M.A.S.K. S1E18

Bad Vibrations

A tall white tower crumbles as dust and chunks of masonry fall.

Matt Trakker and Scott are in Hong Kong when a tower collapses in front of a crowd, and M.A.S.K. finds a melted electronic device inside a boulder in the rubble. The computer identifies it as a frequency resonator bomb whose plans were stolen from a Swiss laboratory, a weapon that destroys a building by matching its vibrations. Searching records of former employees of a Hong Kong restaurant against an orphanage's files leads Alex Sector to the construction magnate Julian Fong, who is paying Miles Mayhem to bring down buildings he was once fired from. Gloria, Alex and Dusty cover the likely targets, and Matt follows Scott and T-Bob into Liberty Center as the shaking starts.

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Most V.E.N.O.M. schemes go after a prize, an object we can see. In "Bad Vibrations" the client wants something stranger, which is revenge on a skyline, and the episode takes the time to say why. Julian Fong is a construction magnate, probably the wealthiest man in Hong Kong, but he grew up in an orphanage, was fired from one job after another, and was once falsely charged with embezzlement. Now he has hired Miles Mayhem to bring down the buildings where he was dismissed, using a resonator bomb that matches the vibrations of whatever it is aimed at.

So the thing to say about this episode is that it is about a grievance, and the physics is only the delivery. The weapon is explained with the image of soldiers breaking a bridge by marching across it at the right beat, which a child can hold in mind, and the investigation follows the grievance rather than the hardware: the computer finds its targets by reading Fong's biography, and Alex Sector finds Fong by checking former employees of a restaurant against orphanage records. M.A.S.K. solves a bombing by working out who had been wronged, which is a better detective idea than another chase.

The craft supports the idea. The opening collapse, with dust and chunks of masonry falling on a crowd of upturned faces, is as destructive as the series ever draws, and the clue that follows is a good one: a rounded boulder sits in the rubble, Alex drills into it with a diamond-tipped bit, and the team pours wax into the hollow to make a cast of whatever was inside. Sonar says the thing has been melted, which is why a mold is needed, and we see a small electronic device come out. Mayhem's side of the story is nearly as lively: he haggles with Fong on the phone over his fee, doubles his price mid-call, and insists that the money reach Switzerland before the next job, a mercenary detail that makes him sound like a contractor rather than a mastermind.

The standout is the ice cream. Scott has slipped into Liberty Center after promising to stay out of trouble, and he is happily eating when the ice cream begins to shake in the cup. It is an early warning delivered as a gag, and it turns a theory about vibration into something the audience can see. Someone on the team then sets out to neutralize the shaking with feedback while a spectrum jammer goes on and Alex and Dusty converge, so the climax leans on the idea of vibration as much as on the vehicles, and we are happy to see it!

Scott and T-Bob are the other thread, and they are used well. Matt asks T-Bob to keep Scott to sightseeing, Scott grumbles that he would rather help his father, and the pair drift from an art museum to a double-decker bus to a craving for a hot dog until Liberty Center puts them in the middle of it. T-Bob's hiccups and Scott's wish to hear how animals sound in Chinese keep the middle light, and the safety tip about the smoke detector at the end follows from a gag about Scott repairing T-Bob.

The weakness is the ending. Fong, who has been given a childhood, a work history and a grudge, is dealt with in a single phone call: Matt hears that he has been arrested while leaving the country and has confessed, while Mayhem gets clean away. A villain with a biography deserves a scene of his own, and Fong gets only a voice on a telephone and a figure on a television screen. The practical reason is probably that the show's required climax is a fight over vehicles, and a man in a white suit does not fit into one.

Among the middle episodes of the first season this is a solid one, and its best choice is to make the target a man's past rather than a place. The bomb is a clever toy, but the grievance is what holds the story together.

