The Super Scouts, Part II

"The Super Scouts, Part II" An episode of the Galactica 1980 series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 5
Writer(s)	Glen A. Larson
Story by
Director	Sigmund Neufeld Jr.
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	{{{guests}}}
Production No.	55114
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	1980-03-23
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate
DVD release	2007-12-23
Population	{{{population}}} survivors
Additional Info	Script available at BattlestarPegasus.com
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
The Super Scouts, Part I	The Super Scouts, Part II	Spaceball
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Listing of props for this episode
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Overview

Commander Adama and Dr. Zee must use an experimental anti-gravity ship to save a group of seriously ill children who are stranded on Earth.

Summary

Act 1

• Troy and Dillon rush back to the campsite, finding that the Super Scouts are eating apples. They initially chastise them over eating food without permission, but a Super Scout discovers that the food is edible thanks to the Boy Scouts' handbook. They move past that and tell the children that they need to hide from the police to avoid answering questions. They are given permission to use their invisibility fields, which delights them.
• Hearing the wailing of sirens off in the distance, Troy instructs the children to pack what they can. They break down the camp. Dillon and Troy place the camping equipment on their turbines and render those bikes invisible.
• They run to a tree and begin jumping up into it. They activate their invisibility fields.
• The police cars arrive at the spot where the Super Scouts had camped. They only find the remnants of a burned campfire. Upon hearing the voices of the children, Sheriff Ellsworth asks Deputy Collins if he said something. Collins replies in the negative, but notes the campfire, which is neatly doused. Ellsworth, who believes that they're merely acting like scouts, makes a sarcastic comment about their acting like good scouts in regards to their treatment of the campfire.
• When Ellsworth mentions that he'll eat his hat if they are boy scouts, an apple is dropped on his head. Ellsworth comments that it's too early in the season for apples to be falling out a tree; Collins adds that the tree isn't an apple tree at all. He makes the assumption that one of the scouts probably left it up there.
• Ellsworth mentions that he's going to seal off the entire county. After this is said, the officers are deluged by half-eaten apples.
• Ellsworth asks about the laughter, Collins replies that it came from nowhere. Ellsworth assumes they're in the woods someplace, and says that they're going to search for them even if it takes all night.
• As they walk off, Dillon admonishes the children, saying that that's the last place they'll take them, since they're acting like children. Troy reminds him that they are children.
• Dillon replies that he forgot this, saying that after all they've been through, he keeps forgetting.
• They jump down from the tree and enter the police vehicles. The children comment that riding the Earth vehicles will be fun. The cars begin to drive off, with the officers running back to them. Ellsworth correctly believes that the scouts are taking their cars, but cannot see them.
• After they drive off, Collins brings up Colonel Jack Sydell and the alleged UFO sighting. Ellsworth scoffs that as garbage. Colliins speculates that some creatures may have landed and have stolen the bodies of the kids. Ellsworth scoffs that theory, claiming that Collins needs a vacation. Collins replies that the story is fantastic enough as it is, particularly with police cars that apparently drive themselves and half-eaten apples falling from a tree that isn't even an apple tree.
• Ellsworth hoists Collins by his arm and tells him that they have a long way to walk.
• At the Paradise Valley Medical Center, the children are in hospital rooms, and don't appear to have improved.
• In his lab, Dr. Spencer is reviewing the blood samples under a microscope. He is interrupted by Jamie Hamilton, who asks when the children could be discharged. She claims that their parents are getting concerned, to which Spencer replies that he isn't surprised. He mentions that they may never leave, noting the they're not improving. He adds that the children were never "normal" to begin with, allowing her to see a blood sample from one of the children.
