The Pickle with Peekies is an episode of Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars.
Audio[]
"The Pickle with Peekies" on Acast
Cast[]
WorkJuice Players[]
- Sparks Nevada - Marc Evan Jackson
- Croach the Tracker - Mark Gagliardi
- Piston Pete - Paul F. Tompkins
- Folksy Hal (Narrator) - Hal Lublin
Guest Stars[]
- Ray Omo - Raymond Lee
- Stacy Kearns-Nevada - Nancy Lenehan
- Aerial Galway - Xochitl Gomez
Plot[]
Sparks calls Croach, Aerial, and Piston Pete in to chastise everyone for not turning lights off manually before leaving the room while the Marshal Station AI is on vacation, wasting money on electricity. Croach and Piston Pete in particular are nonplussed as to why it matters, since Sparks does not pay for the marshal station utilities himself. They continue arguing over the proper form for Aerial to address Sparks, as an intern, and who's at fault for some paperwork being sticky.
Entering Sparks's office, they find it's been infested by Peekies, slimy creatures who come from the snail dimension and threaten to consume all the paperwork in the marshal station. Sparks notes that the USSA is equipped to deal with their Peekie infestation and after some hesitation decides to call the USS Indomitable, which happens to be in orbit. Aerial and Piston Pete are baffled at his reluctance. Croach explains that the Captain and XO of the Indomitable are Sparks's parents and chastises him for his hesitation, since his parents are getting older and he may not have many opportunities left to spend time with them.
Sparks calls the Indomitable and is surprised and pleased when Ray Omo, who he used to babysit and now the third in command of the Indomitable, teleports down into the station. Ray lays down the powder to exterminate the Peekies but explains that he actually came to talk to Sparks, who he hopes can in turn talk to Caiaphas on behalf of the crew. Caiaphas's increasingly irritating behavior is making the crew feel he's no longer fit to command. Ray gives an example of Caiaphas turning off the lights in a room where the crew was gossiping, saying that they're costing him money by running the electricity, much to Piston Pete, Aerial, and Croach's amusement.
Sparks strenuously disagrees with the idea that he's turning into his father and sends the interns to exterminate the Peekies, who are continuing to invade, with Croach's supervision. He tells Ray he's not willing to act, since Caiaphas seems no different to him, and advises him to just wait it out. When Ray presses him, Sparks suggests that Ray ask his mother for help instead, as she'd probably be more successful in getting Caiaphas to listen. When Ray protests that it's a little suspicious to ask the XO for help to remove the Captain, Sparks offers to bring it up with Stacy himself in a personal capacity so it's less like Ray is staging a mutiny.
He calls Stacy, who teleports down and reminisces about a family vacation Sparks wasn't on, where they ended up developing the Peekie protocol. Sparks and Ray struggle to articulate the crew's concerns until Sparks blurts out that they're thinking about "taking away the starcraft keys." When Stacy continues to insist that everything is fine, comparing it to Sparks's interns mouthing off, Sparks suggests that it'll be easier to make this transition before Caiaphas really does need to be forced into retirement. Stacy muses that she's been ready to retire for years and would like to hand over the position to Ray. Sparks asks if this was about staging a coup after all, then decides he doesn't care. Stacy decides to teleport back to begin the conversation with Caiaphas, waving Sparks off when he offers to go with her, saying that would go badly; she'll have Ray help her instead.
Piston Pete and Aerial announce their success. Stacy says they might travel in retirement, but when Croach points out she spent her career traveling throughout the universe, she considers settling down on Mars instead, much to Sparks's alarm.
Notes[]
- The episode title and premise references the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles." Stacy also references the tagline for Alien when she responds to the news that Caiaphas has been sneaking hot dogs by saying, "In space, no one can raise your cholesterol."
- To defend his habit of sneaking hot dogs in spite of the marshal station staff collectively being on a low-sodium diet, Croach claims he requires 85% more sodium than humans. It's not known whether his physiognomy requires him to also frequently consume the cinnamon rolls he's mentioned to snack on frequently.
- It's revealed that in the aftermath of Barkeep taking Sparks's badge in Barkeeper's Helper, he went around calling himself the new Marshal for seven weeks before returning the badge to Sparks.
- At some point between Into Darkness and this episode, the USSA changed its policy so the Captain and XO of a ship no longer need to be married to each other, although it goes out of its way to set up compatible potential couples in the roles.
Continuity[]
This episode was recorded on July 21, 2024 at the Elysian Theater and released on December 16, 2024 (December 2, 2024 for Patreon supporters).
- This is the second Sparks Nevada episode recorded at TAH Unplugged.
- The previous episode in Sparks Nevada canon is Marshal No More.
- This is currently the newest episode in Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars canon.
Production[]
This episode was recorded on July 21, 2024 at the Elysian Theater and released on December 16, 2024 (December 2, 2024 for Patreon supporters).
- Writers: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker
- Producers: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker, Jordan Katz
- Music: Jordan Katz and Jonathan Dinerstein
- Sparks Nevada theme by Eban Schletter