Father’s Day seems to take a backseat to Mother’s Day but I had to laugh years ago when Cartoon Network or some channel aired the infamous two-part “There’s No Place Like Springfield” episodes of G.I. Joe.
Written by Steve Gerber, the mind that created Howard the Duck, the plot involves Shipwreck, aka Hector X. Delgado, (voiced by Neil Ross) undergoing a mind-fuck like The Prisoner TV series.
Shipwreck who eas somewhat modeled after Jack Nicholson’s character in The Last Detail gets a chance to be taken more seriously as he is captured by Cobra and they mess with his mind to get some confidential information. Shipwreck is made to believe that Cobra has been defeated and he’s married to a previous love interest, Mara, and they have a six-year-old girl.
He bumps into some of his fellow Joes but things take a horrific turn when Roadblock melts into a grey clay material and later other characters to. They are a synthetic creation designed by Cobra.
And the twist is that Mara and his supposed daughter, Althea, are as well.
While the show mostly steered clear of actual vehicle as it was a cartoon, it probably freaked out many young viewers. It’s been considered the most dark episode of the series despite some comic relief with Shipwreck’s parrot, Polly. I also think it’s one of the most thought provoking because Shipwreck is briefly content with being a family man and then it’s all gone.
It shows you some of the trauma people in the military ensure.
The two episodes are avaliable to stream on Tubi and YouTube.
Zane Says 