M.A.S.K. S1E52

The Royal Cape Caper

The bald man hands the striped cape to the V.E.N.O.M. officer as Miles and Vanessa watch.

In Hawaii, Matt Trakker and his partner Robert Rockman are reviving a failed pineapple plant when V.E.N.O.M. steals King Kamehameha's feathered cape and helmet, and a statue of the king is seen flying off like a bird. A strand of very strong nylon line left on the beach and a list of art dealers lead Matt to Rockman, a dealer in capes and costumes, who has paid Miles Mayhem three million for what turns out to be a copy. Scott and T-Bob end up with V.E.N.O.M., Matt is in danger at the plant, and Julio Lopez, Alex Sector and Hondo MacLean follow the trail of the rare feathers to a nesting ground on Kauai. M.A.S.K. puts an end to the scheme.

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A thief who steals a priceless relic is a villain, but a thief who steals it and then sells the buyer a copy is a businessman, and The Royal Cape Caper never lets Miles Mayhem forget the difference. The cape and helmet of King Kamehameha disappear in the opening scenes, borne away by a statue that flies into the clouds like a bird, and before long V.E.N.O.M. has found a customer willing to pay three million for something that is not what it seems.

The episode is really about fakes. The cape in the buyer's hands is a copy, the buyer is a dealer in capes and costumes who turns out to be Matt's own business partner, and Mayhem's plan is to sell again, with the real cape headed to Europe. Even the sea monster that scares T-Bob on the beach turns out to be fishing line. In a series where every vehicle is an ordinary car pretending to be something else, a story built around imitation suits the house style well, and when the computer lists his business partner Robert Rockman among the dealers in capes and costumes, Matt answers with a plain refusal of the whole trade: he does not appreciate the kind of art Rockman deals in.

The writing is cleaner than the premise suggests. A statue that flies like a bird is a ridiculous image, and Scott and T-Bob report it to their father in just those terms, with the statue diving like a plucked chicken. Then the script gives the team a puzzle that can be solved on a beach. The searchers find only messed-up sandcastles until a bunch of line turns up, and the answer is that nylon this strong, connected to an aircraft, would explain how the statue flew and what made the cape flap like wings. Detection in this series is usually a computer lookup, and here the lookup, which produces the list of dealers that includes Rockman, comes second to a strand of thread.

The fan wiki notes that the opening scene borrows its music from an Inspector Gadget episode, which lends the first minutes a lighter touch than the plot needs. The voice work is at its best when the two V.E.N.O.M. men bicker. One cannot see why a bundle of feathers is worth millions, the other snaps that Kamehameha was a king, and the first answers that a duke or a king makes no difference as long as the money is the same. It is a small piece of character comedy, and it shows what V.E.N.O.M. thinks of the culture it is stealing from!

The standout is the stretch on the beach, where the case opens in a few shots. The line is found, T-Bob is left flustered by his sea monster, and the whole mystery of the flying statue is answered by a length of nylon. It is economical and funny, and it is the one place where M.A.S.K. solves something with its eyes.

The weakness is the trouble at the pineapple plant. Scott warns his father that he would not look good as a can of pineapples, and the wiki notes that Matt lying unconscious on a conveyor belt echoes an earlier episode, The Lippizaner Mystery. The scene exists to put the Trakkers in danger, but it takes Matt out of the plot just as the best clue pays off.

It remains a quick, bright Hawaiian outing, and its best joke is that the villains are taken in by their own imitations.

