Episode 26 - Firewall

Last episode, Enzo managed to begin proving to the citizens of Mainframe that he was capable of defending Mainframe and a worthy Guardian to fill the void left by Bob. However, Cyrus is still out there plastering anti Enzo propaganda throughout the city in order to turn the uninitiated against the new Guardian. In this episode, Enzo needs to not only prove that he can take on the User, but also that he's capable of stopping Megabyte.

Instead of the usual intro, we begin with a black screen with a circle showing a snowy mountain. The circle moves around until it focuses on Santa skiing down the mountain, and then the scene becomes full screen. Santa passes two snowmen, who's faces watch Santa as he rides down, smiling before they begin giving chase. One of the snowmen throws a snowball that hits Santa straight in the face. We then hear Enzo's voice say 'Go right and cut him off, AndrAIa!', revealing that these snowmen are in fact Enzo and AndrAIa, and we're currently in a game. Eventually, the three reach the edge of a cliff, and Enzo morphs into a slope made of ice, causing Santa to fly right off the edge of the cliff. However, Santa manages to break his fall by activating a parachute shaped like a bauble. This is then punctured by Enzo launching an icicle at it, destroying the parachute and sending Santa hurtling down to his death.

We then cut to the opening sequence for this episode, which is a glorious intro similar to the title sequences used in the James Bond films. Not only is this one of the most memorable sequences in the entire show, but it is testament to how much effort Mainframe put into their shows that they'd make a credits sequence exclusively for this episode that didn't utilise clips from already completed episodes.

After this sequence, we see the game leave. Enzo and AndrAIa cheerfully reminisce about how fun the game was, with Enzo remarking how stupid the user was. 'Ho ho ho! What sort of a catchphrase is that?!' AndrAIa says they should go an tell Dot and Mouse. However, Enzo notes that the recovery teams are absent as they should have been picked up by now. This is when Megabyte makes his appearance known by telling the two that the recovery team has been 'delayed'. AndrAIa immediately aims her wrist dart at him, but Megabyte says there's no need for that since he only wishes to talk to Enzo, saying he has a message for his sister. When Enzo declares that he's a Guardian, and not his messenger, Megabyte picks Enzo up by the throat, telling him he's just a mere delivery boy and that it is through his will alone that Enzo survives this encounter before throwing Enzo to the floor.

At the Principle Office, AndrAIa is relaying Megabyte's message to Dot. He said that while they may be safe behind the Principle Office shields, the citizens of Mainframe are helpless. Megabyte claimed that they were 'hiding while others suffer', and he will ensure that they suffer a lot. Dot asks Enzo what they think they should do, but Enzo tells her not to humour him since he's not a Guardian, and just a little sprite, a delivery boy, Megabyte's messenger. AndrAIa points out to Enzo that Megabyte could have deleted them, but didn't, saying that she now understands what propaganda is. She urges Enzo to not give up, but Enzo points to a vid window of Megabyte's forces, telling them that they have no chance of winning. Phong heads over to Enzo, but Mouse stops him, saying that Megabyte's won, defeating the system's defender with words, and that she's glad that Bob isn't here to see this. This is enough to snap Enzo out of his funk, saying that Bob wouldn't hide in here while Megabyte took over, and that a Guardian would find a way to stop him and lock him up. Continuing on from his Tiger metaphor from last episode, Phong says if you cage the tiger, you can then walk the forest freely. This confuses everyone, but then Mouse suggests using an Inverted Firewall, something that Phong says that Enzo thought of. This comes as a surprise to Enzo, but he plays along with the idea.

In his lab at Silicon Tor, Megabyte is overseeing Hexadecimal, who is currently chained up in a sphere with a forcefield surrounding it. He asks his sister how she's feeling, and she tells him that she's feeling 'very weak'. However, she snaps out of this funk once Megabyte activates her shock collar. Hex declares that she will tear Megabyte apart once she is free of his 'infernal collar', and that thought alone is enough to keep her well. Herr Doktor tells Megabyte that Hexadecimal is prepared, fully charged, and totally under his control. Megabyte orders Herr Doktor to transport Hexadecimal to the stasis chamber since it's time for him to put his new 'toy' to use.

