M.A.S.K. S1E28

Blackout

The black machine with an arm draws lightning from an electric tower in a field.

Tokyo loses its electricity, and the Super Bullet Train that Matt has invested in is blamed. The real cause is Blackout, a machine that drains power from stations and fires high-voltage blasts, which Mayhem has taken from its inventor, Yama, without paying him. M.A.S.K. puts Alex, Bruce and Gloria on the case, and Yama explains that only a larger machine delivering one concentrated blast could overload it. Matt devises Operation Horseshoe, ringing Blackout with Thunderhawk, Rhino and Shark and using T-Bob as a conductor to magnify the charge.

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A city goes dark, the evidence points at a train Matt Trakker has put money into, and his first move is to clear the train's name. It is an odd way to open an adventure, and an honest one: Matt is riding the Super Bullet Train as an investor, hoping that a machine like it will one day run in his own country, so when the lights fail in Tokyo and the drivers talk about pulling the locomotive, he takes it personally.

The cause is nothing to do with the train. V.E.N.O.M. has a machine that sucks electricity out of anything connected to a grid, a black armored hover vehicle with a gun arm that Mayhem has named Blackout. It drains power stations and fires a high-voltage blast, and Mayhem has had the rest of V.E.N.O.M.'s vehicles insulated against it. Its inventor is a Japanese engineer, Yama, whom Mayhem promised two million dollars and never paid. The episode runs on that grievance.

The idea at its center fits in one sentence: a machine built to take power can be beaten by giving it more than it can hold, and everything in the running time is arranged to deliver that overload. Matt's lasers only feed it, he says, so the answer cannot be force. Yama says the cure has to be a larger machine and a single concentrated blast; the wiki credits Bruce with proverbs about every poison having an antidote and about a storm following when giants meet, but it is Matt who turns the idea into Operation Horseshoe, with Thunderhawk, Rhino and Shark ringed around Blackout in the shape of a horseshoe and T-Bob in the middle as the conductor.

The writing is tidy rather than deep. The best scene is Yama's, because he is the only person in the episode with something to lose beyond a vehicle: he thought the businessman was building a rescue tool, believed him the way a child believes a father, and now has to work out how to stop it. It is a short scene; it is also the only one in which a villain's crime has a victim you can see. The puns surround it at full volume, with a yen joke, a fork-in-the-toaster joke and an electrifying one, and they do not disturb the Yama scene because they sit elsewhere in the running time.

The craft shows in the electrical effects. Lightning crawls up the power towers and into the black machine's arm, orange blasts leave the Rhino's front, and a crystal pylon at night throws yellow bolts toward Blackout while a helicopter circles overhead. The lit office towers of the city at night make the stakes easy to see. The standout is T-Bob facing the machine with his arms hanging, then thrusting out an arm through a spray of white flashes. Before the fight Scott admits he is unsure the plan will work and says his father is sure, and T-Bob's worry about being a small robot facing a giant gets a reminder that David won, and a complaint that he has no slingshot.

The weakness is how quickly the answer arrives. T-Bob is told that he can magnify electricity threefold with no earlier hint that he could, and Yama's one-line description of the cure becomes a full battle plan in the next scene. A plot with a single idea needs that idea to be earned by a clue, and here it is handed over. The train gets off lightly too: its innocence is mostly asserted in passing rather than shown in a scene of its own.

Still, "Blackout" is a neat plot, because every character is put to work on the same idea, and here the small robot is the weapon!

The M.A.S.K. wiki's Safety Tips page files 'The Oz Effect' under the subject of not sticking objects in electrical appliances, the same subject as Scott's fork-in-the-toaster joke in this episode; the wiki does not say the joke refers back to it.
The wiki gives this episode's safety tip as a warning never to ride two on a bike, delivered to two kids during a 'Sunday drive' when Scott reminds T-Bob that it is only Saturday.
The wiki lists a Golden Books coloring book called 'Blackout' based on this story.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's page for the Blackout machine counts a single appearance, files it under V.E.N.O.M. technology, says Mayhem had all V.E.N.O.M. vehicles insulated against it, and links an Agents of M.A.S.K. post about animated-series vehicles that fans wished had been made into toys.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's pages for Yama and Koyo list Brendan McKane as the voice of both characters.
The wiki's Satoisms list credits this episode with Bruce Sato proverbs about every poison having an antidote and about a storm following when giants meet.

