M.A.S.K. S2E04

The Battle of the Giants

Synopsis

Miles and Matt face each other in the desert while others stand by a truck.

In Australia, Matt Trakker and Nevada Rushmore enter a race whose prize is a trophy holding a secret formula left by the late Professor MacDonald; his widow says the best formula should go to the best man. Miles Mayhem and his twin Maximus enter for V.E.N.O.M. and ambush M.A.S.K. along the course until Goliath I can no longer fly. Matt's team holds to a plan of having no plan, a drone sent to find a target settles on kangaroos, and when both sides are left with vehicles that only run, Matt and Miles agree to finish the race with no weapons and no masks, with Goliath serving as a ramp.

Memorable Quotes

My battle with M.A.S.K. is never over!

mask.toys Episode Review

What do you do when the other side is out to anticipate you? Matt Trakker's answer is the No-Plan Plan: if V.E.N.O.M. cannot work out what M.A.S.K. intends because M.A.S.K. does not know either, Miles Mayhem has nothing to read. It is a daft thing to build an episode on, and it works better than it sounds, because the script keeps coming back to it, and someone on the team gets to call it the famous No-Plan Plan.

The setup is tidy. A race across Australia, with kangaroos hopping through many of the desert shots, ends at a trophy that holds a secret metal formula left by the late Professor MacDonald, and his widow, who appears with a koala, says the best formula should go to the best man. Miles and Maximus turn up in matching crown masks, Matt and Nevada take Goliath, and Volcano is declared magnifique. Nobody needs the formula explained twice, which is the right amount of macguffin for a race story.

Everything that follows is about improvisation. The hazards pile up: purple smoke clouds and a red laser at the foot of a cliff, a purple roller, and finally a net with parachutes that leaves Goliath I against the rocks. Soon after, Matt and Nevada check on their vehicles, and the answer on the transport is that everything will function while the plane is another matter: nothing will function. The plan the audience was told about has been replaced by whatever still runs.

The writing is at its best in the banter, where Matt describes the coming V.E.N.O.M. assault twice in quick succession, first as the kitchen sink and then as a full-course dinner, and the second image pays for the first. The animation leans on motion, with Goliath I coming out of a wall of dust, a red rocket motorcycle leaping through the air, and a motorcycle flipping through the branches of a big tree; and there is a messy gag where a blond rider ends up among the kangaroos beside a crashed red motorcycle and gets splattered with green goo.

The standout is the drone. A drone is told to find a target, it settles on kangaroos, and what follows is a few seconds of shouting that is funnier than any of the ordnance. It is the one moment where the wildlife does something the plot did not plan, which is the episode's argument made literal.

The weakness is how fast the table gets cleared. When Matt tells Miles the battle is over, Miles answers that his battle with M.A.S.K. is never over, and a few lines later both men agree that their vehicles run but will not fly, which is convenient enough that the writing hand shows. The race that follows, with no weapons and no masks, Goliath turned into a ramp and Volcano digging a soft landing, is a lovely idea that arrives in a hurry. The podium scene deals with the formula in a handful of lines that are easy to miss.

Still, as a Season 2 racing story it has a confident shape: set up a plan, take it apart, and let the winner be decided by whoever can improvise a jump. It also carries the last appearance of Jacques and Volcano, according to the wiki. Not the strongest of the racing entries, but a warm, fast one, and the kangaroos alone justify the ticket!

Notes of Interest

  1. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists this as the final appearance of both Jacques LaFleur and Volcano, the all terrain van he drives.
  2. According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, Volcano's original color guides for the toyline named it Assassin.
  3. The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that Goliath 1 carries the number 8 in the cartoon while the toy carries the number 9.
  4. The M.A.S.K. wiki describes Goliath 1 as a formula race car that becomes a jet fighter and Goliath 2 as the ramp truck that transports it and becomes a missile launcher; it files both under Series 3 toys.
  5. The M.A.S.K. wiki says Maximus Mayhem, identical to his twin Miles apart from lighter grey hair and a monocle, appears in the animated series only alongside his brother.
  6. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Australia as the location for the episode.
  7. The M.A.S.K. wiki credits a single actor, Brendan McKane, with Miles Mayhem, Floyd Malloy, Nevada Rushmore and Jacques LaFleur in this episode.
  8. The M.A.S.K. wiki records the closing safety tip as Boris and Brad overloading the circuits in Matt's mansion by running too many appliances at once.

