BotP Close-up 036

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Bobkat
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BotP Close-up 036

Post: # 459Post Bobkat »

Hi gang! Posting this a day early because of things that have come up. (You know, life!) Anyway, G-Force goes up against some "giant squids" with a pair of little boys wanting to join the team.

This ep is a little weird due to a strange edit at the beginning of Act Two. In the terms of full plots, it's the difference of a couple of sentences. The plot here is the most accurate for the ep "Siege of the Squids". Enjoy! :)

The Other Jason's write-up is here: https://www.battleoftheplanets.info/ep36.html

E36: Siege of the Squids

Act One

7-Zark-7, computerized coordinator for G-Force, works at "Earth's first line of defense against alien enemies from space" – Center Neptune under several fathoms in the sea. The huge complex is the responsibility of G-Force, a skillful and talented group of five young people. The first sign of trouble activates his Sensitive Receptors, then he sends them out to fight against "the villainous forces of Spectra." The robot explains that Spectra is a lot like Earth and craves Earth's natural resources to replace their own low supplies. A Red Alert sounds due to "strange things" happening off the coast of Portugal.

Near a seaside lighthouse, a man and his two sons fish with one of the boys catching a fish. His brother teases Poco that if he loses the fish, "there goes dinner." The father helps his younger son reel it in and they discover it's only an "ugly squid." The father tells Poco that some of the best fishermen have caught old boots. Poco laments he'd rather have an old boot and tosses the squid into the boat's hold.

A Survey ship is sailing nearby but there's a dense fog in place. This ship sent the distress signal. A captain of another ship even comments on how bad the fog is. The captain orders his first officer to steer clear of the survey ship. They look back up toward the lighthouse but it's moved! The light shines in a completely different direction than the crew expected. Everyone nearby, including Poco's brother has noticed the lighthouse has actually moved. The second ship makes a course correction but the water is churning around it.

According to Poco's father, the ship is being attacked by a school of squid and is sunk. The survey ship disappears under the ocean's surface by a large "squid" (lobster) as Poco and his family watch. Zark explains that the survey ship was lost in the precise area where scientists have been harvesting Solodium and converting it into a new energy source. Zark's sensors tell him that Spectra and it's leader Zoltar was behind the attack because the Solodium formula was on board the survey ship. Spectra will stop at nothing to get the Solodium. Zark alerts Chief Anderson right away.

G-Force meets with Chief Anderson already in uniform. The chief briefs them of what's happened off the coast of Portugal – Survey ship X-90 has been attacked and sunk! When Mark says it has to be Spectra, Chief Anderson confirms their spies penetrated the security on "Operation: Solodium." While Spectra may have the formula, it will take a while for them to decode it. Chief Anderson says it's imperative that Spectra doesn't get the time to decode it and wishes the team "good luck."

G-Force launches from Center Neptune to Portugal. Zark gave them the exact coordinates so the tem can investigate. Meanwhile, Poco and his family are stuck in the middle of the ocean because their engine is dead. Poco wonders what will happen to them. Poco's father assures him that someone will find them. Just then, Poco sees the Phoenix fly towards them. The three wave to gain G-Force's attention and Mark orders Tiny to "splashdown."

As Tiny lands the Phoenix on the water, the father tells the boys he'll talk to them. G-Force sans Tiny boards their boat to see if the family witnessed anything. Upon landing, Mark urges them not to hide and introduces them as "G-Force." Poco excitedly greets them because he's heard of them and "fight our enemies." Poco's father and brother follow suit with the father saying they're honored. When Mark asks about the incident from the night before, Poco says they didn't see anything. The father says the same thing but Mark tells them that there is nothing to be afraid of. The father insists they were just fishing while Poco admires Princess' wings. Poco's brother takes a peek under her wings and calls her "an angel" apologizes for speaking to an angel. Poco calls Keyop a "sparrow" that Keyop isn't a fan of.

