Mobile Armored Podcast Show

Miles Mayhem's Hot Air Problem

• Adam Moore & PJ McNerney • Season 1 • Episode 41

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It's Episode 41: "Stop Motion."

Venom rolls out a Hindenburg-grade blimp armed with a world-class EMP—just to nab the Indy 500 cash box and a leather binder of EVERY U.S. safe combo (because nothing says “international terrorism” like a coupon book for bank vaults). Matt Trakker tries vacuum-tube science, Scott nearly skydives without a chute, and the only real casualty is logic. It’s 22 minutes of explosive tech, ten-dollar stakes, and the sad, slow hiss of a punctured plot balloon on this week's episode of the Mobile Armored Podcast Show!

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Adam:

Welcome to the Mobile Armored Podcast show, the podcast that transforms into the Hindenburg. My name is Adam Moore, alongside my co-host best friend and blimp expert, PJ McNerney. How's it going, pj?

PJ:

I'm doing all right. I'm gonna admit something. this is getting us back to a frustrating trope

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

where I think there's such brilliance behind so many of the devices that Venom comes up with.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

like whoever their science, like engineering core is. They are really top notch. Like they are an expansive amount from computer programming to attack Brian the brain. They've got the ability to manipulate gravity to bring down a comet here. They're gonna manipulate, a directional EMP and we're gonna use it for the shittiest of things.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

Just get so tired of if I was on the engineering staff, I would be shaking miles right now. Like, what are you thinking? What are you thinking? You

Adam:

Let's talk about this. Since you spent, you know, you've had a very long career in software engineering,

PJ:

that's true.

Adam:

let's say you are the senior software engineer on this project, and the VP is explaining what he's going to use it for, which is small stakes, I mean, crimes, whatever. let's get the morality out of it and just say like, that's the direction of this company that you're working for. How would you handle that with your vp?

PJ:

I love the idea where I just gave a presentation that says, look, we have spent a tremendous amount of time, three members of my team got cancer from developing a high energy directional EMP,

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

we are really confident. I mean, we're talking like real genius, the movie level of intellect required here.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

And it's like I get down to the presentation like, Hey, we're really excited to see what you're going to use this EMP four. And

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

the VP or the director of product is like, oh, thanks so much. Our first mission is to rip off the cash box of the Indy 500 Excuse me. pardon me? we have just spent millions of dollars in research development and priceless amount in terms of talent develop something where you might get 500 bucks cash here. Can we think a little bit bigger?

Adam:

And the VP's response is, we do a lot of thinking all the time and appreciate your feedback. thinking about your team, we are gonna have to do some headcount reductions based on the fact that we're not meeting profitability. For some reason, finance is looking into the reasons why.

PJ:

We're gonna reduce head count and in venom that means we cut your heads off'cause we are a terrorist organization and we can't allow you to say anything to anybody.

Adam:

having set that up, we might as well dive into episode 41, stop motion. Venom obtains an EMP bomb and threatens to loot bank vaults across the country by knocking out all electronics for miles around,

PJ:

It's not a bomb. Okay, let's just, it's not,

Adam:

no,

PJ:

their plan isn't to knock out electronics to rob those bank faults. We're gonna find that out as well.

Adam:

It's,

PJ:

this tagline's wrong,

Adam:

I'm gonna do something wild here, pj, and I'm going to go ahead and declare this panda poon

PJ:

Yeah, yeah.

Adam:

right at the top of the episode.

PJ:

okay with that. We've already entered panda poo territory.

Adam:

So, we open and it's race day at the Indie 500 and in the number 27 car, Gloria Baker is crushing the competition. Uh, naturally Matt and Bruce are in the VIP suite watching, and, Matt says, considering this is Gloria's first Indie 500, she's doing great. And it's like Matt, she's killing it.

PJ:

Yeah.

Adam:

she's way in the lead. no one is going to catch her.

PJ:

Why can't Matt give Gloria her do, is he jealous? what is this? Is it misogyny? I don't know.

Adam:

Well, I guess he assumes that if he were there, he would win. he does have a flying Camaro with lasers,

PJ:

he would knock out the other car's,

Adam:

All the other cars broke down

PJ:

It's

Adam:

and couldn't complete the race.

PJ:

look, there's gonna be a lot of carpet bombing of this e episode right here.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

gonna, but, I do want to call out something. there's a nice set of details where they show the blimp hovering in the sky. if you don't know what's gonna happen, you don't think anything of it,

Adam:

Right,

PJ:

and you're like, oh, it's just like the Goodyear Blimp at wherever. Right.

Adam:

right.

PJ:

But it's a nice detail. There's seeding here and it's part of my frustration.

Adam:

I agree because there's also a handful of throwaway shots. They're just race shots, and often the distance really small. You see the blimp above the track. like, okay, someone was paying attention here as they were animating it. go ahead.

PJ:

you a bet last time about, about words.

Adam:

Yeah, I noticed that. so after Matt says, she's doing great, Bruce says, I for one wouldn't want to swallow her exhaust. I did have to pause and just sort of shake my head. what does that even mean?

PJ:

I honestly,

Adam:

or exhaust.

PJ:

I could not figure out why the writers would write that line. although, in my head, I heard Matt say I swallow her exhaust

Adam:

So, is it like, eat my dirt? it could be that, it could be breathe and exhaust, but there's some disconnect

PJ:

it's a weird line, and at worst, it's like some, off innuendo they're trying to insert into a children's cartoon that

Adam:

I would've liked them try to go for sadism here, but instead they just went for something bizarre and probably inappropriate.

PJ:

Adam, I'd like you to beep what I'm about to say out. I would love to hear the response to it as a satm

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

I, for one, would not want to swallow her exhaust. oh, you mean the way I eat her out or ass every single night? Like, I mean, I just feel like that would be the only version of that where Sadism and Matt response kind of like makes

Adam:

Woo.

