Thoughtscape

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
"Thoughtscape"
Episode no.	H00616-94033
Airdate	February 13, 1997
Chief locations	Quest Compound, Maine 70.11W, 44.03N (0 miles)
Vehicle(s)	Queststream
Writer(s)	Lance Falk
Guest roles	Quinton Flynn (Goon #1) Robert Foxworth (Goon #2) Rob Paulsen (Lorenzo) Frank Welker (Surd) Nancy Linari (Julia)
Episode sequence	Digital Doublecross <--> The Bangalore Falcon
Other episodes

Intercepted by Surd on a return trip from the movies, Jessie goes on a rampage at the Quest Compound before passing out. Can Jonny and Dr. Quest undo the subconscious brainwashing, or will Surd finally have his revenge?

Plot Summary

Teaser

Bandit reveals the explosive

Jessie Bannon exits a movie theater and calls for a cab to the Quest Compound, unknowing that Jeremiah Surd and his accomplice Julia are watching. At the Compound, Jonny and Hadji have been practicing Japanese; Dr. Quest ribs them by asking them to repeat a certain phrase in Portuguese. Jessie arrives and hands Race a package, asking him to open it after she leaves. Bandit is suspicious of the package and bites it; Race tries to tear it away from him, and when the packaging is torn it reveals a plastic explosive. Race tosses into the courtyard where it detonates and breaks a hole in the wall. The team recover and look for Jessie; she breaks though the garage with the Queststream and barrels towards the mansion, blowing through the entrance and knocking a huge hole in the wall. The RV explode far below on the coastline; Jessie tries to hang on the cliff, but slips—and Race catches her. The team take her back to the structure and lay her down on a couch.

Act One

Dr. Quest hooks two sensors to her forehead and deduces that she has been brainwashed, as two thought patterns are in her brain. The team suspect Surd, and as she mumbles that she must "kill them all", Dr. Quest fears for her health and takes her to the lighthouse. He notes that the evil persona within her is getting stronger, and proposes he and Jonny jack in to her subconscious through Questworld. Hadji makes it so, and they ride two Hoverboards to the subconscious. A flash of lightning, representative of her mind's trying to defend itself, knocks Benton off his Hoverboard; Jonny narrowly saves him. Once inside the subconscious, the world appears to be an amalgam of reality and virtual reality both. Outside, Lorenzo lands his chopper and approaches the lighthouse with two thugs. Jonny and Dr. Quest push open giant doors to find a huge castle in technological, Gothic architecture. Inside are stained glass windows with shadowy figures on them and a throne, upon which is seated Surd. He expected Race, but decides to kill Dr. Quest and Jonny anyway, and brings forth the shadows (which transform into knights). He declares that he's taken care of things in reality; Lorenzo confirms as he holds Race and Hadji at gunpoint.

Act Two

Jonny and Dr. Quest

Jonny and Benton hover above and the knights crash into each other in a failed attack. They make short work of the enemies, and as Jonny prepares to strike Surd, he commands Julia to pull him out of Questworld. Back in his remote trailer, he tells Julia to initiate phase two, and Lorenzo triggers the lighthouse screens to show Race and Hadji the journey of their friends in virtual reality. Jonny sees a huge tower, and remembers that Jessie loved goofy fairy tales as a kid; they ride to the top. There, they witness Jessie complaining about their interruption and working with scientific experiments, as her dream is to be a world famous scientist and solve humanity's issues. Benton tries to convince her that Surd has taken over her mind, but she calls for guards; more knights appear and restrain the father-son duo. According to Surd's plan, the knights cast them into portals to separate worst nightmares. Jonny witnesses his father come to him and berate him for not following in his footsteps; he chooses Jessie as his true heir as Jonny collapses. Meanwhile, Dr. Quest sees a graveyard. The faces of the rest of the team emerge from headstones as Jonny accuses his father of letting him down, just as he let down her mother. He collapses as well, trying to say that he attempted saving Rachel despite his failure.

Surd is delighted at their sorrow, and Lorenzo reports in. Hadji begins untying his ropes, and after succeeding unties Race's as well. They spring to action and knock out both thugs before holding Lorenzo at gunpoint. Hadji mans the computer and tells Dr. Quest that what he's seeing is an illusion. Surd witnesses the changing of tables and tells Julia to jack him in, noting that the time for brute force has come. Meanwhile, the fake Dr. Quest continues to humiliate Jonny until the genuine article arrives. He punches the fake, causing him to disappear, and tells Jonny not to believe that "garbage" given to him. They find Jessie, but are blocked off by Surd and several knights. Benton displays talented combative skills by destroying each knight while Jonny wakes Jessie up by telling her that she nearly killed her father. When no knights are left, Dr. Quest and Surd face off.

