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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr

enik1138
at popapostle dot-com
Terminator: Goodbye to All That "Goodbye to All That"
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
TV episode
Written by Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz
Directed by Bryan Spicer
Original air date: October 6, 2008

 

A T-888 is sent back to kill a young man who will become one of John's most important lieutenants in the Resistance.

 

Read the story summary at the Terminator Wiki

 

Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode

 

Martin Bedell (innocent civilian in 2007, dies in this episode)

T-888 (hunts Martin Bedell, destroyed in this episode)

Derek Reese

John Connor

Sarah Connor

Martin Bedell (Resistance fighter in the future, dies in a flash-forward in this episode)

Cameron

P. Bain, I. Baker, A. Bales, D. Benjamin, N. Boll, J. Brinkman, T. Briones (students at Presidio Alto Military Academy)

Catherine Weaver

James Ellison

Kyle Reese

General Hobbs

Marty Bedell

Mr. Nelson (dies in this episode)

Pyle (a cadet at Presidio Alto Academy)

Beck, Darrow, Cleary, Evans, Ryan, Stent, Livie (cadets at Presidio Alto Academy)

Mr. and Mrs. Bedell (Marty's parents)

Carl Greenway (mentioned only, deceased)

Sandra (called Sandy, mentioned only) 

 

Didja Notice?

 

Derek's Beretta 92FS handgun is seen on the kitchen table as he's explaining Martin Bedell's death at the beginning of the episode.

 

The newspaper featuring the article about Bedell's death also has a headline about new Glendale city clerk Razari. Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County. Razari appears to be a fictitious city clerk.

 

When Sarah suggests that it's just a coincidence that a different Martin Bedell was killed in their 2007 timeline, Derek asks her, "How many coincidences named Sarah Connor got killed, before Skynet finally locked in on you?" The answer is at least three Sarah Connors have been killed in the PopApostle Terminator chronology: two in The Terminator and a third in "One Shot" (though our Connors are not aware of the third one).

 

Derek says that Bedell attended West Point and helped John put the Resistance together. "West Point" is the popular name for the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

 

John finds through an online search that the "real" Bedell is currently attending Presidio Alto Military Academy prep school in Carlsbad, CA. This is a fictitious institution though there is an Army and Navy Academy military prep school for junior high and high school boys in Carlsbad. "P. Alto" was one of the names written in blood by the dying Resistance member in the Connors' basement in "Automatic for the People".

 

At 3:28 on the Blu-ray, we see that the Connors' Dodge Ram pickup is equipped with the Rambox, a storage space within the truck's walls for secure storage of items. However, the Rambox was not introduced until the 2009 Ram model, while the story takes place in 2007 (but was filmed in 2008 after the model was released).

 

During the drive down to Carlsbad, Derek remarks to John that he hasn't said anything since Anaheim, "40 miles of silence." But the map on the pickup's GPS shows they are on Interstate 405 approaching the Costa Mesa Freeway, less than 20 miles from Anaheim.

 

Catherine Weaver and James discuss Serrano Point Nuclear Power Plant, which Weaver has an interest in. The plant was previously seen in "Automatic for the People".

 

The school sign seen at 5:29 on the Blu-ray states that Presidio Alto Military Academy was founded in 1895. It can be seen here that the mounted letters of "MILITARY ACADEMY" are not quite aligned properly, indicating that the sign is a hastily made prop for the episode.

Presidio Alto sign

 

A Schwinn bicycle is seen parked at the bike rack on the Academy grounds at 5:48 on the Blu-ray.

 

At 5:50-6:00 on the Blu-ray, the production does a good job of avoiding having the production crew reflected in the shiny black paint of the Connors' Dodge Ram...but some crewmembers and equipment can just be made out in the reflection on the chrome casing of the vehicle's sideview mirror!

 

At 6:00 on the Blu-ray, Derek parks next to what appears to be a Ford M151 'MUTT' jeep utility vehicle, produced for the U.S. Army from 1959-1982 by Ford, Kaiser Motors, and AMC General.

 

Derek's memories of future battles depict the Resistance's Hammerhead Bunker and Kansas Bunker.

 

In Derek's memories of the future, Kyle refers to Terminators as "tin cans".

 

Kyle tells Derek the convoy will move down Wilshire to Century in the next hour. Wilshire and Century are major boulevards in Los Angeles.

 

At the Academy, General Hobbs tells Derek he lost one of his TACS a couple weeks ago, a teacher-advisor who kept the students from going "all Lord of the Flies on us." TAC stands for a member of a Tactical Apprehension and Containment team. Lord of the Flies is a 1954 novel by William Golding about a group of boys stranded on an uninhabited island and their regression to a primitive, savage state.

 

Does anyone know what this flag is, seen on the wall of Marty's living room at 9:28 on the Blu-ray? It's similar to the war ensign of the Republic of Texas from 1836-1839, but has fewer stripes. About 12 seconds later, another flag, looking like an early U.S. flag is seen hanging above the fireplace mantel, but it has too few stripes, only 10 (while all official U.S. flags have had 13).