On the shore, a spy peers through binoculars and sees the Phoenix. He's not happy tat G-Force is on the scene and they contact Zoltar. Zoltar tells his men that G-Force cannot discover their base. Meanwhile, G-Force returns Poco and his family to their village where the mother hugs her two sons. When the villagers ask who the "strange friends" are, Poco's father says they're G-Force. The villagers blow it off as another story. However, the boys keep at it saying they are G-Force! The team stands in stunned silence as Poco says his brother Peru is right. When the villagers taunt the boys about blasting off, the pair of Spectran agents leave the dock. The team finally pulls it together saying among themselves that the boys are telling tall tales. A break comes when Poco says he caught "a squid monster." The family tells them they saw the attack on the survey ship and that the lighthouse moved. This story gets Mark's attention while the villagers walk away laughing.

Tiny says it's a dead end but Jason wants to "investigate their boat." Mark beats him to it, finding the squid that Poco caught the night before. Mark holds it up and Jason cracks, "It's a squid, so what?" Mark says it's not an "ordinary kind of squid." Princess takes it and finds that it's heavy. The thing falls apart revealing an explosive. Mark figures it fits in with the lighthouse. Jason agrees and says they need to "check it." Zark likes the idea too saying, "If a squid is not a squid, maybe a lighthouse isn't really a lighthouse."

The team approaches the lighthouse putting Keyop into a brush so they can get closer. Princess worries about him but mark says he's "small and not easy to spot." Tiny is still skeptical a lighthouse can move. One of the Spectran agents finds him after hearing Keyop sneezes. Keyop tells the agent that he's looking for butterflies. When he's kicked off the property, Keyop yells shaking his fist at the agent, "butterfly hater!" Mark asks if Tiny believes something is wrong now. Tiny agrees.

Act Two

At Center Neptune, Zark has confirmed that Spectra stole the secret formula from the survey vessel. Zark, thanks to his Microphaser, know Poco and Peru know more about what is going on than they're telling. The boys want to be part of G-Force, even making feather capes and use pots for helmets running around pretending they're G-Force. The team meets up with the boys after Zark notifies Mark about the goings on.

Mark and Jason try to persuade the boys to tell them exactly what happened and "no more fish stories." Jason tells them by not talking to them, the whole village could be in danger. The boys say the village is in no danger as long as they're around being a part of G-Force. The boys want to be part of the team but Jason says they never take new members and Mark adds, "especially ones that won't cooperate with us." The boys decide to cooperate and Peru says he can show them a secret way to the lighthouse. Jason asks Mark if they should sign up Poco and Peru.

The boys lead the team along some cliffs with Tiny being a little chicken about it but he presses on. The boys push back some vines covering an opening and they walk through a cave. Jason says, "This place is creepy, like a bat's cave!" They keep going until they are in the heart of the Spectran base! Mark notices a beam of light through some rocks and forces an opening. They look down on the giant lobster machine with several green goons around it. Poco and Peru say that the mech is the "giant squid" they saw last night sinking the ship.

Inside the mech, a goon delivers the Solodium formula to the mech's commander. The commander appears to be something of a Cyclops with one giant eye in his forehead. The commander praises the goon for a good job. Meanwhile, Poco yells they are going to the lighthouse and while Mark tries to keep him down, a dirt clod still falls into the base gaining the goons' attention. As the goons aim their guns, G-Force tries to stay out of sight and the commander makes his way to the rocket. He orders the goons to meet him later with the mech. Poco and Peru run off from the team into the rocket, becoming unwitting passengers.

The rocket was covered by the lighthouse structure and it breaks away at lift-off. When Princess asks about the boys, Mark says, "They're on the rocket!" The team stands at the top of the stairs where the rocket once stood. Jason says, "Well, they wanted to be G-Force." Keyop stands by the cliff watching the "squid" (lobster) running away. The team watches it disappear into the water. Mark tells the team they'll tail it to the main base.

