For the last two episodes, we’ve been thrust into a very different situation in the world of ReBoot, and introduced to this new incarnation of Enzo in Matrix. We know how he’s different from who he once was. No longer just the enthusiastic little sprite, and no longer trying to be like Bob. After all, he says it in the opening. He has no format, but is a renegade. But why is he different from what he was? Again, the reason is somewhat obvious. Because he lost the game that got himself, AndrAIa, and Frisket lost in the net. But what is the one thing that drives him, and makes him so angry, and in some ways, even afraid? We’re about to go deep into the mind of Matrix, and we don’t even need a shrunken submarine to do so. Let’s look at the aptly named “Number 7”.
We open to another system as a game cube is about to drop. The system looks much like a giant golf ball with large satellites all over it. Matrix and AndrAIa prepare to enter. Matrix is of course being moody, feeling sick of trying as this is the fifth game they’ve played in this system, since the User has control of where the games go. Their journey continues to prove fruitless, as they haven’t even managed to find a system with ports to the net. Despite the pessimism of Matrix, AndrAIa has good feelings about this game.
The enter the game, and it at first looks like just another golf game. However, what they soon discover is shocking. It’s not a golf game, it’s Mainframe. THE Mainframe. Their home. And it’s just like it was before the war, before everything went wrong. Even more shocking is that Bob is also back in Mainframe, even chasing after Hack and Slash, who as always, are idiots, and easy to beat with a golf club.
For those who are curious watching this one for the first time, Bob’s voice is indeed being done by a different voice actor. Michael Benyaer, the original voice for Bob, had recently moved to California, and was still in the middle of moving to his new home just as the third season voice work for ReBoot had begun. Because of this, they replaced Benyaer with Ian James Corlett. Corlett was also doing voice work for the other Mainframe cartoon Beast Wars as the voice of Cheetor, and was hired to voice Bob for the rest of the series. At least until Benyaer came back. But that’s something we’ll get to later. Corlett’s voice of Bob is significantly different, but even so, still doesn’t feel like it’s too different from the original Bob voice.
At first the three are optimistic, but begin to doubt that this is reality, since they still entered a game cube to get here. They decide to reboot, Matrix at first being hesitant to do since it would mean the possibility of them turning back to their younger selves, and he has no desires to be little Enzo ever again. However, they still ReBoot, and the three turn into…
Megabyte, Hexadecimal, and Scuzzy?
For some reason, they’ve rebooted viral, and of course, Hack and Slash arrive, ever loyal to the virus they work for. They head to the Tor, and see that Phong, Bob, and Dot believe the three of them are working together for something evil. Bob tells Phong that they must not know about number 1. Things are getting odder, as AndrAIa is sounding more and more like Hexadecimal, all while Matrix is still not used to his Megabyte form.
AndrAIa believes that whatever number 1 is, it must be the objective to beating the game. Matrix is still not sure if this even is a game anymore. He also begins to sound more like Megabyte. This upsets him, stating that Megabyte represents everything he hates. AndrAIa asks if it really is what he hates, or if it is what he is becoming. Matrix plans to find number 1 to find out the answer.
Matrix enters the principal office to talk with Bob, and try to reason with them. But of course, since they think he’s Megabyte, they have no intention of listening. And despite his claims of being Enzo, they don’t believe him either. When he mentions number 1, Bob attacks him with a particle beam, with intention to file him. Matrix however has otehr plans, and escapes.
Back at the Tor, AndrAIa is becoming more insane. Much more like the Hexadecimal we all know. Matrix returns, upset that he’s still being looked at as Megabyte. AndrAIa tells him that there’s nothing wrong with being Megabyte, which angers him, since he believes everything about Megabyte is wrong. But her argument is that with the power and control, it’s everything he wanted. But he still has plans to try to show Bob and the others that he’s Enzo… even it it means deleting them. He is more and more changing to the real Megabyte, much like how AndrAIa has pretty much become Hexadecimal.
At the principal office, Phong believes that Bob and Dot should speak with number 1, which is exactly what Matrix and AndrAIa intend to do as well. They all meet at Dot’s Diner. But inside the diner is a court room instead, filled with strange imagery, and a jury wearing black and white masks. The one on trial is Matrix, and the judge is Bob. He is being charged with being believed that the ends justify the means, and becoming everything he hates. Matrix asks to be represented, and his witnesses are of course, Hack and Slash. It doesn’t look good as everyone finds him guilty.
When he tries to convince Dot that he’s Enzo, she attacks him in a fit of rage, which causes him to accidentally delete her. With actions speaking louder than words, Bob finds Matrix guilty, and plans to execute him. This causes him to delete and destroy them all. Hexadecimal congratulates him for killing everyone, and finally reveals that she’s figured everything out. Matrix angrily asks who number 1 is, and she presented him with a mirrored vid window with Megabyte saying that he is number 1, the driving force in Matrix’s life. His hatred, that is being driven and consumed. Matrix shatters the window, turning him back to his normal self. The window reopens with his reflection saying that he is number 1, claiming he cares about no one but himself, not even AndrAIa. Matrix shoots the window, and the true number 1 appears, and it’s young Enzo.
Enzo tells Matrix that he must hate him, because of what Matrix has become. Matrix tries to say that he had to be stronger to survive the games. Enzo questions if he loved the games more than his family, to which Matrix denies. Enzo tells Matrix that he’s killed his family by forgetting about them. By becoming a prisoner of the games. He then throws a golf ball at Matrix, which turns into a giant orb, trapping him inside.
Matrix wakes up, as we’ve learned that it was all a dream. None of what he went through had actually happened. The game is actually a golf game called “Fairway Frolics”. Matrix was actually hit on the head by a golf ball, which is what knocked him out. Matrix finally says that he’s tired of waiting for things to happen, and he’s tired of the games. They’ve been living like viruses, and infecting everywhere they go. It ends now. The search for Mainframe, and Bob, are now top priority. And the episode ends with Matrix shooting the golfers to finish the game.
This episode is another parody episode. This time, a lot of the jokes are based on The Prisoner, a 1960’s British drama. Everything from the title of the episode, to the characters making references of “Be seeing you” every time they talk in the episode. If you never saw the show when you were young, like me, you wouldn’t get them. But thankfully ReBoot proves that you don’t need to fully get the reference for it to work.
This episode is the much needed look into the mind of Matrix that we needed. We finally see what has made him change so drastically from Enzo to this gruff warrior. But the fear of becoming the weak little sprite he once was has turned him into the thing he hates the most. A virus with no care of who he hurts, and what systems he infects. It’s a really effective means of discovering a character’s functions. And the scene with Enzo and Matrix being well handled.
The episode being a dream was well handled too. All throughout the episode, you get subtle references to scoring in golf. Bob hits a hole in one on Hack and Slash, when served tea Phong asks “How’s your back 9?”, among others. It never feels like it takes away from the episode, and it really helps keep the “it was all a dream” ending from feeling like a cheap cop out.
In the end, this is another great episode from season 3. A loving tribute to a classic series, and a great character evolution piece for Matrix. Now the search for Mainframe is back on, but first Matrix may have to do battle with the guardians.