G.I. Retro - A Stake in the Serpent's Heart

In this episode of G.I. Retro, I break down the finale of the M.A.S.S. Device - A Stake in the Serpent's Heart! Destro seizes control of Cobra and takes menace to a whole new level, the Joes launch an all-out assault on the Cobra Temple, Selina and Scarlett lead a slave rebellion, and do we have a new love triangle going on?!  

What was YOUR favorite episode from the miniseries?
Who was YOUR Episode MVP?
Who was YOUR Foul-Up of the Week?
What was YOUR favorite But Did You Die? moment?
What moments or hidden highlights did I miss?
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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:10

Five episodes, two mass devices, Cobra Commander and Destro at each other's throats, an all-out assault on the Cobra Temple. It has all led to this. The finale of the miniseries that started it all. This is G.I. Retro.

SPEAKER_05 0:29

Now back to G.I. Joe.

SPEAKER_04 0:32

Yo Joe and welcome everyone. Back to GI Retro, and we are here at last. The finale of the Mass Device miniseries, the miniseries that started it all, those five days of glory back in September of 1983. We are here at a stake in the Serpent's Heart, originally aired September 16th, 1983. So what do we think? Did the Mass Device finale stick the landing? Let's let's get right into it. And speaking of sticking the landing, we pick up in this episode right where the last one left off Destro and Scarlet in a disabled shuttlecraft hurtling towards what would be their death. But fortunately for Destro, Scarlet doesn't give up so easily.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

My ball! The third arrow! It's a tractor rig! Hurry! Huh? That one you jerked, the third one! That's it! Now, set it on short range or you'll blow it through the instrument pedal. Gently hammer hands, steady.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Nothing's happening.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

It will do something fast.

SPEAKER_04 1:52

I love that clip. It's building off of our reigning and defending MVP Scarlet and just how great she is acquitting herself throughout the series. Uh, I love the insults that she's hurling at Destro using those educated feet while she's tied up. It was great stuff. Ultimately, Destro and Scarlet do make it back to the Cobra Temple. Scarlet still captured. She does try to escape. We'll talk a little bit more about that as we go along here. But the next big story element that I want to tackle is upon Destro's return, learning how Cobra Commander has exhausted uh some of their Mass Device resources, but more importantly, from his perspective, has not backed up the threats of Cobra and their Mass Device. And Destro is going to, without Cobra Commander's consent, he is taking over the operation. And things between Destro and Cobra Commander here, they come to a head, they boil over, it gets physical. We've seen the tension going on throughout the miniseries, and here was really the culmination of it with Destro asserting control.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Noble Destro, my old friend. We congratulate you on the success of your mission. Success?

SPEAKER_02 3:15

You dare speak to me of success, you psychotic, sibilant servant of adult!

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Really, Destro, is that any way to talk to your leader?

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Your stupid, bungled attempt to disintegrate New York has given our enemies the two commodities they must not be allowed. Time and hope.

SPEAKER_04 3:34

Alright, a few things to spotlight here as Destro is taking command of Cobra, at least with the Mass Device operation. Uh, first and foremost, uh, I want to again shout out the animation. I don't think it gets its proper do as much as it should. And in particular here, I really liked this scene. I liked seeing Destro in the reflection of Cobra Commander's faceplate. We, of course, will see that again later on in the Sunbow run of G.I. Joe, but it was cool to see it first show up here in the Mass Device mini-series. Uh, but also the the quote, uh, Destro calling Cobra Commander a psychotic sibilant serpent of adult. I had to look up what sibilant even meant, and it is making or characterized by a hissing sound, as in the letter S. So nailed it very apropos, and you know, who knew? Destroy expanding my vocabulary from 1983 all the way to today. So, yeah, thanks for that, Destro. Uh, but with him taking over Cobra, striking a, you know, a different tone, really menacing, very serious. Not that Cobra Commander wasn't, but almost sort of more deliberate or measured and scary in his own right. I think, you know, again, going back to that quote, calling Cobra Commander psychotic, implying that his methods with the mass device, you know, weren't as sort of, you know, well thought out, a little bit more haphazard, whereas Destro is going to be a bit more clinical, uh, but just as, if not even more scary than how Cobra Commander did it. Uh, and we we see that almost right away. He herds up the world leaders that they've captured, and they even, you know, they even remark about how frightened they are of Destro. And I thought that was really cool to show how him jumping on and how he was gonna do things. But Destro finds out that, you know, it's it's not as easy as you know as it looks. You know, he was armchair quarterbacking a little bit and criticizing Cobra Commander, but just like Cobra Commander, he found out that, you know, the world isn't so eager to just roll over and surrender, and that leads to one of the most iconic destro quotes I think of the entire series.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Such stupidity.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

This is one must take a one wants to take it under consideration, but they realize they're dealing with Destro.

