Episode 1: The Tearing

ReBoot made it's debut on September 10th 1994 on ABC in the US, airing on YTV in Canada a week later on the 17th September 1994 and eventually airing on ITV during it's CITV block in the UK a few months later on January 4th 1995. Seeing as I was only about one at the time, I didn't see this episode on it's initial airing, and like I said in my introductory post, I wasn't aware of the show's existence until it was partway into it's third season. Because of this, I don't really have much nostalgia for the first season of ReBoot, so this is likely to affect a lot of my opinions as we get through this first season. 

While this was the first episode aired and the intended first episode of the entire show, this was actually the second episode produced with the second intended episode 'Racing the Clock' being produced first. The reason behind this was the crew wanted to iron out all the kinks with regards to the animation so that the first episode that people saw didn't have those kinks. So without further ado, let's get started on the episode that started it all, 'The Tearing'.

Like most episodes of the show, we start with the opening sequence. This does a good job of explaining the premise of the show before launching us right into the action. We start with a camera zooming through some platforms floating above what looks like sand dunes heading towards a silver ball in the middle as a voice narrates to us that he comes from somewhere called 'The Net'. As we reach the ball, the camera continues to zoom, but now through a tunnel of lights before panning down to reveal a disc shaped city surrounded by water, which the narrator tells us is 'Mainframe'. He goes onto explain that he's a Guardian, who's function is 'To Mend and Defend'. Following some clips taken from the show, a purple cube falls out of the sky onto a section of Mainframe. The narrator comes back in to tell us that 'They say the user lives outside the net, and inputs games for pleasure'. We then cut to a close up shot of this narrator, who turns out to be a blue man with silver dreadlocks we have already seen several clips of in this intro as he tells us that 'No one knows for sure, but I intend to find out!'

The latter part is a little misleading, considering that the show's characters make no efforts to uncover the mystery of 'who the user is and why he drops games on the city'. This line was not written by the show's creators, but someone in LA. The creators weren't too keen on the line, but it was kept in at the behest of the network. Asides from this misleading line at the end, this is a pretty good intro. It tells us a little about our main character, that he's an outsider who's now living in a place called 'Mainframe', and that his job is to defend the city from danger. 

Following the intro, we're flung right into the action. Our hero is being chased by two almost identical robots riding tanks. He's able to trick them into crashing into each other, causing them to smash to pieces. These robots are Hack and Slash, the dim witted henchmen to our main villain, Megabyte. 

As for our hero, his name is Bob. While a fair amount of characters are named after computer terminology, Bob is an exception to that. He was named Bob because Gavin Blair and Ian Pearson, the show's creators, liked the way that Rowan Atkinson said the name 'Bob' in the sitcom 'Blackadder'. Bob is not your typical stoic cartoon action hero. He's a little goofy, but can be serious if the situation calls for it.

Following this action scene, Megabyte himself makes his first appearance via a Vid Window. Megabyte is voiced by the late great Tony Jay, who also voiced the villainous Count Frollo in Disney's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. Jay loved playing the role of Megabyte, and would contact Gavin and Ian in between seasons asking when he can do more Megabyte, saying 'You really should do more, it's a good little show'. 

Megabyte tells Bob that all he's after is a favour. Bob refuses, saying that he 'doesn't do favours for slime'. This prompts Megabyte to warn Bob that his noncompliance will make things difficult for Bob's friends. Cut to Bob's apartment. Here we get a quick snippet of Bob's morning routine. However, this gets interrupted by a green skinned child appearing on a Vid Window saying that Bob needs to come to Dot's. We then zoom into the Vid Window showing an establishing shot of Dot's Diner in relative dismay. The 'D' in the sign is hanging off it's hinges, the windows are broken, and several chairs are on the floor. When Bob arrives, the entrance is blocked by a red and yellow dog who growls at him, prompting Bob to instead enter through a broken window. The dog's name is Frisket, a feral dog who sometimes joins the characters on their adventures.

