The Monkees are captured by a mad scientist for a brain drain operation, or maybe a very early attempt to say that Digital Piracy Is Evil.
Full Recap
The Monkees arrive at an unsafe-looking old mansion to meet Dr. Mendoza, who hired them to play a party. Dr. Mendoza tells them that instead he wants them to teach a youngster music. Mike makes sure that rock ‘n’ roll is the type of music he wants his son to learn. Dr Mendoza agrees that this appeals to “the little monster”. When Davy asks whether the child is his son, Dr. Mendoza is weirdly giggly about considering him his own “flesh and blood”. Mike's intuition tells him something's wrong, but Davy guesses the doctor’s just bad at telling jokes.
Privately, Dr. Mendoza and his assistant Groot discuss the plan to download the Monkees’ talents to the monster’s brain. They plan to rock the scientific and musical worlds at the same time.
The Monkees follow Dr. Mendoza down to the lab. They scream when they see an oversized, scary-looking android strapped to a table. Everyone panics and makes excuses to leave except Peter, who seems fascinated. Mike stands up for the band and informs Dr. Mendoza he cannot risk his men’s safety on such a dangerous experiment for only $100. Dr. Mendoza offers to double their pay. With that, they’re ready to cooperate – for SCIENCE!
Dr. Mendoza leaves the Monkees alone with the monster. Peter’s ready to take him home as a pet, but the others are still creeped out. They decide to get down to business. Not finding a suitable name for him, Micky works on the monster’s image. They deck him out in hippie style and try to teach him, only to get several bruises and a broken drum kit.
Finally, they have the monster chunking on the guitar and shouting his one-word “song”. Dr. Mendoza is pleased with their progress. Mike says they'll finish when they return in the morning. Dr. Mendoza insists they stay the night because the roads are too foggy. They’re not pleased to stick around but can see they have no choice.
The Monkees arrive at the guest quarters. Peter’s still in a good mood, but the others want to unwind with some TV. The room is rigged with secret passages. One by one, the boys are kidnapped.
When the Monkees wake up strapped to a wall with metal covers on their heads, Mike warns the doctor he could be sentenced to the electric chair if they die from the experiment. The doctor’s very cavalier about his chances. Judging by the band’s faces, the transfer is a painful process. An explosion bursts behind each of the four, and Dr. Mendoza orders them to sing. They comply weakly. Soon the monster ramps up their theme song, “singing” like the Monkees.
With the procedure over, Mike yells that the police will hear about this as soon as they’re free. Dr. Mendoza has a plan for that, erasing each Monkee’s memory of the event. Dr. Mendoza tells Groot that the last test is to see if the monster can fool an audience.
Onstage and unaware of what happened, the Monkees start their set list. They all sound as if they’ve never tried to sing or play before. The android, on the other hand, plays effortlessly through “Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day”. Confused, the Monkees leave the room while Team Mendoza celebrates.
Back in their quarters, the band can’t figure out why they performed so badly. Micky and Davy suddenly remember what happened the night before. Heading back to the lab, Micky rearranges the equipment to transfer the monster’s talent back to his band. On the first try, the monster starts speaking in hippie slang. One blast later, Mike’s got the monster’s voice. On the third try, the monster is feeling fabulous and ready for interior decorating.
Stressing out and still not finished, Micky knocks a beaker to the ground, alerting Dr. Mendoza he has intruders in his lab. The doctor rushes downstairs and orders the monster to kill the Monkees. Peter speaks directly to the monster, telling him the doctor only cares to exploit him for his own "avaricious ambitions", and besides, he wants 60% of the monster’s income! Dr. Mendoza says it’s only 25% and commands him to obey his master. Unable to decide, the monster swings back and forth between Peter’s and Dr. Mendoza’s arguments until Micky shorts a circuit and makes him dance.
Song: “Your Auntie Grizelda”: Funny stuff in the lab as the Monkees trap Team Mendoza, plus clips from “Reptilicus”.
Having tied up Dr. Mendoza and Groot, Mike calls the police. By this point Micky has successfully restored his bandmates to normal. Their instruments…not so much.
Privately, Dr. Mendoza and his assistant Groot discuss the plan to download the Monkees’ talents to the monster’s brain. They plan to rock the scientific and musical worlds at the same time.
