M.A.S.K. S1E31

Deadly Blue Slime

A giant mound of blue slime rises over the landscape.

An experiment at a high-altitude lab near Kilimanjaro crosses blue algae with snow leopard cells and produces a mound of protoplasm that eats everything organic in its path. Matt, Alex, Scott and T-Bob fly to Africa while Mayhem, Rax and Dagger plan to seize the creature and blackmail the world with it. M.A.S.K.'s lasers only make it grow, and T-Bob is swallowed and recovered unharmed because the slime ignores metal. When the team notices that it has avoided anchovies and salty potato chips, they work out that salt is its weakness, and the closing shots show the slime hardening and crumbling where it meets water.

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The most important prop in "Deadly Blue Slime" is an anchovy, and it shows up in the first scene, where one lab technician offers another a bite and gets told it is too salty. The conversation moves on to what the second man has been growing, a rare blue algae from near a summit where nothing else lives, and to the first man's snow leopard culture, which attacks meat in its dish once it has been warmed up. They wonder what would happen if the two were crossed, and an explosion answers the question.

What is left of the lab is a single metal drawer handle: every wooden desk, bench and shelf has been eaten. A call goes out to Matt, who takes Alex, Scott and T-Bob to Africa and sends Scott and T-Bob off to observe the animals around the hotel while he and Alex inspect the damage. Elsewhere, Mayhem, Rax and Dagger are among a crate of smuggled ivory when word reaches Mayhem about something loose on Kilimanjaro that eats everything alive. Mayhem hears a payday. If V.E.N.O.M. can control the creature it can blackmail every government in the world, and if it cannot, it can threaten to let the creature loose.

Here is what the episode is about: it is a deduction story that hides its clue in comedy. The anchovy is the first plant. The hotel potato chips that someone complains are too salty are the second, and the lake where the animals gather, which a thirsty traveler learns is a salt lake, is the third. Nobody in the story connects them until late; we have been handed everything and watch the heroes catch up. It is a good way to build a mystery on a short clock, because we get to be a half-step ahead rather than lost.

The writing earns the setup with a good deal of cheerful nonsense. A long gnu joke runs between Alex and T-Bob, and Scott and T-Bob bicker over whose game wins are luck and whose are skill. V.E.N.O.M.'s dialogue is brisk and mean: Rax grumbles that only they would be fool enough to go and meet the thing. The slime itself is drawn with big, calm shapes: a sheet of blue rippling over the ground, a mound with steam curling off the top, a wave rolling toward Thunderhawk with its doors raised. The backgrounds do a lot of the work too, because the flamingos and giraffes at the water make the lake feel like a real place before it becomes a weapon.

The standout is the salt deduction. M.A.S.K.'s lasers have only made the creature bigger, T-Bob has come out of the slime sticky and unharmed because he is metal, and then the team asks why the creature left the chips and the anchovy alone. Both were once living, and both were spared. The answer is salt, which draws water out of protoplasm and dries it, and by that point the viewer has already thought of the lake. The final shots, with slime spilling over the water in trails of steam, a gray crust spreading across it and a rocky mound crumbling, show the answer working.

The weakness is on the villains' side. Mayhem wants to control a mountain of blue protoplasm, and the episode never shows what control would look like or how a creature with no senses would take an order. The scheme becomes a hunt for samples instead, but the hunt is where the plot loses its shape. The rope and cable business around T-Bob is hard to follow, and the fan wiki records a string of continuity errors, from Hondo's clothing changing between shots to Switchblade recovering from a damaged wing.

The price is small. Most cartoon monsters are beaten by a bigger weapon, and this one is beaten by the salt in a snack, which is a clever use of the show's science!

The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Hondo MacLean's vehicle in this episode as Night Stalker, the original name of Hurricane, and its Hurricane page lists this as one of four episodes that use that name.
The wiki records that Hondo is shown teaching a class in a green suit but is in his brown jacket in the closer shot where his watch alarm goes off, then in the green suit again.
The wiki lists a continuity slip in the cable sequence: Matt tells T-Bob to wait until he reaches the bottom before extending his arms and legs, but T-Bob later extends four grappling hooks from hidden compartments on his torso.
The wiki says that after Hondo disables Switchblade's wing in jet mode and it seems to go down, it is later resting in the forest in helicopter mode and then escapes in fully working jet mode.
The wiki's voice cast lists Mark Halloran as Sly Rax, Cliff Dagger and the scientist Malcolm, Brendan McKane as Miles Mayhem, Alex Sector and a scientist named Joe, and Graeme McKenna as T-Bob and a scientist.
The wiki's recording-date note for this episode is October 28, 1985.
The wiki gives the episode's safety tip as the buddy system when swimming out to a raft in the middle of a lake.
The wiki's quotes list for the episode records a gnu joke exchange between Alex Sector and T-Bob on the Africa trip.

