M.A.S.K. S1E49

Follow the Rainbow

Scott Trakker and T-Bob move into a cave encircled by glowing gold rings.

In rural Ireland, Matt Trakker and the local farmer Paddy plan a woollen factory built around a new strain of sheep, while Scott and T-Bob go off with the shepherd Mike, find a four-leaf clover and chase a rainbow toward the coast. Matt does not believe their story of gold. Miles Mayhem turns up after Mike tells him about the legendary treasure of Brian Boru, and Matt calls in Julio Lopez and Calhoun Burns. Wool fibres that analysis ties to the new sheep point Matt back to Paddy and Mike. Scott and T-Bob reach the cave first, V.E.N.O.M. loads up the gold, and a leprechaun scare helps M.A.S.K. win it back for the village.

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Can a village make its own luck, or does luck have to wash up on the shore? Follow the Rainbow raises the question in its first few minutes and then answers it with a treasure chest, which is a more comfortable ending than the setup deserves.

Matt Trakker is in Ireland as a businessman rather than a masked agent, unrolling plans with the farmer Paddy for a woollen factory that will use a new strain of sheep Matt developed, and the first scene is full of talk about luck. Scott and T-Bob, sent to look over the flock with the shepherd Mike, find a four-leaf clover almost at once, and a rainbow with no storm behind it soon after. The episode is really about whether a village builds its prosperity or finds it: the plans in Matt's hands say built, the clover in T-Bob's says found, and the plot is arranged so that the boys are proved right while Matt's factory ends up paid for by Brian Boru. The ending quietly takes the side of the clover.

The writing runs on wool puns, and it runs on them without shame. Scott is nearly fleeced, a close shave follows, and Matt promises that Mayhem will not pull any wool over his eyes. The joke that works best is a clue rather than a pun. Matt finds tire tracks that can only belong to V.E.N.O.M., the analysis of the wool fibres comes back as the new strain of Tracker sheep, and Matt concludes that only Paddy and Mike handle those sheep. Matt's own invention points straight at the pair who could have talked, and a short scene does what a whole interrogation would have done in other episodes.

The sea cave is where the episode pays off its rainbow. The gold the boys saw from the cliff turns out to be a prism in the rock throwing back a glow, and the explanation arrives with a nice bit of trickery: the shine that sent them chasing the rainbow was a reflection all along, while the real treasure sits further in.

The voice work leans on dialect, and the Irish characters get most of the benefit. Mike's curse on anyone who disturbs the gold guarded by the wee people is delivered with enough conviction that Cliff Dagger, of all people, seems to believe it, and the best scene in the episode follows from that. Mayhem orders the rocks in the cave cleared, Dagger insists the leprechauns keep moving them back, and Mayhem answers with a threat; the V.E.N.O.M. crew bicker in the dark like a family on a long drive, with one of the V.E.N.O.M. crew telling Sly Rax to shut his mouth before a bat mistakes it for a cave. The boys later report that Dagger took them for leprechauns, and when M.A.S.K. closes in with a voice in the shadows, the superstition Mike planted for his own reasons is turned against the men he sold the secret to.

The real weakness is what happens to Mike. He is poor, he is threatened by Mayhem the moment he has served his purpose, he admits to wanting a share once the fibres point at him, and the story's answer is a closing line saying he was so ashamed that he left the country. The factory is saved, the village is prosperous, and the one character who acted out of need is written out in a sentence. A half-hour cartoon has no room to forgive anyone, but it did have room to let Paddy say something kinder than that he is sorry about it. Julio Lopez and Calhoun Burns are introduced here with a dossier apiece, which is a thin welcome for two new team members.

It is a light, pun-heavy outing, funniest when V.E.N.O.M. loses an argument with its own nerves, and a pleasant trip abroad in the stretch of episodes that follows Quest of the Canyon.

