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Back to the Future
"OUTATIME"
Back to the Future: The Game Episode 5
Telltale Games
Written by: Andy Hartzell and Mike Stemmle
Story Consultant: Bob Gale
Directed by: Dennis Lenart
June 23, 2011 |
Disillusioned with Emmett, Edna steals the
DeLorean and disappears into the past.
Read the story
summary at
Futurepedia
Watch the
video playthrough by Domstercool at YouTube
Notes from the Back to the Future chronology
This episode opens on May 15, 1986, then goes to October 12,
1931, then returns to May 15, 1986.
Didja Know?
Biff to the Future: The Game was a
video game produced by Telltale Games in five episodes released
from December 2010 to June 2011. The story takes place about 8
months after Marty returns to his own time at the end of
Back to the Future Part III.
Christopher Lloyd reprises his role as Doc Brown, providing the
character's voice. The other characters are mostly different
actors than the ones seen in the films. AJ LoCascio does a
particularly good imitation of Michael J. Fox's voice.
The title of this episode, "OUTATIME",
refers to the DeLorean's original license plate seen in
Back to the Future.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this story
Marty McFly
teen Emmett
Judge Erhardt Brown
Edna Strickland
Citizen Brown (fades from existence in this episode)
Cue Ball
Trixie Trotter
Dr. Lev Grossman
Ernest Philpott
Det. Daniel Parker
Artie McFly
Kid Tannen
Jacques Douteux
Eunice (mentioned only)
Doc Brown
William McFly
Seamus McFly (mentioned only)
Melvin (mentioned only)
Beauregard Tannen
Delores Miskin (mentioned only)
Clara (mentioned only)
Jules (mentioned only)
Verne (mentioned only)
George McFly
Einstein
Didja Notice?
1931
As this episode opens, we see the same issue of American
Psychiatry on Emmett's ping-pong table that was seen in
"Double Visions". Also
visible this time is an article titled "Brainwaves and You:
Theta-ban Transmissions", a diagram of the human brain, and
a pamphlet titled A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes
(a 1919 monograph by Robert H. Goddard, often considered the
father of American rocket science).
The six categories of Doc's mental alignment meter are:
Degenerate Criminal, Hooligan, Inveterate Liar, Layabout,
Decent Chap, Honest Joe.
Marty is seen sleeping on a cot in Emmett's lab in a position
very similar to that seen in
Back to the Future
on two occasions in his bedroom. |
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The various exhibits at the Hill Valley Science and
Technology Exposition are Future Furniture, Chronometric
Clock, Phone Booth of the Future, Enlightenment Under the
Sea, Picture Radio, The Future of Law Enforcement,
Experience the Wonder of the Continuuophone, Professor
Fringle's Algae Cakes, Emmett Brown and his Electrokinectic
Levitator, and Atlas House of Glass. The name of the Future of Law
Enforcement exhibit may be a reference to the Robocop
entertainment franchise that started in 1987, the slogan of
the first movie of which was "The future of law
enforcement." The Continuuophone seems to be an alternative
name for the musical instrument known as a Theremin.
The Enlightenment Under the Sea exhibit is run by the famous
diver Jacques Douteux. The diver's name is a play on the
real world diver Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997). Douteux is
said to work for the Oceanic Institute; this appears to be a
fictitious organization.
The song Trixie sings at the expo, "The Future is Coming",
appears to be an original song written for the game.
Citizen Brown convinces Edna that Marty is actually a
Russian spy named Yakov Smirnoff. The name is borrowed from
the real world Ukrainian-American comedian.
One of the presenters listed at the expo is
Dr. Lev Grossman. Possibly, he is named for the journalist
and novelist Lev Grossman.
The number of the "Phone Booth of the Future" is KL-4253.
The icon/logo on the top of the phone in the
booth is similar to the modern AT&T icon. |
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When Marty asks Trixie what time Emmett's demonstration is
scheduled to start, she says, "Eight kilobeats past fifty,"
explaining that the expo is on metric time. While there is
such a thing as metric time, a "kilobeat" is not one of its
units of measurement. Metric time is used in computing and
some other technological sciences.