Matt Trakker

Alex Sector

Bruce Sato

Gloria Baker

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Vanessa Warfield

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

Matt Trakker smiles in his seat aboard the bullet train.

Six metal towers with insulators and dozens of wires stand on a fenced pad.

A black armored vehicle hovers over a field in a cloud of dust, seen head on.

A black hovering vehicle moves behind a chain link fence in a meadow.

A tower and the black vehicle's arm crackle with lightning as wires draw power.

A bullet train races along its track with sparks flying around it.

Matt Trakker braces in his seat as T-Bob tumbles through the train carriage.

T-Bob floats upside down in the train carriage among glasses and a camera.

T-Bob slides across the seat on top of Scott Trakker.

A conductor with glasses and a train driver in uniform grip the controls while Matt Trakker looks on.

Matt Trakker speaks seriously in the train carriage.

Matt Trakker smiles with a hand at his chest.

A chain link fence with bent wires stands in front of tall grass.

A curved roof hangar stands behind a sagging fence in a field.

Miles Mayhem points a gloved finger upward in a dark hangar.

Cliff Dagger in a purple beret points at his chest beside a goateed man in a visor.

Miles Mayhem holds out an open hand as he speaks.

A red haired woman stands next to a goateed man in a visor.

Miles Mayhem raises one finger with a stern look.

The red Thunderhawk drives down a forest road toward a distant tower.

The red Thunderhawk flies low with its wing doors up over patchwork fields.

Scott Trakker, T-Bob and Matt Trakker ride in the Thunderhawk.

Firefighters spray hoses at a smoking fence line from fire trucks.

A red fire engine stands in a field behind a torn fence.

Matt Trakker drives the Thunderhawk and looks to the side.

Matt Trakker talks while driving.

Scott Trakker, T-Bob and Matt Trakker look ahead from the Thunderhawk.

A power station with wires and spiked towers sits at night with an airplane overhead.

A chain link fence runs across a hill as a dark light glows far below.

A man in a blue jacket points to the side as other men stand behind him.

A gloved hand reaches over a control panel with a radar screen.

Sparks fly around round power towers as a dark vehicle passes among them.

Miles Mayhem snarls from a cockpit.

Matt Trakker steers the Thunderhawk with red gloves on the wheel.

Matt Trakker looks intently over his shoulder while driving.

Scott Trakker, T-Bob and Matt Trakker look toward the road ahead.

Matt Trakker drives while a jet airliner crosses the sky ahead.

A helicopter flies above hills as a spray of sparks bursts from a tower.

Matt Trakker drives with Scott and T-Bob as seen from the front.

Matt Trakker in his helmet grips the wheel.

Matt Trakker in his helmet speeds along as white streaks cross the windshield.

Matt Trakker in his helmet looks to the left.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob stand on stacked barrels behind a fence.

A yellow fuel tanker barrels toward a black vehicle with sparks around it.

The yellow tank rolls over the pavement along the runway lines.

Miles Mayhem raises a finger and glares from his seat.

Miles Mayhem glares from the cockpit.

Scott Trakker kneels and hugs T-Bob beside a chain link fence.

An overturned tanker truck lies on its side on the pavement with smoke rising.

Flames and sparks lick along the ground.

Scott Trakker kneels beside T-Bob, looking worried.

Scott Trakker looks up anxiously.

Scott Trakker opens the hatch on top of T-Bob to fix him.

T-Bob rolls forward with his back to the camera and arms out.

