M.A.S.K. S2E05

Race Against Time

Synopsis

Brad stands beside a leafy plant in his racing suit.

A virus is spreading, and its only known cure comes from a rare plant that grows in an African nation that is not friendly. The Peaceful Nations Alliance asks Brad Turner to smuggle a plant out during the race, and warns that V.E.N.O.M. wants it to sell. Brad runs mountain roads, a bridge jump and a desert with the plant beside him, helped along the way by Dusty Hayes with Billboard Blast and a few strangers, while Vanessa Warfield and Bruno Sheppard, forced into a partnership they hate, close in. The plant ends up on a blue motorcycle ridden by a helmeted figure in a pink visor.

Memorable Quotes

Nothing to it but to do it.

mask.toys Episode Review

A cure rides in the passenger seat of a stock car, and the driver talks to it. The hook of Race Against Time is Brad Turner, known as Chopper, who spends most of the episode addressing a houseplant as little buddy and plant buddy, and the line that most sticks is the one where he reminds it that it is a troublemaker and that every word of that was true. It is an odd and rather lovely way to make the stakes personal when the stakes are a virus.

The facts are laid out quickly. A virus is spreading, the only cure comes from one rare plant, the nation where it grows is not friendly, and the Peaceful Nations Alliance wants a plant smuggled out during the race. Brad's answer to the job is that there is nothing to it but to do it. Then comes the complication: the Alliance has learned that V.E.N.O.M. wants the plant to sell.

The episode is about who helps whom. Every stage of Brad's trip is a handoff: Dusty Hayes turns up with Billboard Blast and Brad thanks him, an older woman in a headscarf sends him off with the plant and tells him it should be shared with the world, a hooded man in the desert sees him on his way, and Ali Bombay is the voice Brad reaches on the radio. Set against that, V.E.N.O.M.'s partnership is a chain of insults. Bruno and Vanessa are made to work together and cannot stand it, and in one exchange Bruno says he is sick of being ordered around and Vanessa answers that if he flexes at her she will feed his muscles to him for lunch.

Once you see that, the structure is clear: the M.A.S.K. half of the cast carries one cargo along a line of friendly hands, and the V.E.N.O.M. half is two people who each want the cargo and the other one's seat. It also helps explain why Vanessa and Bruno seem to be having more fun than anyone, since quarrelling is what the script gives them to do.

The animation gets to show off the course. A white and red car, number five, takes a mountain road while a purple jet hangs near the cliff, and later jumps a rail bridge with its nose lifted; a purple car with three red engines races over rough sand; and an orange car dangles from a steel crane over water. The standout is the desert: the white car folds upward and bursts out of the sand while sand whirls across the frame, and it is the most inventive stretch of the episode.

The weakness is the finish. After a long chase, with the Manta's stabilizer damaged, the plant turns up on a blue motorcycle with a rider in a pink visor, and the handoff gets little space. The virus itself is mostly a few lines of dialogue, so the pressure comes from the scenery, not the disease.

Still, as a Season 2 racing outing it is among the more likeable ones: Brad gets a showcase and the roadside gear gets a debut or two. The plant, a small thing in a pot, is the best character in it, and it never says a word!

Notes of Interest

  1. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists this as the final appearance of Duane Kennedy, the Peaceful Nations Alliance liaison who first appeared in Highway to Terror.
  2. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Razorback, Billboard Blast and Pit Stop Catapult as debuting here.
  3. According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, Razorback is a red and white Ford Thunderbird stock car that becomes a rescue tank, and Brad wears his Eclipse mask when driving it.
  4. The M.A.S.K. wiki says Billboard Blast has two flight turbines and that Dusty says it can fly if it has to, though it is not shown flying.
  5. The M.A.S.K. wiki names Billboard Blast, Alex Sector's Collector and Sly Rax's Pit Stop Catapult as the three roadside objects of the second season.
  6. The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that the Pit Stop Catapult toy has Snake Oil written on its signboard while the cartoon version has no text.
  7. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists two animation errors: at about 13:35 Razorback's door-mounted sand blasting cannons go missing, and at 19:55 a fingernail is drawn on Brad's glove.
  8. The M.A.S.K. wiki says Brad refers to himself by his codename, Chopper, in this episode.

