Post by William T. Goat, Esq. on Dec 3, 2013 23:07:16 GMT -5
Season 1, Episode 2: Here's Looking at You, Kid
Original airdate: April 1, 1981
The title of this week's episode is a bit of wordplay which may be referring to either Ralph's new superpower (invisibility) or the episode's MacGuffin: an experimental prototype targeting system, which everyone keeps referring to as a gun-sight. Get it? Sight? Looking? Eh, it's a bit of a stretch. An Air Force plane with the prototype on board is stolen and hidden somewhere in the California desert. The case comes to Bill's attention, and it's time for him to pay Ralph another visit.
Ralph is teaching his class about American politics. He seems to be getting through to the students, who are eager to learn and participate: school elections are coming up, and some of the students have apparently taken it upon themselves to form a political party and run for office. Though they aren't necessarily getting the right ideas: Tony takes pride in being the Boss Tweed of the group.
(Speaking of politics--a topic that doesn't come up again until the end of the episode--Two days before this episode aired, President Ronald Reagan was shot by would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. This led to a not-entirely successful attempt to blot out the character Ralph Hinkley's last name from this episode and the rest of the season.)
Bill thinks that the authorities are searching for the stolen plane in the wrong place, so he recruits Ralph's help, which means Ralph can't join Pam to pick up her visiting parents at the airport. He calls Pam to let her know, using the type of high-tech gadget you'd expect an FBI agent like Bill to have: a telephone in his car. A telephone that is mobile? Ha! Those will never catch on, especially not with that terrible sound quality.
Ralph flies over the desert (and crashes a lot) doing a visual search for the plane, keeping in radio contact with Bill via walkie-talkie. They find the plane, but the device has been removed. Putting on the pilot's discarded helmet gives Ralph "vibes" about where the thieves are now, a house known to Bill as "an employment agency" for violent mercenaries. He thinks things night get bloody, but Ralph refuses to kill anyone, so Bill wonders if the suit's powers can be used to retrieve the prototype device in a more stealthy manner.
He suggests that Ralph try telekinesis; instead, Ralph turns invisible. Perfect! They go to the house, intending to sneak in and steal the device back, but Ralph reappears before they can even get out of the car. With his power too unstable, causing him to fade in and out, Ralph instead uses his "holographic vision" to eavesdrop on the thieves' plans: they're going to auction the device later that night, at a nearby "consulate," a location considered to be foreign soil and therefore out of the FBI's jurisdiction.
Ralph's got plenty of time before then to skip out on Bill, and attempt to meet Pam and her parents at the restaurant where they planned to have dinner. Or at least, apologize in person for not being able to join them, because he's still invisible. Until he becomes visible in the restaurant, still wearing the suit. He pretends to be an actor promoting a play, getting himself escorted out.
While Ralph is on his way back to meet Bill at the consulate, Bill is captured. Can Ralph both rescue Bill and steal back the device, relying on his unreliable invisibility power? Spoiler: yes.
The attempt to integrate the classroom storyline is kind of clumsy: Pam's father (Bob Hastings, Commissioner Gordon from Batman: The Animated Series) is the Mayor of his hometown, and at the end he gives a speech to Ralph's class, talking about politics. And there's a brief mention of Ralph's son during the invisibility hijinks in the desert. ("I might lose custody!") According to Wikipedia, Stephen J. Cannell always wanted the show to emphasize the problems of Ralph's everyday life, in contrast to what we expect from a superhero story. At least those elements aren't forgotten, but you can see the writers struggle here.
Stray observations:
- This is the first time that Ralph's "holographic" vision is activated by touching an object that someone else has touched.
- In the classroom, Rhonda's line "Mr. Hinkley" has been sloppily dubbed as "Mr. H." At the airport, Pam's mother (June Lockhart from Lost in Space) says "Ralph Hinkley" twice, but is drowned out by airplane noises.
- But in the classroom speech, Pam's father says "Mr. Hinkley" loud and clear. Oops.
