M.A.S.K. S2E09

The Battle for Baja

Synopsis

Raoul sits gagged and tied up with rope beside a truck wheel.

A race runs down the Baja peninsula from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas. Raul Vega, the Mexican President's son, drives Goliath on loan from Matt Trakker, and Boris Bushkin and Buddie Hawks trade jibes in Bulldog and Wildcat. Miles and Maximus Mayhem enter too. A radio call for help lures Raul off the course, and V.E.N.O.M. uses him as a hostage to force Boris to back down. M.A.S.K. cannot call the authorities, so Ali Bombay scouts ahead while the others chase. Once Raul is free he insists on finishing the race for his father, and it ends in a village plaza.

Memorable Quotes

I'm always right, Maxie. I thought you'd have learned that by now.

mask.toys Episode Review

A race is only a race until someone has something to prove, and in this one the person with the most to prove is the President's son at the wheel of a borrowed car. Raul Vega has been lent Goliath by Matt Trakker, and he tells the people around him that he wants to win for his father. The rest of the cast is there for rivalry, comedy or villainy; Raul alone wants something the finish line can give him.

That want is what the episode is about, and it explains why the kidnapping plot, which could have swallowed a half hour, stays in its place. The race runs from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas, Boris Bushkin says track announcers claim there are no rules, which sounds to him like government in his homeland. Boris and Buddie Hawks spend the first stretch needling each other over Bulldog and Wildcat, and the same banter pays off later, when Boris thanks Buddie and is told to wait for the bill for changing that tire. Meanwhile Miles and Maximus Mayhem turn up with a story about having come to race, and Buddie asks what Miles is doing there.

V.E.N.O.M.'s method is a decoy, and it is the cruellest piece of plotting in the episode. A radio call asks for help, Raul answers it, says he was a medic in the Mexican army, and says that the race matters but not as much as a man's life. He drives to the call; Miles, watching, says just a little closer. The trap works because Raul is decent, which echoes "For One Shining Moment," where the target was Matt's willingness to hope, and the scene is the standout here because the boy being trapped for his goodness is also the boy the audience has been asked to cheer for.

The animation spends its energy on vehicles. Wildcat leaps a dune with all wheels in the air, Bulldog tips its cab forward in the sand, then shows up in half-track mode with a turret, and Ali Bombay's motorcycle skims across blue water in a spray before it runs through a village street hung with bunting. Close-ups hold on faces for the quieter beats: Raul gagged and tied up beside a truck wheel, Raul slumped in a dark cockpit, a cloth pulled from his face in a rocky gap. The village finish, with townspeople hugging in a plaza and Raul standing in Goliath I as a crowd cheers, is the most crowded run of frames in the set.

The weakness is how little V.E.N.O.M. gets to want. The ransom plan reaches us in a single line, someone wondering what the son of El Presidente is worth to the Mexican government, and the hostage threat that follows is delivered as an order: do as I say, or you will be responsible for what happens to Raul. M.A.S.K. says it cannot call the authorities without putting him in danger, which is reasonable, but the stakes are announced rather than built, and the episode is soon more interested in the race again. The transcript is thin on how Raul is freed, so this guide will not reconstruct it.

The warmth is in the dialogue. Raul says he is grateful to the team but has to finish the race for his father, and a M.A.S.K. voice answers that trying to prove courage to one's father is something to be strong-willed about. A short exchange near the end asks why someone helped and gets the answer that his need was greater than yours, which is a little too neat but fits the tone of everything around it.

Coming near the end of the show's run, this is a rescue story wearing a race, and it gets further on a young man's pride than on its villains.

Notes of Interest

  1. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists this as the final appearance of both Buddie Hawks and Sly Rax in the series.
  2. The M.A.S.K. wiki says this was the fourth and last episode in which V.E.N.O.M. members performed the closing safety tip, here Floyd Malloy and Vanessa Warfield hiding from an earthquake that turns out to be Bruno Sheppard skipping rope.
  3. The M.A.S.K. wiki says the Pit Stop Catapult toy has 'Snake Oil' written on its signboard while the cartoon version carries no text, and lists this episode as the vehicle's last appearance; it describes it as one of three roadside objects in the second season, with Billboard Blast and the Collector.
  4. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Billboard Blast, a raceway billboard that opens into a gun platform with Dusty Hayes as its operator, as appearing only in the Racing Series, with this episode as its last appearance.
  5. The M.A.S.K. wiki records that Goliath I wears the number 8 in the cartoon but the number 9 on the toy, and lists this episode as its last appearance.
  6. The M.A.S.K. wiki gives Ali Bombay's vehicle as Bullet and says the 1986 toy of the character was packaged with Bullet and his Vortex mask.
  7. The M.A.S.K. wiki credits Brian George with the voices of Lester Sludge, Ali Bombay and El Presidente, and Doug Stone with Boris Bushkin, Maximus Mayhem, Bruno Sheppard and the track announcer.
  8. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Iguana, the V.E.N.O.M. vehicle of Lester Sludge, as a four-wheel ATV that becomes a mobile shredder.

