Episode 7 - The Crimson Binome

So far this season, we've mainly been dealing with single shot episodes that largely don't hint at a world outside of Mainframe where the show is set. This episode is the first hint of the direction the show is going to be taking in later seasons. While this is subtle, we get a threat that comes from outside of Mainframe rather than local villains Megabyte and Hexadecimal, and we get a small amount of foreshadowing for a character who's going to show up later this season.

This week, we begin at Mainframe's docks. It heavily resembles an old British seaside town, complete with a Punch and Judy styled puppet show named Punchcard and Querty. A couple of Binomes and Number 5 spot a red light on the horizon coming towards the docks. As it gets closer, it vanishes as a pirate ship docks, with pirate binomes flying off around the docks on their zip boards. We cut to the deck to see the Captain standing there with his first mate. The captain gloats about how he loves his job.

At Dot's Diner, Dot is talking to a security binome on a vid window only for the vid window to cut to static. She tells Phong that all of Kits Sector is down, and Phong tells her that he’s aware of the situation and that the issue started at the docks. Enzo points out that Bob's apartment is in Kits, and that Bob will probably have the situation under control. Cut to binomes screaming in terror running from the pirates. Their weapons trap those they attack within cubes, freezing them. In Bob's apartment, he’s working on his car with headphones on, singing badly into a spanner. As a result, he doesn’t see the pirates sneak in, who then proceed to steal both his car and Glitch. Bob turns around to see his car is gone.

Back at their ship, the pirates are bringing their loot on board. One gives Glitch to Capacitor. He recognises it as a Guardian key tool, and orders his first mate Mr Christopher to give Miss Sally a pay rise. He ponders why a Guardian is in such a small port, and tells one of his crew to wake the princess just in case. At the docks, Dot and Enzo are pinned down as they can’t get past them. Bob is hiding behind a wall near the ship. He recognises that these are Software Pirates. He reaches for Glitch only to realise the pirates took it. Back on the deck, the pirates are about to set off, and release all the Mainframers trapped in their cubes. Then Bob comes along wielding one of their swords, and proceeds to attack the pirates. Some of them are worried about what this could mean for their profit, but Capacitor reassures them that a Guardian would net them a high profit in any system, and then orders Princess Bula, an abnormally large binome, to go after Bob and capture him.

Bob lands on the deck, ordering the Captain to return Glitch. He throws it down, but just as Bob is about to grab it, Bula springs out from the floorboards and grabs Bob. The pirates then proceed to head off, and we can see that the ship is named 'The Saucy Mare'. As it leaves the dock, sails materialise and the ship vanishes from Mainframe, with Capacitor telling his crew that they now have 'the prize of our lives'.

At the docks, Phong informs Dot and Enzo that the pirates took Bob, and that they’re heading for a portal. If they don’t get to the ship before they get to the portal, they might lose Bob forever. Dot then proceeds to commandeer a ship from Mr Mitchell (named after Phil Mitchell, one of the show's Co-Creators), who isn’t too happy about the ordeal. He points out that there are more powerful ships in the docks. While this is true, Dot says speed is what they need, and Mr Mitchell's ship is the fastest. Several security binomes board the ship as well, and Enzo tries to get Frisket to come along but he isn’t too willing. He eventually changes his mind once the ship leaves the dock, but he makes a giant leap, successfully landing on the ship. The ship then uses its engines to speed away.

In the brig of Capacitor's ship, Bob wakes up. He tries to grab the keys to his cell, only to find out that there’s a forcefield between the bars. The guard 'wakes up', and tells Bob only one person has escaped his prison, pointing to a carving of a mouse on the wall. Bob seems to know who this refers to, an old friend of his named Mouse. The Captain comes down to gloat, accompanied by Princess Bula. He refers to himself as The Crimson Binome, and Bob seems to have heard of him. He introduces Bula as a princess, and when Bob questions this, Capacitor asks him if he’d dare tell her otherwise. Bob threatens Capacitor, who continues to gloat as Bob throws a bed at the bars before suddenly vanishing. Capacitor orders Bula and Mr Jimmy to go after him. Once she’s gone, Miss Sally comes down to tell him that they’ve got a ship tailing on them. As Capacitor leaves, we see Bob was hiding behind a wooden beam in his cell. He comments on how he now owes Mouse one, and that it’s time to make this voyage 'unprofitable'.

Back on Mr Mitchell's ship, Phong contacts Dot to tell her that the pirates ship has stopped inexplicably. Dot and Enzo know that this is due to Bob. On the Saucy Mare, we find out that Bob has exploded the rudder, and Bula is desperately trying to catch Bob only for him to keep evading her. Mr Mitchell's ship eventually catches up to them. Dot orders the unidentified vessel to stand down. Capacitor takes offence to this, declaring himself as The Crimson Binome before enquiring who Dot is. She takes Mr Mitchell's hat and calls herself Admiral Matrix, Warning Capacitor that they’ve dealt with her kind before. Capacitor says they always win, so Dot should stand down. After some explosions on the ship, Dot mocks them, pointing out that it doesn’t sound like they’re winning, telling them to prepare for boarding and to return their stolen property. Capacitor states he’s only in this for the profit, but if it’s a fight they want, then it’s a fight they’ll have.

The ship approaches the Mare, and he orders Mr Edwards to fire all the cannons only to learn that Bob has taken out all but one. The cannon fires at the ship, but Frisket catches the cannonball in his mouth. The ship approaches and Dot and the binomes join Bob in the fight. Enzo sets Capacitor on Frisket only for him to strike Frisket with his sword, trapping him in a cube. Bula reveals she’s trapped Bob, and Capacitor orders Dot and Enzo to surrender. One of the pirates says the rudder's back online so they can head off. However, Mr Christopher points out how even with Bob, they won’t reach their usual profit margin of 200%. Dot laughs at this, showing Capacitor her business spreadsheets and her profit margins. As a result, Capacitor and Dot agree to go into business together, with Capacitor revealing his true name is Gavin (of course, named after Co-Creator Gavin Blair). Bob and Frisket are released (with Bula returning Glitch to Bob) and the two ships return to Mainframe.

This is a very fun episode with a lot to like. Captain Capacitor and his crew make for fun antagonists for this episode. Capacitor in particular seems very theatrical, which is accentuated by the late great Long John Baldry's voice performance. They also serve another purpose of building the world the show is set in outside of Mainframe since the crew of the Saucy Mare are outsiders. While we've had mentions of the Super Computer, which is where Bob initially came from, we haven't had any glimpses or ideas of what else is outside of Mainframe until now. This is something that gets touched upon a bit more in Season 2, and then heavily explored in Season 3.

Dot gets a chance to shine in this episode as she heads off to rescue Bob and even resolves the episodes conflict, showing the pirates that they can succeed even more through legitimate business in comparison to their piracy.  Even though he’s held captive, Bob is able to use a bit of ingenuity to escape and cause havoc on the ship, showing that while the character is a massive goofball, he is still capable of doing what needs to be done. We also get our first use of foreshadowing with the mention of Mouse, who is going to show up in a couple of episodes time. While it will be a while until he and his crew make another appearance, this certainly isn't the last that we'll see of The Crimson Binome.

Next time: Enzo makes a Monkey's Paw style wish in 'Enzo the Smart'