The Ultimate Weapon and The Rotex Review

The End Hello, this is TF2 and Mike, and welcome

to The Mayhem. This is Mast Mayhem, episode four,

and with me as always is my Rhino co -pilot,

Optimus Solo. Hello. Hello. How are you? I am

fantabulous. Awesome. This episode of Mast Mayhem,

we will be giving you our thoughts on episode

seven, The Ultimate Weapon, and episode eight,

The Rotex. So buckle up and enjoy the ride. Analysis

of probable location of Venom's next attack completed.

Based on Venom's overall objective, logical site

is the Phelps Breeder Reactor. The Phelps Reactor?

But it's not supposed to go into service until

next month. They've only got a skeleton crew

up there. And they've just received a big shipment

of plutonium. First up today we're going to be

talking about the ultimate weapon. Take it away.

Mass goes to the movies. Oh wait. Scott and T

-Pob and Matt, we start off here seeing them

all at the movie theater and then out of nowhere

Venom attacks the theater. Assemble mask team

and move on to the next target where Venom is

found attacking an observatory and stealing some

stuff from there, obviously. And then we get

a cool mask venom showdown as mask meets up with

them as they're attacking the observatory and

everything. And it's kind of interesting because

the mask weapons and cars basically stop working

to the point where some of them crash into each

other and we have Gloria hurt. And we find out

that the reason the weapons aren't working and

the cars aren't working, et cetera, is something

called the cyclonic disruptor. What's Cyclonus

doing in this? Cyclonus disruptor. And basically,

Alex comes up with a way to neutralize it, so

he hopes. Cyclonus neutralizer. So they go back

to confront Venom again after they've tried to

figure out a way to neutralize the cyclonic disruptor.

And that kind of works for a time until Venom

kind of re -ups their disruptor powers. But it's

also aided by Brad's hologram. We see Brad's

hologram quite often in these episodes today.

and venom retreats they retreat from a nuclear

facility where they're going after plutonium

again and they do leave a bomb on it when they

retreat and it's up to mask to not just disarm

the bomb disarm the bomb because they can't quite

do that so they basically shoot it up into the

air so that it can explode where nobody's going

to be hurt The members for this episode, we have

five mask members. We have Gloria, Matt, of course,

Brad, Alex, and Buddy. And the Venom members,

we have Sly, Miles, and Cliff, no Vanessa. So

this is the first episode with Gloria and no

Vanessa. It's also a rare episode so far where

there's no Bruce Sato. Yes, no Bruce. which I

am not a big fan of, no Bruce. But what do you

think of the plot of, you know, attacking the

theater, attacking the observatory, going after

the nuclear plant to try to get the plutonium,

and the basic, the main thing I think that separates

this plot from the others that we've seen so

far is the first time where masks and mass vehicles

are not working. Yeah. And they have to come

up with a different way to do things. Yeah, I

like that part of the plot I don't understand

why venom had to Do two different tests to make

sure Well, the movie theater was the test the

observatory they stole something from Right,

but the no no, but the the the observatory they

stole the telescope But it was still a test because

they said Matt said they found the telescope

abandoned in a in a ravine. They didn't even

really do anything with the telescope. Gotcha.

So two tests just to... It had 22 minutes to

fill. That's not a decent excuse. Compared to

comparing last week's episode, the end of last

week's podcast episode, to the beginning of this

week's... much improved plot over dinosaur boy.

Yeah, that's for damn sure. Keep going. Was the

star movie supposed to be something Star Wars

referenced? It was just supposed to be a sci

-fi movie, but the posters on the wall when you

entered the movie theater did look Star Wars

-esque. The little posters they had on the wall.

I was half expecting the dumbass robot to say,

oh, hey, there's my cousin, R2D2. Stop calling

him a dumbass robot. He is a dumbass robot. But

yeah, I like this one. I did have a question.

These are not really part of my high beams or

low beams. I just had some random observations

and questions. Why does Venom never need to power

their masks up? I know they just don't show it,

but they are driving without them, and then they

just randomly decide to put their masks on. It's

like, their masks are made of different, are

made of sterner stuff. Because they never have

to actually get them powered up like masks does.

They just get to put them on. I don't know, honestly.

And you would think, and see, that was part of

my problem with last week's episode with... um

highway to terror and i'm not really going off

on a tangent here but i kind of am they stand

there and pull this scheme off without their

masks on and then as soon as masks shows up they

put their masks on to fight and like i'm thinking

if you're a super villain or if you're a villain

that wants to take over the government or whatever

else wouldn't you think you would need the secret

identity of a mask versus i mean Granted you

know and and this is with anything and I know

I'm going off on a tangent here But this is with

anything this is a power ranger. This is with

you know whatever you know no no I'm saying you

know people with secret identities and people

with masks. It's like You would think that they

would need that and they wouldn't call each other

by each other's names because it's like You know

I you know obviously as the audience we know

who all the mask and venom agents are all of

the mask agents know who all the venom agents

are and vice versa but random person on the street

or military base that they're attacking you would

think that you know that's the problem with this

show that i found so far in seven episodes is

that matt tries to be mysterious and is like

oh well i'll make sure it gets taken care of

and then you see him in a battle usually he has

his mask on lately he's The mask members have,

at least in these two episodes today, were taking

their masks off and on during battles. And I'm

thinking, a regular person would see that and

be like, hmm. And mask doesn't take theirs off

as much as Venom does. No, they don't. But you

bring up a good point because it's almost like,

it's kind of ironic because the name of the show

is Mask. all of it revolves around the mask.

