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A rather silly episode, this one, although everybody is clearly well aware of the nonsense factor, and it all proves perfectly entertaining. Once again, Fleming goes to the International Murder Society, this time to ask for help with The Cape. He winds up hiring an insanely OTT duo called Goggles and Hicks, the one a computer genius, and the other a supposedly lethal killer. Not that we see much evidence of his lethalicity. He mostly just falls off stuff, and does a fine impersonation of a massive chunk of ham.
This episode is astonishingly diagonal. Everything is leaning one way or another, often to the point of absurdity. Here, Fleming meets with Goggles, the brains of the Diagonal Duo of Death.
I assume he's called Goggles because of the thick glasses. He spends his days researching his targets inside and out, because it's much better to kill a person after you've got to know them intimately. Apparently. He's also barking mad.
This week, Vince is for some reason sleeping on a hill. He's suffering because it's tough being a superhero. He has broken ribs and is miserable. Also he keeps sliding out of bed.
Ringmaster Max suggests he take a day off. Ribs heal that quickly? Awesome. Consequently, off goes Vince to try to take it easy.
Whilst the Carnival of Crime, who are rapidly becoming one of my favourite things about television, attempt to break into a safe.
Ringmaster Max spoils the fun rather, by pointing out that it's already open. And yes, this is all completely irrelevant to the plot, but watch me not caring.
The Diagonal Duo of Death have parked their Deathmobile by a brilliantly sloping building.
Inside, Goggles plots some Cape-icide, whilst bemoaning television's general state of Hong Kong Phooeylessness.
Whilst Hicks does the ham thing, with gusto. Buffy fans will recognise him as one of the computer geek loonies from the first season episode "I Robot, You Jane" (or they will if they've watched that episode as many times as I have). He's even less 'sparklingly normal' in this.
The pair of them lure Vince to a peculiarly slanty church, where they sneakily implant him with a tracking device. They could quite easily have killed him instead, but killing him before they get to know him would be uncivilised.
Vince, now broadcasting anything and everything to his peculiar shadows, has a slanty cup of coffee with Orwell, who's being angsty about her past just for a change.
Then he goes off to stare at his old house for a bit, which doesn't look at all suspicious or creepy. His behaviour allows Goggles and Hicks to figure out who he really is.
Then he meets up with Orwell again, for revolting-looking hot dogs.
But they are soon to be saved from their culinary nightmares.
It's a flying machine gun! And absolutely nobody else in the city appears able to see it, which suggests it's a remarkable piece of technology.
Missing Vince, it gives the hot dog truck what it deserves. Nobody really seems to notice that either.
Except Goggles & Hicks, who look almost as pleased by the boom as I probably do.
Flying machine gun! I do like that idea. It gives chase, and Vince leads it down an alley, before whipping out his cape.
Then he breaks the flying machine gun. Vince is no fun.
Elsewhere, Trip has decided that he's going to get pictures of The Cape next time he stops by, so that his mother will believe he really does exist.
I want a randomly diagonal bedroom. I suppose it must be built on some sort of rocking base.
Instead of a superhero, Trip captures a Gerry. Gerry has just moved in downstairs, and he's hugely entertaining.
Trip likes him too, and they settle down for an evening together, superherowatching.
Vince and Orwell pore over the remnants of the murdered flying machine gun.
Irritated by the destruction, Goggles pulls the plug on the power for the entire city. This is somehow supposed to help them kill Vince. I'm not sure how, but I'm not going to argue.
Especially since it leads to Trip and Gerry attempting to eat an entire freezer full of ice cream, so that it won't be ruined by the powercut. This proves strangely endearing.
Meanwhile, Vince takes his clothes off, and tends Orwell to fondle him by candlelight. Which I suppose is as good a thing to do during a powercut as any. There is a purpose to it, as they've guessed about the tracking device, but it looks spectacularly dodgy all the same.
The ice cream looks like a better form of entertainment, although the fondling probably leads to less stomachache.
Having lost Goggles somewhere in the powercut, Hicks reports back to Fleming. He attempts to tell him who The Cape really is, but Fleming is in a bad mood over the failed hit (or the weird angles are getting to him. One or the other). He fires Hicks, and declares that he'll never use the International Murder Society ever again. Hicks does give him a thread from the cape, though. Whether or not there are enough episodes left for that to lead to anything interesting remains to be seen.
Goggles didn't just randomly vanish, incidentally. Vince and Orwell ran off with him. They said something about putting him in prison, but whilst they did also steal the Deathmobile, which was packed full of dossiers on murder victims, I would have to point out the lack of actual proper evidence. And the fact that the only witnesses to anything are a dead man and a woman with no name, which isn't terribly helpful to the police. And the fact that the police are crooked anyway. But nevermind. Anyway, the idea is that with Goggles gone, Hicks will be neutralised, as he won't be able to function with his brains kidnapped. They both know about The Cape's true identity, but with only four episodes left, I can't really believe that that's going to go anywhere.
And then the carnivalleers randomly dance about the place, because they're happy.
The end.
PS: I'm writing this whilst watching The Last Days Of Pompeii, a mini-series from 1984. If somebody could tell Malcolm Jamieson to stop trying to get himself eaten by lions, I'd quite appreciate it. For one thing, it would be a shame, and for another, it keeps making Lesley Anne Down gasp in a very distracting manner.
