M.A.S.K. S1E48

Quest of the Canyon

Bruno grins as he holds two gold bars among the rocks.

A ranger's tour of a vast cave system turns up fresh footprints, a freshly blasted chamber, a dust-free saddlebag and a map. Matt Trakker's computer matches fingerprints on it to Jesse James, whose fortune in bullion from 1878 was never recovered, and to Miles Mayhem. The trail runs to a canyon mine where V.E.N.O.M. and M.A.S.K., with newcomer Ace Riker, race through clue after clue. Scott and T-Bob follow on mules and by raft, and Mayhem reads the shadows on a mine car drawing to find the right cave. M.A.S.K. arrives after the shadows have moved, and the fight over the gold follows.

Ten million bucks of bullion? That's a lot of chicken soup!

Treasure maps are the cheapest device in adventure writing, and Quest of the Canyon hands out more of them than a pirate would carry. A saddlebag with no dust on it turns out to hold a map of the caverns, fingerprints lead to a legendary outlaw, and a drawing on an old mine car points toward a cave; and when someone searching a mine finds yet another sheet of paper, the episode has him say "another map" and move on. It is a cheerful cartoon about following a paper trail across the American West.

The thing it keeps returning to is who reads the clues best, and the answer is V.E.N.O.M. The computer dates one set of fingerprints to 1878 and names Jesse James, with Miles Mayhem on the other; the gold James took is described as ten million dollars in bullion that was never recovered; and when Mayhem's crew learns that the shadows cast by a drawing on a mine car point to the cave at three o'clock, one of them grumbles that they are looking for gold while Mayhem is learning how to tell time. The episode is about reading the same clues as the other side, and the villains read them first.

The writing keeps the Old West flavor throughout. T-Bob puts the bullion in terms of chicken soup; Scott tries on a ten-gallon hat that is a good five gallons too big; a ranger gives a mnemonic for stalactites and stalagmites in the opening tour; and the new agent, Ace Riker, is introduced by the computer as a former test pilot of Cherokee heritage. His first real scene is an apology. He leads Matt along a shortcut he used to take as a kid, rock collecting, and a boulder he must have missed comes down in front of them; Matt shrugs and says it only needs a little light shed on the situation.

The kids get a travelogue of their own, and it is among the funniest parts. Scott and T-Bob are told to stay behind because the mission is dangerous, say they have already missed two game shows, and end up on mules at the rim of a canyon, with T-Bob convinced he will wind up flat as a python. Later they ride a raft in orange life vests with water spraying around T-Bob, who has already said he feels like an endangered species and gets seasick walking through puddles. On the animation side, the canyon walls are tall and sunlit over a small mine entrance, the tracks fork beside stacked crates, and a red car with its gull-wing doors raised hovers over the canyon floor on a bed of clouds.

The standout is the first clue. Deep in the cave, someone notices that the saddlebag is clean while everything else is thick with dust, so it has been left recently; then comes a second map, of the caverns themselves, with the blasted chamber marked on it. It is a small, quiet piece of deduction in an episode that otherwise runs on action.

The weakness is that the heroes solve nothing themselves. V.E.N.O.M. works out the shadow clue and reaches the cave at three o'clock; Matt's team arrives after the shadows have moved, says the gold could be in any one of the caves, and uses a mask to pick the right one; and Scott and T-Bob find it by following old drawings on a wall. The clue chain the first half builds so carefully ends up as V.E.N.O.M.'s alone, and the heroes finish by showing up. A twenty-two minute slot probably left no room to let Matt solve the shadow puzzle too, but the result is a middle act in which the clever work belongs to the other side.

It works as an introduction for Ace Riker and the Slingshot and as a treasure hunt with more charm than urgency. Mayhem gets there first, and the heroes spend the rest of the episode catching up.

