M.A.S.K. S2E02

Where Eagles Dare

Synopsis

A navy race car with a yellow wing speeds down the road.

Matt Trakker must prove M.A.S.K. can cross the country of Zadobi quickly to win a transportation franchise for the Peaceful Nations Alliance, carrying a document that must be stamped at three checkpoints. Miles Mayhem and his brother Maximus race him, with Bruno, Lester and Floyd standing in his way. Nevada Rushmore holds off the first attack, and Matt fights through ambushes on the way, improvising a new weapon for the final stretch. The Mayhems fail to finish, and the franchise is Matt's.

Memorable Quotes

Just when you think things are starting to get better, the world has more Mayhem to deal with.

Maybe I should have stuck with simple blackmail and bank robbing.

mask.toys Episode Review

A road race with three checkpoints is a plot that writes its own act breaks, and Where Eagles Dare uses them with some discipline: jungle, then mountain, then desert, and a different V.E.N.O.M. driver along the way. Matt Trakker has to carry a document across the Pan-African Highway, get it stamped by a government official at three places, and beat the Mayhem brothers to it, because the transportation franchise in Zadobi for the Peaceful Nations Alliance, and the future of an airbase, depend on M.A.S.K. proving it is the fastest way across the country.

Underneath the race the episode is about the Mayhem brothers. Maximus Mayhem makes his first appearance here, and he is the one who mutters in the middle of the chase that maybe he should have stuck with simple blackmail and bank robbing. Miles tells him he has to stop worrying about people if he wants to be a V.E.N.O.M. agent, and the closing exchange, where Matt remarks that it is hard to believe there could be two Mayhems, plays as if the show finds the family quarrel funnier than the race.

That makes the race a succession of small set pieces more than a single contest. The jungle opens with an attack by Buzzard, and Nevada Rushmore is on hand to take it on himself and let Matt drive on, which gives the new character a proper introduction. Bruno turns up between the first checkpoint and the second, and after the second Lester Sludge arrives with his sludge cannon. Each antagonist gets a short run and is gone, which keeps the pace up and makes the middle stretch feel busier than it is.

Animation does the most work in the desert. The published frames show clouds of tan dust, a race car skidding sideways across the dunes, a car flipped into the air in two ghosted frames, and a tall rocky road leading toward a tollbooth that sits far down it. The speed is carried by those smears and by the colour of the cars against the sand.

The standout is Matt's answer in the final stretch. Fighting the Mayhems on their own terms, he decides he has to change the rules, and the episode explains the result with a single line about what happens when you connect weapon circuits to an engine fuel injector. It is a clean idea, and it lets the hero win through cleverness rather than firepower.

The weakness is the ending. The Mayhems never cross a finish line; Matt is told that the competition did not even finish, and the race is settled by their absence, not by a contest. The checkpoint officials are interchangeable, the stakes are told in the first scene and barely restated, and the final gag, with Bruno stepping on a rake after being warned by Sly, is the better ending of the two.

Overall it is an energetic start to the second season, with two new faces, a clear structure and a short stretch of real invention. It is not deep, but it is well organised, and the best thing in it is the Mayhem family argument.

Notes of Interest

  1. According to the M.A.S.K. wiki, this is the first appearance of Nevada Rushmore and Maximus Mayhem.
  2. The M.A.S.K. wiki's Maximus Mayhem page calls him the younger twin brother of Miles Mayhem and says he only appears in the racing episodes of season two.
  3. The M.A.S.K. wiki observes that Nevada Rushmore is called by his codename, Chief, and that Bruno Sheppard and Floyd Malloy are called Mad Dog and Bird-Man.
  4. The M.A.S.K. wiki notes that the Peaceful Nations Alliance and Duane Kennedy are mentioned by Alex Sector, along with Buddie Hawks and Boris Bushkin.
  5. The M.A.S.K. wiki lists the setting as Zadobi, and says this was the second of four episodes to have V.E.N.O.M. doing a safety tip segment.
  6. The M.A.S.K. wiki's Safety Tip entry has Sly warn Bruno, while he looks after Miles Mayhem's garden, to put tools like a rake away so nobody steps on them, a point Bruno proves by stepping on one himself.