Inside the diner, we're introduced to Dot Matrix (named after the old 'Dot Matrix' printers), the green skinned woman who owns the diner and Cecil, a robot who speaks with a French accent and looks like an old Apple Macintosh computer hanging from a brass rail.  The reason that Cecil hangs from a brass rail is because he was named after a strip club in Vancouver near where the show was made. 

Cecil is complaining about all the clean up that needs doing. As Bob enters the diner, he's pounced on by the child from earlier. This is Enzo, Dot's younger brother. The team behind the show didn't initially want a kid in the show, but Christopher Brough, the show's producer, insisted on having a kid in the show for the audience to relate to, saying that they 'needed a Little Enzo running around', and the name stuck. Enzo explains that goons showed up and offlined the place before spouting loads of computer jargon.

You've probably noticed that the characters are all different colours such as blue and green. The reason behind this was to avoid the stipulations that networks have about having to have a certain number of characters of certain ethnic backgrounds (i.e. these characters have to be white, this one has to be black, this one has to be Asian etc), allowing the shows creators to have the cast of characters they wanted. 

Bob reckons that Megabyte was responsible for trashing the diner in an attempt to get to him, but it's his problem to deal with. The Binomes in the diner tell Bob to tell them what the issue is. The majority of Mainframe's population is made up of these binomes, who represent the '1s' and '0s' inside a computer. The production reason behind this is because the binome characters were simpler to model and animate than loads of humanoid characters (or Sprites if we're using show terminology). There is an in universe reason for this, but we won't learn this until the show's second season.

Bob mentions the favour, and Cecil tells Bob that he thinks he should do it. However, Dot shoots that idea down immediately, giving a speech about how 'Mainframer's stick together, and when it comes to Megabyte, the answer is always no'. Bob states that he's going to stay at the diner to ensure that Megabyte never causes trouble again. Enzo then says he'll help claiming to not be afraid of 'Old Megabreath' as Megabyte shows up on a Vid Window behind him, causing Enzo to flee once he notices. 

Megabyte taunts Bob, saying that if he'd be able to keep this from happening again if Bob does a simple favour, but won't make any promises. Bob says that he'll be staying put, starting to go into a speech about how he's the new sprite in town, but then he's interrupted by the sky going purple and a voice declaring 'Warning! Incoming Game!' A purple shape then starts extruding from the sky.

Megabyte orders three legions to watch out for Bob and prevent him from getting into the Game. Bob heads off, but is ambushed by Megabyte's tanks blockading his path. He falls off his zip board only to be caught by Dot and Enzo in a car as the shape stops descending and forms a cube over a section of the city. Bob is worried, and rightfully so, as the system voice soon announces 'Game Over, The User Wins!' The cube ascends back into the sky, and we can see the sector is now in ruins as an ambulance approaches. Enzo declares the sector as 'nullified'. Bob is sombre about this, feeling he could have prevented it if he had done Megabyte's favour. Dot suggests that Bob talks to someone named Phong.

We then cut to the 'Principle Office', the building in the centre of Mainframe. Bob and Phong, a small robot with a long neck, are playing 'pong'. Once Bob wins, Phong says Bob is now worthy of his wisdom. This is a little iffy for me, since what if there's a life or death situation, and Phong won't tell anyone how to stop it unless they beat him at Pong? 

Bob tells Phong about his issue with Megabyte, who tells him to stay away, adding that the Command Com has tried to erase Megabyte at every upgrade, but he's a 'clever virus'. This is the first time Megabyte is referred to as such in the series, making Bob essentially an Anti Virus program. There's a reason why he doesn't just delete Megabyte, but that's not something that's explored until the fourth season. 

Phong tells Bob that Megabyte has 'bad file servers' in almost every sector of the system before informing him of an old readme file he's read that states 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer', urging Bob to be careful and not do anything alone. He reminds Bob that 'Here in Mainframe, we stick together', and Bob tells Phong he'll tell the others before he proceeds.