And Brian Blessed is actually being vaguely subtle. That's pretty damned distracting as well.
This episode is astonishingly diagonal. Everything is leaning one way or another, often to the point of absurdity. Here, Fleming meets with Goggles, the brains of the Diagonal Duo of Death.
I assume he's called Goggles because of the thick glasses. He spends his days researching his targets inside and out, because it's much better to kill a person after you've got to know them intimately. Apparently. He's also barking mad.
This week, Vince is for some reason sleeping on a hill. He's suffering because it's tough being a superhero. He has broken ribs and is miserable. Also he keeps sliding out of bed.
Ringmaster Max suggests he take a day off. Ribs heal that quickly? Awesome. Consequently, off goes Vince to try to take it easy.
Whilst the Carnival of Crime, who are rapidly becoming one of my favourite things about television, attempt to break into a safe.
Ringmaster Max spoils the fun rather, by pointing out that it's already open. And yes, this is all completely irrelevant to the plot, but watch me not caring.
The Diagonal Duo of Death have parked their Deathmobile by a brilliantly sloping building.
Inside, Goggles plots some Cape-icide, whilst bemoaning television's general state of Hong Kong Phooeylessness.
Whilst Hicks does the ham thing, with gusto. Buffy fans will recognise him as one of the computer geek loonies from the first season episode "I Robot, You Jane" (or they will if they've watched that episode as many times as I have). He's even less 'sparklingly normal' in this.
The pair of them lure Vince to a peculiarly slanty church, where they sneakily implant him with a tracking device. They could quite easily have killed him instead, but killing him before they get to know him would be uncivilised.
Vince, now broadcasting anything and everything to his peculiar shadows, has a slanty cup of coffee with Orwell, who's being angsty about her past just for a change.
Then he goes off to stare at his old house for a bit, which doesn't look at all suspicious or creepy. His behaviour allows Goggles and Hicks to figure out who he really is.
Then he meets up with Orwell again, for revolting-looking hot dogs.
But they are soon to be saved from their culinary nightmares.
It's a flying machine gun! And absolutely nobody else in the city appears able to see it, which suggests it's a remarkable piece of technology.
Missing Vince, it gives the hot dog truck what it deserves. Nobody really seems to notice that either.
Except Goggles & Hicks, who look almost as pleased by the boom as I probably do.
Flying machine gun! I do like that idea. It gives chase, and Vince leads it down an alley, before whipping out his cape.
Then he breaks the flying machine gun. Vince is no fun.
Elsewhere, Trip has decided that he's going to get pictures of The Cape next time he stops by, so that his mother will believe he really does exist.
I want a randomly diagonal bedroom. I suppose it must be built on some sort of rocking base.
Instead of a superhero, Trip captures a Gerry. Gerry has just moved in downstairs, and he's hugely entertaining.
Trip likes him too, and they settle down for an evening together, superherowatching.
Vince and Orwell pore over the remnants of the murdered flying machine gun.
Irritated by the destruction, Goggles pulls the plug on the power for the entire city. This is somehow supposed to help them kill Vince. I'm not sure how, but I'm not going to argue.
Especially since it leads to Trip and Gerry attempting to eat an entire freezer full of ice cream, so that it won't be ruined by the powercut. This proves strangely endearing.
Meanwhile, Vince takes his clothes off, and tends Orwell to fondle him by candlelight. Which I suppose is as good a thing to do during a powercut as any. There is a purpose to it, as they've guessed about the tracking device, but it looks spectacularly dodgy all the same.
The ice cream looks like a better form of entertainment, although the fondling probably leads to less stomachache.
Having lost Goggles somewhere in the powercut, Hicks reports back to Fleming. He attempts to tell him who The Cape really is, but Fleming is in a bad mood over the failed hit (or the weird angles are getting to him. One or the other). He fires Hicks, and declares that he'll never use the International Murder Society ever again. Hicks does give him a thread from the cape, though. Whether or not there are enough episodes left for that to lead to anything interesting remains to be seen.
Goggles didn't just randomly vanish, incidentally. Vince and Orwell ran off with him. They said something about putting him in prison, but whilst they did also steal the Deathmobile, which was packed full of dossiers on murder victims, I would have to point out the lack of actual proper evidence. And the fact that the only witnesses to anything are a dead man and a woman with no name, which isn't terribly helpful to the police. And the fact that the police are crooked anyway. But nevermind. Anyway, the idea is that with Goggles gone, Hicks will be neutralised, as he won't be able to function with his brains kidnapped. They both know about The Cape's true identity, but with only four episodes left, I can't really believe that that's going to go anywhere.
And then the carnivalleers randomly dance about the place, because they're happy.
The end.
PS: I'm writing this whilst watching The Last Days Of Pompeii, a mini-series from 1984. If somebody could tell Malcolm Jamieson to stop trying to get himself eaten by lions, I'd quite appreciate it. For one thing, it would be a shame, and for another, it keeps making Lesley Anne Down gasp in a very distracting manner.
And Brian Blessed is actually being vaguely subtle. That's pretty damned distracting as well.