The Captain's Hand

2006-02-19T21:49:49Z

Adam s: /* Questions */

{{Episode Data|
Image = [[Image:Adamas.jpg|300px]]
| Title= The Captain's Hand
| Series= [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|The Re-imagined Series]]
| Season= [[Season 2 (2005-06)|2]]
| Episode= 17
| Guests=[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
| Writer=[[IMDB:nm0900599|Jeff Vlaming]]
| Story=
| Director=[[IMDB:nm0590790|Sergio Mimica-Gezzan]]
| Production=
| Rating=
| US Airdate= February 17 2006
| UK Airdate=
| DVD=
| Population= 49,584
| Prev= [[Sacrifice]]
| Next= [[Downloaded]]
}}

== Overview ==

''When two Raptors go missing after a training mission, new ''Pegasus'' commander [[Barry Garner]] challenges Admiral [[William Adama|Adama]]'s orders by sending his battlestar directly into the rescue zone--and a trap.''

== Summary ==
*The episode begins as two [[Raptor|Raptors]] begin a training mission outside [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus'']], which is near a [[Wikipedia:Binary star system|binary star]], causing [[Dradis|DRADIS]] and communications interference. The Raptors pass through a nebulus cloud, upon which they pick up a transmission. In the ''Pegasus'' C.I.C., the Raptors disappear from DRADIS, the Comm officer believing that they may be in distress.

*On ''[[Galactica]]'', [[Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] and the deck crew are in the process of unloading containers, when [[Cally]] mentions she heard movement from inside a fallen container. Against waiting for the [[Colonial Marine Corps|Marines]], Tyrol decides to investigate by entering the container. Inside, Tyrol finds a pregnant teenager who asks for [[Cottle|Dr. Cottle]].

*Approximately an hour after the disappearance, [[Lee Adama]] arrives on the [[Mercury class battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', where he runs into [[Kara Thrace]]. Lee has been promoted to '''Major''', and both report to Commander Garner in the C.I.C. Garner is quick to chew out now-Captain Thrace over the disapperance of the Raptors.

*[[Barry Garner|Commander Garner]] and [[Lee Adama|Major Adama]] talk in private about the discipline on [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus'']]. Garner thinks that [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] is a huge part of the problem, but Adama defends her, citing her excellent piloting skills. Garner thinks that the virtues learned in his experience as an engineer would do the ship some good.

*On [[Colonial_One]], [[Laura_Roslin|President Roslin]] is being hounded by her new aide, [[Tory Foster]] about preparing for the coming election. Elsewhere, [[Tom Zarek]] discusses the idea of leading the fleet, however concedes he's not able to garner support, but is willing to support someone more scientific; [[Gaius Baltar|Dr. Baltar]].

*Back on ''Galactica'', Dr. Cottle & Admiral Adama discuss the fate of the young woman found in the container. Admiral Adama speaks to the young girl, [[Rya Kibby]], as to why she is a stowaway. Rya mentions the fact that she doesn't want to keep the baby, but Admiral Adama (upon request from the Gemenese delegate) is intent on sending her back to her family. Dr. Cottle suggests that she request asylum aboard ''Galactica'', raising a stare from the Admiral. Rya affirms that's what she wants.

*News of [[Rya Kibby|Rya's]] asylum request has raised a stir amongst the Fleet. On ''Colonial One'', [[Laura Roslin|President Roslin]] discusses the issue with Admiral Adama, [[Tory Foster]], and Delegate [[Sarah_Porter|Sarah Porter]] from Gemenon. Delegate Porter mentions that the abortion is a obscenity and demands that the girl be returned to her parents. Officially, President Roslin responds by saying the asylum request is under review. Afterwards, President Roslin mentions she's not willing to even consider the idea of abortion, but Adama reminds her of what she said back on Ragnar [[Mini-series|(Mini-Series)]].

*While reviewing the last transmissions from the Raptors, [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] makes a startling discovery, in that the reason for the disappearance may be the result of answering a supposed distress call. She attempts to bring this up with Commander Garner, who flatly rejects the theory.

*At the last known position, the additional search parties learn of the distress call that lured the first Raptors away. Commander Garner decides to start preparing the Pegasus for jump. Major Adama disagrees, trying to mention Kara's theory, only to be rebuffed.

