The Venice Menace, Treasure of Nazca, and Disappearing Act Review

Spectrum! Welcome to Mass Mayhem. This is episode

twenty four. Six to go. I feel like I'm counting

down the twenty five or the twelve days of Christmas

over here. I am TF2. That's what we ought to

do. Anyway, I am of course TF2 and Mike joining

me is Toon Master Tim. Hello. Hello. How are

you this week? Not bad, not bad. It's getting

cold, so I'm kind of bundled up this week. Thank

God those 90 degree days were killing me So all

right, we are going to just jump right into it

I will say that this is the second to last episode

for season one of the podcast Our season two

will begin in episode 27, so we're almost done

and thankfully season 2 is only 10 episodes.

I'm honestly betting at this point the racing

season is 10 times better than all 65 cartoons

that have preceded it. It has to be. I hope so.

It just has to be. We're gonna head to the first

episode after this. I'm being eaten by a giant

jellyfish! It's not a jellyfish, Teabog. Huh?

But it is very interesting. It'd be more interesting

if it'd let me go. It's like jelly or gelatin,

but extremely dense and strong. Let's take it

back and analyze it. Couldn't we just throw it

overboard and forget about it just this once?

We have to check out anything suspicious, Teabog.

Dad sources say that Venom might be operating

here in Venice. If Venom is operating, the patient

is in trouble. First up is The Venice Menace,

which is episode 60 of Mask. It aired December

20th, 1985. Venom has a device that turns the

waters around Venice to jelly, allowing Stinger

to drive on the surface and dig out Cleopatra's

sunken barge. That's wrong. What's wrong? The

Wikipedia synopsis is wrong. It's not Stinger,

it's Scorpion. Oh, well. It's not your fault.

I just happened to notice that when I was checking

hands have stingers, so Yeah, okay Venice menace

It's another treasure hunt I I I will give them

this, though. It was very ingenious doing it

the way they did it. So I did like that about

the plot as far as turning the river to jelly,

the water to gel. I did like that. Right. I thought

that was cool. I did, too. I like that device

as well. And this is one of those times where

I wish we had deviated a bit, you know, if they

had just done something different here. For instance,

I really wish that they had just Gone off in

a different direction and I have venom be behind

this one. Yeah you know because we have this

jelly substance in the water and It would have

been interesting to see that take a different

direction. I thought that I Thought that was

interesting. I wanted to see what what that was

all about So they kind of had me hooked from

the beginning on this one Unfortunately, you

know it is is venom behind it but even though

we're just going after more treasure, at least

it was a different type of device to get there.

Oh, absolutely. And seeing what they did with

the jelly and the kind of problems that created

for a mask. So I like that. Yeah. The plot device

here was really well done with the jelly. I thought

that was really cool. And at least they're not

in another Legend of the Hidden Temple or anything

like that. Not running into any more OMAX or

anything. But yeah, the plot overall, I really

did dig it. I don't have... I mean... This one

overall might be... the second or third episode

of the series that I give a halfway decent grade

to because I mean overall the plot okay sure

they are looking for Cleopatra's barge and you

know that equals treasure hunt to me because

it's a ship made of gold but the execution was

well in the plot the How they open the show was

good how they you know the the whole middle action

scenes were good the ending was good, so Can't

believe they actually pulled it off Really good

episode So let's you have anything else for the

plot no All right, let's get to the high beams

Cleopatra's barge, it really exists! But how

did it wind up in northern Italy? It was stolen

after Cleopatra's death, but the thieves were

lousy sailors and lost it here! Sounds like something

Bruno would do. Hey! Looks like any something

poked. Ah, but this boat is made of solid gold!

