Brief Summary: You know the drill: an evil AI takes over the world.

Summary: The Joe Base is lookin’ pretty bad ass! Several Cobra pilots are gunned down. On the ground, they attempt to infiltrate the Joe base but are quickly caught by a computerized defense system.

Lady Jaye explains to a group of men who are either from the Defense Department or the press, that the Joe base now has a fully computerized defense system. The General and the Sky Ravens are tied into the system as well.

Sky-Dive doesn’t like the system, he thinks it’s better to rely on human vigilance than on a computer system.

A computer system has been monitoring the Joe communications. The system’s name is BIOK and it does not like Sky-Dive.

BIOK seems to be voiced by Gary Chalk, who also plays Metal-Head and Pathfinder in the DIC series. He also played Optimus Primal in Beast Wars and plays Optimus Prime in the new Transformers: Armada series on Cartoon Network (which, in their own ways are about as popular with Transfans as the DIC series is with Joe fans).

Destro tells Cobra Commander that BIOK has been infiltrating every computer system in the entire world. He also tells us that BIOK’s personality is based on Cobra Commander’s personality (at Cobra Commander’s insistence, of course). Infiltrating the Joe computers was the last step, Destro tells BIOK to activate the program “Cobra Takeover.”

We’re treated to a brief action shot of BIOK taking over an ATM and telling the person trying to get their cash out that the ATM and its contents now belong to Cobra.

BIOK takes over the Joe computers, Cobra now controls the world. And damnation is BIOK an uppity machine.

Cobra Commander threatens BIOK, but Destro tells him that BIOK’s mainframe is hidden in a secure location, making it impossible to threaten him. “How do we control him?” Cobra Commander wisely asks.

Back at the Joe base, Lady Jaye finds herself trapped in the General by BIOK.

By and large, one of the things I truly don’t like about the DIC series is the characterization of the Joe women. The Baroness and Zarana get off pretty well, their characters are different, but still fairly strong. The Joe women, on the other hand, are shadows of their former selves. I’m not sure if it’s the writing or if it’s the voice acting, but something about the Joe women just doesn’t click the way it did in Sunbow.

Thankfully, they don’t show up often. Partly because DIC just couldn’t afford the expense of female voice actors. The few times the female Joes show up, they’re usually only seen for a scene or two and often don’t talk.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case in BIOK. Jaye’s in it for the long haul and she talks too damn much. Grumble…

Luckily for Jaye, BIOK likes her since she likes computers. Sky-Dive on the other hand….

Jaye tells Sky-Dive to run for it, since BIOK is trying to use the General to kill him. Sky-Dive proceeds to run like a rabbit while Cobra Commander fumes about BIOK wasting time going after one lone Joe. BIOK hrumphs and mentions that he can do more than one thing at a time. Sheesh!

Cobra Commander and Destro realize that BIOK is beginning to develop his own personality.

With Jaye still in the General, BIOK turns the base guns on the Joes. Jaye tells Sky-Dive to forget about her, stop BIOK and the General any way they can. Her life, she implies, isn’t worth the risk to others.

Why the @#$@#$ she isn’t using her javelins, I have no idea.

Sky-Dive tries to save Jaye, and we learn here that Jaye used to find him annoying but not anymore. Why she found him annoying, I have no idea.

Cobra Commander fumes at BIOK, who tells him to shut up and that HE is going to be taking over the world, not Cobra Commander.

Humans, he says, have to learn to love and obey computers.

Destro kisses up to BIOK, partly out of self-preservation.

At a safe location, Sky Patrol tries to figure out what to do. What the other Joes are doing, we have no idea. Why Mainframe and Dial-Tone aren’t doing something about this beats me with a stick.

While Sky Patrol is trying to figure out their next move, a robotic hawk (as in bird, not the Joe General. See ‘A is for Android’ for that) shows up. It was sent by Destro as a safety measure. As Destro says, if the Joes are seeing this, then BIOK has taken over and taken himself and Cobra Commander prisoner. It is now up to the Joes to head to where BIOK’s mainframe is held. Destro tells the Joes they can trust him, because Destro must would only seek the Joes’ help if he was truly desperate.

The plan is as follows: Sky-Dive and Airborne will try to rescue Jaye while the others go to the mainframe site. Since there are no computers on either the Sky Hawks or the Sky Sharks, they can safely use those vehicles.

BIOK threatens a city, telling a Colonel Herring to surrender or else. Sky-Dive and Airborne show up and try to stop the Colonel from firing on the General. The Colonel is sorry, but says that it’s Jaye’s life versus that of the city. Needs of the many, y’know? Accept your fate Allison! It’s better this way!

Airborne tells the Colonel that they have a team on their way to destroy BIOK, just give the Joes some time. The Colonel agrees, especially after Sky-Dive volunteers to buy the Colonel more time by going head to head against BIOK.

For reasons that are never adequately explored, BIOK’s mainframe is stored in a Mayan temple. The hawk gives the Joes a disk that contains the virus necessary to destroy BIOK. Sky Patrol then goes in to try and break into the temple.

Back at the nameless city, Sky-Dive challenges BIOK to a duel. Sky-Dive in a Sky Hawk, BIOK in a Sky Raven. The object being to prove once and for all which is better: humans or computers. BIOK, startled that Sky Dive is still alive and suffering from a bad case of Cobra Commander’s ego mania, agrees.

Cobra Commander and Destro are still prisoners. Cobra Commander fumes when he learns that Destro gave Cobra secrets to the Joes. He tells Destro that he’ll be punished for his treason. Destro replies that being imprisoned with Cobra Commander for several hours is punishment enough.

Sky Patrol manages to shoot their way to the top of the temple, where they find themselves surrounded by Cobra troopers.

Sky Dive and BIOK duel it out and Jaye is still trapped.

Drop Zone says, as they’re surrounded, that the most important thing to do in this case is to imagine what would John Wayne do in such circumstances. And just when I was thinking hey, Drop-Zone’s not so much of a jackass in this episode…

Suddenly, the floor under Sky Patrol gives way and lowers them down an ancient Mayan elevator into an ancient Mayan computer room. As Sky Patrol is getting ready to insert the disk, Cobra Commander comes on the screen and tells them that everything’s okay, they stopped BIOK, you guys can go home now. He then brings Destro on the horn to tell them that it really okay, you guys can leave, c’mon git!

Sky Patrol figures out that CC and Destro are really BIOK and stick the disk in anyway. In a matter of seconds, BIOK is attacked by the virus and begins to devolve from a weird man’s head that almost looks skinned down to a smily face. BIOK pleads for his life, but it’s too late, he’s destroyed.

Except that Destro notices that one small fragment of BIOK is still alive and kicking. If it survives, then BIOK can reform himself.

The last bit of BIOK is that part controlling the Sky Raven. Now, Sky-Dive’s battle becomes the only way to truly rid the world of the manic AI.

Jaye gets freed from the General shortly before Sky-Dive shoots BIOK’s plane down, destroying the AI as it tries to run. The world is saved.

Commentary: The bit that saves this episode from being just another Manic AI takes over World story is the fact that Destro actually thought far enough ahead to put in a safeguard against BIOK going insane. Then again, considering that the AI was based on Cobra Commander’s personality, that sort of forward thinking just makes sense. Kinda like putting on socks in the morning.

I already mentioned I don’t like what they did to Jaye in this episode so I won’t drag that up again (but..c’mon Jaye, you HAD WEAPONS WITH YOU! USE ‘EM!).

Over all, keep an eye out for this episode, Gary Chalk’s performance as BIOK is well worth it.