Ninjago Confidential is the thirteenth episode of the twelfth season and the 141st overall of LEGO Ninjago. It was released on April 25, 2020 in Australia, and on April 26, 2020 in Asia, and were both paired up with "The Prodigal Father." It aired in the US on August 23, 2020.
Official Description
Back in Ninjago City, Zane and Pixal hit the mean streets to track down Milton Dyer, only to discover that things are not what they seem.
Extended: Zane and Pixal visits an old childhood contact of Milton Dyer's who tells them that Dyer used to frequent an old video arcade hall called Buddy's Pizza. They head there to search for Dyer, but run into the Mechanic, who kidnaps Zane. Pixal ultimately finds Milton Dyer who, it turns out, has nothing to do with Unagami.[1]
Plot
Zane, in a detective-like voice, explains briefly talks about the Ninja being trapped in Prime Empire by Unagami, and the villain's real name is Milton Dyer, who they are trying to track down.
Suddenly, P.I.X.A.L. appears out of the dust and asks who Zane is talking to and why Zane is dressed like a detective. Zane, in his real voice, explains that he has downloaded thousands of detective books and movies to prepare. P.I.X.A.L. then asks about his hat, and Zane explains that all successful detectives wear hats. P.I.X.A.L. doubts whatever Zane's doing will work and she explains that she has a source who's willing to talk about Milton Dyer. She adds that the friend they found in the photo leads to Laughy's. Zane then talks in his monologue form and P.I.X.A.L. sighs.
Fugi-Dove's Brother.
Zane and P.I.X.A.L. head over to Laughy's and as soon as they entered, everything becomes dead silent as everyone was staring at them. Zane continues with his detective narration which confuses some of the people and causes them to get upset. P.I.X.A.L. recommends that Zane stops with his narration but he continues until they meet Dareth. P.I.X.A.L. is confused at first and realizes that Dareth owns Laughy's. Dareth then guesses accurately that the two need help since the Ninja are trapped in Prime Empire.
While Dareth goes away to get his stuff, a thug walks toward the pair, wanting revenge because they locked his brother in Kryptarium Prison. P.I.X.A.L. asks who the man's brother is and he replies with Fugi-Dove. P.I.X.A.L. is baffled at the name as she doesn't know who he is despite the brother imitating him.
Zane goes back into detective narration which annoys the brother of Fugi-Dove. Zane says he would be glad to challenge him to a duel, so they begin fighting. While everyone in the bar's fighting P.I.X.A.L. and Zane, he continues to narrate and even tells the brother his own moves before performing it. Meanwhile, Dareth is upset that he's not participating, so he tries to join, but is hit by a chair.
After all the fighting, Zane in his detective voice thinks the suspect is gone, and one of the bartenders asks who they are looking for. They tell them that they are looking for a past friend of Milton Dyer and the bartender reveals to be that friend. He tells the duo his name is Tony and he kept Milton Dyer's life a secret until now. Tony tells Zane and P.I.X.A.L. to head to Buddy's Pizza because Milton Dyer played his first video game which got him into the gaming industry.
Detective Zane and P.I.X.A.L.
As they are traveling to Buddy's Pizza, Zane explains the place was forced to close due to people disappearing. When he looks up at P.I.X.A.L. she tells Zane that she is getting annoyed at his voice. Zane thinks P.I.X.A.L. actually likes it despite her expressing her discontent.
When they are looking inside, Zane sees The Mechanic and tells warns her. P.I.X.A.L. attempts to strike, but he is grabbed by The Mechanic's Henchmen. Zane himself is also grasped by two of his henchmen, but Zane fights through it. Unfortunately, one of the henchmen jolt Zane and it shocks him. P.I.X.A.L. checks to see if Zane is okay, but she too is electrocuted.
P.I.X.A.L. finds Milton Dyer.
Sometime later, P.I.X.A.L. wakes up to find herself at Buddy's Pizza with Zane missing. She sees the hat Zane wore and plays detective. She narrates as she tries to find a clue and states "video game city" when talking about Buddy's Pizza. Suddenly, the Arcade Cabinet opens after accepting the password, revealing stairs. She heads upstairs and finds Milton Dyer feeding pigeons. She calls him Unagami, but Milton Dyer reveals that he is not Unagami and that name was given when they were creating the game. He tells P.I.X.A.L. that the A.I. was so dangerous, they shouldn't complete the game. He locked it up where no one could finish making the game. They then realize Unagami is completing the programming himself.
Cast
- Criminal Two - Paul Dobson
- Dareth - Alan Marriott
- Fugi-Dove's Brother - Jason Simpson
- Milton Dyer - Mark Hildreth
- P.I.X.A.L. - Jennifer Hayward
- The Mechanic - Michael Antonakos
- Tony - Michael Daingerfield
- Zane - Brent Miller
Transcript
For the transcript of the episode, click here.
Locations Visited
Trivia
- Narrator: Zane
- This is the second episode where Zane reads the title card with a different voice. The first being "Once and for All."
- A picture of the Ninja pre-season 8 and Master Wu can be seen right next to Tony.
- This is the fourth episode to reference the name of Ninjago in its title. The first three being "The Day Ninjago Stood Still," "Big Trouble, Little Ninjago," and "Radio Free Ninjago."
- The majority of the Episode, including its intro and credits, is done in a black and white style, similar to that of detective movies and TV shows from the 1940s and 50s.
- This makes it the second episode to be mostly in black and white. The first being "The Kaiju Protocol."
- Dareth appears in the episode, marking his first appearance since the season's premiere and his first speaking role since "Snaketastrophy."
- Dareth recognizing Zane and P.I.X.A.L. immediately and seeing past their disguises is a callback to him recognizing Zane and Cole during their undercover mission in "The Oni and the Dragon."
- Dareth carries a cardboard cutout resembling a Spinjitzu tornado into battle, which is the same cutout he used in his TV ad for Laughy's in "Snaketastrophy."
- This episode marks the first appearance of Buddy's Pizza since "Child's Play."
- This is the first season 12 episode not to feature Prime Empire.
- This is the third episode to have an alternate opening sequence, the first being "Dead Man's Squall" and the second was "Dread on Arrival."
- A jazz instrumental of The Weekend Whip is used as the song in the opening.
- A Beaver from Legends of Chima is seen at the beginning of the episode.
- Zane's reference to a "video game prohibition" is a likely reference to the American constitutional ban of alcoholic beverages, commonly known as the prohibition, that was enforced in the 1920s, the same era as the early black and white noir films which the episode is inspired by.
- This was one of Brent Miller's favorite episodes to record and one of his favorite recording sessions of his life.[2]
Errors
- Zane appears perplexed when Dareth refers to himself as the "Brown Ninja", despite having heard Dareth call himself this many times since the two met.
- P.I.X.A.L. states she does not know who Fugi-Dove is, despite having met him in "The Absolute Worst."
- Zane drinks a glass of Bobba tea, despite having stated that he cannot drink in "On a Wish and a Prayer."
- On Cartoon Network Asia's YouTube channel and Website, the episode is misspelled as "Ninjago Condidential."[3][4]
Gallery
For the gallery of the episode, click here.