According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, this is the first appearance of Ace Riker and the Slingshot.
The wiki says the original color guides for the toy line show that Slingshot was first named Odyssey.
The wiki's continuity notes say Riker refers to his mask, Ricochet, by its original name, Boomerang.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Mark Halloran as the voice of Ace Riker, Cliff Dagger and Sly Rax, and notes that Sly and Cliff's argument in the cave is one of the few times the series overlaps two voices performed by the same actor.
The wiki's errors list says the same cave background is used in two consecutive shots as Mayhem calls Cliff "stupid" and Cliff replies that Mayhem usually calls him "idiot".
The wiki says the Carlsbad Caverns ranger mentions that Matt is a new member of the park's board of directors, which is what the opening tour in the episode shows.
According to the wiki, Bruce's Satoism for the episode is that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single fall.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records that Stinger was named Scorpion in the original color guides, and the episode has Mayhem ordering Bruno Sheppard back into "Scorpion" to shift boulders.
The closing safety tip, according to the wiki, has Matt warning Scott that reading without proper lighting is bad for his eyes.

Matt Trakker

Ace Riker

Dusty Hayes

Bruce Sato

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Bruno Sheppard

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

T-Bob sits on a tree stump in a sunlit forest clearing.

Scott reaches out toward T-Bob, who sits on the stump in the forest.

A park ranger in a wide-brimmed hat stands beside Matt in a blue suit.

A stairway leads up to a large cave mouth in a rock wall.

The ranger smiles and speaks, his flashlight beam glowing at the edge of the frame.

The ranger talks on inside the dark cave.

T-Bob stands in a flashlight beam on the cave floor with others behind him.

Scott, T-Bob, Matt and the ranger walk through a cave tunnel.

The ranger shines his flashlight ahead as Matt, Scott and T-Bob follow in the cave.

The ranger looks up wide-eyed in the cave.

Scott crouches to pick up a ranger hat lying on a nest of straw.

The ranger holds a glowing device to a map-marked cave wall as Matt looks on.

Matt watches the ranger hold the glowing device against the wall markings.

The ranger holds up a folded paper map as Scott and Matt look on.

A mountain facility with a large parking lot sits on a hillside seen from above.

Scott, T-Bob and Matt carrying a bag stand in a parking lot beside a red vehicle.

Scott wearing a brown hat raises his hands in a car as Matt rubs his chin.

Matt sits in the driver seat with his eyes closed.

A treasure chest filled with gold bars sits open on sand in an old-style picture.

A courtroom scene shows a judge, lawyers and a jury in a brown-toned flashback.

Glowing yellow lines form a diagonal pattern on a monitor screen.

Matt and a man in an orange apron examine a small device on a workshop table.

Matt aims a purple tool upward in a workshop with shelves.

A blue computer screen shows a line drawing of a man's face and shoulders.

A computer screen displays outlines of a standing man, two faces and a red mask.

A bowling lane with ten pins sits inside a curved shelter.

Park rangers stand around a fenced canyon overlook with two coin-operated viewers.

Bruce looks out from beside the red cab of the Rhino truck.

Scott rubs his ears beside T-Bob next to a purple vehicle.

Scott stretches with his hands behind his head beside T-Bob.

Scott and T-Bob walk across a canyon-side terrace past tourists at tables.

Scott looks through a coin-operated viewer toward the canyon.

Tourists and mules gather on a sandy canyon floor.

Scott and T-Bob walk toward a canyon cave sign as a mule stands nearby.

A mustached wrangler stands with a mule while Scott and T-Bob look at him.

Scott and T-Bob walk among mules in a corral beside the wrangler.

T-Bob sits on a mule's back and holds on.

T-Bob looks down with wide yellow eyes while riding.

Four M.A.S.K. agents in field gear walk beside a mine track in a canyon cave.

A brown-haired man in a brown jacket smiles as a dark-haired agent raises a finger.

Four agents stand together in a dim cave talking.

A tall sunlit canyon wall rises over a small mine entrance.

Mine tracks split in a dark cave with wooden crates beside them.

A masked figure in an orange helmet and breathing mask looks down.

The masked agent in an orange helmet and breathing mask crouches in a dark cave.

The masked agent lies low inside a wooden crate, hoses over his chest.

The masked agent grips the edge of a crate and peers out.

The masked agent peers over a crate with his hands on its edge.

The masked agent's face fills the frame, his yellow eyes glowing.

The masked agent leans forward with his breathing hoses showing.

The masked agent's yellow eyes glare straight out of the frame.

The masked agent hunches forward with his head down.

The masked agent raises one thumb as he leans on a wooden crate.

