, come on Alex, come on! And Switchblade's getting closer and closer and closer. But finally, the signal comes out, the Rotex get out of their box and start eating Switchblade, they eat Piranha, Dagger picks up Miles and Sly, who are kind of running away on the road. And off they go. Venom gets away yet again.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

we should talk about this moment though, like where switchblade is bearing down on the crashed Thunderhawk because like Matt's on the ground. So he's either hurt or pinned by Thunderhawk. there is definitely like a few shots back and forth between the two and it's, it is a tense moment. Like you said What's going to happen here. Now, again, we know this more episodes, so it's hard to get too caught up in the tension, but if we can forget that there's a future for a moment, Miles is about to kill Matt. This is, this shit's real.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah, I mean, and also the destruction of these vehicles. We saw a little bit of it in a previous episode. But, Piranha, Switchblade, Thunderhawk, Firecracker, Condor, The fleet is decimated during this episode. Now, I know we'll tune in next week. And they'll all be there again, which is fine, but, it's a big deal. It's a great way, by the way, to discontinue old toys and introduce new ones, which I know during the season we will see new vehicles slash new toys introduced. But I was very impressed with how much damage they were willing to inflict. On the vehicles themselves.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

reading between the lines a bit here is, under a presumption that Mask doesn't just leave the broken parts of those vehicles around, which is a possibility. We know Switchblade and Piranha are going to appear in future episodes. We get to infer that Venom's got some kind of manufacturing facilities.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Well, speaking Of cleaning up. Matt uses Spectrum to attract all the bugs and gets them back in the box. What I find interesting is he puts the Spectrum helmet inside the box with the Rotex to like, make sure they're all summoned in there before he closes it. So not only are all the vehicles sacrificed, but he sacrifices his helmet as well.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I know, because right now, like barring some other sort of kill switch put in there, you can't remove Spectrum from that box. And when it does stop working, the Rotex are going to eat it.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Yeah, so he'll need a new spectrum helmet.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

He does say that the Rotex are going back home, which I, did you find that a little disturbing? home for the Rotex are the military that invented them, right? So basically the people that were experimenting with them and then they were stolen from, he's going to return them to. Is that a good idea?

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

We'll just tweak them. We'll perfect them.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

it feels like this would be an opportune moment for Hondo to be like, can I do it now, Matt? And just blast the shit out of that box so that the Rotex are at least this colony are gone for good. Yeah.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

I want to bring up a theory that you had offline. So you had a theory that we were talking about that if this were to be the shared Hasbro universe, which did not exist before, in 1985. But if this was the shared Hasbro universe. Meaning Mask, G. I. Joe, Transformers, they're all together. The Rotex would actually be the military's best weapon against the Transformers. First of all, how do you adapt that kind of robotic technology, one. And then two, how do you take down nearly indestructible giant robots? How about things that will eat them because they're all made out of metal?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

It's a really good point, man. I didn't even think about that. But yeah, there's a like just so the audience knows the toy companies used to be, Kenner was the one who had Mask. You have Hasbro that had G. I. Joe and Transformers. I'm not sure if Micronauts was also under Hasbro. I thought it was a different toy company. I know ROM was a different toy company,

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

I think that was Mego toys,

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Maybe it was Migo. But eventually Hasbro acquired all of these. So Hasbro acquired Kenner. So they got the rights to Mask. They acquired Rom and Micronauts. And so they've attempted in comics to, limited success. To create a shared universe. but, but You bring up a really good point, which is that, if we anachronistically kind of retcon that Transformers, G. I. Joe, Mask all existed, which, that's the byline that they're doing in the comic series. The Rotex would be a great weapon to use against the Cybertronians.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Imagine unleashing a self replicating swarm of Rotex on Cybertron itself.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Oh my God. Yeah, it's pretty horrifying. And if we want to push it even more into the nerdy space, we have an example of this already from Transformers, which were the Insecticons.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