But it's really like they're not wearing them

as a disguise. It's like they're not trying to

be secretive. They're not trying to have, you

know, alter eagles or personas. They're simply

wearing them because they give them extra powers

and stuff. But you're right. They all use their

first names a lot. They especially in this episode,

you could have counted the times people took

on and off their mask. Like it was a lot of them.

Um, so it's weird that they have these masks,

but they literally don't seem to care about their

identity being revealed. Yeah. And since we're

talking about this, there were a few times in

these, I think it was, I think it's more so the

next episode. So I'm jumping ahead here, but

there's, um, there's a time where Alex takes

off his mask, like twice. takes it off and puts

it back on. And I'm just waiting. I know this

will never happen because it's obviously 1985

happened a long time ago, but I'm just waiting

for a time where it's like, ow, ow, my beard's

caught in my mask, ow. He's got Vaseline in there

to soften it up. No, I just once would like to

see the contraption that powers the venom mask

up. Yeah. Does it look the same as the mask?

I don't think it's going to happen because...

I know. It doesn't... Well, okay, mask has a

base. They have Boulder Hill. Every time we've

seen Venom, for the first seven episodes of the

series, they're just at random places. Yeah,

we've yet to see a headquarters, a base, anything.

No, I mean, yeah. Well, like in the first episode,

there was that mountainside base thing, but everything

else, it's like they're roaming the country or

the world or whatever else. That's why they're

so pissed off. I have no hope. I did have one

other quick thing. Go ahead. And it's not really,

like I said, it's not a good thing. It's not

a bad thing. It's just kind of an observation.

We found out today where the most, where the

safest place on a MASC mission is, is the Rhino's

computer room. I love that they're like, where

can we put Scott and T -Bob? Ooh, the safest

place in this mission is Rhino's computer room.

So if we are ever in need to know where you should

be if you're a kid or where you need to be safe,

you gotta be on board Rhino. I thought that was

interesting. Yeah. just keep going that's all

i got um like like i said it was interesting

to see also that venessa was not present um gloria

was no bruce so this is a different combination

of people that we've ever seen before so that's

all the computer could come up with not much

at all one thing's for sure denim had more in

mind than stopping that movie premiere buddy

any luck with your underworld contacts Yeah,

my source says Venom's next strike is going to

be the McKenzie Observatory. The Observatory?

Scott and T -Bob are there! So let's turn the

high beams on. What do you got? Alright, um,

couple things actually. I thought that was one

of the coolest movie theaters I've ever seen.

Yeah, exactly. It's like IMAX before IMAX was

IMAX. Yeah, not only IMAX, but you had the dome,

like, just from the outside it looked cool, inside

it looked cool. Basically everything about it

was cool. So that was cool. I did have an observation

and you're not gonna like it though. So they're

in this theater that almost looks like it's an

IMAX. Scott's talking all about all the special

effects and it got me thinking that it was like

almost like they were watching something, you

know, an IMAX or in 3D and then you have T -Bob

sitting there with his arms crossed and all he

can do is be grumpy and complaining about being

at the movies. I'm sorry, sir, but T -Bob is

you. No, it's not. No, no, no. See, here's the

thing. And I've told this story before. I know,

I know. I'm just saying T -Bob is you. Well,

now that you brought it up, I have to tell the

story again. For those of you who are new listeners

to Mass Mayhem, and if this is the first GCRM

podcast you've ever listened to, where I live,

and because I do not drive, I rely on public

transportation, it takes me two buses and a two

-hour bus ride to get to the nearest quote -unquote

comfortable movie theater I can take one bus

go about I don't know three and a half miles

away from my house and I can go to a movie theater

that's okay but it's not like the lap of luxury

it's not the worst I mean you know there's only

a hole in the fucking building or anything like

that but it's just you know it I'll put it this

way The movie theater that I usually end up going

to is not conducive to fat people. What are you

saying? A fat person, dammit! I just thought

it was hilarious. T -Bob, to me, was you in that

scene. No, not at all. If I could ever picture

you in a movie theater with two people that are...

Tony, just wipe that from your memory. ...that

are enjoying the special effects of the movie,

you would be there complaining. That was hilarious.

No. And on that note, T -Bob, throughout this

entire episode, and I think throughout this series

so far for the most part, T -Bob is funny. I

don't care what you say. T -Bob is funny. He

has lots of good one -liners He hasn't been he

wasn't really used very well in the last, you

know three Episodes or so, but it's gotten back

to the T Bob that we saw in the first couple

episodes where he's actually being funny Like

when he ran into the wall in in the one scene

On a different note well kind of the same note,

but this time it's on Scott but T Bob's always

with him finally An episode where they're involved

and it makes sense why they're involved. Right.

And what I mean is they're at the theater doing

stuff that a dad would do with a kid. Venom attacks,

they kind of observe that. Then Matt's got something

to do so he actually finds something for Scott

to do go to the library or go to the observatory

You know they're having this exhibit or whatever

because he was whining and complaining right

over saying he got him out of there He did something

the parent would do like go go do that you know

and it just happens that Venom then you know

comes to the observatory where Scott happens

to be it's more of a natural way to include Scott

and T Bob And then of course, you know, it was

a special treat that they got to help out with

the mission because you know TV I was gonna have

this thing and you know blah blah blah but to

me it just made a lot more sense than what we've

seen in Yeah, I will agree with you this this

time even though I still kind of question in

a little bit and then I'll come later in my low

beams, but um I do agree with you at this point

seven episodes in at least this was something

that was fairly plausible not forced yeah uh...