The masked agent grips the crate top and stares ahead.

A wooden barrier with crossed boards blocks the mine track.

Three agents in red vests and white armor hurry along a cave wall.

The masked agent tumbles through a pile of green brush.

The masked agent holds his head as Matt looks on beside another agent.

Matt looks off to the side in a sunlit canyon, holding a broken board.

T-Bob rides a brown mule along a sunlit canyon wall.

Scott rides a mule below T-Bob, who is in the foreground, along the canyon wall.

Scott pets a mule's face while T-Bob stands beside them at the canyon wall.

Scott gestures with one hand as T-Bob stands next to him by the canyon wall.

T-Bob spreads his arms in front of a slanted rock wall.

A small aircraft and scattered crates lie on a sandy canyon floor beside cave openings.

Miles Mayhem speaks beside Bruno in a canyon with a rock wall behind them.

Miles Mayhem scowls with narrowed eyes in front of a canyon wall.

A cave mouth lined with stone blocks casts a long shadow over sand.

A blue-gloved hand points toward a round stone tunnel entrance.

A dark helicopter hovers near cave arches in a tall canyon wall above two parked cars.

Miles Mayhem sits belted in a vehicle cab, looking ahead.

Cliff points ahead beside Sly in the back of a vehicle.

Four V.E.N.O.M. agents walk toward a rocky tunnel.

Bruno runs past the glowing headlights of an orange vehicle in a cave.

An orange car with a rear claw arm sits in a rocky cave as agents stand around.

A sunlit desert canyon stretches beyond a rock arch.

A red car sits in the foreground as a white camper van drives away along a canyon road.

A canyon road runs between tall rock walls toward a mound across the path.

A white van and a red car drive through a narrow canyon.

An agent stands on an orange jeep while a red car sits beside it in a canyon.

Four people in field gear talk on the sand beside a camper.

An agent in a red and white helmet and ribbed chest armor looks out against a canyon backdrop.

A red truck and an orange jeep kick up dust beneath a large aircraft.

Scott in an orange life vest laughs with his eyes shut, T-Bob and friends beside him.

Scott points out ahead, smiling in an orange vest beside T-Bob.

T-Bob in an orange life vest braces with arms out as water sprays around him.

A hollow cave of purple rock opens onto a wide chamber.

Rough carved figures with outstretched arms mark a cave wall.

Scott holds his hand out as T-Bob stands beside him in front of a carved rock wall.

T-Bob turns away from the camera while Scott walks into the frame from the left.

Scott and T-Bob climb carefully over rocks in a dark cave.

T-Bob carries a barrel beside an orange car as Scott crouches nearby.

T-Bob peers past the barrel in front of a dark vehicle.

T-Bob hugs a wooden barrel beside a dark vehicle.

An orange car with a rear claw sits in a dark cave as two figures sneak around it.

Miles Mayhem looks ahead as a man in a maroon beret appears at his side.

An agent in a red and white helmet grips a steering wheel.

A dark armored vehicle with a cobra emblem sits in a cave while a helicopter flies above.

A figure in a blue helmet and yellow visor sits belted in a cab holding the seatbelt.

A glowing yellow blast hits the front of a red truck with two upright exhaust pipes.

The figure in the blue helmet sits belted in a cab with a yellow visor.

An agent in a red mask and brown tunic reaches toward the side of a white van.

The blue-helmeted figure holds a small device while sitting in the cab.

Scott and T-Bob run through flying rocks and wind in a canyon.

An agent in a red vest and pale helmet holds a small device in a truck cab.

A rough stone chasm wall slopes beside a sandy channel seen from above.

A rock mound moves across a sandy canyon floor between tall cliffs.

A red car with both gull-wing doors raised hovers on white clouds above the canyon floor.

An agent in a blue and red suit and helmet lies back as yellow rings spiral around him.

Scott raises a finger beside T-Bob in front of a canyon wall.

Scott opens one hand outward as T-Bob folds his arms and looks up.

Scott points across the lawn as T-Bob stands next to him outside a house.

Scott reads in bed beside T-Bob, who sits on the next bed in a bedroom at night.

Matt watches Scott and T-Bob in their bedroom from behind.

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