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Splashdown (seaQuest DSV episode)
Encyclopedia
| seaQuest DSV episode | |
| "Splashdown" | |
| Episode no. | 45 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 221 |
| Airdate | May 21, 1995 |
| Writer(s) Screenwriter Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... |
Carelton Eastlake |
| Director Television director A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the... |
Anson Williams Anson Williams Anson Williams is an actor and director, best known for his role as gullible but well intentioned singer Warren "Potsie" Weber on the television series Happy Days.-Biography:... |
| Guest star(s) | Mark Hamill Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord... Kent McCord Kent McCord Kent McCord is an American actor best known for his role as Officer Jim Reed on the television series Adam-12.- Biography :... |
| Year | 2022 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous episode | "Blindsided" |
| Next episode | "Brave New World" |
"Splashdown" is the final episode of seaQuest DSV
SeaQuest DSV
seaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "the near future", seaQuest mixes high drama with realistic scientific fiction...
`s second season. It was originally shown on May 21, 1995; however, due to a preemption by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, it was not aired as the final episode of the season. The preceding episode, "Blindsided", was later aired on September 13, 1995, which makes for severe continuity gaffes.
This episode was written under the belief that the series was not going to be renewed for a third season, thus the apparent destruction of the seaQuest and virtually the entire crew. The series was extended to a third season, but this episode does feature the final regular appearances of Dr. Wendy Smith, Sensor Chief Miguel Ortiz, and Captain Nathan Bridger
Nathan Bridger
Captain Nathan Hale Bridger was a character on the television series seaQuest DSV and was played by Roy Scheider. Within the canon of the series, Bridger was not only the commanding officer of both UEO submarines named seaQuest DSV, but was also the designer of the boats.-Early career:Bridger's...
. The character of Dr. Smith had been unpopular with viewers, so the contract of Rosalind Allen
Rosalind Allen
Rosalind Allen is a New Zealand-born actress best known for her portrayal Doctor Wendy Smith on seaQuest DSV's second season.-Early life:...
was not renewed for the third season of the series. Marco Sanchez
Marco Sanchez
-Life and career:The son of Cuban immigrants, and the youngest of 4 siblings, Marco Sanchez was raised in Palm Desert, California. Having studied theater throughout junior high and high school, he entered the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television in 1988. In the summer of 1989, he studied...
(Ortiz) was released because NBC wished to reduce the number of cast members for the following season. Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
had been very vocal about his displeasure with the show's new direction for the second season and requested to exit the show.
Quick Overview: When the image of Commander Scott Keller pleads with the seaQuest to meet him at the "Christmas Tree Trench", an enormous alien starship draws the boat from the water with a tractor beam and transports the crew millions of light years away to the planet Hyperion; a planet consumed in civil war; a war that may result in the destruction of the seaQuest and the death of the entire crew.
Plot
The episode begins with a recounting of the episode "Dream Weaver."While trying to get Darwin to identify some unknown fish, Lucas is stunned to see the image of Scott Keller appear before him. Scott pleads with the crew for help and requests that they meet him at the "Christmas Tree" as fast as they can.
Captain Bridger orders the seaQuest to the right location, that being the Tonga Trench
Tonga Trench
The Tonga Trench is located in the South Pacific Ocean and is deep at its deepest point, known as the Horizon Deep.The Tonga Trench is a convergent plate boundary. The trench lies at the northern end of the Kermadec-Tonga Subduction Zone, an active subduction zone where the Pacific Plate is being...
; Ford and Keller having nicknamed it the "Christmas Tree" the previous year when the original seaQuest rescued Scott's Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
probe. Upon arrival, Lieutenant O'Neill reports that no signal can be sent out; as if the ship's communication system was being jammed. Before the crew can investigate, it is suddenly rocked. With the ship's systems crashing, the WSKRS reveal that an enormous alien starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
has locked onto the seaQuest with a tractor beam
Tractor beam
A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. Since the 1990s, technology and research has labored to make it a reality, mostly at microscopic level. Less commonly, a similar beam that repels is called a pressor beam or repulsor beam...
which draws the UEO flagship from the sea and into their ship. With the boat in their clutches, the aliens warp away from Earth.
On the seaQuest bridge, O'Neill receives a signal. When he puts it on the viewscreen, the crew is stunned at what they see; that of an alien world and the alien ship taking them into it. The aliens deposit seaQuest into the alien water and Bridger orders the boat to dive to the bottom. But, before the seaQuest can get their bearings, an alien submarine docks with their launch bay.
Rushing to the launch bay, Bridger and the crew are relieved to see the face of Tobias LeConte, the university professor who was in fact an alien in disguise who helped the crew fight an alien invader earlier in the year. Tobias welcomes the crew to the planet Hyperion and introduces them to some of the planet's natives, who beg for the crew's help.
Tobias explains that Hyperion is in a state of civil war, with the ruling party, the KrayTaks planning to wipe out the rebels with the use of a comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
that they plan to crash into their colony. Bridger wonders why they could possibly need the seaQuests help, seeing as how the Hyperion natives clearly have more advanced technology, however, the natives explain that Hyperion was formerly a desert world with no underwater technology; which makes seaQuest as alien to them as their ship is to the seaQuest crew.
The crew is not entirely sure of what to make of the situation, but they quickly come under attack by a ship that Tobias calls a "Kaden"; a warrior submarine. Bridger declares the ship hostile and seaQuest destroys them. A message is sent to the boat with a Stormer claiming that he has a gift for the crew; that being Scott, held hostage. Before Bridger can bargain for his release, the Stormer executes Scott.
Bridger is crushed and feels obligated to help Tobias' rebellion. The Hyperion natives claim they want seaQuest to defend their starship against underwater attack while they use their tractor beams on their ship to tear the comet apart; the debris would scatter the KrayTak space station out of orbit and destroy their hold over the planet.