The M.A.S.K. wiki lists this episode as the first appearance of Julio Lopez and Calhoun Burns and of their vehicles, Firefly and Raven.
The M.A.S.K. wiki says Firefly was also known as Dragonfly, and that the Dragonfly name was already trademarked by Hasbro, which is why it was changed to Firefly; the name still turns up in later episodes such as The Royal Cape Caper.
According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, the original colour guides for the toyline named Raven, a black Corvette C4 that becomes an armed seaplane, as Vampire.
The M.A.S.K. wiki credits Doug Stone with both Matt Trakker and the shepherd Mike, and Brendan McKane with both Miles Mayhem and the farmer Paddy.
Wikipedia describes Brian Boru as High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014, and the episode builds its hidden treasure around his name.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records two animation slips: Cliff Dagger is drawn with black hair for a shot while Mayhem tells him to move the rocks, and Sly Rax's mask is shown lowering onto his head in a split-screen shot even though his motorcycle has no roof.
The M.A.S.K. wiki says Cliff Dagger and Miles Mayhem escape in Piranha after Sly Rax abandons it.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists the closing safety tip as Matt stopping Scott from adding lighter fluid to a barbecue fire.

Matt Trakker

Julio Lopez

Calhoun Burns

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Vanessa Warfield

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

Scott Trakker holds an electric clipper above his head beside T-Bob in the stone barn.

Matt Trakker raises a finger while talking with an older farmer in a flat cap.

Matt Trakker and the farmer talk beside a barn window.

A hand rests on a floor plan drawn on a large sheet of paper.

Matt Trakker unrolls a scroll while the farmer holds his cap.

Scott Trakker shears a sheep while T-Bob and two men look on.

Matt Trakker stands by the barn door as Scott clips a ram beside T-Bob.

Matt Trakker puts a hand on Scott Trakker's shoulder beside T-Bob and the ram.

T-Bob stands in a grassy field under a golden sky.

T-Bob holds a green four-leaf clover to his mouth in a field.

T-Bob looks wide-eyed holding a four-leaf clover.

Scott Trakker points as T-Bob holds a clover beside a farmer in a brown jacket.

T-Bob closes his eyes beside a large green clover.

T-Bob clutches the clover as wind and spray whip around him.

T-Bob holds the clover in his mouth beside a rock wall.

Scott Trakker and the farmer in a brown jacket stand against a rock wall.

Scott Trakker, T-Bob and the farmer stand in a cove as waves crash beside them.

The farmer in a brown jacket stands beside a rock wall next to T-Bob.

Matt Trakker, Scott Trakker, T-Bob and the farmer talk in the stone barn.

Scott Trakker frowns beside T-Bob, who has a clover on his chest.

Scott Trakker speaks with a determined look, eyes narrowed.

Scott Trakker talks to Matt Trakker while T-Bob looks on.

Scott Trakker looks up with a faint dissolve overlay as T-Bob watches.

A castle on a lake appears with a faded double image of Matt Trakker above it.

Matt Trakker gestures to T-Bob beside a railing.

A dissolve shows T-Bob's body fading into a rock-and-circle pattern.

Matt Trakker hands Scott Trakker a robot arm beside a stone wall.

Scott Trakker points at a plaque as Matt Trakker and T-Bob stand by an iron gate.

Matt Trakker, Scott Trakker and T-Bob peer over a stone wall.

A winding road crosses green hills as a helicopter flies in the distance.

Scott Trakker reaches over the stone wall as T-Bob watches.

A white sedan with a red taillight is parked on the road.

A hand presses keys on an open device with a screen.

The pink Boulder Hill gas station sits under a cliff.

A wristwatch bearing a mask emblem shows red panels.

A monitor shows green outlines of a man and a red mask above two heads.

The mask watch glows on a wrist with its red panels.

Matt Trakker smiles, buckled into a vehicle seat.

Two men talk in a hay barn, one in a blue uniform and one in a brown jacket.

Miles Mayhem looks back over his shoulder at the farmer.

Miles Mayhem looks forward with a stern expression.

Miles Mayhem turns in profile, speaking.

Cliff Dagger walks into the barn as the farmer gestures at him.

Miles Mayhem and Cliff Dagger talk in the hay barn.

Scott Trakker rests his chin on his hand at a table beside T-Bob.

Matt Trakker stands in the stone barn as Scott Trakker sits with his back turned.

Scott Trakker bounces in smiling beside T-Bob.

Scott Trakker puts his hands behind his back at the barn door while T-Bob holds a clover.

T-Bob holds a clover up to his visor in front of a barn door.

Scott Trakker rows a yellow raft with T-Bob next to him in rough water.

Scott Trakker pulls an oar while looking ahead from the raft.

T-Bob holds a clover in the raft while Scott rows.

