Media Monday.

Another Monday another 5 episodes of G.I.Joe. I don't have anything to put here so let's just get to the episodes.

G.I.Joe Episode 21
Money To Burn

Episode 21 starts in the midst of what seems to be a crime spree. Coin stores, jewelery stores, and museums are being robbed. The loot from these crimes is then being sold to Cobra. Tomax and Xamot are seen paying large amounts of cash for these goods. The twins then travel to the Extensive Enterprises headquarters before changing into civilian clothing and then traveling to a Cobra HQ. I don't know why they changed from Cobra uniforms to civies just to go to a Cobra base but whatever.

At the base we see Destro has a machine that remotely destroys American money. To better highlight this we move to a poker game between some Joes. As the game ends the pile of money on the table bursts into flames.  The effect isn't localized to the Joe base as all of the paper money throughout the country goes up in flames. As far as Cobra plans go this one is terrifying.

As always Cobra Commander makes a public announcement. After which we learn that the country has broken down into riots and looting due to he economy collapsing. If Cobra Commander were to just sit back and wait a couple of weeks the country would be powerless.

That would be the smart thing to do. So he doesn't do that. Instead he makes another announcement. He tells the country that if they want money they need to take their valuables to Extensive Enterprises, which has local branches all over the US, and exchange them for Cobra currency.

While this part of his plan works, in that Americans line up to hand over their goods, it also gives the Joes something to go on.

A team of Joes head to the Extensive Enterprise HQ to speak to Tomax and Xamot. This does not start off well. The crowd outside the building believes them to be cutting in line. They attack the Joes and a near riot breaks out. During which a pickup truck, with a little girl in the bed, goes wild. Alpine is able to save the girl and win the crowd over.

The Joes reach Tomax and Xamot just as they finish a meeting with a rich older woman. The twins are trying to convince the woman to store her goods in their Cobra bank. As the meeting ends we learn that the woman will by accompanying the crimson twins on a flight. Flint comes up with an idea and leads the Joes away.

Flint's idea is to exchange the woman with a disguised Lady Jaye. This is done the next day as the woman is heading to board the plane.

Lady Jaye boards the plane and activates her tracking device. Following close behind are Ace and Ripcord with a Joe force behind them.

The plane carrying Tomax, Xamot, and Lady Jaye flies to the Rocky Mountains. It appears that they are flying directly into one of the mountains but it is a trick. Ace and Ripcord are stumped for a while but eventually figure out that the mountain is actually a holograph.

Before they come to that conclusion Lady Jaye is given a tour of the compound. She is shown the huge store room full of treasure that Cobra has accumulated. Lady Jaye is able to learn more of the Cobra plan before being discovered.

She escapes from the compound with the twins hot on her tail. It is at this point when Ripcord figures out the mountain is a holograph. He alerts the Joe forces, led by Flint, and the battle begins.

It appears that Cobra has the upper hand when Firefly begins to melt the snow and creates a mudslide. The Joe vehicles are trapped as the Cobra troops head towards them. But the Cobra HQ explodes, thanks to Ripcord planting explosives on the money destroying machine, sending fake Cobra gold coins in the air. The Cobra troops, being greedy and rather stupid, stop fighting to gather as much of the useless loot as possible.

The Joes are able to round them all up as Lady Jaye and Flint finish off the crimson twins. The episode ends back at Joe HQ with another poker game. This time Ripcord wins the pot. 

The premise of this episode was pretty strong. It's a shame the rest of the show fell flat. The episode wasn't terrible but it could have been much better. It just felt run of the mill. The idea deserved a better outing. Definitely one to skip.

Quote of the Episode.

From Alpine.

"You know luck's like climbing mountains. You hit the peak and there's nowhere to go but down."

Awesome Moment of the Episode.

Alpine lassos a little white girl from a moving truck.

The "Wait. What?" Moment of the Episode.

I've seen this happen in a few other episodes and it always bugs me. One of the Joes, in this case Lady Jaye, goes under cover in a disguise. Then when they are found out or reveal themselves they rip off their disguise to show that they are wearing their complete uniform underneath. Think about that. In this episode Lady Jaye goes from wearing a red outfit complete with skirt and heels to her usual uniform. How did she hide her pants? Or better yet how did she hide her combat boots? Don't even get me started on the quiver of javelins on her back. The mind boggles.

