M.A.S.K. S2E01

Demolition Duel to the Death

Vanessa Warfield stands with Boris Bushkin and a red-haired man in front of the white truck.

At a demolition derby in Memphis, V.E.N.O.M.'s Vanessa and Bruno go after Buddie Hawks and his tow truck, Wildcat, but a new driver, Boris Bushkin, beats Hawks in his white truck, Bulldog, and impresses them. Vanessa invites him to join a night ambush on a lonely road, where Lester Sludge appears in Iguana. Boris turns on his new allies, revealing he is a M.A.S.K. agent, and the derby loss was a put-on. Hawks survives the ambush, and a short bath-time safety tag closes the episode.

Boris Bushkin doesn't shake hands with losers.

To steal a line: reports of my departure are greatly exaggerated.

Losing a race on purpose is a lot harder to animate than winning one, and Demolition Duel to the Death builds its season-two opener on a defeat that turns out to be a disguise. Buddie Hawks, driving his red tow truck, goes into a Memphis demolition derby against Vanessa and Bruno; a newcomer in a white semi truck, Boris Bushkin, beats him and refuses to shake his hand, and V.E.N.O.M. takes the bait.

The episode is about how an agent gets inside an organisation that only trusts winners. Vanessa and Bruno want Hawks finished, and Boris, who calls himself the Czar, shows them a driver who can do it by winning and then by being rude about it. Vanessa asks how he would like the chance to finish off Hawks and Wildcat for good, and he is in. The defeat is the disguise.

The structure is two halves, and the dialogue names it: the derby, then Demolition Derby Part 2 on a lonely road in the dark. The first half plays as a sports picture, with a grandstand of spectators covering their ears and a white armoured semi charging a red truck, and it has the benefit of being easy to follow because the audience can see who is winning. The second half is a trap with several moving parts, and it is the more crowded of the two. Lester Sludge arrives in Iguana, his first appearance, with a mud-slinging attack, and Boris and Lester trade insults over their allegiances while the plan is still being laid.

The animation gives Wildcat the best of it. The published frames show the red truck wrapped in blue lightning in mid-jump, rearing up on hydraulic legs with a long barrel aimed, and later charging across a night field with its headlights on. The white truck is a strong counterpart: a fur-collared old man peering out of a yellow hatch, a dump bed that tilts up to show a yellow vehicle inside, and a tank mode with treads.

The standout scene is the turn. Boris, in the middle of the ambush, calls out the mask and fires, and a M.A.S.K. sign pops up on top of the white truck, followed by Vanessa's cry of treachery and a reply that they learned a few tricks from her and Miles. It is the payoff that the first half has been paying for, and it lands.

The weakness is that the secret is spoiled by the animation: according to the M.A.S.K. wiki, when Bulldog transforms around the seventeen minute mark the word M.A.S.K. is clearly visible on it, which reveals Boris's allegiance to the audience before the characters. Wildcat's survival is also thin: Vanessa says she saw it explode, Hawks later tells her that reports of his departure are greatly exaggerated, and no explanation follows.

As an opener it does the job that the first episode of a new format needs to do: it introduces Boris and Lester, sets up a grudge between Hawks and Vanessa, and shows off new vehicles. It is energetic, and the con at its centre is worth the trouble.

According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, this episode is the first appearance of Boris Bushkin and Lester Sludge and of their vehicles, Bulldog and Iguana.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists this as the final appearance of Gloria Baker, who has a cameo in the episode.
The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that Matt Trakker, Scott and T-Bob are all absent here, the first time any of them misses an adventure.
The M.A.S.K. wiki observes that Buddie Hawks is now called by his codename, Clutch, and that he does an impression of Humphrey Bogart.
The M.A.S.K. wiki points out that after a full first season of secrecy, V.E.N.O.M. clearly identifies Hawks as a M.A.S.K. agent.
According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, the word M.A.S.K. is visible on Bulldog when it transforms at about seventeen minutes, giving away Boris's allegiance to viewers early.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists the location as Memphis, Tennessee, and says this is the first of four episodes with a V.E.N.O.M. safety tip.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's Safety Tip entry has Miles Mayhem tell Lester not to take electrical equipment, like a radio, into the bath in Mayhem's deluxe house.

