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"THE PITS"
Written By: Bob Forward
Produced By: Tom Tataranowicz
Directed By: Tom Tataranowicz
Executive Producer: Rick Ungar
INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY NOTE
Have you ever noticed that, in an animated series, particularly those in the action-adventure genre, there's a string of episodes in which each story focuses on a different character? "The Pits" is one of those episodes, giving us Vinnie as the main attraction (and, he would no doubt say, it's about time!). The white-furred wild child gets to do a solo rescue in this episode, which he undertakes with his usual restraint and aplomb.
And if you believe that line, I've got a bridge to sell you. Vinnie does it with explosives and adrenaline. No major revelations, but you can't help but smile as Vinnie does his thing. Interestingly, this is also the first time Vinnie calls himself "Vinnie VanWham." Tom Tataranowicz, every Biker Mice fan's favorite insider, has told us it isn't really a last name--just a nickname Vinnie gave himself along the line. Most of the fans have liked it so much, however, that they've ignored this fact and ran with the name. Just some trivia for you!
EPISODE SYNOPSIS
Somewhere outside the city of Chicago, someone or something has carved long, zigzagging pits into the ground. Most of them appear to be hundreds of feet deep and miles long. Mists cover their shadowy depths, a blackness pierced only by strange pinpricks of light. It's a place with sinister secrets, hidden from the public. A foreboding mood hangs over it.
Plus, the music is all spooky here, so you know the place is bad.
Out of the darkness, via a crane-like rigging, comes a large blue car. It rises to the top of the pit, then is placed next to a red car. Inside each car are a pair of decidedly scuzzy-looking individuals. The second the ropes holding the blue car release, both of them drive off and onto a road leading into the city.
Not far away, the Biker Mice and Charley arrive at the Meatpacker's Bank. The mechanic has a purse in hand, and apparently intends to make a deposit at this particular institution.
"Thanks for the escort, guys!" she says happily as she steps off of Vinnie's bike. "The Last Chance doesn't bring in much bread, but I'd hate to lose it."
Her caution doesn't seem unreasonable. The neighborhood looks unsavory, and a woman on her own there might find someone to take the money off her hands before she even arrives at the bank.
Or worse…
At any rate, asking her three large, muscular Martian buddies to take her there probably wasn't a bad idea.
"That's us! Biker bodyguards!" Throttle replies.
"At your service, ma'am!" Modo adds, saluting proudly.
"Yeah, and let me tell you--" Vinnie begins slyly.
Before Vinnie can finish that sentence, however, Charley grabs him playfully under the chin and looks him square in the eye.
"I hope you weren't about to say mine's a body you'd love to guard," she warns. "Because if you do, I'll tie your tail in a knot!"
Vinnie gapes, and continues to gape, as the mechanic walks into the bank, calling out, "I'll just be a few minutes!"
"It's so weird!" Vinnie exclaims, gazing after her. "I swear sometimes that woman could read my mind!"
"Yeah, well, we got news for you, bro," Throttle interrupts with a grin.
"It's ain't real hard," Modo gibes.
Vinnie smirks.
Suddenly, the two cars that came out of the pit turn the corner that leads onto the street facing the bank. They drive on both sides of the road, and one swerves wildly, making a U-turn in the street, before finally pulling to a stop right in front of the bank. The other idles in the next lane.
"Whoah!" Throttle shouts. "Either that's a beginning Driver's Ed class--"
"--or it's almost time to-" Modo says, continuing the previous statement.
"--party," Vinnie concludes, palming on his helmet's screen.
Standing in a long line is always an excruciating experience. It can be even worse when the person at the head of the line is there for some major undertaking, like opening a new account. And it's an adventure in boredom when that person has the intelligence of a mildly retarded grapefruit, like Greasepit, who happens to be at the teller's window at this very moment.
"Duh, I would like to deposit my whole life savings here, please," he announces, pushing a small, spotted piggybank forward. He shakes it, rattling the coins inside. But because of his greasy palms, the bank flies out of his hands and hits the floor, where it breaks wide open, spilling its penny and nickel guts everywhere. The goon kneels on the floor and begins picking it up, counting as he goes.
"One…two…seven…five…"
The line behind him stretches nearly to the door. At the end of the queue of annoyed patrons is Charley, realizing that her earlier statement should now be amended to say, "I'll just be a few weeks."
"Typical," she grumbles. "This kind of thing always happens when I go to the bank."
K-BLAM!
The entrance to the bank explodes suddenly, knocking those inside to their knees. In step the miscreants responsible--the drivers of the two cars from the pits. Each of the foursome is heavily armed. Second to left in line is the leader of the bunch, wielding a high-powered flame-thrower.
"This is a robbery! Everyone on the floor!" he shouts, shooting a blast over the head of some of those who had not yet gotten down. Immediately, the bad guys surround a frightened Greasepit, who is cradling his coins in his hands and begging them not to take his life's savings.
"I beg of youse!" he pleads, rising to his feet (perhaps thinking he can reason with them villain a villain).
No need for reason, however, when action will do! The Biker Mice burst in through the windows, leaping off their flying rides and jumping right into the fray. Throttle slugs one robber before he even touches the ground. Vinnie whips his tail around the waist of another and throws him across the room. And when one of the miscreants tries to raise his bazooka to blast the mice, Modo knocks both him and his weapon into next week.
Not bad for five seconds of physical exertion.
"Now let's make this short and sweet, bros," Throttle says as the mice advance toward the leader of the robbers, who is behind a long desk. Capture seems inevitable.
But he's got an ace up his sleeve…
"Hold it right there!" he shouts, straightening up a little. "I got me a hostage here!"
