Claw's Classified Ads, Part Two Quiz

Answer: Dr. Flashpan

In the episode "Unhenged" (a pun on "Stonehenge" and "unhinged," meaning "crazy"), Claw uses a group of astrophysicists to build a device, but they don't know they're working for him. They think it's a secret government project. Lead scientist Dr. Flashpan and his team have been told they're working in Stonehenge to find out if its original purpose involved harnessing solar power. Claw's real plan is to use a massive heat-ray cannon to melt the Tower of London, then hold the entire city for ransom. Brain frees and pushes aside a tied-down Gadget just before the red-hot heating coil reaches him, while the tech-savvy Penny, with her computer book, remotely takes control of the weapon, and causes it to fire on itself, sending the massive device crashing to the ground.

Answer: Madame

In "Health Spa," Gadget wins a getaway to a relaxing resort -- except he never entered a contest. The woman in charge, simply called "Madame," may look pretty and fit enough to run a health spa, but she's just one of Claw's hired agents, and the facility is filled with all sorts of dangerous contraptions, mainly booby-trapped "exercise equipment" intended for Gadget's demise.

When that doesn't work, Madame orders the "chef" to poison the Inspector's food. Meanwhile, doing some detective work of her own, Penny discovers that the fake "health spa" also has a secret vault that's hiding millions of dollars of money and jewelry that MAD has stolen over time.

While she alerts the Chief to the goings-on, Brain keeps the spiked food away from Gadget's hungry mouth.

When Madame and the chef make one last attempt, with a dynamite-stick cake, Penny dive-tackles her uncle and knocks the cake out the window, just in time to blow up Claw and company's scheme.

Answer: The Rat

In the episode "Map Trap," Metro City is quiet and Gadget and the Chief wonder about the recent lack of activity on Claw's part. But he has actually been devising a plan. He hires a creepy, two-bit thief known only as "The Rat" to commit vandalism, petty larceny, and other crimes that are minor by MAD standards. Gadget finds a small paper with MAD's logo at the scene of each crime. Penny "connects the dots" -- literally -- and sees that when marked on a city map, the crime locations spell out the letters M-A-D.

She realizes that this was all a setup, a trap to lead Gadget to the last destination, an old factory that Claw has rigged with deadly machinery designed to do away with Gadget for good. The good Inspector actually manages to evade a number of the traps on his own, with some uncharacteristically adept maneuvering, while Penny jams Claw's magnet before he can use it to snare Gadget.

As the factory catches fire, Gadget flies himself, Penny and Brain out to safety, while Claw watches his trap go up in flames -- literally.

Answer: Luciano

Luciano appears in the episode "Plantform of the Opera" (an obvious pun on "Phantom of the Opera") as an opera singer who is secretly working for MAD. Claw's plan is pretty convoluted: He wants to steal a treasure beneath the opera house by using Luciano's "singing plant" -- which emits a powerful, metal-melting sound -- to gain access to the vault.

At the same time, Luciano will perform alongside the opera's female lead, whose voice will be amplified so that nobody notices the noise of the singing plant.

While Gadget gets confused and finds himself onstage along with the others, Penny does some high-tech sabotage and causes Claw's electronic control panel to overload, rendering the entire plan useless. A little extra fun trivia: Luciano's voice and physical appearance are a spoof of Luciano Pavarotti, the famous real-life Italian tenor.

Answer: Nervous Nick Defecto

The plot-twist-filled episode "The Quimby Exchange" features "Nervous" Nick Defecto, a neurotic MAD agent who turns himself in to the police, and is prepared to share what he knows. Knowing that Claw wants Defecto killed, Chief Quimby assigns Gadget to protect the turncoat, but Quimby himself is captured in the process, and held hostage in an old ice factory just outside of town. Seeing a way to get rid of Defecto, Quimby and Gadget all in one fell swoop, Claw devises a plan to lure Gadget and the ex-agent to the ice factory. Once there, the two -- along with Brain and Quimby -- are quickly encased in giant ice blocks, headed straight for the ice-cutting blade. With the help of her computer book, Penny takes control of the conveyor belt, pushes everyone outside to thaw the ice, and puts Claw in the deep freeze by turning down the factory thermostat as low as it will go.