Buddie Hawks

Boris Bushkin

Gloria Baker

Miles Mayhem

Vanessa Warfield

Bruno Sheppard

Lester Sludge

Buddie Hawks leans in beside a raised hood under a blue sky.

Buddie Hawks smiles and holds out an open hand beside the raised hood.

Buddie Hawks stands with arms out in front of a raised hood at the derby pits.

Buddie Hawks sprawls on the dirt beside a green car and a yellow vehicle.

A red tow truck numbered 67 sits on the dirt while a mechanic in overalls stands beside it.

A mechanic in maroon overalls stands beside the red and yellow truck and a white jet.

Boots stand on the dirt next to a blue car and a steel scaffold tower.

The grandstand crowd cheers and points at a derby.

Spectators in the stands cover their ears and clap, one holding a camera.

Wrecked vehicles lie crumpled in the derby arena before a packed grandstand.

The red tow truck number 67 rides up onto a crushed white van.

The red tow truck number 67 drives across the arena as an orange helmet fills the foreground.

An orange car with a hood scoop drives straight at the viewer, a helmeted driver inside.

A masked driver in a blue suit grips the wheel inside a dark car.

The red tow truck jumps through the air wrapped in blue electric lightning.

Buddie Hawks wears a blue and white star mask at the wheel of the red truck.

An orange car races toward a blue lightning bolt rising over the arena, kicking up dust.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask looks out from the red truck.

The orange car with a hood scoop speeds across the arena past wrecks.

A masked driver in an orange helmet leans over the wheel of the orange car.

The red truck number 67 rears up on its hydraulic legs before the crowd.

The red truck rises on legs with a long barrel aimed, a masked driver in the cab.

Spectators cover their ears and cheer in the grandstand.

A small red vehicle skids along the arena wall past the crowd.

A huge blue cloud of foam or smoke billows up in front of the grandstand.

Red beams fall on two tank-like vehicles in the arena.

Spectators watch tensely and cover their ears in the grandstand.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask sits at the wheel and looks across the arena.

A black aircraft with a glowing engine hovers over the arena beyond the windshield.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask looks up from the red truck cab.

A masked man in orange climbs out beside an overturned orange tank vehicle.

The red truck stands upright on mechanical legs next to a gray tank in the arena.

A masked driver in teal grips his seat belt inside a purple car.

A white slash cuts across the red truck standing on its legs.

A huge gray truck cab with a yellow stripe looms under the sun.

A hand grips a steering wheel behind a windshield.

A white semi truck charges toward the red truck 67 on the arena floor.

The white semi truck bumps the red truck against a gray vehicle.

The red truck 67 tilts onto a gray vehicle and smashes into the arena wall.

Spectators shout and raise fists in the grandstand.

Spectators with fists up watch closely, one bearded man at the center.

The white armored semi truck rolls toward the viewer, kicking up dirt.

The white vehicle's red gun barrels fire toward the sun.

An old man in a fur collar peers from a yellow hatch on the white tank.

Spectators with tickets flinch as they watch the arena.

Mechanics work among vehicles and cranes inside a dim hangar.

A yellow crane arm stands in the hangar beside mechanics and a jeep.

Boris Bushkin polishes the cab of the white semi truck.

Boris Bushkin stands by the truck wheel as Buddie Hawks walks toward him in the hangar.

Boris Bushkin wipes the truck door while Buddie Hawks walks past.

Boris Bushkin glances up over his fur collar.

Boris Bushkin watches a red-haired figure in the foreground.

Boris Bushkin clenches his jaw and holds up a fist.