• Spencer says that he can't identify any cells in that sample. Hamilton tries to gloss over the facts that Spencer presents to her, but he continues, mentioning that the Mayo Clinic would love to get the hands on the children and the findings would make all the medical journals in the world.
• Hamilton pointedly asks if making journals is what's important to him, but he claims that he's interested in saving their lives. He segues into the pollution problems, which he's tried to fix since getting back from medical school. He asks her to make her story on a real problem, not "flying saucers", believing that the town is better off "broke than dead".
• Ellsworth summons Colonel Sydell to the Sheriff's Office. Ellsworth closes the door to his office and, off the record, says there's something going on in Paradise Valley. Sydell encourages Ellsworth to tell him all about it.
• Meanwhile, Spencer drives Hamilton to a stream near the plant. As they walk toward it from his car, Spencer tells Hamilton he first recognized the problem when he treated a bunch of kids who started an accidental fire, which happened when they were throwing stones at an old riverbed. The kids were enamored with the fact that they can get sparks from the soil by hitting at it with stones. He says that the chemicals in the soil cause the effect. He goes on to say that the wheels of a bike wear out in a matter of weeks, tennis shoes wear down even faster; the chemicals, he contends, are literally "burning the shoes off our kids' feet". He mentions that the same happened near Niagara Falls and in Virginia as a four-door Ford truck pulls up and a six workers from the plant pour out from it.
• The workers are beginning to pick a fight. The leader of this mob, Denver, grows angry after Hamilton introduces herself. He angrily asks Spencer: "Doc, when are you gonna learn to keep your big mouth shut?" Hamilton defends Spencer, telling him that she was responsible for bringing him to the riverbed, but Denver pushes her aside, telling her to "butt out". Spencer jumps to her defense, telling him that she's only doing her job. He retorts that it's at the expense of theirs.
• Denver orders Hamilton to march her "little fanny outta here". When she stands her ground, Denver pushes her, which almost causes the situation to deteriorate into fisticuffs, except that Troy and Dillon arrive.
• Denver reacts pleasantly to this new development, as Troy and Dillon were who they were after in the first place. When Denver's posse approaches the Warriors, Dillon mentions that it's only fair to warn him that he's used to a much denser climate. "Consequently, I'm capable of retaliating in a way that would be grossly unfair to you."
• The posse chuckles at this. Denver points to a lackey (Lum) to his left, telling him to take Dillon; Denver will take Troy. The lackey throws his fist a Dillon, but the Galactican one-handedly throws Lum into a pile of brush. Dillon turns to Troy after Lum lands, telling him he picked the spot deliberately for a soft landing.
• Denver assures his people that they can take the two of them, but they are hesitant to do so. He uses an "us versus them argument", saying they need to shut them down before they can do likewise.
• A van screeches to a halt and its driver, John Stockton, tells his workers to stop or every one of them are fired. He chastises his men that he'll handle the "scoutmasters" his way. Denver points out Hamilton and her status as a journalist, but Stockton rebuffs this, telling them to go back to the plant. He assures them that Ellsworth will take care of the trespassers, thus removing the possibility of a story being told. Stockton barks at them to go, and they head back to their vehicle.
• As the posse moves off, Stockton orders the trespassers into the vehicle, saying that they're going to head to Ellsworth's. Stockton makes it clear that they either follow him to the police station, or he gets on the C.B. radio and summons the police.
• Spencer agrees to go to Ellsworth, claiming that he has a few complaints of his own.
• As Spencer and Stockton head to their respective vehicles, Hamilton asks Troy and Dillon what they are going to do, since Ellsworth's already looking for them. She asks how they got away from him, to which Dillon replies that they took their police cars. In reply to Hamilton's reaction, Dillon explains that he left the cars where Ellsworth could find them after heading back to their bikes.
• Hamilton tells them they have to leave. Troy replies that they can't leave the three children in the clinic behind.
• They are interrupted by Stockton, who gets impatient and slams his driver-side door, staring out at them through the open window. Troy and Dillon head to their bikes, while Hamilton exasperatedly notes that the Warriors are "hopeless".

