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"The Musician"
Written by Dick Morgan and Tom Swale
Directed by Gordon Wiles
Original airdate: November 15, 1975
This page last updated 5/29/2020 |
The Marshalls and Cha-ka investigate the newly
discovered old temple.
Read the complete story summary by Nels Olsen
Notes from
the
Marshall Timeline
I moved "The Musician" to a position significantly sooner in the
chronology because it seems logical to say that the Marshalls
would investigate the temple almost immediately after it was
found by Will and Holly in "The Test".
Didja Notice?
At the beginning of the episode, Holly is trying to
teach Cha-ka to play the old lullaby "Rock-a-bye
Baby" on a bamboo flute. He fails miserably, seemingly tone
deaf.
Will remarks that one thing Cha-ka is not is a child prodigy
and Rick agrees. Will then queries, "Wasn't it Mozart who could
play the piano at the age of four?" This is a reference to
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1971), considered one of the
greatest music composers in history. He was, in fact, a child
prodigy.
Rick speculates that the Old Temple was
not built by the Sleestak. Will then says, "...if this place
wasn't built by the Sleestak, it was built by a basketball team.
Look how tall everything is." I wonder if that line was written
as sort of an in-joke about the fact that the Sleestak were
portrayed by UCLA basketball players.
At 8:39 on the DVD, you can see that
there is a plant growing inside the temple. I suppose there are
cracks in the ruin inside as well as out, although it seems
unlikely a real plant could grow in a closed room with no
light.
The matrix table found in the Old Temple is sort of a larger,
streamlined version of the ones found in the pylons and the Lost
City. Is this matrix table an "improved" version of the
Altruisan ones seen previously? Or are the Altrusian matrix
tables a primitive, redactive version of the streamlined type
found here in the Old Temple? The pedestals the matrix table and
other objects rest upon in the Old Temple are the same shape as
the ones later seen in the Library of Skulls in the Lost City.
Another example of the one civilization copying another? But
which civilization came first, the seemingly human one of the
Old Temple or the Altrusians/Sleestak of the Lost City?
As Phillip Paley points out in the audio
commentary, at 9:30 on the DVD, Will blows the dust off the
matrix table right into Cha-ka's face!
At 10:03 on the DVD, there is a pinpoint
of blue light behind Will's head. What is it?
Holly comments that the ring they find in
the temple is "pretty". It doesn't look so pretty to me...it
looks like one of those cheap plastic rings you used to get in
the 25-cent vending machines at the supermarket!
At 12:36 on the DVD, the matrix table starts lighting up
and making noise before Cha-ka even walks off screen, yet he
acts like he doesn't notice. Also, notice the sounds from
the matrix table sound like a push-button phone of the
1970's!
At 12:58 on the DVD, for a split second Holly almost
looks like she is going to run out and visit with Junior
even though Big Alice is with him. Notice how her father
grabs her and pulls her behind the stone column as they all run
for cover from the large carnivore.
At 13:36 on the DVD, notice how Big Alice protects
Junior from the the red Builder figure by curling her tail
around him. Junior ducks down out-of-sight within the coil,
but then can't resist peaking back up as the Builder walks
on past.
This is the first episode in which Ta and
Sa seem to acknowledge that the Marshalls are superior in
dealing with the more mysterious aspects of the Land. They
go to High Bluff to tell the humans about the voice they
heard calling their names and the strange light in the sky.
At 21:02-21:08 on the DVD, as Ta and Sa
flee the voice telling them they have failed, you can follow
their shadows and see that after disappearing off the right
side of the screen, they just circle around behind the
camera!
At the end of the
episode, Cha-ka successfully plays "Rock-a-bye
Baby" quite nicely on the bamboo flute, seemingly a gift of
evolution from Builder.
Unanswered Questions
Who built the old temple? Humans? Pakuni? The door and the
matrix table seem to respond to Cha-ka's
touch but not the Marshalls'.
What is the significance
of the letters written on the stone block in the courtyard
of the temple? The Marshalls comment that some of them look
like characters from the their own Latin alphabet such as A,
M and R.
What was the red light that appeared in
the sky after Cha-ka touched the matrix table? Was it a portal
that admitted the red being?
Who is Builder? In her entranced state,
Holly indicates that Builder built the Land. If so, what was
the Altrusians' role in the creation of the Land, since
Builder appears to be of human relation?
Why does Builder's voice switch from boy
to man and back again?