at also a couple other notes first of all uh...

alex took on the uh... out sector took on the

persona of wheeljack in this episode uh... we

actually got his character developed a bit as

you know quite the inventors slash scientists

i mean we know that's kind of what his background

is anyways but he really got to show that off

in this episode i thought there was a lot of

character development alex again yeah so that

was good and uh... Biggest high beam on the other

side of the thing is is sly racks I'm kind of

starting to like this guy First of all, I love

his voice. Yeah, his voice is awesome He's got

one of the best voices in this whole show and

I'm really starting to like the stiletto fire

Yeah, where he just basically pins people to

a wall or to wherever with his they're not really

stars There there I think they're darts. Yeah

what? what was said in a previous episode so

i think he's a highlight for the bad guys and

he actually is beginning to get some uh... comedic

lines himself in the in these episodes today

so those were my my favorite parts of my high

beams for today's episode seven okay for me the

first thing i wrote down for for a high beam

was uh... that was some interesting karate gloria

did When she got called because she did this

like weird mystic move and then the brick just

kind of like Disintegrated I shouldn't even touch

it and it disintegrated. So she's a mystic karate

master. Um We kind of get a little bit of a character

development on buddy as well Not really so much

character development apparently he has underworld

contacts That was a little strange for me. That

was interesting. That was the first that kind

of struck me as odd, too, and there's going to

be other stuff about Buddy later. Yeah. I've

gone ahead and taken the responsibility of doing

the count, because I've been noticing it now.

This is the second time that Matt says, personnel

approved, assemble mask. Yeah, we heard it for

the first time that you know last episode and

yeah now it seems to be coming a trend. Yeah

Um, I love the holograms that brad used. I thought

I just thought that was really cool I loved you

know when when they do that because it's I don't

know. Well, name me a kid that doesn't like to

see holograms in their cartoon Yeah, now i'm

not talking about gem in the holograms. Yeah

Oh boy, uh, and my final highlight was it's well

It's positive, but it's leading into the low

beams, but um nice explosion But it looked more

like a few hundred fireworks versus a nuclear

explode I mean like it wasn't a nuclear cloud

like you would know like it wasn't like that,

and I know this is the 80s Don't get me wrong.

I understand, but you know that did not look

like a nuclear explosion to me I forgot one other

thing, too I really liked the scenes where the

massed vehicles were not working and all like

going in circles and flying around crazy style

and like all that stuff. It was neat to see them

dealing with that and dealing with their stuff

not working. It was a twist. It was something

you didn't see coming in this episode. Like all

of a sudden you have it, you know, you're just

so used to and especially in the 80s, you get

so used to your heroes having certain powers

and being able to use certain objects. And when

it didn't work, it was like, oh, this is interesting.

So yeah, I kind of like those scenes where we

see them going all chaotic. I say thumbs down

and now we get to the low beams and I think I'm

gonna turn mine on first my first note for low

beams was because I wasn't sure what the hell

was going on my first note was what the fuck

was the objective because cliff dagger said oh

but we got him on the ropes blah blah and then

Venom's like or mayhem is like we uh we achieved

our objective like when they were attacking them

I'm like What is your objective? You're attacking

a movie theater. You know, because I didn't...

It was like the first few minutes of the episode

didn't really understand that it was a test or

whatever else, but... Yeah, it did take a little

while to figure out what exactly the plot was

and what Venom's goal was. I'm not saying that

was necessarily a bad thing, but at first you're

a little confused. Yeah, I was, yeah. In the

card catalog under A. Fuck you, T -Bob. I think

he's funny. Okay, here's a thing. So far, the

previous six episodes, we haven't really gotten

a lot of character development for Scott Tracker,

simply because he's probably one of the worst

kids that came out of the 80s cartoons. But seven

episodes in and this is the first time we even

hear a word one about Scott's interest in space.

he's like oh you know how i love space so much

there has never been a single mention of him

loving space in any of these busy chasing dinosaurs

and stealing arrowheads or being obsessed by

a book of power but anyway yeah we've been in

the fantasy world so far we haven't been in the

sci -fi world yeah although that one episode

ended sci -fi ish yes uh And you did bring this

up earlier and I am in agreement with you that

it was a better way and it was, you know, not

really a... It wasn't a malicious way to put

Scott in danger, but I have to read the note

that I made about the observatory. So Matt sends

Scott and t -bitch to the observatory an innocent

enough fatherly thing to do and then surprise

Venom is gonna attack the place No, right and

I with what we said earlier I agree with what

you said and you know But that was just at the

time when I was watching it. That was my reaction.

I'm gonna love T Bob and Scott by the end of

this series that's what i i i will bet you fifty

dollars that i'm not you're stubborn enough that

you just do it for that no i'm being i'm being

i'm being very objective i'm not basing this

on anything else that i've seen i as i'm going

along i i am reacting to the stupid shit that

they do all right so I actually screencapped

this I made a new photo album on Facebook for

all my mask screen caps in my personal profile

not the geek cast radio page with my own personal

profile I Screen capped where Dagger opens his

missile thing on his vehicle It's giant fucking

Cobra logo. It looks like venom is a branch of

Cobra. Yes, they are Which makes sense why masks

then shows up in GI Joe toys later on God stop

it Stop it Really another team member quote -unquote

near death this one at least was believable But

they are right, but they overplayed that so much.

It's like how is she it doesn't look good Yeah,

they were a bit over dramatic with it. But at

least yeah, all we saw was Condor go over a little

hill ledge type thing. We couldn't see the actual

crash There was an X, you know kind of almost

like an explosion type deal and at least you

could say hmm somebody might have been hurt Yeah,

so I'll give it that it wasn't as bad as episode.

