We get reacquainted with Network 23's news room. Murray, the news producer, congratulates everybody on a great show and ends up embracing Edison Carter's controller, Theora Jones. Yeah, the same Theora he wanted to fire one episode ago. There are some nice touches in this scene: Cheviot calls in to recommend a follow-up story just moments after Murray and Theora have already discussed this as a fait accompli. After the call, Murray deadpans: "It's tough at the top. Always one step ahead."
Mrs or actually Ms Formby demands that Bryce should get Max under control and compel him to do the ads demanded by Zik Zak. Bryce tries to explain that Max is not exactly a team player: "Well, if they don't care when he comes or goes or what he says or does, fine." When pressed by Cheviot via view-phone, he suggests that Max might listen to Edison.
In the newsroom, Edison tells Theora how Max has been pestering him about their common memories: "You can't shut him up! I had to throw a blanket over him and he started talking to that!" Over the course of the episode, it becomes clear that Max is fishing for information about holes in Edison's memory which were caused by drinking binges.
When Theora heads home, Mel kidnaps her and brings her to Edison's apartment. Theora overpowers him shortly before her partner opens the door. After Mel explains that Breughel and Mahler are systematically hunting down homeless girls in the fringes and selling them to the body banks, Carter agrees to help him find his girlfriend (or is she his sister? It's never made clear).
At the body bank, Dr. Mason runs into a series of delays. He can't quick-freeze Rayna since another body is currently being processed in the cryogenics lab. They try to get rid of the other body, but eventually it looks like the transfer of the pituitary gland will become a direct transfer from the live donor.
Edison and Mel are searching the Fringes for a trace of Breughel and Mahler when they come across Rik. Viewed in hindsight, ignoring "Rakers" altogether in this episode might have been a good idea. However, that's the episode which introduced Rik and his ricksha. Knowing the show's penchant for godawful puns, it comes as little surprise that Rik's surname turns out to be... Shaw.
What follows is one of the few scenes in this episodes where a character does something solely because the plot requires it. Before visiting a potential source, Rik asks Edison to leave his camera outside. In the pilot, Edison was so attached to his camera that he didn't let go of it even near death. Here, he readily accepts Rik's demand and leaves his camera chained to the riksha. Of course it is stolen and sold to Blank Reg. The whole setup merely serves to get Edison and Reg face-to-face.
However, this also gives us a chance to see another bit of Theora's techno wizardry: When Edison abandons his camera, she switches her tracking mode to satellite surveillance.
Blank Reg is a weather-worn old punk with a white Mohawk and a sleeveless leopard shirt (William Morgan Sheppard). Reg runs runs a pirate TV station from out of a clunky pink van. His station ID: "Welcome to Big Time Television. All day and everyday making tomorrow seem like yesterday. Remember when we said there was no future? Well, this is it." Big-Time Television is a punk version of old-style MTV, spending its airtime broadcasting music videos from Divine and other classics.
Sheppard is a face you will immediately recognize because he has been everywhere: At the point of this writing, his IMDB entry lists 161 acting credits and by the point you read it, there will probably be another five or ten. He mostly has guested in a wide variety of TV shows. He's been both on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and in "Star Trek VI: The One Where Kirk Kisses A Man".
What makes Blank Reg immediately likable is how he trades the stolen camera for a couple of video tapes and a hardcover book. "What's that?" the thief asks him. "It's a non-volatile storage medium. It's very rare. You should have one." The thief isn't interested. Reg's joined by Dominique, his accountant and sarcastic significant other. When Edison drops by (courtesy of Rik), Reg readily surrenders the camera and invites Carter in, calling him "my son."
Meanwhile, back at the ranch... erm, Network 23.
To everybody's surprise, Max goes on the air to promote Zik Zak products in his own inimitable style: "Yes, Zik Zak. The corporation that makes you give away your money the nicer way." Once the ratings start to go up, Max really cuts loose: "Have you ever wondered why Zik Zak burgers come in plastic packs? Easy! Some of the plastic rubs off on the burger and doubles the nutritional value!"
It was supposed to be a sarcastic jab at the fact that in the US, Max Headroom's initial fame came from being the spokesperson (spokesdigiperson? spokesavatar?) for New Coke.
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