PJ:

yeah.

Adam:

I think that's gonna have to get bleeped out. There are certain lines we do not cross. well, meanwhile, in pit row, Scott is working on TBO circuits. I mean, he's got his head open and he is futzing around in there, and Scott says, I bet you could do a hundred miles per hour now. And Scott gives him a parachute to slow him down.

PJ:

Okay. So again, credit where credit is due.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

Scott's able to get a hundred mile per hour engine inside of a scooter.

Adam:

I don't know if that's,

PJ:

should you do it? Probably not. I mean, this is definitely one of those Ian Malcolm lens right

Adam:

yeah. Yep.

PJ:

you know, you spent so much time deciding whether or not you could, you didn't

Adam:

So,

PJ:

or not you should.

Adam:

that's going to tear TB apart.

PJ:

And kill Scott

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

and honestly we saw this early on where Dusty gave Scott some race fuel for some reason,

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

this probably has to involve race, car fuel

Adam:

Oh, yeah.

PJ:

the amount of octane you need for a scooter to go a hundred miles per hour.

Adam:

Yeah. Not a great idea to put that into Tbu. Meanwhile, an ominous blimp is seen in the sky, and as I alluded to earlier, PJ is an expert in blimp engineering. is it a dirigible or is it a blimp?

PJ:

So, a dirigible is the broad term here. this is somewhat science, but also like a history corner. a dirigible refers to a lighter than air vehicle

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

that's steerable. So the idea of a lighter than air thing is that, as opposed to using bernoulli's principle and aerodynamics, the shape of the wing to produce lift with thrust, which is heavier than air vehicles, that's your typical planes, jets, et cetera. pump some sort of gas that is lighter than air. Typically it's gonna be helium

Adam:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

PJ:

now a blimp basically refers to a non rigid, dirigible. so what that means is it's like a gigantic balloon that is blown up the particular shape of that torpedo is chosen because it has a better way of steering through the air. when you think about Dirigibles though, and you, you speak of it that way, the people are thinking about rigid

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

like a Zeppelin.

Adam:

Right.

PJ:

this is where there is this internal structure that is rigid both on the inside and outside even though the outside might be, relatively light,

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

And so when you think about a, hindenberg.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

as the most famous example of a rigid dirigible. this was, a dirigible that was filled with hydrogen, and then

Adam:

Excellent choice. well, I guess my question comes down to, why a blimp in Venoms, you know, and so if it was a hydrogen filled Zeppelin, for example, they could actually potentially do some real damage here if they wanted to since they're terrorists. So why a blimp for this EMP device? Why is that the platform?

PJ:

I think we got to get to a separate conversation about why target the Indie 500 in the first place. And what the stakes are there. So let's, hold onto that for a second because in one sense it's a good way to hide

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

why you'd want to do this at the Indie 500 for the stakes is a different question.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

we are gonna find out that, like we talked about at the top, we have this directed EMP pulse cannon, right? So what is EMP? It's this rapid wave of electromagnetic radiation that can damage or disrupt electronics. some examples, lightning

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

static electricity, but most of the time people are thinking about it from a nuclear standpoint.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

nukes produce an EMP,

Adam:

right?

PJ:

then you get into these non-nuclear ME mps. So if you think about, the pinch from Oceans 11.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

if you take all of this in mind, like a blimp has relatively few electronics, you actually could do the entire thing without electronics. Sure. So.

Adam:

and a rudder,

PJ:

Yeah,

Adam:

all you need to. Yeah. Okay.

PJ:

as you're firing away from it there shouldn't be too much backsplash. this is a, somewhat reasonable way to say, let's put this stuff on a blimp and we'll fire this off and not ourselves be affected. Um, terrible getaway vehicle. But if you've damaged everyone else's vehicles, one will actually be able to catch you. So

Adam:

speaking of that, at EMP, let's just set up the fact that while the race is going on, suddenly everything stops working. TV stopped working. All the COR cars short out, even TBO goes down. the whole place is dead in the water except for the PA system where the PA guy says, we don't know what's going on, everyone. sit tight. we'll see what's happening.

PJ:

well talk about why, Potential reason why that's not affected. thing I'll point out is that the way you protect against an EMP is a thing called a Faraday cage.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

So basically it's like surround yourself entirely with metal. It's has to do with the properties with conductivity, but the electricity would just stay on the outer shell of that thing. one thing that's a little questionable that no one's really quite figured out, like aren't many cars just a metal shell, especially if you're in the 1970s or beforehand.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

So there's been this open question, that I actually researched and I didn't get a great answer of how much a car would be affected by any mp. part of it has to do with the metal shell.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

to do with the number of electronics in it, which only started happening with solid state, post 75 or so.

Adam:

So the idea is would the Indy cars actually be affected at all by this EMP?

PJ:

tough to say, and it's like, again, pro I I would err on the side of, probably not, it's theoretical one way or another.

Adam:

so far in this episode, we have discussed the Indy 500, the properties of blimps, electromagnetic pulses, and we've still not quite figured out why Venom would use this platform for their new weapon, Nevertheless, back in pit row, Matt is studying the car that has broken down and Bruce is studying T bobb who is not working. Turns out that all the circuits, are shorted out.

PJ:

This is like, again, it's smoking in the engine. I was trying to back my way into

Adam:

Yeah. Tbo is too, right? There's smoke coming out of tbo too.