Lucas is not entirely convinced, however, feeling that everything looks "improvised, but not quite fitting together"; as if everything was more alien than it appears to be. Bridger orders Piccolo and Darwin to investigate the wreckage of the Kaden ship they torpedoed earlier to find some kind of communications device. However, Piccolo and Darwin find more than they bargained for; they find Scott, the real Scott, among the wreckage, running out of air in an environmental suit.
Dr. Smith scans him and finds that he's the real Scott; the execution tape having been faked. Scott explains that seaQuest has been fighting for the wrong side; the Hyperion natives they met earlier were in fact the KrayTaks themselves and they've been using the seaQuest to help them unwittingly crush the rebellion. Scott claims that once the KrayTaks destroy the rebels, they intend to come after Earth. He also claims that the real Tobias has been captured by the KrayTaks and that a Stormer has been impersonating him all along.
The Tobias-clone discovers the real Scott aboard and reverts to his true Stormer appearance. The crew attack him and render him unconscious. They find his communicator and learn that he's been checking in every hour with the KrayTaks. Bridger realizes they must destroy the KrayTaks before they destroy the rebels and seaQuest. He hands over his arming key to Commander Ford and orders him not to surrender the ship.
An away team consisting of Captain Bridger, Scott, Brody, Dr. Smith, Ortiz, Henderson and Piccolo break aboard the KrayTak starship and find the real Tobias held hostage. Tobias claims that there is no time anymore to simply stop the ship; it has become too powerful, and must be destroyed. However, its destruction would mean that seaQuest would be stranded on Hyperion forever. Bridger puts it to a vote and everyone agrees that the ship must be destroyed.
The team sets explosive charges on the ship's power core and heads back to their shuttle. However, they are ambushed by a group of Stormers and KrayTaks, who open fire on the away team. The crew returns fire, but, in doing-so, they give the Stormers the opportunity to toss explosives into their shuttle, which destroys it, cutting the team off from the seaQuest.
Bridger tries to regain contact with his ship, but there is no response. In a last hope, he calls out to Lucas who responds. Lucas wants to come back to save Bridger, but the captain tells him there's nothing he can do. When he inquires as to seaQuests fate, Lucas sadly informs him that the ship has been destroyed. Knowing that the away team is doomed, he says his farewells to Lucas and requests that he tell those who will listen the fate of their crew and ship. Bridger pulls out the detonator and activates the charges; destroying the ship's core and taking the ship with it. Lucas watches on from The Stinger in horror and disbelief; his home and his captain are gone.
On the Hyperion surface, Dagwood and Lucas sit in a lifeboat as Darwin swims beside them. Lucas realizes that since the comet passed over Hyperion without hitting the planet, it means that the rebels have won. Dagwood is uncertain as to what all this means, but Lucas knows; however, he reassures Dagwood that the entire crew of the seaQuest can't be dead. He intends to find fuel for The Stinger and search the sea for survivors. Dagwood wonders what will happen if they don't find any of their crew. All Lucas can suggest is that they help the rebels rebuild their world with the hope that someday they'll be able to return to Earth.
Background
This episode was written under the belief that the series was not going to be renewed for a third season, hence why so many catastrophic events take place, such as the destruction of the seaQuest (which also happened in the first season finale), and the apparent deaths of the entire crew. By the time the episode was produced, both Roy ScheiderRoy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
and Edward Kerr
Edward Kerr
Edward Kerr is an American actor.Raised in Kansas City, Missouri, he attended Rockhurst High School and Vanderbilt University before deciding to pursue an acting career....
had requested to exit the show, hence why Brody is wounded in the climax aboard the Hyperion ship. Ultimately, both actors would be required to make appearances in the third season after NBC decided to renew the show.
While the seaQuest was destroyed in both the first and second season finales, the Stinger survives both ships' annihilation.
Lucas' guess that seaQuest makes a "hyperspace jump
Hyperspace (science fiction)
Hyperspace is a plot device sometimes used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternative region of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device...
" while inside the Hyperion ship is a reference to the faster than light mode of transportation used in Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
(among others). Guest star Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
famously portrayed Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
in the original Star Wars trilogy.
The scene where the Stormer fakes the execution of Scott was filmed on the holographics room set, previously seen in such episodes as "Vapors" and "The Sincerest Form of Flattery." After the transmission to the seaQuest ends, the post-production team deliberately omitted the UEO logo from the traditional "Transmission Ends" screen in order to better reinforce the idea that seaQuest was no longer on Earth.
Quotes
- Tony Piccolo: That's fascinating, Lucas. I'll try to remember that the next time I date an ickyologist.
Lucas: That's icthyologist, Tony.
Tony Piccolo: Not where I'm from.
- Captain Bridger: Whatever you do, don't surrender the seaQuest.
- Lieutenant Brody: You're putting this to a vote? In the navy?
Captain Bridger: You're not in the navy now.
- Captain Bridger: Lucas, Lucas can you hear me?
Lucas: I hear you, Captain. I'm coming back.
Captain Bridger: No, no, there's nothing you can do for us. What's happened to the seaQuest?
Lucas: (sadly) She's down, Captain. She's been hulled.
Captain Bridger: (in shock) We've had it, kiddo. You're on your own now, Lucas. Just don't let them take away what you believe. Do you understand me? Not what you believe! You tell them what's happened here today!
- Lucas: They can't all be dead, Dagwood, okay? They can't be dead. We'll find them. I swear to God, we'll find them.
Dagwood: And if we don't?
Lucas: Then we'll rebuild here. Someday we'll carry their story back to Earth.
| Preceded by: "Blindsided" |
seaQuest DSV episodes | Followed by: "Brave New World" |