Act 2

• At the Sherrif's Office, the teletype machine is working and Collins rips off a sheet from it.
• Inside the closed room of Ellsworth's office, Ellsworth reviews Dillon and Troy's record with Sydell. After he names off two of the things they're wanted for, Collins barges in and reports they're wanted for bank robbery.
• Ellsworth reviews the all-points bulletin and now have definitive proof that the scouts are frauds.
• On a highway, s they follow Stockton to the police station, Valerie calls for Spencer over the radio. She informs him that the scouts are dying. They move to pass Stockton, who is visibly agitated. Troy and Dillon come to the passenger side, where Hamilton informs them of the children's condition.
• Behind them, Stockton sticks his head out of the window and yells that he's sticking with them, no matter what. Troy and Dillon speed past them.
• Collins reports that they've heard nothing from the road blocks. Sydell figures that they haven't left yet due to the children in the clinic. Ellsworth scoffs this, since he assumes that they simply kidnapped the kids and are unconcerned for their fate. Sydell explains that they are neither drugged nor ordinary kids, which is why there's no record of them. Sydell quickly leaves.
• Collins reiterates his belief that the children are possessed by small aliens, a la Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Ellsworth barks at him to stop the talk and tell the units to stop their search of cars and close the highways, much to Collins' surprise. Ellsworth leaves, declaring that he'll get to the "bottom of this nonsense".
• Spencer runs into Nurse Valerie at the doors to the Intensive Care Unit of Paradise Valley Medical Center. Dillon and Troy are already present as he walks in, he goes to Moonstone and checks his vitals, even though the monitors inform him that they're dead. He surmises that the chemical shock was too much for them; their hearts had gone into firbulation and stopped.
• Stockton and Hamilton enter the ICU. Spencer pointedly asks Stockton if their deaths tell anything to him. He adamantly denies that the plant had anything to do with their condition, but isn't so sure, mentioning that he's "not certain" after the fact.
• Troy interrupts, noting that Moonstone is still breathing. Spencer claims that it's only the life-support machine that's doing this. He notes that his brainwaves have stopped and that he's "legally dead".
• In response to Dillon's query on the term, Hamilton notes that the life supporting machines can sustain a person's heart or lungs indefinitely.
• Troy obliquely orders Dillon to send an emergency signal to the Fleet. He goes off. Spencer claims that, while he sympathizes with Troy, there's no way to save the child. However, Troy replies that "where we come from, death is a threshold far beyond this child's condition. Thanks to you, by our standards, he lives.
• When asked about where they come from, Stockton comments that he was told by them that they come from Cleveland. Troy ignores the question, asking for a vehicle that could maintain the life support equipment. After determining that the machines are portable and Stockton's vehicle could hold all of them. While Stockton voices that he wants to help, he initially gives the excuse that his company vehicle can't be used as an ambulance "by people who would just as soon sue us out of our business as look at us". After a brief debate about the life or death of a town versus the life or death of Moonstone, Stockton bends and asks where they want his truck.
• Hamilton follows Dillon through the halls of the clinic, asking about what he plans to do. Dillon says that he's going to call for help, asking her to stay with the children to prevent them from being hurt or frightened. She asks where they are hidden.