When Marty tries to get an algae cake sample from Philpott,
Philpott recognizes him as the guy he thought was trying to
pick up his girlfriend Eunice at El Kid (in
"Get Tannen") and tells him,
"No algae cakes for you, buster!" This may be a reference to
the classic 1995 "The Soup Nazi" episode of the sitcom
Seinfeld, where the owner and chef of a soup restaurant
tells patrons who upset him, "No soup for you!"
In the Future Furniture exhibit, the fruit basket that
lowers down from the ceiling is similar to the one seen in
2015 in Marty and Jennifer's house. Also, the robotic voice
that speaks on the exhibit is similar to that heard
associated with devices in the 2015 house.
Citizen Brown, disguised as Jacques Douteaux, thanks to a
diving suit, says to Marty, "C'est La Vie" and
"que sera, sera". These are French phrases for "that's
life" and "whatever will be, will be". He also says "zut
alors", which is a mild French oath expressing
surprise.
When Citizen Brown is uncovered for his impersonation of
Douteaux, he runs off and an unnamed expo attendee exclaims,
"Hey, he just took that guy's wallet! I think he took his
wallet!" This same line was uttered by a passerby in
Back to the Future Part
II when George knocked out Biff and Marty took the
Gray's Sports Almanac from Biff's semi-conscious body. It
seems a little ridiculous here, as Brown was nowhere near
anyone else where he could have swiped a wallet before
bolting out of the building.
Judge Brown says, "Ach, Mein Gott!" Mein Gott
is German for "My God!" He also says he's counting to
funf. This is German for "five".
When Marty tries to get Emmett to reconcile with his father,
Emmett refers to Marty as Pollyanna. Pollyanna is a
character from early 20th Century children's literature who was so unfailingly
optimistic that her name became an American euphemism for a
person who embraced those qualities.
As Citizen Brown lies on the ground, fading away due to the
changing timeline, he mumbles, "Chromium, lithium,
potassium, iridium, titanium, ruthenium..." These are all
elements of the periodic table of elements.
The character of William McFly seen in 1931 is said to be
the adult version of the infant son of Seamus and Maggie
McFly whom Marty met in 1885 in
Back to the Future Part III.
William is here voiced by Michael J. Fox.
William works for (or possibly owns) Hill Valley Mercantile,
established 1905. When Edna goes back in time to 1876 and
alters the past so that Hill Valley never existed, William's
Hill Valley Mercantile delivery truck becomes a Haysville
Mercantile delivery truck instead. Haysville is the
(fictitious) town mentioned in
Back to the Future Part III
as the town Marshal Strickland went to for the hanging of
Stinky Lomax.
When Edna arrives in 1876, she begins to
go by the name Mary Pickford. Pickford (1892-1976) was a
Canadian-American actress and producer active in the film
industry in the first half of the 20th Century.
The locals eventually refer to Edna as Scary Mary
due to her sociopathic attitudes.
The "tin plate" alarm system Edna has rigged up outside her
shack is made up of tin siding, one of the DeLorean's gull
wing doors, the DeLorean's bar code license plate, and a
couple of Frisbie's Pie plates. A Frisbie's Pie plate was
commented on by Marty in
Back to the Future Part III.
The photo of Marshal Strickland seen in "Mary Pickford's"
shack is the same photo that was in Edna's apartment in the
main timeline 1985 in "It's
About Time".
Edna shows Doc and Marty a copy of the Haysville Herald
from July 17, 1876 with the Headline "Arson Fire Destroys
Hill Valley".
1876
The saloon built by Beauregard Tannen is seen to be the Palace
Saloon, the same saloon Doc and Marty will later visit in
1885 in
Back to the Future Part III.
Beauregard's photo was seen in
"Double Visions".
A painting of a young woman in an alluring pose in the
Palace Saloon is labeled "Delores Miskin". She is probably
an ancestor of Sylvia Miskin, the woman who will take the
stage name of Trixie Trotter by 1931 and who goes on to
marry Artie McFly and become George McFly's mother and
Marty's grandmother.
Edna refers to the Palace Saloon as a "little bit of
Gomorrah." Gomorrah is a cinema monster who looks like a
gigantic flying turtle. Just kidding, that's Gamera.
Gomorrah was a city of sin that was destroyed through the
judgment of God according to the Bible.