The M.A.S.K. wiki says the opening scene uses the same music heard at the start of the Inspector Gadget episode Volcano Island, also composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban.
The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that Scott refers to Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, Matt lying unconscious on a conveyor belt echoes the earlier episode The Lippizaner Mystery.
The M.A.S.K. wiki records that Hondo MacLean serves as Thunderhawk's co-pilot in this story, and that Rhino appears during agent selection but Alex Sector rides in the Thunderhawk back seat instead.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists this as one of four first-season episodes in which Sly Rax does not appear, the others being A Matter of Gravity, The Spectre of Captain Kidd and Stone Trees.
The M.A.S.K. wiki points out that Julio's Firefly is called Dragonfly here, and notes a line mix-up in which Matt's 'Wait just a minute, Alex' follows a remark that was spoken by Julio.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists a scrolling-background jump cut as Julio pilots Dragonfly, and trees that change shape as Floyd Malloy tries to walk on air after losing Vampire.
Wikipedia's article on the ahu ula says red feathers for Hawaiian cloaks came mainly from the iiwi, and that the oo supplied yellow and black feathers; it adds that all oo species had become extinct by 1987.
The M.A.S.K. wiki lists the closing safety tip as Scott telling the boy next door never to put his hand in a running lawnmower.

Matt Trakker

Julio Lopez

Alex Sector

Hondo MacLean

Miles Mayhem

Vanessa Warfield

Floyd Malloy

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

Hondo raises a camera while Scott and a crowd watch the ceremony at night.

Hondo lifts his camera and glances aside as Matt stands in the crowd.

Two Hawaiian royals sit on thrones before a giant statue framed in a camera viewfinder.

A worried crowd of onlookers gathers in the dark.

A crowd kneels on the ground looking up at night.

Scott and T-Bob stand among a tense crowd watching something off screen.

A bald man in a grey suit smiles and gestures with one hand.

Matt points ahead and smiles in front of a metal building.

Matt, Scott and T-Bob meet the bald man outside while Hondo runs up.

Scott clenches his fists nervously beside T-Bob and Hondo.

Scott throws both arms up in the air beside T-Bob.

The bald man talks to Matt while Hondo faces him with his back to us.

T-Bob's yellow eyes glance sideways as his mouth panel glows blue.

A heavyset V.E.N.O.M. officer sits at a table with Miles Mayhem and Vanessa Warfield.

Miles Mayhem stands with a hand on his hip beside Vanessa Warfield, who holds up a card.

A blue-gloved hand scoops into open sacks filled with small metal pieces.

Matt and Hondo stand among palm trees, Matt looking down with a frown.

Matt looks away while Hondo holds something small in his open hand.

T-Bob covers his mouth panel with one claw hand against the sky.

T-Bob floats in the water with one arm raised.

Matt frowns beside Hondo under the palm trees.

Matt and Hondo crouch on the sand with Scott and T-Bob.

T-Bob stands on the sand with his legs apart and his mouth panel red.

Matt pinches a thin thread while Hondo and Scott crouch next to T-Bob.

Matt holds a thread up in front of him as Hondo watches.

Matt looks ahead with a serious expression among the palm trees.

Hondo leans close to Matt while Scott looks on.

A red Camaro-style sports car with purple stripes and a lightning bolt sits on the sand.

Hondo, Scott, T-Bob and Matt ride together inside a car.

Hondo drives with a hard stare as a hand points at him.

A large white mansion with a purple sports car parked in front.

A red vehicle and the purple car sit in front of the white mansion.

The bald man holds up a briefcase with a red and yellow cloth over his arm.

An open briefcase is packed with neat rows of banknotes.

T-Bob looks around wide-eyed inside a vehicle.

Hondo grins in the back as Scott leans forward and Matt smiles at the wheel.

Matt drives with a serious look while Scott watches from behind.

The V.E.N.O.M. officer works a joystick as a purple car and red motorcycle race along a road.

A red car with raised gull-wing doors flies out of a hangar opening.

A helmeted Matt in a white and red suit stands facing a staircase.

Matt stretches one arm up and presses a mask into his helmet.

A masked agent in a brown jacket looks down with a pointed face mask.

A red motorcycle rides out of a large hangar firing a yellow beam.

Vanessa Warfield sits at the wheel of the purple car looking down.

Miles Mayhem leans toward Vanessa Warfield beside the purple car.

A masked agent in a brown jacket steps along a wall.

A masked agent in a brown jacket walks toward a grey industrial building.

Matt looks up into a large fan from inside a vent.

A blue line drawing shows a standing man, a helmet and two moustached profiles.

