Manhattan Maneater

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
"Manhattan Maneater"
Episode no.	H00616-94013
Airdate	September 2, 1996
Chief locations	New York City, New York 74.32W, 40.05N Darjune National Forest, India 72.13E, 27.29N (10,000 miles from NYC)
Vehicle(s)	Quest Helicopter
Writer(s)	Peter Lawrence Richard T. Murphy Michael Ryan (Other material)
Guest roles	Michael Banyaer (Man #5) Frank Welker (Tiger / Cats / Irish Cop) Kevin Conroy (Hardman) Richard Doyle (Producer) Greg Eagles (Karl) John Mariano (C.W.) Don Reed (Jamie / Reporter #1) Roger Rose (Vince Vance) Marcelo Tubert (Derelict / Reporter #2)
Episode sequence	Ndovu's Last Journey <--> East of Zanzibar
Other episodes

New York City lives under the threat of a deadly slayer during a trip by Dr. Quest, Hadji and Jonny; they learn that the killer is from a different type of jungle, and become embroiled in a citywide race to eliminate the culprit.

Plot Summary

Teaser

A man dressed in sunglasses and black clothing stops in an alleyway to assemble a rifle. He finishes as he hears something sneaking up behind, and whirling around discovers a simple feral cat, which screeches and runs away. A darker presence still lurks, making low growling sounds. Before he can react, a white tiger pounces on the man, swiping his rifle away. He attempts to run, but is soon killed by the beast.

Act One

Jonny and Hadji hit the streets

Jonny Quest and Hadji Singh are in New York City with Dr. Quest, who brought them along on the condition that Jonny undertake urban studies—which he finds boring in comparison to a tabloid reporting the death of the man, the fourth victim of the "city slayer". The next day, Vince Vance, a sleazy tabloid reporter, is on the scene and after accidentally being caught with a stylist offers a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the slayer. Jonny leaps at the opportunity with Hadji close behind, but a portly police officer blocks them. Looking for another way in, Jonny and Hadji pick up the cable of a camera being moved by one of Vance's program's camera men. The producer of Vince's show is sweating him over the sizable reward when Vance catches sight of the two. Hadji makes a save by telling Vance that they're his fans, and Hadji overhears an officer say that the slayer must be an animal. That night, he puts the pieces of the crime scene together in a dream, wakes up, and finds that the midpoint of each murder site is Grand Central Station. He wakes Jonny, and the two head down to the subways. They descend to unused, catacomb like passages while unknowingly tailed by the white tiger. In a cavernous room, they are assaulted by homeless with pipes and chains, but are able to escape when the tiger turns on their attackers. It nearly attacks them as well, but a subway overhead scares it away.

The team's press conference

The next day, Dr. Quest holds a press conference in Central Park to announce the tiger's presence. He explains that the causes and methods of death confirm that the tiger was responsible for the recent murders. Vance jestingly asks Hadji ("the kid with the towel") if he has some kind of mystic connection with the tiger before a helicopter flies overhead. A solemn hunter descends, and Vance declares that his show has a contract with the hunter to kill the "Manhattan maneater" for all to see. Jessie Bannon and Race watch from the Quest Compound, and Race responds positively to Jessie's implied suggestion that they join their friends in New York, betting that Benton will need his help sooner or later. That night, Vance reveals that the tiger escaped a convicted drug lord's estate, and that the contract with the hunter is now worth $100,000, available to anyone else if he or she beats him to the punch. Three thugs and many more across the city decide to pursue the cat for the prize money. Dr. Quest is outraged, and at a diner with Hadji and Jessie, Jonny expresses feelings of regret for alerting everyone to the tiger. He decides to finish what he's started by wrangling the beast himself, and the three set out in Central Park, where a strange man appears.