SPEAKER_04 6:19

Gotta love the such bottomless stupidity line. So iconic. It's a gif, it's everywhere, and we get it here in the finale of the Mast Device, keeping it with Destro and Cobra for a second. I'm gonna be jumping around a little bit in terms of the order of how things occurred in this episode. Uh, but we do get Destro again going along with that menacing tone and trying to bring the world to its knees and to actually surrender, threatening to execute a world leader every hour on the hour. And this is a kid's show. What a tone for a kid's show in 1983. A better time, if you ask me, not insulting the audience's intelligence, showing that you know they can they can handle it. You know, it's serious, but they don't have to dumb it down for the kids all the time. So I I really appreciated that upon upon going back and re-watching this miniseries, not just you know, holding them a hostage, blatantly saying, hey, we're gonna execute one every hour on the hour. Also, we get the dueling mass devices, so Destro is you know going to try and make good on the threats that Cobra Commander's Mass Device couldn't cash. But now G.I. Joe has their own. So once again, New York facing sudden death, but G.I. Joe, and you know, shout out to Gung Ho for having the idea. I don't know why Dr. Vandemere didn't think of it, but firing their own mass device blast to counteract Cobra's, and New York is once again saved. So Destro thwarted, frustrated. I do love Cobra Commander pointing out that G.I. Joe must have their own mass device.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

They stopped us! They must have a mass device.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Brilliant induction.

SPEAKER_04 8:09

Just more terrific interplay and sniping at one another from Cobra Commander and Destro. But that essentially, you know, the two Mass Devices were at a stalemate. So the world seems, you know, safe-ish for now, except for the fact that Duke needs to somehow remember where the Cobra Temple is so they can rescue Scarlet, Selena, and the rest of the slaves. Excuse me, the beautiful slave girl Selena and the rest of the slaves, and also just put a stop to Cobra and their mass device. So they solve that by, you know, not using the sort of cerebro device that they did earlier in the miniseries. This time they're putting Duke in what they call a sensory deprivation chamber. To me, it looked like the back to tank from Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, but I digress. This this was a great scene uh for a couple reasons. I I love uh more than anything the setting who Duke is in this universe. Uh we get it through the exposition in this scene with Doc uh going through Duke's memories and showing his morality, his entire ethos is sort of laid before us here in this scene, and that he, you know, stands up for what's right at any given time, essentially like laying out that Duke is Captain America. And I thought that was really great. But the other thing that stood out to me from this scene is when they finally get to Duke's memories of where the Cobra Temple is, and when we see the beautiful slave girl Selena, everyone's reaction.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Hey, look at her. Wow. She's nice. Woo! Hey, man, how could he forget a fish like that? We've got it.

SPEAKER_04 9:57

I love how throughout this entire miniseries, whatever opportunity they can to reinforce the fact that it's not just Selena, it's the beautiful slave girl Selena, uh, just really laying it on thick there with everybody's reaction. But it was great. And, you know, they finally comb through Duke's memories. They see that Duke gave her his ring, so they can use that as a homing beacon to finally launch their assault on the Cobra Temple. And this is the just massive big action sequence from this episode, and it definitely delivers. It's great. Lots of Joes getting hero moments, Wild Bill, Duke, Snake Eyes, Stalker. Lots of great moments for everybody. Uh, a couple things I want to highlight from this action sequence, though, is that we don't see the sort of the stereotype, perhaps unfairly hung on Cobra Commander, at the very least, in the early going of G.I. Joe, a real American hero, and that is turning and running at the first sign of trouble. He actually doesn't do that here. He actually has a plan to try and turn the tide of battle for Cobra, and I think that's really worth highlighting here because he gets epitheted as being so quick to call retreat and just hightail it out of there. That's not what he's doing here in the Mass Device. He has a plan, he unleashes those mechs. Now, when they get defeated, then he says, Hey, it's time to get out of here, me first, Baroness. But for a moment, he had a plan B and he was gonna try and win this battle for Cobra. So I thought that was really important to sort of showcase here. Uh, also, beyond just the other great action going on throughout this battle, we do get, of course, if it's a big battle, you know that's probably where we're gonna get our DYD. So let's get into this week's But Did You Die moment of the Week.

SPEAKER_06 11:52

Did you die? I got shot, but did you die?

