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| “ | It is said that when a great driver takes the lead, they never lose it. But only as long as they have a great team. | ” |
—Galileo, "The Best Team" | ||
"The Best Team" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of Power Players. It first premiered on January 3, 2020, on the official Cartoon Network website and it later premiered on January 26, 2020, on TV on Cartoon Network.
Synopsis[]
When Madcap and his minions crash a soapbox derby, the team must stop the baddies and help Axel - stuck in a car with Luka - cross the finish line![5]
Plot[]
The episode opens in the backyard of Axel's house where the kid is doing his solo training for the soapbox derby that the city will be hosting later that day. After "crosses the finish line", his toy friends all arrive as his pit crew to fix his derby car. Axel is determined that he could win the race and he surprises Zoe by asking her to be his co-pilot since she's always his co-pilot. But Zoe reveals that she had already promised to drive with Cleo LeBall, much to the Power Players' surprises. Axel asks Zoe why she would team up with Cleo of all people since both girls are enemies, and Zoe tells him that they're more than just competitive and teaming up with each other makes so much sense if they want to win the race. After Zoe leaves to practice, Axel wonders if he should race solo, but Sarge Charge reminds him that he can't since the regulations say that the contestants must pair up for the race. Galileo suggests that Axel should pair up with Luka, and the rest of the Power Players surprisingly agree with him. Axel doesn't like the idea since Luka is too young and he doesn't know that the Power Players' existence as living toys, so he asks his pit crew how they should work and hide from his potential co-pilot at the same time. The Power Players, however, don't mind and tells Axel to leave that to them.
At the park, the contestants are all ready for the race and Luka is eager to be Axel's partner and co-pilot. Just then, a mysterious derby car arrives and parks behind Axel and Luka. But before Axel could figure out whose derby car is that, the race has started and the contestants start driving away. The Power Players all secretly jump from tree-to-tree above the race to follow Axel and Luka just in case they need help for their derby car and the toys all see Cleo cheats in the race by causing the boys' derby car to get knocked off the tracks. Axel and Luka, however, both refuse to give up and continue pedaling their car. The boys manage to get past Cleo and Zoe when Axel notices the mysterious derby car again and it knocks the tailgate of the boys' car.
After the boys reach their first lap, Axel realizes to his horror that the drivers of the mysterious derby car are Dynamo and Porcupunk whose open their car door to reveal themselves to him. Not wanting Luka to find out about his secret, Axel tells him to get down to "get less wind resistance" so he could prevent his neighbor from seeing the two toy villains behind them. With the boys in serious trouble, Axel's pit crew and teammates all know that they must save the boys from the two villains who're attacking their derby car. Nearby, Madcap is revealed to have control his derby car with a remote-controller and gloats that cheating is almost as fun as taking Axel's Power Bandz. Madcap causes his derby car to bump into the rear end of the boys' derby car and knock them aside from the tracks.
The boys both nearly collide to a tree, but Bobbie Blobby managed to save them just in time by firing out clay at the front of the car as a cushion and Masko grabbing the back of the car. The Power Players tell Axel that he should continue the race while the toys would take care of their enemies since Porcupunk and Dynamo are both ahead of the boys. After the toys push the car back onto the tracks, the Power Players all follow Madcap's derby car and to take care of Porcupunk and Dynamo.
After Bearbarian knocks Porcupunk away and Masko tosses Dynamo out of the car, the toys noticed that the car is still driving without a driver and Galileo found out that someone is operating the car remotely. Madcap, meanwhile, starts to feel that racing is no longer fun for him and decides to do the "rollercoaster" for his derby car. Madcap controls the derby car out of the track which makes it knock Axel and Luka off the track and the boys crash their car sideways on the grass. Zoe and Cleo both stop to see the commotion, and Zoe gets off her car to ask the boys if they're okay. Cleo, not wanting to lose, complains to Zoe that she shouldn't help her friends since the girls would lose their lead in the race. Zoe refuses to go back to Cleo since she has to help her friends, so Cleo drives her derby car away to win the race on her own because of her competitiveness. Axel, knowing that he must help his toy friends and feels that Zoe deserves a chance to win, tells her that he "scrapes his knee" during the collision and offers her to ride with Luka. Zoe, realizing that there's a villain nearby that Axel has to take care of, leaves with Luka to win the race for him.