"Charley?" all three mice ask unanimously.
"You guys always think I'm the hostage!" the mechanic chides as she pops up behind them. Vinnie shrugs, embarrassed.
"You guys better surrender," the leader of the robbers continues, "or I'm gonna fry me some bacon for breakfast!"
He jerks the real hostage up and into sight. It's Greasepit, still whining and begging for mercy. Not a terribly good choice as far as the Biker Mice are concerned, which is why Vinnie turns and starts to walk out the door. Throttle puts a hand on his shoulder and stops him.
"As much as it hurts, we've got no choice, bros," he sighs.
"Aw, man!" Vinnie groans. "Don’t you just hate being the good guys sometimes?"
"Now raise your hands!" the robber orders.
Modo sighs.
"Let's lift 'em, pards."
The mice do so--only to find the robber's flame-thrower pointed at them!
"Now…let's get cookin!" he shouts.
A burst of fire fills the screen.
The mice leap out of the way of the fire just in time (come on--were you expecting them to just stay there?). Well, maybe not quite in time for Vinnie, who finds the tip of his tail on fire.
"Whooooa!" he shouts, blowing on his flaming appendage. "Toasty!"
"Yeah, warm but not burnt," Throttle reminds him, rising to his feet. "Modo! Lights out!"
The gray-furred mouse jumps, tucks and rolls, then fires a blast from his arm cannon at one of the decorative chandeliers hanging in the bank. It falls, briefly trapping all four robbers. A large bazooka flies out of one's grasp--and right into Charley's waiting hands.
"Come to Momma!" she cries, diving across the floor to catch it. The mechanic immediately flattens herself against the ground and points it at the robbers, who very quickly decide to beat feet outta there.
"It's not over till the fat lady sings, sports fans!" Vinnie yells after them.
"Yeah! We're goin' to overtime!" Modo cries, getting on his bike.
"Big time!" Charley chimes in, jumping onto the back of Vinnie's bike.
"Let's ride!" Throttle shouts.
The mice quickly make their way outside, then pause for a moment. The two cars have just split up and gone in two totally opposite directions, meaning the four of them will have to do the same if they intend to apprehend both sets of criminals.
"Vincent, you and Charley take that one," Throttle orders, pointing down the street. "Modo, you come with me."
Our heroes split up. It will be a while before they see each other again.
Vinnie and Charley race down the street after the blue car. Vinnie leaps his bike several times as the two of them shoot down a hill, and he warns Charley to hang on tightly.
"I'll be just fine, thanks!" she snaps.
Vinnie suddenly pops a wheelie, and a surprised Charley flies off his bike. The mouse quickly whips his tail around her waist and pulls her back on safely.
"Told you, doll!" he says with a snicker.
"Hey! How'd you like a titanium-tipped reminder of road safety, hot stuff?" Charley asks, waving the bazooka at him.
"This lady is hot!" Vinnie laughs, leaping across a series of dips in the road. One of the robbers blasts a wave of fire at him, which the mouse nimbly leaps.
"Am I the absolute baddest mamajammer, or what?" he asks.
Without warning, Charley lets a blast fly from the bazooka right across Vinnie's shoulder. He jerks back in surprise as it connects with its target, sending the blue car end over end, until it crashes in the middle of the street.
"Hey, Charley-girl! Tell me when you're gonna butt in like that!" Vinnie shouts as they pull to a stop.
"You wouldn't shut up," Charley answers simply, stepping off the bike and walking over to the car.
"You just gotta learn a little patience."
Yes, Vinnie actually said that.
Charley points the bazooka at the robbers and shouts, "Don't move!"
So Vinnie and Charley managed to wrap up their part of the job pretty quickly. Unfortunately, Throttle and Modo are having a little more difficulty. They're still dodging fire from their opponents.
"I think these guys got the answer to rush hour traffic," Throttle says with a grin as they duck another round of fire.
"Well, my bike wants to ask a few more questions!" Modo replies, turning on his bike's front cannon. It rises up out of the cowling and fires on the red car. It doesn't seem to have much of an effect--the robbers just continue on their merry way.
"Man! We gotta take these guys before they get to the Pits!" Throttle shouts.
"What 'pits' you talkin' about?" Modo asks.
"Aw, those deep craters outside town, remember? Limburger dug 'em before we came to Earth. I hear they're full of criminals and sleazoids now."
"What, you think these guys came from there?"
One of the robbers turns and fires on the mice. They barely leap clear of the resulting explosion.
"Do they look like Boy Scouts to you, genius?" Throttle asks with a grin. "Let's nail 'em!"
The mice fire a pair of grappling lines into the rear of the car, trying to slow it down or bring it to a stop. The other driver tries to shake them, but the mice manage to hang on, despite almost colliding with a lamp post when the car tries to drag them into it (Throttle blasts it, giving the two of them room to get around it).
"We got 'em!" Modo cries triumphantly.
Throttle spots something in the distance--the Pits, dead ahead.
"Oh boy. 'Fraid you got that wrong, bro--they got us!" Throttle shouts.
The car crashes through a roadblock marked DEAD END and careens over the lip of the gorge, dragging our heroes along behind. Immediately, the robbers bail out, having taken the precaution of bringing parachutes with them.
Throttle and Modo, however, continue to fall. Incidentally, the animators paid great attention to detail here, having Throttle's bandanna and both mice's tails flapping very quickly as they fall, instead of just flying upwards. So kudos to them!
"Well, they may not be Boy Scouts, but they sure were prepared!" Modo yells.
"Cut loose from this junk heap!" Throttle shouts. "When it hits, we don't wanna go along with it!"
The mice pull back their grappling lines, freeing themselves from the car, which quickly falls out of sight.