Characters in this episode

Full roster →

Brad Turner

Ali Bombay

Dusty Hayes

Jacques LaFleur

Nevada Rushmore

Vanessa Warfield

Bruno Sheppard

Sly Rax

Duane Kennedy

Episode screenshots

Brad speaks with a race official in glasses beside a stadium wall.
Brad speaks with a race official in glasses beside a stadium wall.
Brad and the race official stand together beside a red car at the track.
Vanessa grips a steering wheel beside Bruno, who holds a pipe over his shoulder.
Vanessa holds a steering wheel and looks ahead as Bruno clenches his fist beside her.
Bruno scowls as he pulls apart two curved grey bars.
Racers in helmets and suits run toward their cars at the start of the race.
A racer in a red and blue suit and helmet runs toward the line of cars.
Race cars with glowing red tail lights sit side by side before the start.
Brad stands in front of a white race car in his racing suit.
A crashed black car lies on its side smoking as a man in a green shirt stands by.
A crashed black car lies on its side smoking as a man in a green shirt stands by.
A driver in a blue helmet with a pink visor sits belted in a car.
A driver in a green armored helmet leans out of a purple car window.
A horse-drawn wooden cart carries a small vehicle across a green field.
A wooden crate stands next to a red car near a lake and distant hills.
A figure in an orange helmet drives a car while a masked driver in blue sits in front.
An orange car's hood leads toward a red car on a country road.
Bruno grimaces behind an orange windshield with a pink light flashing beside him.
Brad drives with both hands on the wheel in his blue and white helmet.
The back of a purple car shows three jet exhausts and a small figure on its tail wing.
Brad stares ahead from the driver seat, helmet strap across his chest.
Brad stares ahead from the driver seat, helmet strap across his chest.
Brad's helmeted face shows in a rear view mirror with a cliff reflected beside it.
A small white car winds along a narrow cliffside road above misty valleys.
A purple jet flies in front of a mountain cliff with mist below.
An orange car drives on a cliff road as a purple craft hovers near the rock face.
Brad grips the wheel and leans forward in his helmet, looking out the side window.
An orange car with thrusters and a front hood scoop rides a mountain road.
A white and red race car number five rounds a bend on a mountain road beneath a tree.
Sharp grey rock spires rise in a misty mountain landscape.
An orange car with side thrusters drops down a cliff face with smoke streaming behind it.
An orange car with side thrusters drops down a cliff face with smoke streaming behind it.
A purple car and an orange car race side by side on a cliff road.
The purple and orange cars drive far below on a switchback mountain road.
A narrow road passes between a dark rock face and a yellow cliff.
The driver in a green armored helmet steers inside a purple car.
Brad pushes a lever beside his helmet in the white and red car.
A driver in an orange helmet looks out from an orange car with a hood stack.
Brad sits behind a seat belt in his blue helmet and red sleeves.
A cutaway shows a driver seated beside a gun and a red missile inside a white car.
A white car number five rides on one front wheel in the air with its nose lifted.
Brad looks ahead in a helmet as a red and white car jumps toward a bridge behind him.
Brad looks ahead in a helmet as a red and white car jumps toward a bridge behind him.
A big grey slab on the road bursts into flying chunks beside a pink beam.
A purple jet car with thrusters flies over a river through a rainbow beam.
A red and white vehicle jumps above a rail bridge and a river.
A driver in a green armored helmet grips the wheel with red gloves.
An orange car hangs from a metal crane arm on a riveted steel wall.
An orange car swings from a metal gantry above a stretch of water.
A bright blue sky holds a few thin clouds.
Brad speaks, wearing sunglasses and a red and white suit against a blue night sky.
Brad faces an older woman in a headscarf who stands holding a rail.
Brad faces an older woman in a headscarf who stands holding a rail.
An older woman in a headscarf smiles and gestures while holding a rail.
A large white van wheel sits on a dusty road.
A tiny fuel pump and a blue house sit alone on a wide empty plain at dusk.
A figure in red stands at a pump platform with a tire and a pointed red tank.
A man in a red suit stands on a white platform with a fuel pump and a tire.
A driver in a blue striped helmet sits belted in a white and red truck.
A white vehicle with a large number five passes a figure seen through the window.
