Eclipse

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
"Eclipse"
Episode no.	H00616-94030
Airdate	December 27, 1996
Chief locations	New Orleans 90.14W, 30.52N (1,524 miles)
Vehicle(s)	Dragonfly Jet Quest Utility Vehicle Hoverboard
Writer(s)	Glenn Leopold
Guest roles	Rob Paulsen (Doc) James Barbour (Andrew / Second Cop / Thug) Michael Carven (Arnaud) Troy Evans (Sgt. Kenton / Running Man) Mary Gregory (Mrs. Adrian) Jennifer Lien (Elise)
Episode sequence	Nuclear Netherworld <--> Without a Trace
Other episodes

The team land in New Orleans to watch the lunar eclipse. Plans change when a mysterious woman pursued by strangers armed with silver bullets charms Hadji and proposes to move the viewing party to her mansion.

Plot Summary

Teaser

The episode begins with a woman fleeing a man who notifies his superior that he has found her. She leads him to an empty alley way, where baffled, he is suddenly snared by what appears to be claws with a supernatural, purple aura. The scene shifts to Dr. Benton Quest and Race Bannon, who depart on a steamboat as Jonny Quest, Jessie Bannon, and Hadji Singh wave from the shore. Jessie regrets that the lunar eclipse won't be very visible due to a heavy fog in the city. Jonny breaks out the Hoverboard as Jessie and Hadji prepare drive the SUV. Instantaneously, the woman from before bolts by the Quests towards the pier as a thug and a gray-haired man in ornate clothing with a cane pursue her. Hadji knocks the thug's arm unsteady just as he's about to shoot her before being knocked down himself by the strange man, who warns him not to interfere. As the woman runs out of pier, the man commands the thug to "end it, now!" and shoot her.

Act One

Hadji hinders her attackers

Hadji blasts the gun out of the thug's hand with a powerful kick. Jonny returns with the Hoverboard, which is impaled by the strange man's cane. The gun flies into the ocean, and as the two assailants plan their next move, sirens are heard. They flee as the woman, Elise Lenoir, thanks Hadji and is introduced to his friends. Jessie is not very pleased to meet her, and demands to know what the violence was about. A squad car pulls up and the driver asks Elise if all is well; she concocts a story of muggers to Jessie's anger. She seductively thanks Hadji again (after noticing his jewel), who offers to take her home in the Quest Van. Jessie and Jonny opt for the police car, and the policeman explains that one of the wealthiest widows in New Orleans adopted Elise six months ago. At Elise's estate, Hadji asks if she will see her again; she sets a date for the following day. In her home, Elise complains to a man named Andrew and her adoptive mother that Arnaud had found her and nearly killed her. The next day, Hadji leaves his friends to meet her in the park. Jessie is distressed over Elise and that the day's plans have been ruined; she goes to the park as Jonny heads off on the Hoverboard.

Jessie observes as Hadji shows Elise his jewel from Bangalore, noting that he would never part with it. Elise asks if he would give it to her; he shakes his head negatively, and her eyes light up green. Hadji's eyes are caught in the stare and become green as well, and he agrees under her persuasion to give it to her. Jessie is utterly disgusted, and Elise hugs Hadji more closely after catching sight of her eavesdropping. Meanwhile, Jonny hovers up the river to a crime scene, where a dead man said to be "completely drained" and looking like a mummy is being examined. It's the man from the teaser scene, and Jonny recognizes the gun he was carrying as the one wielded by Arnaud; it uses silver bullets. Jonny flies over to the pier and extracts a bullet cap embedded in the wall, finding it to be silver as well. Back in the park, Elise and Hadji adjourn their meeting as Elise leaves in the limo driven by Andrew. Arnaud's henchman pursues the limo, and Elise reveals that it's a trap—Arnaud's fuel line has been cut, so he cannot follow. Jessie drops from her perch, only to find Arnaud chasing her on foot. She runs in front of a trolley care, and escapes death when Jonny knocks her out of the way.

Jessie eavesdrops from an arboreal enclave

At Elise's mansion, she gloats over finding Hadji, who is "different from the others" because he can get her what she needs and will do her bidding. Andrew is slightly jealous, and Elise laughs, boasting that she could probably have hundreds of servants in Bangalore while gazing into Hadji's gem. At Bourbon Street, Jonny doubts that Elise is a werewolf despite Jessie's objections as he prepares a telescope for the eclipse. Jessie takes off to find Hadji, who is right outside. Arrayed in fine Indian clothing, he tells her that Elise has invited her to watch the eclipse at her mansion, and that Jonny doesn't object their leaving. Jonny watches them leave from the hotel, and pursues them on the Hoverboard. He wrecks into a stone wall, and just as he's about to be trampled by a horse, Arnaud pulls him to safety.

