M.A.S.K. S2E06

Challenge of the Masters

Synopsis

The turbaned racer accepts the trophy from the blonde woman as guards and onlookers applaud.

The Peaceful Nations Alliance believes V.E.N.O.M. will smuggle microfilm holding access codes to Alliance computers inside the trophy of a race, so Ali Bombay races while Matt Trakker guides him by radio and Ace Riker and Alex Sector back him up. Vanessa Warfield commands V.E.N.O.M.'s drivers, among them Floyd Malloy, while a peanut vendor works the grandstand. The team has to get Ali across a ravine where the bridge is out. Afterward, V.E.N.O.M. learns the trophy it took was an imitation.

Memorable Quotes

We'll both show the M.A.S.K. worm how an orange feels in a juicer!

mask.toys Episode Review

A peanut vendor works the grandstand, and he turns out to matter more than he looks. Challenge of the Masters is dressed as a motorcycle race, with V.E.N.O.M. stalking Ali Bombay across the desert, but the real contest is a stakeout around a trophy, and the vendor's tray is part of it.

The setup is a good one. The Peaceful Nations Alliance believes V.E.N.O.M. will smuggle microfilm inside the trophy, and the film holds access codes to all Alliance computers, which is why Ace Riker tells Ali that if V.E.N.O.M. gets it they will know everything there is to know about M.A.S.K. Matt does not compete; he talks Ali through the course on the radio. Vanessa Warfield commands the V.E.N.O.M. side with Floyd Malloy, who insists on being called Birdman, in the field, and the team has been told that V.E.N.O.M. will do whatever it takes to win.

The thing the episode is about is who is watching whom. The race is a distraction for the audience and the grandstand, and the real work is the trophy being carried away for safekeeping and returned, a vendor leaning in at the right moments, a pair of masked guards, and, according to the wiki, Matt in a guard's disguise. When the finish comes and V.E.N.O.M. grabs a trophy, Vanessa learns it was an imitation, and the reason given is that it was the only way to find out for sure whether the microfilm was in the trophy at all. The race is the cover story; the trophy is the experiment.

Craft first. The writing gets a good joke out of Ali's father: his advice about trusting good instincts comes up between Matt and Ali, and the reply that his father never raced against V.E.N.O.M. is a joke that is also an argument. The animation does its best work with the trackside gear, a booth that opens into a launch platform, a stone gatehouse in front of a smoking volcano, and a white jet that fires from a cliff face while a red vehicle runs below; and a sunset sky takes over the desert for the last stretch.

The standout is the ravine. The bridge is out, and Ace comes up with a plan that is relayed through Matt: use the boulder as a ramp and jump. It is the episode's one moment of pure racing, set up in a handful of lines, and it is cleaner than anything V.E.N.O.M. attempts.

The weakness is the explanation. Vanessa is told how the trick worked after the fact, in dialogue, with Matt's reasoning relayed secondhand, and a plan this good deserves a scene of its own. And the peanut business recurs often enough that it starts to compete with the race.

Placed in the second season, it is a rare racing story that is about information rather than speed, with Meteor making its debut along the way. Matt is barely behind the wheel, and the episode is better for it. The closing safety tip, where Matt keeps offering to dial 911 while Boris insists it is a real emergency and then confesses he burnt his borscht, is the right sort of nonsense to end on!

Notes of Interest

  1. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Meteor, Ace Riker's stunt jet, as debuting in this episode.
  2. According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, Meteor is a swing-wing stunt jet that can split into an assault tank and a mini jet.
  3. The M.A.S.K. wiki says Miles Mayhem spends the mission disguised as a peanut salesman while Vanessa Warfield is in command.
  4. The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that Matt does not compete in the mission; he guides Ali by intercom and disguises himself as a guard.
  5. The M.A.S.K. wiki records Floyd Malloy revealing that he hates his first name and wants to be called Birdman, and lists the line among its quotes for the episode.
  6. The M.A.S.K. wiki says Alex Sector calls himself by his codename Megabyte and calls Ali Bombay by his codename Lightning.
  7. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Alex Sector's Collector and the Pit Stop Catapult among the vehicles and equipment in this episode, two of the three roadside objects it names for the second season.
  8. The M.A.S.K. wiki credits one actor, Doug Stone, with Matt Trakker, Bruno Sheppard and the Boris Bushkin safety tip segment, and lists the closing tip as Boris burning his borscht.

