The Checklist: RoboCop (S1 Ep19) “Mother’s Day”
It is time for a trip back to Old Detroit, as I put another episode of the short-lived RoboCop series to The Checklist test, specifically the “Mother’s Day” episode of RoboCop…
#1. Was the cold open hot?
Episode 19 kicks off with some Detroit PD action. Sgt. Stanley Parks (Blu Mankuma, Street Justice) is posing as an interested party in the caviar smuggling operation being run by notorious Russian mobster, Vladimir “Stitch” Molotov… Molotov is shocked to find out this deal was a sting operation, however he was not unprepared. Detective Lisa Madigan (Yvette Nipar, Rolling Thunder) breaks the news to Parks that Molotov must be wearing a “spy guard” because all their video surveillance of the transaction is scrambled on playback, making it inadmissible in court. Not so fast Molotov… because. Parks tells “Stitch” he has no problem testifying. Molotov freaks out and calls in his driver/right hand woman Nadia to hit the “big trouble” button in his limo. And that’s when the big guns come out literally for both Molotov and the Detroit PD, because RoboCop makes his first appearance in the episode and prevents Molotov’s escape, when Robo doesn’t budge when Nadia attempts to run him over! 1/1
#2. Do we get a Media Break?
After the opening credits we roll right into a Media Break news report covering the bust from the night before, talking about the trade embargo that has made Russian caviar illegal in the United States and the upcoming trial of Vladimir Molotov. Vlad (out on bail) and his crew are watching the news and Vlad starts thinking up a plan to prevent Sgt. Parks from testifying. If Parks ends up dead, the cops will surely try to pin the murder on him, so instead he decides to send his goons after Sarge’s adopted daughter, Gadget. 2/2
#3. Does Commander Cash make an appearance?
Commander Cash is the corporate mascot of Omni Consumer Products and pops up in a variety of ways throughout the series, the last time I covered an episode of RoboCop, there was a Commander Cash cartoon. This time out, there’s a giant Commander Cash balloon sitting atop the Omni Shopping Mall. Inside the mall, there is also some Commander Cash merchandise to be had. And it is at the mall where we see Gadget with her buddy Jimmy Murphy (Alex Murphy’s now adolescent son) while he shops for a Mother’s Day gift. And that’s about the time Molotov’s goons show up looking to snatch Gadget! 3/3
#4. Was the parking garage dangerous?
When Gadget realizes she is in danger in the mall, she makes a run for it and ends up in an even more dangerous place… the mall parking garage!! I have gone on record multiple times in the past citing parking garages being some of the most dangerous places in action entertainment and I think a young girl nearly being abducted supports that statement. Fortunately for Gadget, she has her boy Jimmy (who definitely has that Murphy crime fighting blood) who comes leaping to her rescue. But that soon turns into the potential of two minors being abducted, until RoboCop rolls in. At that point it becomes dangerous for Molotov’s goons, who attempt to speed off, but Robo just grabs their rear bumper and those guys are going nowhere but to jail! 4/4
#5. Was there some quality action?
With Mother’s Day fast approaching, Gadget can’t help but wonder about her birth mother. Gadget was given up for adoption when she was very young, so she has no memory of her mother. Despite the fact that she was nearly abducted and that Sarge has asked her to hang out at the precinct until his shift is over, Gadget and Jimmy sneak out and start doing some investigating. When Molotov finds out what Gadget is up to he has his replacement goons strong arm a pencil pusher into pushing through a request for Gadget to be reunited with her “birth mother” who in actuality is a con woman named Sally Modesto, who has done some work for Molotov in the past.
Sally ends up having a change of heart and that puts both her and Gadget in grave danger… but once again RoboCop is there to save the day. It ends up being RoboCop vs a fork lift driving Molotov… including Molotov’s attempt to sandwich Robo to death between the fork lift and another of Molotov’s limos. It almost works too, until Robo gets inside the limo and hits the “big trouble” button and Molotov ends up covered in his own illegal caviar! 5/5
- Final Score = 5/5 (100%) Once again I think the weakest aspect of the RoboCop series is Richard Eden’s RoboCop. This episode gave him more Robo stuff to do, but it is in those down times where I had to focus on his look and his voice and it falls short with me… This episode felt more comic book than the last one I did, with the crooks being somewhat bumbling and campy. There was no way a TV series in 1994 on syndicated television was going to be able to come anywhere close to the violence and tone of the first two films, so it makes sense that you give the show its own feel and if that means leaning into making it more kid friendly so be it… The little Maury Povich like twist at the end of the episode did seem a bit convenient, but all in all I enjoyed this episode.
