Brief Summary: Goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun. Goin’ to Surf City where it’s two for one.. Two Vipers for ev’ry Joe!

Summary: The Joes, having all joined up together again, manage to radio their headquarters. Topside and Freefall get the call and tell the Joes on Volcania about Cobra’s plans. Grid-Iron tells them that he knows about Cobra and knows where their secret base is. They make plans to try and stop Cobra on the island or at least even the odds before anyone can try to attack the base.

Destroy finds the Joes hiding on Volcania and the beat-down proceeds. Luckily for the Joes, they now have access to their vehicles and equipment.

Metal-Head hits the Joes from behind, arriving on the scene by swinging in on a vine. Which just increases the impression that he looks like a monkey. With the Joes now caught in a crossfire, things look bleak.

Or at least they do until Hawk shows up with a big honking’ vehicle which I think is the General. This turns the tide of the battle, Destro’s forces retreat.

The Joes try to figure out what would be a better plan: a direct assault on the volcano or a small party sneaking in to attack the guns themselves. They finally decide that both would work. Hawk volunteers to lead the group that will climb the volcano while Grid-Iron will be in charge of the direct assault. Hawk says that he’s climbed the volcano dozens of times…or at least he did ten years ago.

Still, it’s the best plan they have so the Joes go for it.

The Joes at headquarters are still waiting for word from their fellows.

Grid-Iron’s team goes in as the diversion, hitting the main Cobra base at the base of the volcano. Cobra Commander orders Zarana to fire the space gun at the Joes.

Hawk spots the space gun coming up and realizes what Cobra is going to do. Unfortunately, there’s nothing much his crew can do at the moment. The space gun takes out the Joe diversionary force and Cobra blocks off their escape.

“Can I say the ‘b’ word, Destro? Can I?” asks Metal-Head eagerly as he and Destro look down on their Joe prisoners.
“Surrender,” Destro says. “Or Metal-Head goes ‘bang’.”

Without much other choice, the Joes surrender and are taken into the volcano base.

Hawk’s group watches as their buddies are taken prisoner. Pathfinder has found a cave, one that leads to the center of the volcano and possibly to the Cobra command center. Hawk tells Pathfinder and Bullhorn to investigate it while he and Ambush

Topside and Freefall give us some exposition about a UN battle fleet heading to Volcania. The UN doesn’t believe that Cobra actually has the space gun; they believe that local saboteurs blew the bridge. Topside and Freefall decide that they have to head out to try and stop the UN before Cobra blows them to paint.

Cobra Commander gloats over the approaching UN fleet, saying that it will make an excellent target for the space gun.

Hawk and Ambush continue up the side of the volcano. Hawk loses his footing and falls, but is snagged by his safety line and manages to pull himself up (after refusing Ambush’s assistance). Then, it’s Ambush’s turn to fall but Hawk catches him and helps him back up.

Bullhorn and Pathfinder follow the cave and find that it does indeed lead to the Cobra command center. They meet up with the Joe prisoners and manage to help them escape. Grid-Iron distracts Destro while Bullhorn gets a Cobra tank, then the shootout begins!

Where the big crystals inside the volcano came from, I have no idea. They serve no story purpose except to make for a funky looking throne for Destro.

The Joes end up falling back from superior Cobra forces.

Inside the space gun control center, Cobra Commander fumes about the Joe interference.

“All right, Metal-Head,” Cobra Commander says, temporarily putting his fuming behind him”You’ve been a good boy so you can blow them up.” Hawk and Ambush have to do something to stop them!

“Will you stop raving and fire already!?” Cobra Commander says to Metal-Head whose prefiring ritual does seem to be taking a bit long. Metal-Head finally does fire but…oooh, he missed. Bawling, he drops to the floor. Poor guy happens to all walking anti-tank weapons eventually though. Perfectly normal. He was probably trying too hard. Think of baseball next time…

Cobra Commander tells Metal-Head that he must have miscalculated the range. His next shot won’t miss. See, that’s what I like in a maniac bent on world conquest: a kind and supportive nature to one’s underlings.

The Vipers flee the Cobra base, Destro heads for the space gun control center where he advises retreating. The Joes break through the wall leading to the control center, but Cobra Commander turns on an energy field that stops them short.

Hawk and Ambush come under attack from a group of vipers, but manage to rappel into the volcano. Hawk and Ambush fall and Hawk lands on Ambush. “You’re awful heavy for a general.” Ambush muses.

Hawk and Ambush set their explosive charge for 20 seconds. Inside the space gun control center, Cobra Commander says that the space gun will finish recharging in sixteen seconds. Hawk and Ambush are trapped.

Hawk’s explosive charge goes off, breaking the energy shield and releasing the lava. Hawk and his Joes run for it.

The space gun command center gets washed out on a wave of lava. The volcano blows, shooting out the space guns like a man spitting out a watermelon seed.

Cobra Commander and his forces return, attacking the Joes, but this time the Joe cavalry arrives and Cobra once again retreats to the sound of mocking Joe laughter.

Cut to the Joes once again enjoying the peaceful relaxation available at Club Joe. We learn that the bridge is being rebuilt. Hawk and Ambush are laying on floating mats in the pool, wearing bathing suits.

All of a sudden, there’s an explosion! But it’s not Cobra. It’s the UN fleet. Neither Topside nor Freefall told the UN that the island is once again secured. As the Joes scramble to try and stop the friendly fire, Hawk lays back on his floaty and relaxes amidst the chaos.

Commentary: Again, this is a strong two-parter and easily worth checking out. The plot is pretty standard for Joe cartoons: Cobra has a new Super McGuffin that they want to use to take over the world and the Joes have to stop them. What helps this episode is, as I mentioned, the bits with Hawk and some of the dialogue.

Clearly, the Powers that Be liked Hawks’ performance at Volcania because he does appear in several other episodes, but this is one of the better bits with Hawk in it. Definatley worth checking out.