G.I.Joe Episode 22
Operation Mind Menace

Episode 22 begins with Flash and Airborne in pursuit of a Cobra copter. It appears that Cobra has begun to kidnap people for one reason or another. The chase ends up in the skies above Easter Island. Flash and Airborne are being careful due to the fact that the Cobra copter has a kidnapped girl tied to the helicopter skid. This just goes to show that if you plan on kidnapping someone take a two person vehicle. The chase comes to a premature end when another Cobra copter shows up and shoots Flash and Airborne out the air.

As that is happening Airborne's little brother Tommy is being put through some tests. The tests are to see if Tommy has any psionic abilities. It is believed that he may be psychic. It turns out that he is not psychic but is telekinetic. As the test comes to an end Tommy screams out having sensed his brother, who had been shot out of the sky, is in danger. Which means the two have a low level psychic bond.

As Tommy is still reeling from this a group of Cobra soldiers led by Storm Shadow appear. They have an older man with them. The man is a pyrokinetic. They kidnap Tommy and in doing so reveal Cobra's plan. They have been stealing people with psionic powers and outfitting them with a device that amplifies their powers and controls them.

The Cobra team escapes with Tommy as Duke and Lady Jaye give chase. An odd pairing considering that Duke is often partnered with Scarlett and Lady Jaye with Flint. Anyway the duo are attacked by Tommy, under the control of Destro, and end up abandoning their air-crafts.

When Destro and the others arrive at Easter Island it is decided they have to relocate themselves. Before they leave, Cobra Commander forces Tommy to create giant rock creatures using the Easter Island heads. He then has them attack Flash and Airborne but not before telling the Joes exactly were they are headed.

Flash and Airborne survive long enough to be saved by Duke and Lady Jaye. After a short pit-stop at Joe HQ they are off to the not so secret Cobra base.

Destro, having to deal with Cobra Commanders stupidity, increases security at the base. He places a number of the psionic prisoners on guard and has Tommy placed in the control center as a final line of defense.

The Joes easily get past the outer defenses but are helpless against Tommy. Airborne is able to talk Tommy back to his senses. With Tommy out of the way the Joes defeat Cobra and save all the psionic prisoners.

Wow this was not good at all. The animation was sub par at best, the story weak, and at times the voice work was out of sync. The last episode wasn't good but this is the first truly bad episode. Avoid it.

Quote of the Episode.

A short interaction between Lady Jaye and Snow Job.

From Snow Job.

"Like the man said open sesame."

From Lady Jaye in reply.

"Clam up and move says a me."

Awesome Moment of the Episode.

This was actually a pretty weak episode. As such the closest we came to awesome was a short bit of action in which Storm Shadow cuts a table in half with his sword.

The "Wait. What?" Moment of the Episode.

So Cobra kidnaps Tommy, Airborne's brother, because he has telekinetic powers. Okay that makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that, for some reason, they dress him rags. When we first see Tommy he is dressed in a T shirt and jeans after Cobra gets him he is wearing torn rags. So I assume that along with the device that amplifies his powers Cobra gave him shitty rags because fuck it why not?

G.I.Joe Episode 23
Battle For The Train of Gold

Episode 23 begins with Flint, Scarlett, and Snake Eyes disguised as workers at the Bureau of Engraving. We see that Joes are stationed all around the area. The are expecting a Cobra attack at any minute.

Cobra does not disappoint. Major Bludd leads a large group of Cobra soldiers in an attack. As the attack goes on we see him head into one of the offices with Duke right on his tail. A bomb, which Bludd had places on a safe, goes off and knocks out duke. Major Bludd grabs something from the safe and makes his escape.

The Joes are able to defeat the Cobra forces and find Duke just as he awakens. The Joes learn just what Major Bludd had gotten away with. He stole a video cassette filled with information on Fort Knox.

With that the Joes are on their way to secure the gold depository. The General in charge of Fort Knox is not pleased with their arrival but has little time to complain.

Zartan grabs the General and replaces him. He sends the troops in the fort away. This gets Duke's attention so he goes to investigate with Scarlett and Snake Eyes.