Scott Trakker lies on the grass beside T-Bob as Matt Trakker bends over them.

Scott Trakker sits up and looks surprised while T-Bob sits beside him and Matt Trakker leans in.

Matt Trakker leans over Scott Trakker as T-Bob sits nearby.

Scott Trakker smiles beside T-Bob holding a blue cloth.

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

A line drawing shows a bearded man looking ahead.

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

A line drawing shows a short haired person from the chest up.

A blue and red aircraft sits near an airport tower beside plowed fields.

Scott Trakker raises his arms in triumph beside T-Bob.

The Rhino truck sits in a hangar with its door open.

Matt Trakker faces the bearded man, Gloria Baker, Scott and T-Bob beside the Rhino truck.

A blue technical drawing shows a vehicle and parts.

Matt Trakker gestures with an open hand toward a man in a white lab coat.

A bespectacled scientist in a white coat scratches his head.

A group stands around a table in a laboratory seen from above as a scientist hurries away.

The scientist in the white coat leans over a blue object on a table as the agents watch.

Matt Trakker watches with a dark-haired man and the bearded man in a laboratory.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob stand next to a man in a green vest.

Scott Trakker points a finger as he talks beside T-Bob.

Matt Trakker faces Gloria Baker and a dark-haired man against a sunset sky.

A hand in a red glove presses a key on a console with a screen of glowing dots.

Matt Trakker, Scott, T-Bob and a dark-haired man stand watching at a control table at sunset.

City lights and a tall tower fill a night landscape.

The black armored vehicle fires glowing orange blasts as a helicopter flies above.

A black vehicle, a white car and a motorcycle stand before a tall crystal pylon at night.

A pillar with a pole in the centre sends lightning to towers around it.

A round white head hatch stands open to reveal circuitry inside a robot.

Scott Trakker and the bearded man kneel beside T-Bob with a toolbox.

Gloria Baker, T-Bob, Scott and the bearded man stand at the Rhino at night.

Matt Trakker faces the Rhino truck while the bearded man and a driver stand beside it.

Lightning arcs between a tall crystal tower and a black vehicle at night.

Lights glow on the office towers of a city at night.

Tall dark towers with glowing orange stripes rise into the night sky.

Yellow lightning pours from the crystal tower toward the black machine as a helicopter flies by.

Miles Mayhem sits in his helmet in the seat.

Lightning hits the black machine's gun arm as a helicopter flies overhead.

The Rhino truck fires a stream of fire from its front.

Matt Trakker in his helmet steers while the Rhino truck follows.

Matt Trakker in his helmet looks forward as a bright flash hits his visor.

A figure in a dark blue helmet grips the wheel with a bare fist.

The Rhino truck fires glowing orange blasts from its front.

Two glowing orange blasts streak over a purple car's hood with white lines.

Matt Trakker in his helmet turns his head, holding the wheel.

A blue gloved hand types on a keypad beside a screen.

The Rhino truck fires orange blasts at a pale cage-like structure.

A white car's headlights flash orange as green lightning crackles over its front.

Miles Mayhem grips the steering with both fists in his blue helmet.

T-Bob stands in front of the Rhino truck with his arms down.

T-Bob looks down worriedly with flexible hoses at his sides.

An orange suited figure in a gas mask grips the steering wheel.

T-Bob's arm shoots out through white flashes and flying debris.

Green flashes streak down in front of a red tilted vehicle.

Miles Mayhem raises a white gloved hand in his blue helmet.

Scott Trakker runs toward the Rhino truck at night.

Scott Trakker smiles at T-Bob as Gloria Baker and others look on.

Matt Trakker and a dark-haired man smile with their eyes closed.

Small figures stand in a field of dirt as orange blasts hit near vehicles at the edges.

The Rhino truck stands in a canyon with its trailer raised.

Scott Trakker rides T-Bob on a suburban street.

T-Bob rolls beside two boys and a kid on a bicycle on a sidewalk.

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