M.A.S.K. S1E54

Fog on Boulder Hill

Clara Simpson sits tied to a chair as a masked agent grips the chair back.

At the Boulder Hill gas station, Scott recognises his old babysitter Clara Simpson, a retired teacher whose new car needs a repair. Buddie Hawks drives her and Scott home just as V.E.N.O.M. attacks the station, and T-Bob, locked outside in the fighting, hears that the gang is after her. M.A.S.K. traces the car's plate to Ramsey Pugh, a former Bureau of Engraving employee who stole the printing plates for twenty dollar bills. V.E.N.O.M. seizes Clara and her poodle Cleopatra while Scott escapes a burning kitchen. With the plates hidden in the car, T-Bob holds off the gang at Boulder Hill until M.A.S.K. arrives.

Coming Soon!

The most dangerous character in Fog on Boulder Hill is a retired schoolteacher with a poodle. V.E.N.O.M. attacks a hidden base, kidnaps her, takes her dog hostage and sees a house go up in flames, all because of what is hidden in her car, and nobody on M.A.S.K.'s side realizes it for the first half of the episode. The title promises atmosphere, and what the script delivers is a mystery in which the most useful skill is patience with an old lady.

The episode is really about asking the right question. With the attack on Boulder Hill unexplained, Matt has the computer pull Clara Simpson's file, and it reads seventy years old, widowed, retired, lives alone on Windham Road, which one of the team sums up as quite stunningly unimportant. Bruce Sato supplies the saying that fits, that perhaps what is needed is the proper question and not the answer, and the proper question turns out to be what V.E.N.O.M. wants with her car. The licence plate leads to Ramsey Pugh, the former Bureau of Engraving employee who stole the printing plates for twenty dollar bills and went to prison without ever giving them up. Everything before that point is a puzzle without a shape, and after it the story has a direction.

The writing deserves credit for keeping the stakes small and domestic. Mrs. Simpson is no damsel in distress: when Sly Rax interrogates her she asks if he ever bathes, tells him he is filthy, and refuses the gang the satisfaction of an answer. Scott is her former charge, so the episode can treat him as a boy visiting an old friend rather than as the usual pair of kids carried along by the plot. T-Bob gets the best running arc, from the bored robot left to mind the station, through a lesson in what it means to be the first line of defence, to the one who searches the car for the plates and holds off V.E.N.O.M. long enough for his friends to arrive.

The animation has its moments in the kitchen fire. A pot of sauce tips over, flames climb the cabinets, and the poodle lies on the floor in thick black smoke before Scott lifts her out through a window and the team arrives with the hose, spun in gold rings as the mask powers switch on. The voices help, too, because Mrs. Simpson's polite fluster and Rax's disgust are matched so well that the interrogation is the funniest scene in the episode!

The standout is that fire. It is the one place where the stakes are physical rather than strategic, and it gives Scott a rescue to carry on his own, with the dog. Alex later remarks on Scott's wonderful way of staying out of trouble, and Scott answers that it was not him this time, honest.

The weakness is a loose end the script itself ties in a knot. One of the team asks outright how V.E.N.O.M. found Mrs. Simpson at Boulder Hill, and how it knew the base was there at all, and the conversation turns into a joke about Mayhem getting a bill from the garage. As far as the transcript goes the question is dropped, and the plot moves on to the licence plate, leaving the discovery of the base unexplained.

It is a cosy, brisk and well-organised mystery, and the one where T-Bob gets his due!

The M.A.S.K. wiki says Firecracker returns here for the first time since A Matter of Gravity, apparently rebuilt at Boulder Hill.
The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that Buddie Hawks joins the mission even though the M.A.S.K. computer did not select him.
According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, Julio Lopez and Matt Trakker call the Boulder Hill headquarters the Bunker, a name used for it during early production of the toy line.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records that Miles Mayhem, in his Python mask and Outlaw uniform, takes over Piranha during the battle at Boulder Hill.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists this as the fourth of four first-season episodes in which Mayhem's main vehicle Switchblade is not used, the others being Caesar's Sword, Stop Motion and Dragonfire.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Bruce Sato's lines here as Satoisms: that sometimes the best defense is to avoid the battle, and that perhaps it is not the answer we need but the proper question.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Sharon Noble as the voice of Clara Simpson, Vanessa Warfield, the M.A.S.K. computer and a radio announcer, and Mark Halloran as Buddie Hawks, Sly Rax and Cliff Dagger.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists several slips, among them the edge of an animation cel showing at the bottom of the screen early in the episode, Rhino briefly coloured grey, and a patch of skin colour on the neck of Rax's Stiletto mask.
The M.A.S.K. wiki gives the closing safety tip as Matt reminding Scott and T-Bob to keep a working flashlight handy during a power failure.