What
happens to the ring after this episode? We never see it
again even though Cha-ka is still wearing it as he plays the
flute at the very end.
Pakuni translations |
Time on DVD |
Pakuni |
English |
1:35 |
Holly says,
"Cha-ka wachi shi." |
"Cha-ka do it
now." |
2:52 |
Cha-ka says,
"Ta?" |
It sounds like Cha-ka says "Ta" here but I don't know
why he would. It seems more like he should say "Sa?"
which means "What?" |
2:54 |
Rick says, "Ye
meki ku ya meni eh?" |
Rick asks Cha-ka if he wants to go
with them. Ye=you, ku=go, meni=us.
"Meki" "ya" and "eh" are not in
any known glossary. |
2:57 |
Cha-ka says "yo". |
"Yes." |
3:59 |
Will says, "Chiri?" |
"Quiet?" |
4:05 |
Will says, "Pu,
Cha-ka?" |
"Understand,
Cha-ka?" |
4:07 |
Cha-ka says,
"Cha-ka pu." |
"Cha-ka
understand." |
4:39 |
Rick says, "Chiri." |
"Quiet." |
8:38 |
Holly says, "Ye
wesachi, Cha-ka?" |
"Are you good,
Cha-ka?" |
8:40 |
Cha-ka says,
"Ye me bu ku." |
Will seems to
translate this as "the wall went," but the words don't
translate that way; it seems to say "You me can go." |
11:21 |
Cha-ka says,
"Oganza." |
"Magic." |
11:32 |
Cha-ka says,
"Oganza bisasa!" |
"Big Magic!" |
11:36 |
Cha-ka says,
"Yeni ba, yeni ba! Fusachi!" |
"You come, you
come! Quickly!" |
11:44 |
Cha-ka says,
"Yeni de! Yeni de!" |
"You do! You
do!" |
11:50 |
Cha-ka says,
"Oganza!" |
"Magic!" |
12:04 |
Cha-ka says,
"Ku? Onam meni ku." |
"Gone? Our food
gone." This sentence doesn't make
sense in context. It seems like maybe he should have
said "epi" (light) in place of "onam" (food). |
12:14 |
Rick says, "Sa
efi ye wu?" |
"What did you
see?" |
12:16 |
Cha-ka says,
"Nooo efi." |
"Nothing." |
14:45 |
Ta says, "Oyu
fo Ta." |
"The wind
called for Ta." Will translates
this sentence for us. "Oyu" and "fo" were not previously
in any known glossary. |
17:15 |
Cha-ka says,
"Cha-ka ku yan ye." |
"Cha-ka go (yan)
you." "Yan" is not in any known
glossary. |
20:46 |
Cha-ka says,
"Meni ka ran wa ni. Yeni dong. Ye dong." |
"We (ka) help
her (ni). You (dong). You (dong)."
"Ni" and "dong" are not in any known glossary. |
20:56 |
Ta says, "Anu." |
"No." |
21:09 |
Cha-ka says,
"Cha-ka ko shi ra. Cha-ka ko ra. Cha-ka ko ra." |
These
statements seem to basically be saying "Cha-ka help." ra=help,
shi=it. "Ko" is unknown. |
21:33 |
Cha-ka says,
"Anu! Anu! Ra Ari!" |
"No! No! Help
Holly!" Cha-ka seems to be
responding to Builder's statement, "You failed." |
21:58 |
Cha-ka says,
"Cha-ka fu. Cha-ka fu." |
"Cha-ka happen.
Cha-ka happen." Sounds like a
bumper sticker. |
Notes from the Audio Commentary by Phillip Paley, Wesley Eure
and Kathy Coleman
Phillip Paley portrayed not only Cha-ka in this
episode, but also the boy form of Builder. When the Builder boy
is face-to-face with Cha-ka, Paley's sister is in the Cha-ka
costume.
Kathy Coleman mentions that her sister named her daughter Holly.
Memorable Dialog
just
plain dumb.wav
not quite
fair.wav
a million years of evolution.wav
Cha-ka!.wav
child
prodigy.wav
where does genius come from.wav
doesn't look like the Sleestak.wav
built by a basketball team.wav
built by
humans.wav
it just
opened.wav
look
around.wav
yes and
no.wav
no,
Will Marshall.wav
Cha-ka,
Sa, Ta.wav
it is
time.wav
time for
you.wav
Cha-ka
before.wav
Cha-ka
after.wav
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