To The Rescue Part Four
Originally Aired 09/14/1989
Episode Rating: out of 5

As we left off, our heroes were about to be bowled over by Fat Cat’s giant snowball. The snowball hits, and the guys are knocked off the flying glacier! “I hate high places!” Dale shouts. “Wait’ll we hit the low ones!” Monty retorts. Zipper tries to slow Monty’s fall, but to no avail. Then, out of nowhere, a plunger strikes Monty and pulls him up! The next moment, another plunger scores a hit on Chip’s face and does the same to him and Dale.

Now friends, either Chip has a bigger mouth then even we thought, or that plunger has glue on it ;-)

Whatever the case, Gadget saved the guys and deposited them safely (though bumpily) into her new RangerPlane. Gadget explained that she had to totally redesign the Screaming Eagle from parts of trash in Klordane’s camp. “It’s one of a kind all right, Gadget luv,” Monty said. “But what kind of a kind is it?” Note here the presence of the RR symbol on the side of the vehicle. Either Gadget’s very forward-thinking or the artists didn’t think that one through :-)

The Rangers trail the glacier back to town, where Nimnul “parks” it between two rock outcroppings. “And to think they wouldn’t give me a driver’s license!” Nimnul said. I’d have hated to have been his driving instructor….Nimnul uses the giant tubined rotor blades that flew the ice as chopping blades, neatly creating tons of chipped ice for the waiting train cars beneath. Funny that those turbines just disappeared after that. The Rangers arrive and Chip and Dale make their play for the ruby.

Here, Nimnul and the Rangers meet up for the first time, and as we well know it won’t be the last. Fat Cat doesn’t believe it, as he’s already “taken care” of them twice before. A fight starts over the ruby, the jewel going from hand to hand. Fat Cat and Nimnul whop together as Gadget snags it with a plunger. Chip and Dale hop on and Nimnul and Fat Cat watch as the RangerPlane flies off. “Next stop, home!” Gadget says. “Uh, as soon as you tell me where it is.” Monty sulks, having lost his home, and Gadget pats his arm, consoling him. Here you get a sense that there’s something of substance to the show, beyond the pure entertainment value.

Back at police headquarters, Klordane decides to visit Detective Drake. Drake’s none too happy about it of course, but Klordane tries to make up for it with a “gift”—knockout gas. In a few moments, an explosion tells the rest of the police officers in the station that Drake is gone. When Drake re-awakens, the scene has shifted to just outside a subway tunnel. Nimnul arrives with the train of chopped ice and has the unfortunate duty of telling Klordane that the ruby is now missing. Overall, I think Bozo took it very well ;-)

Still at the police station, the Rangers return the ruby, which Mrs. Clutchcoin is mystically there to receive. Nimnul sneaks into the station, disguised as a bag lady—er, you might would have wanted to trim that moustache first. Inside the bag is Fat Cat, who takes to taunting Plato again as a diversion. The Rangers are in position to stop Fat Cat this time—that is until Monty has another of his famed cheese attacks. Fat Cat ends up catching Chip, Dale and Gadget and stuffing them into a drawer. Monty frees them, but not before Fat Cat sprays whipping cream on Plato’s mouth and sticks Mrs. Clutchcoin’s dog, Poopsie, in his mouth. Now I’ve to got to dock Plato a few points here—why would he stand still for that? Okay, he was on a chain, but he didn’t have to just sit there like an idiot! Nimnul uses the diversion to steal the ruby again and Plato is sent to the pound to be destroyed.

Of course, the Rangers couldn’t allow that, so they head for the pound. On the way, Monty rebels against Chip’s ordering them around all the time and jumps out of the plane. “You know,” Gadget says, “suddenly the plane seems to handle lighter.” Chip points, yelling, “Monty just jumped out!” Gadget never looks, calm as ever. “Oh, that would account for it.” Did she know that Monty had a parachute, or was this just her quirkiness showing? Whatever, on they flew to the pound, where Gadget got them in the old fashioned way, via the hammer hitting the skylight trick.

Once inside, the trio meet up with Frenchie and Que Sera (Sera!), the two and only members of the P.U.—the Pound Underground. This is a historical reference to the French Underground in WWII, who sabotaged the infrastructure in Occupied France, and in particular made the way for the Allied invasion on D-Day. Frenchie and Gadget trade flirtatious looks, and Gadget seemed genuinely flattered at being flirted with. Soon, the two dogs help the Rangers dig into Plato’s cell and the good guys are reunited.

Still, they have to free Plato, so Chip, Gadget and Dale slip out, only to be caught by the guard dog. But before the dog can put the crunch on them, the Pound Underground digs a hole right under the guard dog and he disappears! Chip and Dale get the key and free Plato. The guard dog returns, not amused, and follows them outside. But then he meets his match in one Monterey Jack. Monty whacks him with two trash can lids, using them like cymbals. Monty explained that he didn’t want them to have all the fun, but finally confesses that he didn’t have any other place to go.

And here is an historic moment in the series. With the group reunited, Frenchie and Que Sera (Sera!) make their way out of the pound as well. Frenchie wishes Chip well, and hopes that he’ll be able to work with his team again someday. Chip says, “Oh, but we aren’t really a team…yeah, I guess we are a team!” It was at this moment that these five souls ceased to be individuals on their own missions and became the Rescue Rangers, though not in name yet.

Now the action resumes. Gadget builds a predecessor to the RangerMobile, attaching a thermometer to the front of it. Chip explains that all they have to do is track the glacier ice, and they’ll find Detective Drake and Klordane. At first, all they find is an ice cream stand, which Gadget uses her patented ejection seats to attempt to avoid—throwing them right into the ice cream. But soon they’re at it again, and this time they find very cold air coming from the subway, a clear indicator of Klordane’s whereabouts.

The team heads down into the subway, with Plato leading the way by slipping and sliding on his skates. “You know, I like that bloke,” Monty said. “Always game to get in the fray.” While Plato recovers from a hard landing, the others quickly discover that the cold air is originating behind a wooden wall. Monty wants to “take a whack at it”, but Plato shakes off his fall and volunteers instead, citing his father’s experience of being a rugby mascot at Oxford—this could indicate that Plato was either born in England or is first-generation American.

He strikes the wall, knocking a neat hole in it. But then the rest of the wall falls, knocking him out. The team is more fortunate, but then a searching flashlight indicates the approach of Klordane and Percy. “It’s Drake’s dog!” Percy exclaims. Klordane, in typical Evil Bozo fashion, seems pleased with this turn of events. “Ah! A little icing for my cake!” And there, we fade to black…

Evaluation: Four Acorns out of five. When you first saw this episode, were you asking yourself what all that ice was for? A very good episode, all in all. More action than you can shake a stick at, and we see the first real teamwork for the Rangers going on here. Interesting that Monty nearly left them, but you had the sense it was more about his pride than anything. A couple of scenes that didn't carry over as well, particularly the one with Plato and Poopsie, but overall the writers acquitted themselves well.