"Taffy Time" is the tenth episode of The Zeta Project. It first aired on May 5, 2001.
Plot
A close brush with Agent Lee and Agent West (acting alone, West's bungling, involving blowing up the NSA hovervan, handcuffing Agent Bennet to his desk and arresting the bureau chief having gotten them both sent on what was expected to be a wild goose chase) is interrupted by Krick, a bounty hunter who wants the reward for Zeta's capture for himself, and has been tracking both the synthoid and his accomplice for the past two months. After causing the agents' hovercraft to crash in a swamp, he lures Zeta and Ro into a Koala Candy factory—with Agent Lee following close behind—before revealing his true intentions. Zeta manages to help Ro escape before Krick activates an electrified field around the factory, ostensibly cutting them off from any outside interference. He also manages to disarm and handcuff Agent Lee in short order, using her as a hostage and setting the stage for a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
Ro, trying to find a way back into the building, discovers a grate leading under Krick's field. Agent West catches up with her, but after a brief standoff of their own, she tricks him into walking into the field and handcuffs him to the grate. The situation inside, meanwhile, culminates in Zeta faking his own death under a pile of rubble, drawing Krick away, as the full bounty requires Zeta to be intact. This allows Zeta to rescue a surprised Agent Lee—who has proven a difficult hostage, to say the least—and take her place in a potentially lethal taffy-pulling machine. By the time Krick figures out the deception, Zeta is on him. After a fight that somehow causes one of the vats to explode, he manages to defeat the bounty hunter, only to find himself in the sights of Agent West, who has managed to get in and is now targeting him from a catwalk. Ro, not far behind, knocks him off balance with a bucket of gumballs, leaving him hanging by a handcuff... and the renegade synthoid alone with Agent Lee.
Reluctantly, Lee levels her weapon at Zeta as Ro comes to his side. Then, using Agent West's yells for help as an excuse, she gives them a head start before going to save her partner. While brushing off West's lamentations that they were so close to catching him this time, Lee picks up a collar Krick had been planning to use to deactivate Zeta, then throws it into one of the vats.
Ground Wire Gag
Zeta: Yes, it's chocolate. Chocolate hasn't changed. |
Background information
Home video releases
Production inconsistencies
- After Ro licks some chocolate off of her forehead, in the subsequent shot, all the chocolate that was covering her hair has vanished.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Diedrich Bader | Zeta / Zee |
| Julie Nathanson | Rosalie "Ro" Rowan |
| Michael Rosenbaum | Agent West |
| Lauren Tom | Agent Lee |
| Jeff Glen Bennett | Cody Koala |
| Keith Szarabajka | Krick |
Quotes
Agent Lee: What makes you think he'd risk his neck for me? |
Agent Lee: Um... I gotta go help my partner. But, don't go anywhere. I'll be back in... ten minutes, tops. |