Jessie wakes up

Unfortunately, Surd cheats via a program loaded by Julia and sprouts to new heights along with four extra arms with attachments. As he's about to saw through Dr. Quest, a giant Jessie throws him like a rag doll into a portal she creates. She notes that they must leave, as her subconscious is erasing the foreign information introduced via Surd's brainwashing. She flies out back to Questworld, but Jonny is sucked back in, and flies through a city landscape helplessly. As he begins to dissolve, a huge energy beam reels him back in to Questworld; they all exit back into the real world, where Jessie recovers and asks for an aspirin. The team reunite in the mansion, and Hadji notes that the authorities have picked up Surd and Julia. He wonders, however, where Jessie sent Surd from her mind, as the real Surd was found in a catatonic state. She states that she stripped him of his mobility and sent him to Questworld, rendering him helpless and paralyzed there as well—"no one messes with my family."

Notes

Quotes

• Lorenzo - "Things are under control, boss. You know, they really should beef up the lighthouse security."

~

• Jessie - "Sorry young men, but I have no time for visitors—not if I'm going to win the Nobel prize.

~

• Fake Dr. Quest - "You've been a real disappointment, Jonathan."
• Jonny - "But dad!"
• Fake Dr. Quest - "This journey has really opened my eyes. Jessie will be more like me than you'll ever be, don't you see?"

~

• Fake Dr. Quest - "What a disappointment. If Race didn't save your life every five minutes..."

~

• Surd - "Sorry, doctor, but it's time to settle this the old-fashioned way. Primitive, but effective."
• Dr. Quest - "Primitive suits us just fine!"

~

• Dr. Quest - "Now, it's just you and me."
• Surd - "As it should be."
• Dr. Quest - "You've endangered my family countless times. And it ends now!!"

~

• Surd - "No! How did you!?"
• Jessie - "This is my head, you sicko! Figure it out!"

Trivia

• This marks the final appearance of Jeremiah Surd in The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.
• This episode does not feature a Quest Byte.

Lance Falk Behind-the-Scenes #3

Subj: Behind the Scenes #3
Date: 97-02-14 10:39:37 EST
From: LFMOA

Today's subject: "Thoughtscape": My second journey into VR. Again, I wanted to avoid the "Deadly Video Game" stuff, so I came up with the "Virtual Voyage" idea. Surd could smuggle a whole army right inside Jessie's head.

We were beginning to use VR for more than games and the VR stories started getting better. ("Cyberswitch": Body snatching, "Other Space": Interdimensional Exploration, "Thoughtscape": Brainwashing, "Edge of Yesterday": Time Travel, etc.) The CGI footage is also improving by leaps and bounds.

Originally, all the Jessie's mind stuff was supposed to be VR but again, production problems changed this at the last minute. So we planned out the show with traditional animation, THEN we found out that four minutes of CGI was required anyway. ARRRGH! What to do? The transition sequences. They were concocted by Producer Larry Houston and Storyboard Supervisor Vic DalChele. The Opening theater sequence was also Larry's idea and execution. The thing is, in THIS case, I'm glad the Mostly CGI fell through because this show has lots of character acting sequences which don't work as well in Computer animation. Also, Mook did an especially good job of drawing the characters in this one. I really like the way they look.

Factoid Time:

1. The movie billboard says:Doug and Ellen in: "Courtney & Lance". A double bill with "Cold War". Doug and Ellen are of course the Wildeys. "Cold War" was an unused title for "General Winter" Again, Larry's doing, that rascal.

2. It's subtle, but when Jessie drives through the house, she damages IRIS and shorts out the Mansion Security. (all part of Surd's plan) You can hear IRIS being cut off mid-word as the RV drives through. This damage allows Lorenzo to breach the lighthouse later.

3. The destruction of the "Grandparents style" Quest Stream RV was deliberate. I dislike it.

4. The Maine Mansion gets a good working over for the same reason. Davis noticed: "You REALLY don't like that place." I replied "Wait 'till you see my final script" Kaboooom!

5. There was a beat cut for time where Race insists on going into Jessie's head but Dr. Quest orders him to stay and "bodyguard" while they are in VR. Race reluctantly sees the wisdom in it, saying: "but I still don't like it!" I wanted to point out that Dr. Quest IS the boss when it comes down to it. (Like Kirk to Spock) Of course, Benton was right. If Race went and he stayed, Surd might have won.