Act Two

Jonny decides to track it down once more

The man is simply a street peddler, and the team wave him off before being confronted by the three thugs. Intending to mug them, one realizes that Jonny and Hadji were on TV, and note that the team are going to find the tiger for them and make them rich. Benton and Race go to the police to report Jonny and the gang as missing, but they refuse to issue the order until a certain time period has passed. The thugs, led by Karl, prepare to descend into the subway as Dr. Quest and Race take to the skies in the Quest Helicopter to monitor all telephone or cellular phone calls to find Jonny (presuming he can get to a phone). The search party finds the tiger, which lunges at Hadji. He ducks out of the way, and Jonny taunts it, luckily provoking it to jump into a pit. Karl calls Vance to report that he's got the tiger; he hands the phone to Jonny to verify, and Jonny tries to plead that Vance call his father. Karl rips the phone away and asks Vance that there be no cops, money in cash, and the right to keep the body after the tiger dies. Vance agrees, and Dr. Quest tracks the phone call to their location beneath the subway.

Inside, the thugs have left temporarily to find Vance, and the team throw down a grate to allow the tiger to escape. When Karl returns with Vance, cameramen, and the hunter, he threatens Jonny for letting the tiger free. However, the white beast is still close, and the hunter and a spotlight technician prepare their aim. The tiger perches atop an arch as Vance reports live that the shot is about to occur. Suddenly, Karl has a crisis of conscience and stands in front of the hunter. Jonny and others join him, and Vance hits his camera man, whose camera falls and explodes, startling the tiger. A shot rings out, but it was Race with a tranquilizer rifle; he stops the hunter from killing the tiger. The Quests take it to an Indian reserve, and let Karl and his friends release it.

Notes

Quotes

• Hadji - "This is trouble; I know it. On the other hand, good medicine tastes bitter."

~

• Vance - "Who are you two?"
• Hadji - "Uh, your biggest fans, Mr. Vance!"
• Vance - "Yeah, you and the rest of the world, kid. Here, want my autograph? Take two; they're small."

~

• Vance - "You, the kid with the towel on his head. Why didn't the big puddy-tat eat you too?"
• Hadji - "You betray your ignorance, sir. This is not a towel; it is a turban!"
• Vance - "Eh, turban, shmurban. You got some mystic swami thing happening with you and the tiger or what?"
• Hadji - "Actually, sir, I charmed him with my flute, just like I do with snakes".

~

• Race - "You wanna join them in New York?"
• Jessie - "We can?"
• Race - "Sure; why not. With Jonny and Benton's track record, it's a buck to a bent dime they'll be needing us to pull the fat out of the fire sometime in the next twelve hours."

~

• Dr. Quest - "The man's a barbarian! We're talking about one of the most magnificent creatures on this earth, not Vlad the Impaler!"
• Jessie - "You can't apply logic here, Dr. Quest!"
• Race - "And I'll tell you something else. With 100 long ones at stake, every wacko in New York city will be gunning for that cat!"

~

• Race - "Forget it, Benton. These guys will be as much use as a chicken-wire submarine."

~

• Hadji - "It is not exactly skin which makes a brother. It is the soul within that skin."
• Karl - "For real, swami. You got that right."

~

• Vance - "Cretins! Do you know what you've just done?"
• Race - "Yeah. Killed a great story."

~

• Karl - "I guess at least I can say I've visited India. Cool place, swami."

Goofs

• Dr. Quest's hair is all brown and no gray.
• When the Quests travel to India to release the tiger, the itinerary screen shows a different helicopter than the chinook present in the next scene.

Trivia

• Swami is a Hindu honorific title.
• A scene probably cut for time shows several citizens arming themselves and the two men from the bar selecting weapons. The scene was included in Cover-Up At Roswell; you can download it here.
• Monitoring every phone call in New York City is an incredible feat, but with voice recognition software capable of finding Jonny's voice, it's tenuously possible, meaning this tidbit isn't quite a goof.
• This episode does not feature a Quest Byte.

From: Episodes