*Over wireless, [[Barry Garner|Commander Garner]], [[Lee Adama|Major Adama]], and [[William Adama|Admiral Adama]] discuss the missing raptor situation. Commander Garner feels that the Pegasus should jump to bring home the missing crews and ships. When the Admiral asks Lee if he concurs, Lee discusses Starbuck's theory that the raptor were drawn into a Cylon trap. Admiral Adama is inclined to agree with the Major and Starbuck, and orders a recon mission to ascertain the fate of the two raptors. Garner is furious over the decision, and orders Major Adama off the C.I.C.

*Aboard Colonial One, President Roslin announces to the fleet an Executive Order making abortion by mother or doctor subject to criminal arrest.

*Garner decides to make the jump regardless of Adama's orders, causing a heated discussion in C.I.C. between him and Lee. By the end of the discussion, Garner asks the Sergeant-at-arms to have Major Adama removed from the C.I.C., while the Major asks the same for Garner, relieving him of command. Drawing his weapon, the Sergeant asks for the '''Major''' to leave.

*Raptors are launched from ''Pegasus'' towards the now located raptors. One of the pilots is able to look inside their cockpits, only to find both Raptor crews dead. At that moment, a [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestar]] jumps into view of the pilots. ''Pegasus's'' own DRADIS indicates the arrival of two additional Basestars, which begin attacking ''Pegasus'' with conventional and nuclear missile barrages seconds after their arrival.

*During the course of the assault, [[Pegasus|''Pegasus's'']] [[FTL]] drive is disabled. Garner attempts to determine the cause from C.I.C., but is unable to do so due to the confusion of the Engineering crew. Major Adama, still being held by the Sergeant-at-arms, suggests that the Sergeant has better things to do than guard a prisoner and returns to [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus'']] C.I.C. Commander Garner decides to head down to the engine room to ascertain the damage, and transfers command of [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus'']] to Major Adama. Adama, after a moment of hesitation, swings into action, ordering ''Pegasus'' into the fray, closing with one of the Basestars and engaging it with the forward batteries, severely damaging the Cylon ship.

*Through Garner's successful repair of their FTL system, ''Pegasus'' manages to jump away. Commander Garner, however, is killed in the process.

*In [[William Adama|Admiral Adama's]] quarters, the Admiral and [[Lee Adama|Major Adama]] review the reports from the incident on ''Pegasus''. After pointing out that Lee was more forgiving of the late Commander than Starbuck was, Admiral Adama asks what Garner's fatal flaw was. Lee responds that Garner was accustomed to working with machines, but that command is about people. The Admiral asks Lee to keep that in mind, as he offers Lee the job of commanding ''Pegasus'', along with a promotion to Commander. Lee is stunned for a moment, then he shakes his father's hand, accepting the promotion.

*[[Gaius Baltar|Gaius Baltar]] proclaims his candidacy for President of the Colonies in the forthcoming Presidential election in the midst of a press conference called by [[Laura Roslin|President Roslin]] regarding the criminalization of abortion in the Fleet.

