Gatchaman Episode 42: “The Great Breakout Trick Operation”

[Thank you, Saturn, for the screencaps!]

Gatchaman Episode 42: “The Great Breakout Trick Operation”

BOTP Episode: “Prisoners in Space”







This episode opens with a shot of several men, all wearing identical drab, institutional clothes, and all wearing handcuffs. They’re sitting in a row, in the back compartment of a large van, with two uniformed guards watching them.







The van itself is moving along a road that’s bordered on one side by the sea.

Suddenly Ryu is standing in the road, with his arm extended to flag down the van and he’s calling out “Hey you, in the truck! Stop!”

The van is being driven by another uniformed man, and there’s a similarly dressed man sitting in the front compartment with him. Seeing Ryu, they look at each other and go “Huh?” but the driver does stop the van, and Ryu comes up to the open driver’s side window.






“I’m really sorry about stopping you,” says Ryu, “But I’m wondering if you guys could possibly tell me how to get back to town. I kind of got lost and you guys are the first people to pass by.”

Neither man answers, but then, Ryu isn’t exactly giving them any opportunity –he just keeps talking…

“So it’s pretty out here and I started wandering around and I can’t figure out how to get back. Do you think maybe I could catch a ride back? I’d really appreciate it. I’ve just got a horrible sense of direction, you know what I’m saying?”

(Um, Ryu, you’re the pilot of the God Phoenix –I’d like to think you have a decent sense of direction!)

Finally, the man who’s not driving (and therefore must be more high-ranking) says to the driver, “That’s fine. Go ahead and let him on.” So the driver tells Ryu “Hurry, get in back, okay?” while gesturing to the back compartment. Ryu thanks them happily and promptly heads to the very back of the van, and he opens the door to the back compartment. Seeing what’s inside (a row of mean-looking, handcuffed men), he gasps in surprise “But this is a prison truck!” and looks like he’s seriously reconsidering his request for a lift, but one of the guards inside grabs him and pulls him in with a “Hurry up!” and the van speeds off down the road.







Now we see the van continuing to travel along a very rugged sea coast, and then along a causeway. In the front compartment, the man who isn’t driving looks at his watch (and remember the watch –it’s important later) and tells the other man to drive faster, as the tide is nearly in. Indeed, we can see waves breaking over the causeway now, and water is being sprayed by the tires of the van as it drives along the increasingly wetter causeway. But finally it reaches an entrance in a wall of grey bricks, and drives through a short tunnel with a sturdy security gate that opens to allow the van inside.

The “camera” pulls back now to show us a large, grim high security edifice with churning sea on all sides.







“This building,” the narrator tells us, “Surrounded by the pounding waves of the Pacific, is Jinjin Prison. It’s the final destination for many of the world’s most terrifying criminals. No one has ever left Jinjin alive. Even if prisoners were to escape, they wouldn’t be able to swim across the ocean.” We are now shown views of Jinjin’s dark and forbidding interior, as the narrator continues that “The prisoners here don’t waste time with dreams or hopes, instead they patiently await their date of execution.” On that cheerful note, we’re shown an image of an electric chair.






“What are you doing? Let me go!” yells Ryu, now struggling with two guards.

He pushes one down, and sends the other one flying with a blow from his arm. Now we can see that he’s inside Jinjin and the prisoners who were in the van with him are all standing nearby, still with their handcuffs on. More guards now rush at Ryu, but he’s fighting them off quite effectively.







I guess he figures they’re not going to buy any “I’m just a hitchhiker!” explanations, because he doesn’t seem to be trying to tell them how he ended up in the van.

The man from the front compartment of the van (the one who was wearing a watch) now turns to three other guards standing behind him (the driver plus the two guards who were in the back compartment, I think) and says “Okay, let’s do it!”

Now, all the “prisoners” from the back compartment of the van easily open and remove all their handcuffs themselves, tossing them on the ground.







Two guards who are struggling with Ryu see this and go “huh?” but before they can do anything, a voice growls “Hold it right there.” It’s the guard from the van (the one who wears the watch) and he’s pointing a gun at the guards who were trying to restrain Ryu, along with some other guards –all of whom looked shocked.







