NEW ADVENTURES - 1990

Planet of Junk

Planet of Junk title card
E25

Official Synopsis

Flogg, Slushhead and Skeletor stand together under red lightning.

After a battle damages the Mutant mothership, Skeletor and Flogg land on an asteroid that proves to be a junkyard of advanced alien weapons they cannot repair. Using an image projector to change their appearance, they lure the Primus scientists to a free interstellar circus run by Professor Galactica and take them prisoner. The scientists send a warning to the Galactic Guardians, which Skeletor intercepts, expecting it to bring He-Man to his doom. When the Guardians arrive, Skeletor puts He-Man in an energy draining chamber, but the machine's effect is reversed, and the weakness falls on Skeletor and the Mutants. The scientists signal for the Starship Eternia, and a lesson about locking a bicycle rounds things off.

Morals by closing safety lesson, paraphrased from the episode audio

Always use a lock: chain your bike to a bike rack or a tall pole and register its serial number with the police, which helps them find it if it is ever stolen.

heman.org Episode Review

What do you do with a pile of weapons you cannot repair? "Planet of Junk" starts from that predicament and takes a delightful route to the answer: you kidnap the people who can. The Mutant mothership comes down on an asteroid after a battle, Skeletor and Flogg trade complaints about insurance and holidays, and a quick survey shows the place to be the weapons junkyard of some alien race, with technology far beyond what they have seen. Skeletor's side reasons that, with such arms, they could defeat the Guardians if only someone could fix them.

The machine that offers the way out is an image projector, and the sequence in which one of the pair is transformed and insists that this really is him, only to be told that he walks too nicely, is a minor treat. Skeletor's plan is to use it to pose as Professor Galactica and send free circus passes to the Primus scientists, whose delight at the price of admission is the first sign of the trap. Their verdict on a show billed as the most spectacular in the galaxy, that they would hate to see ordinary, is followed by a pleasing reversal: they try to leave, and are told that they are the guests of honor.

In plain terms, the episode is about a villain who must borrow skills he does not have, and the borrowed skill turns on him. Skeletor takes the scientists to the asteroid, teases them with the thought of riding outside the ship in the cold of space, and demands that they identify the most powerful of the alien weapons while his own Mutants squabble over whether a device is a positronic generator, a coagulator or something explosive. The scientists, fretting that they will go down in history as traitors, decide that they cannot find Skeletor but can send a warning, and they call the Galactic Guardians with the asteroid's coordinates until Skeletor cuts in with a cheerful goodbye. Slush Head takes the blame for the warning, but the answer is that it will bring He-Man running to his doom.

The Guardians' side of the chase is a good piece of tension. They trail the Mutants' exhaust to the asteroid, and a Mutant's detector turns up only little dots, which earns a sharp reply. Then comes the centrepiece, the energy draining chamber, where Skeletor promises that He-Man will come out as weak as a baby. The reveal is the best moment of the half hour: the machine did not take away the hero's strength but made Skeletor and the Mutants weaker, because the effect was reversed on everyone near the booth, and the scientists add that they know a little about sabotage themselves. Delightful!

The weakness is that all of this is explained after it works. The scientists reverse the drain, and the audience has to take it on trust, with the only clue a request that people stand away from the booth. It is the kind of shortcut a short slot encourages, and the pleasure of the result forgives most of it.

Verdict: a lively, inventive entry that gives the scientists a moment of their own. It closes on its spine: the villain who borrows other people's skills to run a weapon he cannot repair finds that those same people have been working against him all along.

Notes of Interest

  1. Homage: The He-Man wiki says Flogg's Image Projector disguise looks a lot like Man-At-Arms from Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
  2. Homage: According to the wiki, Skeletor disguised as Professor Galactica strongly resembles Tex Hex from Filmation's BraveStarr.
  3. Homage: The He-Man wiki says the scene where He-Man is drained of power in the Energy Draining Chamber copies the crystal chamber depowering and reversal scene from Superman II.
  4. Voice cast: Ted Cole voices Spinwit, Slush Head and Staghorn, per the He-Man wiki cast list.
  5. Voice cast: Campbell Lane voices both Skeletor and Sagitar, and Garry Chalk voices He-Man and Alcon, according to the wiki.
  6. Behind the scenes: In the closing safety segment Sagitar rides a replica of an old Earth bicycle built by the Scientists, and the lesson is to lock a bike with a chain, per the He-Man wiki.