== Questions ==
*Would Adama allow Dr. Cottle to be arrested? From the episode, he is of the opinion that he would do what is necessary.
**Given that Cottle is the only real doctor left in the fleet, Adama may be hesitant to take such an action.
***This idea is supported by Cottle's behavior toward officers: Adama is the only one to whom he shows even marginal respect.
**Are there no doctors on Pegasus? If Cain had a large civilian fleet to recruit from, it is likely that she would have drafted some doctors into service.
*Was Baltar's report real, or was it just invented to produce the opportunity to drive his wedge?
**With the constant Cylon attacks to the Fleet (barring the unexpected return of ''Pegasus'') the population is almost always declining, as noted by Admiral Adama.
*Who will replace Baltar as Roslin's Vice President?
**Can Roslin actually pick another Vice President, under Colonial law, if Baltar refuses to resign? One of the reporters at the end actually directly asked if Baltar would remain as Vice President. Perhaps Roslin cannot forcibly remove Baltar from his office just because he's running aginst her.
***If Colonial law works similarly to American political protocol, Baltar was elected in his own right. For example, George Bush cannot force Dick Cheney to resign, only Mr. Cheney himself can elect to resign. Interestingly, 204 years ago, US President John Adams faced a similar situation: His own Vice-President, Thomas Jefferson, plotted Adam's political downfall.
*How will Zarek position himself in the Baltar campaign?
**It is likely that Zarek hopes to become Vice President himself.
***Does Zarek plan to have Baltar killed, as per his plan in "[[Colonial Day]]"?
****Zarek actually seems willing to make a beneficial alliance with Baltar, which Roslin would never agree to.
****Baltar may be a political novice but he's no fool; he would spot that a mile away. In fact, Baltar specifically asks Zarek what he (Zarek) would want in return. Zarek gave a diplomatic answer rather than openly ask for the VP slot.
*Will Tigh accept the fact that Lee Adama now outranks him and has command of a ship? Or does Saul have no interest in command and already told Admiral Adama that before the posting was offered to Lee?
**As mentioned in "[[Scattered]]," Col. Tigh was never really interested in commanding a battlestar.
***Fleet protocols, as in the real-world US Navy and other naval services around the globe, would require Tigh, as the senior officer to take command, as he did when Adama was incapacitated.
****This is true for an intra-ship command structure, but if other qualified officers were available, Col. Tigh probably had the privilege to pass up the command of ''Pegasus,'' citing XO's prerogative (or something similar).
*What will happen to Rya, now that she had been granted asylum on ''Galactica''?
*Why was Lee promoted straight from Major to Commander? Can a Colonel not be placed in command of a battlestar for long-term purposes?
**No. Colonel [[Jack Fisk]] was promoted to Commander of ''Pegasus'' before his death. It appears to be something of a rank nomenclature formality, as Garner was promoted up from being head of engineering. Compare to the [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Captain established terminology convention] on ''Star Trek'' for always referring to the commanding officer of a ship as "Captain", even if that officer does not hold that specific rank.
***The use of "captain" is done in real life as well. In the US Navy, a person in the command of a vessel is referred to as "Captain" even if his actual rank is Lieutenant Commander, Ensign or even if he/she is a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO).
*Had Garner been serving as XO to ''Pegasus's''' previous commander, the late [[Jack Fisk]]?
*Does the fact that the Cylons had such a large force waiting to ambush ''Pegasus'' indicate that they have a new [[Resurrection Ship]] in place?
**Given that there were three basestars in wait, it is more likely that the Cylons opted on surprise and sheer numbers to succeed. Still, ''Pegasus'' caused one basestar to retreat, despite being outnumbered. It is likely that the ''lack'' of a Resurrection Ship resulted in the basestar's retreat.
*How does the double layer flight pod system on ''Pegasus'' operate? Just before the battlestar jumps away from the ambush, there is a short sequence of Vipers returning to the ship that shows them landing on two distinct levels of the flight pod, with Vipers landing on the lower level being upside down with respect to ''Pegasus''. Both the Colonials and Cylons obviously have some form of artifical gravity on their spacecraft, so this explains why such an arrangement is possible.
**For more on the use of artificial gravity, see the article, [[Science in the Re-imagined Series]].
*How could the pro-abortion law be established throughout the colonies against the religious views of at least one planet? Was it introduced only recently?
**Abortion may have been illegal or tightly-curtailed on that one planet. How much power did the Colonial political structure give to individual planets or smaller geographic areas?

== Analysis ==
*When Baltar announces his candidacy for the Presidency, Number Six applauds with a slow clap. This action runs in parallel to how then-Commander William Adama led the entire crew in a long, drawn-out slow clap in respect of President Roslin when she was re-instated to her office in "[[Home, Part II]]".
*Survivor count is decremented by six from "[[Sacrifice]]", but seven people died in that episode - terrorists [[Sesha Abinell]], [[Vinson]], [[Page]] and [[Chu]], two unnamed marines, and civilian [[Billy Keikeya]]. At least one birth must have taken place to offset the population count between the two episodes.
*Based on the ''[[Colonial One]]'' whiteboard seen toward the end of the episode, only five people died as a result of the ambush on ''Pegasus'': [[Richard Bayer|Richard "Buster" Bayer]], [[Lyla Ellway|Lyla "Shark" Ellway]], the unnamed crew of [[Raptor 314]], and Commander [[Barry Garner]].
**This casualty figure is conspicuously low, considering that ''Galactica'' lost 85 crewmen as the result of a hit by a single nuclear missile in the [[miniseries]], while ''Pegasus'' is hit with no less than three in this episode.
**On the other hand, it is at least consistent with the surprisingly low number of casualties incurred in the [[Battle of the Resurrection Ship]], and may indicate that the hull armor on ''Pegasus'' is significantly stronger than on ''Galactica'', which has many conspicuously bare structural ribs.
*In the course of this episode's timeline, [[Lee Adama]] rises from the rank of Captain (CAG of ''[[Galactica]]'') to Major (No details are given on that posting except Adama was assigned to [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus'']]), to Commander and CO of [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus'']] in the wake of Commander [[Barry Garner|Barry Garner's]] death saving his ship.
**Major Adama's duty was intended as a temporary stint as ''Pegasus'' acting XO, to familiarize himself with the duties of a senior officer. In the opening scene, he tells [[Anastasia Dualla]] that he expects to return to ''Galactica'' "in a couple of weeks".
*Garner's decision to mount a rescue operation in contravention of his commanding officer's orders is an explicit parallel to "[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]", down to the choice of words:
:'''Adama:''' "I'm getting my men."
:'''Garner:''' "I'm going to get our men."
*Two Raptors are lost in the beginning of the episode, but the officers refer to ''four'' missing pilots. This indicates that the ECOs aboard the Raptors are also qualified pilots—although, given that this is a training mission, they may in fact be instructors assigned to coach the pilots in training.

