Return of the Robot Maker

	“Return of the Robot Maker” S2 E15
Production 41207; Original Airdate: January 26, 1975
	; Oscar's double
	Produced by; Lionel E. Siegel and Joe L. Cramer
	Teleplay by; Mark Frost
	Story by; Del Reisman and Mark Frost
	Directed by; Phil Bondelli
Guest Cast
	Guest Star(s); Henry Jones as Chester Dolenz;
	Co-starring; Ben Hammer as General Stacey;
	With; Troy Melton as Barney Barnes; Judd Laurance as Aide; Iris Edwards as Amy; Sarah Simmons as Oscar's Secretary; Jean Lee Brooks as Denise;
Broadcast Order
Season 2
"The Last Kamikaze"	"Taneha"
Related episodes
Day of the Robot Run, Steve, Run

From The Bionic Wiki

[edit] Summary

Dr. Chester Dolenz has gone back to the drawing board after his tests in Run, Steve, Run to create the ultimate in robots and fashions it in Oscar Goldman's image.

Dolenz kidnaps Oscar at his OSI office. He then orders Oscar's double to persuade Steve to penetrate a series of booby traps and gun nests at Fort McAllister's secret Brahmin Project, where a powerful new energy source is being developed. Ostensibly to test the security system, Steve is told the defenses will be non-lethal for the "exercise."

Instead, Steve braves real machine guns and mines while the robot uses the diversion to steal the Brahmin plans. Steve survives the ambush, tracks Oscar's mechanical duplicate back to Dolenz's hideout, and defeats the robot in an epic showdown. Dolenz is arrested, and would not return, although robots would continue to menace the OSI for years to come.

[edit] Deconstructed

[edit] Quotes

Barney Barnes: Here it is: la pièce de résistance. A pinnacle of my achievements. (pulls out a piece of cloth, straightens it)
Steve Austin: A bulletproof tablecloth?
Barney Barnes: No, no, no, no, a bulletproof vest! Look, forget the material just look: thin as a waver, light as a feather. This won't restrict your movements like a regular bulletproof vest. But it'll stop an eigh millimeter shell and give you ten cents change.

Robot: (picks up phone) Sally, go to the top secret vault and bring out the Brahmin file, will you?

Dr. Chester Dolenz: I don't want you to think of me as your enemy, Mr. Goldman. May I call you Oscar?
Oscar Goldman: It won't work, Dolenz. Steve Austin and I know each other too well. You can't keep this up for long.
Dr. Chester Dolenz: I've made mistakes in the past. I know, Steve Austin said my first robot squeaked. But this time I've foreseen every possibility. This new robot is a supreme mechanism. Every human detail has been painstakingly reproduced. This robot eats and drinks. I've installed an incinerator to burn up all of the fuels and foods ingested into the body. It thinks! It can even simulate breathing.

Steve Austin: You know Oscar, you tell that joke about three times a week.
Robot: It's the only one I know.
Steve Austin: Yeah, but if you learned another one, then you'd have two.

Steve Austin: Oscar, how did you do that?
Robot: Hm?
Steve Austin: Well, that coffee, it's scolding hot.
Robot: Well, I have the perfect, eh, stomach for working in Washington, Steve, I can eat anything, I can drink anything, I just burn it up. It's cast iron.

Steve Austin: (to Oscar's impersonator) You know, you talk about that computer like it was your brother or something. It's just a bunch of wires, dumb wires.

Robot: Colonel Austin was a traitor. He'll be remembered as a traitor.

Dr. Chester Dolenz: (Dolenz' robot is fighting Steve Austin) Kill him, my boy!

Dr. Chester Dolenz: Steve Austin, I find this dificult to say, but you've certainly earned my respect today. My hat's off to you.
Steve Austin: Well, as far as your work is concerned, Dolenz, I'll have to say the same.
Dr. Chester Dolenz: I must say that makes me feel a good deal better. (to police officers) I'm ready.
Steve Austin: (as the police leads Dolenz away) And Dolenz? This one didn't even squeak.

