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Back to the Future

Episode Studies by Clayton Barr

enik1138-at-popapostle-dot-com
Back to the Future: OUTATIME 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.

 

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.
Phone Booth of the Future ATT logo

 

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!). 

 

TO BE CONTINUED...> 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.

 

Back to the Future: Citizen Brown #5 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

 

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!

 

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