We then cut to some kind of laboratory where we see Dot, Mouse, and Phong exit a lift. They are soon greeted by a binome named 'Hugh Branch', who Phong says has been working on the Firewall problem. Hugh then begins explaining how this Firewall will work; it uses a device they've created called a 'sender' that redirects energy between sources. The plan is to place these around Ghetty Prime in precise locations in order to generate the Firewall. The presentation is interrupted by the announcement of an Incoming Game. Dot and Mouse immediately exclaim that Enzo will be heading for the Game. Hugh scolds them for not paying attention.

This game appears to take place in a child's bedroom, with Enzo and AndrAIa being toy sized. Enzo uses Glitch to find out that they're in the final level of a race game where the user needs to escape from the bedroom to win. The two then get spooked by a giant toy snake. Just as Enzo begins recovering from this shock, they are met by an angry mob lead by none other than Cyrus. Several binomes are holding anti Enzo signs. Cyrus tells the mob that, much like he said, the Guardian is merely a boy, and no defender of the system. A baby binome then throws their Bob teddy at Enzo, who remarks that 'everyone's a critic'.

Back at the Principle Office, we see the senders being loaded into Mouse's ship. Dot tells Mouse that Hugh and his boys are nearly finished and asks Mouse how she's getting on. Mouse replies saying that she's programmed her flight path and rigged an autotrigger, reassuring Dot that they'll get Enzo and AndrAIa back safe and sound. When Dot points out that the viral forces will blow her out of the sky if they spot her, Mouse says that they won't spot her until it's too late.

Back in the game, Frisket arrives, evening the score between Enzo and AndrAIa and the mob. The mob then runs in terror once the user appears, taking on the form of Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Races. Cyrus tries to sneak away, but AndrAIa corners him, telling him that they're aware that he's been working for Megabyte and trying to turn everyone in Mainframe against Enzo. Enzo tells him that if they don't work together, The User will win, and they'll all be nullified. Enzo and AndrAIa then proceed to ReBoot. AndrAIa becomes Halo Jones, and much like last week, has a motorbike. Enzo remarks 'what is it with you and motorbikes?!', and we then see that Enzo is now James Bond. He scowls at Cyrus who hasn't ReBoot yet. Cyrus says he doesn't know how to, so Enzo explains how. Cyrus then ReBoots into Dick Dastardly from Wacky Races with Frisket becoming Mutley (complete with his signature laugh).

Outside of the Game, we see Mouse's ship leaving the Principle Office as she activates her autotrigger that begins launching the senders. Back in the game, we can see that the race is in full swing. The racers have several obstacles to avoid such as falling darts, traffic, and a sentient wooden dinosaur sculpture. AndrAIa uses the latter as a ramp to launch herself over the traffic and head towards the User, but it then heads straight for Cyrus's car, knocking it over and trapping Cyrus underneath as he urges for Enzo to help him.

At the Principle Office, Hugh is particularly excited that they're getting to test this invention under real field conditions. Dot clarifies what he means by this, and Hugh says that all the work he's done is theory, and that it should work if his calculations are correct. This worries Phong, since if this doesn't work, the Principle Office shields will be disabled, rendering the city defenceless.

Back in the game, Enzo distracts the dinosaur his way. Just as it's about to get him, Frisket grabs his tail, holding him back. Enzo then grabs Cyrus from underneath his vehicle, who is confused that Enzo does this out of choice. Enzo says he can't go against his code, and Cyrus then gets visibly worried by something. We see that the User is now in a jet plane, and is going to escape through an open window as AndrAIa gets trapped by a hopping lamp (much like the Pixar logo). Frisket is preoccupied with chasing the dinosaur, so Enzo turns to Cyrus for help. Cyrus is unsure as to why Enzo would want his help after all that he has done to him, but after Enzo says he can't go against his programming, Cyrus asks Enzo what he wants him to do, referring to him as Guardian.