“You’d better just play it real cool, boy scouts,” he says.

The guards that he’s got the gun trained on are angry and confused, and one says he’s never seen this “guard” or the other “guards” from the van before. Now, the watch-wearing “guard” tells them his name is Blacky, and that if they want to stay alive, they’d better stay still.

“Oh great, what did I get myself into now?” mutters Ryu, as he observes all this.

Next, we see all the “guards” and “prisoners” from the van running through the prison and locating and opening fire with machine guns on all the legitimate prison guards.







The actual prisoners are clamouring at their cell bars to know what’s going on. One guard, trying to make an urgent phone call to the outside to report what’s going on is gunned down before he can complete it, and a bullet severs the telephone’s cord.

“Alright, everyone out, to the courtyard!” says one of the “guards” as he unlocks the door of a room that’s holding lots of prisoners. All over the prison, the prisoners are being released from cells and holding areas and told to “gather in the courtyard.” The prisoners are all doing just that, running eagerly and quickly through the prison’s corridors.







Now we cut to Ken. He’s sitting in room that looks like it’s probably some part of the Crescent Coral Base. He’s not wearing his bracelet, but it’s close by on a table. Ken’s also reading what appears to be a manual of some kind. I’m wondering why he’s hanging around the Base, reading, when he could be flying his plane or at the Snack J, but I’m not going to find out.







Dr. Nambu contacts Ken on his bracelet, and when Ken picks up his bracelet and responds, Dr. Nambu appears on a screen on the wall.







He informs Ken that there’s been an uprising at Jinjin prison and that “two hundred inmates have escaped from their cells and managed to completely take control of every block.” Ken is surprised to hear this, as he’s always heard that escape from Jinjin is impossible. Dr. Nambu agrees that “It’s all happening too easily,” and he’s sure that “the evil hand of Galactor is pulling the strings.” Ken wonders why Galactor would do this, but Dr. Nambu says he thinks that Galactor might be “trying to recruit new soldiers at the prison.”

“They’re recruiting new soldiers at the prison?” says Ken. Yes, Ken, that’s what he just told you.

Now we cut back to Jinjin itself. Blacky the watch-wearing “guard” is addressing all the prisoners who are now assembled in the open-air courtyard of the prison.






“Galactor is always looking for vicious criminals such as yourselves,” he declares. So, Dr. Nambu’s theory is correct. “We will take you to freedom,” he continues, “if you give your allegiance to us.” One prisoner, with a shaved head and a beard speaks up and demands “Why should we trust you? Nobody’s ever escaped from Jinjin prison. How are you going to get us out of here?”

“Just trust me,” replies Blacky, “And Galactor will break you out of here.”

Now we see that Ryu is also standing in the crowd of assembled prisoners, listening to all this. “Wow, if I play along, I may have a chance to find Galactor’s headquarters,” he thinks to himself.

“You know, maybe he’s right,” says the prisoner with the shaved head and the beard, “We have nothing left to live for in this joint. We’ll gladly join your ranks!”

“Right everyone?” he shouts, and all the prisoners answer “Yeah!” in agreement, and raise their arms in the air and yell enthusiastically.

Ah, that’s it. When Ryu tried to quit the team in episode 26, everyone criticized Joe’s piloting of the God Phoenix. It must be a sort of rule that whenever Ryu is missing, whoever ends up flying the God Phoenix will do it badly. Jun was able to avoid this fate in episode 12 because Ryu wasn’t missing –he was infiltrating Ibukron with Ken and Joe.

As for where Ryu is, he’s inside Jinjin. He and all the other prisoners have been given Galactor uniforms and they’re putting them on. Ryu is muttering “There’s no way this thing is going to fit me,” as he struggles to get his mask on, and sure enough, his uniform then tears underneath his arms.







“Al Capone” has a uniform that’s a bit different from the usual all-green –his uniform has some yellow on it too. He asks another prisoner, with an all-green uniform, how he looks and is told “You look good.” So psyched is Al Capone to do evil work for Galactor, he starts throwing mock punches at this new goon, who retreats hastily, telling him to calm down.