PJ:

coming outta tbo and on one hand he is definitely a metal shell,

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

in the middle of his brain working on him, so it wasn't quite clear. The only thing I could think of for the EMP and the mechanical engine was if there's some small computer controlling the fuel injection

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

that caused it to shoot the wrong amount of fuel through that's a really hard thing because you're more likely to flood the engine than cause it to smoke like that.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

it's pretty short tail on that one

Adam:

Well the ticket guy comes running into pit row and screams robbery, and it turns out that Cliff and Sly have stolen the cash box from the Indie 500, which it's 1985. I bet a lot of it was paid for in cash, and all they have is just one little cash box that maybe at best is holding$10,000,

PJ:

if everyone was paying hundred dollars bills,

Adam:

Yeah. point being, this is pretty high tech stuff, as we have pointed out earlier in our sort of science corner and deep discussion of the blimp and EMP and everything. Pretty high tech stuff for a very, very low stakes crime.

PJ:

the last time I felt like we saw this was in Vegas where they

Adam:

Yeah,

PJ:

the reversing machine.

Adam:

right.

PJ:

at least then, the stakes were higher because there was more money involved.

Adam:

Right?

PJ:

somehow we've taken an equivalent amount of technology and lowered the stakes lower.

Adam:

Yes.

PJ:

fun little detail. Cliff and Sly have both. Gone to do this. each of their vehicles can hold at least two

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

And yet despite this, they have decided to go separately

Adam:

I can buy that because they like their vehicles. They like to drive them. for example, I like my vehicle and I like to drive that as opposed to driving my wife's vehicle. I'll grant them that They got all the seats set up the way they like'em

PJ:

but Adam, if you and I are going to rob the Indie 500,

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

wouldn't we take one vehicle?

Adam:

whose vehicle are you proposing to take, pj?

PJ:

I almost don't care.

Adam:

I will say probably four transit because it's gonna carry more stuff,

PJ:

we can do the Ford Transit.

Adam:

Okay.

PJ:

so.

Adam:

back what I said.

PJ:

it's like, fine, you've got that sidecar slide, but let's use jackhammer. We can use the trunk.

Adam:

Yeah,

PJ:

that big a deal. Like even if it was piana, just hold in your laps, cliff.

Adam:

yeah, seriously. Well anyways, Matt and Bruce try to chase after them, but Thunder, Hawk and Rhino are shorted out by the EMP.

PJ:

this extra one seems much more in point because these vehicles would have more circuits in

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

now MPS can affect circuits that are off,

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

likely, like,

Adam:

Okay.

PJ:

you really are shredding these things out. But maybe the mask vehicles are just on all the time somehow.

Adam:

Back in pit row, Scott Repairs tbo. And TBO says, you shorted out my power circuit, you said, never again. And Scott's response was, it wasn't me this time, something else went wrong.

PJ:

I love that this is a legitimate concern by T Bob. like, Scott, you fucked with my circuits before and done this. You told me you weren't going to do it again. Was like, no, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't this time.

Adam:

I also love the fact that, I mean, tbo was out cold.

PJ:

Yes.

Adam:

if Scott did it, he'd be like, no, something else went wrong. It wasn't me this time. Matt returns to pit row and reveals that it was venom. There's a nice Matt Gloria moment when, uh, Matt tells Gloria that the other drivers didn't have a chance. He's like a really supportive husband.

PJ:

He really is. but how much taller is Matt than Gloria

Adam:

Yeah. The perspective in the shot. he's a giant.

PJ:

He

Adam:

I mean, either she is really short or he is really tall or I guess both. But the perspective isn't great here, You know, the animation here, Bruce is in the background, and you can see some of the stands in the background, but none of it is sort of blurred out to make it look like it's in the distance. So everything is so flat

PJ:

yeah,

Adam:

Bruce also looks like a small child standing next to Matt.

PJ:

Despite that height difference Gloria knows she could still slam Matt to the ground.

Adam:

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, the announcer on the PA system calls off the race. Matt realizes that the PA system is working. It was unaffected by the electrical issues. So he sends Bruce to check it out while Matt goes to look at the security video.

PJ:

Yeah, this is okay. We're gonna hit so many points of frustration where they decided to spend some time.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

spends time on the PA explaining to folks check the newspapers for the race being rescheduled.

Adam:

You know, I actually just re-watched the episode a few minutes before diving in. And I had the same thought, like, why are we spending any screen time or voiceover time calming the fake people in the cartoon down that, don't worry, check the newspapers when we reschedule the race.

PJ:

It,

Adam:

And also at the end of the episode they do the same thing.

PJ:

do do the same thing. There's a bunch of stuff at the end of the episode where I'm just like, why? Why was

Adam:

We didn't need any of this.

PJ:

like, why don't we spend that towards story?

Adam:

What story

PJ:

so the PA system being affected seems odd and we're not gonna get a good answer, but I'll insert one based on some stuff we find out.

Adam:

mm-hmm.

PJ:

Matt looking at videos here does not

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

So we know that in the eighties, Adam, what did we record video on

Adam:

Videotape

PJ:

what technology was used for that recording?

Adam:

the good old magnet

PJ:

And what's the m in EMP stand for?

Adam:

electromagnetic.

PJ:

Right. this should have gotten wiped out.

Adam:

Right,

PJ:

like the classic, don't put a magnet next to your cassette tape

Adam:

right, Yeah.

PJ:

it's like, okay, fine.

Adam:

Well, Matt, unless the whole security room is a Faraday cage,

PJ:

Maybe,

Adam:

but that's giving them way too much credit.

PJ:

true.

Adam:

Matt's in the security room, he's looking at the videos, but doesn't find anything unusual. So I guess he could just walk into the security room at the Indy 500. Huh.

PJ:

Yeah, of course. the Indie 500 sponsored by Trakker Industries

Adam:

he had a giant VIP booth, like huge, and it was just him and Bruce in it. So yeah, I guess he owns the place.

PJ:

I like the idea of him, he went in and he said, Hey, I'd like to rent a room, for this. And they showed him a room. This isn't big enough. I want that one. Oh, that's the owner's box. Well then how much do I need to pay to

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

I want the biggest room.