"So what's the plan?" Modo asks.
"We gotta turn this free-fall into a long, controlled jump!" Throttle shouts back. "Now, on my signal, we fire our jets."
"Think it'll work?"
"You want an honest answer?" Throttle asks wryly.
"Uhhhhh….."
"Take your time…." (Throttle rests his arm on the crankcase and waits)...
"No!"
"Good! Let's do it!"
Both mice quickly fire their bike's jets, slowing their fall considerably. Near the bottom of the Pit, they point their bikes forward and race down the curving slope, plowing through a large group of desperadoes as they do. The fire from their jets scorch the ground as they shoot forward.
Suddenly, off-camera, a fiery laser comes out of nowhere. We hear (but don't see) the two mice crash.
At Limburger Tower, meanwhile, Greasepit has just finished filling his boss in on what happened at the bank (he's still got his piggy bank with him, which he has carefully patched up with tape).
"This is most intriguing news, dear boy," Limburger says with genuine interest. "You say those obnoxious Biker Mice were actually fighting other criminal elements? Besides us?"
"Yeah! They saved my penny collection!" Greasepit gushes. "Boy, they was great, boss! I wonder if they's has a fan club?"
"Greasepit, dear boy?"
"Yeah, boss?"
"SHUT UP!"
The force of Limburger's scream sends the bank flying from Greasepit's hands. It lands square on top of his noggin, where it shatters once more, scattering pennies everywhere.
"S-s-sorry, boss," the goon whimpers.
Limburger gets up and gazes out the window. Greasepit sits on the floor and begins counting his coins once again.
"One…two…four…nine…eleventy-seven, forty!…"
As the buffoon continues, Limburger mulls the information he's been given over.
"Hmmm…Other criminals…" he says, smiling. "Yes! Any enemy of the Biker Mice is definitely a friend of mine."
He turns to Greasepit.
"Who were they?" he asks.
"D-Duh, I don't know, boss," the goon answers.
"THEN FIND THEM!"
When night falls and Throttle and Modo still haven't returned, Vinnie and Charley hit the streets to find the missing mice. Tracing the route isn't difficult--the long skid marks left by Throttle and Modo's bikes make it for their compardres to find the path they took.
"They must have come this way!" the mechanic says, glancing at the tracks.
"Yeah! When my bros leave a trail, they leave a trail!" Vinnie agrees.
Eventually, the tracks lead Vinnie and Charley to the Pits. The lines go straight through the DEAD END sign (now in pieces), and terminate at the lip of one of the huge gorges. The place is even more austere than before, with the moon huge in a dark, muddy sky, mists boiling across the canyon, and ruined machinery sticking up out of the hole like the bones of a skeleton.
"They must have gone into the Pits! That's why they never came back!" Charley deduces.
"Aooow!" Vinnie cries, looking into the hole. "Now that's a radical leap!"
"They could've been killed!" Charley shouts, horrified.
"Yeah, if they weren't, they just broke my high-jump record."
"Vinnie, you don't understand," the mechanic scolds firmly. "The Pits have been taken over by some of the worst criminals on Earth! If Throttle and Modo are down there, they must be fighting for their lives! They could be getting beaten, shot at, blown up…"
Vinnie's face lights up a little more with every word.
"Cool!" he cries.
"We have to do something!" Charley shouts.
Vinnie's face grows somber.
"We are!" he replies. "We're sending….ME down there!"
"Vinnie, be serious!" Charley reproaches.
"Hey, Charley-girl, if my bros are getting beaten up, or shot at, or blown up, et cetera, then Vinnie is gonna be there!" he snaps back.
"Why Vinnie, that's very noble."
"Noble, schmoble!" the mouse laughs. "You think I'm gonna let those two glory hogs keep all the fun for themselves? Right! I can't wait to get down there!"
"You're a real piece of work, Vinnie," Charley sighs wryly, shaking her head.
"Hey, pretty lady--what took you so long to notice?"
Deep in the Pits, we come across Throttle and Modo, both of whom are unconscious, due to the earlier crash. The party responsible for that has taken the precaution of tying them up with heavy ropes before throwing water on their faces to wake them up. Both mice immediately come to, coughing and shaking the water out of their fur.
"Man! My head feels like VanWhalen been usin' it for a drum set!" Modo groans.
"So, it can talk, too."
The mice look up.
Standing ov er them is the master of disaster and unofficial dictator in this parts, the Pit Boss. The guy is huge. I mean, really huge. Probably the biggest human any of the Biker Mice have have ever seen. Not particularly attractive, either. He's got a heavy brow, a line of stitches running across his forehead (apparently holding it on), hunched shoulders, bloodshot eyes, hasn't shaved recently, and teeth that obviously haven't seen a dentist since man walked on the moon. Although he's balding, he still has some blonde hair. Like most of the other men we've seen from the Pits, he wears beaten-up torn clothing, including a long black coat with spiked shoulder pads. But perhaps what makes him appear most menacing is the electrified whip in his hands.
"Seven-foot talking mice on motorcycles. Man, they'll let anybody into these Pits, won't they?" he declares.
Throttle tries to sit up, but the human kicks him back down.
"Hey! That's not fair! He was tied up!" Modo shouts.
"Well, 'fair' isn't how we do business in the Pits, boys. And you'd better get used to that real fast."
"What do you want from us, Pit-breath?" Throttle snarls.
The man laughs.
"Pit-breath!" he chuckles grimly. "It's simple, pancake-ears. I hear your bikes are pretty hot. Just what my Pit Crew needs. But the bikes seem to have trouble…cooperating."
