EPISODE FOUR - SHOWDOWN

COBRA plans a heist to steal some new nanotechnology and Sigma 6 moves in to stop it...but waiting for them is Destro, who uses this opportunity as a chance to test his new "Mind Ripper" mind control device! Hi-Tech is the only member of Sigma 6 left standing...can he stop Destro and in insidious Mantis Mech all on his own?

Detailed Synopsis:

The episode starts off in the Terror Drome, as COBRA Commander and Destro are having a little chat. One that Destro is not enjoying, since the Commander is berating him about his lack of success as of late. COBRA Commander orders him on a mission to Central Museum to steal a piece of nanotechnology, and kindly informs him not to fail him or he may suffer dire consequences. Destro agrees, but it is blatantly clear that Destro is not at all pleased with the way he is being spoken to.

The scene shifts to the Sea Titan battleship where Hi-Tech is working long and hard on a new project. A new project called the H.O.U.N.D. with a "B.A.T. Jacker". Scarlett comes in and informs Hi-Tech that he has missed the last two meetings. Hi-Tech apologizes, telling her about the new project he is working on. Scarlett doesn't look impressed and tells him in abrupt terms that meetings are more important than his "toys".

Back in the Terror Drome, Destro is doing much the same, toiling hard over his new "Mind Ripper" devices. The Baroness walks in, informing him that he's been up all night and is about to miss the mission COBRA Commander is sending him on. Baroness treats Destro much the same way as Scarlett treated Hi-Tech, making Destro none too happy yet again.. The two tech-heads promise to show their respective teams just what they are made of when they get a chance to test out their new inventions.

On the Sea Titan, Scarlett is reporting in to Duke that COBRA has seemingly vanished off the radar recently...no activity whatsoever. Duke asks them to keep looking into it, and asks Hi-Tech to start his own scans...only Hi-Tech has nodded off. All of his hard work on the H.O.U.N.D. is taking its toll. Even half asleep, Hi-Tech spots a fading ion trail which matches the signature of a COBRA cloaked aircraft. It's heading for the Central Museum, so Duke decides to deploy the Sigma 6 team to the museum to catch them in the act.

Moments later, the entire team lands in the Central Museum and starts scoping out the place...but someone is scoping THEM out. They find no trace of COBRA anywhere, but check the "Virtual Theatre" last. Meanwhile, at the Sea Titan, warnings are going off, telling Hi-Tech of impending danger...but Hi-Tech is asleep. He wakes up when the alert goes off, but it's too late...the signal's being jammed, and Sigma 6 is walking into a trap. Hi-Tech decides it's up to him to make his move...and he deploys his Sigma Suit!

CLIP ONE (.wmv)

Back in Central Museum, the Sigma 6 team quickly finds out that the Virtual Theatre is a trap. A sudden sonic attack knocks them for a loop while strange mechanical contraptions come flying from every direction. Spirit successfully knocks one aside, but the rest of the team is quickly overcome. But the Sigma 6 team isn't just fallen...they're under Destro's control! Spirit attempts to take down the COBRA agent with an arrow, but at a mere command, Duke leaps into the air, not hesitating to throw himself in the arrow's path.

CLIP TWO (.wmv)

Spirit doesn't last long against the entire Sigma 6 team, and soon he is also under Destro's control.

Hi-Tech arrives at Central Museum, and sneaks inside, H.O.U.N.D. close behind him. He is unaware that Destro is watching him from behind a security camera. It doesn't take long for Hi-Tech to run into his Sigma 6 "partners" and he quickly finds himself on the wrong end of their weapons fire. He notices the implants almost immediately, but soon ends up sandwiched between Sigma 6 and a large squad of Battle Android Troopers. He orders H.O.U.N.D. to launch his B.A.T. Jacker system, which he does. The B.A.T. Jacker strikes the lead B.A.T., and Hi-Tech quickly hacks into the CPU and broadcasts a program throughout the entire squad, taking control of the B.A.T.s. As Sigma 6 arrives to face off against the B.A.T.s, Destro decides to take his new Mantis Mech and go take care of things himself.

Hi-Tech soon finds himself under attack by the Sigma 6 team, who tore through the B.A.T.'s pretty quickly. Desperate times call for desperate measures, as Hi-Tech orders H.O.U.N.D. to use the B.A.T. Jacker on the Sigma 6 team. The launch is successful and the Mind Ripper implants are overloaded, leaving the Sigma 6 teammembers unconscious, but at least they are no longer under Destro's control. Just as Hi-Tech celebrates this small victory, the Mantis Mech strikes!

CLIP THREE (.wmv)

Larger than life, the Mantis Mech barrels into the room, smashing everything in its way. Hi-Tech deploys the plasma rifle from H.O.U.N.D.'s storage compartment and prepares to defend himself.

CLIP FOUR ( .wmv)

The Plasma rifle is amazingly powerful! As the Mantis closes in on him, Hi-Tech lets rip and literally tears apart the Mantis Mech's attack arm with one shot! Though damaged, the Mantis Mech is far from disabled, and Destro decides to press the attack. As the Mech tears the building apart with missiles and claws, Hi-Tech slinks away and gets into position for another Plasma rifle shot. As Destro guides the Mantis Mech straight at Hi-Tech, H.O.U.N.D. launches a sudden sneak attack, latching onto the Mech and unleashing all of his B.A.T. Jackers at once.

CLIP FIVE (.wmv)

The Mantis Mech is immobilized just long enough for Hi-Tech to take one last shot...

CLIP SIX (.wmv)

Destro and the Mantis Mech land far away, but the Baroness arrives, informing Destro that she has retrieved the nano-technology and saved his bacon. Destro is quite thankful.

Inside the Central Museum, the Sigma 6 team awakens and thanks Hi-Tech for the good work in freeing them from Destro's control. They leave the museum, thinking their mission was successful, not realizing that the Baroness stole the nanotechnology, and they've only delayed the inevitable...

THE END

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EPISODE THOUGHTS

Upon first viewing, this episode left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth. Perhaps it was because Episode Three was so fast-paced and had such cool action sequences, but whatever the reason, at first, this one left me kind of cold. But I realized that I really shouldn't judge this episode against another one, but let it stand on it's own, so I watched it again, when doing this write up (as I always do).

Well, I must say upon a second viewing, this episode wasn't quite as bad as I originally thought. It is pretty full of goofy sequences, mostly to do with Hi-Tech's physical ineptness and how he relates to H.O.U.N.D., but really, this is a pretty classic kids' cartoon technique, and it works moderately well here. Gonzo did interesting things by giving H.O.U.N.D. some expressions, and some of the goofy moments were actually humerous instead of just annoying.

From a merchandising perspective, this episode was pretty much perfect. Both Destro and Hi-Tech are out on store shelves now (not to mention the Mantis Mech), and they were both very much the focus of this episode, each one strongly resembling their look in action figure form. This is a perfect tie in, and you end up with some amicable characters who will likely appeal to kids, and Hasbro gives these kids ample chances to own the toys as well. A pretty good job from that front.

There are some neat action sequences (I especially like Spirit's almost escape at the beginning, and Hi-Tech's super powered plasma blasts) and the Mantis Mech was beautifully animated. We saw a great deal of focus put on Hi-Tech, but that's okay (even if his voice actor is pretty grating) and all in all, the episode still ends up being pretty enjoyable. A big step back from last week from an action standpoint, but not at all as bad as I thought originally.