Alright, four high beams. Scott and T Bob I don't

say a lot of good things about them a lot of

times, but they're actually funny in the gondola

scenes I thought that was amazing. I thought

that was really cool Other than that I just kind

of watched this episode to watch it I do like

the effects of the jelly when all the vehicles

are on it But I mean, I just was watching this

one to enjoy it after a while, which for me to

just sit here and watch an episode of mask and

actually enjoy it. It's been a long time since

that has happened. So what do you got? Yeah,

I agree. I did, too. I just sat back and enjoyed

this one more because we did have the jelly and

added a different element to it. You know, wondering

what that was going to do eventually. I still

like volcano van. I know you're not a fan of

it. And I like it better in its normal mode more

than the battle mode I think the battle mode

does look kind of goofy, but I still like that

vehicle Yeah, the normal mode looks fine. It's

you know, it's a monster truck version of a minivan

for moms, but yeah But yeah, the battle mode

is just What else you got? Yeah, I noticed Calhoun

has been called a lot recently and the computer

usually calls him because he has a subterranean

vehicle. But I noticed that also Gloria has been

called a few times when he's been called in recent

episodes. So just interesting they've been using

him quite a bit. Another thing that was interesting

too is that when when Matt calls up the team,

we cut to the computer at Boulder Hill that turns

on and starts making the selections from there.

Yeah. Yeah, that was interesting. I know they've

mentioned the satellite linkup and everything

else beforehand, but I don't remember the last

time we actually saw the one at Boulder Hill

doing it without them being there. Right. Yeah,

it was different seeing them cut to Boulder Hill's

computer and making those selections. I agree

that T Bob has some humorous lines in this one

one of the lines I wrote down was He says something

like if venom is operating the patient is in

trouble So I thought that was good, and then

we have some good animation this time I thought

there were some really great shots of piranha

in this one Rax's vehicle. Yep Because he's actually

used more in this episode than he has been in

some of the more recent ones And we so we could

see piranha quite a bit Absolutely So yeah, those

are my high beams. Alright, let's get to the

low beams after this. Alright, for the low beams.

I only had this written down because I thought

it was kind of ironic and funny. A few weeks

ago, Neil and I did the... TV's Mr. Neil and

I did the last episode reviews for The Adventures

of Super Mario Bros. 3. And in that cartoon,

which came out in 1991, it has an episode entitled

The Venice Menace. And it's Koopa in a doom sub,

under the water canals of Venice, creating all

kinds of problems. And he's basically sinking

the entire city into the canal. and in that there's

this statue of these ancient plumbers and it

turns out to be ancestors of mario and luigi

so i just thought that was kind of hilarious

and interesting that you know i watched a few

weeks ago and now i'm watching something like

this that takes place in the same city but obviously

is a very different style of style of episode

um but um You know honestly, I didn't find too

many things wrong with this one Yeah, I didn't

find too many things either. I'm gonna have some

some minor things. I think they're all kind of

minor For example why is t -bob crawling around

on the jelly when he has a wheel? Yeah, you know

he could just pop that thing out and just you

know drove all over that stuff And then We end

the episode with a bad pun from T Bob, you know,

so what else is new? But at least everyone groans

at it. So I actually kind of saved that one.

And then probably my biggest low beam is that

we've seen this ending before, haven't we? The

laughing. Well, I mean, mask shrinks down the

barge. and then steals it away from venom and

then venom just runs off so this is very similar

to the episode from last week the scarlet empress

where you know they use a shrinking ray to shrink

down what venom is after and then oh just wait

there's gonna be more shrinking yes i was gonna

say the same thing yes we're not done with the

shrink rays no it's like somebody came up with

this idea you know what would be great is if

we could shrink stuff and then all of a sudden

they just take it and run with it and now we've

got, you know, several episodes with this idea.

Yep, pretty much. Alright, what are you going

to give Venice Menace? So, yeah, just sat back

and enjoyed it. I'm going to give this one three

masks. really did enjoy it I thought it was interesting

there wasn't too many things like venom didn't

drop anything as far as I remember from watching

it or anything like that so I'm actually gonna

give it four out of five masks which is rare

for me to give fours and fives but yeah you know

I really did enjoy it I thought it was an interesting

plot thought it was really cool so we are gonna

move on to the other we're gonna say oh no I

can see that I can definitely you know see Why

do we give them four? I think that was a little

above average. Very above average. So we're going

to move on to the next one. It's Mask, where

illusion is the ultimate weapon. Attack! Mask,

Boulder Hill playset with action figures. So

you put it together. Prepare for battle. This

is no innocent gas station. Activate freeze rate.

