U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. AGENT

Davey Jones is an agent with U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A.

That mouthful of an acronym stands for "United Nations Department of Experiment and Research Systems Established at Atlantis" and is an international peace-keeping and exploratory department tasked with all things happening under the ocean surface. It is the brain child of its founder and director, Professor Weston. While it is obviously a highly secret organization since an experience officer like Jones had never heard of it before, it is extremely well-funded as shown by the immense facility it uses at the sea's floor and the tremendous amount of cool toys its people get to play with.

Weston is a hoot, being a constant pipe-smoking old scientist with a bald head except for wild wing-like tufts on the sides, heavy bushy white eyebrows and a beard and mustache to rival St. Nick. He is an undeniable genius and constantly at work with new inventions that seem to be just finished the moment they are needed.

The Atlantis part of the long name of the organization comes from the fact that the base which Weston created lies quite near the underwater excavation site of the original sunken island of that name.

Jones is a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He is a highly skilled fighter pilot which will come in quite handy with all the vehicles he is asked to man or pilot or drive or steer. He is also a trained scuba diver. When shown in a skin-tight wet suit or when topless, it is obvious that the man is in the peak of condition and he becomes even more determined to stay there as the series progresses.

Jones is a rather tall individual, likely 6'2" or thereabouts. He has a full head of wavy black hair with tuft always falling across his brow. And that is about all that can be said of Jones because there is so very little told of his life before or outside of his becoming an agent.

In the course of his missions for U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A., Jones will have an accident where he found himself between an giant electric eel and a nuclear generator. Though injured, he did come away from it with some strange energy powers he can use when his normal physical prowess proved lacking. Often, though, his powers help but he still needs his tenacity and his intellect to pull off a success.

Working with him from the first day he arrives at Atlantis is a young man named 'Skooby' Doolittle. He is an orphan found on a deserted island by Weston and given a position doing odd jobs on the base. He latches onto Jones and the two become good friends with Jones taking on the big brother role like he owned it. Skooby provides the requisite actions of a sidekick including making mistakes but showing a good heart. He also saves the day a time or two.

There is also the beautiful Renata Del Mar, daughter of another maritime scientist and a recruit as an agent in the first recorded adventure. She is there for a short while but then disappears, sadly.

From the adventures that Jones has, it is obvious the ocean has spawned a lot of mad scientists, several of whom are from the Far East, and all of them wanted to rule the world. They don't make it.

"Flyin' Flatfish!"

"Sailin' Sailfish!"

"Suffering Sea Horses!"

"Leapin' Lampreys!"

"Flyin' Fish"

"Jugglin' Jellyfish!"

"Holy Sufferin' Sunfish"

Those are some of the expletives that either Jones or Skooby will spout when surprised, mostly by the latter. The last one listed shows what television Skooby was watching when off duty.

Someone had to work really hard to come up with a meaning for U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Notice I did not imply they did a good job because this is horribly forced. I was, though, impressed with the name of one of the bad guys. T.H.E.M. Very paranoid. I liked it.

I did not like this series, however. The stories were fun-ish but there was never a desire to learn what happened next. It is never a good sign when you are happy the story is over.