The Monkees follow Dr. Mendoza down to the lab. They scream when they see an oversized, scary-looking android strapped to a table. Everyone panics and makes excuses to leave except Peter, who seems fascinated. Mike stands up for the band and informs Dr. Mendoza he cannot risk his men’s safety on such a dangerous experiment for only $100. Dr. Mendoza offers to double their pay. With that, they’re ready to cooperate – for SCIENCE!
Dr. Mendoza leaves the Monkees alone with the monster. Peter’s ready to take him home as a pet, but the others are still creeped out. They decide to get down to business. Not finding a suitable name for him, Micky works on the monster’s image. They deck him out in hippie style and try to teach him, only to get several bruises and a broken drum kit.
Finally, they have the monster chunking on the guitar and shouting his one-word “song”. Dr. Mendoza is pleased with their progress. Mike says they'll finish when they return in the morning. Dr. Mendoza insists they stay the night because the roads are too foggy. They’re not pleased to stick around but can see they have no choice.
The Monkees arrive at the guest quarters. Peter’s still in a good mood, but the others want to unwind with some TV. The room is rigged with secret passages. One by one, the boys are kidnapped.
When the Monkees wake up strapped to a wall with metal covers on their heads, Mike warns the doctor he could be sentenced to the electric chair if they die from the experiment. The doctor’s very cavalier about his chances. Judging by the band’s faces, the transfer is a painful process. An explosion bursts behind each of the four, and Dr. Mendoza orders them to sing. They comply weakly. Soon the monster ramps up their theme song, “singing” like the Monkees.
With the procedure over, Mike yells that the police will hear about this as soon as they’re free. Dr. Mendoza has a plan for that, erasing each Monkee’s memory of the event. Dr. Mendoza tells Groot that the last test is to see if the monster can fool an audience.
Onstage and unaware of what happened, the Monkees start their set list. They all sound as if they’ve never tried to sing or play before. The android, on the other hand, plays effortlessly through “Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day”. Confused, the Monkees leave the room while Team Mendoza celebrates.
Back in their quarters, the band can’t figure out why they performed so badly. Micky and Davy suddenly remember what happened the night before. Heading back to the lab, Micky rearranges the equipment to transfer the monster’s talent back to his band. On the first try, the monster starts speaking in hippie slang. One blast later, Mike’s got the monster’s voice. On the third try, the monster is feeling fabulous and ready for interior decorating.
Stressing out and still not finished, Micky knocks a beaker to the ground, alerting Dr. Mendoza he has intruders in his lab. The doctor rushes downstairs and orders the monster to kill the Monkees. Peter speaks directly to the monster, telling him the doctor only cares to exploit him for his own "avaricious ambitions", and besides, he wants 60% of the monster’s income! Dr. Mendoza says it’s only 25% and commands him to obey his master. Unable to decide, the monster swings back and forth between Peter’s and Dr. Mendoza’s arguments until Micky shorts a circuit and makes him dance.
Song: “Your Auntie Grizelda”: Funny stuff in the lab as the Monkees trap Team Mendoza, plus clips from “Reptilicus”.
Having tied up Dr. Mendoza and Groot, Mike calls the police. By this point Micky has successfully restored his bandmates to normal. Their instruments…not so much.
The tropes are alive! A-LIIVE!:
- For Science!: Or in the Monkees' case, For Money!
- Friend to All Living Things: Doubles as Chekhov's Skill. Peter makes an appeal directly to the monster as if he's an employee of the scientist, which works.
- Killer Robot: He doesn't follow through on killing anyone, but the mad scientist has no problem giving the order.
- Mad Scientist: A classic example, showing no concern for the subjects' health or livelihood.
- Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: A neutral example. She’s on her dad’s side, but doesn’t help or hurt anyone in the episode.
- Never Say "Die": Averted big time. There's no doubt the group is in a serious threat to their lives.
- Old, Dark House: Complete with secret passages and everything.
- Power Parasite: The mad scientist plans to download the Monkees' musical skills to his monster, erasing them from the group.
- Tears of Fear: Averted. Mike notices Peter getting upset and thinks he’s panicking, but Peter just says he has a bad toothache. In this episode Peter’s the least scared of the Monkees, probably to soften the scary tone for younger viewers.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The android is not seen again after Dr. Mendoza’s capture, but no one seems to worry about it.
