Atomic Bomb (#68)
"There are whole countries that can't make an atomic bomb, how can this kid?"
Problem #1. A woman comes to the station to report her husband for wanting to be cryogenically frozen. Barney has the husband and Mr. Swanson, the cryogenesist, detained. (Perhaps the last name Swanson is in reference to the frozen dinners?)
Problem #2 A man suspects his neighbor could be a terrorist and asks Barney to investigate. Don't worry, the young Mr. Thayer is a friendly nuclear power; a graduate student who has created a baby atomic bomb as his master's thesis. Well, it does lack the plutonium needed for detonation, but at least it's AMERICAN MADE.
At first, even the bomb squad can't tell what the device is supposed to be. The F.B.I. sends over an agent and a physicist to confiscate the project, which is made classified. Since there are two physicist just hanging around, the scientists debate which field is superior, nuclear physics and cryogeny. I'm really surprised Deitrich doesn't have more lines in this episode, other than the expected, "Hey, what's with the atomic bomb?
So many people cite this as one of the more memorable episodes in the series, probably due to the nagging moral question, "What the crap?!", as well as Mr. Thayer's thought provoking statement ...
"I got a C in physics last semester. Just think of what the kids with B's and A's could do - especially if they're angry."
