Title: Revenge on The Shadow
Air date: July 31, 1938
Plot summary: The Shadow has been putting the hurt on organized crime in the city. Three gangsters—Mike Matthews, Dutch Broder, and Slick Scarpell—who are usually busy fighting each other decide that they have to team up to defeat The Shadow. But how? They enlist the aid of a fourth bad guy, Vedangi, a Hindu mystic. Vedangi, who has the powers of hypnotic mind control, uses hypnosis to kidnap Mayor Collins, forcing The Shadow to come after them.
Lamont Cranston had a hunch that the evil trio was coming after him—when he was out at a casino he spotted the three of them together. He sends Margo Lane to stake out their hiding place, but this backfires. When the bad guys spot Margo outside, Vedangi uses his mind contorl powers to ensnare her too, and now the gang has two hostages.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – History: Vedangi, bragging about his mystic powers, says he made "the pilgrimate to the tomb of Genghis, the great Khan!" The Mongols kept the location of Genghis's tomb a secret and it has remained a secret ever since.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: The climax involves a duel of mind controllers, as Vedangi tries to mind-control Margo into killing The Shadow, while The Shadow battles to free Margo from Vedangi's clutches. Naturally The Shadow wins.
- Extra! Extra! Read All About It!: Newspaper vendors sell papers with stories about the kidnapping of the mayor.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Vedangi can bring people under his power simply by staring at them with his hypnotic eyes.
- Inadvertent Entrance Cue: As the gangsters wait for The Shadow, Dutch realizes that with the power of invisibility The Shadow could be right there with them. Dutch says "Wonder what his voice sounds like?" Sure enough, that's followed by The Shadow, who is right there with htem, saying "Possibly it sounds like this, Dutch."
- Perception Filter: The Shadow's go-to trick, clouding men's minds to make himself invisible, but it's played with in this episode. Vedangi has ordered a mind-controlled Margo to shoot The Shadow, but first he breaks the Perception Filter, commanding Margo to see The Shadow. How? Because Margo's mind is on "the same hypnotic plane" as that of The Shadow, himself a mind-controlling mystic. Vedangi succeeds in getting Margo to see The Shadow but fails to convincer her to shoot The Shadow, as The Shadow wins the mind control battle.
- Telepathy: Vedangi knows of The Shadow and of his powers of hypnosis and such. So he simply concentrates hard and throws out a psychic message, telling The Shadow that they have the mayor. It works, as he and The Shadow have a little mind conversation in which The Shadow promises to destroy Vedangi.
- Villain Opening Scene: Slick Scarpell gathers the other two gangsters up and suggests the scheme to destroy The Shadow.
