The Warren Omission:
Written by: Brent V. Friedman & Bryce Zabel
Directed by: Perry Lang
Original airdate: January 18, 1997
Synopsis:
Sequestered away by Kennedy’s men, the Attorney General arrives to ask John to testify to the Warren Commission in order to get them to investigate the assassination even further. John and Kim are hesitant but eventually agree, however, the next morning a woman (later revealed as Juliet Stewart) finds their hideout and attacks them all. She holds John at gunpoint, threatening him to not testify or be killed the next time they meet. She gasses him and escapes. Despite this, John goes ahead with his testimony as the episode becomes a good ol’ fashioned clip show, while Bach begins gathering all the information they can find on Loengard to discredit him as a witness.
Bach is sworn in and starts calling into question John’s sanity, including false accounts of John blackmailing his way into Majestic, being behind Congressman Pratt’s death, and twisting actual events to fit the narrative that John had a part in the JFK assassination. The Commission, desperate to close up their report under pressure from the President, and under Allan Dulles’s manipulation, demands that John bring forth hard evidence of any kind or he will be charged with perjury.
As Bach and John trade quips in their holding cells, a group under the direction of Kennedy breaks into Majestic’s headquarters and begins searching for the classified material. They even pressure a young captain named Schwarzkopf, as Albano and Juliet begin shredding their top secret documents.
Kennedy and crew view some of Majestic’s film of the assassination, berating Albano into giving up names and information about Majestic, which he steadfastly denies to do. Juliet shows up with her own film, one of Kennedy with Marilyn Monroe. The footage would cause Monroe’s reputation to be dragged through the mud, and would call into question his role in her suicide. Albano and Juliet persuade him to step down and run for senate instead, offering him their support and some property in New York. His assistant George is appalled, but Kennedy takes their offer, leaving George to sadly deliver a statement to the Warren Commission that Kennedy is withdrawing his sponsorship of John’s testimony.
John addresses the commission, trying to raise them into doing something, calling back to John F Kennedy’s commitment to the people, before leaving. Several members demand that Bach needs to divulge the secrets of Majestic, but Bach instead approaches Warren and says he has the authority to divulge information on a case by case basis and offers to do that to Warren only. The information Bach gives him is still skewed, as he paints the history of Majestic and Roswell as being part of the Cold War, convincing him to not release the information so that the war doesn’t escalate any further.
George drops off John and Kim and gives them money from Kennedy, apologizing for everything. Their spirits crushed, the two drive off as the Warren Commission releases their report that Oswald acted alone in his assassination of JFK.
History As We Know It:
Earl Warren is played by Gary Lockwood. He began his career as a movie stuntman, and a stand-in for Anthony Perkins, prior to his acting debut in 1959 in an uncredited bit role in Warlock. He starred as a young U.S. Marine lieutenant in the NBC series The Lieutenant, and then starred in another NBC television series Kraft Mystery Theater, opposite Sally Kellerman (with whom he would later appear in the second Star Trek pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before”). They played Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell, and the ship's psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, who both develop destructive superpowers. He was also cast as the co-star in director Stanley Kubrick's legendary 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), playing Dr. Frank Poole. Between 1959 and 2004, he had roles in some forty theatrical and made-for-TV features and made almost eighty TV guest appearances.
George Barrett is played by Arthur Taxier. He’s a “That Guy” with 100 roles to his name, including the often named Late Shift, X-Files, Donnie Darko, 21 Jump Street, LA Law, Misfits of Science, Cheers, and The A Team, amongst many others.
The biggest guest star, and now recurring role for the rest of the series, Jeri Ryan is here! We’ve seen her in an episode of Flash 90 (Deadly Nightshade), but aside from a few handfuls of one off roles, Dark Skies was her first time as a series regular. She would, of course, go on to portray Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager until present day when the character was brought into Star Trek: Picard as well. One of her early one off roles was the pilot of Just Deserts (not Desserts), in which a womanizer is made female as punishment. The trailer and website description doesn’t reveal how Jeri is used in the pilot but she was listed as a lead. She also had a main role in Boston Public (school drama) for seasons 2-4, James Woods’ series Shark (lawyer drama), and Body of Proof (medical examiner drama). She’s also been a lead in a number of lesser known movies such as Secrets in the Walls, Dead Lines, and The Last Man (some of which are available on Crackle and Tubi for free).
http://www.rickspringfield.us/library/roles/tvguest/just.html
White Rabbit:
Written by: Brent V. Friedman
Directed by: James A. Contner
Original airdate: February 1, 1997
Synopsis:
A group of Soviet soldiers at the Gulf of Tonkin scan the area, and end up seeing a Hive ship emerge from the waters. The soldiers shoot at the craft but it escapes unharmed.