No, it wasn't as bad as Hondo's near -death experience

quote -unquote um seriously they're letting matt

is actually letting scott go along regardless

of how impenetrable the the computer room and

rhino is they needed him oh god and cliff dagger

i i'm in agreement with you slyrax is great venice

is great mayhem is okay but cliff dagger is essentially

the combined version of Rocksteady and Bebop

in this series. And it's my favorite flavor of

cake, plutonium. Are you fucking kidding me?

Seriously? He's your typical gnome skull. I know.

And we already mentioned Bruce was not in this

episode. You had a lot of low beams. Yeah. Your

low beams were on high. Yes, yes they were. I

had to search in this episode for some. Really?

Yeah. First of all, not really, this isn't really

a low beam, this is just a nitpick, or not even

a nitpick, I mean, because it's perfectly fine

that they do this, but I hadn't really noticed

it very often until this episode, but when the

team is assembled, I like how the computer assembled

somebody that was already there. Yeah, like it's

who is that buddy? Whatever it's like he's like,

please, you know assemble the team or give me

the best, you know agents blah blah blah and

it shows like the first three and it shows them,

you know being called their watch going off and

then leaving the place and then it calls buddy

But it doesn't go to a scene to show him leaving

anywhere because he's already there So I thought

that was interesting. Usually we see a scene

of somebody leaving their place of work or their

place of whatever. And this is one of the first

times I can remember where it called somebody

and they didn't show a scene because that person

was already with Matt. So that was interesting.

And then like you said, if anybody wants to hear

an example of what I continue to harp on is the

bad voice acting in this series. Go to the scene,

like you said, where Buddy is talking about,

where you ask him about his underworld connections

or whatever. and then his response is a terribly

voiced line yes it is and and there's a lot of

his lines that are not very well uh delivered

um again this isn't a bad thing on this next

when it was stalling because i think i would

have been sick That thing was whipping around

like crazy. I don't know how anybody could not

be sick or passed out after that. I wonder if

Booker T could survive that spinaroon. Nice.

Good reference there. Hopefully some people get

that one. My brightest... That seems... Brightest

low beam? Yeah, that seems oxymoron or something

for me to say the brightest low beam. This may

be the most... ridiculously offensive PSA I've

ever seen in my life. The PSA I know we're jumping

ahead but sometimes you got to bring these up

in the highs or the low beams but the the PSA

is about hitchhiking and Matt and Scott are walking

somewhere and he sees a friend or a classmate

or whatever schoolmate over on the side of the

road hitchhiking and his dad you know a car pulls

up and his dad's like oh you'll never know who

could be picking you up it could be a venom agent

Or it could be a child molester. Yeah, that's

what he said, child molester. He actually said

that. Yeah, that was a little strange. I'm not

trying to defend child molesters in any way,

shape, or form, but for them to just use that.

Use that term, yes. It was very, to me, putting

off. Yeah, it's a very blunt way of saying a

stranger. well and it was it was like it was

like they said it and i'm not saying these people

are good but they're still human it was saying

it like that is the lowest of low you know like

you can't get any worse than that it was like

not only a venom agent but it could be and i

don't know i you know i'm not trying to say there's

anything good about child molesters or not right

no no i understand it was very weird the way

that psa came across yeah the funny thing about

this psa is that At first, when the white car

shows up, I thought it was going to be Gloria.

I thought they were going to bring in another

mask member. Because they do do that sometimes.

They will show more than just Matt and Scott

and T -Bob. They've shown Bruce a couple of times,

or they will in the future anyway, I think. So

I thought it was going to be Gloria, get not,

you know, either, you know, giving the kid a

ride or whatever else. But that, yeah, that PSA

was meh. Not good. No, not at all. I have the

information you requested. I'm afraid the situation

is very serious. I figured that. What are those

things? They're called Rotex. A special breed

of metal -eating insect created in a top secret

military lab for warfare. Just drop them behind

enemy lines and let them go to town. The military

lab near where you camp just confirmed that one

of their colonies of Rotex is missing. I'm doomed!

that's the end of me the worst part is that they're

due to multiply in 12 hours if that happens there

will be no stopping them all metal in the world

will eventually be destroyed oh i gotta get out

of here fast and finally up today we have episode

eight the i don't The what the fuck are these

things called? Rotex, low -tex, low -tex, I don't

freaking - Whoa, we're going somewhere else here.

Alright, so the Rotex. We start with Matt and

Scott and T -Bob on what seems to be a camping

trip. And they're talking about T -Bob and T

-Bob has his foot bitten. And I saw that way

before they, the Matt or Scott see it. I'm like,

is half of his foot gone? And then finally he's

like, oh, my foot's been, no, your foot wasn't

bitten. Your foot's gone. That's more of an animation

error, I guess. That should hurt a lot more than

it seems to be hurting. So anyways, we figure

out that these insects, which are called, we'll

later on figure out they're called the Rotex,

are taking over and they are basically a metal

-eating insectoid creature of some sort. So,

Mask has the team assembled, and uh, hmm. There's

something odd there that we'll talk about later.

Then the team begins searching for these Rotex

because they have to get them before they multiply

and whatnot. So they basically uncover a box

buried in the ground that all the Rotex are in

and they're like, why are the Rotex in this box?

They're not out. doing anything they're all in

this nice little box. And then Venom shows up

because they want the box back because apparently

they are the ones that put it there and they

are in control of the Rotex. Yes. Well, the box

gets dropped, we'll talk about that later, and

the mask vehicles are basically attacked and

starting to be dismantled, especially the Thunderhawk.

