M.A.S.K. S1E38

Curse of Solomon's Gorge

Matt Trakker, helmeted, faces Miles Mayhem across the steps of the treasure chamber.

At the Trakker dig in a gorge in East Africa, a well runs low, vehicles are crushed, and the workers refuse to return, shouting about Saluma, the god said to live in the cliffs. A golden scarab suggests the lost tribe of Egypt once passed through, and Matt, Alex Sector and the Mask team look into the collapse. Scott and T-Bob fall into the well and find an underground lake and a Venom brake cable. Mayhem is working a water-driven mechanism to open the gorge to the tribe's hoard. The agents fight V.E.N.O.M. in the chamber, and the gorge seals again with the treasure inside.

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The workers will not go back into the gorge, and for once the episode has given them a reason. Something has crushed the vehicles at the foot of the cliff, the well at the dig has run low, and the crew are shouting about Saluma, the god said to live in the rock. Someone at the camp dismisses it as superstitious rubbish. It is a decent opening, with a real puzzle in it and nothing yet that anyone could call a villain.

What the episode is about, and says plainly once it has what it needs, is that the curse is plumbing. A lost tribe of Egyptian builders went south, founded a kingdom, and arranged for the approach to it to be closed by water, so that a god in the cliffs and a falling water level turn out to be one mechanism: the level drops, the wall opens, the level returns, the wall shuts. Everything the workers took for the supernatural is hydraulics. It is a good discovery for a cartoon to make, but the script is careful to let the clues pile up rather than announce it. The well was low before the collapse, a groove appears in the gorge wall that cannot be seen from the ground, wreckage turns up on the wrong side of the gorge, and Scott brings back from the well a brake cable stamped by the same manufacturer Venom uses.

The clues are laid out aloud once they are all in: a submersible, explosions in a lake underground, trucks crushed and scattered, a groove in the wall, fluctuating water. It is the show's habit of stating its case, and here it pays off, because the case is a good one. The twist at the end is a wordplay, at least as the dialogue comes through: Saluma and Solomon sound alike, and the treasure Mayhem has been calling King Solomon's is what the lost tribe built the gorge to protect. Saluma, Solomon; the title was a clue all along.

Scott and T-Bob carry the lighter side. T-Bob has what he insists is the flu, which he spells out as a faulty linkage unit, and the talk turns to chicken soup and more covers; the show wants us to roll our eyes. He later ends up at the bottom of the well, and Scott goes down to save him. The gag exists to be punctured, and the thing that punctures it is a lake.

The gorge scenes are where the budget goes. A huge carved stone face rises through clouds of dust, a boulder rolls down a sandy slope between streams of water, an obelisk climbs out of a torrent while Matt braces himself against it, and Matt shields Scott and T-Bob as the flood goes past. Mayhem manages Rax throughout with a light touch: Rax complains that he risked his life blasting the water into position, so Mayhem hands him the lever and tells him to pull it when told. It is a neat piece of management, and it shows Venom running on grievance rather than loyalty.

The weakness is the treasure. At the start it is the wealth of a lost tribe, built up by the best builders in the Egyptian empire; at the end it is King Solomon's, and the last minutes are spent explaining that the tribe built the gorge to guard it. Those are two different stories, a mystery about a vanished Nile people and a legend about a biblical king, and the closing speech asks one sentence to hold them together. The episode would have been tidier if the tribe had built the gorge to guard its own gold.

Curse of Solomon's Gorge is at its best when it is a mystery about water and at its worst when it tries to be a history lesson. It is a sturdy middle-of-the-run adventure whose mechanism is cleverer than its mythology, and the closing complaint, once the gorge has closed on the gold, that someone got nothing out of it is its sharpest joke!

The M.A.S.K. wiki says T-Bob's dialogue refers to a missed proto-service check-up and a Faulty Linkage Unit, abbreviated F.L.U., as the cause of his supposed flu.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's continuity notes say Alex Sector is Thunderhawk's co-pilot during this mission, and its vehicle list for the episode includes Condor and Shark.
The M.A.S.K. wiki describes the safety tip as Scott reminding T-Bob to turn off appliances before leaving the house, after they come back to find a reel-to-reel tape recorder still running.
The M.A.S.K. wiki places the episode in Nairobi, Kenya, and its summary says researchers find a Golden Scarab they believe is part of a hidden treasure that belonged to a lost tribe of Egypt.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's Shark page is filed under unproduced toys and mentions an unofficial Shark toy released by Ramen Toy in 2023.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's continuity notes say that when Matt contacts Boulder Hill there is a brief over-the-shoulder shot of Bruce Sato monitoring the call, though he is never mentioned and does not appear again.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's summary says Sly Rax accidentally triggers an ancient device in an underground lake that opens the walls of Solomon's Gorge and reveals the treasure; the transcript supports only that Rax complains about the blasting he did and is then handed the lever.