Matt Trakker

Julio Lopez

Alex Sector

Bruce Sato

Buddie Hawks

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Vanessa Warfield

Nash Gorey

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

Clara Simpson drives her car along a desert road, talking.

Clara's white poodle with a red bow sits on the car seat.

An orange vending machine stands in the Boulder Hill garage beside a parked vehicle.

Scott Trakker crouches to pick up a green hose in the garage.

Scott Trakker holds the poodle while Clara Simpson speaks beside him.

Scott holds the poodle beside Clara and T-Bob while a blond man stands with his back turned.

A red-capped man leans under the raised hood of Clara's car as Scott, Clara and T-Bob watch.

The red-capped man straightens up from the open hood of the brown car.

Matt Trakker faces Clara, Scott and T-Bob beside the car with its hood raised.

Matt Trakker watches Scott, Clara and the red-capped man sitting in an open red vehicle.

Matt Trakker and T-Bob stand beside a gray truck.

Scott Trakker and Clara Simpson sit belted in with the poodle on her lap.

A red vehicle with roof lights comes over a desert dune.

Scott Trakker frowns beside Clara Simpson, who holds the poodle.

A black-haired man carrying an orange hose talks with a blond man in a blue suit.

T-Bob stands with a walking stick beside two gas pumps outside the Boulder Hill station.

The Boulder Hill gas station sits against a rock wall with a sign on a pole.

T-Bob stands on a gray ramp wrapped in blowing dust.

A V.E.N.O.M. rider in a green jacket crouches over a black motorcycle.

A gun turret rises from the Boulder Hill roof as red laser beams cross the cliff.

A teal-helmeted V.E.N.O.M. driver grips the wheel as yellow energy crackles on the windshield.

Purple-gloved hands grab at a teal-masked driver inside a vehicle cab.

A purple-gloved V.E.N.O.M. agent wrestles a green-masked man through the cab.

A twin-barreled gun turret tilts up in blowing dust among rocks.

T-Bob crouches beside a fallen rider and a wrecked motorcycle.

A purple-gloved agent in a backpack leans across the cab as a window opens behind him.

A green-masked V.E.N.O.M. agent climbs over an overturned truck among the rocks.

An overturned red-striped truck lies behind a purple car on the roadside.

Two robotic gas pumps stand beside a ramp at the Boulder Hill station.

The Boulder Hill command room has a large dark monitor above a round table.

T-Bob spreads his arms wide in a warm golden light.

Two men and T-Bob gather at the command console while one reads a sheet of paper.

Lit panels, radar screens and blue grids fill the command console.

A wireframe display shows a standing man, a red mask and two bearded faces.

Matt Trakker's face fills the big monitor above the team seated at the round table.

Matt Trakker and T-Bob stand beside a bald man seen from behind.

Matt Trakker rests his chin on his hand, thinking.

A monitor shows Clara Simpson's portrait with a column of alien lettering.

A black-haired man in an orange vest leans over a mustached man at the console.

Matt Trakker and T-Bob lean over the console beside a bearded man.

The red-capped man drives with a worried face.

Rhino sits in the garage between a red dragster and a red sports car.

The red-capped man sits at the wheel of a red pickup while T-Bob stands at the door.

The red gull-wing car opens its wings with a lightning bolt on the hood.

A red pickup and Rhino drive side by side down the road.

Clara Simpson gasps with her mouth open.

Clara holds her poodle while Scott Trakker grips a broom in the doorway.

V.E.N.O.M. agents burst into the kitchen as one carries Scott over his shoulder.

A V.E.N.O.M. agent carries Scott with a broom while a green-masked agent stands by.

A broom leans on a white door beside an overturned chair.

