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ReBoot Episode
Firewll258r
Firewall opening sequence
Firewall
Episode no. 3.03
Written by Dan DiDio
Story by Gavin Blair, Phil Mitchell, Ian Pearson
Original Airdate 3 September 1997.
Prev.: Between a Raccoon and a Hard Place | Next: Game Over
View Episode List.

Inside a Game Cube the Santa Claus User is skiing down a snowy mountain, sack in hand. He passes a couple of snowmen standing watching beneath a snowy outcrop as Santa passes. One of the snowmen launches a snowball at Santa, who is constantly saying 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' as usual. Santa is hit square in the face by the projectile. The snowmen continue their pursuit as one of them announces, 'Cut him off AndrAIa'. AndrAIa jumps over an arch with stockings hanging from it as Santa and Enzo pass through. They are swiftly approaching a cliff edge. Below the cliff is a quaint little snowy cottage. Enzo overtakes Santa travelling on his icicle and changes into an ice ramp, as the jolly fat fellow heads towards the edge. He looks stunned as he heads over the ramp and into fresh air travelling dangerously towards the ground, he kicks off his skis, pulls a cord and a giant inflatable bauble opens up allowing the red suited guy to float gently towards the ground. Enzo scuppers his plans by launching an icicle which hits the bauble and bursts causing the User to fall to a snowy death, ending the Game.

A James Bond style opening sequence begins with the song 'Firewall' as the main characters float past the screen.

AndrAIa and Enzo celebrate their success and note what a stupid looking User, 'Ho! Ho! Ho! What sort of a catch phrase is that?' There is no recovery team to pick them up, but Megabyte is there telling Enzo to deliver a message. Megabyte picks Enzo up by the throat and throws him to the ground, 'Now listen carefully, Boy!'

Back at the Principal Office, the shield is up protecting its occupants, but AndrAIa is explaining to the gathered crowd that Megabyte is going to make the rest of Mainframe suffer a lot. Enzo is downhearted, after his run in with Megabyte he is starting to believe that he's no Guardian, and that he's only a delivery boy. AndrAIa points out that Megabyte could have deleted them both, she understands what propaganda is and they must fight. Enzo thinks it's useless with the ABC's surrounding the building. All seems lost. 'I'm only glad that Bob hasn't seen this,' Mouse is trying to build up Enzo courage, it works, Bob wouldn't have stayed in the Principal Office, a guardian would find a way to lock Megabyte up. An inverted firewall could work. Phong and Mouse have put a plan in Enzo's mind and bolstered him up.

Meanwhile, Hexadecimal is held in her stasis chamber by Megabyte at the medical facility. She is feeling weak, so Megabyte gives her a little shock to her collar. She screams that she will tear him to pieces when she is free of the infernal collar. Megabyte ignores her threat and orders the chamber to be ready for transport and Hex is lifted away laughing.

Dot, Phong, and Mouse exit a lift into a large laboratory where the Tech Boys work. At the far end Mouse's Ship sits docked. They are testing many items including laser proof vests, ejection seats, exploding toilets.

They are greeted by Hue Branch, who explains a device called a Sender which redirects energy from one source to another. They plan to redirect the Principal Office shield energy to surround Giedi Prime Sector. Then there is the signal for an incoming Game Cube.

Inside the Game the landscape is a young child's bedroom, toys scattered around, a nice comfy bedspread. AndrAIa and Enzo are as small as toys. The User only has to exit this room to win. But what is to stop him? A toy snake rears up behind the two sprites. They duck as it passes. They are then greeted by a mob led by Cyrus on his propaganda trail. They claim Enzo's only a kid, he's not Guardian. Even a Baby Binome tosses a blue teddy at poor Enzo.

Mouse's ship is being loaded with equipment and goodies including the senders. Dot warns Mouse to be careful, but Mouse assures Dot that the virals won't catch her.

Back in the Game, Frisket appears. As a pink User mobile heads towards the group separating them. The Game is on. AndrAIa and Enzo know Cyrus is working for Megabyte. Time to Reboot. AndrAIa gets another motorcycle and Enzo gets a Bond style tux. They tell Cyrus to Reboot, but he has never done it before, 'Beetroot!... erm, Reboot!' Cyrus gets stuck in a Dick Dastardly car with Frisket along for the ride.

