This episode is highlighted by the special effects used to create the Volcano planet and Steve's last minute rescue of Matt who is imprisoned in a tower about to collapse into a sea of lave.
When Grothan Deblis steals some important plans he is quickly captured by Steve Zodiac and ticketed for the Space Pen. But on the way there, the XL5 discovers what seems like a derelict spaceship. Steve sends Matt over to help but discovers it was a trap engineered by his old enemies Boris and Grizelda and the derelict is actually their spy ship, the SS Thor (which was destroyed at the end of the episode "Space Pen").
Boris and Grizelda offer to trade Matt for Deblis but renege on the deal while disabling Fireball XL5 so it can't immediately pursue. Deblis double crosses his rescuers and leaves them on the volcano planet along with Matt.
As the lava creeps up to the tower Matt is trapped in, Steve has Robert put Fireball Junior in free float and uses his jet mobile to rescue Matt. It's really a pretty good sequence, well directed by Bill Harris.
Other highlights include Steve using a megaphone, Robert opening a jammed door with pure robot strength and the wonderfully mysterious and intriguing opening shots Harris uses to start the episode and set the tone.
I've never been a big fan of Boris and Grizelda or their episodes, but liked the evil Deblis as a bad guy and liked him even more when he double crossed them.
All around a pretty entertaining and well done story!
One odd note though--there are a number of references in this episode to the Space Pen, which is the title of a different episode. The other episode featured two convicts in space (as well as Boris and Grizelda) so I wonder if a mistake was made in titling these two shows.
When Grothan Deblis steals some important plans he is quickly captured by Steve Zodiac and ticketed for the Space Pen. But on the way there, the XL5 discovers what seems like a derelict spaceship. Steve sends Matt over to help but discovers it was a trap engineered by his old enemies Boris and Grizelda and the derelict is actually their spy ship, the SS Thor (which was destroyed at the end of the episode "Space Pen").
Boris and Grizelda offer to trade Matt for Deblis but renege on the deal while disabling Fireball XL5 so it can't immediately pursue. Deblis double crosses his rescuers and leaves them on the volcano planet along with Matt.
As the lava creeps up to the tower Matt is trapped in, Steve has Robert put Fireball Junior in free float and uses his jet mobile to rescue Matt. It's really a pretty good sequence, well directed by Bill Harris.
Other highlights include Steve using a megaphone, Robert opening a jammed door with pure robot strength and the wonderfully mysterious and intriguing opening shots Harris uses to start the episode and set the tone.
I've never been a big fan of Boris and Grizelda or their episodes, but liked the evil Deblis as a bad guy and liked him even more when he double crossed them.
All around a pretty entertaining and well done story!
One odd note though--there are a number of references in this episode to the Space Pen, which is the title of a different episode. The other episode featured two convicts in space (as well as Boris and Grizelda) so I wonder if a mistake was made in titling these two shows.