Matt Trakker

Alex Sector

Hondo MacLean

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

A blond scientist in glasses watches a grey-haired colleague pour coffee into a pot.

A blond scientist in glasses gestures with both hands as he talks.

A grey-haired scientist watches a blond colleague stand behind a desk in a lab.

Two scientists in lab coats run through billowing clouds of smoke.

A grey-haired scientist crouches on the floor holding a small black object.

A large mansion with a tennis court and a swimming pool stands among green trees.

Scott Trakker sits at a desk with T-Bob beside him.

T-Bob looks anxious next to Scott Trakker, who leans over the desk.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob walk down a green corridor.

Scott Trakker stops in the hallway, one fist clenched, as T-Bob follows.

A man in a brown jacket talks on the phone and gestures with one open hand.

A desolate wasteland of scattered debris lies below a volcano and a ruined rock tower.

Alex Sector holds a globe as T-Bob, Scott Trakker and Matt Trakker look on.

A globe shows Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean.

A tree stands on a patch of grass in an African village of thatched huts.

Matt Trakker stands behind a window with Scott, T-Bob and Alex Sector.

Scott Trakker talks to Matt Trakker as T-Bob and Alex Sector watch.

Alex Sector frowns beside T-Bob.

A wrecked research station has a gaping hole in its roof and a trail of ruin.

A bearded man in a brown jacket stands among ruins in front of a volcano.

Alex Sector and a bearded man in a brown jacket talk at the ruins.

Pipes, panels and twisted machinery lie scattered on the ground.

A flooded ravine with ruined posts runs between rocky walls.

Matt Trakker walks through debris and a broken chair in the ruined hall.

Matt Trakker holds out a metal fragment as Alex Sector and a bearded man look on.

Matt Trakker holds up a small metal piece and speaks.

Wildebeest stand under a tree as T-Bob and Scott Trakker walk through the grass.

Scott Trakker holds a sack of gold coins as T-Bob stands beside him.

Scott Trakker looks at the camera cautiously holding the sack of coins beside T-Bob.

Ivory tusks lie stacked in a wooden crate.

Cliff Dagger leans on a crate as Sly Rax sits on a chair and Miles Mayhem waits.

Miles Mayhem speaks with an arch smile.

Miles Mayhem talks to Cliff Dagger as Sly Rax leans on a chair among crates.

Miles Mayhem gestures with a gloved hand toward Cliff Dagger and Sly Rax.

Miles Mayhem scowls with his jaw set.

A red car drives along a rough track through green jungle.

A hillside of grass and low trees sits under a blue sky.

A masked agent in a grey harness steps out of Thunderhawk.

An explosion bursts at a fallen tree beside Thunderhawk with its doors raised.

Alex Sector rides beside a masked agent in a red helmet and red scarf.

A red car approaches a huge dark blue slime that fills the horizon.

Trees stand beneath a pale blue sky.

Alex Sector looks ahead in a pink-tinted cab beside a masked agent in a pink scarf.

A masked agent's helmet and scarf fill the frame in pink tint.

A green wireframe profile of a man shows front and side views and a pointed mask.

Red wireframes show two six-wheeled armoured vehicles and a smaller car.

A teacher writes on a chalkboard as students sit at their desks.

Giraffes and flamingos stand beside a bank of a lake.

Scott Trakker kneels to pack a pouch as T-Bob stands beside him under a tree.

Flamingos stand in the lake as Scott Trakker and T-Bob sit in the distance.

A flamingo turns its long neck as feathers float past.

Scott Trakker wades beside T-Bob at the water's edge.

Scott Trakker puts his hands on his hips as T-Bob looks away at the shore.

Scott Trakker is seen inside a round net in front of a mountain.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob run through shallow water, blurred.

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

A sheet of blue slime ripples across the frame.

