Number Two (Script)

Fans of Back to The Future know that the basic plotline of Back to the Future Part II was about Marty McFly and Doc Brown finding themselves in an alternate present ruled by Biff Tannen, and going to the year 1955 (where the events of the original movie took place) to Set Right What Once Went Wrong. But did they know that they were originally not going to 1955, but 1967?

That is the premise of Number Two, an early script for Back to the Future Part II. From that point on, it begins to bear similarities to Part I — Marty once again interferes in his parents' life, jeopardizing his own birth (Dave and Linda were already born by this time); and the DeLorean's source of electricity needed to travel in time breaks down, forcing Marty and Doc to rely on Doc's past self to get them back to the future.

You can find the full script here.

Tropes used in Number Two (Script) include:

• Angry Guard Dog: 1967 Biff has a German Shepherd named Chopper that Marty runs into while trying to recover the Almanac.
• Brick Joke: When Marty learns that his future son's name is "Norman", he declares he would never name his kid with that name. Jennifer then reveals that she always wanted to name her son Norman, after her grandpa. Jennifer later has a similar reaction to Marty's when she learns that her daughter's name is "Doris", but we don't find out where it came from until later — it was the name of Marty's mom's aunt.
• Call Back: At the end of the script, Marty and Jennifer are about to kiss when they were interrupted. After the interruption, Marty asks, "Now, where were we?" Jennifer answers, "Right about here." They then get interrupted again when they almost kiss.
  • The band at the hippie rally, Blue Nirvana, is an indirect Call Back to the Starliters from the first movie, inasmuch as both bands play Nothing but Hits.
• The Cameo: Huey Lewis and the News, when Marty first escapes from Griff and his gang.
• Crapsack World: 1985-A, or "Biff City," natch.
• Clock Tower Finale: Essentially the same as the first movie. Mr. Fusion is destroyed (thanks to Peabody shooting it), so 1967!Doc has rigged a power grid surge at a certain moment in order to provide the 1.21 jigowatts. All Marty and 1985!Doc have to do is fly the DeLorean through some power lines at the precise moment.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In 1985-A, Marty witnesses two cops bludgeoning a 14-year-old with their nightsticks, all because the kid drew a mustache on a picture of Biff.
• Future Slang: Quite often in 2015, and it leads to a breakdown of communications between Marty, Jennifer, and the 2015 infostore clerk over "interfacing."
  • Then lampshaded a moment later:

Clerk: [muttering] Assholes. Marty: Now there's a word I understand.

• Homage: Marty and 1985!Doc ride a Harley while "Born to Be Wild" plays, a homage to Easy Rider.
• I'm Mr. Future Pop Culture Reference: Marty's alias this time around is "Marty DeLorean".
  • Marty later leads a crowd of hippies in a "meditative chant" consisting of the words "Subaru," "Mazda," and "Celica."
• Mad Scientist: '67 Doc takes LSD to get ideas, and his ultimate plan could potentially kill people if it goes wrong. "What's life without a few calculated risks?"
• Meaningful Name: Marty's middle name is revealed to be "Hopkins", after the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, where George and Lorraine spent their 1967 anniversary weekend.
• Mirror Routine: The '67 and '85 Docs do one.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: '67 Doc's costume is described as "a cross between an Indian guru, a rock star, and a scientist".
• Nothing but Hits: PLENTY of this in the '67 scenes. "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane is selected for a scene in the hippie pad, "Born to be Wild" is used when Marty and Doc ride a Harley down the highway, and "When I'm Sixty-Four" by The Beatles plays over the end credits. (Another Zemeckis film would later make use of this trope in its fullest glory.)
  • In addition, the band at the hippie rally plays covers of "Eve of Destruction," "Mr. Tambourine Man," and "Get Together."
• One-Scene Wonder: George McFly is dead in 2015, and in 1967 he doesn't show up until after Marty's speech at the Anti-War rally.
• Patriotic Fervor: Most of the Hill Valley of 1967. Marty in his hippie garb gets some dirty looks from passersby, and Biff even has a bumper sticker that says "AMERICA: Love It Or Leave It."
• Race Against the Clock: Here, it's Marty and Doc flying the time vehicle on ailerons, lightening the load to be on the correct altitude to absorb an explosive charge.
• Running Gag: Otis Peabody repeatedly seeing the flying DeLorean after his extended stay in the sanitorium, building on Peabody's One-Scene Wonder from the first movie.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Old Jennifer gives one to Old Marty.
• Scenery Censor: Done with Old Jennifer's face, until she finishes her speech.
• The Sixties
• Theme Naming: '67 Doc's dog is named Newton, joining Copernicus and Einstein.
• Timeline-Altering MacGuffin:
  • The former Trope Namer Gray's Sports Almanac appears in this script. Surprisingly, in this version, it takes Marty very little time to retrieve the book in the third act, and 1985-A fades away from a matchbook almost as soon as the almanac is back in Marty's possession (he doesn't even have to burn the book or anything).
  • Later on, it's subverted: Marty is forced to throw the almanac out of the DeLorean to reduce the excess weight, whereupon it's discovered by Otis Peabody, who is camping out nearby. Peabody promptly burns it as useless garbage.
• Time Travel Tense Trouble:

Doc: [referring to his 1967 self] Damn, I was crazy in those days. These days. Damn these pronouns!

• Wronski Feint: A variation. Marty and Doc are trying to escape the Hill Valley police and 1985-A in the flying DeLorean, but the cops' gunfire damages a crucial acceleration circuit, meaning that the time machine can't accelerate to 88 while in flight. So Doc puts the car into a nosedive in order to reach the speed for temporal displacement.