We can see just that as the Pit Boss looks over his shoulder, where a pair of his thugs are trying to sneak up on the bikes to mount them. The two of them immediately rear up, catching their would-be riders as they do, and slam them into one another. It's an interesting show of the bikes' intelligence and dedication to their owners.
"So here's the deal," the Pit Boss continues. "You get those bikes to work for me, and maybe…just maybe…I'll let you go."
Of course, neither mouse will have any of it.
"No deal! Nobody rides my bike but me!" Throttle shouts.
"'Specially not some porked-out pompous pit-pig like you!" Modo growls.
The Pit Boss reaches over and grabs Modo by the ropes. He picks him up, and holds him face to face. If you want an idea of The Pit Boss's size, here you go--he's huge compared to Modo, who is the biggest of the mice.
"Big talk, fuzz-face," he says coolly. "But an even bigger mistake."
His whip begins to glow bright gold as the electricity flowing through it increases.
"You just bought slave labor--for life."
Modo grimaces.
"But don't worry. That won't be long."
Just as the screen fades out, we see the Pit Boss raise his whip. It cracks as the screen goes black. I could've sworn that in the televised episode, we could hear Modo scream as the credits came on, but it's absent from the episode on the videos put out. This is similar to "A Mouse and His Motorcycle", where a few frames are missing when Modo and his bros clasp hands just before the big mouse falls back onto his cot. Why they were omitted, I don't know. It's a loss, because those two scenes do have an emotional impact.
Soon, a large crane pulls up at the lip of the Pit Throttle and Modo fell into. It parks with its rear facing the gorge. Charley hops out and begins fiddling with the controls. Hitting a row of switches causes the lever controlling the three hooks hanging on the end to pop out. She carefully begins lowering one.
Meanwhile, at the front of the vehicle, a mysterious black-haired stranger in a brown hat pulls a blue bandana over his face. He checks his appearance in the window, then silently advances on Charley. He creeps closer…closer…
Suddenly, Charley hears the sound of boots on gravel and spins around. She gasps when she sees the stranger--who pulls down the bandanna and reveals himself to be Vinnie incognito.
"So, what do you think, babe?" he asks. "Do I look cool, or what?"
"Do that again, and I'll stuff that hat into your ears!" she shouts, infuriated.
"Can't be done, lady," Vinnie laughs, tapping the top of the hat, which produces a ringing, metallic sound. "Solid shell underneath! This hat's a bike helmet in disguise!"
"That's unusually intelligent of you."
"Well, you know me, Charley-girl!" the mouse replies, strolling over to the rear-view mirror. "Safety first, that's my motto!"
"Oh, yeah. You're just a model of restraint, you are," Charley grumbles.
Vinnie adjusts his hat in the mirror. For anyone interested, the rest of his costume is a plain, pale brown shirt with long sleeves and a red tunic with thin black stripes, belted at the waist, with his usual boots. And sorry to disappoint, but he is wearing pants with that.
"Now remember, it's gonna be dangerous down there," Charley reminds him as she attaches a special hook to his bike. "So keep your head down, stay out of sight, just find Throttle and Modo and bring 'em back here."
She uses the crane to pick up Vinnie's bike and lift it into the air.
"No fuss, no trouble, got that?"
"Whoah, whoah, just chill, rest easy, Charley-girl!" Vinnie replies, walking to the edge. "I'll be quiet as a mouse!"
"Yeah," the mechanic laughs. "I've seen how quiet you mice are!"
The crane begins to swing Vinnie's bike over the Pit. He runs, makes a flying leap, grabs the rear of the bike, and swings his way up onto the top, where he grabs the rope. Steadying himself, he stands on the seat to show Charley he's ready.
Charley begins to lower him down. As the bike descends, Vinnie casually sits down, leaning back and letting his feet rest on his bike's crankcase. He waves to the mechanic as he disappears from view.
"Watch yourself, Vinnie, you big lug," Charley whispers.
In the ruins of a nearby building, Greasepit watches these events unfold.
"So! Da biker babies is down in da dumps, eh? Ooh, wait till Mr. Limburger here's about this!"
Greasepit turns and begins walking away, but slips and falls after about two steps. Apparently, he brought his piggy bank with him again, as he begins counting his change once again.
"One…two…seven…"
…tink…tink…tink…
Greasepit's counting tapers off into the sound of picks striking stone. We're brought further into the eerily beautiful subterranean world of the Pits (you gotta see the backgrounds in this place!). In these depths, the Pit Crew has made a home for itself, erecting houses made of the stone in the walls. A gigantic castle, the Pit Boss's home, is the focal point of the civilization, although it's still a work in progress.
Of course, that's not to say the Pit Boss is the one building it…
A pick suddenly strikes the ground, cleaving it in two. The hands holding the pick belong to Throttle, who, along with Modo, has been conscripted into the chain gang working on the castle. Along with a few dozen other men, they break the stone necessary to continue work on the castle. Working with them at the moment is a rough-looking Hispanic man. All three of them are in chains. But there's some good news for the ladies--Throttle and Modo are both shirtless!
"Man!" Modo grouses, pausing for a moment. "Normally, ah dig hard rock, but this is--"
The Pit Boss's whip snaps in Modo's face.
"SHUT UP!" The Pit Boss shouts. He stands just above his workers, with his Pit Crew lining the edge of the hill. Each one has a flame-thrower trained on the slaves, lest they should try to make a break for it.
"No talk! Just dig! I want my castle completed before the rainy season starts! Move it!"
The mice and their human pal go back to work. While both mice have little difficulty with the digging (look at their muscles, for God's sake!), the human is weak and out of shape. We find out later that he's been doing this job for a long time, and it has taken its toll on his body.