• Dillon exits the medical center and sends an emergency transmission to Galactica.
• Adama enters Zee's chamber to notify him of the transmission received by Dillon, but is interrupted by Zee who tells Adama that he's heard the transmission. He mentions that they have a difficult choice to risk the lives of the Fleet to save one child.
• Adama mentions that he considered resigning yahrens ago over agonizing decisions of that nature. Zee mentions that he'll spare him from making the choice; Zee declares that he's going. Adama rejects this, saying that Zee must not be risked. Zee mentions that he, above all, has the best chance at success.
• Adama and Zee enter a large hangar, where Adama sees the anti-gravity ship. An awed Adama makes the claim that it's finished, but Zee corrects him, saying it's not totally finished. Adama asks if the ship is "truly equal to the Cylons' war machines, to which he replies that it's "more than equal". He explaiins that the Cylons "only copy": "they see what we do and try to better it".
• Adama expresses his vision of a force of such anti-gravity ships fighting back the Cylons, so that they may retake their homeworlds. Zee breaks the news to a crestfallen Adama: they have only one and don't have the resources to build more.
• Adama questions it's use, since they have but one. Zee says that it can save Moonstone's life and provide them with better opportunities to observe Earth.
• After Zee makes it clear that he is the only person who understands the new ship and Adama says he'll go with him on the ship to Earth.
• At the clinic, Troy is disconnecting the final life support equipment for transport. Dillon reports that Ellsworth has pulled up with Sydell. Troy asks that the doctor delay them, so that they can make their escape. After asking why, Spencer is told by Troy that he can save the children. He replies that they must be "a lot farther than Cleveland" if they can save those children.
• Spencer tells Valerie to inform the officers that he's performing minor surgery and will be with them in a few minutes. She leaves.
• In the waiting room, Sydell and Ellsworth await the doctor. Sydell attempts to pump Valerie for information, but she replies that he'll need to ask the doctor about that, and gives him the same answer to other questions.
• Stockton is driving up a mountain, with the children attached to the life support equipment in the back of his van. Stockton asks how the machinery is powered. Dillon replies that they have their own energy source, which, as Troy points out, they'll run out of if they don't reach the top of their mountain. When asking what kind of hospital they would be going to, Troy cryptically replies, "Advanced. Very advanced."
• Still in the waiting room, they grow impatient. Sydell decides to take matters into his own hands and heads toward the intensive care unit. Valerie tries to stop them, telling them that they have to scrub down.
• Valerie calls Spencer, who opens the door to the ICU as soon as they approach. Sydell demands to see the children. Spencer tries to stall, but Sydell opens the ICU door and finds that the room is empty. When questioned, Spencer tells them that he doesn't know where the children went to.
• Ellsworth tells Spencer that the two men robbed a bank, which is a claim he finds to be dubious, but is given the APB on it. After this, Spencer gives information on the vehicle they got away in.
• In the vehicle, Troy tells Stockton to turn to a road, which leads up to an old, abandoned Nike base.
• At the C.B. radio in the clinic, Ellsworth puts out an APB on a Stanford Chemical van, and mentions that bank robbers are holding children as hostages.
