The Mummies of Malenque
| The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest | |
| "The Mummies of Malenque" | |
| |
| Episode no. | H00616-94049 |
|---|---|
| Airdate | December 11, 1996 |
| Chief locations | Colombia - 7.21N, 75.85W (2675 miles) |
| Vehicle(s) | Dragonfly Jet Quest Helicopter |
| Writer(s) | Glenn Leopold |
| Guest roles | Teresa Saldana (Estella Velasquez) Fernando Escandon (Dr. Salazar) Castulo Guerra (Col. Salazar / Miguel) Tonyo Melendez (Jose / Reynaldo) |
| Episode sequence | To Bardo and Back <--> Rock of Rages |
| Other episodes | |
Plot Summary
The story begins with Jessie Bannon racing through the jungles of Columbia to elude two men. A medallion around her neck, she stumbles on a root and falls into quicksand. The men pretend to help her out, but only long enough to steal the medallion and break her lifeline. Jonny Quest races to the scene, stunning the two men with quick attacks before helping Jessie out. The rescue is again interrupted with a gunshot; one of the men has a rifle. Race Bannon swings from a vine and kicks him out of commission as the other man prepares to counterattack. Race easily dispatches him and rescues Jessie, revealing that he's come to pick up Jessie from a visit to her mother. The reunion is broken when a jeep with gun-toting thugs bursts from the jungle; Jessie confirms that the medallion is their target. They flee to the edge of a cliff and hang on the cusp with vines (and Race's hand). Unfortunately, the thugs brake in time to avoid falling off, and begin smashing Race's hand as Jonny's rope begins to break.
Act One
Dr. Quest and Hadji appear in the Quest Helicopter to rescue their friends, using a sonic blaster weapon to ward off the bad guys. The team return to a Malenque pyramid site, where Jessie's mother, Estella Velasquez has been working. Race's confrontation with his ex-wife over Jessie's peril is interrupted by Dr. Quest and Estella's agreement that the Malenque are enough to simulate a young person's mind, having been an advanced civilization given their antiquity. The conversation turns to the fate of the Malenque civilization; Dr. Quest wishes he had the medallion Jessie had found. She provides a rubbing, made thanks to Dr. Quest's archaeological instructions; Estella translates it as the team and friendly Colonel Salazar listen.
The mummies have their home
Beneath the weeping stone;
Their tears have come to late
To avoid their wicked fate.
Jessie shows her mother where she found the medallion—behind a wall depicting a Malenque medicine man making an elixir, apparently to defeat enemies. As Colonel Salazar regrets that gravediggers and tomb raiders are still around to filch artifacts, Jessie, Jonny, and Hadji trek to the river to wash off. Hadji skips rocks as Bandit surveys the landscape; the team revel in the natural beauty of the forest. The idyllic rest is broken when Bandit bolts from a hedge with a jaguar in tow. The team run for their lives, finding a narrow cave whose opening through which the cat cannot pass. Hadji attempts to calm it by gazing in its eyes, while Jessie finds a weeping statue reminiscent of the medallion's words. With Jonny's help, she removes it from over a dusty well just as the jaguar makes his way in. The three jump down the hole only to be swept away by an underground river leading to a cave complex. Within the caverns are countless mummies. The team are aghast to hear footsteps and shadows proceeding from another lit cavern.
Act Two
The men retrieve a few mummies and return to the other cavern, suggesting cryptically that a doctor is using the mummies for some purpose. Hadji concocts a plan to escape, but Jonny heads down the cavern in curiosity of what the mummies are being used for. Hadji reluctantly follows with Bandit.
Quotes
- Race - "Okay, I surrender! I know when I'm outnumbered."
~
- Jonny - "Wow...No wonder you're mom took you here for vacation, Jess. This place is...cool."
~
- Thug - "It's a regular mummy mercado, eh?"
~
- Race - "I wonder how normal families spend their vacations."
Goofs
- Estella must have been a quick-thinking poet to render a rhyming quatrain from a Malenque inscription.
Trivia
- Race's vine swing is reminiscent of his attack in The Lizard Men, a classic Jonny Quest episode. The scene in question is shown in the opening titles of the classic series as well.
From: Episodes