When the pickle juice barrel falls onto Edna, she exclaims,
"What the frug!?" "Frug" seems to be a stand-in for a swear
word, a curse Edna would never actually use.
When Doc and Marty begin the dual DeLorean chase of Edna,
Doc mistakenly refers to the year as 1875 instead of 1876.
Doc hands Marty a hoverboard that appears identical to the
one Marty used in
Back to the Future Part
II and
Back to the Future Part III
(though this one has the brand named of ATTEL instead of
MATTEL,
for copyright reasons). It may be the same board. Doc
explains in
"Continuum Conundrum" Part 3 that he back-engineered the
hoverboard that was left behind in 1885 when Marty went home
near the end of
Back to the Future
Part III, and figured out how to build a
frictionless dynamo and extrapolate the means to store
multiples of 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to power the time
train. That doesn't necessarily mean the hoverboard was torn
down beyond all repair, so Doc could have reassembled it and
kept it on hand in the DeLorean as a potentially useful
tool.
Doc and Marty use wireless headsets to stay in communication
during Marty's dangerous ride on the hoverboard to snap the
flux synchronization modules onto Edna's moving DeLorean.
Doc explains that he got the wireless devices from Verne's
cache of 21st Century video game consoles. In the animated
series, Verne is said to have an affinity for video games.
1931
When Marty confronts Artie and Trixie in front of the
courthouse, in the background we can see that the Cocoa Cup
billboard has already been repaired after Emmett's hover
vehicle crashed into it only a day earlier in
"Get Tannen". Seems unlikely.
1986
Doc and Marty return to 1986 on May 15.
When Doc and Marty return to Doc's garage lab/home in 1986,
the exterior backgrounds look nothing like what was seen of the neighborhood in
Back to the Future.
In the movie, Doc's lab is in a business district of Hill
Valley, behind a Burger King and surrounded by other
businesses. Here in the video game, it is all residential!
And the garage is much too close to the street. Possibly,
the alteration of the timeline due to the events of 1931
have changed the way Hill Valley developed?
At Doc's garage sale, George spies a box of Asimov. Isaac
Asimov (1920-1992) was a professor of biochemistry and
prolific author of science and science-fiction books (among
many other subjects).
It appears that the "main" timeline has been altered again
thanks to the events of 1931. Doc and Clara are maintaining
Doc's 1985 garage lab as a second home and Doc is the
supervisor of his father's foundation, which presents an
annual Erhardt Brown Scholarship for Young Scientists.
Another alteration of the timeline is that Edna is now
married to Irving "Kid" Tannen, making Biff her stepson.
Also, Edna now likes dogs and walks Einstein every afternoon
for Doc.
At the end of this episode, one of the future Martys is
wearing two belts, just as the Marty of 2015 was seen to
wear two ties in
Back to the Future Part
II.
When Doc and Marty leave the three future Martys behind,
they appear to jump into a DeLorean that isn't theirs! Their
DeLorean was parked along the curb, but the one they head
off in is parked in the driveway (and the one on the curb is
no longer present!).
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The game ends on something of a cliffhanger, with three
middle age Martys from the future arriving in 1986 in their
own DeLoreans and each begging Doc and teen Marty for help
saving their timeline. Doc seems to disregard their pleas
and he and Marty take off in their own(?) DeLorean for an
unknown destination. After the ending credits of this final
chapter of the game, the words "TO BE CONTINUED" appear on
the screen. There may have been some vague ideas about doing
another Telltale video game, but the company filed for
bankruptcy years later in 2018. The company name lives on in
a scaled-down version as part of LCG Entertainment, but
whether any more
Back to the Future
video games will be released from them remains to be seen
and seems iffy, at best. |
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Notes from
the comic book adaptation published by IDW
Back to the Future: Citizen Brown #5
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 & Jaime Castro
Colors by Maria Santaolalla
Letters by Shawn Lee
Cover A by Alan Robinson
September 2016
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Read the
issue
summary at
Futurepedia
Additional characters in the comic not present in
the game episode
Delgado Mine miner (unnamed)
Beauregard Tannen's partner (unnamed)
Lomax brothers (mentioned only, one is called Stinky)
Marshal James Strickland
Albert Baines (mentioned only)
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.
Didja Notice?
1931
The date at the top of page 3 is in error. It reads Dec. 19
1982, but it should be 1931.