• Stockton becomes cynical, ranting about "you and your gab about helping people and stopping pollution", and calling the Warriors bank robbers and kidnappers. Troy scoffs the claim and Stockton retorts that, if the charges aren't true, then he's free to turn around and check it out.
• Stockton stops the car, saying that it's his turn to be a good Samaritan and says he's going to get a police escort. As he moves to do so, Troy stuns him, and the Warrior takes the wheel, hoping that no one saw them make the last turn.
• They reach the gates to the government installation. They use their lasers to destroy the lock and open the gates.
• Down the road, Ellsworth and Sydell drive towards their location, apparently alerted to their whereabouts by a trucker or someone with a C.B. radio. While driving, Ellsworth says that he doesn't believe in extraterrestrials, but believes the "answer to all this is little green dollars".
• Dillon drives the van forward well past the gates as Troy runs behind it. After the van is clear, he trains his laser on a tree and brings it down to obstruct the passage. After this, Troy makes contact with Galactica.
• Major Harvey Jensen tells Sydell over the C.B. radio that they're picking up high-beam transmissions coming from his area. When asked about what it sounds like, Jensen claims he's never heard anything like it in his life noting that "it's positively eerie." No one from the Army to the CIA -- to even commercial radio -- can make heads or tails of the transmission. He mentions that they can track the signal, but also adds that the signal is being beamed from Earth and to Earth from a galactic source.
• Sydell questions this, but Jensen adds that they've localized the signal to a mountain peak in the San Angelo Mountains, the land to thus being owned by the government. Sydell is pleased and tells Ellsworth to get his dispatcher to contact Vandenburg Air Force Base.
• The van stops in an open area atop the San Angelo Mountain. Troy and Dillon get out of the vehicle as Stockton recovers from the stun. He exits the vehicle and, much to his bewilderment, he sees that the two begin shooting lasers up to the sky, which act as beacons for the Galactican rescue craft. He goes to join by their side and asks about the laser pistols.
• Ellsworth's car makes it to the gates, but is obstructed by the tree. Upon investigating the tree, which Ellsworth initially believed to be knocked down by lightning, but discovers that the tree is still hot to the touch. Sydell notes that the "lightning" is fresh, yet there's not a cloud in the sky.
• Sometime later, Jay Johnson from the National Guard arrives with two trucks loaded with people an ordnance. Sydell orders that the tree be cleared and notes he doesn't care how it happens. Johnson orders the anti-tank weaponry be unloaded.
• Deep in thought, Stockton is looking over the children in the back of the van. Dillon asks Troy if they did the right thing, to which Troy replies that he should look at the children and then ask him that. Dillon then ponders how Galactica is going to get a rescue team in and out. Troy tells Dillon that the last transmission he received informed him that the rescue team was not going to be an ordinary one.
• Dillon and Troy then figure that the anti-gravity ship must be ready.
• Ellsworth tells Sydell that the guardsman will have the tree cleared in a few minutes. Two guardsman aim a rocket launcher at the tree and fire, destroying the tree.
• Stockton tries to sneak away, but Troy hears him and tells him to stay. Troy says that they don't want him to get hurt, particularly when the ship lands. The anti-gravity ship appears, bewildering Stockton.