Adam:

By the way, at the end of the scene in the video room, Scott and Tbo are there, and Scott complains to Matt that he's bummed out'cause they haven't seen anything. And in response, Matt says nothing and just walks away. He actually waves his hand, like, not, like goodbye, just like, sort of like brushes it off like a, like a fly that's bothering him and walks right out of the room.

PJ:

How do you respond as a kid to that? Hmm.

Adam:

I mean, how Scott responds. Anytime Matt abandons him, like he didn't even say, come on Scott, let's go. He just walks out and the door closes behind him. Oh, Matt, father of the year.

PJ:

father of the year,

Adam:

in the absence of his father, Scott gets the great idea about looking at the blimps cameras for a better view. when they go outside, they see that the blimp is gone. T Bobb asks What keeps the blimp in the air? Scott says, they're filled with hot air. T Bobb says, sort of like you and Scott gets really angry, which I would kinda get angry too. Scott says, watch it. T Bobb. I saw a scrap metal yard near here. That's a Roy Batty nomination, man.

PJ:

percent Roy Batty. Also, again, like kind of unnecessary from a, like, where you spend your time as a writer,

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

like what is required here.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

I think there is something nice about Scott taking us to this idea about the blimp but shitting back and forth is just kind of not necessary.

Adam:

Yeah, if you actually break it down, there's so little that happens in this episode.

PJ:

Yeah,

Adam:

much of it is filled with unnecessary side quests, and unnecessary dialogue.

PJ:

I love how Scott still has his helmet on it

Adam:

Yep.

PJ:

to me why until just now. It's to

Adam:

is,

PJ:

tears, Adam. It's to hide his tears.

Adam:

yeah.

PJ:

father just brushed him off without saying a word. And, he keeps the helmet on because he he doesn't want the the world to know how hurt he is.

Adam:

Good point. Scott, goes, they go outside and they ask a complete stranger where the blimp is and. Oh, folks, I just wish that you got to sit to sit with me and look at the surprises that PJ puts in the rundown before me. The stranger does not respond. I, I, I'll, I'll, I'll, uh, I'll, I'll do some of it here. So Scott asked a stranger where the blimp is and the stranger responds, and here's what PJ wrote. Why do you think I would know about that? Do I look like your tour guide, rich boy? Go check the hanger. And then lots of expletives about Scott.

PJ:

Sprinkled in there.

Adam:

What he basically says is, there was no blimp, but there's a hanger nearby. Why don't you go check that out?

PJ:

yep.

Adam:

And so Scott and t Bobb race off to the blimp hanger at a hundred miles an hour.

PJ:

So I guess maybe that helmet's a good idea,

Adam:

Meanwhile, inside the hangar, they find the whole Venom gang charging up some device on the blimp. Sly is giving cliffs some positive affirmations, He says, you know, dagger, if only we could hook you up to this generator, we could charge your brain. Nah, you'd only blow the fuse.

PJ:

This was so unnecessary.

Adam:

Cliff is like, you ought to keep your big mouth from charging. why do we need any of this stuff?

PJ:

much anger, just unnecessary.

Adam:

So much anger and so much wasted. Like why do we need any of this? Do like why? Just again, there's another episode where there's but there's very little mask in it. miles Boards, the blimp and he says to Sly and Cliff, who are gonna take off in the car in their vehicles. You know the plan. Now we go for the goal.

PJ:

maybe, you know, you guys all know the goal. Maybe instead of doing the whole complaining back and forth with Scott and t Bobb and and Sly, we could spend some of that time, setting something up for us.

Adam:

Yeah. Yeah.

PJ:

is, as far as we know, ripping off race car cash boxes

Adam:

this is the whole point. There's so much wasted dialogue, but then when you get to a point where there should be dialogue, that actually helps us, eight year olds who are watching the show out and kind of build some stakes.

PJ:

Yeah.

Adam:

Like he could even say, now to put our plan into action, no safe in the country will be,

PJ:

Safe.

Adam:

Like at least that we're like, Ooh, now those are stakes. Now I'm scared about what Venom's gonna do instead. Nope. Just now we go for the goal and sly waves at him.

PJ:

I'll point out, one interesting thing that's missing from this episode,

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

we're not gonna see any mask, assembly, computer stuff. We're just

Adam:

Oh,

PJ:

hand. So there's a lot of stuff that's actually missing from this episode, even from our,

Adam:

Well, I know, let's just go on this tangent for a second and then we'll get back to the show itself. So the show's in syndication, every episode could be the first episode that anyone watches, right? So we talked about that actually in, two episodes ago.

PJ:

yeah.

Adam:

when with the episode with Matt's dad, like it's really not a mask episode.

PJ:

I.

Adam:

the thing that's key about the agents going to Boulder Hill, getting the masks charged. It's actually really helpful for anyone who's watching it for the first time. you understand there is something called the mobile Armored strike Command, that there's a computer that identifies who these people are and the cool vehicles they have. And then there's something awesome from a text standpoint about these masks that they're putting on their heads. We might not know what the powers are, but we see a cool room that goes up into the radiation chamber of death and the power supply, causes them to glow and they put them on their head. You know what I mean? Like

PJ:

yeah,

Adam:

Visual storytelling for the show. And again, many of these episodes we've been seeing recently don't do that. So I don't know if I'm a kid, if I miss some of the first episodes in the series, if I'm still really plugged into what's going on here.

PJ:

Let me ask you a question. from a writing standpoint, do you think this is symptomatic of trying to satisfy two constraints that are completely at odds with each other? One is the idea that, like we chatted about a couple episodes that was pointed out to us by James that, the writers, weren't able to affect any sort of long-term change,

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

other than the oddball hurricane or some of those new agents that we're about to see in the upcoming episodes. things have to be different, but they can't change.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

are we seeing this as kind of like, well, the only thing we can change if we can't change anything, the only thing we can change is the base formula And so now we're hollowing out those essential elements for the sake of just having something. Different, even though it's like to what extent, is the fact that we can't make anything impactful, harming even the episodic nature of it.

