M.A.S.K. S2E03

Homeward Bound

Ali Bombay shakes hands with Lester Sludge in a forest clearing.

Ali Bombay returns to his native village of Kandukar for a rest and is welcomed as a hero, but the villagers tell him outsiders have the place under their cruel thumb. They are V.E.N.O.M.: Lester Sludge and Nash Gorey are putting villagers to work mining a valuable meteorite in a cave for Miles Mayhem. Lester offers Ali a race through the marsh and rice paddies, with V.E.N.O.M. to leave if Ali wins. Ace Riker joins the fight, and the villagers talk of using the meteorite for justice.

I've had enough of your sludge, Lizard.

Looks like you've finally met a lizard who's your match, Lester.

Vacations in cartoons are always cancelled, and Homeward Bound has the decency to say so out loud: Ali Bombay arrives in the village of Kandukar after a long career of fighting and announces a time for rest. The villagers throw him a feast and tell him that outsiders have the village under their thumb, and Ali, who has just told the audience how tired he is, goes to work.

What the episode is really about is Ali settling a fight with a bargain, and the bargain is the best thing in it. Lester Sludge is in the village with Nash Gorey, putting villagers to work on a meteorite in a cave for Miles, and Ali does not just charge in. He tells Lester this is his hometown, asks how Lester would like it if Matt Trakker or Alex Sector swooped down guns blazing on the swamp where Lester was born, and Lester answers with a deal: a race across five miles of marsh and rice paddy between the cave and the village. If Ali wins, V.E.N.O.M. leaves. If Lester wins, Ali finds a new vacation spot. The story is built so that the terms of the race are the logic of the plot, and everything after the handshake is a question of whether Lester will honor the bargain.

Neither side runs the course cleanly, and the structure here is neat. Ali has a vehicle that suits the ground, and Lester has Iguana and a habit of firing things. The episode lets Ali win by out-thinking Lester as much as by speed. The captions of the published frames show a hover bike towing a black quad bike on a long cable, a cable looped round a log with a red hook, Lester's quad sitting in a pool of mud, and a white hover bike skimming across a shallow lake.

The animation is generous with the setting. Elephants wade through shallow water in front of a mountain, a boulder rolls out of a cave mouth with a masked runner ahead of it, and Bullet, Ali's bike, jumps through the air on spider-like legs before settling into a four-pod hover mode. These are the pictures that make the episode look different from the ones before it. Brian George is credited by the M.A.S.K. wiki as the voice of both Ali and Lester, so the race is one performer talking to himself.

The standout is the race, which uses the countryside, the cable and the mud in sequence. The weakness is the last act. Ace Riker arrives after a fishing trip and is quickly pulled into a fight with Miles, but when Ali asks Lester whether he will honor his part of the bargain, the answer is that Miles has what they came for anyway, and the villagers' plan for the meteorite is left as a line about justice. V.E.N.O.M.'s retreat is not clearly shown to keep to the terms of the bet.

As a character piece it is one of the better season-two entries, because it gives Ali a motive that is not about vehicles, and it lets a quiet man win a race on character.

According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, this is the first appearance of Ali Bombay and his vehicle Bullet, and the final appearance of Nash Gorey.
The M.A.S.K. wiki credits the same actor, Brian George, with the voices of both Ali Bombay and Lester Sludge in this episode.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records a continuity error: Ace Riker uses his season-one vehicle Slingshot but wears the season-two outfit and Cruise Control mask, yet activates it using the name of his earlier mask, Ricochet.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists this as the final appearance of Slingshot, and notes that Nash Gorey is called by his codename, Goon.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records an animation error: the window Ali Bombay opens after getting out of bed is placed much higher when seen from outside than from inside the bedroom.
The M.A.S.K. wiki's Safety Tip entry has Miles Mayhem and Maximus find Buzzard's drone hiding in a freezer, and Miles tells it never to hide in anything it cannot get out of, such as a freezer or refrigerator.

