EPISODE EIGHT - DUEL

Sigma 6 is captured, Firefly has fully turned to the "dark side", and Duke is left alone to fight against the Overlords and COBRA Commander himself. Can the Sigmas escape in time to save him?

Detailed Synopsis:

The episode starts with Firefly giving himself a little haircut...his hair quickly falls to the ground, and he displays his bald head to cackling laughter.

CLIP ONE (.wmv)

As we rejoin the Sigma 6 team, Duke is slowly approaching the COBRA Colliseum as Hi-Tech controls his rocket remotely, blasting a path for Duke. COBRA Commander stands in the mammoth arena, waiting for Duke to arrive, Sigma Strike Suit and all.

Meanwhile, in the prison sector, Scarlett and Stone are chained up...Scarlett apologizes for thinking Stone was the traitor, but the Lieutenant doesn't seem too concerned. Firefly walks in and begins badmouthing the two former teammates. After Stone and Firefly do some verbal sparring, Firefly storms out, and Lt. Stone provides a surprise hidden under his uniform...

CLIP TWO (.wmv)

Using his cybernetic arm to break himself and Scarlett free, the two Sigma 6 members make their moves.

CLIP THREE (.wmv)

Back at the Sea Titan, H.O.U.N.D. reports some bad news...Scarlett and Stone's signal links just disappeared. Duke hears the news and rushes to the bridge.

Now we see "Augustus Island"...apparently some sort of ancient arena. Thousands upon thousands of BAT's line the streets as COBRA Commander marches through the crowd on his motorcade. Sigma 6 is tied up, captured, and COBRA Commander applauds the efforts of Firefly, his new spy! The Commander asks Firefly to get Duke and Hi-Tech to the island, trying to snare them into a trap.

Back at the Titan, all of the Sigma links are back online...immediately Duke and Hi-Tech suspect a trap. Duke needs to move quick, so he asks Hi-Tech to program the coordinates into the P.O.W.E.R. Armor. Hi-Tech isn't at all happy about it...but Duke is insistent. He asks Hi-Tech to convert the Defiant missile to carry a passenger. He's going after COBRA...alone. Duke moves quickly, getting to the missile and strapping himself into the armor that's contained within. Hi-Tech advises him not to use the Plasma Cannon, and locks him down for launch. The rocket shoots off into orbit.

Back on the Island, the Sigma 6 members are tied up in the detention center. Scarlett feels responsible, since she turned on Stone and thought he was the traitor. Stone reassures her that Firefly is the real person at fault here. He tells her that Duke and him suspected Firefly as a spy for a long time and were working on a trap for him...but they were too late. However, Stone seems to have a plan to get them all out of this.

CLIP FOUR (.wmv)

High above, the rocket is re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. It's a very bumpy ride as Duke screams down towards the island, and COBRA Commander spots him right away. The rocket eases to the surface, surrounded by BAT's, but Duke makes his presence known.

CLIP FIVE (.wmv)

His pulse cannon erupts immediately, chewing through the BAT ranks, though the armor almost immediately starts running "hot". BAT's continue to pile on as Duke tries hard to fight back, but the Plasma Shield Firewall starts overheating. Duke requests using the Plasma Cannon as the BAT's pile on and pile on...it would seem the end is near...the suit is melting down. But Duke's isn't done yet. He routes power to his Plasma Cannon and lets it rip! It immediately annihilates all of the BAT's within 10 feet of Duke in his massive P.O.W.E.R. armor, and all systems come back online.

Duke calmly walks through the wall of fire, staring down the COBRA castle and COBRA Commander himself. The fight is on.

CLIP SIX (.wmv)

TO BE CONTINUED...

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EPISODE THOUGHTS

Not a bad episode from start to end, though some periods of over-acting on the part of Hi-Tech's voice actor left me cringing as I watched the episode.

The opening sequence was pretty cool, covering a mysterious COBRA agent, which then in turn takes out the team. I did like that, and the part where Firefly is actually revealed as the traitor was handled nicely, too. I do wish Stone had some more after effects of the laser blasts, but this is a kid's show, after all.

Firefly comes across pretty mean, which is good, and I enjoy the "Duke's last stand" kind of feeling that the episode left me with. Duke's use of the P.O.W.E.R. Armor was nice, it was a cool tie in to the toy, though his battle with the BAT's seemed kind of forced. I mean, there are thousands of BATs there, and none of them are armed? Huh? It also didn't really explain why Duke's suit suddenly started working okay after it looked like he would be fried. And of course the "Why, Duke, WHHYYYYYYY???" from Hi-Tech definitely didn't help matters.

Not a bad episode...looking forward to part two, where we'll hopefully see more of Stone (and Stone's robotic arm).

The Good:

- Firefly's personality and the twist of Scarlett thinking Stone was the traitor.
- The P.O.W.E.R. Armor looks very cool and was used well
- COBRA Commander's obvious ability to take out the entire Sigma 6 team

The Bad:

- Hi-Tech's voice actor's over-acting tendancies
- The Sigma Strike Duke/BAT battle was pretty neat, but could have been better with more weapons being used

Overall a pretty action-packed and fun episode, though not the best of the season. Looking forward to seeing what happens in the continuation next week.

Next Week on Sigma 6!