-The interior of the consulate looks suspiciously like the interior of the cult's mansion from the pilot episode.
Original airdate: April 1, 1981
The title of this week's episode is a bit of wordplay which may be referring to either Ralph's new superpower (invisibility) or the episode's MacGuffin: an experimental prototype targeting system, which everyone keeps referring to as a gun-sight. Get it? Sight? Looking? Eh, it's a bit of a stretch. An Air Force plane with the prototype on board is stolen and hidden somewhere in the California desert. The case comes to Bill's attention, and it's time for him to pay Ralph another visit.
Ralph is teaching his class about American politics. He seems to be getting through to the students, who are eager to learn and participate: school elections are coming up, and some of the students have apparently taken it upon themselves to form a political party and run for office. Though they aren't necessarily getting the right ideas: Tony takes pride in being the Boss Tweed of the group.
(Speaking of politics--a topic that doesn't come up again until the end of the episode--Two days before this episode aired, President Ronald Reagan was shot by would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. This led to a not-entirely successful attempt to blot out the character Ralph Hinkley's last name from this episode and the rest of the season.)
Bill thinks that the authorities are searching for the stolen plane in the wrong place, so he recruits Ralph's help, which means Ralph can't join Pam to pick up her visiting parents at the airport. He calls Pam to let her know, using the type of high-tech gadget you'd expect an FBI agent like Bill to have: a telephone in his car. A telephone that is mobile? Ha! Those will never catch on, especially not with that terrible sound quality.
Ralph flies over the desert (and crashes a lot) doing a visual search for the plane, keeping in radio contact with Bill via walkie-talkie. They find the plane, but the device has been removed. Putting on the pilot's discarded helmet gives Ralph "vibes" about where the thieves are now, a house known to Bill as "an employment agency" for violent mercenaries. He thinks things night get bloody, but Ralph refuses to kill anyone, so Bill wonders if the suit's powers can be used to retrieve the prototype device in a more stealthy manner.
He suggests that Ralph try telekinesis; instead, Ralph turns invisible. Perfect! They go to the house, intending to sneak in and steal the device back, but Ralph reappears before they can even get out of the car. With his power too unstable, causing him to fade in and out, Ralph instead uses his "holographic vision" to eavesdrop on the thieves' plans: they're going to auction the device later that night, at a nearby "consulate," a location considered to be foreign soil and therefore out of the FBI's jurisdiction.
Ralph's got plenty of time before then to skip out on Bill, and attempt to meet Pam and her parents at the restaurant where they planned to have dinner. Or at least, apologize in person for not being able to join them, because he's still invisible. Until he becomes visible in the restaurant, still wearing the suit. He pretends to be an actor promoting a play, getting himself escorted out.
While Ralph is on his way back to meet Bill at the consulate, Bill is captured. Can Ralph both rescue Bill and steal back the device, relying on his unreliable invisibility power? Spoiler: yes.
The attempt to integrate the classroom storyline is kind of clumsy: Pam's father (Bob Hastings, Commissioner Gordon from Batman: The Animated Series) is the Mayor of his hometown, and at the end he gives a speech to Ralph's class, talking about politics. And there's a brief mention of Ralph's son during the invisibility hijinks in the desert. ("I might lose custody!") According to Wikipedia, Stephen J. Cannell always wanted the show to emphasize the problems of Ralph's everyday life, in contrast to what we expect from a superhero story. At least those elements aren't forgotten, but you can see the writers struggle here.
Stray observations:
- This is the first time that Ralph's "holographic" vision is activated by touching an object that someone else has touched.
- In the classroom, Rhonda's line "Mr. Hinkley" has been sloppily dubbed as "Mr. H." At the airport, Pam's mother (June Lockhart from Lost in Space) says "Ralph Hinkley" twice, but is drowned out by airplane noises.
- But in the classroom speech, Pam's father says "Mr. Hinkley" loud and clear. Oops.
-The interior of the consulate looks suspiciously like the interior of the cult's mansion from the pilot episode.