The episode begins “Somewhere over the Bermuda Triangle” in 1969. A Major Tom is piloting an experimental aircraft and losing control. He radios Jonas Venture, who’s on the deck of a freighter, flanked by Team Venture. Jonas assures Rusty that everything is OK. Major Tom speaks his last words to the team, and the ship crashes into the ocean. Cut to present day, where the Venture family is gathered on the deck of the X-2 and Doc’s suit is riding up.
–This opener is just packed with David Bowie references – almost every line Major Tom speaks is a line from one of his songs. The aircraft is even called the TVC 15. This scene is the first appearance of Colonel Gentleman, Kano, and the Action Man, the major members of the original Team Venture. The Colonel isn’t identified by name yet, though. What kills me is that they named a character Action Man because it worked for the Bowie quote (“I have a message for the Action Man”) and then he turned out to be a recurring character. They committed to that joke!
