Top Ten Episodes of G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero - Number 06

"My Favorite Things"
Written by Doug Booth

I think it's safe to say that G.I. Joe comic writer extraordinaire Larry Hama can be credited with the lions share of creativity behind the franchise; and although the comic and the cartoon existed independently of each other, the cartoon often picked up Hama's ideas and took them in their own direction. Their only real concern was pushing the toys, not maintaining consistent continuity.

Most of the characters in the cartoon differed from their comic book counterparts and Serpentor was no exception, though he was not as far removed from his initial concept as some other characters. In the cartoon, he may have been a more megalomaniacal than he was in the comic, but the basic concept of being created from DNA of history's greatest despots and tyrants remains concurrent with the comic. The cartoon does take in a different directions, though.

The main premise of this episode is that Serpentor wants to obtain a bunch of historical artifacts that belonged to his DNA ancestors. For whatever reason, owning these weapons and statues makes him more powerful, albeit in an undefined way. This mission takes Cobra to the Netherlands in search of a battle axe owned by a Viking named Ulric the Batterer. Serendipitously, G.I. Joe and NATO are holding war games in the area. Despite that, Cobra invades a Dutch city and tries to steal the axe, named Skullsplitter, from a museum. G.I. Joe happens to be in the area and do their best to fight off the Cobra invasion. Serpentor manages to find the axe, but is stopped by Leatherneck. The two brawl for a while and the axe is chopped in two by a guillotine during the melee. Cobra escapes, but without the axe.

Back at Joe HQ, Leatherneck is the toast of the town, showing off his new souvenir and bragging about going toe to toe with Serpentor. Leatherneck's embittered rival, Wet Suit, becomes increasingly jealous. Here we get to see one of the strongest elements of the G.I. Joe cartoon.

One of the formulas that the Joe writers often used was the pairing up of two characters. Often times, one would not appear without the other. The first season got a lot of mileage out of Alpine and Bazooka. Alpine's talkative bossiness contrasted perfectly with Bazooka's monosyllabic stupidity. Likewise, we repeatedly saw the romantic playfulness of Flint and Lady Jaye, Shipwreck had a bird, etc. The buddy system is just easy to write for, and with G.I. Joe's bloated cast of characters, it simplified the process.

Wet Suit and Leatherneck are one of my favorite pairings. The two characters are fiercely proud of the military organizations from which they came, the Navy Seals and the Marines respectively. This was a great idea. You don't have to look very far to see examples of the rivalry between the different branches of the military, so it's very realistic and relatable. Both Wet Suit and Leatherneck are pinnacles of their namesakes and are constantly trying to out do one another in an effort to prove the superiority of their branch. It's handled very well, in that it's never personal, it's about the history of the military. In fact, both characters are incredibly similar. They are both brash, macho tough guys who don't take no guff from nobody.

This episode deals specifically with their rivalry and highlights both the merits and flaws of their characters.

The Joes try to catch Cobra at Vlad the Impaler's castle, where Serpentor tries to steal some ancient torture equipment. Feeling outdone by Leatherneck, Wet Suit jumps the gun and blows their cover when he attacks Serpentor head on. Wet Suit gets in over his head and Leatherneck is forced to jump into the fray to save Wet Suit. They manage to escape certain doom, but Leatherneck is poisoned by a dart tipped with the deadliest poison of all...Serpentor's blood. With Leatherneck on his deathbed, Wet Suit is overcome with guilt and decides he has to make things right by getting some more of Serpentor's blood with which an anti-venom can be made.

Wet Suit takes Lifeline, the current medical officer, to India. Apparently, one of Serpentor's DNA donors is Takshaka, King of the Nagas, from Indian mythology. Cobra prowl around in an ancient temple looking for Serpentor's ancient giant pet snake, much to Wet Suit's chagrin as he has an Indian Jonesesc hatred of snakes. It is revealed that the snake's venom is the same as Serpentor's blood. Lifeline finds a chalice of the venom and is pleased that they can abandon their ambush of Serpentor and use the snake venom instead.

But hot headed Wet Suit wastes the venom in an act of petty revenge against a damaged Cobra B.A.T. Wet Suit is unconcerned with losing the snake venom, as he'd rather go beat up Serpentor anyway. Lifeline reveals that the snake venom is the "pure form" of the poison and would be guaranteed to make an effective anti-venom, where as Serpentor's blood would be "clutching at straws." He insists that they have to get more venom from the giant snake, but Wet Suit refuses because of his fear of snakes.

At this point, we get to see the fourth star of this episode, Lifeline, deliver a very nice speech about honor and courage. You see, Lifeline is kind of a simple punchline character, in that he is a pacifist. In most of the episodes, this is highlighted in silly ways, such as never wanting to use violence on anybody for any reason, or refusing to use guns. In one episode, he is shown to be almost fearful of guns, refusing to even touch them. It's fairly one dimensional. But in this episode, it's handled really well. He chides Wet Suit on being a glory hog and a coward, and despite the fact that he is made fun of for not using weapons, he continually puts his life on the line in order to save lives. He then risks his life to get the venom by going after the snake alone.

Again, Wet Suit is overcome with guilt and realizes that he was being selfish. Together, the two Joes go after the snake. Wet Suit lets the giant snake bite him, being poisoned in the process, but soaking some of the venom into his shirt.

In the end, Lifeline is able to make an effective anti-venom and Wet Suit and Leatherneck are both seen healing in the medical bay, albeit in a shared room. They immediately fall into their ongoing rivalry,arguing and boasting about their accomplishments against Serpentor.

As Lifeline and General Hawk put it, "They are on the road to complete recovery...if they don't kill each other first."

As you can see from my description, a lot happens in this episode. It's very action heavy and very fast paced, but the action and pace are driven by the character drama. I think it's a perfect example of why the cartoon was so endearing to so many kids and remains so after they've grown up.