Synopsis
After reviewing Inspector Gadget's file, Chief Quimby awards his top police inspector with some well-deserved time off. And it couldn't have come at a better time--Gadget has just won a week's stay at the "Bide-A-Wee Health Spa." Suspicious that her uncle has won a prize in a contest he didn't even enter, Penny has Brain follow him. Penny's intuition proves right: The free vacation is a trap set by Dr. Claw to get rid of Gadget. Arriving at the rundown health club, the inspector meets Madame, the spa's tall, angular and attractive proprietress. With the help of two of Claw's thugs, she puts Gadget through a rigorous workout, with each exercise aimed at doing him in. Brain's help and Gadget's own clumsiness, however, succeed in thwarting their every effort. More attempts--all fruitless--are made on Gadget's life in a steamroom as well as a torture chamber. Meanwhile, Penny is captured while snooping around outside, but manages to escape. She soon finds a huge stash of stolen jewels in the bowels of the building and calls Chief Quimby. Upstairs in the dining room, Brain does his best to prevent Gadget from ingesting any of the drugged food Madame serves him. But after she serves Gadget a cake made of dynamite, Penny and Brain both rush the inspector and throw the explosive dessert out the window just in time. Quimby arrives with back-up to take the MAD agents into custody, collect the stolen jewels and congratulate Inspector Gadget on another job well done.
Quotable Quote
"Maybe the ol' tuning's just a bit off. I'll have to get my mechanic to check it over." --Inspector Gadget explaining his misfiring gadget-arms that send an overloaded barbell up through the ceiling.
Notes
An unusual episode in that Gadget has no mission, and Claw's sole aim this time is to get rid of him. This episode also marks another rare appearance of a female MAD agent. Tall, thin yet stacked, and with a head of dark hair reminiscent of the lead singer of forgotten 80s band "Swing Out Sister", Madame bears more than a passing resemblance to Annie (see: The Amazon) yet they seem to be two different characters. Perhaps this episode's most interesting scene comes at the end where Gadget is served an explosive cake and, seeing no other alternative, Penny and Brain have to rush out into the open, in full view of the startled inspector to save him. Wonder how they explained that one...!
Be On The Look-Out For...
...a screw-up in the ink & paint department. Two things you'll never see Gadget without: a hat and his gloves. But during a quick shot in the dining room scene, Gadget's hands are flesh-colored.
...this episode's lead MAD agent. She dresses in tight-fitting red dresses, favors sexy elbow-length gloves, enjoys giving orders, has a torture chamber downstairs, and gives her name as "Madame". Someone call the Vice Squad. "Health Spa" might have been on that property's business license, but that probably wasn't her main source of income!
MAD Agent Count
Five: Madame, three regulars, and the cook.
Unanswered, Nit-Picky Questions
With Gadget locked inside the steam room, one MAD agents tells the other, "This is a very strong door...made specially by my grandfather." So are we to believe that MAD has been around for years and years, and Dr. Claw is only the current head of this organization? Or is this reading too much into a throwaway line that has no significance other than being a set-up for the gag when Gadget easily breaks down the door? Hmm?
Ridiculous Safety Tip
Exercise daily.
Brain's Disguises:
Moped rider
Punching bag
Tree
Potted plant
Statue of a body builder
Garbage can
Statue of Cupid
"Health Spa"