Act 3

• After seeing the ship, Stockton exclaims that the Warriors must be "Venutians".
• Once the ship lands, Troy tells them to get the children. Dillon asks Stockton to help; Stockton pleads with them to not take him away. He admits that he was a little careless about not testing the water, but Dillon merely replies to "come".
• Adama comes out from the craft and he meets with Troy. Adama assures Troy that he did well.
• Having passed the obstruction, the vehicles make their way up the road.
• Still afraid, Stockton tells Dillon to take the kid then come back for the last kid. While Stockton claims that he isn't "afraid or anything", Dillon replies that the "glory of the universe is intelligence" and to never be afraid of discovery.
• Stockton follows Dillon, hoping that they didn't tell the other Galacticans that he personally hurt the kids.
• Ahead of them, off into the distance, Sydell and Ellsworth see a bright light.
• Medical technicians work on the children, while Dillon escorts an awed and bewildered Stockton through the ship.
• Adama and Troy enter the ship's bridge. Zee tells them that Moonstone, as well as the others, live and that Troy did well. Zee warns that the risk of their detection does increase every moment they stay, however.
• A good mile from the ship, Sydell tells Ellsworth to drive faster, but the car suddenly loses power. Sydell goes to ride in the other trucks, but is notified that they too have lost power. Angered and determined, Sydell begins to hike up the road. Ellsworth tells Johnson to take his men and follow Sydell.
• Stockton and Dillon enter the bridge of the anti-gravity ship. Dillon introduces Stockton to Adama. Stockton attempts to flatter Adama with various titles, including "Your Honor. Majesty. Eminence." He claims that he only "works there" and is "not really responsible".
• Adama replies that everyone is responsible. He explains that they have the ability to speak, to see, and mentions that there is a purpose for the brain as well.
• Noting Stockton's confusion, Dillon interjects, suggesting that Zee might prepare a computron simulation for Stockton to understand the consequences of his actions. Zee says he can show a simulation of how his actions will affect his community if nothing is changed. Zee asks Stockton if he would like to see a glimpse into his future. He tries to weasel his way out of it, but Zee orders the computrons to generate a projection of the Paradise Valley area in 1990.
• Stockton vainly continues his attempt to talk his way out of seeing the computron projection. Adama explains that the ship is designed to sample a vast area at a time and is capable of detailing every single organic item in that same area. Stockton equates it to a medical checkup, which Adama agrees with, and explains that it can do much more than that: it can sample the vegetation and all other items within that area as well, living or otherwise. When Stockton equates this to spying and asks who side Adama is on, Adama replies that he is on the side of the human race.
• Stockton tries one last bid to avoid seeing the projection, but Dillon grabs him and Zee begins playing the projection. Zee explains that the area is now densely populated and the air quality is aggravated by the return of coal as a primary fuel source. Zee informs Stockton that in late-March, early-April of 1990, his family "will be called upon to bear a heavy loss".
• On the screen, a older Stockton finds that he is still alive, a fact which he celebrates. Soon he realizes that he's attending a funeral for someone else. Stockton identifies all the people there, his daughter-in-law, his wife, Dr. Spencer, Ellsworth, but doesn't see his boy, Jimmy Lee Stockton. Stockton becomes anguished over this fact, as Zee explains how Jimmy's death occurs. As Jimmy works in the purificatiory of his chemical plant, he is exposed to "chemical dioxins" that lower his body's natural resistance to disease.
• On the bright side, Zee says the future events can be changed by "merely" diverting the chemical waste out of the water supply and store them in non-corrosive containers. Zee recommends focusing their scientific inquires to the "final disposition" of the chemical wastes.
• The computer sounds the alert that intruders are approaching: it's Sydell, Ellsworth and the National Guardsmen, with their weapons drawn. Adama tells Stockton and the Warriors that they have to leave, but Stockton is now concerned for the future of both his son and the town. Zee replies that if his instructions are followed, the fate may be averted. Stockton pledges to do his best, to which Zee replies: "That is all anyone can do."
• The computer intones that the stations prepare for ascent. Adama tells the Warriors to escort Mr. Stockton.
• As the computer factors coordinates for "sixty microns and counting", Troy asks Adama about the children. Adama informs him that the "inevitability of a Cylon holocaust" grows stronger every hour, and addresses Troy by his childhood nickname when beseeching him to "find a place for all our young", claiming that they will be safe on Earth.