Characters in this episode

Full roster →

Matt Trakker

Nevada Rushmore

Alex Sector

Miles Mayhem

Maximus Mayhem

Bruno Sheppard

Floyd Malloy

Lester Sludge

Sly Rax

Episode screenshots

Alex Sector gestures at Matt Trakker beside a plane wing.
Alex Sector gestures at Matt Trakker beside a plane wing.
Nevada Rushmore holds a map beside a navy truck while two agents watch.
Dark and tan hands press against a gridded map.
Alex Sector talks to Matt Trakker next to the transporter and its race car.
A family stands with raised hands in front of a white village house.
A navy truck with a race car on its back drives along a country road.
Matt Trakker looks ahead with a surprised look.
A navy truck drives along a curving road from above.
A navy and yellow race car sits on the white ramps of a transporter.
A silver launch ramp unfolds over a road.
A silver launch ramp unfolds over a road.
Two white ramp rails with triangle cutouts fill the frame.
A bright yellow beam shoots from the underside of a truck.
A glowing beam fires from the truck's rear.
A truck with open ramp wings carries a masked driver on a road.
Small bombs sit scattered on a country road as vehicles approach.
A purple truck and a dark car flip into the air amid scattered bombs.
A targeting screen puts a red helicopter in a circle.
A masked driver in a blue helmet with feathers and a pink jewel smiles inside a cab.
Two vehicles tumble over a road scattered with small bombs.
Two vehicles tumble over a road scattered with small bombs.
Two vehicles skid on the road while small bombs fall.
A masked man in a blue and red suit shoves a big dark cycle wheel on the road.
A driver with a black helmet, gold mask and a red and blue jacket grips a wheel.
A small yellow and blue jet flies over a dense forest, trailing blue flame.
A small yellow and blue racer glides above a rainy jungle.
A map unfolds across the lap of a person in a yellow suit.
A purple race car with teal trim speeds down a road.
The purple race car races diagonally across the frame.
Red and white splatters burst from a jungle tree trunk.
Vines with silver leaves hang between jungle trees.
Vines with silver leaves hang between jungle trees.
A tire and a vent on a vehicle fade over jungle foliage.
A small yellow race car drives along a dirt road past a hut.
Matt Trakker shakes hands with an old man in a red cap.
An elder in a red fez speaks with his open hand held out.
Matt Trakker pulls up a yellow helmet over his head.
A masked man in an orange helmet stands in front of an orange car.
The masked man in orange turns away beside the orange car.
An orange car with armored hood is seen from above.
A navy and yellow race car speeds across the frame.
A navy and yellow race car speeds across the frame.
An orange car drives under a rocky cliff as a small craft flies in the distance.
A driver in a yellow helmet with a red star and a red scarf watches the road.
A tollbooth stands far down a rocky road.
A distant tollbooth sits at the end of a long road beside a cliff.
An orange car approaches a tollbooth beside a rock wall.
An orange car drives forward with its masked driver inside.
An orange helmeted driver looks ahead from the car.
A purple jet with white stripes banks across the sky.
A race car cockpit shows two hands on the steering wheel on a long road.
A driver in a yellow helmet with a red star looks down the road.
A driver in a yellow helmet with a red star looks down the road.
A masked driver in a gold crown mask and red and blue jacket looks sideways.
The crowned masked driver glances to the side.
A rocket-armed machine fires two pink bolts.
The driver in a yellow helmet and red scarf looks aside as pink flashes pass.
A masked agent in a red vest grips a handle in front of the sky.
A yellow race car's nose tilts up beside its front tire.
A race car's tire and yellow wing fade over each other.
The crowned masked driver scowls as a race car appears beside him.
The number 8 race car fades over a faint desert pattern.
The number 8 race car fades over a faint desert pattern.
Villagers stand together in a palm-lined village as a boy holds a child.
Matt Trakker crouches to talk to a boy, holding a gold helmet in his hand.
Matt Trakker smiles as a child talks, holding his helmet.
A gray-haired elder speaks as a man behind him listens.
A race car bounces down a curve in a rocky desert road.
Sand dunes roll away beneath a blue sky.
A driver in a yellow helmet with a red star and red mask sits in the cockpit.
A race car skids into a cloud of sand.
A navy and yellow race car skids across the dunes trailing sand.
A navy and yellow race car skids across the dunes trailing sand.
The crowned masked driver glares through his black mask.
The crowned masked driver sits in a cockpit with a gold chin piece.
A driver in a yellow helmet slumps in a cockpit.
Two masked men in blue and red stand with their backs to us watching a rider.
A rider on a dark three-wheel bike speeds across the dunes as two masked men watch.
The driver in a yellow helmet with a red star slumps forward in the cockpit.
The driver in the gold helmet leans on the cockpit rim.
A rider in a pink suit and gray helmet drives a black and red vehicle across dunes.
A pink-suited rider with a red and gray helmet grips a handlebar.
The crowned masked driver sits in a cockpit with a purple frame.
The crowned masked driver sits in a cockpit with a purple frame.
A pink-suited rider on a red bike with a number 7 sits on the dunes.
A navy and yellow race car tumbles across the dunes.
A masked rider on a dune fades over a crowned masked man and a driver.
The crowned masked man shrugs with an open hand.
A yellow-suited agent runs beside a purple race car while a masked driver sits inside.
A gloved finger presses a red button next to a steering wheel.
The crowned masked man and the driver in the yellow helmet overlap.
A rider in a pink suit stands beside the crowned masked man in red and blue.
The driver in a yellow helmet and red scarf sits in a cockpit.
The driver in a yellow helmet and red scarf sits in a cockpit.
The driver in a yellow helmet looks forward with his scarf over his face.
A big black tire shoots a red streak beside a gold panel.
The driver in a yellow helmet turns as a hand reaches up.
A navy race car with white vents sits on a desert road.
The crowned masked man grins slyly in his cockpit.
A race car flips into the air in two ghosted frames.
The crowned masked man stands with hands on hips looking up.
Two masked men in red and blue stand next to a yellow and navy race car.
Two masked men in red and blue stand next to the number 8 race car.
The driver in a yellow helmet with a red star leans on the cockpit rim.
The driver in a yellow helmet with a red star leans on the cockpit rim.
Two masked men in blue and red flex their arms with their backs to us.
The driver in a yellow helmet with a red star looks straight ahead.
A race car slides down a ramp of gray dust trailing sparks.
The driver in a yellow helmet with a red star looks ahead from the cockpit.
A red spiked wheel slashes a yellow body marked MASK.
A navy and yellow race car rolls on its side with smoke trailing from the wheels.
A pink-suited rider on a red and black buggy fires as the racer slides by.
A pink-suited rider drives a red bike under the racer's tilted wheel.
The gold helmet with a red star fades over a village street.
The gold helmet with a red star fades over a village street.
A village street runs between white houses and palm trees.
A smiling man in a white cap and a purple sash talks outside a house.
Matt Trakker stands in a village while Alex Sector watches from the left.
Alex Sector looks at Matt Trakker who stands with his back to us.
Matt Trakker glances back from a village street.
Matt Trakker looks away with a smirk, a village house behind him.
Matt Trakker looks down and stretches out a hand.
Bruno Sheppard rakes leaves on a lawn in blue overalls.
Bruno Sheppard stops raking and shrugs with a glove in hand.

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