Act Two

Elise admires Hadji's jewel

Arnaud warns him that Jessie is in grave danger. The Quest Van is en route to the mansion, and inside, Hadji promises Jessie that she will feel differently after tonight, and that she must get to know Elise. Meanwhile, Jonny is being driven to the mansion by Arnaud, who states that he has a man implanted to watch over the mansion. He confirms the man's placement by phone, but the conversation is cut when Arnaud's agent is attacked. Arnaud explains that Elise is a demon who drains the lives of others to sustain herself, and that with the coming of the lunar eclipse, she must have a victim who comes of her own free will. Arnaud explains that he tried to convince Jessie not to go by showing her a picture, but she ran away at the park. He hands the picture to Jonny; it appears to be Elise, but is actually Arnaud's sister, Celeste, photographed over fifty years ago. When Arnaud was sixteen, Elise wooed him and persuaded him to bring Celeste, who had her youth and life stolen by Elise. He remarks that he has hunted her ever since while brandishing his sword cane. Jonny affirms that Jessie will be the one she preys upon to survive another fifty years as Arnaud warns him of her charming powers. Arnaoud's car then dies, as the fuel has run out of the cut line.

At the mansion, Hadji declares that if Neela will acquiesce, he and Elise may be betrothed. Elise cryptically notes that Bangalore would be a nice place to spend the next fifty years. Andrew interrupts the dinner talk to escort the party to the conservatory for the eclipse. On the road, Jonny spots the cut fuel line, and asks Arnaud if he's ever ridden a Hoverboard (he smiles at the device). In the conservatory, Andrew ties Jessie up in a chair to Hadji's dismay. Andrew prepares to kill Hadji as Elise commands him to let him go; Andrew objects, suspecting that Hadji will be his replacement as her servant. Elise says that perhaps she would like to see India, and drains Andrew of his life. Jonny and Arnaud then explode through one of the structure's windows and head to the top. They're grabbed from within a room by Elise, who flips them onto the conservatory floor. Arnaud is knocked away; Jonny grabs his sword cane and begins a heated duel with Elise. The eclipse begins, and Arnaud tells Jonny to keep her away from Jessie until it concludes. As Jonny frees her and the two flee on the Hoverboard, Elise reverts to her demonic bat form and gives chase.

Jonny struggles to save Jessie

Back at the conservatory, Arnaud wakes Hadji and gives him the sword cane. Jonny and Jessie hover over a nearby pond; Elise manages to snatch Jessie away. Jonny manages to embed the silver bullet he found into Elise's hindquarters, making her writhe in pain and stop her drain on Jessie. The attack is not enough to stop her, and she throws Jonny into the pond. Before she can drain Jessie, Hadji arrives with the sword can and hurls it like a javelin. It pierces Elise, causing her to scream in pain as she falls to the pond. She briefly resurfaces, her flesh withering, before disappearing for good. Several minutes later, the police have arrived, and Sergeant Kenton reluctantly accepts the story thanks to Mrs. Adrian's (Elise's adoptive mother) account. Hadji places his heirloom back on his turban, and notes that he will never meet a woman like her again—hopefully. Jonny optimistically reminds that at least they got a great view of the eclipse. On the pond surface, Elise's green eyes appear, suggesting she is not gone for good.

Notes

Quotes

• Jessie - "Come on, Hadj. Why don't we let "sky-boy" hover back to Bourbon Street?"
• Jonny - "Fine. We'll see who gets to the hotel first!"

~

• Jessie - "Muggers!? With the French accent, and the sword cane?"

~

• Jonny - "You can ride in the prowl car...unless you want to go tandem on my hoverboard."
• Jessie - "...Prowl car."

~

• Jonny - "Why are you so upset? Because she's rich, beautiful, or because she likes Hadji?"
• Jessie - "There's just something...strange about her. I think I'll take a stroll to the park."
• Jonny - "Fine. I think I'll go riverboarding."

~

• Hadji - "Yes. Because you are like no girl I have ever met before."
• Jessie - "Oh, men are so pathetic. It's like he has no brain of his own."

Goofs

• The animation depicting Benton and Race at the beginning of the episode is comically bizarre. Dr. Quest has a cartoonishly oversize bowtie and a buxom blond woman fawning at his side. Race looks like he took the plague poison from The Mummies of Malenque.
• Hadji gives her the Bangalore gem, but in the reflection of her limo window at the park, he's still wearing it.
• Arnaoud's agent hangs up his cell phone, yet Arnaoud can still hear him crying out as he dies afterwards.

Trivia

• Since it deals with the paranormal like Ghost Quest, this episode features a fade in for the title text.
• The Quest Byte features a sine wave. Jonny surfs it until it runs out beneath him as Iris flashes the words "wipe out" in Questworld.
• Lance Falk and Glenn Leopold spoke about this episode through a stream in 2018, revealing the following facts:
• Certain story elements were borrowed from an unproduced Swats Kats episode entitled Succubus.
• Elise Lenoir is thought to have been designed by Paula Lafond, who designed a lot of the female characters for the show's second season.
• Glenn accidentally reused the last name "Lenoir" on Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island for a female character.
• Arnaud is an old restaurant in New Orleans.

From: Episodes