M.A.S.K. S1E32

The Currency of Conspiracy

Synopsis

A man in blue and a man in a brown coat work the controls of a green machine.

Scott's Deutschmarks turn blank in a Geneva bank, and M.A.S.K. traces the trouble to Baron Fritz Von Hauser, a disgraced former finance minister of West Germany who has hired V.E.N.O.M. to spread a virus that eats the ink off German banknotes. Bruce, Buddie and Dusty join Matt in Switzerland, where they find the virus canister, a V.E.N.O.M. model of the Alps and the equipment for blowing the virus into Germany through a mountain pass. M.A.S.K. changes the weather so that snow brings the virus cloud down, and takes the Baron, deciding not to chase V.E.N.O.M.

Memorable Quotes

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Forgers add money to the world; this plot takes it away. Scott Trakker reaches Geneva with a pocket of Deutschmarks and a plan to spend them on chocolate, and finds that the notes he hands over have gone blank, the ink gone from the paper. It is an unnerving image for a children's cartoon, because there is nothing to chase: no thief, no weapon, only a handful of white rectangles.

Matt's first test is whether the money is fake, and it is not. The next question is who gains, and the answer comes quickly in the form of Baron Fritz Von Hauser, a former finance minister of West Germany who lives in Geneva and exchanged 25 million in Deutschmarks for gold just before the notes failed. Matt calls in Bruce, Buddie and Dusty with Rhino, Night Stalker and Gator, tells Scott and T-Bob to stay in town, and V.E.N.O.M. turns out to have been hired.

Here is what the episode is about: V.E.N.O.M. is working for a client. The Baron is a man caught embezzling the public's money who has decided to have the nation's money destroyed in revenge, and he pays the gang to do it. Mayhem calls the plan very clever, the Baron promises him a reward, and the wiki's page on the Baron says V.E.N.O.M.'s leader then double-crosses him by tripping him and seizing his suitcase of gold bars. The last choice in the story follows from that. Asked whether M.A.S.K. should go after the gang, Matt decides that the Baron is the mastermind and leaves the contractors to drive away.

The chain of deductions is the pleasure of the middle of the episode. M.A.S.K. finds a canister holding a virus in a suspension of water, tests it on a fresh note and watches the ink vanish; V.E.N.O.M. has a perfect model of the Alps, which makes sense only if it is choosing a mountain pass; and a heap of hoses, tanks and airplane engines turns out to be the machinery for blowing the virus across a border into Germany. Each step answers the one before, and by the time the Baron is allowed to turn the valve we know what the valve does.

The writing leans into the subject with currency puns. Dusty asks Bruce whether he has a yen to get to the bottom of it, Bruce says he should pound him for that one, and the M.A.S.K. wiki records a third pun on cents from Buddie. Elsewhere a character says the money was laundered and washed clean away, which is the neatest joke in the script, since the plan consists of washing the ink off. The line that V.E.N.O.M. is one fire department that never volunteers is the other one worth keeping.

The standout is the finish. The virus is carried in water, so the heroes turn the weather: heavy rain streaks across dark skies, a vehicle ends up buried in a snow bank, and a V.E.N.O.M. voice complains that M.A.S.K. has stolen the weather. It is a good solution because the canister's contents named it earlier, and the snow catches the virus cloud before it can get into Germany.

The weakness is the Baron himself. The story calls him a mastermind, but he gets a handful of scenes, one speech about revenge and a valve to turn; V.E.N.O.M. carries out the plan, and the grudge is stated rather than shown. The episode is clever about method and thin about motive. Even so, it is a coherent mystery, and its ending, in which the heroes take the client and let his contractors go, is the right shape for a story where the villain's weapon was always for hire!

Notes of Interest

  1. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists Brendan McKane as the voice of both Miles Mayhem and Baron Fritz Von Hauser, and credits him with Ludwig von Ryan in 'Dinosaur Boy' as well.
  2. The wiki's cast list credits Doug Stone as Matt Trakker, Dusty Hayes and Bruce Sato, and Mark Halloran as Buddy Hawks, Sly Rax and Cliff Dagger.
  3. The wiki's conflicts list says several M.A.S.K. masks not used in the mission are seen being energized, including Spectrum and Blaster I, the latter already retired at that point.
  4. The wiki points out that Vanessa Warfield is Jackhammer's co-driver on this mission and that Sly Rax drives it when it hauls the support equipment.
  5. The wiki says this episode aired before 'Peril in Paris' even though that episode is the first time Buddy is assigned to Hurricane.
  6. The wiki quotes a run of currency puns from Dusty, Bruce and Buddy, on yen, pound and cents, and lists three Satoisms for the episode, including one about a young man in hot water longing for snow.
  7. The M.A.S.K. wiki's page on Gator lists it as an orange Jeep Renegade that converts to a speedboat, released in 1985.
  8. The wiki gives the safety tip as T-Bob learning to check that ice is safe before skating on it.

