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Episode Summary
Written
by J. Cole Weston
Overlord
and his cronies become art thieves as Ned Tucker falls into
danger while on vacation!
Episode
Notes
Written
by J. Cole Weston
In
depth: Commander Courage races through the zone on Rimfire,
but is hit by Overlord from Bull Whip. Hiro and Max see the
hit and go to aid him. He calls in Ned to provide air support.
Eagle races in low over the waterway against Zoners on a bridge,
heading for a zone generator. Unfortunately a hidden cannon
scores a direct hit and the plane crashes and explodes. Lt.
Tucker is taken to task by McFarland for crashing yet another
Eagle in London. Since Ned's suit needs repair, he takes a
couple days liberty in Paris. While there, he drops off flowers
in a river, perhaps remembering someone. A small man named
Moulot runs into Tucker while painting. They walk and talk
while Ned relates his current troubles to the painter. The
French police confront the two in a truck, but let the two
go, noting a warning that they are near the Zone. The French
soldiers truck is hijacked and the soldiers are zoned. The
Black Widows then appear on rafts carrying zone pods and make
their way down the water way until Crook tells them to stop.
On the other side is the Louvre. Crook is in charge on this
mission because of his experience in the area.
Tucker and Moulot go to a costume ball where he talks to some
art patrons. Moulot reveals many treasures are on the way
to other museums because of the closeness of the Zone. They
decide to take a quick look at the Mona Lisa. Ned decides
to distract the guards with flash grenades and sneaks in with
Moulot. They see an open crate, but a zone pod is inside instead
of art! Suddenly they are surrounded by Zoners and Black Widows!
In Eagle (yes, another one) overhead, Courage tries to contact
Ned and can't get a hold of him. Down below, Tucker has Moulot
make a run for it while Razorback contacts Crook, and Tucker
uses his remaining flash grenades. Razorback fires blindly
as the two get away. Crook in the meantime is stealing artworks
for his own private collection. Ned heads to a warehouse and
gives Moulot a Zoner rifle. Ned plans on setting off the Zone
pod early. He works inside the pod on something when Bandit
fires his Zone effect cannon, zoning the diminutive Frenchman.
When the Widows run inside, the Zone pod explodes, showing
Courage where to go, even though Tucker is zoned. The Zone
Riders land and Max is ordered to get the people out.
The other Black Widows must now gather and evacuate the Zone
Pods. Crook, Bandit and the rest take off, leaving Tucker
in the water. Rawmeat fires a missile that blows open Crook's
locker, revealing the Mona Lisa…damaged by the blast.
All the Zone Riders head to Eagle, and Ned is dezoned and
suited up. Kat blows the generator from the air and the zone
recedes a bit. Overlord sets an ambush down below for the
Zone Riders and they are caught in the middle. Bull Whip receives
a damaging blast and Overlord takes to the street on foot.
It's all out combat in the midst of Paris!
Eagle is under heavy fire as it approaches the Eiffel Tower,
but it stops underneath. Courage on the ground calls in UN
forces and the Black Widows run, blowing the pods which begin
to deploy, falling into one another and exploding. Afterwards,
Tucker and his friend receive a medal for saving the city.
McFarland is there and reminds Ned about his recklessness,
but commends him on his independent actions leading to the
destruction of the zone.
Items
Noticed: At 6:10, you can note yet another second year backpack
accessory that went unproduced…an orange capture claw
that springs shut.
At
18:35 you can see yet another new accessory: a Black Widow
shoulder rocket launcher, which probably would have been in
1988's SPIRAL
ZONE
lineup.
At
19:32 you can see an especially nifty backpack weapon - it
deploys into a shielded missile launcher.
Ned
once again lives up to his file in the comics by exercising
profoundly poor judgment not once but twice, although it reveals
Overlord's plan.
At
21:03, one can see General McFarland in full service dress,
including hat.
Notes:
Moulot's voice is a dead ringer for Hervé Villechaise
from Fantasy Island ('de plane boss, de plane!").
Moulot
also seems a close resemblance to Toulouse Lautrec - perhaps
a hidden reference?
What
do we learn? The capture of an unexploded zone pod would apparently
reveal much to the Zone Riders and M.C.C. about the Zone (as
we saw in the episode "The Unexploded Pod"). Overlord
is willing to sacrifice his plan just to make sure that the
Zone Riders won't get ahold of his technology.
Moulot
and Tucker both receive the Medal of the Légion d'honneur.
Goof
ups: None apparent.
Quotable
Quotes: " We were just discussing Van Gogh." -Sheila
"Go ahead, I'm all ears." - Ned Tucker (you can
practically hear the rimshot.)
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