Characters in this episode

Full roster →

Matt Trakker

Calhoun Burns

Ace Riker

Ali Bombay

Alex Sector

Boris Bushkin

Miles Mayhem

Vanessa Warfield

Bruno Sheppard

Floyd Malloy

Sly Rax

Episode screenshots

Race crews work in a dusty pit area between striped towers beside a pink car.
Race crews work in a dusty pit area between striped towers beside a pink car.
A racer in a white headband and blue and white suit holds a pink helmet beside parked cars.
Spectators in the grandstand sit watching the race.
Grandstand spectators cheer, one raising a fist.
A blonde woman in a pink top speaks into a microphone beside the trophy.
A turbaned racer on a blue and white motorcycle sits beside a figure in a gold suit.
A red-haired woman and a spiky blond man in a red vest sit in a car cockpit.
The red-haired woman looks on from the car as the stands fill behind her.
The blonde woman announces at the podium as uniformed guards stand by the trophy.
A racing vehicle kicks up dust beside a sign reading Antique Chest as spectators watch.
A racing vehicle kicks up dust beside a sign reading Antique Chest as spectators watch.
A vendor with a tray of snacks walks through the crowded grandstand.
A pink and white vehicle canopy passes over a blue-suited driver.
A rear-view mirror shows only a dark blue reflection.
A rider in a blue and white suit and pink helmet races a motorcycle past desert cliffs.
A rider on a white and pink bike tracks a distant red vehicle across the desert.
A blond driver in a red and black armored vehicle roars forward through dust.
A red vehicle with a blond driver trails dust in a rear-view mirror.
The blue and white motorcycle rider speeds forward on a sandy road.
The rider crouches low over the blue and white motorcycle, racing toward the viewer.
A blond driver in a red vehicle with a mounted camera speeds between pale cliffs.
A blond driver in a red vehicle with a mounted camera speeds between pale cliffs.
A purple and gray striped car skids along the edge of a cliff in a cloud of dust.
The rider's pink arrow helmet fills the frame from behind.
A motorcycle chases a car along a narrow cliffside canyon trail.
A purple striped car races ahead of a red vehicle with a blond driver along a ledge.
A red rider on a motorcycle hugs the canyon wall near scattered rocks.
A pile of boulders buries a blue car in the canyon.
A blue car bursts out of a rockslide while rocks fly and blue energy rings spin.
A close view of a vehicle canopy and bike hood in white, red and black.
The pink-helmeted rider lies low over the blue bike, reaching a red-gloved hand forward.
A pilot in a gold and blue mask sits inside a white jet cockpit.
A pilot in a gold and blue mask sits inside a white jet cockpit.
A pink arrow helmet pokes up beside a white vehicle wing.
A tiny figure climbs a cliff beside a flag and green foliage.
A blue car with a green-faced driver smashes through falling boulders.
A white jet fires from the cliff face while a red vehicle runs below.
A bright yellow beam streaks across a cliff top.
A masked pilot in gold and blue sits in a cockpit with a small red craft above.
A purple car with a green-masked driver leaps off a cliff edge.
A colored flag is shattered by a blue energy blast on a cliff face.
The announcer's box sits above the packed grandstand at the finish area.
The blonde woman looks down as a vendor passes behind her.
The blonde woman looks down as a vendor passes behind her.
The vendor carries his tray along the grandstand steps as the blonde woman watches.
The mustached vendor in a bow tie watches intently among the crowd.
The vendor holds up a lump of rock from his tray as the blonde woman looks on.
A rocky cliff face with pine trees under a gray sky.
A river winds through a forested valley.
A pine tree bends in the wind against a gray sky.
A blue car crackling with electricity flies past a rocky wall in the rain.
A pink-helmeted rider crouches on a rocky shore as a boulder flies past.
A blue energy line stretches across rocky hills.
A blue and white walker vehicle with a MASK label lands in an orange explosion.
A blue and white walker vehicle with a MASK label lands in an orange explosion.
Blue lightning crackles around the pink-helmeted rider.
The pink-helmeted rider sprawls beside a broken white panel among trees.
A purple jet-car lands in a splash as an orange-thrust craft flies above.
The pink arrow helmet rider turns in the rain.
A red object lies on the ground by a tree trailing white cables.
The vendor stands by an orange vehicle at the grandstand rail.
The vendor hands a tray of chocolate to a driver in an orange car.