The M.A.S.K. wiki records that the agent call-up sequence reuses footage of Gloria Baker breaking stones with kung fu from the episode "The Ultimate Weapon", with different sound effects.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists the episode's location as Hong Kong. Its character list for the episode does not include Buddy Hawks, and the transcript has him come up only in a passing line about a double-decker mode.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records several drawing slips, including Mayhem's mustache changing color during his call with Fong, the black chin area of his mask turning dark blue, and Gloria's sleeves turning green instead of yellow when she uses her Aura mask.
The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that on the mayor's call at the end Matt's hair is black in the wide shot and his skin is a darker tone.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records the safety tip as Scott installing a new circuit board in T-Bob, leaving his equipment on and nearly starting a fire on the table, which his father's smoke detector catches.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's voice cast for this episode lists one actor, Mark Halloran, as Julian Fong, Sly Rax and Cliff Dagger, and Sharon Noble as Gloria Baker and the M.A.S.K. Computer.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's page for Gator describes it as an orange Jeep CJ7 Renegade that converts into a speedboat stored within the chassis, and its vehicle list for this episode includes Gator.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's Switchblade page says the toy came with an orange missile that could be hidden under the fuselage, and lists this episode among the vehicle's appearances.

Matt Trakker

Alex Sector

Gloria Baker

Dusty Hayes

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

Scott Trakker stands in a Hong Kong crowd beside T-Bob and a bearded man.

Hands cut a red ribbon with big silver scissors.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob walk through a crowd of onlookers.

Press photographers raise cameras with flashes going off.

A woman gasps and the bearded man stares as T-Bob watches beside them.

A crowd of onlookers stares up in shock.

Chunks of broken white stone lie in a heap in front of an office building.

A large rounded boulder sits in a pile of fallen rubble.

Matt Trakker, Scott, T-Bob and the bearded man gather around the boulder.

The back of a red truck's trailer sits beside a heap of rubble.

Matt Trakker watches the bearded man drill into a rock on a table.

The bearded man in the lab coat drills into a rock and scowls.

Scott Trakker looks ahead in the Rhino's cabin beside T-Bob.

Matt Trakker watches the bearded man examine the rock while Scott and T-Bob stand beside the workbench.

A line drawing shows Gloria Baker, her helmet and two views of her face.

A line drawing shows a standing man, two faces and a pink helmet.

Pink wireframes show a jeep and a second vehicle with a long arm.

A man on a stepladder paints a shop sign as a cat and pig pass.

Matt Trakker stands with a hand on his hip beside a man studying a small pyramid.

Matt Trakker stands at a round table with four people seated around a model.

Gloria Baker listens beside a brown haired man in a pink shirt.

A large bald man with a red beard stands by the pyramid model with his hand raised.

Scott Trakker puts a finger to his lips and peeks through the shutters beside T-Bob.

Scott Trakker pushes T-Bob across the floor in a room with louvered doors.

The bald bearded man in a white shirt adjusts a radio unit on the windowsill.

Matt Trakker opens the shutters and finds Scott and T-Bob carrying a pink bag.

Matt Trakker stands with folded arms as Scott and T-Bob walk away with a pink sack.

Scott Trakker looks up nervously with his hands out and Matt Trakker's shoulder at left.

Matt Trakker kneels to comfort Scott as the other agents and T-Bob gather around.

A tall striped office tower rises into a blue sky.

A man in sunglasses and a white jacket talks on two phones at once.

A harbor city of towers sits on the shore with a golden dragon on a rooftop.

A golden dragon sculpture coils on the roof of a tan building among skyscrapers.

The golden dragon spreads along the top of a tan building.

The Rhino truck parks on a paved plaza near a fruit stall.

A tan building topped with a golden dragon stands on a street corner with a red gate.

Matt Trakker stands with fists clenched beside Gloria Baker and a bearded man in a blue helmet.

Matt Trakker faces away from a bearded man in a blue hood toward Gloria Baker.

A chef in a tall white hat stands next to Gloria Baker in her gold helmet.

A chef speaks as the bearded man in the blue hood and Gloria Baker stand beside him.

Scott Trakker walks along a stone wall with T-Bob behind him.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob face each other.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob stand on a quiet street in front of a long wall.

A crowd of onlookers and police gathers behind rubble on a Hong Kong street.

Colorful Chinese shop signs hang over a street with buildings.

An orange jeep stops on a street while two men stand beside a shop.

The red Thunderhawk hovers over rubble in front of the Rhino truck with agents beside it.

A woman and two men stand on the street as tomatoes roll in front of the orange jeep.

A helmeted driver in a blue suit sits in the orange jeep beside a shop sign.

