Home  Episode Summaries Season 1 There's No Place Like Springfield: Part II - Notes
Credits: written by Steve Gerber
Production Number: 600-59
Original Airdate: December 13, 1985
During a battle at sea with Cobra, Shipwreck falls overboard and is knocked unconscious. He awakens in a hospital in the all-American town of Springfield. When he asks the doctor how the battle turned out, he gets a peculiar answer: "You lost. The TV antenna fell down - and you took a bad spill off that ladder." Questioning the doctor, Shipwreck discovers, to his horror, that seven years have passed, seven years he can’t recall at all! The war with Cobra has long since been won. He’s married, has a five-year-old son, and lives in a comfortable home at #6 Village Road. Some of the Joes are his neighbors. But non[e] of it is real: Springfield is a simulation of an American town, where Cobra trains its Crimson Guardsmen for their missions in deep cover. The Joes down the street are synthoids. And hidden beneath the town is Temple Prime - Cobra’s secret central headquarters. Can Shipwreck discover the truth before Cobra coaxes valuable intelligence information from him? And if he does, can he escape? [Notes: the son was a daughter in the episode, and one version of the episode synopses changed the word "son" into "child."]
| THE PERSONNEL |
| G.I.Joe: Lady Jaye, Shipwreck, Polly, Flint, Roadblock, Torpedo*, Scarlett*, Deep Six*, Doc |
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Cobra: Major Bludd, Destro, Zartan, Ripper, Torch, Buzzer, Cobra Commander, Tomax, Xamot, the Baroness, Cobra agents, Tele-Viper, Crimson Guard |
| THE GEAR |
| G.I.Joe: SHARC, USS Flagg, Skystriker |
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Cobra: Rattler |
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* indicates the character was silent during the episode
Screen captures of the new animation included with the review portion of the first part of the episode are available.
While interrogating Shipwreck, Cadet Demming switches from straddling Shipwreck
to placing her legs on one side of him and back to a straddling position
for no reason.
During the episode, Shipwreck asks, "What in the name of Nimitz?" According to Stephanie Stroud, the name Nimitz originated from Neptune/Posideon, the god of the sea. Also, the name refers to an American admiral of the Pacific fleet during World War II who halted Japanese expansion and ultimately destroyed the Japanese fleetby using a fleet of aircraft carriers.
Like the Star Wars chess game between R2-D2 and Chewbacca, the
Dreadnoks fight one another through the use of a small synthoid being under
their control while Zartan guides a group of Cobra agents through the synthoid
facility.
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| The Cobra agent who enters Shipwreck's room changes from a brunette to blonde while she is unconscious on Shipwreck's hospital bed. |
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| Snake Eyes is seen on Shipwreck's air-powered ship, however, he was
still held captive inside Cobra's base at the time during the mini-series
"G.I.Joe:
The Revenge of Cobra." |
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Cobra Commander is seen wearing his hood in one shot, then his helmet and back to his hood while leaving his desk and visiting Destro.
I
Dialogue:
Operator: What section, please?
Synthoid Doc: Interrogation.
Operator: Thank you. Going down.
Time: 23 seconds
II
Dialogue:
Tomax and Xamot: Cadet Demming, increase power to factor seven.
Cadet Demming: Yes, factor seven.
Cadet Demming: Tell me Mulaney’s secret. Was it about Temple
Alpha?
Shipwreck: I don’t know.
Cadet Demming: Was it about the destablizer formula?
Shipwreck: I don’t know!
Cadet Demming: Do the Joes have the information?
Shipwreck: I don’t know!
Time: 26 seconds
III
Dialogue
Polly: That’s using the old bean.
Shipwreck: What is this place?
Time: 7 seconds
IV
Dialogue:
Althea: Hi, Daddy.
Mara: Yes, darling. Welcome home - to stay!
Shipwreck: Why? I mean, I thought you loved me.
Althea: Daddy, you’re a real drip.
Shipwreck: Mara - don’t!
Time: 17 seconds
Commentary: This edit is perhaps the most remembered one of all the cuts into the series for one reason: Shipwreck is so numbed with the realization that his wife and daughter are synthoids that Polly, who saves Shipwreck from being shot by melting the synthoids, attacks the sailor in order save him from dying inside the burning house. A movie clip of this episode is available in the Episode Highlights section at the bottom of the page.
Recondo
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Original:
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Never hide inside anything that could trap you, like a refrigerator
or trunk explains Recondo. |
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USA:
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Same as above |
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Sound Clip:
The music at beginning of the episode effectively sets the mood for viewer to share in Shipwreck's trip to the edge of insanity. [492 kb]
Movie Clip: (USA edit number four)
Althea: Hi, Daddy.
Mara: Yes, darling. Welcome home to stay.
Shipwreck: Why? I mean, I thought you loved me.
Althea: Daddy, you’re a real drip.
Shipwreck: Mara - don’t!
[1.29 mb]
Movie Clip:
Description: Lady Jaye and Flint run up to Shipwreck and Lady
Jaye tosses her arms around him while Flint happily tells the “old sea
dog” that he is glad to see him alive. But Shipwreck pulls away from Lady
Jaye's embrace and turns toward the blazing house. “Shipwreck, what happened?
Was there something important in that house?” Lady Jaye asks with a voice
full of concern. “Nah, nothing important,” he replies numbly as the flames
dance before his unblinking eyes. “Just a dream or two.” Shipwreck then
turns away from the fire and quietly tells his friends, “Come on. Let’s
go home.”
Commentary: As Lady Jaye greets Shipwreck with a hug, I felt
that she was not only happy to see him alive but also relieved since she
was carrying a large amount of guilt inside of her because her last words
to the sailor were not too kind. Also, the music at the end of the episode
was far too uplifting and crushed the effect of the tragic ending. At the
episode's end, nothing should have been heard but the crackling of the
flames from the burning house, and nothing should have been seen in the
last shot but Shipwreck walking away from the house alone and toward the
moon, which would mirror the ending to "Memories of Mara." [1.10 mb]
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