Characters in this episode

Full roster →

Matt Trakker

Nevada Rushmore

Jacques LaFleur

Boris Bushkin

Brad Turner

Miles Mayhem

Maximus Mayhem

Floyd Malloy

Episode screenshots

An older woman with a koala and a man in a brown suit sit between two uniformed guards.
An older woman with a koala and a man in a brown suit sit between two uniformed guards.
Two uniformed guards stand in front of a wooden wall.
A bare tree stands on dry ground with open desert beyond.
Nevada and Matt lean beside the front of a big blue truck.
Nevada leans on the truck with his hands behind his head, talking.
Three figures stand in the desert next to a purple racecar.
Matt smiles in his yellow and blue racing suit.
Matt grins with a closed fist at his chest.
Nevada, Matt in a bandana and a purple-masked figure stand together.
Matt wears a yellow helmet with a red star and a red bandana across his face.
Matt wears a yellow helmet with a red star and a red bandana across his face.
Nevada, Matt and a purple-suited man stand beside a blue truck in the desert.
A man in a red and blue suit stands beside a purple racecar.
Matt in a yellow helmet and red bandana sits inside a vehicle.
Miles stands in a red and blue uniform and a crown-shaped mask with his fist raised.
A blue truck and a blue buggy drive across a desert as kangaroos hop around them.
A driver in a purple insect-like mask grips the wheel.
A blue buggy sits on a cliff top above grazing kangaroos.
Matt in a bandana and Nevada in a blue feather mask sit in a truck cab.
A blue truck with a rack on the back drives in a red canyon.
A red motorcycle and a blue buggy race along a canyon ridge seen from above.
A red motorcycle and a blue buggy race along a canyon ridge seen from above.
A rider on a red rocket motorcycle flies through the air with flames behind.
Sparks burst beside a blue and white truck seen from above.
A blond rider in red covered in white foam grips handlebars.
A red motorcycle rider pulls up beside a long purple racecar.
Matt in a red bandana grips the wheel.
A burst of smoke and speed lines shoots across the desert in front of a cliff.
Goliath I speeds out of a white dust wall at the base of a cliff.
Matt in a yellow helmet and red bandana leans forward in the cockpit.
A huge cluster of purple smoke clouds fills the view.
A huge cluster of purple smoke clouds fills the view.
Four purple smoke bursts dot the desert floor.
A purple roller vehicle drives down a canyon with another car far behind.
A red laser beam crosses purple smoke clouds at the base of a cliff.
Miles clenches his fist and holds a crown-shaped mask.
Miles lifts a black helmet over his head.
A man in purple and brown sits on top of a blue vehicle.
A man stands on a blue truck as two kangaroos watch by a pond.
A blue buggy drives to the edge of a lake where animals swim.
Goliath II opens its top as a small motorcycle waits behind.
A figure somersaults in the air above a red car on a rocky hill.
A figure somersaults in the air above a red car on a rocky hill.
Goliath I flies through the air with its jets blazing.
A blue truck with a rack pushes through a herd of kangaroos.
Kangaroos hop up a rocky hillside.
A blue vehicle with a twin gun turret drives away across the desert.
Four small vehicles race along a pale slope seen from above.
Nevada in a blue feather mask stands in an icy cave opening.
Five small vehicles scatter on a pale slope seen from above.
A blond rider races a red rocket motorcycle across a rocky slope.
A purple racecar lies tipped over on its side in the desert with a figure at its edge.
A purple racecar lies tipped over on its side in the desert with a figure at its edge.
Maximus raises one finger in a gold crown mask and red and blue suit.
Miles and Maximus stand together in matching crown masks.
A tiny capsule shoots a spark across a rocky sky.
Matt in a yellow helmet and red bandana is shown from below.
A net with parachutes carries a racecar through the sky.
Goliath II and a small blue buggy with a turret sit on a dirt slope.
Goliath I in its net sits against rocks with parachutes billowing behind.
