Characters appearing or mentioned in this story

 

Marty McFly

Doc Brown

Artie McFly

Kid Tannen

George McFly

Daniel J. Parker, Sr.

Edna Strickland

teenage Emmett

Einstein

Zane Williams

Matches

Cue Ball Donnely

Trixie Trotter (later revealed to be Sylvia McFly née Miskin)

Herbert Hoover (mentioned only)

Jules Brown (mentioned only)

Verne Brown (mentioned only)

Lorraine McFly

Cliff Tannen

Riff Tannen

J.J. Valenti (mentioned only)

Jennifer Parker (mentioned only)

Ernest Philpott
Eunice

The Shrew (mentioned only, deceased)

Checkerboard Charlie (mentioned only, deceased)
Louie the Louse (mentioned only, deceased)
Bucktooth Langley (mentioned only, deceased)
Chuckles LeNart (mentioned only, deceased)

Betty Lapinski (Danny Parker, Sr.'s girlfriend, mentioned only)

 

Didja Notice?

 

1931

 

Marty fuels the Mr. Fusion on the DeLorean with an empty bottle of McDermott's Canadian Whiskey and a crumpled piece of paper. McDermott's is a fictitious brand of whiskey.

 

Officer Parker remarks that Doc's car (the DeLorean) looks like something out of Buck Rogers. He is, of course, referring to the famous science-fiction character of Buck Rogers, first appearing in 1929 in a comic strip titled Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D.

 

The DeLorean keys Doc tosses to Marty are on a keychain advertising New Deal Used Cars. This is not the same keychain for the DeLorean ignition seen in Back to the Future. The dealer name seen here was the name of the dealership in the 1980 film Used Cars, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. This may be meant to imply that Doc bought the DeLorean at this used car lot, though "Science Project" implies he bought it from a classified ad in the newspaper from a man named Robert.

 

Teen Emmett remarks that the rocket-powered drill will require 1.21 kilowatts of power. This is, of course, a play on the flux capacitor of the time machine requiring 1.21 gigawatts of power.

 

Re-election posters for President Herbert Hoover are seen in Hill Valley. A campaign slogan on the poster reads, "A chicken in every pot." Hoover was the 31st president of the United States. The "chicken in every pot" slogan was used in a Republican flier on behalf of the Hoover campaign of 1928, not really used in the 1931 re-election campaign.

 

When Kid Tannen tells Trixie to take a powder while he discusses business with Artie, she says "kayo". This is a sort of reverse way of saying "okay".

 

After Artie is chloroformed by Cue Ball, Matches refers to Artie as Sleeping Beauty, referring to the character in the classic tale first published by Charles Perrault in 1697.

 

Marty refers to the portrait artist Zane as Picasso. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century, known for a wide variety of styles in many forms of art.

 

While he is half recovered from the chloroform, Artie sings lyrics from the 1929 song "Happy Days Are Here Again" recorded by Leo Reisman.

 

Marty remarks that his grandmother (Artie's wife-to-be) is named Sylvia. This was first revealed in the novelization of Back to the Future.

 

1986

 

When Marty returns to 1986 and encounters resistance from his father to letting him into the house, he says, "I've got a bad feeling about this." This may be a nod to the oft-repeated line in the Star Wars saga.

 

Marty finds an Electro Zapper bug zapper hanging on the porch of the McFly household. This is a fictitious brand of bug zapper.

 

J.J. Valenti is mentioned by Biff as the don of a Sacramento crime family. The writers likely borrowed the name from Jack Joseph Valenti, the longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

 

The license plate on Kid Tannen's limo is TANNEN 1.

 

The day's issue of the Hill Valley Telegraph (May 15, 1986) reports that the Tannen Family is implicated in robbing the Starbase Zero arcade.

 

The DeLorean is seen to now have a gauge on the dashboard monitoring the power level of the Mr. Fusion.

 

1931

 

Doc remarks that his face is known from Hill Valley to Reno as the (false) arsonist of the speakeasy. Reno is a city in Nevada known for its casino industry. Doc's comment may suggest that Hill Valley is closer to Reno than Las Vegas, plus Reno lies at the foot of the Nevada section of the Sierra Nevada mountains, in which Hill Valley is known to lie (according to the map seen in Back to the Future Part III). Also, street signs in Back to the Future show that Hill Valley lies on Highway 395, which also passes through Reno.

 

A banner for Hill Valley Expo '31 is now hanging across Main Street. It advertises the expo to take place October 12-15. This would be a Monday-Thursday in 1931, which seems odd that it wouldn't encompass a weekend to allow more people to attend on their days off from work.

 

An advertisement for Meat-Soda is painted on the side of a building in the style of Coca-Cola! It reads "Drink Meat-Soda please". 