Ali Bombay

Ace Riker

Miles Mayhem

Nash Gorey

Lester Sludge

Floyd Malloy

Maximus Mayhem

A dirt road winds along a rocky cliff edge above a drop.

Lester Sludge hunches over the handlebars of a black bike on a rocky road.

Ali Bombay in a purple arrow-marked helmet looks down from a blue and white racing suit.

Lester Sludge races a red and black quad bike marked seven through a dust cloud.

Ali Bombay presses a white-gloved hand to his head while a brown blur covers his helmet.

The front wheel of a blue and white motorcycle bites into a rocky ledge as stones fall away.

Ali Bombay grips the handlebar of his white and blue bike under a blue sky.

A white and blue motorcycle with spider-like legs jumps through the air.

A village of small stone houses sits in a green valley beneath distant hills.

Ali Bombay sits on his white bike near a stone wall.

Ali Bombay rubs his chin while villagers stand behind him in front of a building.

Ali Bombay looks toward a woman in a lavender shawl at the edge of the frame.

A woman in a lavender head scarf speaks with a worried expression.

Villagers stand at a table of food under a night sky with a green flag overhead.

Two musicians play lutes on a rug while a villager watches.

Ali Bombay looks stern in a white turban under a starry sky.

Ali Bombay stands beside a woman in a lavender shawl at night with pink flame at right.

A woman in a lavender head scarf speaks with a hand cupped near her cheek.

Ali Bombay holds a woman by the arms as they talk under a night sky.

The sun rises over a mountain behind a village in green fields.

A man in a white turban looks out of a window and reaches toward the frame.

A rider in a purple suit stops a black and red quad bike by a stone building.

A black pickup truck and a red bike park in a dirt square beside two figures.

Lester Sludge stands in front of a white building as a man in white walks off behind him.

A man in a white shirt and overalls walks toward villagers beside a black truck.

Lester Sludge sits on a red and black bike with one arm open.

A woman in a lavender shawl closes her eyes and presses a hand to her cheek.

Ali Bombay strokes his goatee beside a woman in a shawl with clasped hands.

A dark-haired man in a gray and black vest holds a long pole beside a white van.

A man in a gray armored suit and yellow trousers strides forward, head out of frame.

A dark-haired man in a gray suit rests a hand on his cheek beside a white camper.

A white camper vehicle with a red and orange swoosh sits on a dirt road.

A white and red camper van rests on dirt in front of trees.

Close view of a white van roof panels with red and gray trim.

A masked pilot in a blue and gold mask sits inside a gray and white vehicle cockpit.

Lester Sludge rides a red and black quad bike through trees toward a black truck.

Ali Bombay rides a white and blue bike up a dirt slope.

Lester Sludge races a red quad bike past a black truck beside a rock in a forest clearing.

A gray armored truck smashes through a tree trunk with an orange explosion.

A splintered tree trunk topples in a jungle clearing.

A figure in pink and purple raises an arm in front of a big truck.

A man in brown stands near a man with a blue cannon and a masked soldier.

A bearded man in a white tunic and a brown-clad man stand with a green-masked man between them.

A blue cannon connects by white hoses to a control pad beside a pink panel.

Ali Bombay in his purple arrow helmet rises out of leaves.

A red and black spiked circular blade spins against a blue sky.

White streaks and green blur fill the frame in a swirl.

A yellow control panel with a red button and screens stands in front of a figure in gray.

A pencil-style drawing of a masked man in front of cream blocks fills a yellow frame.

A purple and gray truck lies on its side on a jungle road with a bright beam rising.

A pilot in a blue and yellow mask sits at a dashboard in a white vehicle.

A white hover bike with blue panels crosses a ghostly overlay of a figure in red.

A faded overlay shows a white machine and a rider in red and pink among green trees.

Lester Sludge looks straight ahead in his striped helmet and pink vest.

Lester Sludge raises a black-gloved hand to the top of his helmet.

Lester Sludge stands with his head tilted slightly in front of leafy trees.

