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Recap / Carmen Sandiego S 3 E 01 The Luchadora Tango Caper

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Carmen is on the search for the whereabouts of her mother, only get entangled with two new V.I.L.E operatives and masked wrestlers.


  • All Part of the Show: Lupe's fight against Coach Brunt is this to the audience. Even the referee rolls along with it.
  • Atrocious Alias: The two V.I.L.E recruits who fight Carmen are called Spinkick (he uses Muay Thai and Roundhouse Kick) and Flytrap (she uses bolas). Even Carmen lampshades this:
    Carmen: Were all the good names taken?
  • Badass Normal: Lupe Pelligro is a wrestler who can fight toe to toe with Coach Brunt.
  • Butt-Monkey: Chase suffers a few times in this episode from being body slammed by Brunt to Brunt smashing his new car when she escapes.
  • Call-Back:
    • After his last attempts in driving A.C.M.E. cars ended up with him submerging them, Chief has required Chase to take a defensive driving course before allowing him to drive another.
    • Coach Brunt once again refers to Chase as "handsome" like she did in "The French Connection Caper."
    • Coach Brunt having caught Carmen but letting her go to suffer with the knowledge that, as far as V.I.L.E. knows, Shadowsan killed her father is brought up.
  • Combination Attack: At one point during the fight, Lupe uses Carmen as a springboard to deliver a kick to Coach Brunt's face.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The V.I.L.E. council were counting on Carmen and Shadow-san turning on each other after his supposed role in her father's death was exposed. Apparently they never considered the possibility that they reconcile, mostly because they don't know what really happened in Buenos Aires twenty years ago.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Played for Laughs: Julia questions why Carmen would be at a luchador event if there's nothing to steal...only for Chase to direct her to the numerous trophies next to them.
  • Family Eye Resemblance: When Carmen finds a dozen or so passports in her father's safety deposit box, she takes a moment to study the face of her father. She notes that she has his eyes.
  • Foreshadowing: Julia's disapproval at the start regarding the continued focused pursuit of Carmen will come to a climax in the next episode.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Julia chastises Chase practicing quips in front of the mirror, something she was guilty of doing herself in "The Fashionista Caper"
  • Interplay of Sex and Violence: Downplayed example, as the show is aimed for a younger audience, but when Spinkick takes on Carmen, their fight is juxtaposed with a couple dancing a tango, and the action cuts back and forth between the tango dancers and Carmen's fight with Spinkick.
  • Mama Bear: Lupe is not Carmen's biological mother, but she is very protective of Carmen and fights Brunt to save her.
  • Married to the Job: Lupe says she's married to her career.
  • Masked Luchador: Lupe Pelligro is a luchadora that ends up fighting off against Coach Brunt, who's impersonating her opponent for the match to get close to Carmen.
  • Mugged for Disguise: Coach Brunt mugs a luchadora for her mask and ends up fighting Lupe while in disguise. This is to prevent the common people from getting any photos of her and possibly making her a link to V.I.L.E.
  • Oh, Crap!: Brunt is very scared and later insists her face is not known to the general populace, saving her from being exposed publicly as a member of V.I.L.E.
  • Pro Wrestling Episode: The main focus of the episode is of Carmen's gang meeting Lupe Pelligro and her having a wrestling match against Coach Brunt.
  • Running Gag: Yet another ACME car loaned to Chase gets destroyed, though at least this time it's not his fault.
  • Secret-Keeper: After the fight against Brunt, Carmen tells Lupe the reason for the fight. Lupe promises to keep Carmen's quest to stop V.I.L.E. a secret.
  • Tempting Fate: Right after Chase tells Julia to be glad their car is still in one piece, Coach Brunt smashes it.
  • That Man Is Dead: When called by her original name, Lupe says she no longer uses it.

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