Boris Bushkin speaks with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Boris Bushkin narrows his eyes with a hard stare.

Boris Bushkin smirks with a sly smile.

Buddie Hawks kneels beside the red tow truck's front wheel in the hangar.

Buddie Hawks stands by the number 67 truck with a dark-haired woman facing away.

Buddie Hawks stands at the truck while a woman refuels it at sunset.

Buddie Hawks and a woman in a green vest talk beside the red truck.

A woman in a green vest walks toward the number 67 tow truck at dusk.

Buddie Hawks drives at night with a faint smile.

Buddie Hawks glances sideways with a calm look as he drives.

The red tow truck races along a hilltop road at night.

Vanessa Warfield stands on a rise with a black car while Boris Bushkin waits by the white truck.

Boris Bushkin smiles while a red-haired man in dark glasses faces him.

Boris Bushkin smirks as a red-haired man glares at Vanessa Warfield under the stars.

Vanessa Warfield stands angrily between a red-haired man and Boris Bushkin.

A red-haired man in dark sunglasses scowls with a green hill behind him.

Boris Bushkin sits in the cab of the white semi truck.

Boris Bushkin grins nervously from the truck seat.

Buddie Hawks drives at night with a steady look.

A masked figure rides a red vehicle along a dark hillside.

A masked figure in a pink suit and red cap helmet looks up from a hill.

A purple car's nose with a small gun barrel glints in the dark.

The red truck transforms into a walker with a crane as another vehicle's lights glow behind.

A purple jet-car with three round thrusters rises at night.

A purple jet-car flies over a dark landscape past a rider on a red vehicle.

Rocks and debris burst out of a blue explosion cloud.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask looks sideways in the truck at night.

A figure in a pink suit leans forward as a beam of light shines past.

The red truck on legs charges across the night ground with its headlights on.

A yellow light beam hits the face of a white truck, splintering leaves.

A figure in a pink suit leaps up out of a red vehicle.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask peers out from the truck cab.

A masked driver in a blue suit sits in a purple car.

The masked driver in blue grips the wheel of the purple car.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask grips the wheel from below.

The red truck 67 dives through the air with headlights on, firing at a dark craft.

Two round lights glow on a dark dashboard.

A pink-suited figure stands next to a wrecked black vehicle, smoke rising.

A figure in a pink suit and red helmet raises a fist, seen from behind.

A white armored truck tilts up its dump bed to reveal a yellow vehicle inside.

The tank treads of a white vehicle roll across rocky ground.

The red truck drives down a grassy hillside with its headlights on.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask looks out of the truck.

The white semi truck and the red truck 67 sit side by side on a night field.

Boris Bushkin grips a lever inside the white truck cab.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask leans out of the red truck's window.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask looks out of the red truck, jaw set.

A blue targeting circle surrounds the white semi truck and the red truck.

A white truck cab fires a beam of light from a barrel on its side.

A masked driver in blue stares forward as streaks of light fly past.

A purple jet-car blasts through white streaks of light.

A MASK sign pops up on top of the white truck with a red arrow.

A purple vehicle tumbles upside down through glittering stars.

The white armored truck flies over a dark blue sea.

A white tank fires a red cannon in an orange fireball.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask turns his head with a faint smile.

A flying disc streaks through space as a small craft trails a bright flame above.

Buddie Hawks in his star mask stands by the white truck as Boris Bushkin watches from inside.

Buddie Hawks turns away from the white truck, still masked.

Boris Bushkin smiles broadly in the night.

Boris Bushkin leans on the red truck and talks to Buddie Hawks.

The white semi truck and the red truck sit on a hilltop with two figures at dawn.

A red-haired man in a towel stands in a bathroom doorway.

A robed old man stands beside a shirtless red-haired man holding a perfume bottle.

DISCUSSION

Comments launch with the forum.

The mask.toys forum and the comment threads beneath every article come online together. Drop your email below and we will let you know the moment they go live.