Mouse flies out of the shield and sits back for the ride as her ship starts launching the senders around the sector.

The race is on, dodging various items from darts balloons, a solid line of cop cars and wooden dinosaurs' skeleton. A line AndrAIa jumps the traffic using the dinosaurs back as a ramp. The dino wrecks Cyrus's car tearing the tire, and having a good chew. Cyrus cries for help.

Back at the Principal Office, Hue Branch is excited to actually use his equipment under real field conditions. Phong and Dot ask what he means. Hue explains that all of this is theory but should work. Phong excitedly explains that if this doesn't work the shield energy will still be transmitted to the senders whether they work or not, and the Principal Office will be defenseless. Hue just says "Let's hope it works"

As the dino is chewing, Enzo distracts it, as Frisket grabs the tail and Enzo picks up Cyrus. The User has now got herself a pink jet, while AndrAIa is being chased by a Red Angle-poise lamp. Enzo tells Cyrus that they need his help. Frisket has frightened the dinosaur and is running after it.

Outside Megabyte is preparing his troops and Hex for an attack.

As the User prepares to take off, with Cyrus at the controls of the car, Enzo jumps onto the wing via the ejector seat. Cyrus breaks in time to see a gyrocopter. On the wing Enzo has lost his gun which has somehow been replaced by the blue teddy bear the baby threw at Enzo. He jams it in the flaps. Knocking Enzo off the plane towards the ground, past an Indian standing on a cupboard. He is miraculously picked up by Cyrus in the gyrocopter. As the plane crashes into a dart board. With screams of 'Heyelp! Heyelp!'. Game Over.

AndrAIa and Enzo are back and the binomes confidence in Enzo has returned. Enzo tells Cyrus he is a hero. Megabyte turns up and demands that he is taken away. But Frisket protects him. Mouse's Ship appears overhead dropping senders between Enzo's group and Megabyte's troops. Dot requests Enzo's command to activate the firewall. Enzo tells Glitch 'Firewall'. The power is transmitted to the senders and each one fires red energy into the air. The energy from the senders starts joining together as Hack and Slash grab Cyrus and bring him to their side. The energy from the senders connects and forms a solid red wall encasing Megabyte and Hexadecimal in Giedi Prime. Hexadecimal laughs as Megabyte is now trapped saying, "Now it is the jailer that is jailed," while Megabyte shakes with fury. The binomes then congratulate Enzo for saving them.

Gallery[]

References[]

