Manhattan Maneater


 * This article is about the episode. For the animal given this name, see White tiger (Manhattan Maneater).

Manhattan Maneater is the sixth episode of the first season of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.

Premise
A tiger stalks Manhattan, and it's up to Jonny, Hadji, and Jessie to save it from being hunted.

Opening
New York City at night. A man walks into a dark alley with a case; he opens it and assembles a riffle. As he moves through the alley, a white tiger attacks him.

Act 1
The next morning, The New York Gazette newspaper has the headline "CITY SLAYER STRIKES AGAIN!" with a picture of the man. In their hotel room, Jonny reads the article aloud to his father and Hadji, which states that it's the city slayer's fourth victim. Dr. Quest tries to get Jonny to work on his studies instead, reminding him that they had a deal that Jonny would study if Dr. Quest brought him along.

Vince Vance hosts his show Ad Vance: The Big Apple, Sliced and Diced, which he calls "New York's number one news magazine." He's broadcasting just outside the crime scene of the fourth victim, and Hadji and Jonny watch him from the crowd. Vince offers a $25,000 reward "for any information that can bring this psycho to justice." Jonny tries to get closer to the scene, but runs into a police officer. He picks up a cable and pretends to be part of Vince Vance's news crew. A man named Jerry scolds Vince for offering a $25,000 reward, which Vince shrugs off. He spots Jonny and Hadji, who claim to be fans. He reaches into his coat pocket and hands them two autographed pictures of himself. As Jonny and Hadji walk away, Jonny throws out the autographs. They overhear two officers talking, and one says that he thinks it's an animal doing the killing. The information startles Hadji.

That night, Hadji dreams of the tiger attacking the fourth victim, seen from the tiger's perspective. Hadji wakes Jonny, telling him that he knows how to find the "city slayer", and he shows Jonny, who’s figured out that the center of all the killings is Grand Central Station. They go exploring the abandoned tunnels, and run into some bad men. Just as the men are attacking them and knock Jonny down, the white tiger appears and begins to attack their attackers. Jonny and Hadji run, and a train moving in a tunnel above them scares the tiger off.

That morning, Hadji, Jonny, and Dr. Quest answer questions for the press, confirming that they saw a tiger, and Dr. Quest announces that he's confirmed with the coroner reports that the injuries of the victims are consistent with that of a large cat. Vince Vance asks Hadji a question, calling his turban a towel, and Hadji gets sarcastic with him.

A helicopter flies overhead and a man slides down a rope to the press conference. Vince Vance introduces D.B. Graves, a "world-renowned hunter and killer of all things great and small." Vince Vance's show has "an exclusive contract" with Graves "to hunt down and kill the Manhattan Maneater on camera."

At the Quest Compound, Race and Jessie watch the press conference on TV. Jessie is bummed that they "missed out". Race suggests joining them in New York and Jessie excitedly asks if they can, and Race agrees.

Elsewhere, in a dilapidated apartment building, three guys see Vince Vance's reward offer on TV has been raised to $100,000. One of the guys says, "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go hunting." Meanwhile, in a bar, other guys see the reward and are also interested. In their hotel suite in The Plaza, Race and Jessie have arrived, and Dr. Quest is upset about Vince Vance's reward. Race thinks that "every wacko in New York City will be gunning for that cat."

At a café, Jonny tells Hadji and Jessie that if someone kills the tiger, it'll be their fault because they should've kept their mouths shut about the tiger. Jonny is determined that they finish what they started, and they started this hunt. They go out looking, and while they're walking through a park, a man steps out in front of them.

Act 2
The man, Mr. Mojo, tries to sell them some tiger memorabilia: t-shirts, toys, underwear, scents. Jessie declines and the man walks off. Then they come across the three guys from the apartment, who initially intend to rob them; but they recognize Jonny and Hadji as the boys who saw the tiger, and decide to help them find the tiger instead for the reward money.

Dr. Quest and Race go to the police, but the police refuse to file a missing persons report until they've been missing for twelve hours. Race reassures Dr. Quest that they'll find the kids themselves.

The three guys have kidnapped Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji, and are making arrangements for the reward before they go to find the tiger.

Race flies a high-tech chopper over New York as Dr. Quest scans all phone signals; if Jonny, Jessie, or Hadji can get to a phone, they'll have an instant trace on them.