We will definitely talk about that later. Miles

then uses a frequency thing, sound maker, whatever

you want to call it, to signal the Rotex back

to their home and puts them all in the box. We

do get a couple different side scenes here, so

you don't think Scott and T -Bob are just not

used here, of T -Bob trying to hide and protect

himself because he is definitely afraid of these

Rotex eating more of his foot. um oh dude and

it's a brick house better than the cardboard

house that he started with. It's like the three

little pigs. He was eventually getting a better

and better house. Mask is searching for a solution

to the Rotec problem, and eventually they figure

out that, hey, this is why they attacked him

at the campsite. We could use Scott's bird collar

device, because apparently that is a similar

frequency, since they were having problems matching

the frequency. And they use that transmission

through Matt's spectrum. or whatever you want

to call it, his mask. And Venom has the Rotex

unleashed on them and start to get eaten alive,

especially Miles in his vehicle. So eventually

Matt and the Mast team get control of the Rotex.

We have six mask agents in this one. Bruce makes

his return, exclamation point. Then we have Matt,

Brad, Alex, Hondo, and Buddy. So the only people

we don't have in this one are dusty and Gloria

Yeah, and we have still just the three venom

agents Vanessa has been off on vacation or something

So thoughts on El Plata Rooney sir This by far

is even worse than dinosaur boy, I disagree Okay,

I'm just gonna go ahead and say this right now

Don't care if they're insects that eat robots

or whatever else as much as I love the fact that

they gnawed off T Bob's foot I'm not a bug guy

at all. I can't stand bugs any kind of insects.

So that's that's right right there This being

a an insect you didn't like the you must not

have liked this grapple at episode of Transformers

Prime I don't see those as actual bug like insects

I'm just saying this is almost an identical episode.

I think Transformers is off. I'm just kidding.

Right, but if you look at the Rotex, they look

like giant fucking spiders. Whereas the Scraplets

are an alien, they're kind of like mini -me T's,

but with giant sharp teeth. Anyway, so right

away, it being an insect episode, It really looks

like an insect that you would see in everyday

life Right there. That's a that's a point off

for me The fact that they munch metal It's like

they Copied transformers, but they're little

tiny bugs Seriously, yeah, I can kind of see

that it reminds me it reminded me of the shark

to cons a little bit But the shark to cons didn't

munch metal the insect icons did I know but it's

it's I mean They're it reminds me of like the

way that they are because they don't speak and

they just oh the swarm. Yeah Well, the shark

to cards did speak of a couple. Well, that's

true. Yeah, but anyway, I know I know what you're

saying Yeah, but yeah the plot here. I was very

underwhelmed with it Like I was happy when it

was a mystery of like, oh, where did these robot

eating bugs come from? And then once it's revealed

that they belong to mayhem and venom it's like

oh god Well, it didn't belong to them, but they

had figured out a way to right use them and to

keep them at bay But to me I don't know. One

of the reasons I like this plot is similar to

the other one. It's not the standard chase plot.

It's not the standard what we've seen up to this

point. We've had two episodes today. It's kind

of weird how we've done this. And we had absolutely

no knowledge of any of these episodes when we

put our schedule together. You know, we've randomly

paired or you know come up with two episodes

or three episodes that we're covering at a time

And it was completely random the way that we

did that. Well, it wasn't random Well, I mean

it's random as far as we had no idea what any

episodes were about Well, right because that's

the whole point of the series this whole point

of this podcast is we are going through and watching

the show the You know, so I mean before shout

factory released The Mask DVD, the first ever

US release of Mask on DVD. I hadn't actually

seen an episode of the series since it aired

back in the 80s. I mean, I've seen like clips

on YouTube, but I don't really the only clip

on YouTube I ever watched was the intro because

that was the best part about the show at the

time. And I have not seen, you know, I have not

watched every single episode of the show up until

we're doing this podcast. So everything that

we're going to be talking about. in the rest

of the show is going to be a complete surprise

to us both. Right, I'm just saying it's ironic

that in that random grouping and assembly of

our schedule that we had three crappy... You

know, well, not three crappy, but we had, you

know, a certain trio of episodes last time. And

this time we have two episodes and both of them

have the similar thing where we're having problems

with the mask vehicles or the, you know, the

status quo is we usually see the mask use their

vehicles mask. You know, the other one, we had

them with the cyclonus thing, you know, disrupting

what they could do. And this time we have bugs,

you know, these Rotex attacking them. So I kind

of liked them both for that same. reason where

it's throwing a different wrench in the works

where mask and venom are not being able to use

their utilities in the regular manner. I don't

know, I think it's not as good maybe of a plot

as the episode we just talked about. But in a

way it is because there was parts of the last

episode where you're not quite sure what's going

on and you're not quite sure what Venom's plan

is. This one's very cut and dry as far as you

know that Venom is trying to use these bugs and

to keep them until they multiply and then to

use them in order to carry out their bad deeds,

you know, and especially against mask, etc. Right.

I think the plot's very well defined. You know,

I think there's a beginning, middle and end to

this. So I'm not as, I don't think it was as

bad as you maybe have comparing it to Dinosaur

Boy, etc. I mean you're entitled to that opinion,

but I just didn't feel it was as bad. I think

it's the whole thing of the insect thing. And

that's really when I said that just because it's

a bug episode, it's already one point off. you

know it's already lost one mask in my in the

rating system for me so i don't know we'll just

have to see yeah no i agree uh alex i'm in a

bit of a tight spot here stop just play a bird

caller into the microphone hurry that another

hologram this time alex i have it man transmitting

now spectrum on Get those high beams ready, buddy.