Nobody stops the evil jackhammer. Vehicle sold

separately with action figure. Oh yeah? Boom!

I'll sneak in another way. All right up next

is Treasure of Nazcaplane Dun dun dun and this

one is Mask foils a plot by Venom to steal a

prehistoric South American treasure You know,

at this point, I'd rather have short round bouncing

on my head than watch these damn episodes. Well,

we knew what to expect. It was right there in

the title. Yeah, I know, but yeah, there's not

enough mystery. There's not enough intrigue.

It's just not enough. No, I agree. You know,

I mean. We're running. We're chasing. We don't

know why we're We're after something and it takes

us way too long again to reveal what the purpose

is behind this scheme You know, we've seen it

so many times before Yeah, and we're up to let's

see how many episodes in the series now right

60 61 61 Yep Yeah, we've seen this too many times

before Pretty much so any high beams There's

just one that I have and that is Vanessa takes

out Condor's blade during one of the battles

Yeah, so I thought that was well done And and

this time when the mass members are called Again

This used to be one of the highlights of some

of the earlier episodes and they're just dropping

the ball all over the place I mean, they're not

even trying at this point You know, Bruce is

just basically testing a toy. We've got Julio

golfing, you know brass just strumming a guitar

They're not doing much of anything with us and

I mean I remember Early on in the episodes. They

were kind of humorous and we talked about this

I mentioned this earlier, but You know like you'd

have Was it Brad or or dusty which one makes

he's in the pizza shop Dusty. Yeah, so like,

you know, he's like slicing pepperoni or something

and he like runs off and so the dog like, you

know runs over and starts eating it off the floor

and you know, just just goofy stuff and I Said

they're just They're running out of ideas. I

think Absolutely Alright, for me, there's some

funny lines in this one. That's about it for

me. So we are gonna get to the low beams after

this. what's been taking you guys so long mayhem's

real mad you know pipe down and fill it up twerp

you're behind schedule well i haven't stopped

waking for a second so don't look at me don't

worry maloy no one ever wants to look at you

for the low beams i only have one long drawn

out word written down here Boring. It just...

How can you go from something as cool and as

interesting and as well executed as the Venice

Menace to this episode? Right. Yup. Yeah, and

then other things like, you know, my low beams

basically I have just a couple. But I agree with

your point on the episode being boring. So Matt

is wanting Alex to find out how many companies

in town have these aerial sprayers. And so Alex

hands Matt an envelope and it has three lists

in it, but there's only one company that does

this. And why didn't he just tell him? Why do

you have to write it down in this envelope? It

was just that was that made no sense to me And

then the other thing is, you know when we finally

get to the end, you know venomous chasing after

this treasure they've gone through all this trouble

and You know miles is down inside this cavern

he's talking about hot it is down there and we

just have this scene of him Looking into this

room in the cavern and saying that's the treasure

and just high tails it out of there. So we're

left wondering, okay, well, what was the treasure?

Obviously it's something that had no value to

Venom because he just, you know, he said it that

way and then he left. And so it turns out that

the treasure is actually just that there's this

area that creates this steam and that was valuable

during the ice age. So that was the treasure.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Yeah, I mean what

else is there that you can say it's Very poorly

executed. There's really not much going on in

this episode again. It's just kind of like I

said before it's just we're We're chasing. We're

running. We're all over the place. We're trying

to figure out this mystery and then you know

We don't even have Anything interesting that

happens at the end. It's just this lackluster

Ending you know brings about the resolution Exactly,

so we are going to move on to the final episode

of the day after this. you don't need a policeman

you need a magician this is a disappearing act

finally up today is disappearing act this is

the 62nd overall episode of mask venom steals

priceless automobiles by shrinking them with

a shrink array okay that sums it up pretty well

there's really nothing much else to talk about

It's a pretty simple plot, folks. Yup. It just...