Characters in this episode

Full roster →

Buddie Hawks

Nevada Rushmore

Ali Bombay

Boris Bushkin

Dusty Hayes

Miles Mayhem

Maximus Mayhem

Floyd Malloy

Sly Rax

Lester Sludge

Vanessa Warfield

Bruno Sheppard

Episode screenshots

Racing fans in the stands shout and cheer.
Racing fans in the stands shout and cheer.
A bearded man in glasses and a woman in a pink shawl sit in the stands.
A woman in glasses and a pink top smiles in the stands.
A bearded man in glasses and tie speaks in the stands.
Bulldog and Wildcat sit on the starting field among other race vehicles.
Boris talks with Buddie in a red cap in front of the crowd.
Race vehicles are parked in front of the grandstand as mechanics work on a blue racecar.
Boris smiles with his eyes closed in his fur-trimmed coat.
A tan SUV sits on the field in front of the stands.
Boris and Buddie walk across the field toward a row of vehicles.
Boris and Buddie walk across the field toward a row of vehicles.
Maximus sits in his racecar as Buddie and Boris stand beside it.
Buddie leans toward a gray-haired man while Boris looks on.
Maximus scowls through a monocle in his blue and orange suit.
Bulldog drives past parked vehicles through a cloud of dust.
A racecar rolls out of a stadium tunnel behind a huge tire.
Racing vehicles line up before a stadium gate with dust behind them.
Wildcat, a white car and a blue pickup race down a village street.
Wildcat leaps off a dune with all wheels in the air.
A big truck wheel spins and kicks up sand.
Buddie, wearing a blue star mask, drives Wildcat.
Buddie, wearing a blue star mask, drives Wildcat.
Buddie drives in a faded double image with Bulldog behind.
Tank treads and wheels of a gray armored vehicle roll across the sand.
Wildcat sits next to Bulldog in the desert.
Buddie in a blue star mask reaches out from the cab of Wildcat.
Boris, in a furry mask with red eyes, grips Bulldog's steering wheel.
Bulldog leaps over a desert ridge in the air.
The front of Bulldog fills the frame.
Boris snarls in his furry mask at the wheel of Bulldog.
Bulldog tips its cab forward in the desert.
A rider on a red motorcycle bounds over a rise.
A rider on a red motorcycle bounds over a rise.
A rider leaps a red motorcycle over rocks as an armored vehicle moves far above.
A rider speeds a red motorcycle across a rocky slope.
A red motorcycle flies over desert rocks as an armored vehicle sits above.
Buddie in a blue star mask looks out of Wildcat's cab.
Buddie in a blue star mask points ahead from Wildcat's cab.
A masked figure in a gold and black crown-shaped mask looks sideways.
A dark vehicle lies on its side while figures stand on top of it.
White-gloved hands grip a steering wheel.
Raoul speaks into a handheld radio in his white helmet.
A truck tire sits at the edge of a red rocky hillside with cacti.
A truck tire sits at the edge of a red rocky hillside with cacti.
A dark racecar throws up dust as it spins its wheels.
A black and yellow racecar number 8 tilts on a sandy slope.
Raoul sits in a blue racing cockpit in his white helmet.
Raoul crawls across the sand in his white suit.
A masked figure peers over a dark car at the ground.
Bulldog rolls on tracks in half-track mode with a gun turret.
Bulldog's half-track rolls across brown sand.
Bulldog tips over a rocky edge with a red missile raised.
The side of Bulldog leans at a steep angle with a red missile at the corner.
The side of Bulldog leans at a steep angle with a red missile at the corner.
The side of Bulldog tilts over tracks with a white rod pointing upward.
A feather-masked figure and Boris look out of an armored hatch.
A figure in a red cap helmet and pink armor looks ahead.
A driver's white-gloved hands hold the wheel with a cactus desert ahead.
Raoul stares with narrow eyes through his helmet visor.
A radar screen shows a crosshair over a red vehicle on a gray map.
A black wheel marked 8 spins in dust.
Goliath I drives alone across a rocky desert.
A figure in a red cap helmet and pink armor holds a hand to his head.
A figure in a red cap helmet and pink armor stares ahead.
