Letters From Home/Get Yourself Together, Mutsu

Ugh.  For me, this episode is the VV version of the "evil space mice" episode

Letters From Home

Chip has a downright psychedelic dream about his brother Pidge.  But Pidge isn't there.  Then he awakens on the Explorer.  He looks out his curtains at the fleet in space.

In the lounge, Hawkins is briefing the Voltron Force, and then Newley's crew delivers the mail.  Chips doesn't get any mail but pretends that he does.  The team discusses their mail.  And Jeff's parents apparently sent Lisa a baby picture of Jeff.  Pidge gets all mopey.

At Drule HQ, Borgam and his cronies are in the intelligence center, overseeing a reconaissance mission.  The Galaxy Garrison crews are building a large base on the planet when they detect the Drule recon force.  They scarmble interceptors.  The recon ships are a new design we haven't seen before.  They've got turrets.  They all are destroyed, even one last one that flees into orbit and takes a couple of cruise missiles to take it out. 

Newley calls the Explorer and requests Voltron Force support.  The air team is scrambled, but Chip is too busy moping and Lisa finds him.  The land team is sent instead.  Lisa finds Chip's fake letter from home.  The air team all makes fun of Chip. 

The Drule commanders look at the spy photos.  Borgam has a plan.  And he sounds a lot like Keezor.  A Drule fleet launches, and Dorma watches in Hazar's office. 

Lisa, Crick and Jeff discuss Chip's wussitude.  The Drule fleet leaves to face the Voltron force, and the captain refuses to listen to Hazar's pleas.

Lisa approaches Chip about being a weenie.  The Voltron Force scrambles, but Chip and Lisa aren't there.  Hawkins sends them out without the two wusses.  And Jeff has apparently claimed Lisa for his own team.

The land team comes on a Drule scout plane that's crashed into a tank.  Drules or not, they have to respond to the distress signal.  The Turbo Terrain Fighter lands to assist.  The Drule fleet awaits them.  The Captain's XO points out that two Voltron machines are missing.  The fleet attacks.  The Voltron force is trapped in a ravine by the Drule fleet and Cliff realizes there's no one in the tank.  Then the robeast appears.  Jeff and Ginger fight their way through some of the Drule ships, relieving some of the pressure.

Lisa finally convinces Chip to stop moping and they launch.

In a cool sequence, the robeast throws its sword at the land team, and it's deflected at the last minute by Chip and Lisa shooting at it.

With the team reuinited, they form Voltron.  They clear some of the Drule ships, and then take care of the robeast.  It's not much of a fight.  The robeast fires beams out of its chest, but it doesn't seem to actually do anything.  The Drules retreat.

Dorma tries to convince Hazar to do something.  He just broods some more.

Oh, look, Chip had email after all.  And Hutch apparently apologizes for making fun of him earlier as Rocky.

Get Yourself Together, Mutsu

Gods.  I get to watch this again.

The car ride.  The flowers.  And a long series of scenes with Mutsu talking to his mom--WEP edited her out because she's not Pidge.  Again, though, Mutsu awakens and looks out the window at the fleet. 

Ise is addressing the teams and urging them not to let their guard down.  He then distributes mail to the team.  Other crewmembers join in.  Keats says it's a good harvest on Mira.  Aki has a naked picture of his newborn nephew.  Kai asks Mutsu about a letter from his mom, and he reads a fake letter.

I have no idea where this Galveston base is supposed to be.  It seems to be right next to the sun right now.  Anyway, Raucher and his captains are watching as a reconaissance force makes a pass over the Alliance base.  Asimov oversees the completion of the base, and hears the news of an enemy approach.  We get a cool shot of alliance pilots boarding and launching the fighters, and then they engage the recon ships.  Of course, WEP couldn't show the pilots because, well, ROBOTS.  One recon ship starts to escape, and Asimov orders the launch of a missile.  The ship is shot down, and Asimov notifies the Rugger Guard.

Aki's team is scrambled, but Mutsu isn't there.  1)  Wouldn't his absence have been noticed at some point in that long launch sequence, and 2) how many cameras ARE there in the cockpits?  Kagas find Mutsu and picks up his letter after he runs off.  Ise sends Walter out instead.

Kai and Aki give Mutsu crap.  The other team members let it go until Kai brings up his mom.

Raucher's captains look over the Earth forces on the planet.  Raucher plans to hit the advance party at planet Q.  He sends Juxon out, with no worries about Teles' authority.  Sirk notifies Teles of the Juxon fleet launch, and he broods some more.  They DO seem to be very close to the sun, unless that's a gas giant out there.

Kagas shows Aki the letter Mutsu wrote to himself, and they wonder what's going on.  Aki tells Kagas to go talk to him.

Juxon's fleet nears planet Q.

Kagas speaks to Mutsu where he's looking out the window at the fleet.  This is a different room than the observation corridor we've been seeing since the first episode.

Walter comes upon a new planet (planet Q) and commences a survey.  Ise acknowledges and sends the other two teams out, minus Kagas and Mutsu.  Ise orders Aki to launch without him.  Kagas and Mutsu see the ships launch, and Mutsu admits what we all already know, that he wrote the letter himself and he's upset that he didn't hear from his mom.

The land Rugger has picked up a distress signal.  Walter goes to respond.  They see a recon ship crashed on a tank.  The tank pinned under the wreckage is sending the distress signal.  Aki tells Walter to help.  They begin removing the wreckage.  The other teams remain on station to cover them.

Juxon's XO tells him that there are two missing battle machine.  He commences the attack.  The Sea Team is caught in the first attack.  More ships pin down the air team.  The land team opens the empty tank and is set upon by the battle attacker.  Keats tells Ise what's going on.  Aki and Patty mount a counterattack against the capital ships, and then they go to backup the Walter team.

Kaga and Mutsu are still getting scolded to launch.  Kaga tries to convince him that he's fighting to ultimately protect his mom.  He finally agrees to launch.

The team is pinned between the battle attacker and the fleet.  Kai's ship is miscolored as Mutsu's, and then we see Mutsu and Kaga arrive just in time to deflect the battle machine's sword from the Land Rugger.  Then they form Dairugger. 

Dairugger destorys a captial ship to make space, and then hits the battle attacker with the whip, the miracle beam, and then punches it a bunch of times.  It gets back up with its sword, and fires a beam that makes no difference as Dairugger disables it with spin cutters and then forms the sword and permanently disables it.  Juxon withdraws.

Sirk exhorts Teles to take command of Raucher and the others to prevent them from continuing the violence.

Nagano compliments Mutsu on deflecting the battle machine's sword, and then Ise brings him the mail that had been mixed in with that of another department.  He's so happy he cries for mommy.

Oh, dear lords.