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| Jim is determined to find the father of a dead army buddy. |
Genesis Climber Mospeada: Fallen Hero's Ragtime.
Original Air Date - Genesis Climber Mospeada: Nov. 13, 1983. Writer: Satoshi Namiki. Director: Yusaku Saotome.
Robotech: Paper Hero.
Original Air Date - Robotech: June 4, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.
PLOT - MOSPEADA:
The group comes to another small town, this time on purpose. Jim wants to deliver a book to Alfred, the father of a friend who was killed during the first attempt to reclaim Earth from the Inbit. The plan is to be in and out before the nearby Inbit patrols pick up on their presence. But when they drive into town, the locals shut themselves away.
José, a restaurant owner, tells them that no one named Alfred lives here. It's obvious that he's lying, as Jim is able to follow his dead buddy's descriptions straight to Alfred's now-destroyed home. But just what dark secret could the locals be hiding?
PLOT - ROBOTECH:
The group comes to another small town, this time on purpose. Lunk wants to deliver a book to Alfred, the father of a friend who was killed during the Invid invasion. The plan is to be in and out - but when they drive into town, the locals shut themselves away.
José, a restaurant owner, tells them that no one named Alfred lives here. It's obvious that he's lying, as Lunk is able to follow his dead buddy's descriptions straight to Alfred's now-destroyed home. But just what dark secret could the locals be hiding?
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| A flashback shows Jim watching helplessly as his friend falls to the Inbit. |
CHARACTERS:
This time, it's Jim's turn to take the spotlight. Flashbacks show the incident that led to him fleeing during the previous attempt to reclaim Earth. A lot of the anger he shows toward the townspeople is directed at least as much at himself for having left his friend to die. When he tells Mint and Ray about the past incident, he cleans up the story by insisting that he tried to save his friend. Even though he didn't actually do anything, it's evident that there was nothing he could do.
Ray is, once again, in the support role. To be honest, I'd rather it had been someone else - Yellow Belmont, or even Stig. We've gotten a lot of Ray in almost every episode thus far, while some of the other characters have been relegated to the sidelines. Stig is supposedly the series lead, but he's starting to feel like a minor supporting character!
Advantage: None.
NARRATION:
For a change, the Robotech episode follows Mospeada's lead by jumping straight into the episode with only a bare minimum of narration. The episode quickly makes up for that restraint by giving restaurant owner José an internal monologue in which he frets about how the "freedom fighters" will react if they find out what happened to Alfred. Thanks for puncturing any hint of mystery... though it's not as if the plot trajectory wasn't obvious to start with.
Advantage: Mospeada.
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| Local restaurant owner José is evasive. |
CUTS AND ALTERATION:
Lunk Narrates His Flashback: When Ray asks Jim about his friend in Mospeada, Jim has a flashback in which he relives the man's death and his own escape. Robotech has Lunk narrate the entire flashback, while the writers sand down any suggestion of cowardice by having him emphasize that there was no way for him to help his friend. Which there wasn't - but I prefer Mospeada's approach of simply making that obvious to anyone watching, rather than Robotech's of spelling it out to us.
Annie's Peppermint Candy: When Jim talks about Alfred, his late friend's father, Mint hopes that he turns out to be a "nice old man." Then, since a marital obsession is her sole character trait, she declares that she doesn't mind marrying an old man as long as she gets to live in a big house. Robotech has wisely de-emphasized the marital obsession, with Annie instead fantasizing about getting peppermint candy.
The Reason the Restaurant Is Closed: In Mospeada, José tells Jim that the restaurant is closed for a religious observance. Even in the '80s, the US was too secular for that to work for American audiences, so Robotech's José tells Lunk that there is an emergency, leaving no supplies to open the restaurant.
José and Pedro Talk About Alfred's Death: While Mospeada keeps up the illusion of a mystery surrounding Alfred, Robotech apparently finds that too subtle. As a result, José and Pedro nowdirectly discuss the need to conceal the old man's death.
Rand Doesn't Worry About the Invid: As Mospeada's Ray and Jim search for Alfred, Ray reminds him that they need to be in and out fast before the Inbit catch up to them. Robotech removes this, with Rand and Lunk fully focused on the mystery. Even when Rand frets about getting hurt, he's worried not about the aliens but the townspeople.
Quipping: This is an ongoing issue with Robotech, but it's very noticeable in this episode. When Rand and Lunk get surrounded by a mob, they begin exchanging quips about how serious the guy with the knife and the one with the axe look. Mospeada sets a more serious (and less annoying) tone for the same encounter.
The Robotech Regulars Want to Protect the Town: When Pedro refuses to give the regulars access to their mechs, the Mospeada characters argue that Stig will die if the townspeople don't allow them to help. Robotech shifts this, with the regulars now playing on the town's self-interest by insisting that the approaching Invid will destroy them if they aren't repelled.
Pedro Shifts Responsibility to José: José steps forward, urging the others to show the regulars where their machines are hidden. When the mayor snaps at him that he might end up dying, José responds that it's better than "humans killing other humans." Robotech changes the exchange, with Pedro now telling José that he'll be responsible for whatever happens next... which, come to think of it, makes Robotech's Pedro a more realistic politician.
Advantage: Mospeada.
INCIDENTAL MUSIC:
I'm going to give this category to Robotech. Yes, it's the usual tracks being applied in the usual way. The score is well applied, however, and I think it gives a slight lift to the episode. Mospeada's music is... fine. It doesn't harm any of the scenes - but it also doesn't help any of them.
Advantage: Robotech.
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| Jim finds Alfred's place - or at least, what's left of it. |
OVERALL ADVANTAGE - MOSPEADA:
As usual, Robotech doesn't change much. However, the American writers' insistence on telegraphing every plot turn is extremely irritating. It's a stock plot to start with; I think even the younger after school viewers would be able to keep up. Also, presumably because some of the locals have Hispanic names, the Robotech version insists on giving them all exaggerated accents. I lived in Arizona at the time this was broadcast; even then, there were plenty of people with names like José and Pedro whose voices were indistinguishable from people named John Smith or Mike Young.
OTHER MUSINGS:
Fallen Hero's Ragtime is essentially a post-Apocalyptic Bad Day at Black Rock, and most viewers will figure out where the story is going within the first five minutes. Not that Robotech viewers will even need to wait that long, as the Robotech version spells out the locals covering up Alfred's death from the get-go.
In either version, it's another stock plot from a show that I think has already too freely indulged in such stories. I know that Southern Cross is considered the weakest of the Robotech shows, but at least that series had some ambition. I'm more than a quarter of the way through Mospeada now, and I'm starting to get a bit numbed by the succession of tropey storylines.
On its own terms, this is a perfectly competent episode. I'm just starting to hunger for something... well, more.
Overall Rating: 5/10.
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