Adam:

I would disagree with that. I've got two thoughts on it.

PJ:

Yeah.

Adam:

One is, and I'll, I'll go sort of in, in to support what you were saying, because we have a small group of writers and we're writing, uh, let's, let's, let's talk about 65 for the first season. there may be lots of returning writers, who wrote multiple episodes and they themselves could have gotten tired with the format. The story editor who's overseeing the whole thing might have gotten tired with the format because by the way, they're writing 65 episodes in less than a year. That's a lot of content to churn out. So they might've gotten bored with it, the, their eyes fell off the prize of what the show actually is. But what I'll say is for a show that needs to constantly reset itself, sitcoms are like that, Police procedurals are like that. they are very, very, structured. they have your first act, second act, third act it's very, very structured and everything sort of goes back to normal at the end of it, especially your. Police procedurals where the crime happens, and then they've got all the investigation beats. So if you need to keep a show, to wrap up a status quo at the end of every episode, then it should be okay, beginning Matt Scott Tbo and maybe others off in an interesting place.

PJ:

Yeah.

Adam:

or your other option is mysterious thing happens. Two, Matt somehow called in to investigate or is there, and so begins investigation. Realizes something's a foot assemble. Mobile armor strike command. So then you plug in your standard things, you do this boom column, what see on the computer, then boom to Boulder Hill, get the masks rollout, And then we go and we go on the episode from there. And then, uh, at the midpoint of the episode, around 11 minutes, it's gonna be the mask, venom battle, mask is gonna lose. And then towards the end of act two. mask venom battle. mask wins, saves the day. Venom's defeated everything returns back to normal. I feel like they just kind of took their eyes off the prize of what the show is. if I were running this show, I would've said, here's the structure. Just follow it. Because again, some 8-year-old might tune into episode 41 and it's their first episode, and I got no idea what's going on the vehicles have some transforming in this episode, but not a heck of a lot,

PJ:

we don't see much transformation. one thing I'd like to track with you,'cause I totally buy everything you're saying. in terms of the eyes of the prize. I think it's two episodes away. We're gonna get a new Venom character and maybe a few more we'll after that. I'm curious, does that breathe new life into the writers by now having something else to play with

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

in many ways they have gotten tired with the toys

Adam:

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

PJ:

we're seeing kind of this like, there's not a lot of, gas left in the engine.

Adam:

Let's track that. I'm very interested to see. how that goes. And I think we'll eventually be able to get some writers on the show to ask questions about all this stuff. here's a case in point of an episode not working. this is gonna take us into the end of the first act, sort of the end of the first act crisis moment. If you can remember after our tangent there, folks, we were in the blimp hanger where Scott and t Bobb were seeing venom take off. So the blimp takes off, but t Bob's foot gets caught in the rope that's attached to the bottom of the blimp. He gets pulled into the air, Scott grabs his hand and they both get pulled into the air. Scott screams, TBO do something, and then suddenly the rope comes undone and Scott and Tbo go, you guessed it, falling to their doom. So just before I ask the question, we're all waiting to be, to hear, this is just an accident. Uh, I mean, miles took off in the blimp. That's the only action Venom took to put us in crisis here, at the midpoint of episode 41. That's not a mask episode. That's like bumbling boy and his robot adventures

PJ:

It's true.

Adam:

But nonetheless, they're falling to their doom. I gotta ask what's gonna happen.

PJ:

I don't care. Also, I don't know, but

Adam:

Well,

PJ:

I have not been made to care. this is actually a fundamental problem.

Adam:

and that is the whole point we've been talking about, folks, we'll be back after these messages.

Come on, Jeebop. Mask will be right back. Oh, boy. Back to mask.

Adam:

We're back. Scott and t Bobb don't falter their doom. Scott hits the parachute button on T Bobb that he installed when he, converted him to. Drive at a hundred miles an hour, the parachute opens and they float to safety. I was thinking that his butt jet would've helped though,

PJ:

Yes, a hundred percent. This is the time for the ass jet to come out.

Adam:

right?

PJ:

blow it out. Come on.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

also like Scott, no one's saving him. Like,

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

maybe this is the capability of Scott here, that he put the parachute in there

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

and he had to entirely save himself and t bobb this time

Adam:

Yep.

PJ:

To what extent Adam, is this like the deep neglect because he went off on his own. He didn't tell Matt, he's not sure Matt even is gonna care. he's putting himself in danger. And in this particular instance, with no one else around, he also has to

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

out.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

is that of just him?

Adam:

we've talked a lot about this actually. Is it Matt's fault or is it Scott's fault that, that he's in, he's in danger all the time. Do we blame Matt for dereliction of parental duty and just walking away from his kid?'cause by the way, the last time Scott saw his dad He waved to him nonchalantly and walked out of a room. and now Scott's has sort of gone off on his own.

PJ:

I think you and I as fathers should try and see what happens if we did that to our

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

Like whatever.

Adam:

See you kid.

PJ:

Yeah, and then they drop the helmet

Adam:

mm-hmm.

PJ:

despite this really terrifying experience, they then do the psych gag of tripping on the helmet.

Adam:

Yeah. here we spend all this unnecessary screen time getting the parachute packed away.

PJ:

Was this an fu to the story editor? I'm trying to figure out,'cause like we're burning a lot of time here.

Adam:

Yeah. I think they got to the point, and I sort of alluded to this earlier, where they probably got to the point where with each script it was like, look, if it's English, we're gonna produce it. We've gotta churn out 65 of these things. And I mean, they probably had a very, even I said a year, it was probably like a few months that they had to churn all these things out. so it's like, look, whatever, if it's spelled right, we're producing it. that's where I feel they got to And there's just some writers who just didn't understand what's the point of these shows? Like, what's the engine of a mask episode?