Now we see Blacky, but he’s ditched his guard uniform for a Galactor uniform that is mostly red. He asks the prisoners, now all in goon uniforms, if they’re ready and gets an enthusiastic response. To remind us all that he is Blacky, he looks at the watch on his wrist and says “It’s time.” It’s 6 PM –low tide.

Now, as we see the ocean waves breaking against the sides of Jinjin, the excited prisoners all follow Blacky out of the prison, some through a door, and others by climbing down ropes from the top of Jinjin’s high walls. I’m guessing that, as it’s low tide at 6 PM, they’re all headed for that island behind Jinjin that’s only exposed at low tide (in the diagram that Ken had, it showed a path to it from Jinjin during low tide).

From a distance, and higher up, Joe, Jun and Jinpei are observing this exodus. “I hope Big Brother can fool them,” says Jinpei. Joe says “It’s time for us to get ready too,” and they all turn and run towards a small building.







I’m guessing that they’re still at the empty space in front of Jinjin. Inside the small building, Joe pulls a lever and cables begin raising sections of a mock city, like might be used on a film set.











Meanwhile, Evil Ken and Blacky are standing at a door to the Evil God Phoenix, watching eager ex-prisoner goons run up some stairs and get on board.







But, the narrator informs us that Ken is nervous because it’s taking too long for all 200 prisoners to board.

Yup, apparently there’s room on the God Phoenix for 200 people.

“Hurry up, don’t waste time!” yells Evil Ken in his evil voice. Heh, he could get hired by a commercial airline, I’m sure.

Meanwhile, a Galactor mecha that looks a bit like an octopus is cruising along underwater.







On board this octopus mecha, a goon informs a Captain-of-the-week type that they’re almost to their destination. “Good. Hurry,” he replies, “Blacky should be waiting for us there.”








Meanwhile, at the door to the Evil God Phoenix, ex-prisoner goons are still streaming on board and Evil Ken is glancing nervously at his watch. Blacky wants to know why he’s in such a hurry.

Well, it’s because… it’s because Lord Katse is waiting at headquarters and he wants to see the new soldiers as soon as possible!” says Evil Ken.

“Headquarters?” replies Blacky, “That’s interesting. I was told we were taking the prisoners to the secret base.”

“The secret base?” says Ken, “Well there’s been a change in plans –we’re taking the new soldiers back to headquarters.”

But now the last ex-prisoner goon comes up the stairs to get on board the Evil God Phoenix and he pauses. It’s Ryu.







“You, hurry up! Come on, what’s taking you so long!” barks Evil Ken, pointing at the door. Neither one recognizes the other.

Seeing that he was the last to board, Evil Ken says “Let’s get out of here!” and starts to go on board himself but suddenly Blacky says “Excuse me, Commander…”

Meanwhile, the octopus mecha is still cruising ever nearer to Jinjin, still underwater.

Blacky now says to Evil Ken, “Just to be on the safe side, why don’t you tell me Galactor’s secret code word?” as Ken (looking rather alarmed) turns to face him.

“The secret code word?” says Evil Ken. Yes, Ken, that’s what he just told you. Ken’s mouth is open in dismay.

Commercial Break!

“Yes, let’s hear the secret Galactor code word, Commander, or don’t you know it?” continues Blacky. Evil Ken is thinking about what to do…

Meanwhile, the octopus mecha is beginning to surface.

“What are you talking about?” demands Evil Ken angrily, “Are you mocking me? There’s no such thing as a secret Galactor code word!”






At that, Blacky stands at attention and salutes, saying “Sorry, it’s the law of Galactor for us to be as careful as possible. Please forgive me.”

Good thinking there, Evil Ken!

So now Blacky says “Let’s get going,” and he runs onto the Evil God Phoenix. Ken sighs in relief and wipes his face.

Now Evil Ken runs to the bridge of the Evil God Phoenix, and it looks completely different –all dark colours, the main viewscreen is circular and there’s only one chair.