• Troy asks when he'll see his grandfather again. Adama replies that he'll see him when the time is right.
• Sydell is running up the road, while Ellsworth complains about his age and that Sydell's going to kill him if they keep on running.
• Stockton leaves the ship. Troy, Dillon and the kids, who are healthy again, follow suit.
• Sydell, Ellsworth and the National Guardsmen encounter the mist, which Sydell complains about. Sydell notes that the mist "literally creates its own rainstorm" and, much to Ellsworth's chagrin, Sydell claims that the source of this is a ship. He grabs the flashlight and continues on. Johnson asks Ellsworth what he means by ship, to which Ellsworth replies that it's "just a figure of speech". They follow Sydell.
• The anti-gravity ship ascends.
• Troy, Dillon, the Scouts and Stockton make it back to the van. Troy tells Stockton to make it down the mountain. Stockton claims that they'll lock him up for being a raving lunatic and is unsure of what to tell them. When Troy asks what Stockton believes he should do, Stockton replies that he's has to warn everyone about the danger and save his son. Troy assures Stockton that this is what he should do.
• Ellsworth announces to the van and its occupants that they're surrounded. As they reach the van, they see a bewildered Stockton and an otherwise abandoned van. When asked by Sydell where "they" went, Stockton pretends to be clueless, claiming that he was "just out for a little drive".
• Sydell opens the door to the back of the van, seeing the three beds and medical equipment. Sydell is unaware that the children and the Warriors are in the van, but rendered invisible. Outside the van, with the flashlight shining in his face, the bewildered Stockton says that he wants to go home now.
• Ellsworth points out that there's only one road in and out of the area and, as Sydell looks skyward, he acknowledges this fact.
• The next morning, Ellsworth and Sydell enter the sheriff's office. Ellsworth asks Collins to get him and the Colonel a cup of coffee, then get the state police on the phone. Collins tells Ellsworth that before he does that, he may want to look at the lock box on the desk.
• Collins opens the lock box, which reveals a box of cubits. As Ellsworth palms a few of them, Collins explains that the note that came with it says that there's more than enough gold to repay the bank for its losses. Collins had it checked out, and it's twice as much as was stolen.
• When asked where this came from, Collins replies that it was on the front seat of Ellsworth's car. He found the vehicle on the highway along with the other vehicle. Sydell asks that they be analyzed. An irate Ellsworth asks what he intends to prove by analyzing them, to which Sydell replies that he'll find a "lot more than you'll find with the state police". Sydell tells Ellsworth to give up the search, as they are long gone. Ellsworth laughs, asking if Sydell believes that "them people went up in the air", Sydell mockingly replies, "Of course not, Sheriff. We know that's impossible, don't we?"
• Sydell adds that he has to take a raincheck on the coffee and leaves. Collins asks whether or not Ellsworth believes anything Sydell said, to which he replies, "What stuff?"
• In a restaurant, the Super Scouts are attempting to figure out what the plate-sized waffles are. Hamilton explains that they're waffles and that "you put some syrup on it and they taste real good". One of them notes that they "look like the floor of the Galactica", which elicits the laugh from fellow scouts, attracting the attention of a nearby patron. Starla comments that the waffles look "used". Hamilton looks over to Dillon, who encourages the children that the waffles look good. Dillon begins to tell them that they have to get used to the food on Earth, but covers this when he attracts the interest of the same nearby patron.
• Dillon encourages the children to say a silent prayer "on behalf of Starla, Moonstone, and Jason". When a girl scout asks if they are all right, Troy, who is walking behind the three now-healthy scouts, answers that they are all right. The three children join the rest of the scouts while Troy, Dillon and Hamilton go to an adjacent booth.
• Hamilton broaches the topic of what will happen now. Troy replies that the Warriors have to go, noting that he's received a communique from Galactica and have to go on a special mission. Hamilton asks about the children; Dillon assures her that they won't prove to be too much trouble. They essentially dump the children on her, which overwhelms her. Troy thanks Hamilton then kisses the tips of his hand and places his hand on Hamilton's forehead. Dillon and Troy leave the booth and announce to the children that they have to leave for a few days. Dillon tells the children how proud the two Warriors are about their conduct, which is interrupted by a young Super Scout who flicks a syrup-laden waffle piece at Dillon's cheek. The children giggle incessantly, and Troy and Dillon chuckle.

