Top Secret Mission
"Major MAD operations in area. Investigate possible connections to UFO scare."
Synopsis
A quiet night in the Gadget household is interrupted by news of UFO sightings across Metro City. Though he's an admitted skeptic of such phenomena, Inspector Gadget nevertheless decides to head out and investigate, taking Brain along with him. Soon Dr. Claw is on his tail, and tries to run the inspector off the road and blow him up. Satisfied that he's finished Gadget, Claw heads to the UFO itself--a MAD flying saucer he's using to first scare away citizens and then loot the city--to run operations from inside. Gadget survives the MAD Mobile's rockets and soon encounters his first "alien" who he promptly frisks and handcuffs. Not long after, three MAD agents--disguised as policemen--show up to free the alien and try once again to destroy Inspector Gadget. They succeed in their first task, but not their second. Meanwhile, Penny's school lets out early due to the alien scare and she starts investigating the UFO herself. She no sooner identifies the saucer as a MAD aircraft before she is captured and imprisoned inside. Brain frees her but now Gadget is being held prisoner, and the UFO is taking off! Having left the saucer and returned to his vehicle, Dr. Claw begins guiding the flying ship out of Metro City--until Penny, using her computer book to jam his signals and override the UFO's steering mechanisms, deposits the phony saucer right at the steps of police headquarters.
Quotable Quote
"Wait a second - Where's my Venutian?! He stole my dog!" --Inspector Gadget suddenly realizing both Brain and his hostage are missing.
Notes
A fun and funny episode, with Gadget classically clueless and missing the point: Refusing to believe the existence of Martians, he randomly labels the aliens as inhabitants of Venus. Far from being afraid or even in awe of the creatures, the inspector is as all-business as ever: he's simply concerned that these aliens act as any law-abiding interplanetary visitors should. And even all of that takes a backseat to his obsession with chewing out the driver who ran him off the road, as he firmly plants himself by the empty MAD Mobile (which, as usual, he doesn't recognize). Most Gadget episodes have a pretty vague timeline and there's usually no telling how much time has elapsed from the opening shot to Quimby's congratulatory handshake, but not this one: the story begins late one evening, takes us through that entire night and all the next day, and wraps up sometime after dark--a little less than 24 hours. This episode also takes Dr. Claw out of his usual sedentary role behind his desk or at the wheel of his car for an implied trek across the temporary ghost town that is Metro City. Spooky!
Be On The Look-Out For...
...a scene from the pilot episode of Inspector Gadget being shown on TV as a monster movie.
...a rare scene of Penny actually attending school. In this episode, her teacher is Miss Smith; other episodes featured her in art class with an unnamed but very enthusiastic instructor, and being assigned extra homework when caught off-guard by a mean teacher with a football-player build, Mrs. Blockentackle.
...a fourth extension that comes out of Brain's collar: a homing signal/compass-type mechanism.
MAD Agent Count
Hard to tell, but about eight: Six known regulars, but possible others unidentifiable due to alien costumes.
Unanswered, Nit-Picky Questions
How did an entire city evacuate overnight?
Ridiculous Safety Tip
Always wear proper safety equipment whether working or participating in sports.
"The Invasion"