Showdown

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"Showdown" An unproduced script for the Original Series
Writer(s)	Frank Abatemarco
Story by
Director
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	50903
Nielsen Rating	{{{rating}}}
US airdate	{{{US airdate}}}
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Extended Info
Episode Chronology
	Showdown
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Written by Frank Abatemarco

Starbuck, Apollo, Boomer, Athena, Dietra, Boxey and Muffit are shuttling to an asteroid named Croy ahead of the fleet. As they start their descent, the turbo boosters fail, and Starbuck barely lands the shuttle. Tigh reprimands technicians Andor, Masi and Bule for not making sure the turbo boosts were okay. He confines them to quarters.

Back at the asteroid, the shuttle crew finds the wreckage of a millenium old spaceship, and its markings suggest it may have been from the Colonies, possibly Earth. On the Galactica, Andor, Masi, and Bule go to the officer's club against orders and get into a brawl with Omega. They panic and run to the landing bay. Masi uses a computer console to jam the viper launch tubes. The trio steal a shuttle and head for the asteroid. The Galactica can't launch vipers, and a Cylon basestar is picked up on their scanners.

The renegades land on the asteroid and find a Pompeii-like town. The men wear togas. The women wear tabbards. The trio mount their land probes and roar through the town. An elder demands that they leave, but they refuse, destroying one of the buildings. Close to the town, the shuttle crew tries to contact the Galactica, but gets no response because Adama doesn't want to give their position away to the Cylons. Apollo and the others investigate the town, and are told to leave. A squadron of Cylon raiders manage to find the Galactica and do a straefing run, causing some damage to the bridge. They retreat, but Adama knows more will return. He breaks radio silence and contacts Apollo, telling him to bring back the renegades because they are the only ones who can open the launch tubes so their vipers can defend the ship.

The Imperious Leader is aboard the Cylon basestar and he immediately launches all his Cylon raiders against the Galactica, whose only defense is its laser turrets. After a fight, Apollo manages to convince the renegades to return to the Galactica. The shuttle barely makes it through the attacking Cylon raiders and lands on the Galactica inside a smoldering launch bay. Masi fixes the computer and the vipers are now able to launch. They quickly turn the tide of the battle and the Cylons are defeated.

Notes

• Overall, this is not a very strong script, yet it still probably would have been better than many of the produced episodes.

• This is certainly one of the earlier scripts: there is no Sheba; Athena is a warrior instead of a bridge officer; in one scene Athena is making out with Starbuck; and the Imperious Leader is on the attacking Cylon basestar instead of Baltar. Also, the original script says Imperious Leader "sits with the ever present lizard on his shoulder."

• This script was nearly filmed. The renegades' flying motorcycles were actually built and were later used in Galactica 1980.

• The idea that one technician has a code that jams all the launch tubes with no other way of opening them is very difficult to believe. A good amount of time passes between when the Cylon attack on the Galactica begins and when the shuttle finally returns, making it hard to imagine that the tide could have been turned at that point. Logically, the Cylon raiders should have been able to easily pick off most of the vipers as they came out of the launch tubes. For the Colonials to so easily win the battle makes the Cylons look weak.

• In the final battle, Athena flys a viper and saves Starbuck's life. It's too bad her warrior role was changed to that of a bridge officer.

Get The Script

• You can get a pdf version of this script here.