"Too hard….can't….go on," he pants. He then faints.
"Hey…you…you alright, citizen?" Throttle asks.
"He's one hurtin' hombre," Modo says softly. The big gray-furred mouse reaches out to him gently--and nearly gets hit when the Pit Boss cracks his whip across the man's back!
"GET UP!" he shouts.
The man cowers as the Pit Boss leaps into the pit.
"Get up and work!"
Throttle and Modo watch, silently seething.
Then the Pit Boss makes a major mistake.
"You!" he shouts to Modo. "Get back to work, you sewer rat!"
Modo's eye glows bright red.
"RAT?!?" he screams, incensed.
He tosses the pick over his shoulder and moves into a wrestling crouch.
"Now you're talkin' trash," the mouse growls.
Modo springs at the Pit Boss, who quickly swings his whip down on full power. The mouse catches it in his hand, and is immediately hit by the force of the electricity flowing through him. Instead of letting go, however, Modo slowly brings his other hand up, grabs the whip, and jerks on it. The Pit Boss, not thinking to let go, is swung through the air, right over to Throttle, who grins and let's loose a haymaker that sends the slave-driver flying. He bounces a few times on the ground, then hits a wall.
"Okay," Throttle pants happily, rubbing his knuckles. "Enough work. Modo, I think it's time for a break."
"Not to mention a blast!" Modo replies.
Before the mice can bust up any more heads, however, they find themselves surrounded by the heavily-armed Pit Crew.
"You look like you had some labor problems, Pit Boss," one of them says to his leader. "How'd you like me to fire 'em?" He blasts a small lick of flame at the mice. It doesn't connect, but it gets the pun across.
"No," the Pit Boss chuckles, putting a hand on the flame-thrower. "I've got more…entertaining plans for these two."
Throttle and Modo grimace.
In another part of the Pits, near the bottom of the hole Throttle and Modo fell into, we see the hook Vinnie used to make his way down there swinging idly in the breeze, with nothing connected to it. Nearby is a small bar, with the name "NICK" written across the top. From it comes a disproportionately large amount of noise.
Inside, we see all the barroom activity we'd expect of a place like this. The leader of the robbers from earlier gnaws on a hunk of meat, while a fight goes on behind him. Two women in skimpy clothing watch as another turns down an erstwhile suitor (or perhaps a John?….^^). At a table, two men are arm wrestling. Eventually, it breaks down into a fistfight, with the larger of the two knocking his opponent out, much to the enjoyment of the spectators. He laughs proudly, until he hears someone say something decidedly out of place for this establishment:
"Root beer."
The man turns and sees a stranger standing at the bar (not to mention flirting with the waitress).
"And babe? Put that in a dirty glass."
"Whoah…a two-fisted root beer drinkin' man, eh?" the winner of the fight asks sarcastically, trying to start a fight. "Sure you wouldn't rather have a pink lemonade?"
Vinnie turns, the light winking off his mask.
"Are you talkin' to me, sweetheart?" he asks.
"Well, let's see. I don't see nobody else, so yeah, I must be talkin' to you," the man counters as Vinnie's root beer is slid onto the bar.
"Well, I wish you wouldn't," the mouse concludes, chuckling. "Your breath is fauschtokula (don't ask me. That's just what it sounds like)."
Vinnie picks up his root beer.
The man, however, is incensed. He grabs Vinnie by the hair and pulls it, shouting, "Hey, you dirty--"
Vinnie's hair and the hat both come off, revealing him to be a mouse (this shot is pretty neat. It's in a mirror, so we can see Vinnie's relatively casual reaction to being found out).
"--rat?"
For a moment, the man is stunned. Then, he shouts, "Hey! It's another one of them big mice!"
"Oh!" Vinnie says casually. "So you've seen my two bros, then?"
He holds up a pair of pictures so the man can confirm this.
"What's it to you, foil face?" the man snarls back.
Vinnie looks bored as the man continues to rant.
"I'm gonna knock your beaver teeth right down your--"
BAM!
One punch from Vinnie sends the guy flying. He lands on a table, which immediately breaks in two. The mouse walks over and picks him up, then slams the man against a wall.
"I asked you a civil question, sweetheart!" Vinnie growls, extremely serious.
One of the man's friends tries to smash a chair over Vinnie's head from behind, but Vinnie sees him coming. He whips his tail around the newcomer's legs, catching him, then clips him in the chin with a backhand. This effectively wards off any other interlopers.
Vinnie pulls out the pictures once again, shoving them in the man's terrified face, which is reflected very clearly in Vinnie's mask (another great shot!).
"My bros! You seen 'em! Where are they?"
"Th-th-the Pit Boss! He's got 'em! But they've been givin' him a lot of trouble--"
"Aw heck," Vinnie sighs. "I knew they'd be havin' fun without me!"
He straightens up, once again all business, and growls, "Are they alright?"
"Th-th-they been sentenced to die!" the man stammers. "In the arena!"
Vinnie drops him to the floor.
"Oh man!" he moans, disappointed. "I miss out on everything!"
The mouse picks up his helmet and fits it over his head, once again hiding his ears and antenna.
"Well, it's been fun, guys, but I gotta go."
He turns to the bartender.
"Oh, sweetheart?"
Vinnie flips a quarter across the room. It lands on the man's stomach, and bounces up onto his head.
"Buy this man a root beer."
Vinnie pulls his bandana over his mouth and walks out the door.
"Hang tight, bros," he whispers as he mounts his bike. "It's time to wail--"
He burns out and makes a tight turn, riding straight into the camera, until all we see is his headlight.
"0-cause Vinnie's comin' to whip some tail!"