Lester Sludge stands at attention with the pink and black chest vest in front of green trees.

A red bike nose fills the foreground as two riders approach on a dirt road.

A figure in blue and red stands inside swirling gray rings of wind on a dirt road.

A black and red bike with a purple rider skids sideways with a trail of dark smear.

A black bike with a rider approaches down a dirt road toward a pit.

A dark brown splash of mud spreads over a dirt road.

A black and red quad bike with raised arms sits in a pool of brown mud.

A bare jungle clearing with a tree trunk at right and blue sky above.

A dirt jungle path stretches into the distance with a tiny rider on it.

A white hover bike skims across a shallow lake.

A rider on a white hover bike leaps off a dirt slope with small wheel pods.

A white hover bike with a MASK sign hovers on four legs with its rider seen from behind.

A small red projectile trails a white line through a blue sky.

A rider in red and white stands on a white and blue hover bike with four black pods.

A tall tree stands in a green forest.

A pilot in a blue and gold mask drives a gray and red vehicle past a white swoosh.

A pilot in a blue and gold mask sits upright as white streaks cross the windshield.

A man in a blue helmet and gray and yellow suit stands before a cave mouth.

A big round boulder rolls out of a cave tunnel.

A man in a blue and gold mask runs down a road with a huge boulder behind him.

Broken trees and vines lie tangled across a jungle road.

A boulder smashes into a tree while a yellow glove or tool pokes at its side.

Rock fragments swirl in a tan spiral of dust.

A man in white clothes and a green mask runs out of a cave mouth.

A man in a blue and gold mask stands in a jungle clearing beside a rock.

A white four-legged hover bike with black pods flies between jungle trees.

A white bike and a red quad bike roll side by side in a tan blur.

A white and blue bike with the number seven strikes a red and black bike.

A fallen log stretches across the foreground of a jungle clearing.

Ali Bombay stands in a ghostly overlay with water at his feet.

A white hover bike's frame and engine fill the frame as the rider dips out of view.

A white hover bike races through jungle trees toward a shoreline.

Ali Bombay leaps a lake on his white and blue four-pod hover bike.

A yellow gun turret fires a muzzle flash in front of a green forest.

A man in black sits at a control chair beside a blue cylindrical vehicle in a cargo bay.

A hover bike splashes through water beside a white spout.

Lester Sludge rides a black and red quad bike with raised cannons through the trees.

A rider on a white hover bike flies with bright exhaust behind it.

A white cable loops around a tree trunk while a red hook dangles near its base.

A sandy lake shore with a hill of bushes under pale blue sky.

Four black pods and white struts hover above a green forest.

Lester Sludge sits on a black and red quad bike with twin cannons as it surges through water.

A rider in red and white sits atop a white and blue hover bike with four disc pods.

Two tiny riders cross flooded rice paddies toward a distant village and mountain.

Two elephants wade in shallow water in front of a tree and mountains.

A white hover bike with a rider flies over a pink-suited rider on a black and red bike.

A hover bike pulls a long cable behind a black quad bike on a road.

Villagers gather in a street beside stone buildings with a minaret in the background.

A white and blue motorcycle sits in a village square while Ali Bombay stands near a crowd.

Ali Bombay points at Lester Sludge as they talk.

A figure in a blue and gold mask and gray armor walks along a canyon wall.

Small figures work around black bins in a rocky cave quarry.

A giant fallen tree trunk with ribbed bark fills the frame.

Rings of white wire wrap around a log with a red hook attached.

A man in glasses and overalls holds a green helmet in a rocky canyon.

A bespectacled man lifts a hand to his forehead and looks worried.

Ali Bombay gestures with open arms while a dark-haired man in gray folds his arms.

Ali Bombay points to the left while a dark-haired man stands with folded arms.

Ali Bombay stands with hands on hips beside a white and blue bike as a man sits.

A gray-haired man in a blue uniform sits at a table in a green room facing another man.

A man in a blue and red uniform stands behind a counter in a green room with skylights.

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