Mindset

Season 2, Episode 6
Air date	November XX, 1994
Written by	Mark Edens Shari Goodhartz
Storyboards by	Gerry Acerno
Episode guide
Previous	Expendable
Next	The Last Man

"Mindset" is the 6th episode of the second season of Exosquad.

Summary

Marsh and Marsala coordinate with the Chicago resistance to free the imprisoned members of the Homeworlds Congress. Napier encounters Amanda Connor, his ex-wife, who is conducting interviews there.

Synopsis

Click HERE of a detailed synopsis of "Mindset"

Characters

• J.T. Marsh
• Marsala
• Sean Napier
• Eve Hanley
• Amanda Connor
• Phaeton
• Shiva
• Stentor

Quotes

• A Neo guard instructing two Terrans while the Amanda Conner Show is being filmed:

"Play. Over there where the camera can see you. And have fun!"

• A Neo officer, when Amanda Conner asks about the commotion that had been caused by an escape attempt:

"Only a minor jet-ski accident -- nothing serious, but I'm afraid you'll have to finish your interviews tomorrow."

• Napier to Marsh, after Marsh was surprised that he and Amanda knew each other:

"Oh yeah. Did I forget to mention my lovely ex-wife is a traitor to the entire human race?"

• Amanda, after J.T. tells Napier she shouldn't be killed for her mistake in siding with the Neos:

"Oh Sean never makes mistakes, he's so sure he's perfect."

Significant events, revelations, and other notes

• The deposed members of the Homeworlds Congress have been freed.
• Napier's comments to the senators about the Terran government losing touch with the common public are demonstrated throughout the series.
  • They ignored the rage that many Neosapiens felt about their treatment before and after both revolts.
  • They ignored Phaeton's activities, it was Gidas who uncovered Phaeton's plans for creating the Neosapien Commonwealth.
  • They refused to honor the 'labor for liberty' deal, which resulted in the creation of the Pirate Clans. They then covered up the truth from the common public.
  • They refused to declare war on the Pirate Clans until the attacks reached the breaking point.
  • They refused to build Algernon's inventions and contributed to his loss of interest in society.
  • They slashed Exofleet's research and development budget. In "Hidden Terrors", Marsh orders a retreat when confronted with the pirate's holographic camouflage.
  • They slashed the overall military budget. Without Exofleet the Homeworlds were quickly conquered. This means that there was no military reserve force, such as the National Guard.
  • They allowed Exofleet to weaken its standards for officer selection and promotion, as seen with Furlong and Marcus.
  • They allowed Exofleet to weaken its training regime, the Exocarrier Defiant was destroyed by a pirate ambush. During the Battle of Enceladus, Exofleet suffered heavy damage to several ships. Many Exofleet captains did not display competent tactical, strategic, and/or logistical ability.
  • The anger shown by the resistance movements towards Exofleet could have been avoided if the local governments and Exofleet had been better supplied.
    • The resistance movements could have gotten their weapons from a local weapons complex and not been forced to steal the majority of their supplies.
    • Exofleet would have had Algernon's weapons, more ships, more bases, and better trained officers. That would have allowed for easier victories and more coordination with the resistance groups.
• The writers used the wrong person for Marsala’s quote. It was not Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord. It was said by Georges Clemenceau.
  • There are several variations of his quote.
    • “La guerre! C’est une chose trop grave pour la confier à des militaires.”
    • “War is much too important a matter to be left to the generals.”
    • “War is much too serious a matter to be entrusted to the military.”
    • “War is too important a matter to be left to the military.”
    • “War is too important to be left to the generals.”
    • “War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men.”
    • “War is too serious a matter to leave to soldiers.”
  • Another historical mistake is made in "Fifth Column".
• For all of the anti-Terran propaganda spoken by the Neosapien leadership, many of them have studied terran history.
  • “A Traitor Among Us”: the shuttle pilots ridicule beliefs such as the sun god and the Tooth Fairy.
  • “Mindset”: Marsala quotes Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (it should have been Georges Clemenceau).
  • “The Dream War”, “No Surrender”: Marsala and J.T. Marsh tell Sean Napier about Douglas MacArthur's “I came through and I shall return.” speech after his escape from the Philippines.
  • “Fire Ship”: Typhonus tells Barca the history of the fire ship and the hellburners.
  • “The Price of Courage”: Phaeton tells Shiva the story of Julius Caesar and his decision to cross the Rubicon River and march against the capital of Rome. Both Phaeton and Shiva say the quote “The die is cast.”
  • “The Art of War”: Livia sees art as useful for understanding Terran psychology and psychiatry.
  • “Fifth Column”, “Abandon Hope”: Phaeton’s bunker has the phrase “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” (“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”), which is from Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”.
• Napier's remark, "One thing you can say for Phaeton, he makes the magnotrains run on time." is reminiscent of how Benito Mussolini was described.
• There are still signs that refer to Chicago as Chicago, not Phaeton City. There are 1 of 3 reasons.
  • Phaeton has been forced to focus on problems such as the Neosapien War and destroying the Earth Resistance. He does not have time for a search and destroy operation.
  • Phaeton knows about the signs, but does not see them as a symbol of defiance. The signs are only destroyed when discovered.
  • Phaeton does not want to further inflame anti-Neosapien opinion. Leaving the signs intact is a low level compromise. For every written reference to Chicago, there are certainly many more to Phaeton City.
    • A similiar situation is seen with the Imperial Palace and the Armand Isard Correctional Facility in the "Star Wars" media. The New Republic's attempts to rename the buildings never work. Both the public and goverment documents use the Imperial names.
• Miami has been renamed Shiva Central Harbor.
• Stentor, the Neo announcer for The Amanda Show, is likely named for the Greek herald in the Trojan War. According to Homer's Iliad, his voice was as loud as that of fifty men combined, and gives us the English adjective stentorian.
• Amanda Connor has been imprisoned, and The Amanda Show, which was useful to Phaeton as a propaganda machine, has been canceled.
• Eve Hanley has been named leader of the Chicago resistance.
• Phaeton is losing patience with Shiva.

Season 2

"The Gathering" • "The Embassy" • "Pirate's Ransom" • "Ultimate Weapon" • "Expendable" • "Mindset" • "The Last Man" • "Dragon's Rock" • "Inner Dark" • "The Dogs of War" • "The First Step" • "The Greatest Fear" • "Flesh Crawls" • "Behind the Shield" • "Venus Rising" • "Miracle" • "Under the Skin" • "Ultimatum" • "Warrior Brood" • "The Dream War" • "No Surrender" • "Fire Ship" • "Martian Luck" • "The Lost Patrol" • "Call of the Unknown" • "Heart of Mars" • "Winged Fury" • "Night of the Traitor" • "Trial by Combat" • "The Perfect Warrior" • "The Price of Courage" • "Dark River" • "The Art of War" The Fall of the Neosapien Empire "One Small Step" • "Fifth Column" • "The Last Jump" • "The Night Before Doomsday" • "Abandon Hope" "Beyond Chaos"