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Episode 17: The Alien Beetles
Synopsis
Opens on the usual underwater view of the fish swimming past Centre Neptune, and 7 Zark 7 worry-warting about the natives being too quiet. Keyop's bored, so Zark's sent him off on a snipe butterfly hunt.
Cut to the familiar ready room sequence, with the four non-butterfly-hunting G Forcers ignoring Zark. Smart move, smart move. He's sent Keyop off hunting non-existent butterflies, god only knows what he'd send the others out chasing.
Out in the city, some young kids (obviously juvenile delinquents in training, since they're not in school) are hanging around what looks like a construction site; they and, separately, Keyop, find a weird-looking bug. Dispirited about Zark being a stinking liar, Keyop cheers up when he finds the bug and takes it home.
That night, at Keyop's bedside, the bug's eyes glow suspiciously (it worries me that Keyop apparently sleeps in the same clothes he wears all day). Having glowed, the bug then grows, becoming one of Spectra's metal monsters. The glowing eyes hypnotise Keyop; using a sort of conveyer belt, it drags Keyop into itself, an action repeated by all the other bugs over town, and then roars off. The noise wakes Princess (who doesn't share a house with Keyop in this version - it's written off as a noise going past the window), but she writes it off as a dream.
Princess doesn't need to sleep in her regular day clothes. I guess Keyop just doesn't want to look like he needs a security blankie.
Next shot is Keyop, in the belly of the beetle, wearing a really odd looking helmet, eyes glowing blue, and a bunch of leads going from the helmet to some electronic monitoring machinery. The beetles attack and destroy an oil refinery, and move on to attacking the city itself. Zark says everyone's in shelters, so it's okay.
Zoltar's quite pleased with the beetles, and his conversation with the Luminous One reveals that the children are being used as a power source for the beetles, in lieu of more conventional sources.
The next morning, Princess knocks on Keyop's door, announcing that she's brought breakfast from her place, but Keyop's gone. After noticing the smashed-up window and Keyop's wrist communicator lying on the floor, Princess really starts to worry.
The bugs, meanwhile, are still rampaging, and Zark's been given a slap across the fosdic for slackness because it's the next day now and G Force still hasn't been called out. Mark is overflying the destruction and smashing-up of the city. He begins to follow one of the bugs, and when he calls back to Centre Neptune warning that he's about to blow the bug up, Zark says no: Keyop's aboard. Princess has told him that Keyop found a miniature sized beetle and brought it home. Mark transmutes and uses the 'sub infra X-ray beam (okay, I’m no science-type person, but...does that make sense at all?) and verifies that, yes, Keyop's in the bug.
Jason and Princess, in their own vehicles, and Tiny in the Phoenix track Mark's signal and thus the fleeing bug to what looks suspiciously like the Coliseum. And the bug didn't notice them back there?
Tiny asks "Where are we?" It's the Coliseum, stupid.
Okay, he's not stupid, he just spent more time studying avionics than he did geography, right? Right?
Zark and Chief Anderson have a brief conversation about monitoring the sector where the bugs landed, and Zark says he'd trade places with Keyop if he could. Which would be a good thing; if the beetles are powered by brain activity, having Zark as a battery would probably crash it.
The beetles spit out their captives (all of the kids are in their day clothes, so I guess it's not just Keyop's little idiosyncrasy), and the Spectran captain arrives, resplendent in silly costume and pointy hat. He threatens the kids and says Keyop 'wouldn't like the dark side of my nature.' If the light side dresses like this, what does the dark side wear?
Keyop tries to transmure, but realises - at a really inopportune moment - that he doesn't have his bracelet on.
The captain talks to Zoltar about recharging the kids' brains - which will not be pleasant for them, apparently, so maybe it involves being Captain of the Week's fashion designer.
Anderson tells the team that Keyop's in danger because Zoltar's using him as unleaded premium. We see Mark and Princess sneaking into the base. They emerge into a hangar full of giant beetles (y'know, if they expand into giant metal beetles, why wouldn't you shrink 'em down before putting them away? They'd fold up neatly for storage - you could put them in a wardrobe or under the bed, instead of having to build a ginormous hangar that takes a few dozen guards to watch). Keyop's not in the beetle any more, so Mark and Princess split up to search.
Meanwhile Keyop and the other captives are in a giant glass football. Swear to god, giant glass football. A crane picks them up and plonks them on a dais in the control room and Zoltar instructs Captain to start recharging the batteries. Mark and Princess intervene, freeing Keyop, and Princess hands his wrist communicator over. Transmuting, Keyop hustles the other kids out, followed by Princess. Mark calls Jason, who's had about two lines this episode, but he's ahead of Tiny, and Jason goes for a little drive through the Coliseum, running over green goons left, right and centre. That's apparently a distraction so the others can get up the ladder into the Phoenix. Mark's right behind Princess and looking up, which isn't very gentlemanly of him, I must say.
With everyone except Jason in the Phoenix, Tiny starts to worry that they haven't got enough missiles on board to tackle the three beetles. Which means it's just as well that Cronus and his two wingmen show up and destroy the beetles, without saying a word.
Captain of the week is ordered by Zoltar to destroy the base and to never return to Spectra. Which, in and of itself, is no great loss (well, except for blowing up the Coliseum, that is), but Jason's still tooling around in there and Tiny brings the Phoenix down low and uses the grapple to save Jason and the car. All happy.
Except that Susan says she's spotted a huge rare bug heading for our galaxy...Susan has a rotten sense of humour.
Quotes
Mark: Zark's right as usual.
Zark: I'm sorry I'm always so right.
Me: *barf*
Okay, so that last one wasn't actually in the episode...
Notable
Keyop collects bugs and butterflies and god knows what else.
Is this Cronus' first appearance? I can't remember.
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