M.A.S.K. S1E45

The Spectre of Captain Kidd

A man in purple falls back as sticky pink goo splatters a purple car.

On a Caribbean island that once sheltered Captain Kidd, cannons in the old fortress begin firing on their own, and the locals blame the pirate's ghost. Matt Trakker and Hondo MacLean find old-fashioned gunpowder and a remote detonator, and a scan shows that the cannonballs are gold: Kidd's treasure was never lost, only melted down and coated in iron. Miles Mayhem and V.E.N.O.M. are collecting the balls on a beach, with the sea tunnels under the island doing the delivery. M.A.S.K. swaps the real cannonballs for dummies full of bubble gum, and Scott and T-Bob help by arranging a beehive for the finale.

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The ghost in the title lasts about three minutes. Cannons in an old island fortress fire on their own, the locals mutter that Captain Kidd is back, and then Matt and Hondo find old-fashioned gunpowder and conclude that something must have set it off by remote. After that the spectre is only a rumor V.E.N.O.M. hides behind, and what the episode turns out to be about is a practical joke. M.A.S.K. beats Miles Mayhem's crew with bubble gum, honey and a beehive, and the usual armory of masks and vehicles mostly waits its turn.

The setup is a good one, and it is built on a nice reversal. Kidd's treasure was never found, the computer tells Matt, because it was never lost: the pirate melted his gold and coated it in iron so that it looked like cannonballs. V.E.N.O.M. needs only the old cannons to fire the stuff out into the open, which is a pleasing way to steal something hidden in plain sight, even if the logistics get muddled; a few lines of dialogue describe sea tunnels carrying the balls to a planned spot on a beach, and it is hard to see why the cannons are needed at all.

The prank is the point, so the best writing goes into it. M.A.S.K. decides to swap the real cannonballs for dummies, and Scott, who has spent part of the episode playing Captain Kidd with T-Bob as his first mate, says his dad always told him it pays to stick to things and names the plan Operation Stick-Em-Up. A kid's game turns into the team's strategy without a word of explanation, and the jokes arrive in a mix that suits the cast: T-Bob's corn on the cob buccaneer pun, a complaint that the cannonballs nearly gave someone a flat top and a free shave, and Cliff Dagger calling Floyd Malloy "maranoid" until Mayhem corrects him.

The standout is the pit. T-Bob is sent after a cannonball on a cable, the tide rises and the sea pressure comes through the tunnels, and the sequence works as an explanation as well as a stunt: it shows the viewer that the tunnels are connected to the ocean and that a cannonball could travel through them, without a character needing to say it. A throwaway line afterward about never being asked to unplug the plumbing again is the funniest thing in it.

The weakness is the logistics, and it is a pacing choice as much as a plot one. The first reel has to cover the ghost story, the pirate game, the pit and the tunnels, so the reasons for V.E.N.O.M.'s method are squeezed into a line or two, and when the cannonballs turn up on the beach the viewer has to take it on trust. Malloy dropping a cannonball on Mayhem's foot plays better than the explanation of why they are on the beach at all.

It does not rank with the show's tightest adventures, but it earns affection as a prank, a caper in which the weapon of choice is gum. The ghost never appears, and the joke lands on V.E.N.O.M. instead.

The M.A.S.K. wiki records this as the first appearance of Floyd Malloy and his motorcycle Vampire.
According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, the original color guides for the toy line show that Vampire was first named Vulture, and that Raven was originally called Vampire.
The wiki's continuity notes say Cliff Dagger is Manta's co-pilot on this mission.
The M.A.S.K. wiki points out that this is one of only four first season episodes in which Sly Rax does not appear, the others being A Matter of Gravity, The Royal Cape Caper and Stone Trees.
The wiki lists Brendan McKane in both Miles Mayhem and Floyd Malloy here, and Mark Halloran only as Cliff Dagger.
In the exchange the wiki records, Cliff calls Malloy "maranoid" and Miles corrects him to "paranoid".
The wiki's errors list notes that Mayhem's gloves turn flesh colored in one close-up, and that Scott's legs are drawn far too long for his body in the closing safety tip.
The closing safety tip, according to the wiki and the episode itself, is a warning against playing with glass on the beach, and T-Bob's attempt to give himself a tan is the joke around it.

Matt Trakker

Dusty Hayes

Hondo MacLean

Miles Mayhem

Cliff Dagger

Vanessa Warfield

Floyd Malloy

Scott Trakker

T-Bob

Scott points ahead through the jungle as Matt and Hondo stand behind him.

Matt, Hondo, Scott and T-Bob in a pirate hat look down into a pit.

Scott looks ahead while T-Bob wears a pirate hat beside him.

Hondo, Matt, Scott and T-Bob stand together looking off to the side.

Scott looks worried beside Matt in the jungle.

A broken tree trunk lies across a sunlit jungle clearing.

T-Bob's pirate hat tilts over his head as he looks to one side.

A stone fort sits on a rocky island seen between two palm trees.

Hondo, Matt and a wide-eyed Scott look on.

Matt rubs his chin and looks away in thought.

A stone fort stands on a small island in the sea.

Hondo looks aside as Matt looks away, with a police officer fading in behind.

T-Bob folds his arms with a worried look in his pirate hat.

A police officer talks to Matt and Scott with a pirate-hatted T-Bob nearby.

Hondo points at a black cannonball while Matt looks at it.

Hondo and Matt examine a black cannonball between them.

A palm tree and a beach road lead to a distant clearing.

A man in purple crouches by a black cannonball while a V.E.N.O.M. group watches.

Miles Mayhem leans into view with a hand over his mouth.

A V.E.N.O.M. officer and Vanessa Warfield stand together outside a stone wall.