Trying to cover up what Edna overheard Citizen Brown say
about the DeLorean being a time machine, Marty says, "It's
not what you think, Edna--he just finally got around to
reading H.G. Wells..." Wells (1866-1946) was the author of
the classic science-fiction novel The Time Machine.
Here in the comic, Citizen Brown is accidentally shot by
Edna and he fades away as he dies. In the game, he just
fades away after Edna escapes back in time.
Here, Edna purposefully escapes to 1876 in the DeLorean
instead of accidentally time travelling there.
With Edna having escaped in the only time machine, Marty
finds himself stuck in 1931. Marty sends Doc a telegram
through
Western Union in 1931 not to be delivered until January
3, 1985, telling Doc he needs to build a duplicate DeLorean
time machine and keep it hidden to come rescue him in 1931.
In the game, he gave Emmett a note, demanding he not read it
until he receives the key to the city far in the future.
As Hill Valley fades away around Doc and Marty on page 10,
the clock tower appears to have the dogs on it that are seen
in the video game even though
Back to the Future: Citizen Brown #4 depicted
the usual panthers there instead.
1876
Edna drives to the Delgado Mine to hide her DeLorean, but
inadvertently drives into a hundred foot floor shaft in the
mine. She escapes unharmed with the help of a lone miner
there.
Beauregard Tannen's bar here is called Beau's Saloon instead
of being the Palace Saloon.
To burn down the saloon, Edna spreads gun powder around the
place obtained from a barrel labeled G&H Powder Mills. This
appears to be a fictitious business.
On page 17, Beauregard asks Doc, Marty, and Edna what in the
Sam Hill they're doing next to his saloon. "Sam Hill" is a
euphemism for "the devil" or "Hell".
Doc confirms that Beauregard Tannen is the father of Buford
"Mad Dog" Tannen.
Beauregard thinks the trio are working with the Lomax
brothers and complains that Stinky didn't have the gumption
to face him straight on. In
Back to the Future
Part III, Marshal Strickland is said to be
attending the hanging of Stinky Lomax in Haysville when
Marty first arrives in the Hill Valley of 1885.
Marshal Strickland plays a part in ending the standoff at
Beau's Saloon. He will meet Doc and Marty again (but
apparently won't recognize them) in 1885 in
Back to the Future
Part III.
1931
Emmett's demonstration of his levitating vehicle at the expo
takes place after Edna turns herself in to Detective Parker
at the police station instead of before Edna's arrest as in
the game.
Judge Brown is a replacement judge for the ailing Albert
Baines at the expo. Most likely, this is meant to be the
father of Sam Baines and grandfather of Lorraine Baines.
The DeLorean wins first place in the cars of the future
exhibit, but Doc and Marty take off in it before they hear
about the award. The man who tries to chase after them and
sees the car fly off into the sky and then disappear with a
bang looks rather like
Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale! |
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1986
On page 25, Marty is seen sleeping in the same awkward
position he was in a couple of times in
Back to the Future
(just as in the game episode).
On page 26, Marty has a can of Pepsi Free on his desk in his
bedroom.
In panel 2 of page 26, a poster that is presumably meant to
be Marty's poster of the Huey Lewis and the News album
Sports is seen hanging in his room, but it's in a
different location than it was in
Back to the Future.
The poster here is also only a very sketchy likeness of the
actual one.
At the end of the story, Marty begins keeping a journal of
his time travelling adventures.
The three future Martys do not come to our Doc and Marty for
help at the end of this story as they do in the video game.
Unanswered Questions
Why did the three future Martys all arrive at the same day
and time to ask Doc and Marty for help? Where did they each
get their individual DeLorean? Did Doc leave it to him in
his will? What will happen to the three future Martys since
our Doc and Marty don't seem particularly interested in
helping them?
Where did our Doc and Marty go at the end?
Memorable Dialog
forward thinkers of Hill Valley.mp3
a
strong personality.mp3
a complete stranger to this world.mp3
I
guarantee it.mp3
other time anomalies.mp3
Hill Valley, population: 1.mp3
you stole that from Carl Sagan and you time-jumped into the
past.mp3
she was never this passionate when we were dating.mp3
don't cross those flames.mp3
Back to Back to the Future
Episode Studies