James W. Parker interested in Cynthia Ann but rather in her uncle James who had searched for her for eight years after her abduction." Historians and film critics have speculated on the inspiration for the character of Ethan Edwards in the John Ford movie The Searchers, with many saying that the character was based on James Parker. Critics and historians noted that James W. Parker, Cynthia Ann's uncle, spent much of his life and fortune in what became an obsessive search for his niece, like Ethan Edwards in the film. In addition, the "rescue" of Cynthia Ann, during a Texas Ranger attack on
The Abducted focusing on the science seen in "The Abducted", with the intention of having "students learn about vaccination and the spread of communicable diseases." Peter and Fauxlivia watch the 1942 romantic drama film "Casablanca", and the latter incorrectly says it starred actor and later president of the United States Ronald Reagan, rather than actor Humphrey Bogart. Olivia finds a children's book her niece owns called "Burlap Bear Goes To The Woods" in Christopher's room. SFScope's Sarah Stegall believed that the episode antagonist's name of Toomy was a reference to popular villain Eugene Victor Tooms in the science fiction television series "The