PJ:

yeah,

Adam:

who wants to spend time seeing tbo get sort of carried away by the parachute a little bit and then have to, burn rubber to catch up to the parachute and pack it away. Like that's at least a minute or so of screen time, of a 22 minute episode.

PJ:

yeah.

Adam:

what's the math on that? What percentage of the episode is a minute long?

PJ:

A little under 5%

Adam:

Of an episode

PJ:

of an

Adam:

of, of T Bobb catching up to his parachute and packing it away. Like, guys, I'm sorry. That's, a fail. A huge fail. Well, back at the racetrack, Scott and t Bobb explained what they discovered and, Matt explains the device they saw attached to the blimp must be an EMP, which is another mat Trakker leap of logic.

PJ:

A hundred percent. it just occurred to me now, Scott and t Bobb had to go back and explain Hey, we went to this hangar by ourselves without telling you

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

Venom, who we know in the past are these awful terrorists and maybe child molesters did he explain like, we nearly fell to our doom because you weren't their dad to watch over us.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

then Matt's, you know, no one says a word about any of that. Oh, it must be an mp. imagine you're Scott at this point in time.

Adam:

I just feel so bad for the kid, as stupid as his decisions are. I still feel really bad. I can't, I mean, you know, I can't help but Blame his father for his poor decision making

PJ:

Absolutely. You and I came into this series and I think the perspective we had is we were gonna take a giant dump on Scott, instead he is become the most sympathetic character in the series.

Adam:

Yeah. He really, really has. Well, now we spend some time talking about the PA system. So the PA system at the racetrack didn't stop working because it uses vacuum tubes.

PJ:

All right, so this is gonna be on point. true vacuum tubes are less affected by an EMP and now I think we can establish that Match Trakker has owned this place for a lot longer because he was too cheap to upgrade the PA system.

Adam:

But like they all presuppose that Venom's masks and engines have vacuum tubes in them.

PJ:

This is

Adam:

what?

PJ:

Yeah, this was the bit where it was like kind of drove you

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

so let's hop on over to engineering corner a second to

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

a vacuum tube. So va, what is a vacuum tube? it's actually the precursor to transistor, is used to control the flow of current.

Adam:

Right.

PJ:

I'm going to try and be as generous as possible.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

The smallest vacuum tubes I'm aware of are 20 millimeters in size.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

think of it as slightly less than an inch. a modern transistor today comes in three to 10 nanometers.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

Orders of magnitude distance. So even if the 1980s transistors were one millimeter in size, and that's big,

Adam:

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

PJ:

you'd need 20 times the space replace them with the smallest vacuum tubes, which would make for these ginormous steam punk masks.

Adam:

Well, I was thinking of like, it's like vacuum tube punk.

PJ:

Yeah, I know.

Adam:

it's kind of like the DeLorean in Back to the Future when it has to replace its technology with vacuum tubes. Yeah. that, it's just ridiculous. Especially after an episode where we learned what powers these masks, which is a mysterious crystal.

PJ:

Right,

Adam:

Okay, so it's space magic.

PJ:

Space magic.

Adam:

anyways, we're, we cut to the blimp and Vanessa is flying it and they're on their way to the International Safe Corporation, which I'd like to just pause and point out that the International Safe Corporation is a sponsor of the Mobile Armor Podcast show. Do you need a safe, is it international? Well, boy, you should go to the International Safe Corporation. I've used international safes my whole life. How about you, pj? I.

PJ:

I use them all the time. The only way to keep your safe, safe is to use ISC. The one requirement you need to adhere to is to give your safe accommodation to the ISC so they can keep it in a locked safe of themselves.

Adam:

that's what I love about it. That's what I love about the International Safe Corporation is that I forget my combination all the time, but I have a handy dandy one 800 number that I call and they can just look up in a book what my combination is.

PJ:

mm-hmm.

Adam:

thank you, international Safe Corporation for your sponsorship of our show. Back to the show. Vanessa looks at Miles and asks him, are you sure that's the International Safe Corporation? Miles says, it better be, you're the one who's driving. Vanessa responds, we could be anywhere based on the instructions you gave me.

PJ:

We don't normally see that much SAS between Vanessa and Miles.

Adam:

I know. I mean, she's really giving it to Miles in this episode.

PJ:

I think she, Vanessa to me feels like the adult point of view character

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

of the time where she's, and that explains why she just doesn't show up for some of the Junkiest stuff

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

it's like, fuck that. I've got better things to do with my life than that rodeo. I feel like she is like that commentary here of just like, look, this is stupid.

Adam:

Yep. the only rational person in the entire show is Vanessa Warfield.

PJ:

It really is.

Adam:

Meanwhile, the blimp

PJ:

Mm-hmm.

Adam:

over the International Safe Corporation. They switch on the EMP causing all kinds of chaos below. Street lights blow out, traffic lights stop, cars crash into each other. It's, it's, it's awesome. Uh, sly and Cliff go into the building. We've got a nice use of stiletto to pin the guards against the wall, one of Slys classic tricks. sly orders Cliff to open the safe door because the electrical equipment does not work. And Cliff is supposed to be the strong one.

PJ:

Yeah.

Adam:

Okay.

PJ:

once again, like this was a detail that felt highly unnecessary as a piece of dialogue.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

is huge though. it's

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

giant safe door, so it's gonna be heavy, but also when the power goes out, the locks are all blown.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

OMI Plaza?

Adam:

I had the same exact thought. what's the other media piece you've watched that required the power to go out? To open up a safe door?

PJ:

Yeah.

Adam:

for a miracle. I give you the FBI. they enter a room full of safes and only one of them is open they grab a leather binder that contains Brace yourself. Every safe and bank vault combination in America. This is a massive security risk. I question the International Safe Corporation, the one thing I'll say if they're the international Safe Corporation, uh, they only have the binder for the ones in America. So I wonder where the international safe combinations are.

