S2E05 - Cry Turmoil

[MoDaD]

Here's a neat pan of the Airship's interior:

[Ocelot]

I wonder what it would be like to have Turmoil and Darkat in the same episode.

[Cait]

I wonder what it would be like to have Turmoil and Darkat in the same episode.

I know this! It will be the first apperance of a new villian: Turmoil Jr.! A kitty with russian accent and no pants

[MoDaD]

Managed to get some long overdo updates for the Turmoil page, including 37 animated .gifs, some here to preview:

[Prettyshadowj26]

Here's a neat pan of the Airship's interior:

Nice pic this episode is sick in a good way especially that passion kiss scene

[Kooshmeister]

Apparently Turmoil didn't have as many guards as she liked to let on, and made up for it with cardboard cutouts in a few windows.

[Kooshmeister]

Time again for more "script vs. final episode!" We all know that Lance Falk's original original script for this episode had Feral in T-Bone's place, but what was presented as the final draft (i.e., with T-Bone taking Feral's place) nevertheless still differs quite a bit from the finished product. Let us dive right in.

1. The passenger jet is described as a Concorde. The Aérospatiale Concorde was a real type of passenger jet of joint British-French manufacture, jointly developed through Sud Aviation. They were widely used from 1976 until 2003. I'm unsure if Falk intended to use an actual Concorde or if it's a case similar to the show's frequent use of "Jeep" to describe any open-topped off road vehicle. Looking at the plane in the episode, it does very closely resemble an Aérospatiale Concorde, although the model sheets just call it a "jumbo jet," so it seems like they did at least model it on the real plane.

2. There are only three crew members on the flight deck - the pilot (captain), co-pilot and navigator. In the episode, there's a fourth crew member standing in back. The model sheets also weirdly only indicate the pilots and navigator as the crew to be present, so who the fourth guy is and what his job is, I don't know.

3. The Vertigo Beam is described as being purple and yellow, unlike in the final episode where it's just yellow. There's also some extra dialogue from the pilot. "Every... thing... spinning!"

4. The rescue of the jet happens differently. Although Razor still uses the remotely-controlled magnetic missiles (referred to as Limpet Missiles) to grab the plane, he doesn't land it on the runway at the airport. Instead, he has it do an emergency, Sully-esque belly landing in the bay. To prevent the plane from sinking, the missiles deploy a kind of life raft around the aircraft.

5. Different dialogue between T-Bone and Razor: "Razor, you did it!" instead of "Lucky we happened to be in the neighborhood, Razor." To which Razor replies, "It’s not over yet, buddy," as he does in the finished episode, with some additional dialogue about the missiles ("My Limpet Missiles require a delicate touch..."). He also says "Bingo!" upon successfully landing the plane in the ocean.

6. Because the plane landed in the bay, rescue shows up in the form of Enforcers in speedboats instead of the airfield fire trucks and ambulances. Felina appears here, riding in the lead speedboat instead of in a helicopter. This is her only appearance in the script. Because she isn't in a chopper, the scene of her getting hit with the Vertigo Beam is entirely absent. Extra dialogue as she addresses the people on the plane with a loudspeaker, telling them to calm down and that help is on the way.

6. The SWAT Kats never discuss what could've made the plane plummet. It just jumps right to the giant holographic Turmoil appearing and giving her big villain monologue. Some extra dialogue as she names her airship the Sky-Lion and calls it "unbeatable," and gives a deadline for the first payment ("Oh-Eight Hundred Hours tomorrow").

7. No dialogue from Felina. As I said, she pretty much disappears after the Enforcers rescue the people from the plane. Razor, though, does comment on Turmoil's monologue with "This isn't good!"

8. Different dialogue from T-Bone: ""Let's see how tough this Turmoil is against a real pilot!" and not "Guess we’re going to have to take this blackmailer in, buddy." This change means this is the first time Turmoil is incorrectly called a blackmailer. Glenn Leopold does it again in his script for Turmoil 2. Note: Turmoil isn't a blackmailer. She's an extortionist.

9. Turmoil and her lieutenant have a different exchange when noticing the SWAT Kats are coming in: "Commander, it's the Turbokat on supersonic approach," says the lieutenant, instead of "Commander! It’s the SWAT Kats, closing fast!" while Turmoil replies with "Fire the Vertigo Cannon" (more confusion over exactly what the weapon's name is, even here in the script" instead of "Give them a taste of the Vertigo Cannon as well, Lieutenant."

10. Turmoil's fighters are called Alpha Wing instead of Omega Squadron, with the lead pilot identified as "Alpha One," and Turmoil, not the lieutenant, orders the pilots to their jets over the loudspeaker.