Yeah, buddy, turning them on bright. Now, I know

that you don't like insects. I also don't like

insects. I'm one of those people that I have

absolutely no problem with snakes. I have no

problem with rats or mice or that type of stuff.

I don't even have problems with most flying things.

I have problems with all of them. But as soon

as you put something near me or by me or around

me that has more legs than anything should have,

I do not like that. That's the only thing really

that I don't like as far as the random animal

or bug or alive things. But that being said,

I seem to love stories that involve plagues of

insects or like... just movies or episodes of

different stuff like that. One of my favorite

MacGyver episodes ever is when he's going against

fire ants, like millions of fire ants. And for

some reason in those settings, I don't mind them.

And I love what I'm calling insect like plague

stories. So that was a bonus for me in this episode.

I enjoyed seeing this, especially with the catch

there that they were eating metal and stuff like

that. And honestly, I prefer, I mean, I didn't

think about this and I've already mentioned it

once but I didn't think about it until we were

already doing this record of how similar a storyline

this is to the Scraplet story in Transformers

Prime and I think it was almost done better in

Mask. I don't know, I like the way that this

happened. I like the way that they showed them.

They looked very real and very disgusting but

I think that was well done. I mean yeah it creeped

me out and that means they were doing their job.

And I have another high beam and that's kind

of what I just talked about where the vehicles

aren't faring so well in today's episode. No,

they're not. So I like that. I thought it was

a good connection, one that I did not necessarily

see coming, that the bird call from the beginning

was what triggered the Rotex and that it would

come back at the end to be used. I know it seems

kind of easy. Yeah, it might seem kind of like

an easy thing, like, oh, you know, easy way to

make Scott save the day again. And it's kind

of, you know, retarded that a bird caller saves

the day. But no, I think it was good. And I think,

you know, you don't realize it at the beginning

that that's why they were being attacked. And

so you're with Matt when he makes that connection

and says, wait a second, why were they attacking

us at the beginning? It's because Scott use that

bird caller. We can use that. And I thought there

was a cool way to not only have a connection

there but to bring the story full circle from

beginning to end right and the thing about a

bird caller is you know as gimmicky as a bird

caller is you know birds all different species

of birds have different sounds and different

frequencies that they use those sounds at so

it also played into the fact of the sound frequency

and all that so i mean that's you know that's

that's kinda cool What else you got? I also thought,

well just another note in with the vehicle's

not faring well today, dang the Thunderhawk just

took a beating. I actually thought it was kind

of cool that it took a beating. I don't know

if I was completely thrilled how quickly it was

put back into motion, but then it was still not

quite right. So it wasn't terrible, but I thought

it was cool to see that they're not these invincible

machines. I thought... Thought he was funny in

this episode. Sorry his brick box that he was

making was good stuff Okay, I will I will let

you have and I will agree that the brick box

thing was was was a little funny because let's

face it He was looking out for his own well -being

But in general so far in seven episodes or eight

episodes. That's the only thing that I'm willing

to give t -bob a pass for everything else up

to this point he sucks yeah um and i think it's

funny that scott has to continue to remind him

that he's not alive yeah um i thought there was

a very another cool connection that i don't think

we've seen before and that was a connection in

the episode to the assembly montage We saw the

one, I always forget which mass member is doing

what, but the mechanic. It's usually Bruce. It

wasn't, I don't think it was Bruce. Not Bruce.

Alex I don't know what you mean the mechanic

Yeah, that was buddy. I have a note about that

And he's under the car, you know doing stuff

and the people are like, oh hurry and as he leaves

He's like, oh you can use that car and it points

to a bike and then two -thirds of the way through

the episode there They show the guys on the bike

the couple on the bike. I thought that was hilarious.

I thought that was an awesome way That's the

first time I've seen something from the assembly

montage show up in an episode. Yeah So that was

cool. My other note and I think it's because

I'm been tortured with a lot of nice clean ways

to end episodes where it's like oh we need to

end something let's tie it up in a bow and you

know everything's good. This was one of the better

endings I've seen. Yeah. Because they didn't

do anything it was an actual ending that wasn't

like you know oh it was a dream sequence or oh

there's a you know a spaceship Involved here

or oh, you know this or that it was an actual

ending where you know They use the bird collar

the the Rotex, you know start attacking venom

and You know it all from there all the way to

the end. It made sense to me So I have it as

one of the best endings. We've seen of an episode

To this point. Yeah to this point. So give it

kudos for that and I'll turn over it to your

high beams Yes for my high beams the one thing

that I'm starting to notice the most during the

assembly sequence is how each of the mask watches,

the emblems, are not all the same. I could have

sworn when Bruce's went off, the mask logo on

his Dick Tracy watch kind of looked like a...

forgive the expression... an Indian or a towel

just the design it looked like something of of

Asian or Middle Eastern I'm telling you I'm not

I'm not joking about this about the fact that

they are all I'm noticing different emblems pop

I mean it's still the same mask emblem but it's

different designs of the mask emblem Brad's guitar

string popped yeah Alex the snake fighter Bruce's

robot building a house of cards Or knocking over

house of cards. Yeah. Um, why is buddy Hawks

working on Bumblebee mask transformers crossover?

Nice. No sit. Look at that. Look at that picture.