They are soon caught and trapped in the gold depository as the fort comes under attack. It turns out that there is a secret tunnel hidden below the fort that Cobra plans on using. They steal all the gold and escape in a Cobra bullet train with the three Joes as their prisoners. Luckily this is all seen by Wild Bill who informs the other Joes.

Meanwhile the remaining Joes, led by Gung Ho, try to give chase but find most of their vehicles have been destroyed. What's left is not nearly fast enough to catch up with the train. Thunder mentions that he has a friend nearby that can help.

This leads to a funny scene were the Joes try to ride horses. It doesn't go that well at first, but after a few tries the Joes are on the move. They find a shortcut and attempt to head the train off at the pass. They actually say that.

On the train Zartan orders the Cobra troopers to get rid of Duke, Snake Eyes, and Scarlett. This is easier said than done. Snake Eyes is able to free himself and the others. The three Joes then begin to work way their way to the front of train.

Meanwhile Gung Ho and the other Joes have gotten in front of the train and placed a barricade to slow them down. With the train slowed they board it and the battle begins.

Eventually the train derails and the Cobra forces are beaten. The Joes aren't unscathed themselves. Wild Bill lands and offers help only to watch as Zartan and the Dreadnoks steal his copter. The episode ends with Gung Ho riding into the sunset in a Jeep because the horse threw him off.

This was a much better episode than the previous one. It was a quick, fun watch. The animation was better, the story (as simple as it was) was tight, and there were no syncing problems. Also this is the first time a remember seeing the episode. Well, I remember the ending. But still that is something. I can happily recommend this episode. Give it a shot.

Quote of the Episode.

From Zartan to the Dreadnoks.

"Remove the General's uniform."

Awesome Moment of the Episode.

Snake Eyes gets thrown from a bullet train with his hands tied behind his back. For anyone else this would be a death sentence but Snake Eyes isn't just anyone. He grabs the rung of a ladder on the side of the train with his foot and swings right back into the train but only after cutting the ropes with the train's wheel. He is that bad ass.

The "Wait. What?" Moment of the Episode.

As awesome as Snake Eyes is he is not immune to stupid. For some reason Snake Eyes is one of the Joes chosen to go under cover. This results in him being disguised as a regular worker except for his ninja/commando mask.

G.I.Joe Episode 24
Cobra Sound Waves

Episode 24 begins over in a middle eastern desert. Gung Ho, Ace, and Roadblock are pursuing a fleet of Cobra Rattlers. During the aerial battle a new Cobra weapon destroys the Joes Sky Strikers and the three have to bail out.

They fight off some Cobra troops on the ground but end up caught and imprisoned at the local Cobra base.

We soon learn that Cobra Commander is planing on destroying a large field of oil rigs so as to throw the free world into chaos.

The oil field is under the protection of the Joes led by Flint and Scarlett. As they are organizing their defensive plans they are alerted to the fact that Gung Ho, Roadblock, and Ace have gone MIA.

At the base we see just how bad things are for the three. Cobra Commander has placed them into some kind of arena and has set a giant crab robot on them.

At the oil field Flint is focused on defending the oil while Scarlett is worried about the three Joes. After talking to a local Sheik Scarlett decides to look for her friends. She convinces Wild Bill to take her out to search the dessert.

The fight at the arena is not going well until Ace comes up with an idea. He disarms two Cobra troops and uses their weapons to escape the arena and the robot. Due to the size and complexity of the Cobra base the three Joes end up in a dead end. Ace has yet another great idea that leads to them being found by Scarlett and Wild BIll.

This happens just in the nick of time since Cobra has begun to attack the oil field. The five Joes arrive and take the fight to cobra. First by driving them away from the oil field then by destroying their new weapon.

Unfortunately during the fight the Sheik was taken by Cobra and is now being used as a human shield by Cobra Commander and Destro. When the two have secured a way out they throw the Sheik to his death.

Scarlet, Gung Ho, and Roadblock are able to save him at the last moment. The episode ends with the Joes sharing a meal with the Sheik, a meal made by Roadblock and Wild BIll.

