01x06 - The Opera in the Outback Caper

[bunniefuu]

[theme music playing]

♪ Where in the world
Is Carmen Sandiego? ♪

♪ Sandiego ♪

♪ Where in the world
Is Carmen Sandiego? ♪

[Player in Australian accent]
G'day, mate!

Crikey!
Australia's one big country!

[Carmen] That's some accent.

[normal accent] Been practicing.

I wanted to brush up on the latest leg
of your nonstop tour, Red.

So, what's playing at the famous
Sydney Opera House tonight?

Something VILE won't care to see
if they decide to show.

Carmen.

[Player] Well, good sign or bad omen?

Depends.
Don't most operas have tragic endings?

Like I ever sat through one.
But check it out.

This Carmen's a gypsy,

she likes to wear red
and she hangs out with smugglers.

[Carmen] Guess I have a new BFF.

[orchestral music playing]

[Player] So, what's going on
with Carmen, Carmen?

[Carmen] Nothing suspicious so far.

If a VILE operative's here,
they have yet to show their face.

[Gray] You there!

Scratch that.

What are you doing back here?

You first.

What? I'm working.

I know. "Lights out, baby."

Come on, Gray,
what job are you pulling tonight?

First, it's "Gray-ham,"

and second, since electricians
don't seem to intimidate you,

I'll be more than happy
to have security escort you out.

Wait, what?

You don't expect me to believe
this innocent act, do you?

No wristband, no backstage access.

I don't make the rules.

You really don't remember me?

Fashion statement aside, mate,
you'd be hard to forget.

If there is a next time,
I promise not to make that mistake again.

Guess you just, uh, remind me
of someone I used to know.

I have one of those faces.

Enjoy the show.

[woman singing
"L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"]

Player, did you...?

Yeah, I heard all of it.
So, what's your old classmate's game?

Not sure he has one.
He had no idea who I was.

What did they do to him?

Red, our intel indicates
a VILE operative's

inside the opera house right now.

Crackle worked there as an electrician
before you knew him at VILE Academy.

He knows the layout.

- How can you be sure he isn't playing you?
- Besides the look in his eye?

I'm staring at another VILE operative
right now.

It's Le Chevre, and he's brought
some sort of shiny new toy.

[aria continues]

[shouts]

Carmen?

Do you mean me or the opera?

Hup, hup.

What have we here?

Hup!

[both grunt]

[grunts]

[clanging in rhythm to music]

[aria continues]

[soft squeaking]

This will do.

[aria continues]

- [thuds]
- [Carmen grunts]

[grunting]

[pulsing]

[aria continues, muffled]

[crackling]

[electricity buzzing]

- [aria continues normally]
- [chuckles]

- [song ends]
- [cheering and applause]

What was that all about?

Player, I have no idea what I just heard,
but it had to be a VILE note.

Good thing I was in record mode.

Let's play it back and find out.

[woman singing
"L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"]

[Le Chevre humming
"L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"]

Phase one accomplished, Dr. Bellum.

The seed has been planted.

Superb. But skip the singing.

You bleat like a goat.

Oh, and did you happen to see
my dear boy?

El Topo?
He is tunneling, according to plan.

Not your dear boy.

Mine. Crackle.

Such a fine student.

I shall never forget him.

And he shall never remember us.
[giggles]

[Bellum] I would not make light,
Le Chevre.

Slip up on the job like he did,

and I could be draining your brainpan
someday.

Uh... [clears throat]

And on the topic of former students,

a certain Carmen made a guest appearance
at tonight's performance of Carmen.

Then I do hope she had the opportunity
to hear my remix.

[Bellum's voice] Launch the Boomerang.

Launch the Boomerang.

It's Dr. Saira Bellum.
Not exactly the voice of an angel.

Concealed in the sound wave projected
from Goat Boy's device.

Most likely a subliminal message,

designed to make the listener
follow its command.

As in that's one tune
I don't want stuck in my head.

As in let's hope it isn't.

You were at the opera, too.

Except I wasn't the target.

I don't have a boomerang to launch,
whatever that means.

Thought you'd never ask.

There's only one launchable boomerang
I could find, a rocket,

and it happens to be right there
in Australia.

It's owned by HelioGem,
a private company

with a four billion-dollar
space flight contract.

So I poked around the data
in VILE's hard drive, and guess what.

Your former teachers have been trying
to get a piece of the business, too.

And all this has what to do with an opera?

My thought exactly, which is why I hacked
into the opera house box office

and HelioGem's employee database.

And one name in common turned up.

Dr. Jeanine Dennam, lead engineer
of the Boomerang and avid opera buff.

Guess who purchased a ticket
for tonight's performance of Carmen.

So Bellum's subliminal message
was directed at Dr. Dennam.

You got it.

And I imagine whatever tune
happened to be playing at that time

would trigger her
into obeying the command.

I just can't figure out what
the Villains International League of Evil

would have to gain by forcing her
to launch her own rocket.

