Episode
The Centurions: Malfunction
Overview
Doc Terror switches a cyborg for the head of security, Captain Newman, at a secret installation, in order to steal the X-150, a smart missile that never loses track of a target. While transporting the missile, the Centurions come under attack, and Ace is knocked unconscious by a fall. Hacker plants a remote control circuit within his exoframe, so that Ace's movements in battle can be controlled by Doc Terror. Terror attacks again, and manages to steal the missile while Ace's weapons keep firing at Jake. The Centurions later try to get the missile back, but Ace's weapon systems keep firing at his team-mates. The remote control circuit is found, and together the Centurions attempt to destroy the missile as Doc Terror launches it towards Skyvault. Science Lesson: Volcanoes by Max.
Details
- Series
- The Centurions
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 29
- Air date
- 1986-10-23
- Runtime
- 22 min
Episode context
Malfunction is Episode 29 in Season 1 of The Centurions. It aired on 1986-10-23. The runtime is 22 min.
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Episode 28: Zombie Master
The World President's yacht comes under attack from Doc Terror's Strafers. With Jake on vacation, Ace and Max alone drive off Terror's forces. Meanwhile, Jake discovers that all is not well in a small town, with its inhabitants seemingly acting like zombies. With the President's train passing though the area soon, the Centurions examine the place further. They find that the townspeople are under the control of Zombie Master, who is working for Terror. He intends to turn the World President into a zombie when his train passes through the town, controlling him. Of course, only the Centurions can stop him.
Science Lesson: Steam power by Jake.
Episode 30: Broken Beams
As the Centurions defend a thermal energy plant from yet another assault by Doc Terror, the berillium crystal on board Skyvault that is a key part of the beaming chamber is fractured. Requiring a replacement, Ace and Jake are sent to a jewellers but find that they have all been bought by a company named Star-Crossed Industries. Knowing that the company is a front for Terror, they decide to go to the mine in Tibet that the crystals originally came from. Once there however, they come under attack from Terror's forces, who have been mining all of the available crystals. With Max attempting to synthesize a new crystal in Sealab, and Ace and Jake unable to access their weapon systems, the Centurions must figure out a way of repairing the beaming chamber before Terror's plans can succeed.
More episodes from this season
Episode 27: Counterclock Crisis
Max takes Ace and Jake to the Lake Eyrie reclamation plant, which he helped to design. Doc Terror decides to attack the plant to cause the Northeast farmlands to wither away. The Centurions successfully defend the plant from Terror and return to Skyvault. There, Jake is hit by an experimental sonic beam and experiences a vision of Doc Terror in charge of Skyvault on January 11th, the next day. Jake snaps back to the present and attempts to explain his vision to no avail, with the no one else believing him. Jake goes AWOL and researches a symbol he saw on Amber's uniform in the future, tracing it to Star-Crossed Industries. Discovering that the company is a front for Terror and that they have disguised a shuttle as a hospital ship, Jake must attempt to prevent the future he saw from occurring.
Science Lesson: Relativity by Ace.
Episode 31: The Chameleon's Sting
A mad geneticist, Dr. Yates, attempts to create a lizard army, but is thwarted by the Centurions. However, during their struggle he accidentally injects himself with lizard serum and becomes a human chameleon, able to change form at will. He vows revenge on the Centurions, currently vacationing in Monte Carlo. The Centurions are not easily beaten, but when the enemy could be one of them, can even they win?
Episode 26: The Mummy's Curse
In Egypt an archaeological dig at the Pyramid of the Lost Pharaoh, headed by Professor Egon Sloan, is attacked by super-powerful jackals. The professor contacts Skyvault and requests the help of the Centurions to guard the pyramid from tomb robbers. Later that night, Jake overhears the professor using an ancient incantation to awaken the Lost Pharaoh's mummified bodyguards and is knocked out by Hacker. Shadow escapes and alerts the other Centurions, who find out that the professor is working with Doc Terror and intends to use the ancient mummies to help him take over Cairo. As Ace and Max stand up against Terror and his super-powerful mummies, Jake alone is left to defeat them and save the city.
Science Lesson: Pyramids by Max.