After the commercial break, we see Vinnie still racing through the Pits, en route to his bros. No sign of pursuers from the bar, but others Pit residents have apparently heard about the appearance of a third mouse, and are ready to exterminate him. They line up on the cliffs and ready to open fire.
"Comin' through!" Vinnie shouts. He ends up getting the first shots off, blasting a pair of missiles at the bad guys. They blow up the Pit Crew's perches, and send them running for their lives, one with his butt aflame from the explosion. Soon, fire is raging in the Pit, with Vinnie's catcalls and laughter ringing throughout. The sound of lasers can be heard at the top of the hole, where Charley watches through a pair of binoculars.
"That's Vinnie for ya," she says with a grin. "Keepin' a real low profile."
In the aforementioned Arena, we find hundreds of members of the Pit Crew seated around an oval-shaped field, cheering wildly. Torches line the walls, along with a trio of large, extremely nasty-looking robots. At the center is a cage, in which sit Throttle, Modo, and the Hispanic guy, Manuelo (the mice, unfortunately, have found their shirts once more). Gladiatorial combat is what the Pit Boss has in mind, to the death.
And, as if the situation wasn't already bad enough, Modo decides to pass the time by singing.
"Oh, ah'm stuck in Pit Boss' prison, and time keeps draggin' onnnnnnnn…" he wails, much to the horror of his cellmates.
"I don't know which is worse!" Manuelo shouts. "This place or his singing!"
"That's easy, amigo," Throttle counters. "It's the singing!"
Finally, Modo can no longer hold the note, and he stops (God be praised!).
"So, how long you been down here, Manuelo?" Modo asks, slapping the man on the back.
Manuelo sighs, putting his head in his hands.
"About two years, I think," he replies.
"TWO YEARS?" the mice ask, stunned (Hell, they didn't last one day before their deaths were ordered).
"I was just a store clerk. I was saving money to buy my own place, when the store I was working at was robbed, and I was taken hostage by this Pit Crew."
He looks out at the giant robots.
"I thought that was bad enough, but now…now I lose my head, too."
"Manuelo, my friend, don't be givin' up now!" Modo cries.
"Yeah!" Throttle shouts. "We need your help for when we bash the tar out of these walkin' blenders here!"
Manuelo's face starts to brighten, then fades.
"It's no use," he sighs, once again melancholic. "No man has ever beaten the mechanical gladiators."
Modo jumps to his feet, shouting proudly, "We ain't men! We're mice!"
He slaps Manuelo on the back, meaning to be inspiring, but instead knocking him to the floor.
Throttle jumps up, also slaps Manuelo on the back, and also knocks him to the ground.
"Biker Mice!" he cries, picking Manuelo up off the floor. "We're gettin' outta here!"
"And takin' you with us!" Modo concludes.
"But how can you be so sure?" Manuelo asks.
The sound of a familiar, "YAHOOOOOO!" catches Throttle and Modo's ears. They look outside their prison, and see huge explosions just beyond the arena, along with more shouting, lasers, and earth-shaking kabooms.
The two mice exchange a knowing look, then turn to Manuelo.
"Trust us."
Vinnie, meanwhile, is still fighting his way to his bros. He's run into a nest of Pit Crew goons, all heavily armed. The mouse is being fired upon from all sides, time's ticking down for his bros, and he's got a pair of high-powered weapons in his hands. God, can life get any sweeter?
"You boys are messin' with Vinnie VanWham!" he crows, blasting down buildings and taking out everyone in his way. "The baddest mamajammer this side of the asteroid belt!"
He races ahead, plowing down all comers, until eventually, there's no one left in the immediate area to challenge him. Satisfied (at least for the moment), Vinnie spins his guns into their holsters and laughs, glancing upward, "I hope you're enjoyin' this, Charley-girl!"
Charley gazes down into the Pit, where Vinnie's trail of destruction has created a mouse head logo in flames.
"You've got a certain style, Vinnie," she says wryly. "Just hope it doesn't get you killed."
Vinnie pushes his hat back and looks at a small screen on his bike.
"Hmmm, now let's see where my bros' bikes could be."
The screen traces the outlines of nearby buildings. A pair of mouse head logos, signifying the missing bikes, appear on the screen, showing their positions.
"Bingo!" Vinnie cries. "Love ya babe, now start cookin'!"
He races off once more.
Inside the Arena, Throttle, Modo, and Manuelo stand before the Pit Boss. But the normally jovial mood of watching someone being torn limb from limb by giant robots is somewhat spoiled by the shouting and explosions coming from outside. The Pit Boss keeps glancing over nervously, as do the prisoners.
"Hmmm. Something happening out there?" Throttle asks.
"Nothing that concerns you!" the Pit Boss shouts, angry that the mice have seen the worry in his eyes. "But this does!"
He cracks his whip, and the robots come to life. They begin inching forward on their gigantic tank treads, giant claws and fan-like blades slashing through the air.
"No one defies the power of the Pit Boss!" he screams.
As the first of the robots comes closer and closer, Throttle begins swinging the long chain between his wrists in a circle. He throws it, and the chain catches on the robot's claws. Throttle pulls, and the mecha crashes to the ground, destroyed.
"You know, it's funny," he says, picking up one of the robot's dismembered claws. "You sound just like an over-ripe cheese-ball we know."
Throttle swings the claw over his head, then brings it down hard on the cuff covering Modo's arm cannon.
"He's always sayin' stuff like that, too," Modo adds, blasting a second robot.
"Yeah, but things never go his way, either," Throttle concludes, planting the claws in the treads of the third robot, which immediately self-destructs (curiously, the chains that were gone from his wrists a moment ago are back on now).
