Can You Ever Go Home Again? Part 1

Can You Ever Go Home Again? Part 1
Episode information
Season	4
Series	Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?
Episode Number	8
Directed by	Joe Barruso
Written by	David Ehrman
Air date	26 December 1998
Runtime	20 mins
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Next	Can You Ever Go Home Again? Part 2

Can You Ever Go Home Again? Part 1 is the 8th episode of Season 4 and the penultimate episode of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

Synopsis

Carmen's latest theft has her believing she has found her long lost father. However, when this famous millionaire is kidnapped by ex-Acme Detective/ex-Carmen protégé, Lee Jordan, she has a change of heart and goes back to her thieving ways. But not for long.

Plot

Carmen is on a night time mission near a mansion in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is owned by a man named Malcolm Avalon and she wants to steal a sculpture within. The estate is patrolled by two guards and two dogs.

Carmen attaches a piece of meat onto a Remote Control car and then activates it; the distraction throws the dogs and guards off balance and she gets to alter the security to allow a 60-second window for her to enter the building. She enters and gets the sculpture. Carmen stops as she sees an piece of artwork; she pulls out her pendant holding an image of her mother. The image and the painting have a striking resemblance. Carmen drops the sculpture, and escapes the mansion via her glider; she wonders if she tried to steal from her own family. Meanwhile, her attempt is published via the news. In some random building, Lee Jordan and a henchmen are stealing electronics when one of them plays the news. Lee thinks that Carmen was easily foiled in that instance and promises to steal Carmen's intended goal and everything from Malcolm Avalon.

Next morning, Zack and Ivy are woken up by the Chief who has important news. He explains that Carmen had broken into the mansion but did not leave with anything. A hot tip reveals Carmen had entered the Library of Congress in Washington D.C and stolen all entries beginning with the letter A; all of the files have been dumped at a site in San Francisco. Ivy and Zack go to that location and see a sign; it was the orphanage in which Carmen was raised. The two realize that Malcolm could be Carmen's father; the pair get into an A.C.M.E. car and use a C5 corridor to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Carmen later visits Malcolm at his house. He goes into his own backstory; he was at in San Francisco when he had put his wife and child in a hotel. A fire had broken out and he could not find them. Carmen reveals she was found wandering the streets with a locket and was accepted into an orphanage. Malcolm is disappointed at Carmen's career path and declares that any child of his would not have been a child of his. As a result, she storms out of the house. Zack and Ivy see her get into her hovercraft, and Ivy uses a grappling hook onto the craft; this pulls her into the air along with the craft. Zack uses the A.C.M.E. car to fly up and shoot a parachute for Ivy to use, and land in the car doubling as an amphibious vehicle.

Ivy and Zack return to A.C.M.E. headquarters. Carmen sends a clue with the phrase “the mothers double”. Ivy info scans for information relating to this phrase; the result was the motherland statue in Russia in Volgograd that is situated near the Volga River. A trip through the C5 corridor lands them behind some walls near the statue; there they see Carmen looking at helicopters getting ready to steal the statue. Ivy manages to catch up to Carmen and blind Carmen, allowing Ivy to tackler Carmen. Carmen escapes and jumps on an escape rope from a helicraft. Ivy jumps onto the same hook and climbs a bit to pull on Carmen's foot. Carmen and Ivy falls onto the hand of the statue; Zack uses the grappling rifle and captures Carmen.

Carmen is arrested; the press come and take images of her arrest as she is put in a police car. She makes a statement on TV that she hopes her father will change and make the right decision. Malcolm Avalon at his mission sees her arrest on television; he holds up the pendant and walks up to a painting of his deceased wife, proclaiming Carmen to be as tough as her.

Lee Jordan and his henchmen Cruiser drive up to the mansion gates and smash it. They come into the main chamber and take Malcolm captive.

In A.C.M.E. headquarters, as everyone is celebrating her arrest, Chief receives a hot tip. Lee and Cruiser had taken Malcolm somewhere and that the detectives will have to deal with Carmen again. Carmen was being processed in a police station, when she escaped. Zack and Ivy realize Lee is at an old hideaway in Switzerland. At the hideaway, Lee and his henchmen have held Malcolm prisoner when Carmen comes in. Then, she is taken captive as well.

The conclusion to this episode arrives in the next episode.

Stolen Items

• Art sculpture (attempted)
• Electronics (by Lee Jordan)
• The Motherland Calls statue in Volgograd, Russia (attempted by Carmen on behest of Lee Jordan)

Clues

• "The Mothers Double"

Locations

• Bueno Aires, Argentina
• A.C.M.E. headquarters, San Franscisco
• Public space in San Francisco; formerly site of orphanage
• New York City (seen in an image)
• Volgograd, Russia

Characters

• Carmen Sandiego
• Chief
• Ivy
• Zack
• Lee Jordan
• Michael Avalon
• Cruiser

Trivia

• This episode features Carmen searching for her father, who owns a mansion in Buenos Aires. This was the inspiration for the 2019 Netflix series; Carmen Sandiego's father had lived in a mansion estate on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
• Lee Jordan reappears in this episode.
• In a moment, New York City was seen with the Twin Towers.

Quotes

• Did I just try to rob my own father?
• She does have your will determination, Margaret.

Questions

• What is the name of an enormous fertile plain in Argentina?
  • The vast fertile plain in Argentina is known as the PAMPAS, from a Quechua Native American phrase meaning “flat surface or plain”.
• What is the name of this painting by James Abbott McNeil Whistler?
  • This painting is often called “Whistler’s Mother” because it's the mother of the painter James Abbott McNeil Whistler.

Gallery

Video

Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? S4Ep8- Can You Ever Go Home Again Part 1

Screenshots

External Links

• Can You Ever Go Home Again? Part 1 on IMDb