Editing Six Degrees of Separation

{{Episode Data
| image =TRS - Six Degrees of Separation - Godfrey with Galactica Crew.jpg
| title=Six Degrees of Separation
| series=TRS
| season=1
| episode=7
| guests=
| writer=[[Michael Angeli]]
| story=
| goof=Y
| director=[[Robert Young]]
| production=107
| rating= 2.2
| US airdate=2005-02-18
| CAN airdate=2005-02-26
| UK airdate=2004-11-29
| dvd= {{Season 1 NTSC DVD release date}} '''US'''<br/>{{Season 1 PAL DVD release date}} '''UK'''
| population=
| prev=[[Litmus]]
| next=[[Flesh and Bone]]
| amazon=y
|deleted=y|archives=y}}
: ''[[Shelly Godfrey]], a copy of the humanoid Cylon [[Number Six]] claiming to be a former aide to Doctor [[Amarak]], arrives on ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'' and accuses [[Gaius Baltar]] of collaborating with the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]].''

== Summary == 

* [[Gaius Baltar]] is mocking [[Number Six|Six's]] belief in God, which quickly escalates into an explosion of anger on his part&mdash;and Six vanishes from his head.
* Called to [[CIC]], Baltar "finds" her there, and is confronted by [[William Adama|Adama]], who claims that "[[Shelly Godfrey|Miss Godfrey]]" has made some disturbing claims against Baltar.
* With a shock, Baltar comes to realise that "Miss Godfrey" is in fact a copy of Six, and that everyone can see her.
* "Miss Godfrey" then produces photographic evidence she claims will show Baltar planting a bomb in the [[Computers|Colonial Defense Mainframe]] on {{RDM|Caprica}} - a claim he strenuously denies.
* The image itself requires a full day of processing to reveal whether it does in fact show Baltar as "Godfrey" claims. Until that time, Adama suspends all work on Baltar's [[Cylon detector]] and places an embargo on Baltar leaving the ship&mdash;something even [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]] is unwilling to override.
* But Roslin herself is far from well&mdash;during her call with Baltar, she collapses, causing a fleet-wide scare when [[Billy Keikeya|Billy]] orders the flight deck to make a fleet-wide broadcast requesting medical assistance. It transpires that Roslin has been overdoing her [[Chamalla|cancer medication]] - but the truth is hidden by a story that she has the flu.
* As [[Felix Gaeta]] works on enhancing the image, Baltar becomes more and more desperate for news - even following Gaeta into the head (lavatory) for news on his progress.
* Elsewhere, "Miss Godfrey" meets with Adama in private, and behaves in typical Six fashion - coming on to him.
* "Godfrey's" behavior prompts Adama to order a watch be kept on her movements on the ship.
* Elsewhere on ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'', [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] and [[Cally]] are analysing the captured Cylon Raider, using {{callsign|Starbuck}}'s notes, but not making much progress, despite comments to the contrary to [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]], who isn't fooled.
* Tigh visits Starbuck in sickbay, and despite her efforts not to fall for his reverse psychology, he goads her into getting out of her cot and going to help Tyrol and his crew.
* [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]] arrives at the Raider, and after an awkward moment with Tyrol, suggests that they might make better progress if they treated the Raider more like an animal – a hunter – than a machine. Her behavior with the Raider, stroking it as she speaks, spooks Tyrol.
* During a meeting with Adama, at which he protests his innocence and tries to get Adama to make "Shelly Godfrey" to submit to a test with his Cylon detector, Baltar learns that Adama plans to have the detector dismantled if the photographic evidence points to Baltar's guilt.
* During his conversation with Adama, he continues to search the house in his mind, trying to find "his" Six.
* Driven to extreme measures as the time required to enhance the image draws to a close, Baltar sets off a fire alarm as a distraction, breaks into the lab where Gaeta has been working and tries to destroy the evidence as it does indeed reveal his face - only to be stopped by Adama and arrested.
* Down on the [[hangar deck]], Kara Thrace joins [[Lee Adama]], Tyrol and Cally in their investigations of the Raider - even to the extent of climbing inside the craft despite her leg injury {{TRS|You Can't Go Home Again}}.
* Tyrol repeats Boomer's advice to Thrace, and despite feeling incredibly stupid Thrace plays along and encourages the Raider to "giddy up."  To her astonishment, the Raider powers up.
* In the [[brig]], Baltar is visited by Roslin, whom he believes has come to oversee his release. Instead, she is uncharacteristically vindictive, stating she ''knew'' he was a traitor.  Baltar is infuriated that the President would condemn him solely on her "gut feeling."
* In the pilots' locker room, a tired-seeming Boomer opens her locker door only to find that the word CYLON has been written in yellow on the mirror on the other side. She desperately rubs it off with her hands, declaring that it's not true.
* As a result of Roslin's visit, Baltar finally sees his only way out is to do what Six has been urging him to do: give himself over to God's will. He gets down on his knees and starts praying.
* He repeats his prayer several times, and suddenly "Six" is beside him once more, telling him everything will be all right.
* Gaeta enters the brig and throws Baltar into a wild panic: he is convinced he is about to be summarily executed.
* Calming Baltar, Gaeta tells Baltar he is a free man - the photographs delivered by "Shelly Godfrey" have proven to be fakes.
* As Baltar is released, Adama learns that "Shelly Godfrey" has literally vanished, her watchers reporting she turned a corner in a corridor, and when they got to it, she had simply disappeared.  The only thing left are her glasses. 
* On ''[[Colonial One]]'', Roslin holds a press conference publicly exonerating Baltar.
* While acknowledging the act, Baltar meets with Six in his fantasy world, and she points out that he is now next to invincible: he's been through a trial by fire, and no-one would dare accuse him of acting against [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] again. She then starts stripping as she climbs the stairs to the bedroom.
* Following her, Baltar can't help asking her one question: was "Shelly Godfrey" ever really "here"? Her response is a coy smile.