  • This is the only episode to have a completely original title sequence, instead of the Reboot theme with clips from the series.
  • The episode name and the device used called the firewall is a direct reference to a firewall security feature. It is a hardware or software device which is configured to permit, deny, or proxy data through a computer network upon different levels of trust.
    • The system feature developed and used in this episode is strictly a firewall, having nothing to do with network security, but rather preventing one part of memory from interacting with the rest. This is more in line with a sandbox.
  • The opening sequence with Santa Claus mirrors the iconic James Bond gun barrel sequence, created by Maurice Binder in 1962.
  • Throughout the episode a modification of the famous "James Bond theme" calypso medley plays. Written by Monty Norman in 1962.
  • The Santa Claus snowy background is a rendering of the scenery used in 1969 film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"; near Schiltorn Piz Gloria, Switzerland.
  • The ski race sequence is taken from the 1977 James Bond movie 'The Spy who Loved me' where the 00 agent was pursued by Soviet agents down a mountain.
  • The Firewall intro theme song, visual elements and general style pays homage to opening credits sequences from James Bond Films such as "GoldFinger" (1964), "Thunderball" (1965), and "GoldenEye" (1995).
  • After the opening credits Megabyte's head emerges from the flames. A reference to James Cameron's 1991 film "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" where the T-800 endoskeleton emerged from the nuclear fire after the opening sequence.
  • Hue Branch and the tech boys are a pun on Q and 'Q Branch', the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. Created by Ian Fleming for his "James Bond" novels.
  • Hue has square root function mathematical workings out on his notepad.
  • The crash test dummies ejected from the vehicle are modeled off 'The Incredible Crash Dummies' a line of action figures made by Tyco Toys in the early 1990s.
  • The Baby Binome's mother says, "A riot is an ugly thing..." which is a reference to a line spoken by Inspector Kemp in the Mel Brooks comedy spoof "Young Frankenstein."
  • The miniature vehicles racing with each other in this episode is homage to the "Micro Machines" video games developed by Codemasters.
  • Parts of the Toy Racer Game's room have a striking resemblance to Andy's Room from the 1995 Disney/Pixar computer animated film "Toy Story".
  • On the desk there is a small cupboard which is the same as the magical cupboard in the movie "The Indian in the Cupboard". By comparison to the room in "Toy Story", the room from this movie is much closer to the room in the game.
  • One of books in the Game reads "DYNAMPIC".
  • A board with a cartoon snake reads "Serpents & Scales", one features "Dunes", while another says "Mountain Trek" backwards.
  • The User is a parody of Penelope Pitstop in the 'Compact Pussycat 05' from Hanna-Barbera's "Wacky Races".
  • The User's license plate shows "781 SPA".
  • Pencils in the background are labelled "McCarthy".
  • Among the children's toys a white Volkswagen Beetle with blue stripes and '53' logo was shown, a reference to Herbie from the 1969 Disney film "The Love Bug".
  • Enzo reboots into a parody of Ian Fleming's character 'James Bond' (1952) complete with characteristic formal tuxedo/dinner jacket clothing, he introduces himself with the same suave, chauvinistic charm as Bond does.
  • A board game in the background says "Welman". An in-joke on Chris Welman, Vice-President of Software Development within Mainframe Entertainment Inc.
  • Cyrus and Frisket reboot as parodies of Dick Dastardly and Muttley from "Wacky Races" series by Hanna-Barbera Productions (1968-1970). Their vehicle also bears similarities to the duo's rocket-powered 'Mean Machine 00'. Frisket even performs Muttley's trademark asthmatic laugh.
  • Enzo's sport car is modeled after the First-Generation Dodge Viper RT/10.
  • Cyrus' license plate shows "MORPWR", a pun on Mustang related Personalized Vanity Plates meaning "More Power", currently belonging to a white 5.0L Mustang.
  • A British Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire is seen hanging from the ceiling.
  • Hidden behind a tank, part of the De Lorean time machine from the 1985 film "Back to the Future" was visible. During the jet-chase scene it is also briefly shown again.
  • The Tyrannosaurus Rex attack on the car and Enzo's taunting is very similar to scenes from the 1993 film "Jurassic Park", directed by Steven Spielberg.
  • Amidst the race, a white Ford Bronco SUV is chased by countless LAPD police cars. This is spoofing the O. J. Simpson low-speed police pursuit that occurred in 1994.
  • The lamp that hops after AndrAIa is an allusion to Pixar Animation Studios' "Luxo Jr." produced in 1986 by John Lasseter. The iconic lamp served as their mascot for every CGI production made after.
  • A box in the Game's closet spells "Box-O-lux®" its label has a serial code starting with '9703', this episode's production number.
  • As Enzo falls the seat has classic red Lego brick texture on it, based off those manufactured by the 'Lego Group' in Denmark.
  • A long box under the bed reads "Monotony!" in red colored font. Wordplay on the board game 'Monopoly' published by Parker Brothers, based off an original 1903 design by Elizabeth J. Magie Phillips.
  • There is a cameo of a toy Indian from 1995 film "The Indian in the Cupboard" directed by Frank Oz.
  • The autogyro or gyrocopter Cyrus pilots pay homage to Little Nellie/ Wallis WA-116 Series 1 gyroplane as featured in the 1967 James Bond film "You Only Live Twice".
  • A poster on the wall shows a hockey player - based off Pavel Vladimirovich Bure, a Russian former professional ice hockey player.
  • The User cries 'Help! Help!' which is Penelope Pitstop's famous catchphrase from "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop" produced by Hanna-Barbera (1969-1971).
  • As Hex laughs manically at Megabyte she says "Isn't this rich... aren't we a pair..." a modification of the lyrics from "Send in the Clowns" a 1973 song by Stephen Sondheim.
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