So Evil Ken fires up the engines and the Evil God Phoenix runs along the ground, picking up speed, and then plunges into the sea.

Evil Ken is at the helm so, of course, Ryu (sitting in the back with “Birdman” Jim –who has a blue goon uniform) remarks “Come on, man. Who the hell is flying this thing? They’re terrible!” when the Evil God Phoenix hits the sea’s surface and goes underwater.

Poor Ken.







Evil Ken took off, though, without a moment to spare. The instant the Evil God Phoenix is out of sight, underwater, the octopus mecha arrives at the island. Now, its captain is outside of the mecha, along with some goons, and they’re staring at the tracks left behind by the Evil God Phoenix’s tires.

“God damn it, someone must have gotten here before us and taken the prisoners,” mutters the captain. One goon speculates that it could have been the Science Ninja Team, and the captain agrees. Thinking they couldn’t have gotten far, he decides they will hunt for them. So, the octopus mecha takes off again.

Meanwhile, the Evil God Phoenix is landing in the midst of the mock town that Joe, Jun and Jinpei erected (in the empty space in front of Jinjin, I think –that would explain why none of the prisoners saw it when they were exiting Jinjin from the back to go to the island.)

“This is where the great breakout trick operation begins,” the narrator tells us, “And from here on out, the Science Ninja Team can’t afford any mistakes.”

Two large projection screens now slide into place on either side of the Evil God Phoenix and from somewhere (probably the little building she, Joe and Jinpei entered earlier) Jun starts up a film projector device.









On the screens on either side of the Evil God Phoenix, moving film footage of an underwater scene is now being shown.

“Uh,” says “Al Capone,” as the exterior screen on the window he’s sitting beside on board the Evil God Phoenix lifts, “The window’s finally opening.” Other ex-prisoner goons gather around the windows to look out.







On the bridge, Evil Ken picks up a microphone and addresses the prisoners in the back. “Attention! We’re departing for headquarters. We’re travelling underwater to avoid drawing attention. We will arrive around midnight so relax and take it easy until then.”

What? No complimentary beverages and mini bags of pretzels? I guess they are getting a movie, though, whether they realize it or not.

Blacky, also sitting in the back, checks his watch now –it’s 7 PM.

On the octopus mecha, which is searching around underwater, a goon sees a blinking light on a radar screen and says “Commander, I’m getting a strange reading from in front of the prison.” The captain decides they will go and investigate it.

In the back of the Evil God Phoenix, a slightly yellowish gas is being sprayed from little jets.







“Al Capone” yawns and announces that he’s going to take his first nap as a free man, and his seatmate agrees that it’s “as comfy as a cradle in here.” Soon, it seems that every prisoner is sleeping.

Except Ryu. He’s covering his mouth.








“I know that smell,” he thinks, “It’s sleeping gas, but why would they want to knock us out?”

But now the door from the bridge opens (and it’s shaped like the red Galactor symbol –they really have redecorated!) and Evil Ken appears.







He goes up to the sleeping Blacky and sets his watch 5 hours ahead to show that it’s midnight.








Ryu observes this surreptitiously and thinks “That guy sure is acting strange.”

So now, Blacky is still watching the last of the ex-prisoner goons run from the Evil God Phoenix into the “secret base” but now water is beginning to flow onto the “street,” to his puzzlement. “Why does this place look familiar,” he mutters, but then “Katse’s” voice barks from the Evil God Phoenix, “What are you waiting for, Blacky? Move it!”

Blacky starts running, and inside the little building, Jun is making “Katse’s” voice say “Hurry, the Science Ninja Team is coming, you must hurry!” and watching the “street” on a screen. On the bridge of (now empty) Evil God Phoenix, Joe shoots his cable gun at the fuse of the bomb beside the still-unconscious Evil Ken (well, not so evil now as he’s not wearing his mask) and severs it.







Now, we see the captain from the octopus mecha and his remaining goons all filing through Jinjin’s back door, expecting to find Blacky and the prisoners awaiting pick-up there instead of at the island. But as they look around, they see that Jinjin’s courtyard is empty, but before they can react, a security gate slams down in the door they entered through, trapping them all inside Jinjin. Suddenly, flood lights come on, and the captain says “Wait, we’ve been tricked!”