Episode 32: Film at Eleven
Jenny Rivers returns with a scoop on Dr. Terror. She disguises herself as a man and joins one of Terror's training camps, with some help from a former mercenary named Kaska. She and the other recruits stage an attack on the Centurion's testing grounds.
Episode 25: Live at Five
The Centurions become the subject of a series of special news reports by Jenny Rivers, who is an old classmate of Ace's. But neither Jenny nor the Centurions know that it's a setup; her boss is in cahoots with Doc Terror to discredit the Centurions. The team gets caught up in disasters around New York, and Jenny catches it all on tape. The public begins to believe the Centurions are stealing taxpayer dollars. Ace brings Jenny to Centrum to show her the truth, but before she can report it she is kidnapped by Hacker. The Centurions have to save Jenny and redeem their reputation before the Council disbands them.
Science Lesson: Fusion by Ace.
Episode 33: Hacker Must Be Destroyed
After Terror's borgs launch a raid to steal an energy enhancing device in Japan, Hacker is captured by the Centurions and put on trial for all his crimes. Hacker refuses to divulge any of Terror's secrets, and after Terror fails to rescue him from the authorities, Hacker is sentenced to life imprisonment on the Alcatraz asteroid prison. Hacker is then allowed to escape, to become bait to lure Doc Terror and his stolen energy enhancer into the open, ready to be dealt with by the Centurions.
Science Lesson: The space shuttle by Ace.
Episode 24: The Incredible Shrinking Centurions
After Max catches Doc Terror's aquatic cyborg Mako, he is stunned to be arrested by the authorities instead of his adversary due to the Intertech computer registering Max as a criminal. After being bailed out by Jake, Max returns to Centrum where Crystal tells the Centurions that the main Intertech crime computer has a major malfunction. Finding no trace of a computer virus, the technicians discover that there is a physical fault with the system. To discover the fault, the Centurions are shrunk down in size and placed into the computer. There they discover that Doc Terror has shrunk himself along with some of his troops and entered the computer, intending to damage the central processing unit. The Centurions have to stop him before any permanent damage can be caused.
Science Lesson: Integrated circuits by Jake.
Episode 34: Showdown at Skystalk
Ace and Crystal are invited to the Pleasure-Star, an exclusive space station resort connected to the Earth via an orbital elevator, Skystalk, for a vacation. Meanwhile, the station's owner, Anson Harshaw, is investigated by Dr. Wu for allegedly conducting illegal mind-transfer and cloning experiments. Crystal witnesses Dr. Wu being chased by androids, and orders Max to come and investigate. They are captured by Harshaw, and learn that he is replacing all the visitors to the Pleasure-Star with android duplicates in order to control key positions in the World Government. Max uses an escape pod and contacts Jake, who arrives to bail Ace and Crystal out of trouble. Harshaw decides to blow up the space station, leaving the rest of the connecting Skystalk to fall onto the Earth. With Ace and Crystal trapped inside the Skystalk itself, the other Centurions have to figure a way to rescue them and save the Earth from Skystalk's descent.
Science Lesson: Gravity by Ace.
Episode 23: Crack the World
Sealab's field vessel Sealiner 2 is buried undersea when one of its engines explodes. Sealab's current commander, Dr. Regulas, refuses the head of Sealab security Mei Lee's request for the Centurions help and sends divers out to rescue the ship instead. Mei Lee contacts Jake and tells him that there have been three prior accidents in the last month and asks the Centurions to investigate unofficially. Meanwhile, Doc Terror has Hacker plant bombs on a fault line in Mariana Trench while Sealab is busy. Max uses his new Sea Bat weapon system to assist in the rescue efforts, but soon comes under attack by Hacker. They manage to rescue the pilots, but are chastised by Dr. Regulas. Suspecting sabotage, the Centurions must figure out who the real traitor is before Terror's vibro-bombs can crack the world.
Science Lesson: Minerals from the sea by Max.
Episode 35: The Warrior
In the Amazon, Dr. Jose Rivera, the South American representative of the World Council of Scientists, is held for ransom by Colonel Guerrero. Jake is sent to deliver the ransom, but is captured by the Colonel. As the Colonel prepares to ship off Rivera to Doc Terror, Jake escapes, and with the assistance of Ace, attempts to stop Guerrero in his tracks.
Science Lesson: Amazon rainforest by Max.