The Super Scouts, Part I
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"The Super Scouts, Part 1" An episode of the Galactica 1980 series | |||
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Episode No. | Season 1, Episode 4 | ||
Writer(s) | Glen A. Larson | ||
Story by | |||
Director | Vince Edwards | ||
Assistant Director | |||
Special guest(s) | {{{guests}}} | ||
Production No. | 1.4 | ||
Nielsen Rating | |||
US airdate | 1980-03-16 | ||
CAN airdate | {{{CAN airdate}}} | ||
UK airdate | |||
DVD release | |||
Population | survivors | ||
Additional Info | |||
Episode Chronology | |||
Previous | Next | ||
Galactica Discovers Earth, Part III | The Super Scouts, Part 1 | The Super Scouts, Part II | |
[[IMDB:tt{{{imdb}}}|IMDb entry]] | |||
Listing of props for this episode | |||
Related Media | |||
@ BW Media | |||
Promotional Materials | |||
Online Purchasing | |||
Amazon: Standard Definition | High Definition | |||
iTunes: [{{{itunes}}} USA] |
Overview
- After the cargo freighter Delphi is attacked by the Cylons, a shuttle carrying Captain Troy and a group of children crash lands on Earth, and Commander Adama and Dr. Zee must work to rescue the stranded crewmembers, who are becoming sick due to drinking contaminated water from a chemical plant.
Summary
Act 1
- Commander Adama meets with Dr. Zee in his chamber. Here, Zee tells Adama that he's "considered the consequences of endless pursuit upon the children of the Galactican Fleet", deciding that their children must be the first to settle Earth or they are sure to die in the wilderness of space. The task cannot be done openly or at once and negotiation with any faction on Earth is out of the question, for it would sew mistrust and paranoia on Earth, potentially leading to what Zee calls "the final war".
- Aboard the freighter Delphi, Troy and Dillon are teaching some of the Fleet children about Earth. Suddenly, the Delphi stops moving through space, having developed engine trouble.
- Aboard Galactica, Adama and Boomer realize that the Delphi is now isolated, having fallen behind the rest of the fleet.
- Sure enough, the Cylons have spotted the Delphi and begin tearing into it.
- It's established that this is the first time the Cylons have attacked 'in a generation'. The machine pursuers evidently having been content to sit back and let the Galactican fleet lead them to Earth.
- Thankfully the colonial warriors haven't forgotten how to stick it to the Cylons, and spend ten minutes doing so. However, the Cylons have wrought heavy damage upon the Delphi, which begins to break up.
- Troy and Dillon hustle as many kids as they can into shuttles and off the Delphi, and pilot the last one off themselves as the ship explodes.
- The shuttle is caught in the blast and is also damaged.
- Boomer, leading the Viper squadron which has managed to drive off the Cylons, confers with Troy, but the skies are still too dangerous to attempt making the journey back to the fleet.
- Troy decides they will have to land on Earth.
- After narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a 747, the shuttle puts down in a field in the middle of the night.
- The resulting scene where the children encounter land, plants and flowers for the first time is rather touching, but they have to avoid the attention of passers-by, who have to be put out of commission with stun fire.
- Troy and Dillon go into town on their bikes to score clothes for the kids, and come up with the idea of disguising them as a scout troop.
- Troy manages to get some uniforms and camping gear from a department store, but Dillon's attempt to change Colonial cubits for U.S. greenbacks goes awry when a bank clerk assumes his money is stolen.
- While Troy and Dillon are away, the kids have been fighting amongst themselves. Then, they all stop by a riverside and drink some water.
- As a result of drinking the water, three of the kids take ill.
- As if that's not trouble enough, they're being pursued by the county sheriff.
Notes
- The freighter Delphi, which is the Fleet's schooling ship, is shown in this episode. The stock footage that is shown is of the freighter Gemini from the Original Series - and its markings, complete with the name Gemini in huge letters, are clearly visible.
- In keeping with the mandate of programs in the early evening times lots to have educational value, the theme of this episode is environmental conservation, which also comes up in "Space Croppers".
Official Statements
- Allan Cole discusses Vince Edwards direction in this episode:
- Allan Cole: Basic rule of special effects. If you are going to burn something, you only get one go. And if you recall, there was a big damned fire scene. You should have heard GL [Glen Larson] scream at Vince [Edwards] for the slow pace of the direction. But he really blew his top in the big explosion scene. There were about three major bits missing, including a beam that collapses, mushing the whole bridge. I personally witnessed this. Vince cues each special in turn, cues the stunt men, cues the blast, and then the stunt men (standins for Kent [McCord], etc.) stand up, scratch their heads then trot off. Vince shouts cut. Then walks out onto the set, puzzling. "Hey," he says, "wasn't there supposed to be a beam?" Up above, a prop guy thinks he's just gotten the cue. "Beam!" he shouts. Said beam slams downward, narrowly missing Vince.
- Vince also had the brainy kid [Patrick Stuart] terrified. So scared he was frozen and wouldn't move his head during the whole episode. During dailies, GL kept muttering loudly, "What's wrong with his neck? Call his teacher! Call his mother! Call anybody who can fix his neck!" Making things worse was the fact that the frightened kid's voice was changing. So everytime he said, "Adama" there would be this big falsetto crack. Very, very, funny. Too bad it wasn't intentional.[1]
Noteworthy Dialogue
- Adama and Zee discuss their predicament regarding Earth:
- Adama: Perhaps we could confer with the leadership on Earth.
- Zee: To negotiate with one faction on Earth is to arouse the mistrust and paranoia of every other. We could inadvertently trigger the final war.
- Adama: So, we have tools we cannot use, medicines we cannot offer, and knowledge we cannot share.
- Zeee: All these things we will give to them. First, we must prepare the way.
Guest Stars
- Allan Miller as Colonel Sydell
- George DeLoy as Doctor Spencer
- Mike Kellin as Stockton
- Fred Holliday as Mr. Brooks
- Carlene Watkins as Nurse Valerie
- Caroline Smith as Bank Teller
- Jack Ging as (unknown)
- Simon Scott as Captain
- Helen Page Camp as Saleslady
- Ken Scott as Co-Pilot
- Mike Brick as Super Scout
- Jeff Cotler as Super Scout
- Nicholas Davies as Super Scout
- Ronnie Densford as Super Scout
- Mark Everett as Super Scout
- Georgi Irene as Super Scout
- Tracy Justrich as Super Scout
- Lindsay Kennedy as Super Scout
- David Larson as Super Scout
- Eric Larson as Super Scout
- Michelle Larson as Super Scout
- Jerry Supiran as Super Scout
- Eric Taslitz as Super Scout
References
- ↑ Larocque, John (28 Feburary 2005). Interview with Galactica 1980 story editor Allan Cole (backup available on Archive.org) (in ). Retrieved on 11 August 2007.