Scorched Venus

Season 1, Episode 8
Air date	November 6, 1993
Written by	Mark Edens
Storyboards by	Gerry Acerno
Episode guide
Previous	A Traitor Among Us
Next	Sabotage

"Scorched Venus" is the 8th episode of season 1 of Exosquad.

Summary

Marsala saves the container full of exiles, which also contained Marsh and DeLeon, from falling into the sun. They crash land on Venus. Elsewhere on Venus, the remainder of Able Squad searches for Lt. Burns, who has gone back to her home and learned that her parents were killed. Neo e-frames attack Marsh, Alec, and Marsala, who are saved by resistance fighters. Once taken back to the resistance camp, James Burns contacts the Neos, offering to trade the three exotroopers for three months of food.

Synopsis

Click HERE of a detailed synopsis of "Scorched Venus"

Characters

• J.T. Marsh
• Alec DeLeon
• Marsala
• Nara Burns
• Wolf Bronski
• James Burns
• Diana
• Algernon
• Xenobius
• Draconis
• Shiva

Quotes

• When Marsala enters the space tug control center, so that he can rescue J.T. and Alec:

Pilot: "You are not authorized to be on the bridge."
Marsala (pulling out a gun): "Perhaps this will be sufficient authorization."
Pilot (angered): "What is this?!"
Marsala (still calm): "I believe it is called a hijacking."

• Alec DeLeon's E-frame and Wolf Bronski, on Venus' surface:

Bronski: "I'm lucky just to be alive in this walking computer bank!"
E-frame: "More skillful piloting would render luck unnecessary."

• Xenobius, when Draconis suggests that his Terran assistant Algernon (who is the true inventor of the GRAF shield) is not respectful enough and should be replaced,

"Yes, well, Algernon has his uses in the lab."

• As J.T., Alec, and Marsala prepare to continue their mission, they discuss what to do with Diane.

Marsh: "Well unless someone has plans to execute her..."
DeLeon: "If you really mean that I..." (cut off by Neo attack)

Significant events, revelations, and other notes

• We see from Nara's parents' tombstones that the Neosapien War began in 2119.
• Algernon’s Hologram/virtual reality painting may be a reference to him being a polymath and Renaissance Man. In addition to his work on the GRAF Shield, he also shows expertises in several other areas.
• Algernon calls Xenobius an Alpha Neosapien. He says the alphas were "designed for intelligence".
  • Enleal's reference to Xenobius as an Alpha Neosapien ("Behind the Shield") may indicate a stratification of Neo sapien society on a parallel with the genetically engineered culture in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World. In that classic novel an individual's status as a member of the intellectual or menial class (or any of the ones in between) was determined by the genetic code from which he or she was created. If the comparison is valid it may also explain why the Neosapien belief in genetic superiority is a common one.
  • The failure of the Alphas to be creative is probably what led to the creation of the Neo Megas.
• The GRAF Shield and Xenobius are treated with suspicion during their initial deployments and first activations. This could be because the generals are wary of Phaeton using the shield against them.
  • "Target: Earth" -- Shiva makes an indirect threat to Xenobius if the shield fails to work.
  • "Scorched Venus" -- Draconis tells Xenobius to get the shield online despite the lack of field testing.
  • "Sabotage" -- Phaeton says he spent billions for the GRAF Shield's research and development. This could be the reason for the earlier resentment. It diverted funding from other military projects and/or the shipbuilding programs.
• J.T., Alec, and Marsala land on Venus to continue their mission.
• We see that there is some resistance on Venus, and that it is led by Nara's brother James.
• We learn that Draconis is attempting to starve Terrans into submission, and is nearly succeeding.
• Diana surrenders to the Neo sapiens, Shiva tells Draconis to listen to her and take her to Xenobius.
• Draconis shows that he has an ego, and seems to feel some resentment towards his superiors.
  • His ego was first seen in "Blitzkrieg" when he attempted to claim credit for the victory on Venus.
  • It later episodes such as "Dragon's Rock" and "Miracle" this has escalated to preparing or committing outright mutiny.
• Nara Burns finds her parents' graves, but also a message from her brother James.
• We again see hatred of the ExoFleet by a resistance group.
• The Neosapiens patrolling outside the GRAF shield facility have some kind of robotic dogs with them; obviously, since real dogs hate Neosapiens, this makes sense, but one has to wonder what purpose they serve.
  • Perhaps they have superior mobility for attack or their sensor systems are superior to a Neosapien's senses.

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"