"'Cause they're the Biker Mice from Mars!" Manuelo shouts, finally getting it on the fun.
At that exact moment, Vinnie, along with Throttle and Modo's bikes, bursts into the Arena.
"AOOOW! That's my cue!" he shouts. Vinnie pulls to a stop in front of his bros, who simply turn to Manuelo and shrug.
The Pit Boss, of course, is not at all pleased about this turn of events (and I seriously doubt the comparison to Limburger has helped his mood any, either).
"DESTROY THEM! NOW!" he screams.
Manuelo spots one of the Pit Boss's men about to fire. He races over to where the dismembered claw is, then throws it as hard as he can at the sniper. It knocks the gun out of his hand, pinning it just above the stunned Pit Boss's head.
The Biker Mice pat their new pal on the shoulder, and praise him.
Suddenly, a shower of leaflets fills the Arena. The Pit Boss catches one and smiles as he reads it aloud (gradually, his voice is replaced by Limburger doing a voice-over).
"I, Lawrence Limburger, offer the sum of fifty thousand dollars to anyone who delivers me the Biker Mice--dead or alive."
But where, you ask, did the pamphlets come from? Why, from the top of the Pit, where Greasepit is dumping them in by the hundreds from a truck (hey! That's littering, jackass!).
"I'm….dreaming of an iced-mice Christmas," he sings, watching the bulletins float down. "Just the horn section! Plutarkians only, please!"
Charley, horrified, sees what's going on and races to the truck behind the goon's back. She jumps into the cab and pulls a lever that brings the truck's bed back up, stopping the flow of paper into the hole.
"Stop it, you oily oaf!" the mechanic shouts, catching the goon's attention.
"Too late, little Miss Annette Funny-chello," Greasepit replies smugly. "Your mouse-club buddies are gonna be Pit chow now!"
Greasepit charges her, but Charley delivers a smashing side-kick to the stomach that knocks the goon to the ground.
Back in the Pit, the mice are back on their bikes, preparing to make a speedy exit (and in case you're wondering, Manuelo is riding with Modo. They aren't leaving their new little buddy there).
"You'll never make it, Biker Mice," the Pit Boss declares. "Every goon and felon in the Pit will be gunning for you now."
"Well, when the going gets tough…" Modo snaps.
"...the tough whip tail!" Vinnie concludes, throwing a fist in the air.
"Battle mode, bros!" Throttle shouts. "Let's rock--"
"--AND RIDE!"
The mice leap their bikes up and out of the Arena, knocking down an infuriated Pit Boss as they do. He immediately orders his men to stop them.
Topside, Greasepit is chasing Charley all around the rim of the Pit. The mechanic looks down into it, and sees the mice on their way.
"Looks like the guys are making their usual exit!" she pants. "Gotta get to the truck!"
Charley makes it, and begins lowering three hooks into the hole.
"Oh no you don't, toots!" Greasepit shouts, lunging at her. Charley leaps aside just in time to avoid being caught.
As the Biker Mice race to safety, they approach the Pit Boss's castle.
"Let's give the Pit Boss's new digs a little housewarming," Throttle says with a grin.
"Aooooow!" Vinnie howls. "Is this the ultimate in male bonding, or what?"
Snipers fire on the mice as they enter the castle itself, but they quickly pop out their bikes' cannons and give back as good as they get. As they pass under the main stone arch, they shoot out a trio of grappling lines, which wrap around it several times. When the mice pass through, they tear it down behind them.
"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home," Modo and Vinnie sing. Manuelo must be thinking, "God, does it ever end?"
Finally, the mice arrive at the bottom of the Pit, near where Modo and Throttle crashed.
"Here comes our ticket out of here!" Vinnie shouts, pointing at the descending hooks.
Up top, as Charley struggles to get free of Greasepit, she hops up on the control panel for the crane, accidentally knocking the lever forward as she does. As a result, the hooks stop just a few feet out of the mice's reach down below.
"Whoops!" Vinnie cries. "Interference!"
The Pit Crew begins to open fire once more.
"Let's go for the extra point!" Throttle shouts. "Hut one!"
"Hut two!"
They all pop wheelies.
"HIKE!"
The mice use their bikes' jets to shoot upwards, toward the hooks.
Charley manages to squirm free of Greasepit. She pushes the lever once again to bring the hooks up, just as Greasepit comes after her once more. The mechanic quickly uses both legs to kick him away, but does it so hard that the goon tumbles into the Pit! Horrified, Charley runs to the edge--just in time to see the Biker Mice rise to the top, with Vinnie hanging on to the goon by the overalls.
"Hey, Charley-girl?" Vinnie asks, grinning.
"You drop this?" Throttle inquires.
"Or were you just throwin' it away?" Modo concludes.
Vinnie shakes Greasepit lightly. Coins fall from his pockets, and the goon is forced to wave a tearful goodbye to his "life's savings."
"Thanks for picking up the garbage, guys," the relieved mechanic replies. "And welcome back."
At Limburger Tower, meanwhile, the Big Cheese is getting in some target practice with a large desk-mounted laser. Before him is a solid brick wall onto which the outlines of the Biker Mice have been traced. As Limburger slowly brings the beam across, it cuts a thick gash in the brick.
"Ah! Exquisite!" he cries happily. "Once those bothersome Biker Mice are delivered into my hands, I shall at last have a little peace! Lots of little pieces! Of Biker Mice, that is!"
The felonious fish walks over to the wall, and presses a finger against the red-hot groove. He pulls it away, slightly burnt, but remains pleased nonetheless.
So who should show up then but our three heroes, bursting through the window?
"I wouldn't bet on that, Limburger," Throttle says coolly.