I... I mean, I like that we're finally not dealing

with some natural disaster with this plot. I

kind of like that it's, you know, stealing stuff

from a car museum and, you know, but it just...

It's a shrink ray. It took Matt entire, you know,

Matt's always assuming it's Venom, which usually

he's right because that's the villain of the

series, but he's always assuming it's Venom and

he keeps saying, Oh, I have no idea how they

get out and how they did this. And well, you

know, it's like, it took him way too long to

figure this out. Yeah. I like the card museum

aspect as well. You know, they're actually mentioning.

the names of some some older and rare cars, Maserati,

Bugatti. Yeah, so, you know, I like that. I like

going to car museums and seeing those types of

things. And so that was really nice to see. But,

you know, it's just the fact that we're using

the shrinking rate idea again. And of course,

you know, Venom is stealing these cars because

they're worth a lot. and they're going to sell

them at some point. So it's not really overall

very interesting once you get past that point.

There were some moments in it and we'll talk

about those coming up. But overall just kind

of another middle of the road episode. Absolutely.

Venom. Select the agents best suited for this

mission. Bruce Sato preselected. Calhoun burns.

Gulliver mass function of reduction and enlargement

imperative to current mission. Vehicle code name

Raven. Buddy Hawk. Master of disguise and intelligence

gathering. Also maintenance specialist. vehicle

code name firecracker personnel approved assemble

mobile armored strike command all right for the

high beams where's copperfield when you really

need him right yeah with the disappearing act

uh -huh I'll admit it was a mystery at first

about how the cars were getting out And then

it reminded me of an episode plot earlier in

the season. I think they're I think they've done

this before Maybe not a shrink array, but I swear

there was another episode where something similar

to this was done Yeah I'd have to go back and

look at the earlier episodes to see but one of

the things that really When I saw this in the

episode, I'm like, you got to be kidding me is

that You know Matt and I think Bruce are inside

the car museum and they've been talking to the

security guards about what happened and okay

the cars just disappeared and Matt goes over

to this window and Opens the window as if they

would be able to sneak the cars out the window

and he's asking you know if it was locked and

but then he says it by saying well of course

they couldn't fit the car out the window like

why even bothering to look i guess he was you

know thinking that maybe somebody snuck in and

snuck out but still wouldn't explain how the

cars suddenly you know got out of the museum

because in the beginning of the episode the security

guards are standing there and they turn around

and the car is missing Yeah. That's crazy. So

what are your other high beams? Um, the other

ones, that's pretty much it. Okay, well... This,

um, actually when we're talking about the cars,

it reminded me of one of my, um, one of my low

beams references is gonna be, but, uh... But

yeah, I mean, it's just overall, it just isn't,

it's not really getting any better. So let's

get to the low beams after this. So before we

get to the low beams I forgot that this was the

one where people are getting shot in the ass

with lasers and I just find it absolutely hilarious

that they did a close -up on Vanessa's butt as

the laser hits her and then immediately after

that they get a shot of her grabbing her own

ass. Yeah. those pictures will be in the post

as far as low beams outside of that moment honestly

the rest of the episode was boring and i forget

what i think it's maybe the title of it is make

tracks the decepticons go to steal automobiles

that was a better car thieving episode in transformers

than this was yeah But listen, it's just a straight

-on we're stealing cars or you know We're doing

with the shrink ray and then we bring the shrink

ray in it that at the end to shrink the mask

vehicles And then they find some way to run venom

off Well, the stupid thing about the shrink ray

is They shrink the mask vehicles and the whole

time I thought Thunderhawk was flying because

the damn doors are open. Oh, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, Yep, so did I. What were