After the kids left, Axel transforms into Action Axel and he's ready to fight Madcap, Porcupunk, and Dynamo, who are all on top of their derby car. The rest of the Power Players almost arrive and help him fight the three toy villains. This prompts Action Axel to activates his Power Drone and maneuvers it to the antennae of the car which brokes it. And because of the antennae broke, Madcap is unable to maneuver the car and he crashes into the tree, leaving a mark behind. This makes both Porcupunk and Dynamo cowardly run away in defeat without having to fight back the Power Players.
After the villains' defeat, Action Axel transforms back into his civilian form and hides his teammates in his backpack to see which team has won the race. To his surprise, Luka and Zoe both won the race in first place. However, Luka reveals that Cleo actually finishes first, but since she doesn't have a partner with her and the rules stated that the derby race is a team race, she gets disqualified and thus, Luka and Zoe both won. Luka asks Zoe if he could team up with her again next year, but Zoe replies with an "I don't know", saying that maybe next year the rules should let them and Axel race together as a trio. Axel is very happy and proud of having such great friends that the three kids decide to share their trophy together.
Characters[]
Major characters[]
- Axel Mulligan/Action Axel
- Luka
- Galileo
- Sarge Charge
- Bobbie Blobby
- Masko
- Bearbarian
- Madcap
- Dynamo
- Porcupunk
Minor characters[]
- Zoe
- Cleo LeBall
- Uncle Andrew
- Craig (background)
- Rufin (background)
- Luka's mother (mentioned)
- Civilians
Trivia[]
- In the French version, the episode is called "La meilleure équipe".
- This is the fifth episode in which Slobot is absent after "All Trick No Treat", "Iced Out", "Sand Trap" and "Dodge City".
- Axel's derby car has a similar design to his toy motorcycle.
- The fourth wall is broken twice in this episode.
- At the beginning of the episode, Galileo breaks the fourth wall by turning around to face the camera and did a thumb-up after Sarge compliments Axel's driving.
- Later after Madcap comes out of hiding, he seems to look at the viewers and tell them that cheating "is almost as fun as taking the Power Bandz would be".
- This episode revealed that Luka is one year younger than Axel.
- When Galileo is holding his microphone, it has the Junior Genetic Spy Lizards toyline logo.
Errors[]
- When Axel and Luka are at the starting line and putting on their helmets, Cleo's hair is missing.
- Even though the announcer said that the contestants must race two laps to win, the contestants actually have to race three laps to win since Luka, Cleo, and Zoe are all seen reaching the finish line three times in the episode.
- Craig is often seen twice in the crowd in some scenes of the episode.
- When Madcap's derby car drove past the bridge, Zoe is missing in her car and only Cleo is seen.
- During the scene where Zoe pretends to tell Luka that Axel "sprains" his knee from the fall, the Power Players insignia on Axel's shirt is missing.
- Throughout the race, Axel isn't seen carrying his backpack with him. But after he detransforms from his toy mode to see whose team wins the race at the end of the episode, his backpack suddenly appears on his back to carry the Power Players inside.
Gallery
 Click here to view the gallery. |
References[]
- ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/power-players/listings/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CNVideoUpdates/status/1213037478019575812
- ↑ https://twitter.com/RegularTweetsUK/status/1207770048288493569
- ↑ https://www.france.tv/enfants/six-huit-ans/power-players/power-players-saison-1/1346783-la-meilleure-equipe.html
- ↑ https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/power-players/the-best-team-episode.html