Considering it's VILE,

I say we hightail it to HelioGem ASAP
and see if we can't find out.

[Player] Easier said than done, Red.

The HelioGem base is pretty deep
in harsh outback territory.

- I'd recommend finding a guide.
- [Carmen] Found one.

[Player] Wait, Crackle again?
You're playing with a live wire, Red.

Don't forget, he once tried
to electrocute you on a train.

On direct orders from VILE,

whom he doesn't seem to know
even exists anymore.

[switch clicks]

[humming
"L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"]

Hey, I remember you.

Ol' Red Sneakeroo.

Good memory.

Not really.

So, looking to get backstage
for an autograph?

No. To the outback for some sightseeing.
Thought you could be my guide.

I wish. Something fried
the soundboard tonight.

I have to pull an early morning shift
to troubleshoot.

You mentioned having a bad memory.
Why is that?

Well, I... I kind of messed up on the job
a while back,

got a little "jolt," as we sparkies say.

Complete blackout, long hospital stay,
blah, blah. [chuckles]

There's more than an entire year
of my life I can't remember.

A whole year?

I'd say I'm lucky to have my job back

if electrician weren't
such a dangerous occupation.

Oh, I can think of worse ones.

Is this the address of an outback guide?

A good guide's easy to find online.

This is the address
of my favorite café in Sydney.

I'll be there Friday night
at : p.m. You?

Let's see if I make it back
from my tour in one piece.

Hey, I never got your name!

Carmen.

[laughs]

You are a cheeky one.

[Player] The outback,
it may sound like someone's backyard,

but it's a huge wilderness that covers
more than percent of Australia.

That's over half the size
of the US or China.

[Carmen] Tons of room to roam
for all the local critters,

like dingoes, crocodiles and kangaroos.

[Player] Yo, what's up, joey?

[Carmen] Smack in the middle
of all that real estate sits Ayers Rock.

[Player] Whoa!

What kind of rock is two miles long
and over , feet tall?

[Carmen] One the Aboriginal people
who live there consider sacred.

Their name for it is Uluru.

[Player] Just be careful, Red.

Like I said, there's some pretty harsh
terrain out there in the outback.

[didgeridoo music playing]

I hear kangaroos are wicked good boxers.

- Ever go a few rounds with one, Miro?
- I can't say that I have.

Oh, well, how about a crocodile?

- Ever wrestle one of those?
- No, sorry.

Ooh, what about koalas?

Are they really as vicious
as everyone says they are?

- Oh, no, wait. Is that dingoes?
- What about that rock, Zack?

I'd shove it in your mouth to shut you up,
but I don't think it's big enough.

- Uluru.
- Very good.

The ground it occupies has been home
to my people for at least , years.

We're on sacred land.

That's right.

- [Player] Yo, Red.
- Excuse me, Miro.

[Player] Good news.

Turns out HelioGem delayed the launch
of the Boomerang

to do some serious repair work.

The rocket's defective.

So there's no launch to stop.

Boy, will VILE be surprised.

- No, this is their plan.
- What?

Miro, how far are we from HelioGem?

It's not too far
outside the park boundaries.

Player, what happens if a defective rocket
prematurely launches?

[Player] Depends on the defect.
It might not achieve orbit.

Or explode before it reaches
the atmosphere,

raining debris down
on sacred Aboriginal land?

The public outcry would be so great,
HelioGem would lose their contract.

[Player] Paving the way for VILE
to step in and take it over

since they pulled strings to make it look
like HelioGem's incompetence was at fault.

We have to prevent
the desecration of Uluru.

You aren't tourists, are you?

We're rocket scientists.

[Carmen] Divide and conquer, crew.

We know the trigger's in the music.

You two need to find Dr. Dennam

and make sure she doesn't decide
she's in the mood to hear Carmen.

We hear you, Carmen.

Our boss, not the opera.

And I'll see to it no one launches
the Boomerang until it's ready to soar.

Player, let's steal some launch codes.

[beeping]

There she is!

Oh, no!

Dr. Jeanine Dennam, stop!

Pardon?

We're your new interns.

You are?

So, what you listening to, Doc?

A podcast about exploring Proxima b.

Not an opera?

Goodness, I find opera far too distracting
when I'm working.

[sighs]

[laughing] Whoa!

This guy says there's a second Earth
that might have aliens on it!

We have got to visit this planet.

[computer beeping]

And I'm in.

Good thing, Red,
because it would take me hours to hack

through the HelioGem firewalls
from where I sit.

Whoa, that's a big button.

[Player] System default.

Once you delete the launch codes,
it'll retract.

Until then, just don't press it,
whatever you do.

Are you ready, mon ami?

Hold on to your horns, mi amigo,
for the show is about to begin.

- [beeps]
- ["L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" playing]

[aria blaring over speakers]

[beeps]

[aria blaring over speakers]

Then my colleagues found me huddled
in the corner of the laboratory, weeping.