6. I'm fond of doing the "butt-kicking Dr. Quest." He'll do this again. Race DID train him after all. I thought DeLancey was GREAT in this show. Those torture sequences give me the creeps. His "tough guy" beat was well played too. Just right

7.The Ghostly image of VR Surd leaving Wheelchair Surd (sold seperately!) was his VR body program being erased for all time. He's REALLY stuck like that forever. (unless someone undoes it later, but I hope not. It's just the right end for him, don't you think?)

8. I must give credit here: My original Surd fate was to have him real tiny in Questworld while an infinite barrage of giant (to him) VR Jessies nearly trample him, unnoticed. He's like an unseen bug, forever in motion to avoid being stepped on. I thought this was a humiliating fate for an ego like Surd's, then Davis said: That's soooo cruel. How about if we just make him a cripple in VR too?" As soon as I heard this, I knew it was the way to go. MUCH crueler I think! The ending's the best part. Wish I thought of it!

9. Jennifer Hale (Jessie's voice) hugged me when she showed up for recording (This is a GOOD thing. Reward enough in itself!) and thanked me for the story. Of course, moments like this, (and BritGriff's letter) make all the hard work so worthwhile.

10. Rob Paulson plays Lorenzo AND Hadji. He was having a conversation with himself!

That's all I can think of at the moment. next Behind the scenes: "Race against Danger" I'll do it over the weekend. By the way, I hope we've seen the last of those "You've made Jessie a wimp" comments.Thanks for watching!

Lance Falk Behind-the-Scenes #4

Subj: Behind the Scenes 4
Date: 97-02-23 03:55:18 EST
From: LFMOA

Hi loyal Questoids, this installment is devoted to odds and ends rather then one specific episode. (stuff I forgot the first time, basically).

1. Originally, the Real Adventures of Jonny Quest was formatted a bit differently. Like this: Teaser / Opening Credits / Commercials / Act One / Etc. This is how Both Seasons structured them which is why the first act is so short. For some reason, this was changed to the current structure: Opening Credits / Teaser / Commercials / Act One / Etc.

I still see them "Teaser first" in my head. (Like Trek and B-5) This is a Season One idea that I really liked. Too bad we didn't try it.

2. The Dragonfly Jet (white with the huge tail fin) is from the Classic Show. Season One chose not to use it. I made sure it returned in "Rock of Rages" as the official Quest transport. Its name was never actually given in a show but JQ creator Doug Wildey told me it's name (and HE would know).

3. Another thing we restored from the Classic Series is the jewel in Hadji's turban. He doesn't have it in Season One or our first two shows ("Mummies of Malenque" and "Rock of Rages") He aquires it during our third show: "Bloodlines" when his Sultan status is revealed. from then on, he wears it (even in Questworld).

4. In "Rock of Rages" there is an apparent mistake. (but it isn't) Early in the show, the Golem goes "Dead" when the scriv is knocked from Vostok's hand. Later, when Jonny knocks away the scriv with a rock, the Golem is still on a rampage, not affected by Bandit, Jonny, or not being held at all. The explination: When Karst and Vostok wrestle over the scriv, the strain breaks it (You see this as a flash of energy). The resulting Scriv damage turns the Golem into a beserker, bent on fufilling his last command: "Destroy the President!" I think a line explaining this was cut for time. (I DO think these things out, y'know!)

5. Vostok does not see himself as a villian. He really believes Communism is the correct path for humanity. When the Iron Curtain collapsed, he kind of snapped and decided his great destiny was to show the world the error of it's ways. Another cut line explains this a bit. When the Golem is first ordered to get the Quests, Benton pleads to spare the youngsters. Vostok replies: "Sadly, the innocent must sometimes perish when great destinies are to be forged. Regettable, but historically inevitible, yes?" A nice character bit but understandibly expendable. Vostok sees himself as a Caeser or Alexander the Great doing destiny's work. He thinks God won't let him die until he remakes Earth in a Communist mold. Vostok really believes in this stuff.

6. Jonny and Hadji each speak some Japanese in "Thoughtscape". They say: (Jonny) "Welcome to our Country, Ambassador" (Hadji) "We hope you have a pleasant stay."

I picked Japanese because we had a handy language coach available: Producer Davis Doi. He worked with Rob & Quentin (Hadji & Jonny) for fifteen minutes until their pronunciation was flawless with no trace of accent. (It's real easy for the writer to script phrases like: "Jonny says in perfect Japanese....."). Rob & Quentin really liked doing it. Quite a trick to pronounce something in a very different language WHILE sounding in character if you think about it.

That's all for now. Tomorrow, I'll give you the whole scoop on "Race Against Danger"

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