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V
"Reflections in Terror"
TV episode
Written by Chris Manheim
Directed by Kevin Hooks
Original air date December 21, 1984 |
Diana creates a clone of the
Starchild; the Resistance smuggles children from occupied
territory into the open city; Bates prepares to wipe out the
Resistance members at the Club Creole and sets a trap for Julie.
Read the summary of this episode at
V: The Series Interactive Website
Didja Know?
This episode takes place near the Christmas holiday.
Didja Notice?
On the Freedom Network report we learn that on the Philippine
island of Mindanao, resistance guerillas have surprised and
annihilated a Visitor regiment moving to occupy the island; in
Brazil several resistance leaders of the Mato Grosso battalion
were executed by the Visitors; U.S. resistance guerillas were
successful in overrunning and destroying several Visitor
outposts along the Santa Fe Trail in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. The Freedom Network medal of honor goes
to Biloxi, MS housewife Marilyn McGeorge who spotted the Visitor
patrol boat, Vargan, off the Gulf Coast and rammed it
with her husband's fishing boat, sinking both vessels (she was
found clinging to debris in the water and rescued).
The "Mato Grosso" mentioned in the Freedom Network report is a
state in Brazil. And the
Santa Fe Trail is a National Historic Trail in
Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico.
There is Visitor writing on the image device held by the old
woman at 3:00 on the DVD.
How did the old woman know that Elizabeth would stop by her
sidewalk Christmas donation pot? Luckily for the old woman,
Elizabeth did, so the blood sample from the girl's pricked finger
could be collected. Though Diana's conspirator does say
later, "I knew one of them would find her," so I suppose we
could argue that he and Diana had a number of conspirators
searching for the Star Child and it would just be a matter of
time until one found her or, she, them.
The chemical compound dioxin used to preserve and thin
Elizabeth's blood is a real compound, C4H4O2.
At 4:20 on the DVD, we see a Jeep-mounted laser
gun that harkens back to the style seen in
"Visitors' Choice" and not the
smaller mounted gun seen in "The
Overlord". Also, why are the Visitors in the Jeep wearing
motorcycle helmets?
Donovan and Tyler smuggle the orphan children into the open city
in a
Ford
Econoline van.
At 5:15 on the DVD, an L.A. city limits sign with Visitor
writing is seen.
From the dialog during Chris Faber's reintroduction, apparently
after spending some time with our regular resistance group in
the novels Prisoners and
Pawns and Death Tide and V
comic books 1-6, he spent some time with a resistance group in
the desert until they were obliterated.
The church which acts as a sanctuary for the orphans is St.
Anne's Catholic Church, led by Father Joseph Turney.
Kyle apparently buys a new house in this episode. But then, what
was the house seen in "The
Dissident"? Was it just a friend's house he and his two
Maxwell women were staying in?
Willie has slightly learned how to play "Deck the Halls" on the
piano at Club Creole...but not how to sing or even the correct lyrics!
Listen:
"Deck the Halls"
And a Visitor soldier has apparently also learned to play the
piano, as he plays what Willie refers to as the Visitors'
national anthem.
The scene beginning at 13:01 on the DVD, in which Julie leads
the Club Creole patrons in singing "America the Beautiful" to
drown out the Visitor music, is an homage to a similar scene in
the classic film Casablanca, in which Nazi Major
Strasser leads his men in a rendition of the patriotic German
song "Die Wacht am Rhein," but resistance leader Laszlo begins
to sing "La Marseillaise", the national anthem of France.
Here are the first 43 seconds of the Visitor anthem:
Visitor anthem
At 13:56 on the DVD, Chris jabs Tyler in the ribs with his elbow
to get him to sing "America the Beautiful" along with the rest
of them.
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There is a Visitor sign in the
embassy at 16:34 on the DVD. |
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At 17:09 on the DVD, a Visitor guard screams and we see he
apparently has a human tongue and human teeth...with fillings no
less!
Diana's manipulation of the Star Child clone's DNA has made it
grow even faster than Elizabeth herself did, physically maturing
to the point of a teenager's body in less than a day.