=== On Caprica ===
* {{Callsign|Helo}} and [[Sharon Agathon|Valerii]] are on the run from [[Cylon Centurion]]s.
* As they camp out for the night, Agathon confesses he couldn't bear to see anything happen to her.
* Hiding a smile of victory, Valerii silences Agathon's words with a kiss, and as a thunderstorm threatens, they make love.

== Notes == 
* A week has passed since "[[Litmus]]."
* [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] is accidentally revealing more and more of her Cylon nature.
* {{callsign|Karl Agathon}} has passed another test on Caprica; he's now sexually active with "Caprica" Valerii.
* [[Felix Gaeta]] admires [[Gaius Baltar]] and may be his one true friend on ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]''.
* Baltar appears very close to completing his [[Cylon detector]].
* Cylon [[Raider (RDM)|Raiders]] are purpose-bred, semi-intelligent bio-machines, as later proven in "[[Six of One]]."
* The Colonials use [[w:QWERTY|QWERTY]] keyboards, in keeping with the "naturalistic" feel of the series.
* According to the "[[Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far|The Story So Far]]" special, which summarizes the first two seasons, it was another crewmember who wrote "Cylon" on Valerii's mirror. "[[The Plan]]" adds some debate to this when Valerii (under her summoned "sleeper agent" persona) confesses to Cavil her belief that she wrote it. 
* [[Shelly Godfrey]] claims to have gained the information about Baltar from Doctor [[Amarak]], who was previously referred to in [[Season 1 (2004-05)|season one]]'s premiere, "[[33]]". Prior to the destruction of ''[[Olympic Carrier]]'', Amarak warned President Roslin that a traitor was in her midst.<ref name="companion68">{{cite book|last=Bassom|first=David|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|page=68|publisher=Titan Books}}</ref>

== Analysis ==
* There are those who erroneously believed that Shelly Godfrey to be the "clearest indication" that Baltar's Six is not only an implant in Baltar's head―but that "she" is in direct contact with other Cylons scattered within [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]], and they are working in concert with one another in order to fully subvert Baltar to their will. The idea that Shelly Godfrey is a humanoid Cylon working to prevent Baltar from finalizing his Cylon detector would make her arrival on ''{{RDM|Galactica}}'' at the precise moment Six vanishes from Baltar's head push coincidence to the limits of credibility. Later events, including "[[The Plan]]," show Godfrey to be a Six working for Cavil trying to discredit Baltar due to his Cylon detector.  Godfrey is indicated to have made the evidence easy to find out due to her own attraction to Baltar and she disappears as another Six, disguised as her, takes her place long enough for her to slip away while the other Six presumably just removes her disguise afterwards.  Godfrey's complete disappearance is due to the fact that Cavil blew her out of one of ''{{RDM|Galactica}}''{{'|s}} [[Airlock|airlocks]] as she was now useless, though she undoubtedly later [[Resurrection (RDM)|resurrected]] in the Cylon fleet.
* Godfrey's mission seems to be to strengthen Baltar's position within the Fleet by using evidence that can be discredited relatively easily. Further accusations of treason against Baltar will be more suspect.