Characters in this episode

Full roster →

Matt Trakker

Bruce Sato

Buddie Hawks

Dusty Hayes

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Sly Rax

Vanessa Warfield

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

Episode screenshots

Matt Trakker smiles in a fur-collared jacket and blue turtleneck.
Matt Trakker smiles in a fur-collared jacket and blue turtleneck.
Matt Trakker gives a slight smirk.
A hand fans a stack of hundred-mark banknotes.
Scott Trakker, T-Bob in a feathered hat and Matt Trakker holding papers look out a window.
Matt Trakker and Scott Trakker look down at a briefcase on a train seat.
Matt Trakker and Scott Trakker watch a briefcase as snowy trees pass the window.
T-Bob skates on ice in alpine dress as a goat butts into him.
Scott Trakker looks alarmed beside a snowy window.
T-Bob sits on the ice beneath a train bridge.
Scott Trakker fades in over the ice as T-Bob sits near the bridge.
Scott Trakker fades in over the ice as T-Bob sits near the bridge.
Matt Trakker types into a briefcase as Scott Trakker fades in beside him.
Scott Trakker reacts in shock.
Matt Trakker leans forward with a stern look.
A green outline of a capped man, two portraits and a mask sits on black.
Red outlines of an armored car and two other vehicles fill a black screen.
A snowy alpine street runs between tall yellow buildings.
Matt Trakker appears on a screen at a command console.
Three agents look up in a hangar, one in a red cap.
A brown-haired agent in a red vest looks to the side.
A round meeting room with chairs is seen from below.
A round meeting room with chairs is seen from below.
A bright blue-white beam shines from a ceiling disc.
Rhino, an orange jeep and a blue flame-decorated car park on the snow beside two figures.
Scott Trakker stands beside T-Bob in a feathered alpine hat.
T-Bob tips his feathered hat.
A man in a red cap gives a thumbs up from a blue car with flame decals.
Three vehicles drive along a snowy road through mountains.
A black car and a dark jet sit outside a snow-covered chalet.
Miles Mayhem stands with hands clasped before a bookcase, seen from behind.
Miles Mayhem looks over his shoulder in a library.
Vanessa Warfield glances sideways from a doorway.
Vanessa Warfield glances sideways from a doorway.
Three vehicles drive along a road through a snowy forest.
A rider's legs in blue pants stand beside a dark motorcycle wheel on snow.
A masked V.E.N.O.M. agent in a grey helmet with breathing tubes looks up.
Bruce Sato looks to the side as Matt Trakker sits at the wheel in Rhino.
Rhino's cab and exhaust stack roll through snow.
A dark helicopter sits in the snow as two figures work beside it.
An orange-masked agent and a red-masked driver ride in a cab.
Rhino fades in over a teal-helmeted driver's profile.
Rhino's cab and yellow stripes fill the frame through a windshield.
A chalet sits beside a winding road in a snowy forest.
A chalet sits beside a winding road in a snowy forest.
A white robot arm with ring joints hangs against a cream wall.
T-Bob peers sideways in a room with a framed picture.
A dark blue helicopter with orange trim sits before a snow-roofed barn.
A grey gate with heart cutouts stands at an estate entrance.
A man in a brown coat with a briefcase hurries across the snow toward mountains.
An orange-masked agent climbs onto the roof of a vehicle.
Miles Mayhem peers out under a translucent orange overlay.
Twin guns extend from a dark mount beside a mirror.
An orange-masked agent reaches out above Rhino seen from above.
An orange-masked agent reaches out above Rhino seen from above.
A ghostly orange-suited agent falls through the air.
An orange-masked agent appears in overlapping exposure beside a tall cylinder.
A studded tire spins on the snow.
A masked agent in a white and blue helmet grips the wheel.
A masked agent grips the steering wheel in a close view.
Miles Mayhem grips twin control sticks in a cockpit with an orange visor.
A masked agent turns his blue-visored helmet to the side.
Two vehicles race down a winding road across snowy slopes.
A green-helmeted agent in a red jacket looks ahead.
