"The KOMPLEX Caper"

Episode transcript (provided by phantym)

A toad spy launches a mysterious-looking toad-shaped satellite from his ship. Once in space, it generates a reddish force field around it as the spy gloats that KOMPLEX's most brilliant scheme has begun. Deadeye, out on patrol on the Toad Croaker, happens upon both the satellite and the spy's ship. Boarding, he catches the spy, who refuses to tell him what the satellite is for. He radios The Righteous Indignation and, with nothing on hand to tie the toad up with, is told to "improvise."

Deadeye returns to the Righteous with the toad spy tied up with his own tongue, much to the amusement of Bucky and Jenny. After the spy is freed, he still refuses to tell them what he was doing, so Bucky calls Bruiser in. One look at the berserker baboon, and the toad hurriedly reveals that the satellite is to spy on the mammals in case of any secret attacks. Bucky is skeptical and has the spy locked up while he ponders the situation.

On the Toad Homeworld, the Air Marshal is called to an audience with KOMPLEX, who tells the Air Marshal that with Toadborg indisposed on another mission, he is to be in charge of guarding him. On Earth, Willy is attempting to repair his computer, which is malfunctioning somehow due to interference from constant use of the photon accelerator. This creates a visual link to the aniverse, allowing Willy to listen in on KOMPLEX and the Air Marshal's private conversation. KOMPLEX reveals that the satellite isn't meant to spy on the mammals; it is actually intended to beam Toad TV signals into mammal televisions.

Back in the aniverse, Bucky is concerned the toad spy's story isn't adding up. Willy arrives and explains why, revealing how he listened in on KOMPLEX. The satellite, he says, will use Toad TV signals to drain the brainwaves of any mammals watching, reconfigure them to become obedient to the toads, and then return them to the heads of the viewers, turning them into the toads' mindless slaves. This is seen in action when the ship's TV comes on, playing a toad monster movie. The minds of the mammals immediately begin to be sapped, as Bucky calls it the most diabolical weapon ever invented.

Willy, unaffected by the brain drain, saves them by turning the TV off. He says that since he is human and not from the aniverse, his brainwaves must be different, so he isn't affected by the signal. Other mammals are not so lucky. Several other characters are seen watching what is essentially a mammal version of Toad TV, featuring commercials for various products being hawked by toads dressed in unconvincing mammal costumes.

In The Indefatigable, Commander Dogstar is telling his crew -- Wolf, Rumble Bee, Pitstop Pete, and Digger McSquint -- a story of a past battle he and Bucky fought, which is interrupted by a transmission from Bucky, who requests Dogstar's assistance in stopping the toads' plan. Dogstar happily agrees. As The Indefatigable arrives, Bucky boards it, leaving the Righteous under Jenny's command, and telling the crew all TV is off-limits for now. As he leaves, Jenny gives him a magical Aldebaran gem, telling him its magic will be his to call on when he needs it.

On the Toad Homeworld, KOMPLEX detects a mammal ship and tells the Air Marshal to investigate. At first, the toads only see a stray meteorite, but then the Air Marshal sees The Indefatigable approaching. He launches several double bubbles in the planet's defense. Dogstar says their decoy tactic is working, and tells Wolf, Rumble Bee and Pete to fend off the toads. Wolf engages the double bubbles directly on The Indefatigable's Toad Croaker, Rumble Bee converts himself into the a maser cannon to fire out the nose of the ship, and Pete mans the frigate's torpedo tubes. Bucky is nowhere to be seen.

As it turns out, the "stray meteorite" was in fact a disguised ship piloted by Bucky. In this manner, he is able to sneak directly under their defenses and onto the toad planet. On the entirely machine toad world, Bucky encounters various obstacles as he makes his journey to the core, where KOMPLEX's inner sanctum is. First, he navigates a deadly maze filled with maser guns mounted in the walls. He then encounters KOMPLEX's "virus defense squad," a swarm of flesh-eating toad robots. He defeats them and is soon near to KOMPLEX.

Elsewhere, various efforts are made by The Righteous Indignation's crew to penetrate the force field surrounding the toad satellite. Willy finally manages to find a way to deactivate it, but tells trigger-happy Deadeye to hold off on destroying it, because if the satellite gets blown up before the stolen brainwaves are returned, the affected mammals will all be left as mindless zombies.

In his inner sanctum, KOMPLEX summons Toadborg and tells him to finish converting the stolen mammal brainwaves to obedience. The brainwaves are being stored in a giant brain inside of a glass dome. Detecting Bucky's approach, KOMPLEX recalls the double bubbles attacking The Indefatigable as a precaution. Dogstar takes this as a great victory and launches into a lengthy speech, much to the annoyance of Wolf.

KOMPLEX activates several wall monitors in the hallway leading to his room, which begin playing nonstop Toad TV. At his exposure to Toad TV, Bucky is brought to his knees in agony from the sheer badness of the programming. Figuring now is when he most needs it, he uses the Aldebaran gem, which floats into the air and fires beams of magical energy, shattering all of the wall monitors. Recovering, Bucky rushes inside the inner sanctum and confronts KOMPLEX, who roars for Toadborg to protect him and kill Bucky.

Toadborg grabs a maser rifle and shoots at Bucky, who jumps onto the giant brain. Losing his temper when Bucky insults him, Toadborg, despite KOMPLEX yelling at him to stop, shoots and hits the brain. Bucky jumps off as it is destroyed, and escapes as the explosion destroys the entire room.

The brain's destruction automatically makes the satellite return all the brainwaves to their owners unaltered. He radios The Righteous Indignation, and Deadeye shoots and blows up the toad satellite. Wolf picks Bucky up on the Toad Croaker. Quickly leaving toad space, The Indefatigable rejoins the Righteous, where Bucky is reunited with his crew and everyone celebrates with a group high-five. Bucky regrets not having made certain KOMPLEX was completely destroyed. Jenny reassures him that KOMPLEX is offline, at least for now. A joyous Bruiser tries to turn the TV on, but a cautious Bucky shoots it, just in case.

Back on the Toad Homeworld, Toadborg, who survived, is attempting to repair KOMPLEX with the help of Frix and Frax. Toadborg complains that it will take a week to get KOMPLEX online again. Realizing this means no Toad TV for a week, Frix and Frax begin crying.

This episode is available on the US video "Bye-Bye Berserker Baboon" and the UK video "Kreation Konspiracy."