His computer now literally frozen, Claw beats a cold retreat.

Answer: The Conductor

In "Basic Training" (a pun on the common phrase because it contains "train"), Gadget is tasked with overseeing the safe arrival of a train that is transporting boxes of top-secret computer parts. Claw, however, has other plans, and intends to steal them to use for his own purposes. Claw has disguised one of his agents as the train's conductor, whose job is to divert the train to MAD headquarters.

After using sleeping gas to knock out the engineer, the fake conductor switches the tracks and ensures it arrives safely at Claw's base. Once there, Gadget -- unaware of where he really is -- is asked to deliver the boxes to the top floor, where Claw himself awaits.

His attempt to off Gadget fails thanks to Penny, who then re-hijacks the train back from Claw and returns it to the station. MAD's unseen leader still thinks he has won, until he discovers that someone (secretly Penny) has switched the boxes, leaving him not with computer parts but with cat food.

Answer: Professor Von Slickstein

In the episode "The Amazon," Claw takes Prof. Von Slickstein, whom Gadget calls "the father of modern bionics," to a temple hideout in the Amazon basin. He is ordered to build an army of robots for MAD. Stalling for time, he makes the robots weak and harmless, enraging Claw. Elsewhere in the Amazon, Gadget is also captive, but Penny finds Von Slickstein and whispers a plan.

The professor tells Claw that Gadget himself is needed if the robots are to be effective, so Gadget is taken to the hideout and hooked up to Von Slickstein's machine.

A gorilla that Penny entices into the lab forcibly takes Gadget's place in the device. Programmed with the gorilla's brain impulses, the robots go on a rampage, destroying the lab and forcing Claw to flee.

Answer: Rick Rocker

In "A Star Is Lost" (a twist on the old phrase "a star is born"), Gadget is tasked with ensuring the safety of Rick Rocker, an extremely popular young rock musician who is in town for a concert. Gadget's bumbling quickly convinces him that the Inspector is a madman, and Rick quickly gets away, only to be caught by Claw.

The mastermind sees an opportunity to control the superstar's millions of fans by kidnapping him and forcing him to record music sung to the "tune" of a strange record that mesmerizes anyone who hears its bizarre sounds. Since the singer won't do it of his own free will, Claw first uses the "MAD Music" to control Rick himself.

When Penny finally tracks down where Rick is being held, Gadget arrives as well, but now they all have to try to escape to safety -- and the warehouse is filled with booby-trapped instruments, rigged rooms and a giant record-pressing machine.

Answer: Louise Lane

The episode "So It Is Written" takes its name from a Bible verse that cites a prophecy -- and likewise, Gadget's adventure features a prophecy as well. In the small Kingdom of Fuz in North Africa, the people live in poverty. A prophecy states that "the Chosen One" will uncover a great hidden treasure. Claw wants the riches for himself, so he sends out Louise Lane, a reporter and MAD agent, to get more info, and then to accompany Gadget, who has all the "mystical" powers the Chosen One is said to have. Sure enough, the king believes Gadget to be that man, so Louise is under orders to stay with him, especially should he run afoul of the treasure's guardians.

When Gadget manages to (unwittingly) find it at last, Louise tries to lead the theft of the riches, but she and Claw are foiled with a little help from Penny, and the Inspector is hailed as the people's hero. Extra fun fact: Louise Lane's name, appearance and job are all based on Lois Lane, the girlfriend of Superman.

Answer: LaPoof

Gadget heads to the elegant City of Lights in the episode "In Seine" (a dual pun on "insane" and the Seine, a French river) to find out how Claw is managing to steal millionaires' fortunes and remain undetected. It is the work of a fashion designer and MAD agent named Monsieur LaPoof, who owns a clothing store that is popular with fancy, upper-class ladies.

They come to him to have custom-made outfits, and the secret to the robberies is in the jewelry LaPoof attaches to the clothing. The gems have a tiny camera hidden in the center, so LaPoof can secretly observe each customer's home.

His little lookalike robot can then disable and/or avoid its security systems, as well as unlock vaults. Later, Penny tracks LaPoof to the sewers, where he plans to make off with the stolen goods in a submarine.

She overrides its controls and brings it to the surface, as Quimby and Gadget arrive to arrest him.