Cast Appearances

Full roster →
He-Man
Good

He-Man
Skeletor
Evil

Skeletor
Flogg
Evil

Flogg

Episode screenshots

The damaged spiny mutant ship drifts through space.
The damaged spiny mutant ship drifts through space.
Two small craft chase the smoking mutant ship through the stars.
Two small craft chase the smoking mutant ship through the stars.
A curved white streak arcs across the starfield.
A curved white streak arcs across the starfield.
A craft glows white as streaks of light radiate around it.
A craft glows white as streaks of light radiate around it.
Skeletor grins inside his helmet with a purple dome behind him.
Skeletor grins inside his helmet with a purple dome behind him.
Small craft drift past a rocky edge in the stars.
Small craft drift past a rocky edge in the stars.
Flogg scowls beside Slushhead as both look out from a purple ship in space gear.
Flogg scowls beside Slushhead as both look out from a purple ship in space gear.
A twisted grey rock formation rises from a bare asteroid surface.
Slushhead, Flogg and Skeletor lean over a console in the ship.
Slushhead, Flogg and Skeletor lean over a console in the ship.
A red-armored figure dives as a red blast hits the ground and Skeletor aims behind him.
A red-armored figure dives as a red blast hits the ground and Skeletor aims behind him.
Flogg crawls across grey ground with his face twisted in effort.
Flogg crawls forward as Slushhead peers from behind.
Skeletor points a gloved finger as a space-suited mutant stands behind him.
Skeletor points a gloved finger as a space-suited mutant stands behind him.
Skeletor holds his staff with his other fist clenched.
A space-suited mutant with a backpack stands beside a jagged rock.
Streaks of white light burst across the frame.
A gold-armored mutant sits beside a large cannon with his chin on his fist.
Skeletor holds his staff beside Flogg's shoulder among scrap and a dish antenna.
A mustached man in grey armor works a small device while Slushhead stares beside him.
A red glow fills the outline of a figure beside Slushhead.
A crocodile-faced figure in Skeletor's armor holds a small device.
Skeletor grins in his helmet with the stars behind him.
A clown stands on top of a giant circus tent decorated with a white star.
The tall red-hatted scientist speaks with one hand open.
A clown in star-covered clothes rides a galloping horse in the circus ring.
A ringmaster holding a whip stands in the circus ring with figures far behind.
Four Primus scientists sit in the circus bleachers looking unimpressed.
A ringmaster in a top hat gestures with an open hand.
Two clowns holding mallets stand in the ring, one with a mustache.
Primus scientists stand on the circus steps in a spotlight beam.
The ringmaster speaks while holding a small device at his chest.
The scientists stand in the spotlight on the steps as green glitter surrounds them.
A tangle of glowing green lines covers a clown in the ring.
A figure runs across a field toward a gold building beside a tall tent.
He-Man holds a small device in both hands and looks alarmed.
He-Man holds a small device in both hands and looks alarmed.
A tangle of glowing green lines covers the spiny ship on the grass.
A visored man in a red vest looks up as He-Man stands behind him.
A visored man in a red vest looks up as He-Man stands behind him.
A visored man in blue stands before a white starship.
He-Man looks sideways beside a helmeted visored man in blue.
Skeletor stands holding his staff on the mutant ship's bridge.
Flogg scowls with a hand resting on his armor.
The scientists huddle together as Slushhead and a gold-armored mutant stand behind them.
Skeletor grins from his high-backed chair.
Skeletor leans toward Gepple, who is seen from behind.
Skeletor, seen from behind, holds his staff.
A scientist holds up a white spiked sphere beside a bald man on an asteroid.
Two scientists look dismayed beside Gepple.
Pale machine wreckage sits on grey ground.
The tall red-hatted scientist talks quietly with Gepple.
A blond visored pilot speaks inside a cockpit.
Skeletor gestures widely as a hooded mutant stands behind him holding a staff.
Gepple and the tall scientist stand before a squat building on the asteroid.
The tall scientist and Gepple talk with worried faces.
Gepple looks on from a window as Slushhead stands behind him.
Gepple gasps with his eyes wide and speaks.
Gepple grins through a ship window.
Skeletor looms with his staff as Gepple's hair shows in the corner.
He-Man speaks and looks aside beside a starship.
Skeletor lifts Gepple while Flogg and two mutants watch.
A blue energy cloud sparkles in space.
Skeletor leans toward the tall scientist, who looks alarmed.
Skeletor grips the tall scientist by the collar beside a dish antenna.
Spiky rock spires rise from a grey asteroid under the stars.
A visored pilot grins in green light inside a cockpit.
Skeletor grins with a raised fist inside a white cockpit.
A small craft glows as it flies through space with a blue trail.
A blue-white beam hits a crate as figures in space gear and a turret stand nearby.
He-Man leans toward the cockpit glass with a craft visible beyond.
Two smoke trails curl through space.
A ghostly Skeletor overlaps rocky terrain, holding a small weapon.
Boulders drift in the dark above a rocky ledge.
Skeletor grins over a rocky ledge.
A red-suited visored man crouches behind a rock.
Two small figures crouch in a dim cave with Flogg at the right edge.
A red-helmeted man ducks behind a rock as green beams pass.
A red-suited man watches a mutant with a gun beside a dark rock.
Flogg stands with his hands at his belt and scowls.
A visored man in a red helmet grins in close view.
He-Man raises his sword and shouts.
A cyborg, a visored man in red and a helmeted man gather in a cave.
He-Man fires a green beam from his sword across the asteroid.
Flogg and a gold-armored mutant stand in pink rings, Flogg holding a launcher.
He-Man snarls as a mutant's claw reaches toward him.
He-Man and the visored crew walk side by side on the asteroid.
Skeletor aims a yellow beam from a hand device on the asteroid.
Skeletor stands behind Gepple, who looks aside.
Three glowing bubbles hold He-Man and two others floating in space.
The tall scientist, a bald man and a man with a ponytail look on.
Gepple's face fills the frame with a worried set to his mouth.
A mutant in grey and red armor stands before a glass pod holding a figure.
A figure's waist and belt show through a pod window as red energy crackles.
A pod with a red window sits on the ground amid red lightning.
Crew members crouch low on rocky ground.
The scientists huddle smiling around Gepple.
A cannon points over a crater toward two small figures far off.
A scientist with a ponytail smiles beside a bald man while Gepple's hair fills the corner.
The scientists gather around He-Man on rocky ground.
A visored man in red looks at He-Man, who frowns, beside a bald man.
He-Man looks stern among the scientists inside a cockpit.
Flogg and a large gold-armored mutant sit hunched on a rocky floor with the mutant's teeth bared.
Green energy lines crackle around machines on a white console.
The ringmaster holds a whip and spreads his hands beside a smoke trail.
A clown in star-covered clothes hugs another figure against the stars.
Clowns and a rider on a horse walk across rocky ground with the ringmaster behind.
A visored man in red pedals a bicycle along a country path.

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