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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr
enik1138 at popapostle dot com
V: The Wildcats V
"The Wildcats"
Written by David Braff
Directed by John Florea
Original Airdate: February 15, 1985

The Resistance battles a diphtheria epidemic; Diana and Lydia learn that as the only suspects in the murder of Charles, they must accompany his body forever in a burial in space.

Read the summary of this episode at V: The Series Interactive Website

Didja Notice? 

At the very beginning of the episode, Willie and Elizabeth are in a van being chased by a Visitor squad in a Jeep. The Jeep appears to be following very closely behind the van and yet their shots from the mounted laser cannon still miss!
Visitor chase

The van is possibly a 1975-1978 model Ford Econoline. The opening chase scenes show the van with no front license plate, but later in the episode, it has CA plate C73568Z.

At 2:39 on the DVD, Kyle is supposed to be firing his MAC-10 machine pistol at the Visitor Jeep that is pursuing Willie and Elizabeth's van...but notice that his gun is angled down towards the ground!

Kyle tells Julie that the latest casualty was picked up at Angel's Crest. I'm unaware of a place with that name in California.

Julie is leading a fight against a diphtheria epidemic in a valley north of L.A. Diphtheria is a respiratory illness that is highly contagious and can lead to death.

Julie asks for ampicillin for the patient. Ampicillin is a type of penicillin that is effective against Gram-negative bacteria, whereas traditional penicillin is effective only against Gram-positive bacteria.

Near the beginning of the episode, Kyle mentions that Donovan is on a refinery raid. Presumably this is a Visitor refinery...but a refinery of what? Gasoline?

Widow's Canyon is mentioned as the home of the Wildcats gang. I'm unaware of a place with that name in California.

At 6:00 on the DVD, Andy's car is an (aproximately) 1978 Pontiac Trans Am.

At 7:52 on the DVD, there is Visitor writing on the monitor but it is too far away to make out the characters.

At 7:58 on the DVD, there is some Visitor artwork on a wall within a room of the mothership. Is the image meant to be of buildings on the Visitor homeworld?
Visitor artwork

Philip's equipment has detected fingerprints on the bottle of cat poison that was used to kill Charles and it eventually incriminates Marta, the ship's pharmacist. But she and Lydia (the purchaser of the poison) were both wearing the dermoplast skin of their human disguises when they handled the bottle. Do the dermoplast hand coverings have unique fingerprints of their own on them? If so, the unique fingerprint design must be assigned to a specific Visitor individual in order to identify them.

When the monitor screen of the fingerprint identifier brings up the image of the possessor of the fingerprints, it shows a reptilian face, which none of the assembled recognize. Philip then asks if it can be brought more clearly into focus. But instead of focus, the machine overlays the individual's human likeness over the reptilian face.

At 9:30 on the DVD, the Visitor van is a Ford Econoline with CA license plate 2E95794.

At 10:14 on the DVD, Ellen explains how she and her brother's parents were rounded up by the Visitors one day and mentions the same happened to Bart and Andy, adding, "They even got Andy's little brother." This is a foreshadowing of the revelation to come regarding Andy.

The Wildcats wield mostly Kalashnikov automatic rifles, but Andy wields an M16 and Bart a MAC-10.

Julie is packing her usual Heckler & Koch P9S.

At about 12:12 on the DVD, when the Wildcats throw their two grenades at the exit of the Visitor warehouse as Visitor soldiers try to come out, the explosions do not occur where the grenades landed!

At 12:19 on the DVD, there are several sheets of paper with Visitor writing on them but they are too far away to make out the characters.

James tells Philip that Julie Parrish has been spotted in the Lassen Valley. This is possibly a reference to an area of Lassen County in northern California.

At 16:04 on the DVD, there is Visitor writing under Julie's picture on the monitor. V writing

Man, the Visitors are really pathetic in this episode! They have traps set for the resistance twice and they still manage to lose them!

At 24:30 on the DVD, Willie speaks Visitorese to distract the lizard soldier who has grabbed Ellen. He seems to say, "Hilgah! Relsap! Hyah!" The soldier possibly answers him in Visitorese as well; it's hard to make out what he says. The strange thing is the guard doesn't seem to know where the voice is coming from even though Willie is only hiding behind the tree right next him...I guess Willie knows how to throw his voice! Anyway, listen: Visitorese

Notice also that a big branch just happens to be leaning up against the tree for Willie to use to brain the soldier; he didn't carry it over there with him. What would he have done if that branch weren't there?

At 26:31 on the DVD, Tony's dune buggy is seen to have a Wesco sticker near the left front tire.

An NGK spark plug guide is seen on the door of the Wildcats clubhouse at 27:22 on the DVD.

At 36:15-36:30 on the DVD, Elizabeth appears to be floating in a standing position as she leads the others through the woods to the missing Ellen. Her feet aren't seen from the camera's position in the woods, but she seems to be moving too smoothly to be walking, in contrast to those following her. I guess her powers that are leading her to Ellen are floating her there.

During the final shootout with the Visitors, Ellen is armed with an Ithaca 37 shotgun.

At 42:16 on the DVD, the edge of the microphone is briefly visible at the top of the screen.

When Andy rams the Visitors' truck with his car, creating a tremendous explosion, it's obvious the two vehicles haven't even struck each other yet! Not only that but, apparently, the explosion took out not just the truck but also the Visitor Jeep and van following it. Unlikely, to say the least.

Donovan appears to set his plane on autopilot and, before bailing out, says, "Give 'em a good chase, baby!" But then the plane appears to nosedive and crash mere moments later! 

Many of the Visitors present at Charles' funeral are wearing sashes that are almost Klingon looking!
Visitor sashes Visitor sashes

The muscled Visitor banging the gong at Charles' funeral has strange tattoos on his chest, back, and arms. One of the tattoos on his chest appears to be a snake, keeping with the Visitors' reptile theme.

At 45:08 on the DVD, preparing to send Charles and Marta into the void, Philip speaks Visitorese in an authoritative voice...and the assemblage of Visitors mumbles half-heartedly in response! It's rather amusing. Listen: Philip and riveted audience

Memorable Dialog

gifted.wav
I hereby pronounce you guilty.wav
where did you learn to talk lizard.wav
you're too kind.wav

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