The team boards the Phoenix and gives chase. Zark then calls the team with Mark answering on video. Mark tells Zark they have "urgent" problems with Spectra trying to run away with the energy formula. On top of that, Mark wants to know how "zap" the rocket without harming the boys. Zark answers, "That doesn't compute. I need to be reprogrammed."

On board the rocket, the commander believes he has the "good fortune" of capturing some members of G-Force when he sees the flash of Poco and Peru running by his door. The rocket plunges into its camouflaged base. The commander meets with Zoltar face-to-face saying the formula just needs to be decrypted. Zoltar is very happy to have the formula and when the commander tells him they have two members of G-Force in custody, Zoltar is nearly giddy. Zoltar says he'll put the commander in for a medal. He warns that G-force will try to rescue their cohorts. Zoltar wants G-Force to be baited near the "giant squid" (lobster).

As G-Force continues to follow the giant mech they suddenly see a lighthouse! Mark wants to know why a lighthouse is in the middle of the ocean and orders Tiny to buzz it. Tiny moves the Phoenix closer and they use the pod lights in order to see what they're up against and it's the "giant squid" (lobster). The mech whacks its tail toward the Phoenix! Jason says it makes sense now – the mech flashes like a lighthouse luring ships in and then takes them out. Mark orders the team to their stations and tells Tiny to stay with the mech because the main base can't be far away.

Tiny dives the Phoenix in and they're bombarded by thousands of exploding squid. As the Phoenix goes on, Princess warns Tiny that if enough squid hit them, they could sink. Once clear of the squid, the Phoenix is then entangled by electronic seaweed. The ship is stopped and wrapped by "magno-electric kelp." Tiny tries everything to free the ship but to no avail. There's even cracks forming inside the ship! The "giant squid" (lobster) then attacks from the front but things are worse! A school of explosive squid swims up from the rear! Mark orders a hard right.

The commander is quite happy ordering that the Phoenix be smashed! Meantime, Mark orders use of the Super Jet on a countdown of three. Mark, Jason, and Tiny pull their throttles to full power allowing the Phoenix to escape. The resulting collision destroys the squid and the "giant squid" (lobster). Meantime, they locate the main Spectran base and Mark tells Tiny to "full jet and hit it."

Zoltar orders the G-Force prisoners brought to him only to discover it is only Poco and Peru. Zoltar is not happy while the commander asks how was he supposed to know the capes were chicken feathers with only one eye. Poco and Peru ask to be released while the Phoenix smashes its way into the base. Tiny rams the nose into the main chamber. Zoltar turns and grabs the case holding the energy formula but Mark fires his sonic boomerang forcing Zoltar to drop the case. Jason then fires his cablegun to get the case back into their hands. Zoltar makes a run for it and the team gives chase. Jason is about to grab Zoltar only to be stopped by fast closing chrolo-glass doors. Zoltar taunts them saying Spectra will be back time and again before he continues his escape. Princess asks the boys if they're okay and take them on board the Phoenix. Mark then hears the telltale sounds of a self-destruct. He orders everyone back to the Phoenix while Zoltar takes off in his own ship.

The team boards and Tiny takes the Phoenix out just prior to the explosion. The Phoenix jars around tossing Poco and Peru around. Jason cracks, "You can't get hurt, you're G-Force." Mark says Zoltar will be back as they level out in flight. The boys decide they don't want to be part of G-Force, thanks anyhow. Their quick resignations make the team laugh. Zark says it was a "close call" but "we" got the job done. Zark likes to think of himself as "one of the family." He laments that he's the homebody who doesn't get to go anywhere. He adds that Zoltar will turn up like "a bad penny" and wonders if they have pennies on Spectra.

Note: This plot summary is based on the version released as an extra on the Australian Madmen DVDs.

This plot summary Copyright Bobbi Baker ©2021. No reproduction of any kind without permission.
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