SPEAKER_04 11:57

Now, this episode featured a few very eligible DYDs, in particular, two that I was very torn between. The first that ultimately I did not go with was Raymar the Giant uh hurling the Cobra troopers through the barred windows uh into the sea, the moat of the Cobra Temple. I mean, that one is great, very nearly took it. But what I'm going to go with here is actually Stalker shooting down the Viper Gliders when they're making the assault on the exterior, just because of how dramatic they made it look. Like there was no chance for these guys to live until they just suddenly, you know, they pan down. The next, the next sort of frame is, oh, they just landed harmlessly in the in the tree line down there. So Stalker shooting down those troopers and the viper gliders, that is our but did you die moment of the week. Very close, though. So maybe, maybe you go with Remar just wrecking shop inside the Cobra Temple. No shortage of uh moments to choose from throughout this episode, that's for sure. Now it's time to talk about Scarlet and the beautiful slave girl Selena, uh, two featured players that have really just shined so bright throughout the entire Mass Device miniseries that continues here in the finale, and they form sort of uh a tag team uh of sorts. Once they finally get on the same page, when they're thrown in the same cell together, they team up, including leading a slave revolt, which is another one of the real highlight scenes from the episode. Ultimately unsuccessful, still really cool. Uh, and you get some more awesome destro in that scene as well. In particular, I love when he kicks that bazooka, making the shot misfire. Again, ultimately not successful, but Scarlet and Selena forming a team and really continuing to be standouts in the Mass Device mini-series, also layering in more of the sort of I don't know if it's what they were going for. I don't know if kids in 1983, if we understood Love Triangle, but that's that's kind of what we had going here because Selena, again, you know, throughout this thing, talking about how, you know, making remarks about how like Duke would be proud of her and all this stuff. Meanwhile, we've got Scarlet speaking affectionately about Duke, you know, six foot two, eyes of blue. And that leads us back to the assault. Duke and G.I. Joe reach the interior. Duke makes the rescue of Selena and Scarlet.

SPEAKER_05 14:37

Scarlet, are you alright?

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Duke, it's about time you guys showed up. A girl gets tired hanging around the house. Later, sister, we've got a war to win.

SPEAKER_05 14:51

I was gonna bring flowers, but I thought you'd like these better.

SPEAKER_04 14:56

You know, normally you'd think that in a cartoon like this, Selena throwing herself at Duke and kissing him, that it would be pretty straightforward, that that is sort of the romance angle of this given show, or at least of this episode. But that's not really the case here if you pay attention. I mean, yeah, Duke and Selena kiss, but it's sort of just Selena throwing herself at Duke, and then Duke just kind of shrugs it off and flirts with Scarlet, you know, saying, Hey, I would have brought you flowers, but here's your trusty crossbow. And you cannot deny sort of the romantic chemistry between the two of them there. So it's really interesting for a cartoon from 1983 meant for kids, sort of that level of gray area. Not, you know, not that it's too adult. I'm not, I'm not saying that whatsoever. It's a kiss and, you know, some flirtation. I'm just saying that usually things are so straightforward from that time period that I found this really interesting going back to see that. And meanwhile, poor Snake Eyes really hasn't been dealt in since you know Scarlet hugged him. I think that was like back at the end of episode two. But my wife actually stumbled upon something else and a different potential romance, maybe, or at least a contender, uh, an admirer of Scarlet.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

Don't open any champagne yet, Scrap Iron Breath. You took a round, not the fight.

SPEAKER_02 16:22

What a tiresome Tigris. She was my ticket out with the third element. That's all, ladies. Be glad you survived with your beautiful skins intact.

SPEAKER_04 16:32

I've watched the Mass Device, I don't know how many times, and I've never really put that together before. The sort of admiration tones from Destro towards Scarlet. I mean, you can't really deny it once you see it. You know, calling her this tigress with definite, you know, the at the very least, respect, but I think crossing that threshold a little bit and then talking about saving her beautiful skin when he puts down the slave revolt and even going back to last episode, calling her, you know, you're a paradox to me, Scarlet. Yeah, it's definitely once you see it, you can't really unsee it. Doesn't seem reciprocated at all from Scarlet. And I can't really blame Destro, but you know, he's always got the baroness, which, you know, you can't go wrong. But yeah, I thought that was I thought that was really in an interesting observation. Uh, and again, another layer uh in G.I. Joe a real American hero. And Destro, not just desperate for the affections of Scarlet, but desperate to thwart G.I. Joe no matter the cost, and get whatever pound of flesh he can before he is ultimately defeated. He keeps threatening to kill General Flag until G.I. Joe is finally able to rescue him. And he and Cobra Commander have to fall all the way back to their mass device, and Destro aims it at the Earth's core. Consequences be damned, and then he just sort of says, Hey, Cobra Commander, I'll see you later if there is a later. Thankfully, G.I. Joe able to put an end to that and destroy Cobra's mass device, saving the day once and for all, and rounding up most of Cobra.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

The Cobra Commander, he's got to be here somewhere. You have won this time, but Cobra will survive to defeat you. Remember my words.