A moustached scientist in a white coat points with a stick at an X-ray board.

A blue and red mask sits on a display screen.

A blue line drawing shows a bald bearded man, an orange helmet and two heads.

A bald red-bearded man hugs a collie that holds a metal pipe in its mouth.

A collie looks straight ahead wearing a studded collar.

A red car and a purple car drive along a dirt track while a jet flies overhead.

Scott works a control panel beside T-Bob.

T-Bob and Scott sit in a cockpit, with Scott gesturing.

Scott and T-Bob crouch by a stone wall in front of a thatched hut.

Scott peers over the bushes with T-Bob hiding beside him.

A red car, an orange racer and a police car sit outside the white mansion.

Two police officers hold the bald man by the arms.

Matt, Hondo and a bald red-bearded man stand together with a moustached man beside the cloaked mannequin.

A bald red-bearded man talks, with Hondo and a moustached man beside him.

The feathered golden helmet and striped cape stand on a faceless figure.

Four men look up at the caped and helmeted figure in a bright room.

Two long-tailed white birds perch on a branch on a screen.

Miles Mayhem, the V.E.N.O.M. officer and Vanessa Warfield sit at a table with a spread cape.

The cape and feathered helmet hang on a faceless form.

The V.E.N.O.M. officer stands in a blue uniform as Vanessa Warfield sits behind him.

Miles Mayhem grins with one gloved hand raised.

Miles Mayhem gestures toward the table as Vanessa Warfield sits at the edge.

Scott crouches with T-Bob beside a stone wall looking worried.

Scott runs past T-Bob along the stone wall.

A cluttered vehicle control panel sits below T-Bob's red mouth panel.

An orange racer flies over a green plain toward a mountain.

Hondo, a bald red-bearded man and Matt ride in the red car.

Vanessa, a uniformed man and Miles walk past a thatched hut between two vehicles.

Miles Mayhem leans forward at a control console with a grim smile.

Scott peers through the leaves beside T-Bob.

Scott reaches through the bushes while T-Bob looks around the leaves.

Hondo, a bald red-bearded man and Matt look ahead from the red car.

The V.E.N.O.M. officer sits in a cockpit facing a hut, a purple car and a red motorcycle.

The V.E.N.O.M. officer rubs his chin while watching the hut and the purple car.

The purple car with a rear wing and twin exhausts sits on the sand.

Matt drives in a white and red racing suit and helmet.

A volcano rises above a wide green plain.

A figure in a cream helmet drives an orange vehicle seen from above.

A figure in a cream and blue suit and helmet walks through the forest.

A figure in a cream helmet with a blue visor stares ahead in the forest.

A figure in a cream and blue suit does a handstand in the forest.

The purple car with wing extensions sits in the forest clearing.

A small orange craft flies across a blue sky.

A single small plant grows in a sunlit meadow.

A blue and yellow ball lies in the meadow grass.

A figure in a cream and blue suit and helmet stands with one hand on his hip.

Scott and T-Bob watch two distant figures face off in the forest.

A round rock rests on a dirt path in the forest.

Scott stands with a determined stare as T-Bob looks on.

Scott crosses his arms in front of him next to T-Bob.

The feathered helmet and cape sit on a form amid smoke and wood.

An orange craft trails smoke over a green plain.

A red-bearded man in a round helmet stands beside Matt in a white and red suit.

A figure in red climbs a palm trunk as a cream-suited figure fires toward him.

A figure in a cream suit and helmet seen from behind looks across the forest.

Four masked figures gather on a dirt clearing.

Scott wears the striped cape and T-Bob wears the feathered helmet in the forest.

Matt in a helmet grips Scott by the chin as T-Bob stands in the feathered helmet.

Scott in the striped cape smiles down at T-Bob in the feathered helmet.

Two white birds perch on T-Bob's helmet as Scott looks down.

Scott points across a driveway as T-Bob stands in front of a house.

T-Bob picks up fallen leaves on a lawn.

A child in red pushes a toy mower on a front lawn.

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