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Galactica 1980
"The Super Scouts" Part 2
Written by Glen A. Larson
Directed by Sigmund Neufeld, Jr.
Original air date: March 23, 1980 |
Several of the Galactican children lie close to death after
drinking polluted Earth water.
Read the synopsis of this episode at the Battlestar Wiki site
Didja Know?
The chemical pollution of the water and land around Paradise
Valley was probably inspired by the real world case of the Love
Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York, where thousands
of tons of toxic waste had been buried in the 1940-50s, which
began surfacing and poisoning the residents of the now populated
site in the 1960-70s. In our current story, Dr. Spencer even
mentions the events near Niagara Falls (and one in Virginia,
though I'm not sure what part of that state he is referencing).
This episode is the first to feature a disclaimer at the end, as
seen below. This appeared on all remaining episodes of the
series except for "The Return of Starbuck" (which did not deal
with a
UFO presence on Earth).

Didja Notice?
Young Starla calls another scout a frimp. This seems to be a
Colonial term akin to "lamebrain", first used here and later, by
Starla again, in "The Night the Cylons Landed" Part 1. Possibly,
Larson borrowed the word (though not the meaning) from the 1970
Robert A. Heinlein novel I Will Fear No Evil, where the
word basically means "to engage in sex".
The word "directed" in the
"Directed By" credit at the
beginning of the episode has a
typo in it. |
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At 7:59 on the DVD, the shadow of a production crew member can
be seen moving on the ground in the bottom right corner of the
screen.
As the invisible Colonials make off with the Sheriff's vehicles,
at about 8:53 on the DVD it appears that the top of the
scrunched-down stunt driver's head is just visible through the
passenger window.
At 9:37 on the DVD, one of the scouts is seen at the Paradise
Valley Medical clinic hooked up to a 900B
Servo Ventilator. This is a real world medical ventilation
device manufactured by
Siemens. A
business sticker on the device informs us that this particular
one was sold by Paramedical Supply Company, Inc., a real world
company based in the southeastern U.S.
At 14:25 on the DVD, as Troy and Dillon confront the pack of men
from the chemical plant, a white pick-up truck pulls off the
road right behind them. But then it's not seen again! Instead
Mr. Stockton, the owner of Stanford Chemical, pulls up from the
opposite direction in a blue Stanford Chemical van (a
Dodge
Tradesman 100).
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At 14:44 on the DVD, we see the
APB that has been put out for
Troy and Dillon. Notice that it
describes the bank Dillon robbed
as Paradise Valley Savings and
Loan even though the sign
outside the branch (in
"The Super Scouts" Part
1) clearly said United
California Bank. |
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Notice in the Sheriff's office
that the U.S. flag is seen next
to one of the double doors into
the office and a variant of the
flag of the state of New York is
next to the other! Why would
there be a New York flag in a
California law enforcement
office? Possibly, the production
had the flag on hand for the production of the later episode
"The Night the Cylons Landed" Part 2, which takes
place in New York (and the flag is seen in a Manhattan police
station in that episode). |
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Mr. Stockton remarks that Troy and Dillon had told him they came
from Cleveland. Possibly they adopted this stance after Jamie's
excuse to Dr. Spencer in
"The Super Scouts" Part
1 that the two were from "that new Astro-medics place
outside of Cleveland."
Speaking to Dr. Zee about how he nearly gave up command of the
fleet at one point, Adama uses the words "yahrens" for "years"
again, even though this series seems to have eliminated it in
favor of "years" in other instances.
This episode reveals that the Colonials have built an
anti-gravity flying saucer type craft under Dr. Zee's
supervision.

Seeing the nearly-completed anti-gravity craft, Commander Adama
expresses the opinion that with a force of such ships, they
could retake their planets, i.e. the Twelve Colonies.
Apparently, he believes there is still the possibility of
travelling back to their home galaxy for such an effort.
At 23:22 on the DVD, the magazine rack in the waiting room of
the medical center has several issues of
Consumer Reports on the
top shelf. But they're very old considering the episode was shot
in 1979 or '80...the issue with the orange cover (with "FDA" on
it) is from March 1973! Yes, doctor's offices are notorious for
the out-of-date magazines in their waiting rooms, but this is
ridiculous!
Stockton states that there used to be an old Nike base at the
top of the mountain up which Troy has directed him to drive with the sick
children. A Nike base, more properly referred to as a Nike
installation, was an anti-aircraft defense system named for the
Nike missile class deployed there. They were used for defending strategic
points in the U.S. such as coastal cities and nuclear power and
missile sites. The installations were gradually all closed down
through the 1970s due to the signing of the SALT I treaty
between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
Major Jensen informs Colonel Sydell that they've picked up
strange transmissions from the mountain area and remarks they've
checked with various agencies for an explanation without
success, including Palomar Observatory.
Palomar Observatory is an astronomical observatory in San Diego
County, California, operated by the California Institute of
Technology.
Sydell asks the Sheriff to get him a connection to Vandenberg
Air Force Base. This is a base located in Santa Barbara County,
California, and is part of the 30th Space Wing of the Air Force
Space Command.
When Adama arrives on Earth in the flying saucer to pick up the
sick children, he doesn't seem to be the least bit interested in
the fact that he's finally standing on Earth, the object of his
quest for the past 30 years!
Stockton's encounter with the Galactican flying saucer and the
visions he sees within are borrowed from both Close Encounters of the
Third Kind and alleged contactee accounts of meetings with
aliens or "space brothers". To us, the viewers, the interior of
the ship and the behavior of its occupants, the Galacticans,
also bear similarities to the Ships of Light of the Beings of
Light seen in past episodes of BSG such as
"War of the Gods"
Part 2 and
"Experiment in Terra".
Dr. Zee's revelation of a possible upsetting future to Stockton
is reminiscent of Ebenezer Scrooge's meeting with the Ghost of
Christmas Yet to Come in Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A
Christmas Carol.
In
"The Super Scouts" Part
1, Troy says he burned the Colonial markings off their gold
cubits in order to trade the gold pieces for cash without
the identifying characteristics. But, in this episode, the cubits
left behind in the Sheriff's car to pay back what was
accidentally stolen from the bank still have markings on them!

The curtains in the window over the scouts' booth in the diner
at 45:35 on the DVD reveal it to be an
International
House of Pancakes (IHOP).

The song playing in the IHOP is "Daydream Believer" by Anne
Murray.
Dillon says the three sick children were Moonstone, Starla, and
Jason. But Moonstone is the only correct name he gives. Starla
is a different girl (as established in later episodes) and the
boy he calls Jason is referred to as Wellington instead in later
episodes. No other child named Jason ever appears in the series.
At the end of the episode, Troy tells Jamie that he and Dillon
have to leave, having been given a special mission from the
Galactica. Presumably this mission is the one spoken of
by Lt. Nash, who turns out to be Xaviar surgically made to look
like the real Nash, still on the Galactica, in
"Spaceball".