 

Teen Emmett's rocket car experiment ends up crashing into a billboard for Cocoa-Cup. This appears to be a fictitious product. The slogan on the billboard reads, "Sleep Tight with Cocoa-Cup," which may suggest the product here is a parady of the real world brand, Ovaltine, which was also said to promote good sleep (due to its high magnesium content).     The rocket car crashes into the billboard in the middle of the full moon image. It's an homage to the 1902 French science-fiction/satire silent film, A Trip to the Moon, in which the protagonists launch their rocket to the moon and crash right into the right eye of the so-called Man in the Moon.
Cocoa-Cup billboard	A Trip to the Moon (1902 film)	Outline of the Man in the Moon by Luc Viatour (from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

 

Doc tells Marty he hid the DeLorean in the DeSoto lot. DeSoto was an automobile marque manufactured and marketed as its own division of Chrysler from 1928 to 1961. Later, "Double Visions" reveals that the DeSoto lot is Statler DeSoto.

 

Teen Emmett tells Marty that Trixie is known as the Songbird of the Sierras, the Nightingale of the North, and the Floozy of the Foothills.

 

Part of the code phrase to get into the El Kid speakeasy is "Ulysses S. Grant". Grant (1822-1885) was the victorious Union general in the Civil War and, subsequently, the 18th president of the United States.

 

    In this video game, Marty has a number of options in answer to a name he is asked for. "The Old Gray Mare" is the name of a folk song from 19th Century United States. Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) was a Dutch painter known for his detailed and fantastical religious art. Joe Piscopo is a comedian best known for his stint on the TV sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1980–1984. Bruce Springsteen has been a rock 'n' roll singer/songwriter/musician since 1969. Doris Day (1922–2019) was an American actress and singer. Boss Hogg is the fictional greedy, unethical commissioner of Hazzard County in the 1979-1985 TV series The Dukes of Hazzard.

    One of the answers Marty tries to another question ("What will you do if I let you in?") is "Leggo your Eggo." "Leggo my Eggo" is a slogan used by Eggo frozen waffles since 1972.

 

Kid Tannen calls his new speakeasy "El Kid", likely a play on "El Cid", a Castilian knight of medieval Spain who has become a popular folk hero. His real name was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043–1099).

 

Somehow, Marty's made-up, nonsensical answers to the code questions at the door of El Kid get him in.

 

Kid Tannen introduces Trixie as "the hottest little number this side of the Rockies." "The Rockies" is a nickname for the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado.

 

The first song Trixie performs is "I Don't Care" from 1905. A sheet music booklet for it is seen in the music stack next to the piano with the correct credits of lyrics by Jean Lenox and music by Harry O. Sutton.

 

Kid Tannen asks Trixie to do the can-can because the boys like the way it shows off her assets. This is a music-hall dance that originated in France in the 1840s involving a vigorous lifting and swirling of a female dancer's skirt and petticoat.

 

Trixie tells Marty that the information she has could be enough to send Kid Tannen to the Big House. "Big House" is a slang term for "prison".

 

Marty asks Trixie if she knows "Sister Christian" or "Stairway to Heaven". She tells him she doesn't do hymns. "Sister Christian" is a 1984 song by the American rock band Night Ranger and "Stairway to Heaven" a 1971 song by British rock band Led Zeppelin.

 

At El Kid, Marty briefly starts to sing "Johnny B. Goode" before being told to get off the stage. "Johnny B. Goode" is the rock and roll song he performed at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance in Back to the Future.

 

Officer Parker drunkenly tells Marty, "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen." This is also the title of a 19th Century African-American spiritual song during the slavery era.

 

One of the songs Trixie sings is "Ain't We Got Fun" from 1921.

 

Several bottles of Leromf Irish Creme are seen behind the bar at El Kid. A bottle of Ciabotta is also seen. These appear to be fictitious brands.

 

The caricature portraits drawn by Zane are similar in style to those done by famous caricature artist Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003). According to the Developers Commentary on the Back to the Future: The Game bonus features DVD, the faces seen are based on the game's developers.

 

Zane's full name of Zane Williams may be a nod to actor Billy Zane who played Match in Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II.

 

Cue Ball plays piano at El Kid, but complains he'll never get to Carnegie Hall at this rate.

 

When Marty admires Zane's ability to draw caricatures, Zane says, "go tell those chumps at the New Yorker." The New Yorker is a weekly magazine published since 1925 known for its caricature covers of public figures, including by the previously mentioned Al Hirschfeld.

 

Trixie remarks that she expects gang crime from someone like Kid Tannen, but cheating Uncle Sam in taxes is over the line. Uncle Sam, of course, is the personification of the United States government.

 

    Sheet music for a song called "Whisper in My Ear" (The Secret Song) is seen next to the piano at El Kid. Trixie sings it later. This seems to be an original song written for the game.

    A music booklet for "My Melancholy Baby" is also seen, a 1912 song written by Ernie Burnett. Music for a song called "Rage" is also seen.

 

When Kid Tannen disappears, Officer Parker mentions that he told the chief they need a team of bloodhounds like they have in Placerville. Placerville is a city in California located in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Parker's comment my imply that Placerville is the closest comparably-sized city to Hill Valley. Placerville had a population of 10,389 as of the 2010 census.