== Questions ==

=== Answered Questions ===

{{answered questions|season=1|series=RDM|episode=Six Degrees of Separation}}

* Is [[Head Six]] in communication with her "sisters" in the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]]?
* Will [[Gaius Baltar]] forgive [[Laura Roslin]] for her condemnation of him?
* Even if Baltar completes his [[Cylon detector]], will any results it gives be trustworthy?
* Who wrote "CYLON" on Valerii's locker mirror? Could it have been Ms. Godfrey, a suspicious human crewmember, or Valerii herself?
* Where did [[Shelly Godfrey]] go after her disappearance?
* If Godfrey is still on ''{{RDM|Galactica}}'', is Valerii unwittingly helping her like she may have helped [[Aaron Doral]] in "[[Litmus]]"?

=== Unanswered Questions ===

* What is the range of actions in Baltar's fantasy world that are translated over into the real world?
* Why do Cylon spines glow red during the act of sex, and is this seen by their partners?

== Official Statements ==

=== Concept and Development ===
The producers discuss the intriguing premise of a physical Number Six appearing in the Fleet and the delicate balance of humor and tension in the episode.

{{Quote
| text = We were all in love with the idea of exploring what would happen if Baltar walked into [[CIC]] and Number Six was there for real. We didn't know what that meant, but there was just something really intriguing about that idea... And we knew the episode was going to have a lot of humor because of Baltar and Number Six.
| sign = [[Ronald D. Moore]]
| source = ''Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion'' <ref name="companion68">{{cite book|last=Bassom|first=David|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|page=68|publisher=Titan Books}}</ref>
}}

{{Quote
| text = I thought it was nice to end it on a very disquieting, 'What the hell just happened?' kind of note. You know Shelly was physically there, but I wanted to leave what happened to Shelly a mystery at the end of that episode.
| sign = [[Ronald D. Moore]]
| source = Moore on the episode's ending <ref name="companion71">{{cite book|last=Bassom|first=David|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|page=71|publisher=Titan Books}}</ref>
}}

=== Character Portrayal and Seduction Tactics ===
[[Tricia Helfer]] and [[Edward James Olmos]] developed specific traits for the "Shelly Godfrey" persona to differentiate her from other Six models.

{{Dialogue
| context = [[Tricia Helfer]] on creating the [[Shelly Godfrey]] persona:
| lines = 
"I wanted to distinguish her from the [[Messenger Six|Number Six you see with Baltar]] and the Number Six on Caprica by making her a little bit more straightforward and intellectual. She doesn't rely so much on her sensuality."

"Eddie and I both agreed that Shelly should try to appeal more to Adama's emotions and try to get into his mind that way. We discussed how it's often quite hard for a man to have a woman cry in front of him and not feel the desire to protect her... But it didn't work."
| source = ''Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion'', pp. 69-70 <ref name="companion69">{{cite book|last=Bassom|first=David|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|page=69|publisher=Titan Books}}</ref>
}}

{{Quote
| text = I really wanted to find as many different emotions as I could in this episode. The storyline is actually very serious: Baltar is accused of treason and he's going to get shoved out of an [[airlock]]. [...] But there's a lot of humor in the episode too, which comes out of seeing someone struggle with something really serious that they're not really equipped to deal with.
| sign = [[James Callis]]
| source = Callis on Baltar's emotional range <ref name="companion69" />
}}

=== The Bathroom Scene ===
One of the season's most famous comedic sequences involved a complex directorial approach and actor improvisation.

{{Dialogue
| context = On the technical and comedic execution of the bathroom stalls scene:
| lines = 
'''James Callis:''' I think the line was originally going to be, 'No more Mr Nice Guy', but 'No more Mr Nice Gaius' just seemed obvious to me. When I first did it, I remember [[David Eick]] looking at me and laughing but then going, 'I'm not sure that's going to work for the audience.' But he went with it in the end!