PJ:

That's a great question. No, it isn't because this is a really silly premise, entire thing, like I have to call and change my, number so they can white it out on the page and then write in my new number. So why would Matt know about this and who owns the ISC and mandates this kind of blatant security hole?

Adam:

Yeah, I have no idea. That's craziness, unless it's Matt.

PJ:

Probably is. So I'm gonna bug you on the writing thing again.

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

Venom has just opened a safe the directed EMP,

Adam:

I haven't even thought of this until now. Yeah, go

PJ:

that Safe, had a safe inside of it for a book of combinations for safes, but they just opened an all using the EMP. Adam

Adam:

Uh,

PJ:

me

Adam:

I can't. I can't. Okay. All right. All right. The safes that have the combinations are analog, so an EMP wouldn't open them. There's my Writer's Defense Fund nomination right here.

PJ:

So basically you're saying that Venom wants to go after safes that don't have modern protection in them. So he's intentionally going after low stake stuff. Like he's not interested in going after, the bank vault in New York with

Adam:

Yeah, he could go after the Federal Reserve, right? Any of the Federal Reserve banks, you know what I mean? Like he could go anywhere he wants to with this thing short out, all the electronics go right into the safes. but no, instead he wants to go to these little analog ones. So my question to you is, does Venom have any other tools for opening safes? I don't know. I'm just wondering what about like a power that kind of can melt anything,

PJ:

Mm.

Adam:

with acid that could potentially be

PJ:

or an

Adam:

useful?

PJ:

that can slice through things.

Adam:

I wonder if only they had those. It might make it all easier. Panda poo.

PJ:

Yeah.

Adam:

Meanwhile, thunder Hawk, shark and Rhino are on their way. Matt knows what Venom is after because he too knows about this completely implausible book.

PJ:

So continue on the role here. Matt says in the episode with his EMP, no security system will be able to stop him. Why do you need the book?

Adam:

I know what is going on. I feel like we're being punked with this episode. I

PJ:

really, I, that's what I mean. I'm wondering how much was this a joke episode of just like, I got past the story editor because they were on blow or something like that.

Adam:

come on mask writers just do a little better. I mean, I'm not that great a writer, but I could have done better than this.

PJ:

I think you're a fantastic writer.

Adam:

Well, thank you. But take the EMP idea and use it in another episode. That's fine. or put the whole twist on it. the leather binder's not actually what they're after. They thought that's what they were after, but actually it's not. There's some other thing in there. uh, whatever. So Scott and t Bob are following along cause that's what they do. venom spots mask increases the power of the EMP and TBO goes outta commission. But the mask vehicles are still working,

PJ:

Vacuum tubes for the wind.

Adam:

Is that what they did? Did they install vacuum tubes into all the mask vehicles

PJ:

I mean,

Adam:

and the masks?

PJ:

here's the deal, man. that's the only thing that has been offered in this episode.

Adam:

Does Matt have a bunch of vacuum tubes in the trunk of Thunder Hawk? Just in case,

PJ:

Slims don't move that fast.

Adam:

right?

PJ:

they actually had quite enough time to send the majet out with vacuum tubes, modify the vehicles, and then catch up to venom because there was a headwind.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

unfortunately, it just took a lot longer to get, dude, I mean, look, I don't know what to

Adam:

Uh, yeah. I don't know. I don't know either, man. uh, thunder hawks takes to the sky. It opens fire on the defenseless blimp, but like, if you open fire on a blimp and it's filled with helium. it's going to crash.

PJ:

it's,

Adam:

He's out for blood.

PJ:

he's gonna murder these guys this time.

Adam:

But look, instead of crashing like it should, based on. physics, it goes curing through the air like a popped balloon.

PJ:

I,

Adam:

Oh, come on. Uh, by the way, Matt says, have a bad day. Mayhem.

PJ:

which is a, pretty petty thing for him to say given that he just murdered Miles and Vanessa.

Adam:

they should have immediately crashed to the ground but instead they go careening like a popped, party balloon, that would've caused them to die too. eventually they would've crashed in that case too, but they would've banged all around the interior of that cabin. So, and is it even worth pointing out that they could have caught venom once and for all here,

PJ:

no,

Adam:

Yeah. Well, sly and Cliff, come running outta the bank. They are, completely cornered. we have a torch versus aura mask power exchange. but somehow piranha and jackhammer escape. so the chase is on now. Piana and jackhammer being chased by rhino and shark. Rhino causes a bunch of safes to fall over, which stops piana. sly finds a ramp. He takes a big jump, flies over shark fires stiletto down at Gloria. She uses aura again to send the stiletto bolts back at sly popping piranha's tires. very good use of the mask powers here.

PJ:

it's mass powers for the win. It's too little, too late.

Adam:

Yeah. It's in the final seconds of the episode, they're actually using mask powers here.

PJ:

Yeah, but fine. you've got your vacuum tube

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

now, it's part of the show, like

Adam:

It's, well, it's, it's the most mask part of the show and it's probably all of 7% of the episode. So we're seeing real masks stuff happening,

PJ:

yeah, yeah,

Adam:

predictably. Slide drops the book. Bruce uses Lifter to catch the book midair. and somehow they let Jack Cameron Piana get away, even though they're completely cornered,

PJ:

yeah. you're a hundred percent right, they're in what is nearly sort of a gated area

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

and rhino's there, so Rhino would've had to back up for them to exit.

Adam:

All this episode needed was Matt saying, like, Bruce being like, we've got them quartered, and Matt's saying, let them get away. We've got the book and that's all that matters.

PJ:

That would be on point.

Adam:

Well, we cut to the last scene here. Matt and Company are returning the book to the Safe company. Scott and t Bobb finally show up. At least Scott is wearing a helmet. and Scott says, did you see the blimp take off and master responses? Imagine how it must have felt when it landed. And everyone laughs.