Simultaneously, all the ex-prisoner goons have arrived inside Jinjin too, and thinking that they’re inside a secret Galactor base, they all start cheering and dancing around. Blacky comes up to the octopus mecha captain and starts explaining that he’s brought all the prisoners to the secret base, though he had a hard time getting there, but the captain is just staring past him, stunned and silent. Blacky asks him what’s the matter, and turns to look where he’s looking. He is horrified to realize that he’s back inside Jinjin prison (and you can see bits of the exterior fake façade rising up over Jinjin’s real walls as he stares around. Now all the ex-prisoner goons have stopped cheering and dancing and they (including Jim) are also staring all around, in growing realization that all is not as it should be. They can’t quite believe that they could be back inside Jinjin, but “Al Capone” sees the imprint that he left on the wall when he punched it, much earlier and that convinces him that somehow, he really is back inside Jinjin.









He pulls off his mask and stares, dumbfounded. Another prisoner wants him to explain how this could possibly have happened but he can only yell “Shut up, you idiot! How could I possibly know?”
Then he adds, “I’m kind of wondering the same thing myself. How the hell did we end up back in the joint?”

Now we see “Birdman” Jim, standing by himself elsewhere in the courtyard. He pulls off his mask, and starts walking, as sad music begins to play.









Up on a tower stands Dr. Nambu and two genuine prison guards with machine guns. One of them barks at Jim to stop and return to the ranks, or else. I guess order has officially been restored at Jinjin prison, and all the dead guards replaced with new ones.








But then the two sea gulls, Mary and Stella, fly down to Jim and land on his shoulders and he stops walking.









There’s a sad look of longing and anguish on Jim’s face as he realizes that he’s lost his chance to see his wife and daughter again.

Over by the Evil God Phoenix, Ryu is staring sadly down the “street” that leads to Jinjin.









Over by the ship, No-longer-Evil-or-Unconscious Ken (in his civvies), Joe, Jun and Jinpei are waiting for him. Jinpei calls out to Ryu (maybe he wants to make sure that Ryu will be piloting the God Phoenix), but Ken shushes him, telling him “Let’s leave him alone for a little while. He’s had a tough time, Jinpei.”








With that, Ken and the others enter the still-Evil God Phoenix as Jinpei glances back at Ryu, looking sad for his friend.

As the “Evil” façade begins to fall away in pieces now from the God Phoenix, Ryu continues to gaze sadly at Jinjin as the narrator says he could be feeling regret that he was unable to discover Galactor’s headquarters, or he could be thinking of Jim, who will never now see his family again. The final shot is the flock of sea gulls, flying over Jinjin prison.


The End.

Hi all!

This episode does pose a bit of a contradiction with some dialogue in episode #88 of the series. In that episode, Joe asks why the man in the cell wasn't executed for using a machine gun on a bunch of innocent bystanders, and Nambu reminds him that the death penalty had been abolished worldwide 10 years ago. If there's no death penalty, then how can the prisoners of Jinjin Prison be awaiting their executions? I guess they'll be waiting a long, long time...

James

Hahaha...that place sounds oddly familiar...

LB, that was a great ep review...I agree with TJ...not my favorite episode, but I always loved that Jun compliments Ken when he's wearing the Galactor uniform. And you had me cracking up at your "memo to self" line... Wonder if she has a Galactor Costume fettish?

And as always, Saturn, thanks so much for your wonderful screenshots!!

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There is no problem that cannot be solved with time, patience, and a judicious amount of high explosives.

Thanks for another great recap LB and Saturn and your comments, LB, kept me chuckling all the way through the episode! I'm a bit late to join in the thread as all my comments regarding this episode seem to have been tackled already by others! I just want to emphasise the fact that Ken surely looked cool in his evil look! No wonder Jun fancied him!

I was fortunate enough to visit Alcatraz in person way back in January 2000. It was a wonderful experience and one that answered lots of questions to its myth!

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To be or not to be a gatchamaniac - that's the dilemma!

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