'''Alessandro Juliani:''' It was very specific that the camera stayed out the stalls — in fact in the script, it said in block capital letters, 'STAY OUTSIDE THE STALLS'. That obviously was adhered to, which I think contributed to it being so comical.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' I was really adamant about keeping that. The network had its concerns and wanted to cut it at one point, and I was like, 'No! I know how to do this and make it work. Just trust me!'
| source = ''Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion'', pp. 70-71 <ref name="companion71">{{cite book|last=Bassom|first=David|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|page=71|publisher=Titan Books}}</ref>
}}

=== Production Insights ===

{{Quote
| text = We had a very interesting experience with Robert Young. He's a very senior film director, who had also never done anything like this before. He brought a very personal, performance-intensive approach to the show.
| sign = [[David Eick]]
| source = Eick on director [[Robert Young]] <ref name="companion69" />
}}

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

{{Dialogue
| context = [[Gaius Baltar]] to [[William Adama]], confronting the accusation that he may be a traitor:
| lines = 
'''Gaius Baltar''': And I don't like being accused of participating in [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|the genocide of the human race]] based solely on the [[Shelly Godfrey|word of a woman]] whom I have already indicated to you may well be [[Humanoid Cylon|a Cylon agent]]...

'''Gaius Baltar''': I did not conspire with the Cylons. I'm an innocent man who is being convicted in the court of public opinion without trial.
| source = [[Six Degrees of Separation]]
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = In [[sickbay]], [[Kara Thrace]] attempts to walk for the first time since sustaining a knee injury on the [[Red Moon]]:
| lines = 
'''[[Lee Adama]]''': C'mon Starbuck, you can do it.

: ''(Kara Thrace gets out of bed, using it as a support)''

'''Lee Adama''': ''(mockingly)'' Ah, that smarts. That smarts. But I. Don't. Care.

'''Thrace''': You don't care?

'''Lee Adama''': I don't care. Because your pain is my entertainment. ''(hands crutches over to Kara)'' Your Crutches of Death, sir. Use them wisely.

'''Thrace''': Shut up.

'''Doctor [[Sherman Cottle]]''': It's going to hurt like hell, but it's supposed to.

'''Thrace''': ''(wryly)'' Thanks doc.

: ''(Thrace starts out, slowly)''

'''Lee Adama''': No pain, no gain. No cliché left unturned as Kara Thrace returns to the world of the walking. Can she do it or will she fall on her ass?

'''Thrace''': I swear to the Gods that I'm going to beat the crap out of both of you as soon as I get better... ''(pauses, retreats)'' No, I can't.

'''Lee Adama''': Yes you can. You did it.

'''Thrace''': No I can't. I can't. I can't.

'''Cottle''': You're not going to get better lying on your back.

'''Thrace''': ''(getting on the bed)'' Oh, frak off.

'''Lee Adama''': We'll just take a break for five minutes.

'''Thrace''': I don't want to do it again. I want a pill. Now. Please.

'''Cottle''': Sorry, but we're weaning you off the magic pills starting today. Besides, I need them for myself.

: ''(Cottle ambles off)''
| source = [[Six Degrees of Separation]]
}}{{Quote
| text = No more Mr. Nice Gaius!
| sign = [[Gaius Baltar]] speaking to [[Shelly Godfrey]] in the [[enlisted head]]
| source = [[Six Degrees of Separation]]
}}

== Guest stars ==
* [[Michael Hogan]] as Colonel [[Saul Tigh]]
* [[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief [[Galen Tyrol]]
* [[Tahmoh Penikett]] as Lieutenant [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]]
* [[Kandyse McClure]] as Petty Officer [[Anastasia Dualla]]
* [[Paul Campbell]] as [[Billy Keikeya]]
* [[Alessandro Juliani]] as Lieutenant [[Felix Gaeta]]
* [[Donnelly Rhodes]] as Dr. [[Sherman Cottle]]
* [[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally Tyrol|Cally Henderson]]
* [[Christina Schild]] as [[Playa Palacios]]
* [[Biski Gugushe]] as [[Sekou Hamilton|Journalist Eick]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{episode list (RDM season 1)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Michael Angeli]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Robert Young]]
[[Category:RDM]]

[[de:Unter Verdacht]]
[[es:Seis Grados de Separación]]
[[fr:Les Croyances de Baltar]]
[[zh:六度分隔]]