An orange jeep with studded tires charges toward the viewer in the snow.
An orange jeep with studded tires charges toward the viewer in the snow.
A chalet stands on a snowy hillside among pines.
An orange jeep carrying two agents pulls up beside a snowy building.
Rhino's ramp lowers as agents stand in its open trailer beside a chalet.
Matt Trakker smiles in an orange vest beside a monitor of readouts.
Matt Trakker looks forward beside the readout screen.
Matt Trakker holds out a banknote to Bruce Sato beside a cabinet.
Bruce Sato stands with two agents in a magenta hangar.
Red ski boots stand on skis beside a pole.
T-Bob skis down a snowy slope seen from behind.
T-Bob's round yellow eyes and orange mouth fill the frame.
T-Bob's round yellow eyes and orange mouth fill the frame.
T-Bob skis past Scott Trakker, who holds ski poles in the snow.
Scott Trakker dangles from a ski lift cable.
A model of snowy peaks sits before library shelves.
An agent in a red cap talks to Matt Trakker at a desk with a mountain model.
A brown-haired agent in a red vest looks on in a library.
Matt Trakker sits at a large table as two agents stand before him in a library.
An agent in a red vest watches as another in a red cap holds rolled papers.
A monitor shows a green machine wrapped in hoses.
A dark helicopter and small vehicles sit by a cave mouth in the snow.
A dissolve overlaps a goggled man in a beret with a uniformed man by a pipe.
A dissolve overlaps a goggled man in a beret with a uniformed man by a pipe.
A heavy blond man in a fur-collared coat purses his lips.
Vanessa Warfield and three men stand by the green machine.
Miles Mayhem scowls in an extreme close view.
Scott Trakker looks back as T-Bob sits on a heap of coiled cable.
Scott Trakker winces with his eyes shut.
Scott Trakker gestures with a hand as T-Bob sits on the coils.
A keypad and speaker sit on T-Bob's chest panel.
A masked V.E.N.O.M. agent in a green jacket stands beside a black armored truck on snow.
T-Bob hides behind a pine trunk in the snow.
T-Bob hides behind a pine trunk in the snow.
A dark truck, a helicopter and a small bike sit in front of a cave in the snow.
Rhino's front grille fills the frame seen from below.
The man in the brown coat and Miles Mayhem stand at a cave mouth.
Miles Mayhem rubs his eye with a gloved hand against a mountain sky.
Scott Trakker and T-Bob peer out from behind a tree.
A black armored truck rushes along as a ring of light flashes at left.
A blue and orange motorcycle with a sidecar tips toward the viewer.
A driver in a yellow-green visored helmet and maroon jacket grips the wheel.
A motorcycle flips through the air amid yellow energy streaks.
An orange-masked agent points a finger upward.
An orange-masked agent points a finger upward.
Rhino lies on its side in smoke as an orange beam shoots from it.
Scott Trakker holds a chocolate bar beside T-Bob.
A masked V.E.N.O.M. agent in a dark helmet and green jacket looks up.
Heavy rain streaks fall across dark clouds.
A grey vehicle sits buried in a snow bank as rain falls.
Scott Trakker carries a briefcase through the snow with an orange vehicle edge behind him.
Scott Trakker holds the briefcase flat with a startled look.
Vanessa Warfield and Cliff Dagger look on from a vehicle in the rain.
A dark vehicle's orange lights glow through driving rain.
Two masked agents stand in a snowstorm beside Rhino.
Two masked agents stand in a snowstorm beside Rhino.
Scott Trakker, T-Bob, Matt Trakker and masked agents gather in the snow seen from behind.
A chalet with a smoking chimney sits among snowy pines above a road.
Matt Trakker and a man in a dark suit stand over Scott Trakker as T-Bob waits.
Scott Trakker raises a hand with a worried look.
T-Bob raises both arms in a faded overlay with Scott's jacket at the edge.
Matt Trakker faces a dark-haired man in a suit while two agents stand behind them.
A black truck and a motorcycle with a sidecar sit on snow in warm light.
T-Bob skates alone on a frozen lake wearing an alpine hat.
T-Bob stands in the foreground while Matt Trakker and Scott Trakker sit on a bench by the ice.

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