A helmeted driver grips the wheel inside the orange jeep.

A silver helmeted figure in a blue and red vest sits in the jeep seen from above.

White chickens flap over the hood of the orange jeep.

The orange jeep jumps through the air above choppy blue water.

A driver in a blue helmet grips two control sticks in the cockpit.

The red Thunderhawk skims over water with doors raised and engines blazing.

A driver in a silver helmet steers a jeep while a hen sits beside him.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob sit on concrete steps beside a wall.

Scott Trakker points up and strides down the steps while T-Bob rolls beside him.

City buildings and a suspension bridge stand in the distance.

A black armored vehicle drives under a bridge deck beside a staircase.

A hand presses keys on a pink keyboard panel.

Agents gather at a control console beside the rocket capsule.

Gloria Baker and a brown haired man in a red vest listen at the command room.

Matt Trakker stands in his harness as Gloria Baker speaks with her hand raised.

A wooden junk with tan sails sits on the water with another boat far behind.

A ladder leads into foamy water where a small black object floats.

A man in sunglasses and a white jacket speaks into a telephone.

Miles Mayhem talks on a red telephone in a cabin.

Miles Mayhem rests a hand on a red box and looks to the side.

Miles Mayhem scowls and looks down.

Miles Mayhem folds his hands under his chin and frowns.

A man in a white suit and sunglasses stands on a television screen.

A bald bearded man, Gloria Baker and a man in a red vest look off to the side.

A grey government building with columns appears on a television monitor.

A red building with a Chinese tiled roof appears on a television monitor.

A bearded man steps from the Rhino truck while a man in red climbs down behind him.

Scott Trakker runs across a street toward T-Bob with a blue truck passing.

A blue and tan double decker bus drives along a street of Chinese signs.

Scott Trakker raises a hand beside T-Bob while talking.

T-Bob raises both arms in front of trees and towers.

A man in a cap and sunglasses sits on a bus holding a purple case.

A tiny dark aircraft flies in the sky above tall office buildings.

The bald bearded man peers through binoculars from the Rhino truck.

The side of a double decker bus passes the camera.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob walk beside the blue and tan bus.

A white car drives past as Scott Trakker and T-Bob walk toward a building.

Matt Trakker smiles as he drives with a harness over his chest.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob ride down an escalator.

Gloria Baker walks through a mall under a gold ceiling.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob look at the bakery counter while a baker and a woman watch.

The Rhino truck drives down a street of Chinese shop signs.

A man sits at the wheel of the orange jeep with a gun barrel on its hood.

A red and blue helmeted figure shown from behind looks over a street of tall buildings.

A man in a navy suit and a blonde woman stand among broken masonry.

Spokes and black lines streak across a wall with a camera or gun mounted at the right edge.

Miles Mayhem sits in his gold visored helmet at the controls.

A dark vehicle sits on an elevated orange roadway between office buildings.

The orange jeep with lightning bolts drives toward the camera between glass buildings.

The orange jeep fires its gun with a bright flash in front of a white building.

The orange jeep and a figure on foot are seen from above on a pale curved ramp.

The red Rhino truck drives toward the camera in front of a grey building.

Miles Mayhem steers from the cab in his gold visored helmet.

The Rhino truck, the red Thunderhawk and the orange jeep sit far below on a curved ramp.

A figure in a gold helmet with a green backpack stands under a ceiling in a glass room.

Scott Trakker stands in a shop with glass fragments on the floor.

A running man in a red helmet and grey harness rushes past Scott Trakker.

Matt Trakker makes a phone call as the other agents gather in the office.

Scott Trakker sits in a chair with T-Bob beside him while Gloria Baker stands behind.

Scott Trakker looks up with a worried face while Gloria Baker stands beside him.

Matt Trakker stands facing Scott, who sits solemnly in a chair with T-Bob and Gloria Baker nearby.

Matt Trakker laughs as Gloria Baker and a bald bearded man laugh along.

A large orange brick building with a tiled roof and a gate stands among bushes.

A black armored vehicle sits on a sandy surface with a blue and white vehicle beside it.

A hand holds a circuit board while a soldering iron heats a joint.

T-Bob raises both arms in a cloud of smoke.

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