Speed Racer: TNG S1 E5

## Plot

There's always a previously on segment at the beginning of every episode, even though that really only makes sense for the three parters. Headmaster Spritle welcomes everyone to the tenth annual Academy Checkered Flag Challenge. There are two preliminary matches and one final race. The preliminary matches decide the position, and the final race determines the winner. X and Speed are representing their school in the race. X snaps at Annalise when she tries to ask him to hang out later. He says he has to prepare for the race. She decides to break up his and Speed's new friendship. Zile accuses Spritle of giving X and Speed information on the obstacles in the course, pointing out that his academy lost the last three tournaments, and it's becoming more and more embarrassing for the board of trustees. Spritle says that winning isn't everything, but Zile says if the school loses one more time, the board will remove him as headmaster. Spritle says Zazic can remove him if he wants, but as long as he's headmaster, his students win honestly or not at all. The first race is through a desert road on a cliff, full of geysers. Jesse and Jared cause Speed to temporarily lose communication with Lucy and Conor, and Annalise uses a gadget to impersonate Speed talking about X behind his back, saying that they're not really friends. This makes him mad, and after a geyser bumps the Mach 6 into his car, he starts ramming into Speed. They spin out after they hit a geyser, and all the other cars pass them. They wind up finishing last and fighting in front of everyone. Annalise tells her father what she did, and he reveals that he changed the timing on the geyser eruptions. One of the twins has a mini-cam on their jacket, which they use to send Zazic footage of Annalise and X hugging. Zile decides to make sure that X loses the big race so she won't be interested in him anymore. Spritle tells X and Speed that they can only win the tournament if they work together. After Speed embarrasses himself at X's request, the two laugh about it, and they start getting along again. The next race starts, and the course is an ice track. Another racer rams into X, causing them both to crash and leave the virtual track. Then two other racers crash. There's just Speed and another racer named Jeff Matthews left. Suddenly, something causes the Mach 6's tire treads to blow. Speed can't make the final jump without his treads, and he loses the race. It's revealed that Zazic had Larry Lee, a racer from another school, use a laser to try and destroy the Mach 6, but he missed the engine and hit the tires instead. Larry says he doesn't mind helping his school win, but he doesn't want to hurt Speed. Zazic says that if he doesn't do what he asks, he'll make sure he never races again. Conor upgrades the Mach 6's ability to make sharp turns, and Spritle gives Speed and X new racing suits that come with personal short term force fields and inertial dampeners so they can go even faster. In the final race, Larry throws out subtlety and just attacks Speed with the laser out in the open. He accidentally hits one of the other racer's cars, and Speed helps him not crash. Larry hits X, but luckily, the new force field protected him. However, his car won't start, so it's up to Speed to win. He narrowly makes a jump that eliminates Larry, who finds the cops waiting for him. So, why doesn't he just tell them that Zile put him up to it? With witness testimony against him, he would've wound up in jail much sooner. Or does Zile just use his money to keep him or the cops quiet? Or does no one believe him? Anyways, Speed wins the race. The other racers congratulate him, and a female one kisses him, which annoys Lucy. The guy he saved from crashing thanks him. He tells X that he couldn't have won without him.