The three guys make the kids show them the underground tunnels as they look for the tiger. The tiger shows up and is ready to attack. Jonny lures the tiger to jump into a hole, trapping it. One of the guys calls Vince Vance to tell him they have the tiger. Since Vance doesn't believe him, he puts Jonny on the phone, and the guy and Vance make arrangements to have the tiger killed.

Since Jonny was on the phone for a moment, Dr. Quest gets a trace on him and they realize he's beneath the subway at Grand Central Station.

Since the kids are no longer being monitored, they drag a grate to the tiger and drop it in the hole, allowing the tiger to escape so that it won't be killed. Vince Vance, the camera crew, DB Graves, and the three guys arrive to find the tiger no longer trapped. But they spot the tiger and Graves gets ready to kill it on camera. Jessie tries to intervene but is knocked down. As Graves lines up the shot, one of the three guys stops Graves, telling Vance the deal's off. Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji join him in standing between Graves and the tiger. Vance gets upsets and pushes the cameraman, concerned about his ratings.

The tiger jumps down and a shot is fired. The tiger knocks Graves down, and as he reaches for his gun, Race steps on his hand. The tiger collapses. Graves and Vance both come for Race, but Race destroys Graves’ gun and knocks him back with it, and he shoves Vance's microphone in his face, knocking him back as well. Race reveals that he didn't kill the tiger, just tranquilized it, and they have plans to release the tiger in the jungle.

The Quest team depart Manhattan for Darjuna National Forest, India, to release the tiger. The three guys are with them. Dr. Quest tells Jonny he can open the cage, but Jonny lets one of the three guys do it instead.

Characters
Main characters:
 * Jonny Quest
 * Hadji
 * Jessie Bannon
 * Dr. Benton Quest
 * Race Bannon

Supporting characters:
 * TBA

Villains:
 * Vince Vance
 * D.B. Graves
 * Karl
 * Karl's two friends

Other characters:
 * White tiger
 * Jerry, Vance's producer
 * Mr. Mojo, park salesman
 * Reno Dorman, a convicted drug lord

Locations

 * New York, United States
 * Manhattan, New York City
 * The Plaza Hotel
 * Grand Central Station
 * Underground abandoned tunnels
 * Cafe
 * Dilapidated apartment building
 * Central Park
 * Police station
 * Vince Vance's studio
 * Reno Dorman's upstate mansion
 * India
 * Darjuna National Park

Objects

 * The New York Gazette
 * Dr. Quest's article on modern urban archeology

Vehicles

 * Channel 3 News van
 * High-tech helicopter
 * Quest Chinook

Notes/trivia

 * Bandit is absent.
 * Although it's not directly named, "The Plaza" where the Quest Team is staying is the New York Plaza Hotel. The New York Plaza Hotel building is shown just past the General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument.
 * When the three guys hear that the kids are staying at The Plaza, which indicates that they have money, the one with the bandana on his head comments, "You mean, we got us a Donald and Marla?" This is a reference to millionaire Donald Trump and his second wife Marla Maples, who were married at the time the episode aired.
 * Karl calls Hadji "Tonto", a reference to the Native American sidekick character from The Lone Ranger.
 * Karl calls Hadji "swami", a term for a Hindu religious teacher. He might use the term because he heard Vince Vance use it when asking Hadji questions on live TV.

Goofs

 * A tiger that has been held in captivity and that has been attacking human beings would not be released into the wild.
 * The Quest map shows a single-rotor helicopter is used for travel to Darjuna National Park, but the scene shows a Chinook (which has a tandem-rotor) instead.
 * Just before the team releases the tiger, they're shown to be near their Chinook helicopter; but after releasing the tiger, the shot pulls back and the Chinook is no longer there.
 * Just before the team releases the tiger, there are seven people (the Quest team plus Karl and one of his friends), but when the shot pulls closer, there are eight people (Karl's other friend is suddenly there as well).

Home media

 * 🇺🇸 The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: Season One, Volume One DVD set released on February 17, 2009 by Warner Home Video.

Quotes
Jonny: (about Vince Vance) "Can you believe that guy?"

Hadji: "No, and I'm sure no one else does either."

Vince Vance: "You, the kid with the towel on his head. Why didn't the big puddycat eat you too?"

Hadji: "You betray your ignorance, sir. This is not a towel, it is a turban."

Vince Vance: "Yeah, turban-schmurban. You got some mystic swami thing happening with you and the tiger or what?"

Hadji: (sarcastically) "Actually, sir, I charmed him with my flute, just like I do with snakes."