Outside the game, Megabyte tells Herr Doktor that with luck, the User will dispose of Enzo for them, but if not, he shall be the first to fall under his new order. He then tells Herr Doktor to 'prepare the troops', so Herr Doktor orders his assistant to 'throw ze switch', which then prepares Hexadecimal for combat.

Back in the game, Cyrus is driving Enzo's car with Enzo in the passenger seat. Enzo's aim is to get onto the wing of the plane. Just as Cyrus is able to get to the wing, the plane's thruster's activate, so Cyrus activate's the car's ejector seat to launch Enzo onto the plane. Cyrus stops the car, and the camera pans over to Little Nellie, the helicopter from the 1967 Bond film, 'You Only Live Twice'. Enzo shuffle's along the plane's hull, grabbing into his tuxedo to pull out a gun, but only has the Guardian plush toy from earlier. Initially, he feels that this won't help him, but then thinks of a use for him; he uses the bear to jam the tail fins at the back of the wing. The user then does a corkscrew which throws Enzo off the plane. As he falls, he says that he supposes this is where he says 'Ho Ho Ho!', a callback to the game at the start of the episode. However, he's saved by Cyrus piloting Little Nellie just as the user crashes straight into the bedroom's dartboard, ending the game.

Outside the game, the angry mob has been won over by Enzo. AndrAIa thanks Cyrus for saving Enzo and helping to defeat The User, declaring that he's a 'true hero'. The crowd then begins to shake Cyrus's hand, but then begins to disperse once Megabyte appears. He orders Hack and Slash to take him away, saying that he'll 'deal with him later'. Frisket then growls at Hack and Slash, causing them to back off a little. Megabyte tells Enzo to call of his dog, since now he controls Hexadecimal's power, none can stand against him. Enzo is shocked that Megabyte would do that to his own sister, but Megabyte simply says 'Yes yes yes, it's rather good, isn't it?'. Enzo declares to Megabyte that he won't rest until he's stopped him. Megabyte isn't phased by this, viewing it as an idle threat, declaring that it ends now before extruding his claws from his knuckles. This situation is then slightly dispersed through the arrival of Mouse's ship dropping the last few senders around the sector. Dot then pops up on Glitch to tell Enzo that the Firewall is ready and awaiting his command. Enzo orders Glitch to activate the Firewall. This causes the Principle Office shields to offline, and Megabyte gives Enzo a grin as if he doesn't expect this to work. However, the senders activate and the Firewall begins to form. Enzo commands the crowd to stand back, but this doesn't stop Hack and Slash from grabbing Cyrus before the Firewall finishes forming around Ghetty Prime. Hexadecimal laughs, finding it amusing that Megabyte is now jailed. The other side of the Firewall, the crowd begins cheering 'Guardian! Guardian!', ending the episode.

This episode is potentially my favourite episode of the entire series. I say potentially since there's a couple of episodes coming up later this season that I might enjoy more, and considering how many great episodes there are in this season, choosing a favourite episode is a task comparable to a parent having to pick a favourite child. However, when I think about my favourite episodes of the show, this one is one of the first that springs to my mind as well as normally being my first choice when I decide to watch an episode of ReBoot. What makes this particular episode so great? I'll get into that in the paragraphs below.

This episode see's Megabyte's scheme to turn Mainframe against Enzo and undermine his confidence really begin to get to Enzo. At this episode's start, he's made to realise just how ineffective he has been so far. Sure, he's managed to win a handful of games, but Megabyte still effectively has the upper hand as shown in his encounter with him at the start of the episode. Megabyte easily and unsurprisingly overpowers Enzo in strength, and the only reason Enzo is still alive at this point is because Megabyte has allowed him to live. This is a point that Megabyte makes to Enzo in this encounter, and it really gets to him to the extent that he's ready to give up since he feels like fighting a losing battle would be futile. It's only through Mouse's comments about Bob that Enzo realises that his hero wouldn't have let Megabyte walk over Mainframe, and would instead find a way to stop him.