SPEAKER_04 18:34

Cobra Commander, just such a gift of a character. I love him trying to make his escape there, and that the lasting impression or image we get of him from this miniseries is that sort of half-baked escape attempt. And just throughout the Mass Device miniseries, Cobra Commander playing the hits, showing why he is such an iconic and such a memorable villain. On Destro's side, he gets sort of the Darth Vader from Star Wars exit flying off in his helicopter, vowing revenge on G.I. Joe. And that almost brings a stake in the Serpent's Heart to a close. I'm going to save the foul-up actually for after MVP because our foul-up of the week occurs right at the very end. So MVP. We've talked throughout the miniseries. Always a bridesmaid, never the bride, the beautiful slave girl Selena. Will she finally break through and be MVP? Because she had another great episode. But once again, she is not going to be MVP. I'm sorry, Selena. You gave it your best shot. And if maybe we did an entire miniseries MVP, maybe you would take home that crown. Scarlet, reigning defending MVP, also had another great episode. Stacking back-to-back, really good performances. She also comes up short. Duke, you could make the argument for MVP. Cobra Commander, probably a perennial MVP candidate throughout this entire series. But this episode, you've heard me mention his name so much throughout it. The finale of the Mass Device miniseries, in my opinion, really belongs to Destro. He is this week's MVP. He was so great. I have to shout out the voice actor Arthur Burkhardt because the line delivery, the articulation, the menace in each line delivery was so great. The again expanding uh vocabulary, didn't know what sibilant meant, had to look it up. So uh again, in taking over Cobra and executing his plans just really elevated this episode. Did the Noble Destro? He is this week's MVP for sure for me. So with the MVP comes the other side of the coin, uh, the foul-up of the week. And as I mentioned, it happens towards the very tail end of the episode. So without further ado, let's get to the foul-up of the week.

SPEAKER_02 21:12

You're here because you're an industrial spray follow-up.

SPEAKER_04 21:15

So, as I mentioned, the foul-up this week comes at the very tail end of the episode. G.I. Joe, they've wrapped up pretty much everything. They've defeated Cobra, destroyed their mass device, captured Cobra Commander. But one last piece of business does remain. And if you remember earlier on in the miniseries, Cobra used their mass device to disappear, teleport the Eiffel Tower out of Paris. So G.I. Joe trying to make things right on that front. Take a look.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

I think there's just enough juice to send the Eiffel Tower back where it belongs. Here goes.

unknown 21:57

What?

SPEAKER_05 21:58

You put the Eiffel Tower back. Back in London.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

I guess I goofed, but there's nothing I can do. All the elements are used up.

SPEAKER_04 22:09

Maybe the most obvious fallop of the week in the entire miniseries, Breaker, using the last remaining Mass Device elements to send the Eiffel Tower to London, England. So congrats, Breaker. You are the fallop of the week. And that is how we bring a stake in the Serpent's Heart to a close and the Mass Device miniseries itself to a close. The miniseries that changed everything back in September of 1983. And it's easy to see why. If you were a kid coming home to watch G.I. Joe, a real American hero, mind blowing. You'd want to get your hands on every comic book, every toy, anything G.I. Joe you possibly could. And it had that impact the world over, and it persists to this day, as many of you already know. So it's been great going back. I think some of the spotlight sort of things that shone through of the Mast device miniseries for me, it's all the character introductions, all the character relationship dynamics that were done so well here. In particular, I think Cobra Commander and Destro, that tension from episode one through episode five being layered in really stood out to me. That was done excellently. And also on the G.I. Joe side, getting to see so many characters on the Joe team get their moments to shine, their hero moments, as I like to call them, that also really stood out. And I think overall, the miniseries, it holds up. And I think it's only going to get better from here and going back. Because there's a lot of fan favorite characters that we haven't even seen yet. So I'm super excited to get to them and see when they first appear. So for me, I think my favorite episode from the miniseries, if you ask me right now, it's the worms of death. But go ahead, let me know what was your favorite episode. Drop your picks for MVP and foul up. As always, love seeing you in the comments. Connect with me on Twitter at GI Retro Show. You can email me, James at GIRetro.com as well. It's been a lot of fun. Please keep revisiting this with me, re watching. Like and subscribe, all that good stuff. When I see you next, we will be on to the next miniseries, The Revenge of Cobra. But until then, if you didn't know, now you know. Take it away, Flint.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

And knowing is half the battle.