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The Bermuda Triangle

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“ The Bermuda Triangle? That’s been baffling scientists for years!"
"Don't worry, Penny. I'll have it wrapped up in no time." 		„
~ Penny and Gadget
The Bermuda Triangle
Season 1, Episode 29
Vlcsnap-2014-03-11-09h56m07s162
Air date October 19, 1983
Episode guide
Previous
"The Coo Coo Clock Caper" (syndication order)
"The Infiltration" (production order) 		Next
"The Japanese Connection" (syndication order)
"Arabian Nights" (production order)

"The Bermuda Triangle" is the 29th episode of the first season of Inspector Gadget. It is the 26th episode in production order.

Synopsis[]

Ships are vanishing in the Bermuda Triangle, but the seemingly supernatural aspects of the disappearances are subterfuge by Dr. Claw who is using an enormous machine to swallow oil tankers and ransack them.

Full Story[]

Gadget, Penny, and Brain are enjoying watching the remote-controlled boats in the fountain when one is seen heading straight for them. Thinking it is a bomb from M.A.D., Gadget pushes Penny and Brain to the ground and braces for the blast, only for the boat to be the disguise for Chief Quimby. Receiving his orders to investigate the mysterious Bermuda Triangle due to the disappearance of ships in that area, Gadget is soon on his way, despite Penny's concerns about the Triangle and how it remains a mystery unsolved by scientists. Quimby also told Gadget that their best police boat was waiting for him at the harbor to take to the Triangle.

After a failed attempt to destroy Gadget and his Gadgetmobile by two of Dr. Claw's agents disguised as junkyard workers with trying to have it crushed and other attempts, Gadget leaves his car parked underwater close to the harbor. As he arrives to board the boat, he's unaware of the deckhand being another of Dr. Claw's agents. Penny and Brain are able to sneak aboard, but as the ship heads for the Triangle, while Brain hides in Gadget's cooler while he watches TV and steers the boat, Penny eavesdrops on the agent speaking to Dr. Claw, before he notices her shadow, realizes someone is on to him, and attempts to chase Penny down, only to then see her hiding in the submersible on the stern of the ship. He sadistically releases its docking clamps to drop it in to the water and leave her stranded, while he then plants a time bomb of several sticks of dynamite under Gadget before deploying an inflatable life raft and rowing away. Brain discovers the bomb and throws it back on the agent's life raft before ducking back into the cooler, but Gadget discovers the agent rowing away, and thinking he went overboard, Gadget comes about to recover him, but just as he reaches out to pull the agent back aboard, the dynamite's timer runs out, and both the police boat and life raft are caught in the powerful blast and blown to smithereens, much to Penny's horror as she watches from the submersible.

However, out of the smoke, Gadget emerges on a smaller motor launch with his TV and a few other things intact, and Brain, having survived as well, hitches a ride. Soon, Penny notices an oil tanker approaching, and has Brain continue to watch Gadget as the tanker's crew soon sees them and brings them aboard their ship. While Gadget goes to speak with the tanker's captain, another crewman, actually one of Claw's agents in disguise, makes his own move. He first contacts Dr. Claw, and when Claw learns that Gadget still lives, he furiously orders his agent to eliminate him. The agent first lures the captain below decks, leaving him in charge of the bridge, and uses the tanker's firefighting equipment to blast Gadget overboard, but Gadget gets back on thanks to his Gadget 'Copter. However, when Gadget mistakes Brain disguised as a moving air vent for a M.A.D. Agent, he ends up being kicked into the tanker's oil storage chamber by the real agent, forcing Gadget to activate his Gadget Respirator to avoid suffocation from the oil's fumes. In the meantime, the agent checks his watch and sees they are nearing the Triangle, and goes to get ready as Brain watches him leave. Brain finds him changing into an aquatic scuba suit that gives the agent the appearance of a humanoid sea monster, and watches him depart.

Out in the water, some sort of M.A.D. device rises out of the water and begins emitting a smokescreen. Penny takes notice from the police submersible as the tanker enters the clouds, with the M.A.D. Agent at the helm. Back in the oil storage tank, Gadget tries to get out as he uses his Gadget Magnets to ascend the wall and ceiling, and his Gadget Screwdriver to open the hatch. On the deck, Brain sports a spare outfit to the one the M.A.D. Agent is wearing, while the captain and crew are coughing and choking on the smoke, wondering what is going on, before an ominous yellow glow begins to be cast over them, and they see a huge gaping maw like the M.A.D. logo preparing to devour their ship, with the glow coming from its eyes as they flash on and off evilly. As the crew panics, Gadget emerges, but is confused by what's going on, before the hatch closes on him again.

