The first episode of ReBoot did a very good job in establishing the world and the characters within. But not all of the main characters of the show were featured. One very important character was missing, and that was Hexadecimal. But thankfully we wouldn’t have to wait long to see this character on the show as we head into the second episode of the series known as “Racing the Clock”. Let’s recap the episode, and get some thoughts on what worked and what didn’t.
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We open the episode at Dot’s Diner as we learn that Enzo is aspiring in following his sister’s entrepreneurial footsteps. He has opened his own delivery service. However, despite claiming success in front of Bob and Dot, he’s actually floundering. I guess a delivery service isn’t fully necessary in Mainframe, as we’ll see momentarily.
After a while of no deliveries, that changes as Megabyte calls in. Interested in Enzo’s delivery service, he persuades him to deliver a package to Hexadecimal, with the catch to not mention who sent it to her. Despite the fact that Enzo knows well enough that Megabyte is evil, and his actions are always no good, he really needs any takers in his company, and gladly accepts the offer. He’s given the package through a vid window, which really explains why a delivery service for the most part isn’t all that needed, as sending packages are as easy as opening a vid window. As Megabyte laughs at his diabolical plan, he’s secretly being spied on by Hex’s pet Scuzzy.
After mending a tear in the basement of the diner, Bob and Dot learn of Enzo’s first order, and more importantly that it’s for Hexadecimal. They stop Enzo before delivering the package, and ask who sent it. Enzo of course lies, as Bob jokes that the only thing anyone would send Hexadecimal would be a bomb. This statement will totally not bite Bob in the rear end by the end of the episode. Bob uses Glitch, his keytool and learns of what’s inside. It’s a mask with a clock inside. And despite guessing it was a bomb just seconds ago, doesn’t think of it to be a bomb in disguise. Dot figures that Bob should deliver the package instead of Enzo.
Meanwhile, we finally meet Hexadecimal in her lair.And from the first second, you can easily tell how different a character Hex is in comparison to Megabyte. She seems to be a far more creepy and chaotic individual. Shown by how she will send Scuzzy falling to his death, but in a rash change of mind (and face), will bring him back. Scuzzy shows Hexadecimal the footage of Megabyte package, which is a delete command bomb disguised as a mask. Hexadecimal figures that this won’t do at all, and plans to turn the tables on Megabyte.
Bob and Enzo arrive at Lost Angles, a deserted island city. We’ll learn more of why Lost Angles is how it is, why there are so many Nulls, and why Hexadecimal runs the place far later in the series, but for now all we know is that it’s very random. Bob gets turned around multiple times, and is even blocked by a giant cartoon bomb. He is then sucked into a hole and arrives in Hex’s lair. She’s surprised that Bob is the delivery boy. She opens the package, and tells Bob that she has enough masks already, and that he should give it back to Megabyte. Before Bob can understand everything, Hexadecimal sends him flying with mask in tow.
Enzo overhears Hexadecimal’s plan to delete Bob and Megabyte with the mask bomb, and finds Dot. Bob decides not to visit Megabyte with the package, while still being unaware that it’s a bomb. But before anything else can happen, a game cube falls, and Bob enters it with the bomb in tow. The game of the episode is a rather odd race game, where different parts of the track have different obstacles, and the vehicles can change in those particular areas. From a formula one race, to driving hovercrafts in a half pipe, and finally to a plane race. Kind of reminds me of Diddy Kong Racing, only all of these abilities are in just the basic race. Definitely a far more interesting game idea than the space one from the previous episode, and it offers much more excitement as well.
The object is as usual to defeat the user. Bob ReBoots, and the mask attaches to the vehicle, counting down quickly to zero. Enzo and Dot are unable to reach Bob as he leaves the starting line, and reboot their vehicles to catch up. Despite eventually catching up, he’s still blissfully unaware of what the mean by “Your car is a bomb.” Enzo and Dot crash as Bob catches up to the user. When it looks like it’s all over, Dot and Enzo use a tanker truck to crash the planes. Bob escapes in time, just as the mask explodes.
The game is corrupting, and despite a massive explosion in the game, destroying everything, they all manage to survive. They finally tell Bob about the bomb, to which bomb seems fine about.. Later on, Megabyte contacts Enzo again, firing him for his terrible job. He decides to put Hack and Slash in charge of delivering packages, and being the idiots they are, bring the giant cartoon nuke back to the Tor, blowing the place up.
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I’m a bit mixed on Racing the Clock. One one hand, the game was pretty good this time around, and delivered some great action that while dated now in animation, still looks pretty cool. I also like that we’re introduced to Hexadecimal and Scuzzy. But honestly, the episode really doesn’t show Hex to her full potential just yet. All we know is she’s some evil woman with a creepy mask for a face who is so bad that even Megabyte doesn’t like her. She also seems to have some interest in Bob, but again, that will be explained further on. It won’t be until an episode coming up that we’ll truly learn just how dangerous she really can be.
The real issue I have is the story again isn’t that interesting, and while it does a decent enough job introducing new characters and locations, doesn’t come off as all that interesting. Plus, Bob really comes off as a headstrong moron, who despite thinking initially that the package is a bomb, instantly dismisses it as such after looking at it. For the guardian who seems to be trained for any occasion, and knows of many types of commands and files, it doesn’t shine a good light for him to be duped so easily.
So, in the end, it was enjoyable enough an episode with some flaws, and poor potential in building an interesting villain. Though with this show still in its infancy, these sort of things can be forgiven as the show is still building its world.