At 24:09 on the DVD, the name badge of the police officer who
tells Robin and Elizabeth that the park is off limits after 4
p.m. can be seen to read Mayburn. The car Robin and Elizabeth
drive away in appears to be a
Fiat X1/9.
At 24:27 on the DVD, the young actress Jenny Beck, who played
young Elizabeth in V: The
Final Battle and "Liberation
Day", returns for a cameo as the Star Child's clone.
But where did the clone get the clothes she's wearing?
When Elizabeth was going through her metamorphosis in
"Dreadnought", there was a green glow
emanating from the cave she was in. Here, as the clone goes through the
metamorphosis, a red glow is emanating, perhaps indicating her
darker nature. Notice also, that the cocoon footage appears to
have been borrowed from Elizabeth's metamorphosis in
"Dreadnought" (note the rocks and
cave wall in the background instead of the concrete drainage
tunnel that the clone cocoon is actually in).
The flip-down lens on Laird's sunglasses seem to give him
"Predator vision"!
It's a little hard to identify in the moving image, but at 27:14
on the DVD, we can see that the clone's feet are cut up from
running around in the scrub barefoot.
At 27:52 on the DVD, Julie is watching The Valley of Gwangi
on TV. This same movie is seen playing in
"Visitors, Victims and Victory" in the director's booth as
the news crew prepares to break into the broadcast for Donovan's
video of a Visitor unmasked.
At 28:21 on the DVD, a special news bulletin breaks into the
airing of The Valley of Gwangi and is presented by
Tawny Schneider who was a real L.A. anchorwoman around the time
of V. At the time, she
was married to actor John Schneider.
At 32:31 on the DVD, Kyle is driving a GMC pickup truck
Chris reveals in this episode that Tyler had married and had a
daughter with a local woman in Vietnam. But they were never seen
again after the fall of Saigon (in 1975), despite Tyler's
repeated attempts to slip into the communist country and search
for them. From Chris' comments, they are presumed dead.
At 34:02 on the DVD, a store called Angela's is seen across the
street from Club Creole.
At 33:36 on the DVD, Donovan and Chris realize something's up
when they see a telephone repairman, water and power men, and
window washers all working the street at the same time across
from Club Creole. But the street view that is shown doesn't
reveal any of those, it's just a normal street view!
At 34:50 on the DVD, it appears that Chaing says something to
Bates, but it has been dubbed out.
Julie makes her escape unaided from Science Frontiers after
blowing her cover, but it seems unlikely that she would be able
to do so when Chaing and Bates had already set her up to take a
fall.
Weapons used during the assault on Club Creole include: Heckler
& Koch HK94, Tyler's MAC-10, Uzi, Kalashnikov rifles, M16s,
Sitting in his car outside the Club Creole when it blows up,
Chaing seems pleased that his attack has worked so well and
ended the resistance in the city. But all he did was send in
some gunmen to shoot the place up and, presumably, kill the
people inside. The bombs were set by Chris to catch the
attackers unaware and kill them. Instead of instantly
celebrating, Chaing should be wondering what caused the
explosion and was it a trap set by the resistance to cover their
escape.
At 40:19 on the DVD, two government vehicles are seen in front
of the blown-out remains of Club Creole. They appear to be a
Plymouth
Fury (approx. 1978) and an AMC Gremlin.
At 41:42 on the DVD, there is a quick glimpse of the stand-in
for the clone when Elizabeth whirls around to confront Laird.
You can tell the clone's face (to the right) is not Jennifer
Cooke's (who plays Elizabeth).
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Kyle has a similar picture of
fish in his new house as Donovan
had in his! Donovan probably had
to abandon his house after
the events of
"The
Deception"...maybe he gave
his fish pictures to Kyle! |
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Kyle's
fish |
Donovan's
fish |
At 44:30 on the DVD, Willie is carrying a box of Holly brand
Christmas ornaments. This was a real ornament manufacturer at
the time.
Now that the Club Creole itself has been destroyed, Kyle
comments that the only way to reach the speakeasy is through
the alley or the sewers. His comment about sewer access may be
what is meant by "a maze of passageways
under the streets" leading to the location in the novel
Prisoners and Pawns.
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