The Quetong Missile Mystery

Z-26, , 2/11/65

Later re-titled for the re-run:

The "Q" Missile Mystery

9/9/65

Thanks to Nelson for the "Quetong" version of the title card.

Flubs:

In the scene where Dr. Quest and Race are in a helicopter chasing Lt. Singh in his car, Dr. Quest points downward and says, "I see him!" but it's Race's voice, not Dr. Quest's, that we hear.
Race chokes the guard at post number 5, who falls into the swamp (splash is heard). Later, during the escape attempt, the radio at post 5 awakens a sleeping guard still high and dry on his platform. (Reported by Ian Allan)
When Sing and his men kidnap the boys, Sing is seen closing the door to the hotel room. But later when the scene is reviewed by Race and Dr. Quest on the tape, Sing does not close the door. (Reported by John Boyd)
When Sing is lying on the ground being questioned by Dr. Quest, the marks on his clothes disappear then reappear. (Reported by John Boyd)
There is a scene near the beginning of the episode in which the loudspeakers on the blockhouse roof face toward the sides of the building. Later, the building is shown with the speakers facing the front and back of the structure. And when Race crawls across the roof, there are no speakers to be seen at all (though only part of the roof is shown). Maybe General Fong has a rotor in his office that can turn the loudspeakers around? (Reported by John Boyd)
When the Quest team arrive at police headquaters, the city map on the wall behind the police chief is spelled QUETUNG...with a U instead of QUETONG. (Reported by Joe in the forum)

Trivia and items of interest:

An interesting note is that "tape", presumably meaning "videotape", is mentioned. This technology, in its infancy in 1964, would later prove to be a popular mediumfor preserving memories of the show by fans! (Reported by John Boyd)
Tim Smith writes concerning the use of Chinese languages in this and other episodes. : " I speak and read a little Mandarin. I got a look at some signs in the Quetong Missile Mystery. There is a scene in which Race is creeping through a hallway in the blockhouse. First he passes a sign, half of which is visible, which says something about an exit. Next he opens a doorway that reveals two slumped-over soldiers at a table, with a locker in the background. The sign outside this room reads "nan zi xiu xi shi" which translates literally as "Men's Rest Room" - this actually means "Men's Waiting Room" or "Men's Lounge" ("rest room" does not mean "bathroom" in Mandarin), so this sign was accurate!

In the same episode, all of the uniformed guards (and General Fong) wear a symbol that looks like an uppercase "T" with a second, narrower horizontal stroke. This is not exactly a Chinese character, but very close to one. If you exchange the two horizontal strokes so that the TOP one is a little narrower than the lower one, you have the character "gan", which has two meanings: (1) "shield", and (2) "empty", as in the traditional toast "gan bei!" ("empty cup!"). "Shield" might make sense, maybe the artists took a bit of liberty with the character."

Another interpretation of the symbol has surfaced: Alex Toth, one of the artists for the show, liked to create symbols based on a character's name, especially if the first and last name started with the same letter. In this case, we don't know for sure what General Fong's first name was, but the symbol could be a construction of a backward-facing and forward-facing capital letter "F" (for Fong). This is further borne out by Alex's model sheet for General Fong.
Joe in the forum writes:Dr. Quest also uses a wireless cell phone in this episode. No wonder J.Q. still surpasses any cartoon that I've ever seen. John in FL continues:Good catch! And yes, the wireless phone was even further ahead of its time than videotape. However, it wouldn't technically be a cell phone, as there were no cellular towers constructed at the time. Nor were communications satellites capable of relaying such signals in 1964. The Quests' devices would have to have operated under their own transmitter power, which makes them even more futuristic!

Link to the restored end credits for the episode.

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