The raft tips over in a big wave as T-Bob falls toward the oar.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob bob in the water, alarmed.

Churning blue and white waves fill the frame.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob float in the water, Scott looking worried.

Scott Trakker glances sideways beside T-Bob in the water.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob cling to a wooden post in the sea.

A black rock rises from the waves as T-Bob's dome and a hand appear in the corner.

Matt Trakker walks across the grass beside a barn and a white car.

Matt Trakker looks down with his eyes closed, fingers near his mouth.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob sit on a rocky ledge looking out at a rainbow over the sea.

A gray round gadget on a white arm is shown against the sky.

Scott Trakker holds onto T-Bob as a wave breaks over them.

Scott Trakker hugs T-Bob as they cling to a rock.

Scott Trakker runs along the rocks with T-Bob beside the sea.

A gray boulder stands against the sky with a faint rainbow at the left.

A small glowing diamond shape radiates light on a dark rock wall.

Scott Trakker touches a rock wall as a beam of light hits it.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob peer out through a narrow rock crack.

A black truck and a motorcycle dangle from cables above a cliff top.

A black SUV, a purple car, a blue motorcycle and a dark jet sit on gray ground.

Miles Mayhem, Sly Rax, Cliff Dagger and Vanessa Warfield stand together in the rocks.

Miles Mayhem rubs his mouth as Cliff Dagger leans in beside Sly Rax and Vanessa Warfield.

Miles Mayhem clenches a fist beside Cliff Dagger, who turns away.

A blue jet with orange tips flies over a green field with its shadow below.

A monitor shows a radar-style map and a bar graph with red markers.

Hondo MacLean and Matt Trakker talk in a cockpit with a third man leaning over them.

The farmer in a brown jacket gestures with an open hand in the rafters of the barn.

Matt Trakker faces ahead with Hondo MacLean and another man behind him.

Matt Trakker looks off with a dark-haired man smiling behind him.

Matt Trakker and Hondo MacLean look ahead in the barn.

The farmer in a brown jacket rests a hand on a wooden crate.

Miles Mayhem and Vanessa Warfield stand by the cliff with a motorcycle.

Scott Trakker points at something while T-Bob stands beside him.

Cliff Dagger walks toward a black truck while another agent sits on the motorcycle.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob watch a golden glow and rainbow as a helicopter hovers above.

Miles Mayhem talks to Cliff Dagger while Vanessa Warfield stands by the black truck.

Cliff Dagger stands at the open back of the black truck with a snake emblem.

The black truck splashes into the sea beside a cliff wall.

A masked Matt Trakker grips the steering wheel of a vehicle.

Cliff Dagger, a sunglasses man and Vanessa Warfield crowd the frame in a split view.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob crouch along a rocky passage.

A masked V.E.N.O.M. driver in a blue helmet sits in the cab of the black truck.

The black truck skims across the water as red shots fly past it.

A blue-helmeted V.E.N.O.M. driver and a black-helmeted passenger look out of the truck.

The blue-helmeted driver looks out at the cliffs next to the black-helmeted agent.

A cracked windshield and the side of the black truck fill the frame.

A purple car and a motorcycle speed down a canyon road as a small red drone flies above.

A pale shoreline of rock and foam lies beneath a high cliff wall.

A masked Matt Trakker sits behind the wheel inside a vehicle cab.

A masked Matt Trakker sits belted in a red vehicle with the door open.

Four masked team members and Scott Trakker stand beside a red car at the foot of a cliff.

Scott Trakker looks worried beside T-Bob, who has his eyes closed.

Blue legs and boots stand in golden shards of light.

Cliff Dagger opens the black truck's rear as a masked agent kneels by a chest of gold.

A masked V.E.N.O.M. agent in a dark helmet rests an arm on a car door.

A tire and orange taillights of a dark vehicle sit on a snowy shore.

A dark vehicle skims across the open blue sea leaving a white wake.

A masked Matt Trakker raises a hand to his throat beside an orange-helmeted figure in a cave.

Scott Trakker and T-Bob leap through a barn window in a cloud of dust.

The farmer hugs a puffy cloud as he looks off with a smile.

T-Bob throws up his arms and sits in clouds of dust before a brick wall.

Scott Trakker talks in front of a smoking T-Bob.

Matt Trakker speaks to Scott Trakker as T-Bob smokes beside them.

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