Matt Trakker

Alex Sector

Gloria Baker

Brad Turner

Bruce Sato

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Vanessa Warfield

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

A man in a leopard-band hat leans over a stone well beside a bespectacled man at night.

A shirtless man runs past the campfire as explorers rush behind him.

A man in a yellow shirt and red headband talks with a bespectacled man at night.

A moustached man in round glasses talks at night.

Two vehicles raise a dust trail across a savannah toward red cliffs.

T-Bob sits in the back seat of a moving vehicle.

T-Bob raises one hand in the back seat as he speaks.

T-Bob rolls his eyes sideways with a hose arm draped across his head.

Alex Sector, Matt Trakker, Scott and T-Bob walk toward a rock wall with other explorers.

Scott Trakker smiles beside T-Bob, who looks up.

Alex Sector, Scott Trakker and T-Bob stand in the dry plain.

T-Bob wrings his hands as Alex Sector and Scott Trakker stand beside him.

Matt Trakker folds his arms and listens as a bespectacled man gestures beside a wrecked vehicle.

A bespectacled man raises a hand toward the cliff beside Matt Trakker.

Matt Trakker frowns as Alex Sector stands behind a wrecked vehicle.

A young man in a leopard-band hat looks ahead with a worried face.

A man in a vest holds up a small gold object as Matt Trakker watches.

Matt Trakker, Alex Sector and Scott Trakker listen to a bespectacled man at the foot of a cliff.

Alex Sector studies a small golden scarab piece held up in his hand.

Matt Trakker raises a fist as a hat-wearing man and a bespectacled man stand by him.

Matt Trakker shakes hands with a bespectacled man in the gorge.

Alex Sector, Scott and T-Bob walk toward Thunderhawk, which sits with its gull-wing doors raised near the tents.

Matt Trakker, Scott, T-Bob and Alex Sector gather at the open door of Thunderhawk.

A circular golden collar with bands of red, blue and gold sits on a dark blue background.

Alex Sector raises a finger in front of Thunderhawk as Scott, T-Bob and Matt Trakker listen.

Thunderhawk's rear with its raised wing and exhaust pipes sits on the sand.

Scott Trakker scratches his head and looks ahead with a puzzled face.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob stand on the floor of an excavation beside planks laid over a trench.

T-Bob walks toward a stone well between standing stones.

T-Bob stands on top of the stone well with a plank across it.

T-Bob sits on the well rim with his arms out, ready to drop in.

Alex Sector raises binoculars while Matt Trakker sits beside him in a moving vehicle.

Alex Sector looks ahead with a frown while Matt Trakker steers.

Matt Trakker and Alex Sector sit in the front seats of a car.

T-Bob stands in dark water inside the cave.

Scott Trakker looks down into the well with his hands on the stone rim.

Scott Trakker holds a glowing blue light over the dark shaft of the well.

T-Bob shines a beam from his head into the dark cave.

Scott Trakker looks worried in the cave, holding a rope.

Scott Trakker points as T-Bob lights the cave with his lamp.

Scott Trakker gestures and speaks beside T-Bob in the cave.

Scott Trakker holds a cable and looks down in the cave.

Scott Trakker grips the cable and looks ahead in the cave as T-Bob stands beside him.

T-Bob lights the path with his beam as Scott Trakker stands behind him in the cavern.

Matt Trakker smiles faintly holding a mug in front of a tent.

Matt Trakker, Scott and T-Bob gather at camp as Alex Sector sits by the fire with a mug.

Alex Sector holds a mug beside T-Bob at the camp.

Scott Trakker gestures as Matt Trakker holds a cable beside the car.

Matt Trakker, Scott and Alex Sector stand by the campfire as T-Bob waits near the tripod.

Matt Trakker gestures with a mug in hand as Alex Sector and Scott Trakker listen.

T-Bob folds his hose arms across his chest and rolls his eyes up.

A blue wireframe profile of a woman, two face views and a red helmet appear on a monitor.

A blue wireframe profile of a man shows a full figure, two face views and a red helmet.

A blue outline of a man's face and shoulders fills the monitor.

A black truck, a purple car, a dark helicopter and a motorcycle sit parked in a gorge.