A V.E.N.O.M. agent carries Clara out the door as a green-masked agent stands in the kitchen.

A pot spills flaming sauce across the stove and down the cabinet.

Fire and thick black smoke fill the kitchen as the poodle lies on the floor.

Scott Trakker stares worriedly with smoke behind him.

Scott Trakker peers through a chain-link window with the poodle in front of him.

Scott Trakker lifts the poodle out through a window.

Scott Trakker wipes his brow with smoke rising behind him.

A wooded cliff drops to blue water in an aerial view.

Clara Simpson sits tied in a chair among three V.E.N.O.M. agents.

The house burns under heavy black smoke.

A masked M.A.S.K. agent in a white helmet with a blue visor holds his hands at his chest.

A masked hero sprays a hose at the fire, wrapped in spinning gold rings.

Water from the hose hits a burning edge as gold rings spiral around the sprayer.

Scott Trakker holds the poodle beside a bearded man in a blue hood and a masked Matt Trakker.

Scott Trakker holds the poodle next to a bearded man in a blue hood and goggles.

A masked Matt Trakker stands with his back turned beside Rhino as Scott holds the poodle.

A dissolve shows a masked rider crouched over a motorcycle.

Scott Trakker kneels and hugs the poodle beside a black vehicle.

A red car and a red pickup sit on the lawn as Scott stands nearby.

Scott Trakker stands with hands on hips beside a red-capped man in a maroon jacket.

A black-haired man in an orange vest stands before an open red compartment.

Scott Trakker raises a finger beside Matt Trakker.

A red-gloved hand presses buttons on the dashboard.

A green screen shows rows of white dashes beside control knobs.

A red-bearded bald man strokes his chin while looking at Scott Trakker.

A monitor displays the front and back of a twenty dollar bill.

Alex Sector, Scott Trakker and Matt Trakker watch something together.

A V.E.N.O.M. agent in a dark visor carries the poodle through a doorway.

A green-jacketed agent holds the poodle above a sack as a purple-clad agent watches.

A gloved hand pushes the poodle into a burlap sack.

Clara Simpson sits tied up between two V.E.N.O.M. agents.

A V.E.N.O.M. agent in a dark visor clutches a bulging sack.

Two people work on the open engine of Rhino beside a road.

T-Bob stands beside a gray box carrying a white model.

Scott Trakker and Matt Trakker lean over the wheel of a cab.

T-Bob stands covered in blue splotches before a rocky canyon.

A masked rider on a motorcycle approaches the Boulder Hill station as a purple car follows.

Three masked V.E.N.O.M. agents confer against a rock wall.

A V.E.N.O.M. agent pulls his helmet over his face.

T-Bob works at a tool wall behind a brown car.

Clara Simpson walks past the front of a truck with a pair of pliers on the ground.

T-Bob runs across the garage as a purple-sleeved arm reaches into view.

Clara Simpson holds a small red object near her collar in the purple car.

A purple-gloved agent and a green-masked agent drag T-Bob under a brown car.

Two V.E.N.O.M. agents carry T-Bob behind the brown car.

Scott Trakker sits between a bearded man in a blue hood and an orange-masked figure at the wheel.

Rhino speeds down the road with a red beam near its front as a red car follows.

Rhino and a red car with a purple hood speed along the road.

The red gull-wing car spins inside gold rings.

A teal-helmeted driver sits at the wheel of a purple car.

The teal-helmeted driver turns in the purple car's seat.

T-Bob lies on the floor beside a hose under a brown car.

Two V.E.N.O.M. agents stand by a motorcycle in a rocky canyon.

A masked Matt Trakker walks with Scott Trakker beside a masked agent and a red car.

Scott Trakker holds the poodle and gestures as Clara Simpson and masked team members stand around him.

Matt Trakker holds the poodle between an orange-masked agent and a bearded man in a blue hood.

The poodle with her red bow rests against Matt Trakker's harness.

Matt Trakker, Scott Trakker, a red-capped man and Clara Simpson sit on a couch with the poodle.

The group sits on the couch with teacups while Clara cradles the poodle.

The poodle and T-Bob fade in on the floor as the group sits on the couch.

Trakker Mansion sits by a drive and lawn in an aerial view at night.

Matt Trakker holds a flashlight and raises a finger.

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