Miles, a V.E.N.O.M. officer, Vanessa and a man in a beret gather by a wall.

The V.E.N.O.M. officer winces as the man in the beret listens.

Miles Mayhem stands with Vanessa and a man in purple behind him.

A bare stretch of sand sits under tall trees.

Hondo stands beside Matt, who looks toward him.

T-Bob salutes with his mouth panel yellow.

Scott stands with a hand on his hip next to T-Bob and a red sports car.

Scott holds a honeycomb-patterned ball next to T-Bob.

Scott kneels on the road to dab at a spot as T-Bob watches.

Hands stuff something into an open hatch in T-Bob's head.

Scott waves one hand next to T-Bob on a sunny road.

Scott points at T-Bob as the robot stands with a yellow patch on his back.

A small blue pool is ringed by rocks and palm trees.

A hand waves above the rocks at the edge of the pool.

Scott crawls on the rocks beside T-Bob at the pool.

Hondo scratches his head while talking to Matt.

Hondo and Matt stand by a red car, both looking ahead.

Matt, Hondo, Scott and T-Bob crouch around a dark hole in the road.

Scott, Hondo and Matt look down a hole while T-Bob peers over the edge.

Two palm trunks have rope strung between them.

T-Bob stands at the edge of the hole tied with ropes.

T-Bob looks worried as he is lowered on ropes.

T-Bob hangs upside down on a rope in the dark shaft.

Matt climbs out of the hole while Scott and Hondo wait at the edge.

Matt grips a rope and looks up in the shaft.

Matt holds the shaft wall as T-Bob hangs below on ropes.

Scott and Hondo lean in toward T-Bob as he tumbles up out of the hole.

Matt grips the rough shaft wall with a determined face.

Scott, T-Bob and Hondo crouch at the edge of the hole.

Matt flies upward through a burst of blue water.

Matt is sprayed in a blue burst, with his legs flailing.

A blue-gloved V.E.N.O.M. pilot grips two control sticks in a cockpit.

A black vehicle with a sidecar motorbike sits on sand.

T-Bob walks across the clearing on his own with a hatch open on his head.

Matt spins in the air in a swirl of blue lines.

Scott kneels beside a pool with ripples spreading.

Hondo puts an arm on Scott's shoulder while T-Bob stands by them.

Hondo and Matt look at a black ball Hondo holds.

Matt's hands hold a black cannonball in front of his chest.

Matt sits in a vehicle talking.

Beachgoers sit at a cafe table in a bright restaurant.

A machine pours a pile of chocolate chip cookies onto a plate.

Scott stands with hands on hips at an open car door as T-Bob stands next to him.

T-Bob wears a black eye patch tied around his face.

Scott holds a pink object up and smiles beside T-Bob.

A keypad and speaker are set into the white robot's body.

Hondo, Matt and a man in a red vest stand between a blue car and an orange jeep.

Hondo and a man in a red vest talk with Matt, who has his back to us.

Matt, a man in red and blue, and Hondo walk through the jungle.

A brown-haired man in a red vest stands in front of Hondo.

Matt in a grey vest looks ahead calmly in the woods.

Miles Mayhem grins from under a police cap.

Miles Mayhem in a police cap smirks with narrowed eyes.

Matt in a grey vest smiles with a red armband on his arm.

Matt and a man in red crouch by cannonballs as Hondo and an officer stand behind.

Scott points up while T-Bob hides under an orange cloth in a red car.

Scott spreads an orange cloth over T-Bob inside the red car.

Miles Mayhem in a police shirt kneels with a cannonball as a man in purple sits nearby.

A masked man in green and a V.E.N.O.M. officer stand beside a purple car.

Three figures stand on a wooden lookout platform between palm trees.

Scott walks past T-Bob, a red car and an orange jeep in the woods.

A V.E.N.O.M. officer holds a radio while Vanessa, Miles and a man in a beret gather behind him.

Three figures stand on a bamboo lookout above a beach.

Spiky palm bushes stand on pale sand.

A figure in a red and black suit sits astride a red winged vehicle.

Matt looks through binoculars from a lookout while Hondo and another man stand nearby.

Scott smiles and snaps his fingers beside T-Bob.

The man in a beret and eye patch rubs gloved hands together.

A red car with a lightning bolt on its flipped open door speeds along.

A blue car with yellow flames drives toward us on the road.

An orange jeep with a mounted gun speeds along the road.

A hand glowing red presses a button on a control panel.

The V.E.N.O.M. officer ducks behind an orange panel splashed with green slime.

A purple car speeds along a grey road seen from above.

The rear of a purple car with orange tail lights is seen close up.

A red winged vehicle with a rider blasts through the sky with flames behind it.

The back of a blue car with flames on it is shown with extra wheels.

An orange vehicle fires a flame from a gun at its front.

A helmeted driver in red and grey grips a steering wheel.

A driver in a dark silhouette rests both hands on a controller.

Big wheels roll through a shower of orange discs.

A figure in red is hit by lightning arcs in a flash of blue.

A wrecked red vehicle lies on the road as a lone figure stands in the distance.

An orange jeep with a gunmetal grille drives toward us through smoke.

A wheel rolls through puffs of dust and orange discs.

Lightning crackles around a flattened gray shape among orange discs.

Scott raises a finger while T-Bob looks on.

Scott holds a net high in a tree behind T-Bob.

Scott watches as a smoking object swirls in front of him beside T-Bob.

A man in purple tosses his arms up as a small figure kicks in front of him.

Scott looks ahead with a serious face beside T-Bob.

Scott rubs his head, puzzled, beside T-Bob.

Scott sits on a beach in swim trunks next to T-Bob under a beach umbrella.

Scott sits shirtless on the beach as T-Bob crouches beside him.

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