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"Flight to Freedom"
Written by Len Janson and Chuck Menville
Directed by John Strysik
Original airdate:
November 9, 1991 |
A series of quakes leads the
Porters to believe that a portal has opened.
Didja Notice?
While attempting to repair the Jeep at the beginning of the
episode, Kevin discovers what he refers to as a lizard's nest, a
small bundle of twigs and grass, in the air filter. Do lizards
make nests?
Kevin must be something of a car aficionado/mechanic because he
seems to know more about how to fix the Jeep's damaged engine
than his father does.
At 5:35 in the episode, after the Porters pick themselves up
from a quake, Tom compares it to the circumstances which brought
them to this world and speculates there might be a connection
between quakes and the opening of a portal. Wouldn't they
already have presumed this to be true after the events of
"Day
for Knight" in which the portal that brought (and then returned) Balen was both times accompanied by quakes?
Normally the writers and directors of the show have Tasha
behaving much too intelligently for an animal, seemingly understanding what's being said by
the Porters, etc. But there is a nice
touch in this episode at 7:07. Tasha does not seem to know she
is being talked about, but she does react to the anguish in
Annie's voice when she is surprised that her father will not
allow her to take Tasha back to Earth with them.
Tom comments that the sun sets in the east in the Land, unlike
on Earth where, of course, the sun sets in the west.
At 10:35 in the episode, a mat or tarp can be seen blowing in
the wind under the front tires of the Jeep. I'm not sure why it
would be there; maybe it was to cover up a power cord or
something used by equipment on location?
At 11:11 in the episode, we clearly see the license plate of the
Jeep: California 1MQH438. We can also see that the registration
tag expires in June (but the year is not legible).
At 11:16 in the episode, Annie is so eager to try to talk her
father out of throwing Tasha and Stink out of the Jeep that she
climbs over the back seat and out the open hatch rather than get
out through the side door.
The scene of Stink and Tasha fighting over which direction to go
in attempting to follow the Porters ends with the two of them
going in separate directions after trading insults. It reminds
me of the scene in
Star Wars: A New Hope when feuding buddies R2-D2 and C-3PO
behave the same way on Tatooine.
The Porters must not have been driving very fast or far because
Stink and Tasha catch up to them pretty quickly.
Scarface "pulls a Grumpy" in the last act when Stink and Tasha are
right there for the taking and he stands there roaring
at them instead of gobbling them up!
At 17:35 in the episode, Stink shouts "Anu! Anu!" meaning "no".
I guess he is telling the Porters not to try to rescue him and
Tasha from Scarface; just get through the open portal and escape
to home.
It's amusing that Tom pulls a baseball bat out of the Jeep to
fight Scarface!
At 20:15 in the episode, Kevin is about to back the Jeep up to
rescue Tom, Christa, Stink and Tasha from Scarface...but pauses
long enough to put his
seat belt on! I know the show always tried to present positive
actions for young viewers, but c'mon!
At the end of the episode, Tom caves in and agrees with Annie
that the next time they have a chance to go back to Earth, Tasha can come
with them. Sorry, but he was right the first time; she could not
have a normal life there.
Pakuni translations |
Time in
episode |
Pakuni |
English |
0:54 |
Stink says,
"Malu! Malu!" |
"Bad! Bad!" |
8:14 |
Christa says, "Acuba
ne, Porter." |
"Greetings,
Porter." |
8:17 |
Kevin says, "Acuba
ne, Christa." |
"Greetings,
Christa." |
13:08 |
Stink says, "Acuba
ne, Porters." |
"Farewell,
Porters." |
17:35 |
Stink says,
"Anu! Anu!" |
"No! No!" |
Memorable Dialog
what is normal about this place.wav
an earthquake got us here.wav
the epicenter of those quakes.wav
no prob, Dadmeister.wav
Tasha can't come with us.wav
I gotta bang my head more often.wav
back to San Francisco.wav
think of all the cool stuff.wav
what about your real home.wav
poor Tasha and Stink.wav
it's not fair.wav
remember what happened to ET.wav
love you, Annie Porter.wav
you really know how to hurt a guy.wav
acuba ne, Porters.wav
dumb lizard.wav
no dumb lizard.wav
wahoo.wav
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