Nevada runs toward Goliath I in the desert.
Nevada and Matt stand in front of Goliath I.
Nevada and Matt look off in the same direction.
Nevada and Matt look off in the same direction.
Miles and a second heavy man in red and blue stand on either side of a racecar.
Miles snarls with his mouth open.
Matt in a red bandana works on equipment inside a helmet-shaped pod.
A red cannon pole juts over a dark vehicle.
Goliath I speeds down a canyon toward a pile of rocks.
Kangaroos hop through a gorge seen through a blue frame.
A blue buggy sits in front of a canyon as kangaroos stand behind it.
Matt in a red bandana stares at a glitching control panel with blue sparks.
A blue buggy sits in front of a canyon as a rider passes behind it.
Goliath II drives out of a canyon with a ramp on its back.
Goliath II drives out of a canyon with a ramp on its back.
A dry riverbed winds between rocky hills.
A rider on a red motorcycle appears faintly in a dry riverbed.
A blue buggy with a high roof faces the camera while a red motorcycle waits at the left.
A rider leans into a turn on a red rocket motorcycle beside a red cliff.
A red motorcycle flips through the branches of a large tree.
Goliath II rolls forward with a twin cannon and a red turret on its roof.
Goliath I drives toward a pile of rubble in a canyon.
Goliath I races down a canyon with a flame at its rear.
Nevada looks to the side in his blue mask with white feathers.
Nevada looks to the side in his blue mask with white feathers.
Two dark vehicles speed side by side along a rock wall.
Matt in a yellow helmet and red bandana is seen from behind.
A blond man kneels among kangaroos beside a crashed red motorcycle.
A blond man is splattered with green goo and tries to wipe it from his face.
Green goo splashes across kangaroos and a crashed red motorcycle.
Matt sits in Goliath I's cockpit with a red bandana across his face.
Goliath II sits open with a piece of equipment separated at the right.
A purple racecar sits on the plain with a red tip at its nose.
A man in a red and blue suit and a crown helmet walks to a purple racecar.
Nevada in a blue helmet sits in a red turret on top of Goliath II.
Nevada in a blue helmet sits in a red turret on top of Goliath II.
Wreckage lies beneath a big tree as kangaroos watch.
Matt lifts a yellow bundle over his head with his eyes closed.
Nevada and a man in purple hold their masks.
Matt talks hard in front of Miles's back.
Miles and Matt clash in the desert as the others watch from the truck.
Matt faces Nevada and a man in purple at the blue truck.
Goliath II sits in front of a rock slide with its rack extended behind it.
A burst of dirt and rocks explodes on a hillside.
A winding canyon road runs below a rocky hillside with a small aircraft at the top.
A winding canyon road runs below a rocky hillside with a small aircraft at the top.
Goliath I and a purple racecar race side by side down a slope.
Miles drives with a hard stare as Matt looks on beside him.
Miles scowls at the wheel with an angry stare.
Matt smiles confidently at the wheel.
Excited fans cheer in the grandstand.
Fans cheer in the grandstand as scraps of paper fly.
A crowd surrounds Goliath I at a finish line in front of a tower.
A crowd cheers around a finish tower as confetti falls.
A gold trophy sits between two uniformed guards.
Nevada leans against the front of Goliath II.
Nevada leans against the front of Goliath II.
Matt, an older woman and a man in a brown suit stand at a podium.
Fans run for cover as another man holds his cap.
Miles stands tall in his red and blue uniform with medals.
Goliath I and a red motorcycle sit by a road in the desert.
A looped dirt road with marker posts curves through the desert.
Matt smiles at an older woman holding a koala.
Matt hugs the koala while the older woman holds a hand to her mouth.
Boris sits on the floor with a lamp beside a man in a red and white suit.
Matt stands behind Boris and a man in a red and white suit as sparkles shimmer.

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