Sly Rax, Miles Mayhem and Vanessa Warfield stand by a purple car with a henchman.

Miles Mayhem and Cliff Dagger examine the rock wall, Cliff Dagger wearing an eyepatch.

Cliff Dagger rubs a stone on the cliff wall as Miles Mayhem looks on.

Alex Sector and Matt Trakker stand beside the stone well in the dig site.

Thunderhawk's rear spoiler and twin exhausts jut out as a blue vehicle crosses behind.

T-Bob stands alone on the sand with his arms hanging.

A masked pilot in blue grips two joysticks in a glass cockpit.

A black truck sits parked beside a blue and red motorcycle on the sand.

T-Bob squeezes his eyes shut in front of the rock wall.

A triangular dark opening sits at the foot of a deep cleft in the rock.

T-Bob stands wide-eyed in the dark.

Hieroglyphs, a winged figure and Anubis cover the wall of an Egyptian chamber.

Scott Trakker holds a golden plate in front of a heap of Egyptian relics.

Matt Trakker, helmeted, sits strapped into his seat behind the wheel.

Alex Sector, masked in a blue hood, looks to the side.

Alex Sector and Matt Trakker, both masked, stand beside a rock cliff.

Alex Sector and Matt Trakker, masked, stand in the gorge with Thunderhawk behind them.

Miles Mayhem speaks with Vanessa Warfield and two henchmen on the cliff edge.

A figure in blue stands by a black helicopter and motorcycle at the cliff edge.

Sly Rax stands in sunglasses beside Miles Mayhem in the gorge.

Miles Mayhem points a finger sternly.

Miles Mayhem and Sly Rax talk over the hood of a vehicle.

Alex Sector stands before Thunderhawk while Matt Trakker sits masked inside it.

A V.E.N.O.M. tank splashes through water as pink shots fly from its cannons.

Matt Trakker, helmeted, looks to the side in the cockpit.

A helicopter lowers a cargo container over the edge of a cliff.

Scott Trakker sits among Egyptian treasures holding his nose.

T-Bob wears a golden headdress and drags a hose among the Egyptian treasures.

A red and grey helmet with an orange scarf fills the frame.

Sly Rax rides a green rotor-powered motorcycle across the sand.

Sly Rax flies on a green motorcycle with a spinning rotor above it.

A helicopter carrying a container hovers beyond a triangular cave mouth.

A masked helmeted agent leans toward the camera with an orange scarf.

Gold treasures and sparkles streak past in a blur.

Miles Mayhem walks into the treasure chamber, seen from behind.

Miles Mayhem stands with hands on hips in front of the pile of treasure.

T-Bob and Scott Trakker crouch behind a wooden chest in the chamber.

Scott Trakker reaches an arm up while T-Bob sits at the chest beside him.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob look out from the treasures toward the entrance.

Miles Mayhem, helmeted, grins with narrowed eyes.

Miles Mayhem strides forward in his blue uniform and helmet.

Matt Trakker, helmeted, grips Scott Trakker's shoulder beside T-Bob.

A huge carved stone face rises through clouds of dust.

Miles Mayhem works the controls in a red-tinted cockpit.

A boulder rolls down a sandy slope between streams of water.

A masked driver in a purple shirt looks out of a tank cockpit.

A heavy wheel churns through sand and rubble.

Matt Trakker, helmeted, shields Scott and T-Bob as a rush of water sweeps past.

Sly Rax flies a green rotor motorcycle past the clouds.

Miles Mayhem sits strapped into his cockpit.

Miles Mayhem tilts his head, strapped into the cockpit.

Sly Rax's green rotor motorcycle tilts through a narrow canyon.

Sly Rax, masked, sits in his yellow suit.

Matt Trakker, helmeted, is whipped by swirling water as an obelisk rises beside him.

Matt Trakker, helmeted, braces against rushing water beside the stone pillar.

Alex Sector, Sly Rax, Gloria Baker, Matt Trakker, Scott and T-Bob stand together in the gorge.

Matt Trakker holds up a beaded necklace in the gorge.

A small group stands on the gorge floor beside a trickle of water below tall rock walls.

T-Bob holds a flat device against his chest and looks aside.

Scott Trakker smiles as T-Bob offers a small gold piece with Sly Rax beside them.

Matt Trakker, Scott, T-Bob and the other agents gather at the foot of the cliff.

A reel-to-reel tape machine sits among tangled tape on the floor of a room.

Scott Trakker works at a projector in a game room as T-Bob watches from across the table.

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