11. A lot of familiar dialogue, like Razor asking T-Bone if he thinks Turmoil is impressed and T-Bone saying not to take any bows just yet, is missing, and was apparently added in a later draft or ad-libbed by Charlie Adler and Barry Gordon.

12. Instead of Flashbulb Missiles, Razor fires what amount to the cement machine gun in missile form, referred to as Cement Bombs. These function much like Tarpedoes, splattering the attacking Alpha Wing fighters, including Alpha One's, with quick-drying cement. This jams up their air intakes and causes them to drop out of the sky to an uncertain doom offscreen.

13. Different dialogue abounds, both as T-Bone struggles to fight the effects of the Vertigo Beam and between Turmoil and her lieutenant about T-Bone's flying skills. When T-Bone ejects Razor, he just says, "Good luck, little pal!" Nothing about the cold air waking him up. And indeed, it is not the cold air that awakens the ejected Razor but the loud beeping of his Ejektor seat's fuel gauge informing him it's running out of fuel.

14. T-Bone is held on the bridge of the Sky-Lion instead of in a dark room with a spotlight shining down on him, and not only are his hands not tied, but he and Turmoil aren't alone. Several guards are present.

15. There's a lot more intercutting between T-Bone and Razor in the script. T-Bone's side of things is basically the same, bar a few differences. Because he isn't tied up, Turmoil never cuts his ropes when he pretends to agree to her proposal. He simply gets up out of the chair. They go to Turmoil's private quarters where in addition to drinking milk, Turmoil serves him several helpings of fresh tuna. He also never plants any bombs around the ship. Instead, he just pours milk from his goblet onto the Vertigo Beam's controls when nobody's looking (!). This leads to both the weapon and the ship getting destroyed completely differently later.

16. When Razor first boards the ship, he takes out the guard topside differently, by kicking her off and into the air, causing her to fall down towards the bay. Fortunately for her, it seems all guards patrolling topside wear parachutes, and she manages to deploy hers in freefall. Just as in the finished episode, we never learn what ultimately happens to her. Razor also enters the hangar where the captured Turbokat is being kept under guard, and gets into a firefight with the guards. This leads to a lengthy and involved chase throughout the lower decks of the Sky-Lion (which is again intercut with T-Bone and Turmoil schmoozing), ending when he rounds a corner and encounters T-Bone in the flight commander's uniform, which he calls a "monkey suit."

17. Another thing to mention is that way more time passes in the script than in the episode. In the final episode, the action appears to take place at the most over a single day and at the least over a few hours. Here, though, by the time Razor runs into T-Bone again, it's night. The entire remainder of the episode takes place at night.

18. Turmoil calls Razor a bright boy instead of a clever kat, and the airlock is in the floor, not the wall. Razor is also not handcuffed when thrown out. Instead of unlocking his cuffs, T-Bone just... pushes a button on his Glovatrix to activate the bungee cables, something Razor could've done, and does, himself in the finished episode. I definitely prefer the final version. Also T-Bone just drops him instead of kicking him in the rear.

19. After Razor pops back in, he knocks out the guards he slams into. No more guards run in, and Turmoil rushes from the room, slamming and locking the door behind herself to prevent the SWAT Kats from following. The SWAT Kats elect to leave when the guards start waking up.

20. Razor takes out three of the Alpha Wing fighters sent after them using magnetic missiles called Magna Missiles. These function by flying between the pursuing enemy jets, which are drawn inexorably towards them and crunch into them (and each other!) and fall from the sky.

21. When Turmoil fires the Vertigo Beam, she misses and hits her own fighters. Then the Vertigo Beam short circuits and blows up due to the milk T-Bone poured on it, but the Sky-Lion remains intact. Instead, what happens to make the ship crash? Well, after a funny bit where Turmoil smashes the empty milk glass which T-Bone left sitting on the bridge, everyone realizes that the Alpha Wing fighter pilots, disoriented from the one final blast the Vertigo Beam managed to fire, all spiral down and crash headlong into the airship and blow up, setting off a chain reaction of explosions, causing the entire thing to fall from the sky and into the sea.

22. We actually see the lieutenant parachute from the Sky-Lion before it blows up and crashes, unlike in the finished episode where the last we see of her is her running off the bridge as Turmoil activates her escape pod.

23. Upon being captured, Turmoil accepts her defeat with dignity. No big dramatic "Nooooooo!" Instead, she just sighs and grumbles, "Such are the fortunes of war." We also see the SWAT Kats fly her captured escape pod down to the Enforcers in their speedboats before it cuts to the prison.