I liked this episode. The plot was simple but well written. The voice acting and animation were great and there was even a call back to an earlier episode. The character of Airborne, who we last saw in Operation Mind Menace, displays his supposed ESP. This wasn't a great episode but I can still give it a mild recommendation.

Quote of the Episode.

From Gung Ho to a giant crab robot.

"Get a sensor full of this crabo."

Awesome Moment of the Episode.

Ace, Gung Ho, and Roadblock have been shot out of the air and are under attack by Cobra soldiers with wing shaped jet packs. The Joes use various techniques to take out the Cobra soldiers. Ace does this by flipping over a low flying soldier and pulling him out of the harness by his feet. It is a quick scene but is very cool and very well animated.

The "Wait. What?" Moment of the Episode.

Did you know that you can overcharge a laser rifle by sticking it into wet sand? I didn't, but apparently that's how that works. I wouldn't get within ten feet of one of those things knowing how easily the blow the fuck up.

G.I.Joe Episode 25
Where The Reptiles Roam

Episode 25 begins with Snake Eyes, Breaker, Bazooka, and Alpine breaking into a Cobra compound. They attempt to be stealthy but that doesn't last long. A battle breaks out but the Joes

It appears that Cobra has made a large real estate deal resulting in them buying a dude ranch in Texas. Flint sends Wild Bill, Alpine, Bazooka, and Lady Jaye to investigate.

On the way to the dude ranch the Joes drive past a high tech solar energy complex.  The complex works by having a satellite send microwave energy down to the earth. This could be dangerous if anything were to go wrong. Can you say foreshadowing?

Once on the dude ranch the Joes are separated. Wild Bill goes on a walk with a woman named Mary Bell, while Alpine and Bazooka are taken by some ranch hands to ride horses, and Lady Jaye is introduced to a special horse by the head ranch hand.

It turns out that the Dude ranch is staffed by Cobra soldiers in disguise. Cobra's plan is to take control of the satellite and use it to hold the planet hostage, but first they have to deal with the Joes.

While Wild Bill is distracted by a pretty girl and a stampede, Alpine and Bazooka are put in the line of a wild bull, and Lady Jaye is placed on a horse that throws her off. The Joes come out unscathed but realize something is up. They thought the ranch may have been used for R&R for Cobra troops but now think otherwise.

Lady Jaye does some investigating and finds a hidden Cobra base below the ranch. She is discovered and captured along with Alpine and Bazooka.

Above the base Mary Bell reveals herself to actually be Baroness in disguise. Wild Bill overcomes the Baroness but has to deal with Zartan who was sent to check on her. 

At Joe HQ the Joes are tracking the solar power satellite but are interrupted by Cobra Commander making an announcement. The country has 12 hours to pay him 1 billions dollars or he will burn a city to the ground. To prove he is capable of what he says he destroys the golden gate bridge.

With the announcement the Joes head to the dude ranch to stop Cobra. They are unable to get close due to the satellite's heat rays. The Joes have to abandon their vehicles and go in on foot, but with out their equipment they are vastly outgunned.

It isn't until Wild Bill arrives, with a stampede in his wake, that they gain the upper hand. The stampede levels the Cobra forces and gives the Joes a victory. The episode ends with Wild Bill lamenting his time with Baroness.

I love Wild Bill. He is just so much fun. So having him be the center of the episode was a lot of fun. The animation was solid the voice work top notch and the story was decent. This is another good episode. Not great but worth a watch.

Quote of the Episode.

From lady Jaye.

"That Texas tease. "Call me Mary Bell" Jezebel is more like it."

Awesome Moment of the Episode.

On the Cobra ranch the Dreadnoks release a wild bull to kill Bazooka and Alpine. While running from the bull Alpine trips like a white woman in horror film and calls Bazooka for help. The results in Bazooka wrestling the bull to the ground.

The "Wait. What?" Moment of the Episode.

The Dreadnoks are disguised as cowboys but do nothing to hide their accents. Now I'm not saying that guys from the UK can't be cowboys but guys from the UK can't be cowboys.

All in all this week was a bit of a mixed bag. We had some good, some okay, and some bad. Still a day with G.I.Joe is better than a day without. I don't know why but these show just make me smile.