[sighs] Puccini never fails
to reduce me to tears.

That was the day I decided the laboratory
is no place for opera.

[aria blaring over speakers]

Ah! I love Bizet!

[aria continues]

Launch the Boomerang.

Launch the Boomerang.

- [both] Uh-oh!
- We can't let her get to mission control.

Launch the Boomerang.

No Boomerangs this way,
that's for sure.

Launch the Boomerang.

What do you want to do that for anyway?

Launch the Boomerang.

You got some determination, Doc.

Launch the Boomerang.

All this talk about "lunch"
is making me hungry.

[Ivy] Focus, Zack.

Launch the Boomerang.

Launch the Boomerang.

The lab is totally no place for opera.

- Launch the Boomerang.
- [beeps]

- [muffled] Launch the Boomerang.
- [laughs] Oh!

We did Carmen wicked proud.

Our boss, not the opera.

[beeping]

[Player] One more sequence
should do it.

- [aria continues]
- [beeps]

[aria blaring over speakers]

Launch the Boomerang.

Launch the Boomerang.

Launch the Boomerang.

The subliminal message!

Red, snap out of it!

Launch the Boomerang.

Launch the Boomerang.

[beeps]

- [Carmen] Launch the Boomerang.
- [male voice] Launch sequence activated.

- [beeping]
- Liftoff in T-minus three minutes.

Launch the Boomerang.

[alarm blaring]

[gas hissing]

[distant alarm blaring]

- Whoa! Sweet subwoofer.
- [phone ringing]

- Player?
- Guys, Carmen activated the rocket.

It launches in less than three minutes!

- What?
- Carm went to the dark side?

She's hypnotized, and she'll stay that way
as long as that music's playing.

I've pinpointed the audio source.

It's coming from a utility tunnel
under the facility.

You need to shut it down
so Carmen can snap to her senses.

We need her to disable the rocket.

I can handle that last part.
Go axe a DJ, bro.

[gas hissing]

[alarm blaring]

[Player] Okay, Ivy, you'll need to get
to the control panel

and remove the launch drive.

What control panel?

It's on the rocket's payload.
Top of the tower.

Ooh, that's really up there.

Ninety seconds to launch.

You cannot out-climb a goat!

- [aria continues]
- [keyboard clicking]

[in Australian accent]
Have you not heard the alert?

- What alert?
- The dingo alert.

The doggies are going wild out there.

It's... it's the high notes.

They, uh... Gets them all crazed
and bloodthirsty!

Do they come below ground?

[chuckles] I'm a rocket scientist,
not a zookeeper.

Oh, but, but they're out there,
and they m*nled some French dude!

Le Chevre!

[music stops]

Launch the Boomerang.

- [music stops]
- [static buzzing]

[sighs]

[normal accent] Nails on a chalkboard.

- Launch the Boomera...
- [alarm beeping]

What?

What have I done?

Oh, boy. Oh, boy! Oh, boy!
Oh, boy! Oh, boy!

[rumbling]

[gasping]

[growls]

[beeping]

[grunts]

What? [grunts]

Let go!

[beeps]

[both grunting]

- Get out of my way!
- My face!

[beeps]

[both shouting, grunting]

- Oh, boy.
- [horn honks]

Le Chevre, it is safe to come down.

The dingoes have all gone!

What are you talking about?

Enjoy the flight.

- What?
- [grunts]

You can't leave me here.

I'm no space cadet.

[beeps]

[grunts, gasps]

[beeps]

[whimpering]

[screaming]

[clinks]

[Ivy screaming]

I've got you.

[Ivy screams, groans]

[beeps]

[rocket powers down]

[sighs]

[both grunt]

- [sighs]
- Good work, Ivy.

[Ivy] Number two, huh?

I think I just did that in my pants.

- [orchestral music playing]
- [people chattering]

[Player] Remember, Red,
Crackle once tried to...

Turn out my lights
with a sizzle stick, I know, but...

before he was Crackle, he was Gray.

And Gray was like a big brother to me.

I thought I lost him for good,
but this could be, I don't know...

some sort of do-over?

A second chance?

[Player] Okay, let's say that I buy
that Gray, Crackle, Graham, whoever,

really is a happy electrician
with a bright future now.

We know Dr. Bellum's
into mind-control experiments.

What if she played him
some opera music, too?

What if VILE is waiting to see you
with him so they can flip a switch?

Bam! Instead of launching a rocket,
Crackle's crunching a Carmen.

You have a point, Player.

I can't let VILE see me with him.

But not for my safety, for his.

[Player] What? Why?

For whatever strange reason,
Gray has a fresh start now.

And having Carmen Sandiego back
in his life would only complicate that.

[Maelstrom] My star student.

Thank you for coming.

I was wondering
if you would be up for a certain task.

Bring me the hat of Carmen Sandiego.

I will take that as a "yes."

[theme music playing]