“ Welcome to the Bermuda Triangle! (evil laughter) „
~ Doctor Claw

Penny continues to watch from the submersible in confusion, and attempts to contact Brain. As he watches the crew pass out from the smoke and fall unconscious, Brain tries to explain things to Penny, but he is so frantic, she can't understand him. When the hatch on the contraption that is swallowing the tanker then closes, Brain's connection with Penny is cut off. Inside the contraption, the M.A.D. Agent that piloted the tanker inside orders the other agents to release the crew. Outside, Penny starts to pilot the submersible into the smoke, and using her computer book, discovers it to be sleeping gas. She activates her submersible's personal oxygen supply, while as for the tanker's captain and crew, they are released and left adrift on a life raft, still asleep. With that done, the M.A.D. naval pen submerges again.

As the M.A.D. submarine/naval pen swims away with its latest haul, Penny is still on the surface in the police submersible as the sleeping gas disperses, but there's no sign of the tanker. She decides to check it out, and has the police submersible dive to investigate. After encountering a school of dolphins and waving to one, she spots the M.A.D. sub and pursues it into an underwater cave styled with the M.A.D. logo carved into the rock face. As she travels through it, she soon sees light and the keels of several boats on the surface. Curious to see what it is, she has the submersible surface, and finds herself in Dr. Claw's underwater lair where all the missing boats are located. Meanwhile, the M.A.D. Agent that stole the tanker orders the others to start unloading the oil while he meets with Dr. Claw. Penny contacts Brain to ask for her uncle's whereabouts, but as Brain says he doesn't know, she tells him to keep looking while she checks out the base.

Meanwhile, the agent meets with Dr. Claw, but when he asks about Gadget, the agent nonchalantly says he's in one of the oil storage tanks on the tanker. Dr. Claw is livid to know Gadget was brought here as well, so he orders his agents to check the tank, only to find it that it is empty with no sign of Gadget. Growing even more angry, Dr. Claw orders his agents to find Gadget at once, his rage crushing his microphone to the P.A. system as his grip on it tightens, and even blowing the speaker to pieces in the process because of how upset he is.

While the agents fan out to find Gadget, he emerges from one of the pipes leading from the tanker by cutting it open with his Gadget Scissors, causing the oil to leak out as a result. However, as he looks around, he assumes to have been abducted by aliens from the Triangle. When Brain sees him, he attempts to get his attention, but assuming Brain to be one of the local alien natives, Gadget attempts to communicate with him, such as performing the Vulcan Salute and playing a musical rhythm on an electronic keyboard. However, the other M.A.D. Agents spot Gadget and move to capture him. Brain flees, and Gadget goes after him, unaware of the other M.A.D. Agents pursuing him. When Gadget offers Brain candy a la E.T., he ends up smashed behind the door when one of the agents tells Brain to come on as they're supposed to be looking for Gadget. After Brain and the agent leave, Gadget staggers out of the room dazed, and ends up falling over a railing into the water, washing him clean of the oil he was covered in. As he then spots Brain again and attempts to chase him, meanwhile, Penny checks the tankers and identifies them as the missing ones, along with how they've been repainted. She then contacts Brain, and as he tells her he's found her uncle, she tells him to keep an eye on him while she will head back to the surface and summon help from Chief Quimby and Interpol. However, as she returns to the police submersible, she finds three M.A.D. Agents investigating it, and soon spot her waterlogged footprints leading away from it. Unable to recover her vehicle to escape, Penny flees to a nearby storage shack, spots a pair of air tanks, and putting them on along with a scuba mask, she makes her escape just as the agents spot her fleeing. When one asks if they are going to follow her, the leader begins laughing wickedly. When the third agent asks why, the lead agent reveals that Penny's air tanks are half-empty, so there's no way she'll make it back to the surface alive as she'll drown before making it.

True to the agent's words, Penny barely makes it very far out of the M.A.D. base before her air supply runs out, forcing her to abandon the air tanks and attempt to hold her breath the rest of the way. She soon reaches an air pocket, but as she wonders how she's going to escape now, she remembers the dolphins, and uses her computer book to send out an imitation of a dolphin's distress call. As a dolphin appears to pick up the signal and move to help Penny out, Brain is still snooping around Dr. Claw's base before being spotted by Gadget again, still thinking he's an alien. As Gadget tries to find Brain, he ends up entering the briefing room where the M.A.D. Agents are being instructed on where to search for him, making it easy for them to overpower and overwhelm him with sheer numbers. As for Penny, her call for help is answered as a dolphin arrives to help her escape. Meanwhile, the agents contact Dr. Claw and tell him they've captured Gadget. Very pleased to hear that, Dr. Claw orders his men to take Gadget to be fed to the sharks in the shark pit. As Gadget is thrown in, the sharks move in to attack, but as one attempts to attack Gadget from behind, his Gadget Mallet deploys on its own and bonks it on the head, knocking it silly. The second one's lunge is blocked by the Gadget Spring, sending it flying and soaking the M.A.D. Agents in the process. Finally, Gadget lassoes the sharks with his Gadget Necktie, and ends up being dragged by them back into their underwater pen.