That's yellow VW a bug from the 80s and it looks

like Bumblebee Matt does say the assemble mask

so that's three times so far in the series that

he said it something new for the computer she

says transmitting mask signal code so that's

something new that she said I do like how Rhino

can use its its its back end for something. I

guess it's its wheelbase I thought that was kind

of cool and neat and I remember from having Rhino

as a kid I remember having the toy that the toy

actually does do that the toy will I don't know

if it's I don't remember if it's separated from

the actual truck I don't think it did but it

did have the pop -up compartment on the like

where the where where Bruce was sitting Or whatever,

you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So the toy did

have that pop -up where you could put one of

the mask figures in that. And I loved the aerial

stunts with Thunderhawk and Switchblade. I thought

that was really cool. And there were no trees

this time to get in the way. That is true. Yes.

So those are my high beams. A lot of them. Gentlemen,

let's move it. Prepare to energize masks. And

now it's time to turn on the low beams. I only

have three, uh, five. I only have two, three,

four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. No,

shut up. Well, they're, they're really quick

things. So it's not like it's going to, you know,

take an hour to discuss these. Put the dimmers

on. Let's go. In this episode, T -Bob's voice

is back to the ear -bleeding version. I don't

see it as ear -bleeding. It doesn't bother me

at all. Okay, you watched episode seven, correct?

You heard his voice in that. I don't see a difference.

I'm telling you, there's a difference. I think

you're hearing like that bird call. No, not at

all. You're hearing something that only deer

hear. No, not at all. Deer hear. Shut up. Sorry.

You know, as I mentioned before, I thought this

was going to be a really generic no -villain

episode. But it gets even more lackluster when

Venom is actually behind the Rotex. I did think

we were going to have an episode without Venom.

Yeah. And I was actually looking and thought

it might be cool. And then they showed up. But

I didn't mind that they showed up. Yeah, I know.

Thunderhawk, no, it was destroyed. I mean, I'm

not talking about the first time. I'm talking

about the second time when the Rotex just enveloped

the damn car. Yeah. Because they get into it

up in the air. I believe part of the steering

column or the steering wheel itself comes on,

they eat through that and Matt essentially pulled

it off and is holding it in his hand. When it

lands, it lands like a car would land up after

a jump on the shock absorbers and all four tires

get blown out. It ends up on its side. That was

just a horrible, horrible sight. There was a

disconnect here with, not disconnect, but there

was a You know, these vehicles are basically

being destroyed and I know it's just oh, you

know, they can repair anything but that should

have been destroyed and Why can I switch switchblade

miles? Yes, which switch blades it blew the fuck

up Yes, it did like how does that how is that

repaired? Yeah, I mean we haven't seen it yet

because we haven't seen the next episode when

I'm showing Like it's like it's good as new and

that motherfucker blew up Yeah, it did. My final

low beam was wear safety goggles and play it

safe. I mean, I understand the message and it

is a good PSA, but... I didn't get the shop class

until I was in like middle school. I mean we

didn't have shop class like When this show was

airing I was just you know Yeah, I wouldn't have

it wouldn't have connected with most of the demographic

that was watching Unless they're in there like

helping their dad with something but also T Bob

deserved to be hit in the eye with the way that

he Swung that damn thing. Yes, he did. He was

a little forceful there. Yeah, it's some aggression

I only have a couple I mean again the vehicles

being able to be so easily repaired and I'm assuming

you know switch blades gonna be repaired I think

that's bad this it's almost like you know they're

always trying to introduce new characters or

new vehicles you know because there's toys and

every 80s show is just a commercial blah blah

blah kiss my ass people that say that anyway

but this would have been a natural way to you

know that vehicle just got blowed up so introduce

a new one Yeah, you know I wish a cartoon could

do that for once actually have people Instead

of just introducing new people on top of new

people on top of new people on top of new vehicles

Everyone smile have someone die or have someone

leave and actually have it in the show have a

vehicle get destroyed And then there's a replacement

You know there's there would have been cool ways

to do that and that could have introduced a new

toy So I don't like the fact that I assume next

episode we're gonna see all the vehicles back

to normal a little Thing little lion that caught

me here When venom does show up and is coming

after you know trying to get the control of the

Rotex First mile shows up I think and then you

know sly and cliff show up and then Matt has

a line where he said something about like look

the gangs all here and I was like No, it's not

like there's only You know, Vanessa's not there.

I know, but it just caught me. I was like, no,

the gang's not all there. Vanessa's lurking in

the back somewhere. Watch out for her. She's

going to get you. But those were just little

things. The two biggest things I didn't like

about this episode, and the one I kind of got

to give them a pass on because it took them eight

episodes, but they finally got the mask, you

know, I'm calling it a transformation, but that's

really not the right word. But the mask, generate

the power generator you know the the mask unleash

sequence they finally sped that up they cut out

all the slow parts and you basically just see

the computer you know the machine lowering the

mask and then they all grab it you don't have

to see them individually grab it as each mask

is powered up so it was much quicker and it's

much more easy to watch except for the fact That

apparently, along with that, instead of showing

each individual person getting their mask, since

they're doing it as a group, they decided that

the group together should say, energize. That

was retarded. Like, when I heard them say, energize,

I literally was like, so they finally sped it

up, and then you ruined it. So I'm kind of torn

on if I like this new sped up version better

or not. I need a different, I need a mix and

match of the old version and the new version.

My biggest problem with this episode though,

and I did like this episode overall, but my biggest

problem is we're eight episodes in and they're

beginning to use certain plot points way too

much. How many times has something important

Ben dropped by somebody. Alex, you're an idiot.

