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.	1.5
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	1980-03-23
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate
DVD release
Population	survivors
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
The Super Scouts, Part I	The Super Scouts, Part II	Spaceball
[[IMDB:tt{{{imdb}}}|IMDb entry]]
Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
			@ BW Media
Promotional Materials
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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, the sheriff asks Collins if he said something. Collins replies in the negative, but notes the campfire, which is neatly doused. The sheriff, 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 the sheriff mentions that he'll eat his hat if they are boy scouts, an apple is dropped on his head. The sheriff 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.
• The sheriff mentions that he's going to seal off the entire county. After this is said, the officers are deluged by half-eaten apples.
• The sheriff asks about the laughter, Collins replies that it came from nowhere. The sheriff 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. The sheriff 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. The sheriff scoffs that as garbage. Colliins speculates that some creatures may have landed and have stolen the bodies of the kids. The sheriff 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.
• The sheriff 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".
• The sheriff summons Colonel Sydell to the Sheriff's Office. The sheriff closes the door to his office and, off the record, says there's something going on in Paradise Valley. Sydell encourages the sheriff 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 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 the lackey into a pile of brush. Dillon turns to Troy after the lackey 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 the sheriff 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 the sheriff'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 the sheriff, 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 the sheriff'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 the sheriff 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 3

• The reason for the river having become polluted is determined to be the result of a local manufacturing plant is fouling the water supply.

• Jamie Hamilton interviews the proprietor, Mr. Stockton, an unsympathetic industrialist, and comes away unimpressed.

• In the meantime, some of the plant workers confront Troy and Dillon, who simply toss them aside using their super strength.

• The three ill Super Scouts are getting worse. Dr. Spencer is intrigued when his microscope readings on Moonstone produce some most interesting results. It soon becomes clear to him that Troy and Dillon, and the kids, are not from Earth.

• Aboard Galactica, Doctor Zee and Commander Adama realize they have no choice but to rush into service their latest creation, an anti-gravity ship which happens to be shaped like a flying saucer.

• There is only one of these ships to hand, and the only person who understands it fully is Dr Zee, who thus insists on going to Earth with it.

• Troy and Dillon drive the sick kids to a place to rendezvous with the saucer craft, and they bring Stockton along.

• Colonel Sydell and the local Sheriff have picked up the trail and follow Troy and Dillon.

• The anti-gravity ship descends to Earth, and Stockton is scared stiff.

• Adama emerges from the craft and greets Troy, addressing him as Boxey.

• With no time to lose, Galactica's medical team attends to the kids, while Stockton is brought onto the bridge of the saucer to be shown the error of his ways.

• Dr. Zee shows Stockton a glimpse into his own future, a shows video of Stockton weeping at the funeral of Stockton's own son who was poisoned by chemicals from the plant.

• The crew of the anti-gravity ship detects police approaching and prepares to launch.

• All that police find when they finally reach the top of the mountain is a bewildered Stockton.

Questions

• Why wouldn't the Colonials make use of time travel to prevent the destruction of the Colonies in the first place?

Notes

• 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".

Guest Stars

• 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
• Mike Brick 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

Original Series definition: marriage

Re-imagined Series definition: the process of using the FTL engines to make an near-instantaneous apparent faster-than-light transport of a ship from one point in space to another

Galactica 1980 definition:  a member of the Fleet; Hamilton first uses the term when replying to Stockwell's question regarding Xavier's affiliation (1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II")