your low beams for this one? The voice acting

in this one was just awful. I mean, it's bad

a lot of times, but the lines were not delivered

very well. Everything is just so monotone. And

then we have the secondary characters that have

accents, and they're just bad. You know as I

said even shrunken down masks and somehow outwit

venom and they do it rather easily here Yeah,

and and then the other thing I didn't like is

that mask just rushes in Knowing that venom has

the shrinking ray, but they don't have any way

To deal with it. So of course they're going to

get shrunk Yep Yep i just i i don't know so we

forgot to rate the treasure episode so last one

we're doing that low beam so what are you going

to give the treasure episode okay um yeah going

back yeah i'm giving this one one mask the same

here For this one for disappearing act I'm gonna

give it a two Simply for the Vanessa butt shots

The rest of it is just horrible. It's a great

reason to give it A little higher rating that

was pretty funny though It was it was and there

were some humorous lines. I didn't touch upon

in this one But as I said, those were basically

my highlights were some of the humorous moments

Bruce, he's always full of words of wisdom. So

he says, perhaps we look, but we do not see.

And then Mask asks Confucius again. And then

he says, no, my Uncle Lee. So that was good.

T -Bob at one point was afraid he was going to

be stepped on and crushed into a bottle cap.

I thought that was a humorous line. And I did

like the whole series of a. Lasers in the butt.

I thought that was pretty funny or you know lasers

in the shin or whatever Yeah, so yeah, I'm gonna

go with a two on this one All right, we're gonna

take a quick break come back with final thoughts

and close the show after this No, there will

be no Operation Interference. I am TFG1Mike and

you should be listening to my very first podcast,

the TFG1 Podcast. 24 episodes covering the entire

US run of the 1984 Transformers cartoon. I also

have a few supplemental episodes and an interview

with Stan Bush. I bring in guest hosts who will

be full -time co -hosts in Steve Megatron and

fan of the show now co -host Pecan Court Michael.

So check out the TFG1 Podcast. You can find it

on iTunes and the web at www .geekcastradio .com

Transform and roll out! Hi, my name is Dr. Andraela

Namendi, clinical psychologist. And I'm Brian

Ward, nerd. And we want to invite you to listen

to our new podcast, The Arkham Sessions. It's

a podcast dedicated to the fun. And geeky. Analysis

of Batman the animated series, episode by episode.

We pay tribute to the writers and the stories

of the animated series. While also exploring

the very real psychology behind Gotham's robes.

And maybe even its heroes. All of this and more.

Each week. On The Arkham Sessions. at underthemaskonline

.com. All right, folks, we are back. And yeah,

we have three episodes left here in season one

of Mask. Thank God it's almost over. Oh boy.

Are you expecting anything different or hoping

for anything different out of the final three

episodes than what we were already getting? No,

not really. I'm expecting more of the same. I'm

interested to see where the series goes with

the racing season and season two to see if it

is any different. You know, I mean, just with

the name alone, the racing season, I'm thinking

like, you know, cannonball run, you know, sort

of a, you know, Fast and the Furious or some,

you know, something, some directional change

in the series where we're not going to just be

dealing with these. you know crazy treasure hunts

going to the jungles or or the arctic or or what

have you and you know maybe uh maybe having some

multi -part episodes or maybe having some some

thread that runs throughout the this the second

season um Well I can tell you right now there

are no multi -parters because it's only 10 episodes.

So it starts off with Demolition Duel to the

Death, so maybe that's a Demolition Derby episode.

For the next episode of the podcast, episode

25, as I said we're going to round it out with

the final three episodes of Mask Season 1, Gate

of Darkness, the Manacara Giant and Raiders of

the Orient Express. Hey, somebody call George

Lucas. Somebody call George Lucas and Harrison

Ford, dammit. There are some ways to get in contact

with us. We'll leave feedback before the show.

Visit the website geekcastradio .com or you can

comment on this and all the other episode posts.

uh... feedback at the cassero dot com is the

email address you can lose just remember itunes

please do this falls on twitter and the casserole

is the main twitter minus tf2 and michael what

is your twitter tune master tim you can call

us the line five oh two five two six five eight

two one there's a ten minute time limits please

leave the name please leave your name as well

for now i am tf2 and michael with tune master

tim Pointcasting is the ultimate weapon. Illusion

is the ultimate weapon.