PJ:

They are having the most amazing GFA at this, like it's full body laughter at the fact that these people are now all dead.

Adam:

Yeah, that's so funny. Oh, they're dead. How hilarious. Uh, back at the racetrack, we are rerunning the Indy 500. it's about to take place and Scott wants to install a fuel injector in tbo, but Tbo runs away scared. And that's the episode folks.

PJ:

just before this happened, we do get a thank you from Gloria to Scott for painting Stripes on her car,

Adam:

And then we spend a good five seconds showing Scott Wave and give a thumbs up in response.

PJ:

so

Adam:

Thank.

PJ:

we got that bit here, as opposed to investing it anywhere else.

Adam:

fade to black, cut to the more, you know, a firetruck has arrived outside the Trakker mansion. Someone pulled the fire alarm like back in the day when they had fire alarm, you know, uh, you could pull on a telephone pole. Scott says, now I know why. Dad says never play with fire alarms. People in real trouble might not get the help they need. And they're like, okay, that's fine. I've got two things. One, I guess the kids in my middle school never got that note.'cause at least once a month, some miscreant pulled the fire alarm. Second one is, is the implication that Scott and Teb pulled the fire alarm?

PJ:

I am gonna double down and say, yes, you are right,

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

the firetruck kind of drive away from where Scott's at.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

And my theory is Scott pulled the alarm just to see if he was in trouble. Would anyone actually care?

Adam:

Right, they're clearly at the front gate of the Trakker mansion.

PJ:

Yes.

Adam:

They're not on some random street like Scott and Tbo are outside the front gates of the Mansion grounds and just staring at the, like, what an odd place, but also to put a fire alarm, like on a telephone pole right in front of the Trakker, mansion gate. But, again, par for the course for this episode, which is a giant steaming pile of panda poo. So we can call it right here, but might as well take a look at our other awards, any Buddy Hawks awards.

PJ:

I

Adam:

Interesting. Right?

PJ:

one, like

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

I was thinking maybe a sub-award for misogyny, for miles, for Vanessa's driving.

Adam:

Yeah, a little bit from Matt too on Gloria's driving, like, ah, you know, she's, she's doing pretty good.

PJ:

Yeah. honestly, if there's any shining moment, I couldn't find any racism in this episode,

Adam:

let's applaud the writer on that one.

PJ:

job,

Adam:

Well done,

PJ:

we don't know if there was a line cut for the sadism like we talked about earlier.

Adam:

True, true. sly Racks Ragdoll Award.

PJ:

I really think it's Vanessa and Miles and the Blimp after Matt shoots him out.

Adam:

they are so dead. RIP, Vanessa Miles. we'll see you next episode. Roy Batty Award.

PJ:

I mean, we've had a bunch of. fucking with t bobb circuits.

Adam:

Yeah.

PJ:

exchange about the metal scrap yard

Adam:

Yeah. Like the threat to dismantle tbo and throw'em in a scrap yard.

PJ:

take your pick on that one.

Adam:

Yeah. the Father of the Year award

PJ:

I don't know,

Adam:

man.

PJ:

like so many I did wanna point out the first time we see him is Scott's abandoned. Not in the suite, but in the pit

Adam:

And pit row, he's just this kid just hanging around with his robot in pit row, which is a very dangerous place.

PJ:

Yeah. shit flying around all the time in there.

Adam:

cars are coming in, real fast into pit row. and the crews are working incredibly quick to change the tires, et cetera. So Scott is not in a safe place.

PJ:

no. And then Matt abandons him. feels the need to go off on his own just to like explore a hanger. there's a lot of stuff in here, whether it's motivated or done by Scott that feels really motivated. The fact that the guy is just feeling completely abandoned by his father. father year across the board,

Adam:

Across the board. And as we said, this episode is panda poo.

PJ:

poo

Adam:

Oh boy. I mean, it's not as bad. It's in a different category than carving your face on Easter Island statues,

PJ:

yeah.

Adam:

that had some mask elements to it, like, I'm just a Mask episode, even though the stakes were insanely low and stupid. This one is just another one where it's like, how is this mask?

PJ:

That's the thing. it really doesn't feel like mask at all. And this is, I think we've pointed out multiple times the laziness and the apathy of the writers actually really popped through on this

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

and it's really sad in so many ways because it's like, look, if I was getting jazzed up to go see a mask episode and we've, you know, even some of the not great ones are a lot of

Adam:

Mm-hmm.

PJ:

It's, this one is just like,

Adam:

Yep.

PJ:

of like, like a sad fart,

Adam:

Not just a fart. A sad fart.

PJ:

a sad fart.

Adam:

Well, well, episode 42, uh, pull us out of this tailspin. It is the Artemis Enigma Venom Plans to steal a sacred horn from a group of monks that is rumored to detect gold.

PJ:

I'm worried about this because, miles is going off of a rumor, when we saw this with Caesar's sword, it must have been a rumor that Caesar's Sword gave him all this power. miles are we, like, we're regressing again and it's not a good sign. can we get you help?

Adam:

Also, from a group of monks like. How hard is it to steal a sacred horn from a group of monks? Just walk in and take it. Now I get it. Unless they're the shallow in monks or something like that.

PJ:

But isn't that what Torch and Viper are for? Like, I mean

Adam:

yeah.

PJ:

kind of like burn the temple to the ground,

Adam:

Yeah, well, please continue to join us on this journey. We really appreciate you listening'cause uh, we need people who are laughing with us as well. For now though, this podcast is gonna transform and head back to hq. I am Adam Moore.

PJ:

And I am PJ McNerney.

Adam:

Bye-bye.

PJ:

Bye bye.

The mobile armored podcast show is written, produced and edited. Bye Adam Moore. And PJ McNerney.