They're like, Venom shows up and Mask is like,

we need to get out of here. It was kind of a

premature, you know, like retreat, but he's like,

we need to, you know, everybody get out of here.

Venom really wasn't attacking quite yet. They

can take their time somewhat. They don't have

to, it's not like the life, you know, people

aren't shooting at them. Hmm and Alex on his

way to the closest vehicle drops the box of Rotex

and they spill out and are unleashed Not only

does he drop them for no reason. He doesn't pick

them up like you're carrying the most important

thing about this whole mission and You're gonna

drop them on the ground and then say oh who gives

a shit leave them there. Let's get out of here

This is the third time somebody's dropped something

important It bugs me when you overuse things

so I better not see this too many more times

Good luck with that, dude. If we see it again,

you're gonna hear me go off even louder. Oh,

that's so funny. Oh, man. Any other low beams

for this one? No. We've got them in sight. Hold

on. Mask will be right back. How about if you

and T -Bob went to the park? Or the library?

Where am I gonna find action and adventure in

a library? Under A, in the card catalog. Hungry

little devils, weren't they? When the small are

many, they are stronger than the strongest. Hey,

Bruce, I almost understood that. Must be something

wrong with me. I hate them bugs. They eat natural.

I think the road techs give all cold -blooded

rats the creepy crawlies. Shut up, dagger. T

-Bog, what are you doing now? The toy chest wasn't

safe enough. But that's crazy. You won't have

anything to do in there. You'll go nuts with

boredom. It's better than being eaten alive by

hard little bugs. How many times do I have to

tell you? You're not alive. Mask, where illusion

is the ultimate weapon. Convert switchblade to

jet mode. Surprise, Matt Tracker! It's Mayhem!

Battle stations! Protect the decoder, Bruce!

I'm going up! Stacks, ready to fire! Masks, Switchblade,

Thunderhawk, and Rhino. Fire! Each sold separately

with action figure. Cover me, Matt! Ten -four!

Saddle's getting away! But you're not, Mayhem.

Masks, Switchblade, Thunderhawk, and Rhino. Each

sold separately. New from Canada. You can now

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We are back from that awesome cliptastic and

commercial break. final thoughts Ratings, where

do you want to go final thoughts first and then

let's do ratings The second thing aside episodes

were the most enjoyable at this point besides

the very first episode of the series Yeah I agree

That's really my only fault. Oh, you know, I

we were at like a low of all possible lows with

Dinosaur Boy. We had really hit rock bottom and

I was hoping we could recover from that and I

think we really did in these two episodes. I

love the fact that we had problems with the masks

or the vehicles in both episodes. I think the

metal eating bugs is something that's believable

in the mask universe. We didn't have to travel

to a new country or something silly like that.

um you know natural ways that scott and t -bob

were involved or not involved um i just think

these were these were two pretty solid uh episodes

minus a few things like the the important thing

being dropped and the vehicle is going to be

all right and you know maybe some questionable

psas um but otherwise there wasn't really too

much i could find that was just bad in these

episodes Yeah. So I'm overall much happier than

I was last time we recorded. So what do you give

episode 7, The Ultimate Weapon? I give The Ultimate

Weapon my highest score so far, a 4 out of 5.

I had more problems with this than I... I'm gonna

give it a 2 out of 5, it wasn't... A 2 out of

5 for the first one? Yeah, for the ultimate weapon.

Did anything bad happen about it? It just...

I don't know. It just didn't... First of all,

like I said before, I was confused as to what

the hell the actual plot was in the beginning.

And by the time I realized it, I'm like, why

do they need two tests? You know, so two out

of five. I think that's fair. uh... it's not

like it's you know it's not even a one point

five or zero anything else like that uh... what

do you think you're the only things that are

worse than a two well true but still uh... what

do you give uh... episode eight uh... the road

tax and give the road tax also four out of five

these are my two favorite episodes i've seen

so far in the series again as i said The insect

thing immediately took one point off. However,

I did enjoy the Rotec episode more than the Ultimate

Weapon, so I am also giving it a 4 out of 5,

and this is the first time I've ever given a

4 out of 5 so far in the podcast. Sure the heck

it is. I just think both of them were much better.

You're putting the Ultimate Weapon... On the

same level that you put video venom Yeah, because

again it was you know say the same thing with

video venom was like By the way, you did give

a four to a highway up there. Oh, did I? So we've

both given out two fours. Okay. Well Just got

here, sorry So far these have been two of the

best episodes we've seen I just couldn't find

too much bad things about them and Maybe it's

just especially coming right after video venom

and dinosaur boy or whatever it's called that

that made these two look even better but I Don't

know I felt good about these two episodes. Yeah,

I mean just looking at my high and low beams

for each It's the exact opposite. For episode

7, I had few high beams and too many low beams.

Not too many, but I had too many issues with

episode 7. Like, you know, the flavor of the

plutonium cake bit from Cliff Dagger and crap

like that. Whereas in the Rotex, I had way more

high beams than I did low beams. So, out of the

two, I think... The Rotex, like I said, minus

the insect part, is the better of the two episodes

this week. I disagree with you. I liked both

of them. They're both four out of four. I loved

them. Not five out of five. Not five out of five.

Four out of five. Thank you for being a part

of Masked Man today. If you'd like to get in

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you want. We hope you enjoyed this episode of

Mass Mayhem and don't forget to join us in our

next crusade when we will be discussing episodes

9, 10, and 11. The Oz Effect, Death from the

Sky. and the Magma Mole. Oh, god. For now, I

am TF2UnMike with Optimus Solo. And remember,

podcasting is the ultimate weapon.