Unknown flag

 

At 9:38 on the Blu-ray, Marty has to pause his video game when the doorbell rings, saying, "I got to A.F.K., a minute." A.F.K. is a term used in online video game play, standing for "Away from keyboard."

 

The .45 Longslide (with laser sight) pistol used by the T-888 while targeting Marty is an AMT Hardballer variant, a stainless steel clone of the Colt M1911 pistol, made by Arcadia Machine & Tool, a firearms manufacturer now owned by High Standard Manufacturing Company. The T-800 in The Terminator also used one.

 

The rifles used at the shooting range at the academy are Colt M16A2s. The SPORTS mnemonic John uses to aid Cadet Pyle in clearing a jam in the weapon is one actually used in the military, standing for "Slap, Pull, Observe, Release, Tap, Shoot".

 

Pyle refers to John as a "pleb", a term used among higher level students at U.S. military academies for a freshman. It comes from the term used in ancient Rome for common lower-class citizens.

 

At 15:17 on the Blu-ray, Derek has a Barrett M82 sniper rifle slung on his back.

 

When John steps into a small seep of tar at 15:41 on the Blu-ray, Derek tells him to be careful, "It's tar. La brea." It may sound as if he's speaking of the La Brea Tar Pits, over 90 miles away from the academy in Carlsbad...but he's actually just using the Spanish word for "tar", la brea.

 

At 25:12 on the Blu-ray, Marty's parents are interviewed on KPFW television in Los Angeles. This is a fictitious L.A. station, though there is a Spanish language religious TV station with those call letters in Dallas, Texas.   

 

Books seen on the Connors' bookshelf at 26:18 on the Blu-ray are Intimacy, Ultrametabolism, PowerLiving by Jake by Jake Steinfeld; The Complete Cancer Cleanse by Cherie Calbom and John Calbom; Final Sanction; Forbidden Desire; Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers by Ronnie Cummins, Frances Moore Lappé and Ben Lilliston; Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda by Joe Alexander; and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. These are all real books. "The Final Battle" Part 9 reveals that The Wizard of Oz is one of John's favorite movies; of course, the Connors have also adopted the last name "Baum" as their identities in The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

   The copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz seen here appears to be an original edition (or facsimile) of the 1899 first printing of the book. If an original, it would actually be worth quite a bit of money!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

 

Cameron remarks that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is John's favorite book.

 

Ellison visits the Busted Atom, the same bar near Serrano Point nuclear power plant that was seen in "Automatic for the People".

 

Oddly, one of the notices posted on the bulletin board at the Busted Atom appears to be an authorization to perform surgery on someone by a Dr. Carl Vucelich. Vucelich was a character played by actor Ron Rifkin in several episodes of the 1994-2009 TV series E.R.

 

At 29:18 on the Blu-ray, Derek loads his Barrett M82 with Raufoss Mk 211 ammunition rounds. Raufoss Mk 211 is a real world .50 caliber projectile. Derek remarks that he saw Kyle take down an HK with that round and that Kyle liked it better than his plasma rifle.

 

Derek tells John a story about he and Kyle coming across a buck in Griffith Park while they were hunting for food during the future war.

 

Catherine Weaver remarks to Ellison that she would like to see her company lead the world into the next century. This might imply that the T-1001 would like to prevent Judgment Day. Later episodes hint that she seeks to create an artificial intelligence in the current time period that can stand against Skynet.

 

At the Busted Atom, Nelson tries to tell the bartender that all the beers he's drinking are for his heart, referencing the "French paradox". The French paradox is a term that originated in the 1980s, about how the French people have a lower incidence of coronary heart disease, despite the fact that they tend to have a diet high in saturated fats, which medical studies otherwise suggest causes heart disease. Some researchers have suggested that the French people's high rate of ingestion of wine may be a mitigating factor.

 

As Nelson and a female bar patron (the T1001) make out outside of the Busted Atom, an old advertisement painted on the wall reads "Drink Weddington's Philadelphia" something. Whatever it is, it appears to be a fictitious beverage.

 

Sarah's description of the differences between the book and film versions of The Wizard of Oz to Marty is accurate.

 

Notice throughout the Academy scenes that the ammo clips in the rifles have blue tape at the bottom. This is to indicate that the clips are loaded with blank rounds.

 

The Resistance members seem to often refer to HK tanks as "ogres".

 

At 46:04 on the Blu-ray, the bus Marty gets on has a sign indicating it is headed for Studio City. Studio City is a neighborhood of Los Angeles.

 

At 50:13 on the Blu-ray, a box of Club crackers is seen on the kitchen cabinet in the Connor house. This is a brand of crackers made by Keebler.

 

Memorable Dialog

 

how many coincidences named Sarah Connor got killed.mp3

scale of 1 to 10.mp3

make it stop, reconsider its life choices.mp3

before the nightmare begins.mp3

your professional robot opinion.mp3

blow its head off.mp3

I'm working on it.mp3

 

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