Cut to Bob going to Megabyte's lair, an imposing building that's shaped kind of like a cobra. Bob rings the door bell, prompting a Vid Window to appear with a door knocker. Megabyte greets Bob via another Vid Window, who says that he can now see that Megabyte is 'the big circuit in town' and that he'll throw his chips in with him. The door then opens, and Bob enters.

We cut to Dot's Diner having it's sign refitted. Dot contacts Phong on her file organiser, enquiring about Bob's whereabouts. Upon learning that he's not with Dot, Phong is worried since this means that Bob is probably with Megabyte... alone.

Bob and Megabyte descend on a platform through his lair. Here's where we get a good look at Megabyte's sizeable army, complete with several tanks and viral binomes. Megabyte's eyes go from green to black, which opens a door revealing a computer system and a big blue glowing ball surrounded by static. 

Bob reveals this is a tear leading to the Super Computer as his wrist gadget changes shape to give readings on the tear. This gadget is called 'Glitch', and can do pretty much anything Bob commands it to. Megabyte needs Bob to stabilise this tear into a portal as only Guardians and Games are able to stabilise tears. When Bob points out Megabyte's vast army, Megabyte refers to them as 'colleagues' to make his visit to the Super Computer 'comfortable'. 

Bob declares that he won't let Megabyte through, giving us the first use of his catchphrase 'I don't think so!' He asks Megabyte what guarantee he has that Megabyte won't spread to the Super Computer and raid the armoury while a binome hands Megabyte a case holding a gun. He takes the gun out the case and fires it at Bob, attaching a harness supported by rope to his torso, stating that he's now proceeding with 'Plan B'.

Bob is launched towards the tear, and he uses Glitch to stabilise the tear with the command 'Glitch, Key!' The tear turns into a portal just as Bob's about to go though, and Megabyte pulls him back out. Bob then destabilises the tear as Megabyte tells Bob he'll take him with him as insurance. They're interrupted by Hack and Slash carrying Dot. Hack and Slash speak in unison trying to find the word that they're looking for before they eventually reach it (this is part of their shtick). Basically, Dot started a riot outside, and Hack and Slash captured her. Megabyte declares the riot as being 'harmless', but Bob uses this distraction to kick over Megabyte's computer console. Suddenly, the tear is free. An alarm sounds, and there's several explosions, causing some of Megabyte's binomes and tanks to explode comically.

Bob and Dot start to escape, and Dot explains that she thought that if Hack and Slash captured her, they'd take her to Megabyte, and in turn, Bob. This shows that Dot is Bob's equal, and isn't simply just a damsel in distress for Bob to rescue every episode. As the lift starts ascending, Bob is pulled down by Megabyte, but he falls after Bob detaches the harness. Megabyte then starts jumping up the wall in a feral manner, meeting Bob and Dot at the top of the elevator. However, the System Voice yet again announces 'Warning, Incoming Game!' as a game drops right onto Megabyte's lair, Megabyte saying that he 'doesn't need Bob after all!'

Inside the game, we see an aircraft carrier floating in space. Bob and Dot tap the icons on their chests while saying 'ReBoot!' as they're engulfed by a green pillar before it vanishes, revealing them now wearing futuristic fighter pilot uniforms (not to dissimilar to those worn by the characters from 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century', not sure if that was an intentional reference or not). 

Suddenly, a red vehicle comes along and starts shooting at the aircraft carrier. This is the avatar of The User. Megabyte jumps on The User's ship and begins what Bob calls a 'Viral Takeover'. Megabyte is now in the cockpit and the ship's colour changes from red to blue with Megabyte's viral skull emblem being on the ship's hull. He starts heading for the location of the tear.