24. Turmoil is incarcerated at the rebuilt Megakat Maximum Security Prison, not Alkatraz.

25. T-Bone's letter to her is worded slightly differently and includes a photo of him. Turmoil kisses it and cries rather than tearing the letter up and laughing maniacally. Her line "This puny prison won’t keep us apart, T-Bone!" is also entirely absent.

[Kooshmeister]

I contacted (Television's) Lance Falk regarding his original outline for Cry Turmoil. It was my profound hope he still had the original outline where Feral joins Turmoil after being fired so that it could be posted and read, but, alas, he didn't. Nevertheless, he was able to answer a question that'd been on my mind lately. Specifically, how and why Feral got fired in the first place. Well, even though he didn't keep the outline, he definitely remembered how that happened.

My recollection is the show opened with Feral leading an airborne pursuit of the TurboKat. The SKs are faster, but Feral has choppers coming from them from every side. Wherever they turn, there is a wall of choppers. Manx and Callie are shouting over the com, instructing Feral to force our heroes to land and bring them in alive.

In the heat of the moment, Feral fires a non-lethal EMP missile, the Turbocat nimbly rolls out of the way and the EMP missile clips the turbocat, causing one of Razor’s small bombs to drop. The MegaKat City Concert Hall which is going to have a grand opening in a week (meaning it’s empty!). Of course, the concert center is destroyed, causing the city millions (not to mention the bad publicity).

Feral is summarily fired, then we see him in a bar, approached by Turmoil, etc.

[EditorElohim]

I contacted (Television's) Lance Falk regarding his original outline for Cry Turmoil. It was my profound hope he still had the original outline where Feral joins Turmoil after being fired so that it could be posted and read, but, alas, he didn't. Nevertheless, he was able to answer a question that'd been on my mind lately. Specifically, how and why Feral got fired in the first place. Well, even though he didn't keep the outline, he definitely remembered how that happened.

My recollection is the show opened with Feral leading an airborne pursuit of the TurboKat. The SKs are faster, but Feral has choppers coming from them from every side. Wherever they turn, there is a wall of choppers. Manx and Callie are shouting over the com, instructing Feral to force our heroes to land and bring them in alive.

In the heat of the moment, Feral fires a non-lethal EMP missile, the Turbocat nimbly rolls out of the way and the EMP missile clips the turbocat, causing one of Razor’s small bombs to drop. The MegaKat City Concert Hall which is going to have a grand opening in a week (meaning it’s empty!). Of course, the concert center is destroyed, causing the city millions (not to mention the bad publicity).

Feral is summarily fired, then we see him in a bar, approached by Turmoil, etc.

This would have left Feral very, VERY BAD. Almost identical to the event that caused Jake and Chance to be fired, but since they're no longer around to be his scapegoats.... well.

I'm surprised Manx didn't fire Feral over the Enforcer HQ incident in the first place: the building must have cost the city a fortune.

[Kooshmeister]

This would have left Feral very, VERY BAD. Almost identical to the event that caused Jake and Chance to be fired, but since they're no longer around to be his scapegoats.... well.

True, although it was entirely accidental and Falk stressed that it was an EMP blast meant to bring the Turbokat down without harming the SWAT Kats. Manx comes away from this looking worse than Feral because it was an honest mistake on Feral's part; he had no idea a bomb would be accidentally dislodged and hit the concert hall.

I'm surprised Manx didn't fire Feral over the Enforcer HQ incident in the first place: the building must have cost the city a fortune.

Well, in that case, as you yourself pointed out, Feral had two scapegoats lined up on the chopping block he could blame everything on, rightly or wrongly.

What I find interesting is that in this scenario where the Enforcers are pursuing the SWAT Kats, Callie is apparently on board with them being brought in - alive, but brought in nevertheless. It makes me wonder what the SWAT Kats were supposed to have done to have the Enforcers chasing them at all. At this point in the show, Feral had mostly stopped chasing and trying to capture them based purely on their being vigilantes; he only came after them if and when he thought they explicitly did something wrong (such as in Razor's Edge, and even then, he didn't really make that much of an effort to get them, as he was focused more on the Black Widow).

I do wonder if the Megakat City Concert Hall's destruction was intended as a setup for the Moorkroft Philharmonic Hall in Succubus! Katrina is explicitly said to have paid for its construction. What if Falk and Leopold's original idea was that the regular concert hall gets destroyed and then wealthy heiress Katrina pays to have a new philharmonic hall named after herself built in its place? Of course, this is all purely hypothetical, especially since the Moorkroft Philharmonic Hall's canon status is iffy at best and the Megakat City Concert Hall's is nonexistent. Still, it's food for thought.