 

Edna denies being the speakeasy arsonist, telling Kid she was researching a story, and Kid retorts, "Tell it to Saint Peter, sister." Saint Peter was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and popularly thought of as the keeper of the gateway to Heaven.

 

Kid Tannen uses a Thompson submachine gun, commonly referred to as a Tommy gun, when he starts shooting at Marty and Parker.

 

Officer Parker, as he's arresting Kid Tannen for tax evasion, tells him that the Feds are practically drooling over Trixie's books. But, this is only minutes after Trixie decides to hand over the books and Parker agrees to arrest Tannen. The Feds shouldn't know a thing about her books yet! 

 

Notes from the comic book adaptation published by IDW Back to the Future: Citizen Brown #2 IDW Adapted by Bob Gale & Erik Burnham Script by Erik Burnham Based on the Telltale Games video game written by Bob Gale, Michael Stemmle, Andy Hartnell, and Jonathan Straw Art by Alan Robinson Inks by Alan Robinson & Salo Farias Colors by Maria Santaolalla Letters by Shawn Lee Cover A by Alan Robinson June 2016

 

Read the issue summary at Futurepedia

 

Additional characters in the comic not present in the game episode

 

Tiff Tannen

Sully

 

Didja Know?

 

Back to the Future: Citizen Brown was a five-issue comic book adaptation of Back to the Future: The Game. The Citizen Brown title of the series is borrowed from that of episode three of the game.

 

1931

 

On page 3, Marty's narration mentions that he and Doc made arrangements to meet where the Snack n' Shop would eventually be built. There are a number of independent stores in the U.S. going by this and similar names.

 

On page 5, Artie tells Doc and Marty there's an old line shack near Eastwood Ravine he can lay low in. A line shack is a very small cabin used by cowhands as needed when they patrol land boundaries for cattle that have strayed. Eastwood Ravine is the ravine named for the supposed death of Marty's alias of Clint Eastwood in 1885 in Back to the Future Part III.

 

In the comic, Doc and Marty's rescue of Artie from his premature death at the hands of the Tannen gang goes much more easily than in the game.

 

Didja Notice?

 

1986

 

In the altered 1986 where Hill Valley is lorded over by the Tannen family, Lyon Estates, where the McFly family lives is now called Tannen Estates and the entrance signs have statues of reclining, naked women on top instead of lions.

 

When the Tannen boys show up at the McFly house and propose to beat up Marty, Marty simply runs away from them until Doc shows up in the DeLorean and picks him up. In the game, Marty has a whole fight with the boys before Doc shows up.

 

The comic reveals that Hill Valley has been renamed Tannenville in this timeline. Instead of the Lone Pine or Twin Pines Mall, the mall is called Tannenville Mall and features 6 casinos, 15 bars, and 8 gentlemen's clubs.

 

In the comic, Kid Tannen is arrested on November 25, 1931. In the game it was August 25.

 

Page 12 gives the address of the Majestic Arms Inn as 821 Main Street.

 

On page 13, teen Emmett tells Marty he's giving his rocket car a final once over at Mel's Garage before the Expo. This is the first appearance of Mel's Garage, said to be on 4th Street.

 

On page 14, Officer Parker tells Marty that he's thinking about taking up Kid Tannen's offer of getting paid to look the other way while Tannen runs liquor. In the game, Parker has already been doing so for the past month. I suppose it makes more sense for Parker to have not accepted the opportunity yet, leaving him mostly in the clear legally after he arrests Tannen later on. In the game, the fact that Parker had colluded with Tannen before arresting him is glossed over when he would be in some legal trouble, too!

 

In the comic, Marty talks to Trixie in her dressing room at El Kid. In the game, he talks to her at the side of the stage and she even remarks that she doesn't have a dressing room there.

 

Tannen has a stooge named Sully not seen in the game.

 

On page 20, Edna tells Kid there's no place for his ilk in Hill Valley and Kid responds, "There ain't no ilk around here--just mule deer!" Kid is confusing the word "ilk" with "elk". Actually, both elk and mule deer are known to exist in various portions of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

 

Unanswered Questions

 

At the end of the episode, why does Doc vanish when he and Marty arrive in the altered 1986? His altered-self still exists in this time, so Doc shouldn't vanish, just as Marty does not vanish.

 

Memorable Dialog

 

I thought I'd never leave.mp3

that was your first mistake.mp3

a freakin' butler.mp3

before we accidentally elect Hoover to a second term.mp3

I've got a bad feeling about this.mp3

it's kind of our thing.mp3

guess she has a thing for losers.mp3

the birds and the bugs.mp3

surprisingly willing test subject.mp3

23 miles per hour.mp3

Frankenstein.mp3

a mad scientist with delusions of godhood.mp3

just a buncha guys that Kid didn't particularly like.mp3

gets the toes tapping.mp3

make like a tree and die.mp3

guess I'm no one.mp3

that's what you get for messing with Carl Sagan.mp3

a brilliant scientist with an overabundance of hubris.mp3

 

Back to Back to the Future Episode Studies