Brad sits behind the wheel with sunglasses and a seat belt in the white number five car.
A potted plant with long green leaves sits on a brown surface.
A white tanker trailer stands on a desert road with a black cable beside it.
A white tanker trailer stands on a desert road with a black cable beside it.
A bearded man in a hooded grey robe stands beside Brad.
A hooded robed man stands beside the red and white car as Brad sits in it.
The front of a white car number five shows a helmeted driver inside.
A driver in a blue and white helmet holds the wheel with a red-sleeved arm.
Brad grips the wheel in his blue and white helmet with a seat belt across his chest.
Brad's striped helmet and chest harness fill the frame from behind the wheel.
The purple jet car with glowing red engines keeps racing across the sand.
The purple car flies over a long expanse of dunes and dark hollows.
Brad looks up in his helmet, a gray chest harness over his red suit.
A faint purple car shows through a transparent white vehicle surface.
A faint purple car shows through a transparent white vehicle surface.
A red and white number five car folds upward as it bursts out of the sand.
The nose of a white number five car fills the frame.
A white car stands upright on its tail with small arms on its sides.
A white number five car sits on a sandy road, headlights facing us.
A seaside road winds past green hills to a small chapel.
A blue-roofed stone house stands on a green hillside by the sea.
A man in a white headband gestures while talking with a man in a brown suit.
A white car faces us on a sandy road with a driver seen through the windshield.
A driver in a green armored helmet looks out of a lilac car window.
A driver in a green armored helmet looks out of a lilac car window.
The back of a lilac car shows three round red tail lights.
Brad sits belted in his striped helmet behind a windshield.
A white number five car burns and smokes as it rolls in an orange explosion.
Bruno steps out of an orange car in a dusty desert.
A black car tire kicks up dust as a red glowing light flashes above it.
Brad holds out one hand while steering with the other and a plant sits beside him.
Bruno stands beside an orange car with a tattooed arm and an orange hood on his shoulders.
A purple car races away under black smoke beside a large white vehicle.
Brad drives inside a white vehicle as a dark cloud and dust rush past.
Sand whirls in a wide band across the frame.
Sand whirls in a wide band across the frame.
Two small cars leave tracks across a huge tan dune field from above.
A race track curves beside a cliff past a grandstand and a gate.
Spectators cheer in the stands above an advertising board.
The race official in glasses closes his eyes in front of an orange sign.
A white number five car races along the road with orange rocks behind it.
A lilac car races ahead of an orange car on the track.
The lilac car pulls closer to the camera with the orange car behind.
Vanessa drives the lilac car, leaning on the window with a seat belt on.
Bruno clenches a black gloved fist and glares out of the frame.
Bruno clenches a black gloved fist and glares out of the frame.
A lilac car and an orange car race side by side seen from above.
The race official in glasses clenches both fists while standing at the track.
The lilac car and the orange car run close together along the road.
A potted plant sits in front of Brad's red sleeve and chest harness.
A motorcycle rider races a red and white truck, an orange car and a purple car.
Brad looks ahead in sunglasses with a seat belt across his chest.
Brad drives a white number five car while a helmeted person reaches over from the right.
The red and white number five car drives along the track by the grandstand and cliff.
Spectators wave and cheer in the grandstand.
A rider on a red, blue and white motorcycle pops a wheelie between two rocky slopes.
A rider on a red, blue and white motorcycle pops a wheelie between two rocky slopes.
Brad drives the white number five car in sunglasses and a red suit.
A motorcycle rides across a lake surface toward distant islands.
A tiny motorcycle skims across the water, leaving a white wake.
Brad leans from the window of the red and white number five car with sunglasses on.
Brad looks aside from the car window as a red-gloved hand rises beside him.
A helmeted rider with a pink visor steers a blue motorcycle with a potted plant.
A robotic arm with a spinning wheel flames beneath a motorcycle against a red sky.
Nevada and a man in a purple sweater stand in front of a large house.
A man in a striped sweater kneels to pet an orange dog beside a person in pink.

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