Bob and Dot get into their own ships and begin pursuit as Bob gives orders for the binomes to 'proceed heading 1138, stay frosty'. Bob says that the tear has been stabilised into a portal on Level 3, and they need to beat Megabyte there. They go through an asteroid field, and upon exiting, they are met by a Star Destroyer like vehicle. Megabyte orders the ship to 'erase those meddlers following me'. Bob orders his fellow pilots to hit the main target on the ship's bridge. Bob covers Dot as she delivers the final blow. They then follow Megabyte to an ice planet, flying into a cave. Bob shoots down Megabyte's ship, and he ejects, landing on Bob's ship. He says that him and Bob would make a great team. After Bob tells Megabyte that he'd rather be erased, Megabyte extends his claws and chops off the wing of Bob's ship. This wing then collides with Dot's ship as she ejects. Bob commands Glitch to fire a safety line and he escapes. 

Megabyte declares that he's going to infect the Super Computer before returning to crush Mainframe as Dot lands in her arms. Bob fires another line from Glitch, which in turn hits a nearby icicle forming a makeshift zipline. Bob slides down the line and orders Glitch to disengage just as he's over the portal, which ends the game. The tear returns to it's previously unstable state, and Megabyte approaches Dot, asking if she wants to see how much he hates to lose. He extends his claws, but Bob arrives through the portal in the nick of time, causing the tear to close. Bob says that it was a trick he picked up at the armoury along with two small gold spheres that cause Bob and Dot to vanish. Megabyte presumes that this is a return command and that Bob and Dot have returned to the diner, ordering his men to hurry. It turns out that this was just a 'hidden file command' that has rendered Bob and Dot invisible.

Back at the diner, Enzo tells Bob and Dot that Megabyte and his goons left upon learning that they weren't there. Dot says that Megabyte will probably never forgive Bob for this, and Bob says that he's made it clear to Megabyte that if he messes with one of them, he messes with all of them. Enzo asks Bob about the Super Computer, and we pan out as Bob describes it to him, revealing the diner is yet again in ruins with Cecil ranting about how 'cleanup is not my function!'.

There's definitely a lot to like about this first episode of the show. It's a fun opening episode that introduces us to the world of Mainframe and it's characters. We learn how the Game's work, we learn how much influence Megabyte holds over Mainframe and what his main goal is (to get to the Super Computer). We see the beginnings of Megabyte's conflict with Bob which will persist throughout the series. 

As for the other characters, we get to see Bob's more relaxed and goofy nature at the start, but we can see him get serious when he needs to once the plot escalates. Dot is also given plenty to do and isn't there for the sake of having a female character - she contributes to the plot just as much as Bob does. Enzo does come off as being a bit annoying in this episode, but luckily he's not in this episode too much.

I also love the design and look of the show. Sure, by today's standards, the CGI is a little dated, but the look of the city still looks pretty cool. I like how Dot's Diner is a 50's styled American Diner, and Megabyte's lair looks really imposing and has a real sinister feeling about it.

This episode's game is really fun. While it has a couple of Star Wars vibes, it mainly seems to opt for a generic space theme. Not that this is a bad thing, as it still makes for a fun action set piece. As we progress through the series, the games will begin to become more elaborate parodies of other franchises.

However, the story does feel a little simplistic. It works as an introduction to the show and it's premise, but while the story is fun, it's not super engaging. This is something that does persist throughout this first season (at least, in comparison to what we're going to get in later seasons), but there are reasons for why the show is this way which we'll talk about more when we reach a couple of episodes this season. The overuse of computer jargon in speech can feel a bit too much at times, especially when Enzo spouts a load of it in one go. Luckily, this is something that gets smoothed out in later seasons. 

Overall though, this is a pretty decent first episode that introduces us to the characters and how this universe operates even if the story itself isn't the most complex. 

Next week, we're introduced to another member of ReBoot's ensemble cast and we get an interesting spin on Formula 1 in 'Racing the Clock'.