We have our first return appearances of secondary characters, albeit played by different actors this time around. Gov. Bardford of California and his secretary, Miss Piecemeal, have not been seen since “The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth.” Jim and Artie are not too fond of the governor because of his lack of cooperation when battling Dr. Loveless, ut they do remember Piecemeal fondly. Too bad she is in on the dastardly plot this time around.Prof. Horatio Block, curator of the state museum, kidnaps the governor and replaces him with a double. With the assistance of piecemeal, the double keeps up the charade while draining the state treasury buying rare art pieces for the museum. Luckily, the real governor got a letter off to Jim suspecting a conspiracy before he was kidnapped. Our heroes rescue the governor and end the plot before block can bankrupt the state buying the Mona Lisa from cash strapped France and blaming it on thereal governor.
Got all that? Because it is really dumb.
The minute the real governor is released, he is going to point a finger at Block. Everyone is going to wonder how the professor managed to afford all these expensive objects d’art. Even if it is difficult to believe he had a body double for the governor, all other clues would add up. There is a prison cell in the museum basement in which the real governor was held, the value of the art would roughly equal the amout o money missing from the treasury, and unless the double was murdered, ought to be easy to find.
Bolt is not the sharpest villain our heroes have ever faced, but at least the episode is not boring. Just try no to think about the plot too much. Few things will add up if you do.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