A figure in a red cap helmet and pink armor stares ahead.
Raoul slumps in a dark racecar cockpit with golden claws at the sides.
Bulldog's side and wheel sit in a cracked, rocky wash.
Pink bursts hit the windshield of Bulldog as Boris sits inside.
Wildcat and Bulldog race side by side as seen from above.
Buddie in a blue star mask drives Wildcat with water jets flaring.
A rider in pink on a dark vehicle with a gun speeds across the desert.
Wildcat and Bulldog drive on the desert with a motorcycle rider between them.
Buddie sits in Wildcat's cab beside a white exhaust stack.
A blue and white motorcycle with extra outrigger wheels rolls over a red surface.
A blue truck raises a ramp with a number 8 on its front.
A blue truck raises a ramp with a number 8 on its front.
A man in an orange vest stands between a blue truck and Wildcat.
Buddie in a blue star mask smiles beside Nevada in a blue helmet.
Boris leans out of Bulldog's cab window in his furry mask.
White-gloved hands cover a face in a white suit.
Bulldog rolls toward the camera across a rocky desert.
A tank tread fills the left side as Goliath I waits in the desert.
Boris wears a gray furry mask, shown in a close side view.
Bulldog and Goliath I sit on a sandy plain with a figure beside Bulldog.
Three men stand on the desert near a motorcycle, Bulldog and Wildcat.
Buddie in a blue star mask stands next to Ali in a pink helmet.
Buddie in a blue star mask stands next to Ali in a pink helmet.
Ali shows the pink arrow on the back of his helmet.
A blue motorcycle with extra wheels skims across blue water in a spray.
Bulldog lies on its side on a rocky white slope.
The front of Wildcat sits on a rocky slope.
Bulldog lies on its side with a wheel in the air.
Bulldog sits upright in half-track mode in front of a rocky wall.
Raoul sits tied up in the back of a purple racecar marked 3.
A small vehicle sits at the foot of a gray rock slope.
Raoul lies tied beside a dark car in a rocky gap.
Raoul lies tied beside a dark car in a rocky gap.
Raoul pulls a cloth from his face in a rocky desert.
A yellow cannon and white pipe rest over a ledge where Wildcat is perched.
Raoul and Ali stand with their backs turned, facing a desert.
Raoul talks with Ali and Nevada in a rocky desert.
Nevada and Ali stand beside a blue vehicle in the desert.
A big truck tire rolls across pale ground.
A tiny vehicle drives far away down a desert road lined with cacti.
A blue and white platform with a ramp is parked on the desert.
A faint figure in blue and red stands on a flatbed behind a white truck.
A white truck hauls a flatbed with a blue pedestal across the desert.
A white truck hauls a flatbed with a blue pedestal across the desert.
A hand in a blue glove works a control panel with a screen showing a desert.
An aerial view of a village street with red-tiled roofs and people walking.
Colorful flags hang above a plaza in front of a white church.
Ali sits on a blue motorcycle beside Wildcat in the village.
Gray ropes of foam stream down a village street.
Ali sits on a blue motorcycle in front of Wildcat in a village street.
An agent with a rifle perches on a flat white platform above printed pictures.
Wildcat and a blue vehicle speed through a blurred village street.
A row of soldiers stands along a village street under flags.
A crowd cheers in front of the village buildings as a racecar speeds by.
A crowd cheers in front of the village buildings as a racecar speeds by.
Townspeople hug and cheer in a plaza.
Raoul stands in Goliath I as a crowd cheers around him.
A torn dark patch marks the side of Bulldog.
Boris sits slumped in the cracked windshield of Bulldog.
Buddie and Ali smile together in front of a blue vehicle.
Buddie, Ali, a mustached man in a sombrero and Raoul stand talking in the plaza.
An aerial view of a plaza filled with vehicles and townspeople.
Vanessa and a blond man sit on a couch in a living room.
Vanessa looks surprised next to a blond man as a figure looms in the foreground.

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