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| Production 41223 Original Airdate: November 22, 1974 | |||
 Steve makes peace
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| Produced by Lionel E. Siegel and Joe L. Cramer | |||
| Written by Wilton Denmark | |||
| Directed by Christian I. Nyby, II | |||
| Guest Cast | |||
| Guest Star(s) Clifton James as Walter 'Shadetree' Burns Jack Ging as Ted Collins Robert Symonds as Jay Rogers | |||
| Co-starring Lara Parker as Andrea Collins Jack Manning as Carl Amison | |||
| With William Scherer as Simcon | |||
| Broadcast Order | |||
| Season 2 | |||
| ← Previous | Next → | ||
| "The Midas Touch" | "Act of Piracy" | ||
| Related episodes The Six Million Dollar Man (1973) | |||
Summary
Steve Austin visits old friend Jay Rodgers at Edwards AFB, and Jay convinces Steve to fly the HL-10 again. The HL-10 was the experimental lifting body he was piloting when he had his accident two years ago (The Six Million Dollar Man). Oscar Goldman tries to talk him out of it, suggesting there may have been foul play in Steve's accident, and not to tempt fate. Steve is undeterred and begins preparation while getting reacquainted with some old NASA friends.
He soon discovers he must prove himself in the simulator before making the flight. Was the accident a malfunction or pilot error? A man is heard giving orders to stop Steve and the mission, but neither he nor the person he is addressing are revealed. Steve's prior romance with Ted Collins' wife, Andrea, creates tension between the men, which flares into violence in the parking lot. Steve handles Ted easily while keeping a low profile.
The next day is the simulator, where Steve will be monitored while he simulates his last mission - the one that almost killed him. Steve becomes erratic while in the simulator and passes out. Suspecting he was drugged, Austin convinces Goldman to permit him another attempt, but secretly, in case he is being targeted. He passes the simulator and the mission is a "go." Though the colonel correctly suspects sabotage, he decides to go forward.
During the flight, as he begins his descent from max altitude, the stick slams forward as Steve activates the altitude control. He must fight thousands of pounds of pressure to pull the stick back and keep the nose up for landing. Victorious, Steve lands to the news that one of their own team, Carl Amison, had been working against them. In addition, they know now that sabotage had also caused the accident two years previously. Realizing that the HL-10 bore no blame for his troubles, Steve takes a moment with the HL-10, alone.
Memorable Quotes
Rogers: The HL-10. We rebuilt it from scratch. Modern technology can do wonders today.
Steve: Yes, I know.
Oscar: You are more to us, Steve, than just a man on the payroll. You're—
Steve: A six million dollar investment?
Oscar: I was gonna say 'friend.'
Steve: I'm sorry Oscar, I didn't mean that.
Ted: You've, eh, got a pretty good grip.
Steve: Well, it comes from squeezing a lot of orange juice.
Shadetree: She looks like a changed person. What did you do?
Steve: I blew out a candle.
Shadetree: I feel like a long-tailed cat in room full of rockin' chairs.
Oscar: I couldn't have said that any better myself, Shadetree.
Oscar: Well, I didn't expect to find you in the rooting section, Ted.
Ted: I may not like him down on the ground, probably never will, but when he's up there, he's the man; dig it?
Oscar: Dig it.
Shadetree: Buddy, you are luckier than a skinny turkey at Thanksgiving.
Retroactive Continuity
- The name of the plane in which Steve survived his infamous crash is revealed to be the HL-10 — which is the actual name of the aircraft featured in this episode. It was also used in the original pilot movie but never identified, so no conflict there. However, it does contradict the fictional M3-F5 designation Martin Caidin gave the plane in his original Cyborg novel. But Caidin's choice will make a retcon comeback in the first reunion movie, wherein Steve refers to his "M3-F5 crash."
NOTE: The actual plane seen crashing in the pilot movie, main titles, and episode flashbacks, is the M2-F2. While both the HL-10 and M2-F2 are featured interchangeably in archival flight footage, only the HL-10 is used in scenes with actors. See our full article on the NASA Lifting Body.
Trivia
Story
- The cause of Steve's original crash is revealed to be sabotage. This revelation is unique to the TV series and is not in the original novels.
- The original crash is also a plot point of "Second Chance," the principal story in issue #3 of the Charlton Six Million Dollar Man comic book in which Steve travels back through time and tries to prevent his fateful flight.
- The gag involving Austin bionically hitting a golf ball is a partial reprise of a similar gag in Wine, Women and War where he accidentally used his bionics. Here, he does it on purpose.
- This episode is one of the most "bionic-lite" in the canon, with only a few minor uses of his bionic arm before its major use with the control stick, and no use of his bionic legs or eye at all.
Locations
- Scenes taking place on the flight line were filmed at the NASA Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. This is the same location where the actual M2F2 crash, as seen in the opening credits and in the flashback scenes, occurred in 1967. The flight center is NASA's premier site for aeronautical research and home of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747 (seen pre-modification in this episode) that carries the space shuttle orbiter back to Kennedy Space Center when it lands in California. The center was renamed "Dryden Flight Research Center" in 1976, after this episode was filmed.
Props
- Steve wears a 1975 NASA Flight Research Center patch on his left breast of his white flight suit during this episode.[1]
Nitpicks
- "The Moon and the Desert," the syndicated version of The Six Million Dollar Man (1973), draws on "The Deadly Replay" for footage in such a way as to make elements of the second flight retroactively part of the first.
- Andrea gives no indication of knowing that Steve is bionic, despite the fact that, as the medical officer, she had to have figured it out when she applied the measuring instruments to Steve.
- Andrea and Steve appear to have been romantically involved at the time of his crash, yet the pilot film makes no reference to this as Steve seems quite happy to take up with Jean Manners (or, depending on which continuity you follow, Carla Peterson).
Gallery