Oscar Goldman: By the way, just out of curiosity, how did you know which one of us was me?
Steve Austin: Very simple, Oscar. Robots don't sweat when they're nervous.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Characters

Dr. Dolenz's first name changes to Chester in this episode, contradicting the fact that he was named Jeffrey in Run, Steve, Run.
Dolenz uses the alias Arnold Seaton.
Oscar Goldman's secretary in this episode is named Sally.
Oscar Goldman's personal identification code is revealed to be LR3-05-07-19.

[edit] Sound Effects

As in Day of the Robot, the sounds used for the Oscar robot come from the 1971 Universal Studios film How to Frame a Figg.

[edit] Story

Steve Austin will face off against another robot duplicate of Oscar Goldman in the second episode of the three part story "Kill Oscar".

[edit] Gaffes

[edit] Credibility

Richard Anderson catches himself making a mistake in reciting one of his lines. In the scene where Goldman is on the phone with the General before Dolenz comes in, he almost says the Brahmin project will "be ready tomorrow". But Anderson quickly corrects himself, and says "the middle of next month" instead.
Dolenz explains that Austin is the only person who could expose his robot, to his captive Oscar Goldman. It would have been more accurate to say that Austin would be the "most likely" person, and the "largest remaining threat" to completing his plans. To state that he is the only person, is not believable.
When Austin is tricked into providing a diversion for the robot to access the Brahmin project file — why is the vault it's contained in, open? Why isn't it locked?
How is Dolenz able to receive transmissions from the robot while it's inside the vault (with door closed)? The walls of the vault are sure to be fortified with concrete and steel. This should act like a faraday cage, and block the robot's transmissions.
When Austin leaves the Fort McAllister grounds, why doesn't he cause the security defenses to be re-activated?
As Austin tries to follow the Oscar robot to Dolenz's hideout, how does he know when to stop the car? Austin doesn't actively scan for the robot with his bionic eye, until he pulls over.
After Austin stops the car and jumps over a nearby fence, we hear a jumping sound effect (but not the final "bionic" sound effect, which came later in the series). Yet, any normal person could jump such a fence. So why the sound effect?
During the scenes where you can see both Goldman and the robot at the same time, you can often tell that another actor is filling in as a double for Richard Anderson.
In the scenes where Austin battles the robot, you can also tell that a stuntman sometimes takes Lee Majors' place.

[edit] Continuity

When Dolenz shows his ID to Oscar Goldman's secretary, he's holding it horizontally. But when we see the close-up, he's holding it vertically.
In the first scene where Barney is talking to Steve Austin in the exercise room, the punching bag Austin is using looks normal. But in a following scene, the bag suddenly has a tear in it that wasn't there before.
During the scene in the restaurant, when we see close-ups of the coffee being poured: some is spilled over Steve Austin's cup. Yet when Austin picks up the cup and drinks from it, no spilled coffee can be seen on the saucer.
During the scenes where the robot is taking snapshots of the Brahmin project files, inside the vault: the position of his arm indicates that Richard Anderson is standing off to the side, instead of behind the camera in what should be the robot's point of view.
The fuel cannister swung at Austin by the robot, changes appearance when it is thrown at him.
Before the robot hits the pillar holding up the overhanging metal roof of the nearby building, the pillar is already beginning to fall prior to the impact.

[edit] Gallery

episode collage	Dolenz and Oscar's robot	Oscar's impostor	Barney's exploding briefcase	Steve listens
at dinner with Amy and Denise	Oscar seems in his cups	the real Oscar's mind is recorded	I'm Oscar Goldman	setting up Steve
Ft. McAllister monitors the intruder	Steve evades fire	live rounds!	that was close!	sent flying
Oscar squared	the robot hurls a mainframe	duel	Steve vs. Oscar robot	Robot Oscar's head

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