T-Bob stands with a pole across his body while Scott Trakker hurries past.

Scott Trakker wades from the lake as T-Bob's arms stick out of the bank.

Scott Trakker stands knee-deep in water while T-Bob's arm reaches from the slime above the bank.

Thunderhawk sits on a dirt road with its doors raised and a figure on its roof.

Matt Trakker, masked, steps toward the camera as a faded Scott Trakker runs behind him.

Matt Trakker, masked, stands with his back to the camera in front of the giant slime.

Alex Sector, masked in a blue hood, points ahead beside Scott Trakker in the vehicle.

A tall mound of slime rises with two trails of steam curling from its top.

Alex Sector, masked in a blue hood, stands behind the open wing of a red craft.

A mound of blue slime covered in bubbles sits in a clearing among trees.

A driver in a purple shirt and dark mask grips the steering wheel.

Alex Sector, masked in a blue hood with a visor, grins under the glow of his mask.

Miles Mayhem pilots a red cockpit under pink beams.

Scott Trakker rides beside a masked agent in a red scarf who grips the steering wheel.

Thunderhawk, its doors raised, sits on a flood of blue slime.

Alex Sector, masked, steps out of the way as a huge wave of slime rolls toward Thunderhawk.

Alex Sector kneels beside T-Bob in a field.

Alex Sector pats Scott Trakker on the shoulder as T-Bob sits dazed beside a sack of coins.

Matt Trakker, Scott and Alex Sector stand around T-Bob in an open field with Thunderhawk behind them.

Scott Trakker puts his hands on his hips beside T-Bob while Matt Trakker looks on.

Matt Trakker looks down toward Scott Trakker as Alex Sector's head shows in front.

Miles Mayhem scowls among the jungle leaves.

Miles Mayhem, Sly Rax and Cliff Dagger walk away into the jungle, seen from behind.

Alex Sector sits in the car while Matt Trakker stands outside it in the field.

Two masked V.E.N.O.M. agents carry canisters beside a tree.

Matt Trakker grimaces, belted into a red cockpit.

Miles Mayhem peers through binoculars from his red cockpit.

Two masked V.E.N.O.M. agents walk away across the sand carrying canisters.

A gloved hand reaches for the controls on a dashboard.

A dark helicopter's rotor mast and a yellow chevron mark on its body fill the frame.

Matt Trakker is seen through a glass canopy beside Alex Sector in the car.

A masked agent in a red helmet and scarf is seen from behind, seated in the car.

Scott Trakker crawls through tall grass.

Scott Trakker looks ahead with a worried face among the grasses.

A masked agent fires a cannon from a blue striped vehicle with twin gun barrels.

A dark jet crosses a cloudy blue sky at the left edge.

A white machine casing shows gears and tubes through two small windows.

A monitor shows a blue blob with a crosshair over it.

A fiery explosion engulfs a blue striped car beside the slime.

Scott Trakker kneels on a dirt path and hugs a young deer.

Scott Trakker, faded, holds a small animal in front of a wall of blue slime.

Scott Trakker, faded, holds a small animal on the water as rippling waves spread out.

Scott Trakker kneels beside the fawn and strokes its back.

A masked agent in a red and white helmet steers from behind in a cockpit.

Two masked V.E.N.O.M. agents run through the jungle between tall trees.

A blue vehicle with orange flames on the side tears through the jungle.

Slime spills over the water with trails of steam.

A rocky grey mound crumbles as debris flies off it.

A grey crust spreads over the water.

A dark helicopter's rotor blades whirl past leaves.

Matt Trakker, helmeted, grips the wheel in the car.

Scott Trakker stands alone on a grass bank above the lake.

Scott Trakker kneels on a ledge as a faded T-Bob rises from the water behind him.

Alex Sector and Matt Trakker stand beside Thunderhawk with its wing doors raised.

Matt Trakker, T-Bob and Scott Trakker stand together on the grass.

Two monitors show a blank screen and a screen with a crosshair.

A masked V.E.N.O.M. agent in a gas mask looks out from a striped vehicle.

Alex Sector laughs as Matt Trakker smiles beside Thunderhawk, with Scott and a dark-haired man in the foreground.

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

Scott Trakker in swim trunks holds sandals beside T-Bob and a sunbather under a beach ball.

Scott Trakker, shirtless, steps up beside a lake as a hand waves at the left edge.

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