#3 OCT 4, 2017 · 8 yr ago
Spiral Zone, I've said before, was a really great premise but which got mistreated by the executives. The show had some really great episodes. If the characters had been a bit more distinctive, and the vehicles hadn't been so stupid, this could have been a true classic. A remake of this show, if it addressed the problems of the original, would be out of this world.
Duchess Treat
This is a really clever episode, because if you think about it, this one ends with the bad guys winning - bigtime. It wasn't part one of a two-parter, this was, apart from being a sort of follow-up to "The Man Who Wouldn't Be King" which we looked at last week, a standalone episode. Incidentally, it was because of this episode that I had to include "The Man Who Wouldn't Be King" last week! It's clever because Overlord's plan is kept a secret from literally everyone, even the Black Widows, apart from Duchess Dire of course. This episode is one of the main reasons why I rate Overlord as one of the all-time great cartoon villains. He actually gets to win once in a while, not many villains can claim that!
Assault On The Rock
Anyone who's read the book or seen the film "The Guns Of Navarone" will recognise that this episode is basically ripping off the premise of the Alistair MacLean classic. We have two great cannons terrorising the Mediterranean on an almost impregnable island base. The only way to take out those guns is to climb the south cliff . . . yeah, that's "The Guns Of Navarone" all right.
This is actually another episode where Overlord could be said to have made gains overall. Sure, his guns of Navarone get destroyed in the end, but not before he had zoned vast chunks of western Europe/Africa, those zones are still in place.
Also the character of Ned is well-suited to the anti-sexism moral of this episode - considering that he is a bit on the macho side. Possibly because they were trying to make him into Crocodile Dundee, I don't know.
Brother's Keeper
This time it's Bandit who takes centre stage, and the Zone Riders use his love for his brother to trick him into releasing the doctor they need from the zone. Normally in cartoons whenever the good guys try a sneaky plan like this it backfires spectacularly - Thundercats' "Eye Of The Beholder" for example. But not here. You do feel kind of sorry for Bandit in a way. It's also good how both sides echo the same sentiment, about how they never thought they'd be rooting for the opposition. Max says he never thought he'd be hoping Bandit made it, while Bandit says he never thought he'd be glad to see the Zone Riders. Curiously, the doctor here looks identical to the doctor in an earlier episode "A Little Zone Music" which reminds me of another Alistair MacLean book & film, "Where Eagles Dare". They obviously needed to economise on the animation so reused the same design.
Zone Of Fear
I think this one was actually one of the two I saw in Spain back in the 80s.
With a little tweak to the ending, this episode would have made a great series finale. As it is, it's still one of the best episodes of the series. It's certainly the best character focus that Courage got in the series. Facing his greatest fear in order to do what must be done. Usually this moral is given to one of the lesser character, the younger, weaker or more inexperienced ones. Think "Snarf Takes Up The Challenge" in Thundercats, "The Sleeper Awakes" in Defenders Of The Earth, "The Good, The Bad And The Clumsy" in BraveStarr, "Assault On Castle Morgana" in King Arthur And The Knights Of Justice, and "Feryl Steps Out" in Visionaries. With this series, the natural character for this moral lesson would have been Franklin, but instead they did the exact opposite and gave it to Courage. Courage facing his fear . . . yeah, I get the wordplay. The lesson is also done subtly, because unlike most of the other examples I listed, it's not the primary focus of the story.
I noticed a while back that Overlord told Rawmeat to treat the captured Courage with more respect, as he was a worthy enemy. What I only noticed when I saw it yesterday was that at no point does Overlord gloat, even though he believes he's won the day at last, he isn't laughing, smirking or punching the air at all. He is driven by an ideology that actually has a measure of validity. I forget which episode it is, but somewhere in the series it is explained that he has created the zone to put an end to war. While you can call his methods into question, his motivation is perfectly sound. I say again, Overlord is one of the best cartoon villains of the 80s. I wouldn't hesitate to put him in a top 5 with Mumm-Ra, Ming and Megatron, not sure who else.
