THE MISSING LINKED

  This is the fourth episode of series 2.  A poor eastern European town has an unwelcome visitor is the form of.....err....well....it doesn't really have a name, other that what Max calls it; a big pink sticky thing!. This big pink sticky thing oozes its way around the town absorbing the townsfolk.  One person escapes the monster; a young girl who sees her young brother devoured.  Cue the Mighty One!  The screen captures are not so sharp in this episode due to the quality of the program itself.

Episode Captures (Click to enlarge)

   Max is relaxing at home in his room, and is looking for a good program on his TV, but all there seems to be on is bad news.  However he soon finds a game show and settles back on his bed to watch it.  No sooner does he relax than he sees a message within the game show - Mighty Max Go To 4th & Elm.  It's that Virgil again with another job for our young hero.  Max makes his way to the location but has trouble finding the portal, that he until he sees a full garbage truck nearby, and he just knows that the portal will be in there.  Poor Max! it stinks in the back of that truck.  The portal opens up and in he goes.

  He emerges from the portal to find himself standing in a lake of quicksand with Norman and Virgil.  He starts to panic, but Virgil reassures him that they will be alright - another portal lies several feet below them.  They sink into the quicksand and disappear beneath its surface.  I flash of light bursts out from beneath.

  They safely re-appear in what Virgil describes as an east European village, and he tells them not too worry as the townsfolk here are peaceful and very friendly.  Just as these words are out of his mouth a yell is heard and a sword sticks in the ground at their feet.  Max is not convinced that they are so friendly after all.  Norman draws his own sword and prepares for combat.  Virgil tells him to put away his sword and address the constable, enquiring as to the nature of his problem.  His questioned is answered immediately by a scream, and on looking about them they see...... A Big Pink Sticky Thing! cries Max in horror.  It looks like a huge blob of....well, what Max said, and as it oozes through the town it appears to be consuming anything made out of metal.  The girl who lost her brother appears and is transfixed by this new creature.  Is it the one that ate her brother?  They hear a man's voice coming from the creature and they look up onto the creatures head to see a wild looking man sitting in the front part of a car which is embedded into the creature.  He triumphantly tells them that he is the creator of this monster, and that they would all pay.  the problem is that he doesn't appear to know his own name. As it approaches her Max realises that she is not going to move and so he runs over to her and pushes her out of harms way.  Virgil calls for him to follow, and Max and the girl run for cover.

  Once in the safety of an alleyway, Max looks at the girl.  She appears to be the same age as him and tells about her brother's disappearance by a similar monster.  There is no time to hide as the creature tries to squeeze itself into the alleyway with some difficulty; as Virgil says, You can't squeeze two pounds of fertilizer into a one pound bag.  Norman leaps forward and attempts to attack the monster with his sword, but soon realises that he is not affecting the monster in anyway, in fact he almost loses his precious sword in the depths of its pink ooze.  Time for plan B:  Run!

 The team run for their lives and soon end up in the Forest of Flemk where they find a tiny house looking as if it were out of a fairy tale.  They all rush in, except for Norman; he is way too big to enter, no matter how hard he tries.  In the end he gives up and says, I'll wait outside.  The rest of the team take the time to relax and formulate a plan.  Max and the girl share peanut butter and onion sandwiches, which Max is not too keen on, but he eats them anyway (I think he fancies her and is trying to be polite!)  The time of relaxation soon comes to an end when a noise is heard outside.  Max goes out to investigate and finds nothing but Norman's sword laying on the ground.  Where is Norman?

  They all go looking in the forest for Norman and soon come across their first sign of something strange; a huge footprint in the ground that appears to be made up of loads of human footprints.  As they continue they see smoke rising from a distant town, and as they enter that town they see it is deserted.  They search further and soon find a scrap yard of some kind, and here it is they find the madman.  He releases three savage dogs onto them but as they emerge from their cage the madman pours a pink substance on them causing them to mutate together as one dog; a dog with three heads.  It lunges after them but Max has an idea.  Reaching into the girl's bag he grabs one of the peanut butter and onion sandwiches and throws it at the dog(s).  The dog(s) pounce upon it and soon become embroiled in a fight over the sandwich.  As they fight they break apart and are once more three separate dogs.  However, the troubles of Max and friends is far from over;  another big pink sticky thing approaches, but this one is different from the first.  It is smaller but from within its pink body can be seen the bodies of trapped people, moaning as if in torment.  The girl cries out as she sees her brother within the pink mass, and Max and Virgil are startled to find Norman trapped within.  

  Suddenly a team of villagers lead by the constable comes to the rescue and attempt to attack the monster, but the girl runs up to them and stops them.  The villagers are puzzled, but as they each look at the monster they start to see friends and loved ones trapped within.  The monster moves towards them, but Virgil tells Max not to worry; Norman will not allow him to be hurt, after all he is the Guardian.  This gives Max and idea and he rushes up to a large furnace and pretends to prepare to throw himself in.  Norman wakes up within the monster, and seeing Max teetering on the edge of the furnace struggles to break free in order to save Max.  Without a loud shout he breaks free and runs toward Max who is starting to lose his balance for real.  Fortunately Norman is quick and grabs Max, saving him from a fiery demise.

  Virgil soon sees that the loss of Norman seems to have affected the creature in some way, and it appears to become weaker. Everybody, including the villagers leap upon the monster and start to pull the trapped people out.  As each person is freed so the monster shrinks until nothing is left but a small pink puddle.  Everybody is reunited with their lost friends, including the girl who hugs her brother with joy.

  The episode ends with a local custom dance performed by the villagers, and from within a jail cell we see the madman being ordered to latrine duty again.  He still does not seem to now his own name.