The title of this two-part episode is a play on a
DuPont advertising slogan.
DuPont
is a chemical company which enacted the advertising slogan
"Better Things for Better Living...Through Chemistry" in
1935 and which stayed in place until 1982. The variation
"Better Living Through Chemistry" was used by other products
during that time to avoid copyright infringement, and
actually became more well-known than the original, often as a
sarcastic commentary on modern life and commercialism.
This episode is narrated by Morgan. He comments that it is
night 66 on the planet.
Devon refers to the holographic projector built into Yale's
cybernetic arm as a hologrip.
In this episode, the group discovers a mineral known to the
Terrians that is able to absorb and store tremendous amounts
of energy with which it comes into contact (such as lightning)
and then release it in a relatively low, steady quantity.
The mineral comes to be known to the humans as Morganite, in
Morgan Martin's usual propensity to name new discoveries on
the planet after himself (see
Leather Wings). The
Terrians refer to the mineral as sunstones (as revealed in
"Better Living Through Morganite" Part
2).
Although he doesn't say anything, when Devon asks what they
should call the new mineral at 10:35 on the DVD, you can see
Morgan thinking already that it's "Morganite".
The geo-lock unit in
Morgan and Bess' possession in this
episode does not look like the one
they obtained in
"Natural Born Grendlers".
This one is quite a bit larger. It
seems the producers must have
decided to have the prop redesigned,
especially in light of the fact that
"Natural Born Grendlers"
was not shown on the network during
the regular season run, but only
later, during the re-run season, so
the device needed to still be
introduced to the audience. |
 |
 |
Original
geo-lock from
"Natural Born Grendlers" |
Geo-lock in
this episode |
Bess and Morgan test the geo-lock on a small patch of land
first, even though they already did so in
"Natural Born Grendlers".
Again, that episode had not been aired during the regular
season, so the producers may have felt a need to
demonstrate its use to the audience before the episode's
cliffhanger climax. Fortunately, they do also provide a
reason to test it again in that Bess finds the unit to be
leaking when she opens it, possibly due to damage from the
quake earlier in the episode.
It's fairly easy to miss, as the scene goes by so fast, but
at 13:42 on the DVD, notice that Morgan's scarf gets caught
on a tree branch as he and Bess are running from the
expanding geo-lock effects. Then, at 13:58, the scarf is
seen in a petrified form on the tree after the geo-lock
effect has completed. (Although, notice the scarf gets hung
up in the branches at about shoulder level to Morgan, but
after petrifaction it is only a little above waist level.)
At about 16:09 on the DVD, the boom microphone recording the
actors is seen quickly dipping below the top of the screen.
As Danziger dismisses the small group he has gathered to
decide how to monitor Yale, he says, "All right. Take your
full five. I'll see you out there." I'm not sure what he
means by "full five". Anyone out there know?
At 34:56 on the DVD, during Yale's
flashback, notice that the logo on
the wall behind the terrified woman
is the same one on the greenhouse
exterior in the Eden Advance group's winter camp,
which was indicative of a group of
outlawed biologists from the
stations. This is why he was able to
recognize the logo from his own
memory rather than from his
databank, as he was surprised to
realize in
"Moon Cross".
|
 |
 |
Logo in Yale's
flashback |
Logo on
greenhouse in
"Moon
Cross" |
In Yale's flashback, the biologists ask him for sanctuary
under the Federal Agreement of Science. Whatever that is.
Losing control of himself in his fear that he may be
reverting to a criminal mindset, Yale smashes his cybernetic
arm against a tree, causing what appears to be significant
damage to the prosthetic. Was he able to repair it for later
use beyond the basic grasping function of the hand?
Considering the geo-lock is shown here as capable of
petrifying anything animate or inanimate for a diameter of
at least up to a kilometer, are there any measures in place
on the devices to prevent them from being used as weapons?
It seems that with one of these, you could petrify an enemy
from a distance before they even had any idea you were
around.
Memorable Dialog
that big elephant in the middle of the room.wav
that's what scares me.wav
the one thing I liked about this place.wav
you people embrace every new thing without thinking.wav
we'll call it Morganite.wav
I should be so lucky.wav
rabid animals.wav
Morganite.wav
a few good anecdotes.wav
to the survivor go the spoils.wav
right and wrong.wav
an artificially rehabilitated criminal like all the
others.wav
Back to Earth 2
Episode Studies