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.

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). 

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.

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).

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".