Review

The Super Scouts arrive, and Galactica 1980 plummets into an abyss it would not survive. In the beginning, we're forced to endure a series of boring classroom educational lessons. Things get even worse when the intergalactic 'Our Gang' reaches Earth. We get ultra-cute campfire songs and even more educational lessons shoved down are throats. The original series had flaws, but at least it never insulted its viewers by getting into preachy moral issues. Galactica 1980 gives us an ultra-simplistic environmental message of "Don't pollute the water," and does so with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Galactica 1980 is a perfect of example of how NOT to write drama. One key is to create powerful villains and put the heroes in situations that are difficult to deal with. But all of the villains in Galactica 1980 are weak. The Colonials have so advantages over the people of Earth - spaceships, super powers, invisibility fields - that they are essentially invincible, thus robbing the series of any possible drama. In Galactica 1980, there are no worthy villains. The bumbling cops and incompetent military personnel never have a prayer of apprehending Troy and Dillon, so there's no suspense. And it's certainly not funny to watch Earthlings constantly being confounded by extra-terrestrials. Yet that is what we're forced to endure again and again throughout the entire series.

Notes

• The strong consequences-and-responsibility subplot, especially in the second half of the episode, is borrowed directly from the "Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" section of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
• Adama is so impressed with the potential of the anti-grav ship in this episode that he wonders "with a force of anti-gravity ships such as these, we could retake our planets!" Clearly, Adama has not given up on the Twelve Colonies after all these years.
• In keeping with the mandate of programs in the early evening time slots to have educational value, the theme of this two-part episode is environmental conservation, which also comes up in "Space Croppers".
• The sick Super Scouts are identified by Dillon as being Starla, Moonstone and Jason. However, the girl scout is not Starla and Jason is later identified in "Spaceball" as Wellington.
• Furthermore Jay Johnson, the leader of the National Guard detachment, is identified by three different first names by Sheriff Ellsworth: Jay, John and Joe. The "Joe" error is also present in the script on page 62, scene 122.
• This is the first appearance of the UFO disclaimer before the end credit roll, which makes it appearance through the remainder of the series' episodes, with the exception of "The Return of Starbuck".

Changes From Script to Screen

There are a few differences between the script and the finished product. These include:

• Scene number 58 is trimmed down to the first two bits of dialogue between Sheriff Ellsworth and Colonel Sydell (misspelled "Sydel" in the script). In the scripted version, the conversation is extended: Ellsworth comments on how Sydell takes "all this flying saucer stuff real serious", which leads to a conversation that reveals a flashback scene (Scene 59) where Sydell has an apparent encounter with an extraterrestrial craft untold years back.
• A scene with Captain Riddle in a helicopter dispatched from Vandenburg Air Force Base is cut.
• In the script, Jimmy Lee Stockton's first name was "Jamie" before it was revised on 5 March 1980.
• In the filmed version, at the end of the story, Troy and Dillon tell Jamie Hamilton and the Super Scouts that they need to leave to another part of Earth to complete a mission. In the script, it is specified that Xaviar has returned into their time frame and is located in New York City.

Questions

• Why wouldn't the Colonials make use of time travel to prevent the destruction of the Colonies in the first place?
• Where did the Galacticans get the materials to build the anti-gravity ship? How long has the ship been under construction?

Noteworthy Dialogue

Colonel Sydell talking to Troy, Dillon and the kids at the scout camp:

Sydell: I used to be an eagle myself.

Boy: (looking at his computer watch) Eagle - a large bird.

Starla: He used to be a bird?

• When Troy and Dillon are threatened by the hard hat plant workers...

Dillon: I feel it's only fair to warn you that I'm used to a much denser climate. Consequently, I'm capable of retaliating in a way that would be grossly unfair to you.

• Ellsworth gives Sydell his theory on what he believes is the real motivator for what's happening in his town:

Ellsworth: No... don't believe in little green men. I'll bet the answer to all this is little green dollars.

• Dillon encourages Stockton to board the anti-gravity ship:

Dillon: The glory of universe is intelligence; never be afraid of discovery.

• Stockton meets Adama and attempts to abscond from his responsibility:

Adama: We're all responsible.

Stockton: We are?

Adama: Yes. We have lips so that we may speak, we have eyes so that we may see. Does it not follow ironically that there must be some purpose for the brain?

Guest Stars

• [James] Patrick Stuart as Doctor Zee
• Allan Miller as Colonel Jack Sydell
• George DeLoy as Dr. Spencer
• John Quade as Sheriff Ellsworth
• Mike Kellin as John Stockton
• Michael Swan as Collins
• Carlene Watkins as Nurse Valerie
• Michael Brick as Super Scout
• Nicholas Davies as Super Scout
• Ronnie Densford as Super Scout
• Mark Everett as Super Scout
• Georgi Irene as Sunshine (credited as "Super Scout")
• Tracy Justrich as Starla (credited as "Super Scout")
• Lindsay Kennedy as Super Scout
• David Larson as Super Scout
• Eric Larson as Moonstone
• Michelle Larson as Super Scout
• Jerry Supiran as Super Scout
• Eric Taslitz as Super Scout
• Uncredited as Jay Johnson
• Uncredited as Denver
• Uncredited as Lum