Limburger stares in horror.
"Biker Mice?!? What is the meaning of this intrusion?"
Throttle pulls out one of the handbills.
"Well, it says here…uh…yeah, uh-huh, dead or alive. So we're here to collect the reward."
"Fifty-thousand smackaroonies!" Modo adds (he's holding a box here. I don't know where he got it, or what it's for, but it's gone the next time we see him).
"And cheap at the price!" Vinnie remarks.
Modo raises his arm cannon and points it square at Limburger.
The Plutarkian, realizing he can't win, picks up a money-filled briefcase and sighs, "Ah well. A deal is a deal. Here, take it."
He tosses the suitcase to Throttle.
"Thanks," the leader of the mice says. "We got a real good use for it, too. Hey, pleasure doin' business with you, pal."
"The honeymoon is over, you meddlesome mice," Limburger growls, jumping behind his laser. He fires, but not before Vinnie has a chance to strike a flare, which he sends flying at the cannon. It melts the swivel base, causing the gun to fly about wildly, spraying fire in all directions.
"You were saying?" Throttle asks, deftly avoiding the lasers.
Soon, nearly everything in the room is on fire, or has been broken, with more devastation on the way.
"You will excuse me while I step out for a moment…" Limburger says politely just before he runs screaming from the room.
"For once, the Big Cheese has an idea I like!" Vinnie concedes.
"Let's ride!" Throttle laughs.
The mice jump their bikes out of the tower seconds before it comes crashing down.
Soon, the mice come back to Manuelo, who is waiting for them on a nearby street.
"Here you go, Maneulo," Throttle says, handing him the briefcase. "This stash should be enough to start your own store."
The astonished Maneulo takes the briefcase, speechless.
"I--I don't know what to say!" he stammers.
"Hey, hey, don’t sweat it, bro!" Throttle laughs.
"We're the Biker Mice from Mars!" Modo reminds him (it's a wonder Manuelo dooesn't tremble in fear at another back-slapping).
"And we were born to be cool," Vinnie concludes.
"I just--I just wish there was something I could do…" the human says softly.
"Well there is!" Throttle replies.
"Always remember one thing," Modo tells him.
"And that is?" Maneulo asks.
"Wherever you are…" Throttle begins.
"…whatever you do…" Vinnie chimes in.
"…RIDE FREE, CITIZEN!" all three mice shout, doing a triple-high five (if you're trying to figure this one out, Throttle and Modo both smack one of Modo's palms, then each others' on the way down).
With that, the Biker Mice ride away, whooping loudly as they go. Vinnie picks up the Pit Boss's whip, which the mice have apparently taken away with them as a souvenir, and cracks it at the screen, bringing us to the closing screen.
(duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh!)
MY FEELINGS ON THE EPISODE
Oh damn. I love this episode. I can not say enough good things about this episode. I do not think I can adequately express my love of this episode with mere words.
Maybe with lots and lots of mere words…
I think "The Pits" was the first episode of "Biker Mice" I ever saw, so of course, it's got a special place in my heart. But even after seeing all sixty-four other episodes, only one or two can truly vie with this one for the number once spot. This one's got a lot to offer. I personally think that this episode is the funniest of the first season, although it's a close contest with "A Scent, A Memory, A Far Distant Cheese." The dialogue is priceless, particularly that between Vinnie and Charley when they arrive at the Pits. Throttle waiting for Modo's answer as to whether or not he wants to know whether or not his plan will work is another great moment. Vinnie's disappointment at finding out his bros are getting "beaten up, or shot at, or blown up, et cetera" without him is hilarious. In fact, if you're a Vinnie fan, you can't miss this episode. This is the defining Vinnie episode. We see Vinnie running around, wreaking havoc on the Pits, being wild and crazy, but also concerned about his bros. The anger and determination in his voice when he's trying to get the man from the bar to give him info is fabulous (Ian Ziering, you are fantastic!).
The idea of the Pits and its occupants is very cool. Both are the result of what happens when Plutarkians get their teeth into a planet. One wonders if something similar might have occurred on Mars during the early Plutarkian occupation of the planet. The idea that innocent people are being pulled off the street and forced into slavery by an evil underground force is terrifying. Imagine the position of someone like Manuelo (check it out-Biker Mice had a Latino character before it was hip or necessary under children's television programming guidelines!), who suddenly finds himself trapped, hundreds of feet below the surface of the Earth, forced to work, with no idea when you'll be able to go home and see your family and loved ones again. The Pits come up in several other episodes ("Law of the Pits", "Pitfall"), but never with the impact of this first episode.
If you're looking for Vinnie and Charley relationship stuff, this is a good episode to see it. The two of them work together all throughout this episode, and do so extremely well. Their banter is great.
Animation is great throughout this one, especially a few key moments, like when Throttle and Modo are falling into the Pit, Vinnie's bar room brawl, and Vinnie jumping onto his bike to descend into the Pit. As I mentioned earlier, the backgrounds in the Pit are great, creating an eerie, hopeless atmosphere. Music is good, nothing stellar. But of course, to make up for that, we've got shirtless mice for the ladies. You can't ask for much more.
Overall, this is another absolutely fabulous episode. If you haven't seen it yet, you don't know what you're missing. Here's the typical ordering info if you don't have it yet:
Like the rest of the first season episodes, this one is available on video. The tape is named "The Pits", and also contains "Hard Rock." E-bay is a great place to pick up the first-season tapes, usually at a bargain price. Simply enter "biker mice" in the search field, and a listing of available Biker Mice products will be given. Amazon.com is another good place to go looking. Searching through Yahoo and AltaVista might also turn up video sources online. You won't regret your search. Good luck!
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