Jonny Quest (1964)/The Quetong Missile Mystery

The Quetong Missile Mystery
Season 1, Episode 22
Airdate	February 11, 1965
Written by
Directed by
← 1x21 The Devil's Tower	1x23 → The House of the Seven Gargoyles
Jonny Quest (1964) — Season One

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The Quetong Missile Mystery is the twenty-second episode of the first season of Jonny Quest.

Guest Stars:

Plot Overview

While investigating the contamination of fish in China, Dr. Quest discovers a secret missile base (operated by a rogue general and protected by tree-top posted guards) hidden deep within a local swamp.

Notes

THIS IS A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE EPISODE (with spoilers)

A pair of Chinese detectives investigate Swamp Lake (a dense swamp on the outskirts of Quetong, China) in a small johnboat. But the area is infested by a force of hood-suited guards posted in tree platforms all around. In constant walkie-talkie contact with one another, they closely monitor the intruder's progress. The detectives come upon a derrick barge, hoisting a ballistic missile above a launch silo (under construction) and photograph the scene. The hidden sentries respond by detonating underwater mines to destroy the johnboat. From a camouflaged blockhouse at the heart of the swamp, General Fong (a rogue Chinese military officer) addresses his troops over loudspeakers with new orders: The missile is to be retracted into it's silo, which is , itself, to be retracted underwater, and all scaffolding is to be removed - leaving no trace of the secret launcher behind.

The Quest party happens to be traveling aboard an ocean liner, docked at Quetong harbor. Lieutenant Sing (of the Quetong police) appears at Dr. Benton Quest's cabin door to request an urgent meeting with his Commissioner.

Dr. Quest, his son Jonny, his adopted Indian son Hadji, family bodyguard, Race Bannon, and their pet dog, Bandit, are soon aboard Sing's antique Mercedes sedan, en route to the Quetong police station. They are shadowed by a pair of Chinese thugs in a surveillance van.

At police headquarters, Commissioner Wa requests the imminent American scientist's assistance in determining the cause of a poisoned fish outbreak at Swamp Lake. Locals are coming down with a mysterious illness from eating the fish and every man he sends into the area fails to return. Dr. Quest agrees to help.

The Quest party moves into a downtown hotel room, where Race notices an unfamiliar bag on the luggage cart - and it's ticking! He throws it from the window, seconds before it explodes. The bodyguard immediately collars the hotel bellboy and questions him about the satchel, but it soon becomes apparent that the young kid knows nothing about the bomb. Meanwhile, Dr. Quest has been analyzing a sample jar of fish. He finds that they have been contaminated with mescleanide - a component of rocket fuel.

Dr. Quest and Race reconnoiter Swamp Lake in a helicopter (presumably borrowed from the Quetong Police Department). They remain in contact (over Quest video communicators) with Jonny and Hadji back in the hotel room. A down-looking television camera on the helicopter is relayed by communicator to the boys, who record the images on a videotape camera. Suddenly, Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit are kidnapped by Swamp Lake guards. An unseen accomplice, however, trips over a video camera cable to swing the lens around.

When Dr. Quest and Race return, they find Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit to be missing. Checking the videotape, they see the kidnapping - and the mysterious accomplice turns out to be Lieutenant Sing.

Dr. Quest and Race stake out the police station from an adjacent rooftop. They contact Sing by radio and confront him with their evidence of his involvement in the kidnapping. The traitorous Lieutenant immediately flees the building and tries to escape in his car - but the Americans give chase by helicopter. They pursue Sing out of town and try to cut him off by hovering low in front of his Mercedes. This runs the car off the road in a fiery crash. Sing is thrown clear of the wreck, barely clinging to life, as Dr. Quest moves in to question him. Eventually, the injured man is taken away by ambulance - but not before talking.

That night, Dr. Quest and Race infiltrate Swamp Lake in a quiet-running electric johnboat (presumably supplied by the Quetong Police Department). Forewarned, they silently take the tree-top sentries out, one-by-one, with an anithesta-dart (tranquilizer) air rifle. Reaching the blockhouse, they bluff their way in by wearing a hood from an unconscious guard's uniform.

Once inside, they put the whole place to sleep with knock-out grenades. Wearing gas masks, the two men split up to search the premises. Dr. Quest finds the boys and Bandit unconscious in General Fong's office - but the General (also wearing a gas mask) gets the drop on him at gunpoint. Race arrives upon the scene in the nick of time, and forces Fong to remove his mask. The General is soon asleep, as Race carries the boys and the dog outside for some fresh air. Meanwhile, Dr. Quest finds the control room and self-destructs the missile in a huge silo explosion.

With Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit now revived, the Quest party makes their escape in the electric boat. But General Fong and his men begin to wake up. Fong pursues the Quest party in a speedboat, ordering his guards to intercept the fleeing johnboat. But the groggy sentries miss their target. Outraged, General Fong shoots one of his own tree-top men for failure. The mortally wounded guard collapses onto his plunger, detonating the mines beneath the General's boat. Thus, General Fong is blown out of the water by his own minefield.

The johnboat continues on, to be met by Commissioner Wa and a boatload of Quetong police. Bandit, however, seems upset at having missed all the action. He works his snout into a gas mask, so as not to be rendered unconscious again. Relieved, the entire Quest party laughs heartily at the little dog's antics.