The vendor grabs the driver's arm at the windshield of the orange car.
The orange-helmeted driver rubs his head behind the wheel as spectators watch.
A small stone gatehouse stands before a smoking volcano with a barrier across the road.
A small stone gatehouse stands before a smoking volcano with a barrier across the road.
A MASK booth opens to reveal a small figure and an orange missile launcher.
A masked driver in a gold and blue helmet looks up as a missile streaks away.
The masked driver in a blue and gold helmet looks ahead.
A hand presses a targeting screen on a blue console.
The MASK booth unfolds into a gray launch platform with orange guns and a driver at the controls.
A white jet with black treads sits on the desert beside a cliff.
A purple jet-car flies through the sky firing twin red beams.
A purple winged car hovers beside a pale cliff against blue sky.
The masked driver in a blue and gold helmet leans over the controls.
The masked driver in a blue and gold helmet leans over the controls.
A masked pilot in a white cockpit watches orange blocks crumble from a cliff.
The MASK booth platform with its missile launchers sits in a beam of light.
A white jet fires an orange blast from its engine beside a launch platform.
The masked driver in gold and black bends over the controls.
A rider on a white and blue motorcycle tears through a rocky pass.
A purple car drives along a winding mountain road as a rider follows far behind.
A purple car's wheel fills the frame as a red object sits far down the road.
A red-suited figure crouches by a tire stack next to a blue control tower.
The pink-helmeted rider leans low on the blue motorcycle in a speeding blur.
A red-suited rider speeds a white and blue motorcycle past sandstone cliffs.
A red-suited rider speeds a white and blue motorcycle past sandstone cliffs.
A desert scene with rock formations and a red vehicle edge at right.
A rider sits upright on a parked blue and white motorcycle in front of cliffs.
The motorcycle tips over with its rider tumbling beside it on the sand.
A masked pilot in a gray suit sits in a white jet cockpit.
A pair of red boots with white toes stand on the sandy ground.
A pale gray cliff wall with a blue-booted foot at the lower left.
A white jet and a small motorcycle sit near a smoking wreck on a sand dune.
The blonde woman holds binoculars in the grandstand at dusk.
The blonde woman glances toward the vendor while holding binoculars.
Colored flags on poles stand in a dusty desert at sunset.
Colored flags on poles stand in a dusty desert at sunset.
The red-haired woman lifts a green cap above her head.
A dashboard screen with a fuel gauge reads FULL.
The pink arrow helmet rider bends forward with white streaks over the visor.
A large white wheel kicks up orange dust.
The red-haired woman's face overlays the desert as a tiny rider crosses it.
The rider hunches on the blue and white motorcycle against a sunset sky.
The rider speeds along on the blue and white motorcycle at sunset.
The turbaned racer with a mustache looks ahead as the bike overlays his face.
The rider charges toward the viewer on the blue motorcycle at sunset.
A dashboard screen reads 303 as gloved hands grip the controls.
A dashboard screen reads 303 as gloved hands grip the controls.
A purple car with a green-masked driver rolls forward on spinning saw discs.
A white vehicle panel is marked MASK.
A huge crowd fills the grandstand.
Spectators sit in the stands, one scowling dark-haired man in front.
The motorcycle rides on its rear wheel as a purple car follows behind.
The pink-helmeted rider leans over the bike against a sunset sky.
The crowd in the grandstand watches the finish as a green figure sits at the left.
Two big wheels, one white and one purple, stop beside the grandstand.
Spectators cheer and gasp, one man in green pumping his fist.
Spectators look on with shocked faces.
Spectators look on with shocked faces.
The mustached vendor frowns beside a figure in an orange helmet.
An announcer's stand under a MASK-style banner overlooks a car at the finish.
Officials stand on the winner's podium under a red and white banner.
Two masked guards in tan uniforms stand arms folded beside the red-haired woman.
A hand opens a box to show a trophy nested in white cloth.
The turbaned racer holds his arms folded as the blonde woman and the red-haired woman look on.
The turbaned racer and the blonde woman turn toward the red-haired woman and a blond man in uniform.
A blond man in a yellow suit sits on a couch beside a desk phone.
A blond man in a yellow suit sits while a bald man in a fur-collared coat stands.

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