If It's Doomsday This Must Be Belfast | |
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Season 3, Episode 12 | |
Air date | November 28, 1992 |
Episode guide | |
Previous A Formula for Hate |
Next The Night of the Wolf |
If It's Doomsday This Must Be Belfast is the twelfth episode in the third season of Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
Main Characters[]
The main characters featured in this episode are:
Plot Synopsis[]
Verminous Skumm makes a bet with Duke Nukem that the human race will cause the end of the world through their own ignorance and prejudice. They then taunt Gaia and the Planeteers to try and stop them as they revealed that they've hidden nuclear bombs in three warring hot spots. The Planeteers split up to try and convince the opposing sides to cooperate and locate the nuclear bombs before it's too late, which is easier said than done.
Episode Summary[]
The episode begins with Duke Nukem in the sewers waiting for Verminous Skumm to return with a nuclear bomb for him to feed off of. Skumm returns and says he procured three bombs and hid them in three war-torn locations: Northern Ireland, the West Bank, and South Africa. He and Nukem taunt the Planeteers and Gaia by saying they've given bomb triggers to one member of each side of the conflicts affecting each area: in Ireland a Protestant and a Catholic each have one, as well as a Palestinian and Jew in Israel and a black citizen and white citizen of Apartheid Johannesburg. Gaia sends the Planeteers out to try and talk each person into giving up their triggers and stopping the nuclear threat, because even Captain Planet cannot stand against nuclear fallout.
Wheeler goes alone to Belfast, where he encounters Sean, a Catholic baker whose business was destroyed by Protestants and wants revenge. They run into a Protestant neighborhood and discover the nuke hiding in a basement, but are confronted and threatened by a gang of Protestants led by a man named Stuart, who claims he can identify Catholics by their names.
Meanwhile, Ma Ti and Gi land in the West Bank, where they immediately find an Arabic woman named Najot throwing rocks at a Jewish man's house after her own was torn down by Israeli soldiers in punishment for her brother's political actions. The Jewish owner, Moysche, is convinced not to have her arrested by Gi when she points out that he and Najot both have bomb triggers. They decide to use their triggers to triangulate the location of the bomb and find it's in the center of Jerusalem, but neither Moysche or Najot trust each other enough to work together.
In Johannesburg, Linka is approached by a black woman named Marcy outside of a church, who quickly tells her she isn't welcome. Kwame attempts to calm her down before she explains that a band of white Apartheid police shot at the church during a funeral and nearly killed her and her family. Peter and a group of white police arrive and try to take Linka away, saying a black area is no place for a white girl. Marcy and Peter both have triggers, and Marcy idealizes a day where black citizens can terrorize whites, and indicates she is very willing to press her trigger.
Gaia offers to time-warp all three groups one year into the future if the triggers go off in order to show everyone if a bombed-out world is worth fighting for. In Belfast, Stuart's friends disappear and his home is destroyed. Even though the bomb doesn't smash Sean's side of town, the fallout has still killed a lot of people. In Jerusalem, Moysche and Najot are both distressed to discover the Dome of the Rock was destroyed, and surprised to realize their faiths have some things in common. In South Africa, both Peter and Marcy are upset to see that the fallout from the bomb caused a nuclear winter, and that the casualties from both sides were too high for the cemeteries to contain.
When it begins looking like the sides are making peace, Skumm and Nukem fly towards South Africa to try and trigger the bombs themselves, but the Planeteers are able to aim their rings towards the sun and summon Captain Planet, who quickly retrieves all three nukes and hurls them far into the sun so the fallout doesn't return to Earth.
After all three groups apologize and promise to try for a more peaceful world, the time-warp ends. Stuart helps Sean rebuild and resupply his business. Moysche gives a part of his house to Najot and her family. Marcy and Peter still don't get along, but they agree to keep their misgivings in the political arena.
Planeteer Alerts[]
- First Planeteer Alert
Captain Planet: Some people hate or fear others who are different than they are. But that's wrong.
Kwame: People from different races can get along.
Linka: As can people from different cultures.
Gi: Or those who practice different religions.
Captain Planet: Don't judge somebody just because they look or act differently.
Gaia: We must learn to accept and understand each other for what we are.
Captain Planet: It's up to us to stamp out hatred. The power is yours.
- Second Planeteer Alert
Captain Planet: Our world can be a place of peace or a battlefield.
Ma-Ti: Peace begins at home. Even your schoolyard can be a place for friendships.
Linka: Or a place for making enemies.
Wheeler: Fighting isn't about being brave.
Kwame: It is about being dumb.
Captain Planet: Why fight when it's smarter to make friends?
Gi: That way, everybody wins!
Captain Planet: The power is yours!
Significant Moments and Facts[]
Duke Nukem and Verminous plant nukes in Belfast, the West Bank and South Africa and give an individual from each side a trigger that will detonate the nukes.
This episode is considered controversial and "out of touch" by many fans for its oversimplification of three major world conflicts fueled by humans rights abuses, as well as for some less-than-accurate portrayals of local cultures (i.e. stereotypical accents). The episode's message of "each side needs to see reason" can be seen as offensive, as all three conflicts involved inequality and governmental overreach targeted at a particular side, and not necessarily "simple mutual disagreements."
Quotes[]
- Duke Nukem: What's taking Skumm? 50,000 nuclear bombs and all I ask for is one.
Verminous Skumm arrives.
Skumm: I'm back from shopping.
Nukem: It's about time! (grabs Skumm's bag and pulls out cheese) What?! Cheese?!
Skumm: Take it control rod Nukem.
Gallery[]
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