That's right. Great point. Yep.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

we, maybe we cracked this case wide open.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Wow. Folks, this is breaking news.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

the Rotex are a derived technology from a downed Insecticon clone.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Look, pull over if you're driving. Get off the treadmill if you're exercising. Stop doing whatever you're doing while listening to this pod. Call a friend, tell them to listen to this episode, because we have blown the doors wide open. we come to the more you know segment at the end of the episode. Scott and T Bob are playing with bricks, as you do in the 80s. And T Bob hammers one with a giant sledgehammer and it gets hit in the eye. are they playing with bricks and why is T Bob breaking one? That's a question for another time. But Matt shows up and he says, Scott, I'm glad you were wearing your safety glasses. It always pays to play it safe, and he winks at the camera.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah. Certainly a lot less intense than last uh, more, you know. Uh, but you know, a couple of notes, like they talk about they're building an anti Rotex box. See. And it's like, Whoa, it actually connects with something inside the episode, which is like, all right like they're weaving all of it together from the mask agent selection to like, Oh, the more, you know, let's, let's have a little connection that's in there.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

And what I want to point out about this, too, is that this More You Know segment is actually the payoff of the runner storyline of the episode. So the runner of the episode is just Scott and T Bob's antics. while T Bob is scared of getting eaten by the Rotex. And we cut back to it a little bit. It plays a small role in the story when they need the bird signal. But then, it pays off here in The More You Know. So it's a very well Connected episode from start to finish right up until this last moment.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah. so much credit to the writer or writers on this episode so solid. And We do have to decide on our Buddy Hawks award and I think Hondo gets it. Unfortunately, this is like, I mean, I'd love to give it to Matt, but I feel like ah it's tough. I mean, We could have a tie.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

No, I'm gonna vote for Hondo too, and it's because he adds the part where he says there must be something wrong with me

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

he's adding like insult to injury there He's really rubbing salt in the wound to it saying that there must be something mentally wrong with me if I'm understanding the words that You're saying so I think of the double whammy there Hondo is our You Buddy Hawks award winner for the week. Congratulations, Hondo!

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Yeah. I, again, wish it wasn't I wish it wasn't the case, to be honest, that we find ourselves with the ability to award the Buddy Hawks award on so many episodes, or at all, like it's not an award you want to win I think we, we do it to highlight basically what the hell was going on in these 80s cartoons. Not. It's not awesome, but, let's credit this episode though. This is a really solid, well put together episode from stem to stern. Smart, logical doesn't rely on too many leaps of logic. Doesn't involve an indigenous people. Maybe it's a restart, really, to Mask.

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Look, as you said earlier, I think you are right about this. And I think that the next episode will prove that. Because Mask Episode 9 is called The Oz Effect.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Oh, what's that about? It sounds great. It

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

Agreed. And so Venom uses a strange vortex machine to abduct a village of Australian I can't even get through it. Venom uses a strange vortex machine To abduct a village of Australian aborigines. And forces them as slaves to mine valuable crystal. Hahahaha.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

Mask, wait you were just pulling it out, like we were ready to like go into the sky and like, really? Are we falling back to this again? I Oh, come on. And

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

to Australia next episode. That'll be fun. Maybe we'll see the emergence of the Mask Jumbo Jet. That gets them to another continent or they'll just magically appear. Who knows?

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

I'm sure this is going to be a very culturally sensitive episode that is respectful by all parties involved and uh, you know, really is used to illustrate the way of other people living in the world and is not just going to be a Euro American centric view that's opposed upon everyone else. So I, I've got, I, we're going to have high hopes, right?

squadcaster-g780_1_04-19-2024_100917:

I want to know what accent the Aborigines have. Will it be a very kind of forced indigenous accent? Or will it be an Australian accent? Either one will be sad and wrong from a cultural standpoint. Everybody, it's been great, but this podcast has to transform and head back to headquarters. Don't forget to rate us on your favorite podcast app. Bye. Give us a comment. Let us know what you think, what you love, or what you hate. Come follow us on Instagram at podcast. We'd love to hear from you there and uh, we'll see you next week. I'm Adam Moore.

pj_1_04-19-2024_110917:

and I am PJ McNerney. Bye bye.

​The mobile armored podcast show is written, produced and edited. Bye Adam Moore. And PJ McNerney. I need Thunderhawk, Bruce.