In a contrast to this, Megabyte is now ready to put his plan to use Hexadecimal's power to take over the system into full effect. At the start of the episode, he allows Enzo to live as he wants to let the Mainframer's know how ineffective they have been so far hiding in the Principle Office while he is still at large. Once he knows that Hexadecimal is prepared, he's done with stalling and is fully prepared to kill Enzo and anyone else who stands in his way. As soon as the game ends, he taunts Enzo a little, and then prepares his claws to kill him. It's only through the implementation of the Firewall that Megabyte is stopped in his tracks. When Enzo gives the command to activate the Firewall, Megabyte still believes he has the upper hand; he's not worried that it might work since so far this season, he's had the upper hand. However, he doesn't act since he wants the satisfaction of seeing Enzo's final failure as a Guardian by securing his victory through the deactivation of the shields around the Principle Office. His pride ends up being his downfall once the Firewall does work and he ends up sealed inside it for the time being.

Cyrus ends up getting some development this episode, as well. At the start of the episode, he is simply doing Megabyte's bidding by turning the binomes against Enzo. However, he finds himself being forced to work alongside the young Guardian since it's either work together or get nullified if the User wins. Through this, he begins to realise the error of his ways after Enzo saves him from the dinosaur and decides to directly help Enzo to stop the User. By the end of the game, he is hailed as a hero by AndrAIa. Of course, he pays for his betrayal of Megabyte by being grabbed by Hack and Slash before the Firewall seals them in Ghetty Prime, making him Megabyte's prisoner.

Now we get to the game for this episode, which is a mixture of different elements. Obviously, the key one is Enzo as James Bond. This is a big contrast to last week's game when Enzo ended up being stuck as the buffonish Elmer Fudd. This week, however, he's a cool super spy, complete with a hairstyle not too dissimilar to Sean Connery's hair from his time as Bond. This persona helps him to regain the confidence needed to stop The User. The James Bond theme is obviously prevalent throughout the episode with the music giving off similar vibes to John Barry's scores to the Bond films. The opening sequence with Santa in the game is a homage to the opening of 1977's 'The Spy Who Loved Me', Hugh Branch is an obvious parody of Desmond Llewellyn's 'Q', and within the game, the helicopter piloted by Cyrus is Little Nellie from 'You Only Live Twice'.

As well as the Bond references, the fact that the race takes place in a bedroom is a homage to Toy Story, but there's also references to Wacky Races (The User being Penelope Pitstop, Cyrus and Frisket becoming Dick Dastardly and Mutley), Halo Jones (AndrAIa's persona within the game), and even The Indian In The Cupboard making a brief cameo appearance near the end of the game.  This particular episode was of interest to my father, who grew up during the 60's and 70's (born in 1966) and still has a fondness for the old Hanna Barbara cartoons like Wacky Races as well as the old Bond films. This is normally an episode he remembers on the odd occurrence that the show gets brought up in a family discussion (leading to him pondering why the show hasn't been released on DVD in the UK).

As usual, these references aren't cheap references thrown in as a crutch as the episode's story stands up really well with some great character development and helping to move the story forward. The game sequence allows Enzo to put an end to Megabyte's propaganda campaign for good by winning over Cyrus, the perpetrator behind the campaign, showing him and the masses that he is a capable defender of the system. It of course pays off at the end, since he's able to contain Megabyte within the Firewall, giving him his first major victory against the virus. However, how long will Megabyte stay trapped?

Next week: Enzo ends up facing his toughest challenge yet when he ends up in a 'Mortal Kombat' styled game in 'Game Over'.