Written by Martin Pasko
The regular G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon series began in 1985 and the characters featured most prominently were the series four toys, which were the newest ones available at the time. The toy line first went into production in 1982 and produced new characters and play sets each year for over a decade. This, of course, means that by the time they started producing episodes for the cartoon series, there were already 3 series of toys, each with a number of characters in them. Some of these characters saw some action in the two mini series from '83 and '84 and some, like Mutt & Junkyard, Duke, Scarlett, and Roadblock sustained a presence throughout the show. Others were lucky to make an appearance whenever their specific skill was required before fading into the background to make room for the characters who still had toys available on the store shelves.
Although this vast sea of rotating characters was seen as a hindrance to the writing process by some, Martin Pasko takes advantage of the situation and gives us an epic two part episode with a dramatic conclusion that writes some of the more disposable characters out of the show in a dignified way.Duke in a coma, this is not.
The story begins like so many others, with Cobra attempting to steal a new technological weapon, namely, The Matter Transmuter Ray. The ray can change the molecular structure of anything it touches. A team of G.I. Joes are sent to make sure that doesn't happen. Action and adventure ensue.
After Cobra steals the weapon, the team of Joes get into a battle with Cobra which accidentally
sets off the device. The ray goes haywire and the Joes are all knocked unconscious. When they awake, they find themselves in an alternate bizzaro reality where Cobra has defeated G.I. Joe and taken over the world! They eventually meet up with the resistance forces and help instigate a civil war between Cobra Commander and Destro, who are obviously incapable of sharing power with each other. The team eventually finds the portal home but series one characters, Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch decide to stay and restart G.I. Joe.This episode featured a lot of characters. Aside from the three series one characters, Flint, Lady Jaye, Footloose, Airtight, and Barbecue make up the rest of the team. The nine characters all get a fair amount of screen time thanks to being a double episode, but the real star is Steeler the tank driver. He is the emotional core of the episode.
As far as I know, this is the only episode that Steeler gets any talking parts, and boy, does he talk. He spends the first part of the episode lamenting his position in G.I. Joe. He has no free time, his girlfriend left him, and they never appear to make a difference in the war against Cobra. It's a little heavy handed, but Pasko does a good job of setting up a character who is cynical and embittered by war. After a near death experience, he decides he's quitting G.I. Joe for good, but before he can quit, he gets caught up in one last life changing adventure.
Once in the alternate world, Steeler is horrified by effects of Cobra's rule and, thanks to a biologically weaponized insect bite and seeing the skeleton of his alternate reality self, actually goes temporarily insane and believes he's in Hell. Fortunately for him, he is found by Baroness and is nursed back to health. He learns that Baroness is secretly in the resistance against Cobra Commander and used to be in a romantic relationship the Steeler of her world. Steeler learns that every little bit of effort makes a difference and decides not to return to his own world. In this world he's truly needed, by both the resistance and by Baroness. So, he pretty much gets everything that he was complaining about at the beginning of the episode. Steeler's two friends, Clutch and Grunt decided to stay and help also, despite the fact that they don't get smoking hot girlfriends like the Baroness.The rest of the episode is standard alternate reality action affair. The Joe team are on the run in a strange totalitarian world that resembles their own. The Dreadnoks are cops, the Lincoln Memorial is replaced by the Cobra Commander Memorial, and a bad guy is actually a good guy.
This episode is in my top ten because it doesn't pull any punches. In a cartoon where the characters fire make believe lasers and everyone parachutes out of exploding vehicles, it was
pretty intense to see skeletons wearing G.I. Joe uniforms lying in a mass grave. The animation is really clean, and as previously mentioned, there's a strong emotional story about a three dimensional character at it's core.I'll happily give a fond farewell to great characters.
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