Meanwhile, Penny is taken to safety by the dolphin, and once back on the surface, she thanks the dolphin for saving her life, before contacting Chief Quimby. As for her uncle, the sharks are left battered, bruised, and defeated, and Gadget returns to the shipyard of the base. He soon spots Brain, but as he chases him again, while the M.A.D. Agents go after Gadget again themselves, Gadget believes Brain to be hiding in what he assumes to be a safe, unaware it was the main valve keeping the ocean from flooding into Dr. Claw's base and destroying it, as Dr. Claw watches horrified on his computer monitor.

“ NO, GADGET! NO!!! „
~ Doctor Claw

Unaware of what he's about to do, Gadget open the valve, and the ocean comes flooding in, causing the base to begin to break apart and collapse from the structural integrity being compromised, as the M.A.D. Agents panic and scream as they try to evacuate. By the time everything has calmed down, the stolen tankers resurface safe and sound, and Penny, who was safely aboard a helicopter with Chief Quimby and its pilot, wrapped in a blanket to stay warm, soon spots Gadget and Brain, with Gadget appearing unconscious with his Gadget Coat serving as his life vest as Brain, out of his M.A.D. scuba suit, stands on top of him, safe and sound. Dr. Claw then surfaces in the M.A.D. Mobile in its M.A.D. Submarine mode, but as he vows vengeance on Gadget for ruining his plans, he transforms it to M.A.D. Jet mode, and takes off, with M.A.D. Cat yowling and screeching in agreement as they bug out, while Gadget and Brain are seen being airlifted to safety.

Back aboard a police vessel, Gadget, with his Gadget Coat deflated, begins to come to. Chief Quimby congratulates him on another job well done, but Gadget is wondering how he got back to Earth from his little abduction while in the Triangle. Quimby, however, believes Gadget to just be making jokes.

In the stinger, Brian is spooked by Gadget wearing his Gadget Respirator while repainting the Gadget Van, explaining about safety when using spray cans and to protect yourself from the fumes. Penny adds on to also always work in a well-ventilated room to help disperse the fumes as well. They also mention never to puncture a spray can, and keep it away from heat sources, since those could cause the spray can to explode. Gadget adds on to also make sure to point the nozzle in the right direction, before accidentally leaving a good glob of paint over his clothes and Gadget Respirator due to having pointed his the wrong way.

Featuring Voices of[]

Trivia[]

  • When Gadget comes across Brain disguised as M.A.D. henchman and thinking he has been abducted by aliens, he greets him by saluting in a similar style to the famed Vulcan salute from Star Trek.
  • When Gadget attempts to communicate with Brain disguised as an alien, he takes out a keyboard and plays several notes in a parody of a plot point from this film.

Gadgets used[]

Locations[]

Chief Quimby's disguise[]

  • inside a remote control boat

Self-destructing message[]

  • "Boats disappearing in Bermuda Triangle. Suspect M.A.D. Proceed to area at once and investigate. This message will self-destruct."

Brain's disguises[]

  • hiding inside an air vent
  • M.A.D. Bermuda sea creature outfit

Penny's gadgets[]

M.A.D. Agents[]

  • M.A.D. Deck Hand
  • Lenny - posing as construction worker
  • Pops - posing as construction worker
  • Bruce - posing as a sailor, then as M.A.D. Bermuda sea creature
  • Various unidentified agents posing as M.A.D. Bermuda sea creatures

Gadgetmobile Gadgets[]

  • fires missile from back when Gadget intended to use his windshield washer
  • fires laser
  • back wheels extend on tentacles similar to Gadget legs

Pop culture references[]

  • Star Trek - Gadget gives Brain the Vulcan salute
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Gadget attempts to communicate with Brain via keyboard
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - the Reese's Pieces scene is parodied

Home media releases[]

  • Volume 3 (Thorn EMI Video, France)
  • Smeldorado (Family Home Entertainment)

Gallery[]

Full Episode[]

Bermuda_Triangle_(Full_Episode)

Bermuda Triangle (Full Episode)

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