At Majestic, Albano reports that one of the US warships has reported it was fired upon and Bach suggests that the North Vietnamese are looking to escalate to a war with the United States.
John attempts to celebrate Kim’s birthday, but while gathering items for her big day he is grabbed by Albano and company. Juliet briefs Bach and generals from both the Army and Air Force on what they believe are the locations of several underwater Hive bases, commenting that they seem to have now been destroyed. Bach states that several Air Force missions are responsible for their destruction, but in the aftermath of those battles, several Hive crafts escaped, with one being tracked somewhere in Vietnam. A group of Russian soldiers went after it, but have since gone missing, and their superiors have agreed to allow the US to assist in their rescue. Bach tells Loengard that he has been drafted to go on the mission because he is expendable, refusing to let him tell Kim what is going on. John won’t be alone however because Bach wants to go along to be sure the alien tech doesn’t get into the wrong hands. Bach also states that he’ll only be sitting by the radio while John does the actual rescuing.
Upon arriving in Vietnam, they are met by American soldier Kellogg. A guide named Tay Ma tries to help John find the ship, but they come upon an American soldier who has gone crazy after fighting the Grays that survived the crash. John and Tay Ma find the spiked head of a Gray and the crash site, but all that is left of the ship is the power core, which is highly magnetic, ripping their guns from their hands. Bach orders John to destroy the core but also contacts Albano, telling him to send an airstrike in order to destroy the whole area, himself included. Juliet later confronts Albano about being included on the mission to Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Kim does her own investigating and learns of John being taken by Bach and decides to kidnap Bach’s wife as leverage, contacting Albano and telling him her demands. Kim then tells Bach’s wife all about what her husband actually does, which she has trouble believing but comes to understand.
Bach arrives at the crash site and tells John they’re looking for three more Grays, explaining that it takes four of them to fly their ships. They end up finding 2 more dead Grays, and like the head they found earlier, they burn them. Tay Ma finds a tunnel in the ground, and Bach tries to smoke out another Gray but eventually orders Tay Ma into the tunnel. Following the Gray’s blood trail, Tay Ma comes upon it in a cavern. John tries to jump into the tunnel to save Tay Ma but Bach pulls him back and tosses a grenade into the tunnel instead. John yells at Bach but suddenly stops as Bach stares behind him at the Viet Cong, who then take them prisoner.
Juliet finds Kim’s hotel room where she’s holding Bach’s wife, and explains to her that what Kim told her was true. Juliet says that they all want the truth, and they decide to work together. The three women get inside Majestic and threaten Albano for the truth at gunpoint, telling him they want their boyfriend and husband back. Albano explains that it’s too late to call back the airstrike.
The VC tries to get information about the alien ship’s material, and Bach tells them that he’s in charge while John knows nothing. Another prisoner, Lev, talks with John and together they come up with a plan for escape. They launch their attack, but Lev is killed during the escape.
Juliet calls in help from Russia, asking them to shoot down the American planes. Kim and Mrs. Bach tells her not to do it, saying that enough people have died in this war. The planes arrive and begin dropping bombs on the area, but John manages to call back to Kellogg in order to get a flight out, barely escaping.
A VC soldier heads deep into a tunnel looking for John, but meets his end as the Gray attacks him, and John sends another grenade down the hole, presumably killing the final Gray.
John gives Juliet Lev’s diary, revealing him to be her husband. As she looks through the pages, she finds an alien disc hidden inside.
History As We Know It:
We’ve seen director James A Contner a lot! He directed an episode of The Flash (Twin Streaks), Lois and Clark (Honeymoon in Metropolis), Seaquest (Greed for a Pirates Dream), and Firefly (War Stories). You may remember we talked about him directing the Lea Thompson film series Jane Doe.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident refers to a time when two US destroyers reported they were fired upon by the North Vietnamese. The two separate incidents lead to the US Congress granting the President the power to take any measure necessary to insure peace and security in that region, namely increasing their military presence and retaliating. The north of Vietnam was communists so the US had previously sided with the south under JFK’s leadership, but the south was less organized and its leader was eventually overthrown. Shortly after that, JFK was assassinated. The hostilities continued between the north and the south under new leadership in both countries.
The VC (Viet Cong) comes from the phrase "cong san Viet Nam," meaning "Vietnamese communist." The term is rather derogatory, however, so perhaps a better translation would be "Vietnamese commie.”
The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous North Vietnamese fighters.
Resources:
For more information on Dark Skies, please check out these great resources of information.
Dark Skies IMDb
https://needtoknow.today
Dark Skies Wiki
There is a full playlist of Dark Skies episodes. Account is active as of Dec 2022.
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