== Notes ==
*Timeline-wise, Baltar says that he made an initial projection of the fleet's population "over seven months ago". This would have been before the arrival of ''Pegasus'', since he said he factored in the arrival of her crew subsequently.
*It has been "almost a month" since Apollo was shot in "[[Sacrifice]]".
*The recap at the beginning of this episode includes two scenes that did not actually appear in any previous episode, but were constructed by redubbing existing footage.
**There scene where Colonel Tigh and Admiral Adama discuss Garner's promotion is constructed from the scene in "Black Market" when Adama and Tigh are telling Apollo to go to ''Pegasus'' on the hangar deck. The scene has been cleverly redubbed, so that Adama is saying entirely new lines when the camera is pointed at ''Tigh'' (not at Adama's face), and then Tigh says new lines when the camera is pointed at ''Adama''.
**The same technique is used when Baltar is talking to Gina: when the camera is pointed at Baltar, we hear [[Gina]] saying "You must betray Roslin and run for President in the upcoming election", but this was never heard in the aired version of "[[Epiphanies]]".
*Col. Tigh does actually appear in this episode, seen very briefly in the ''Galactica'' CIC with no dialog. He also contributes the "Previously on ''Battlestar Galactica''" voiceover, and a few lines of dialogue in the above-mentioned redubbed scene from the recap.
*[[Billy Keikeya]] does not appear in the credits for this episode, but he is seen in a framed picture that Roslin looks at.
*Capt. [[Cole Taylor|Cole "Stinger" Taylor]] is still onboard ''Pegasus'', mentioned by Capt. Thrace as being in the brig for insubordination.
*The adjectival form of "Gemenon" is "Gemenese".
*Under Gemenese law, minors are the "property" of their parents.
*[[Mercury class battlestar]]s do not need to retract their flight pods prior to a jump, unlike the [[Galactica type battlestar|Galactica type]].
*The coolant pressure gauges on ''Pegasus'' measure in PSI, presumably [[Wikipedia:Pound-force per square inch|Pound-force per square inch]]. This is consistant with the use of customary units on the Viper Mk. II's [[Altimeter]], seen in "[[Act of Contrition]]".
*Writer Jeff Vlaming references [[Wikipedia:William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s "[[Wikipedia:The Merchant of Venice|The Merchant of Venice]]" when he has [[Laura Roslin]] tell [[Quorum of Twelve]] delegate [[Sarah Porter]], "you have your pound of flesh".

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

== Official Statements ==

== Statistics ==

=== Guest Stars ===

*[[IMDB:nm0001334|John Heard]] as Commander [[Barry Garner]]
*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Aaron+Douglas Aaron Douglas] as Chief [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Nicki+Clyne Nicki Clyne] as Specialist [[Cally]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0722413/ Donnelly Rhodes] as Dr. [[Cottle]]
*Rekha Sharma as [[Tory Foster]]
*Brad Dryborough as Lieutenant [[Hoshi]]
*Christian Tessier as [[Tucker Clellan|Tucker "Duck" Clellan]]
*Amber Rothwell as [[Rya Kibby]]
*Kavan Smith as Lt. [[Richard Bayer|Richard "Buster" Bayer]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2015903/ Stephanie von Pfetten] as Cpt. [[Marcia Case|Marcia "Showboat" Case]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Patricia+Idlette Particia Idlette] as [[Sarah Porter]]
*Aaron Pearl as Ensign [[Abel Thornton]]
*Christina Schild as [[Playa Palacios]]
*Tammy Hui as ECO [[Lyla Ellway|Lyla "Shark" Ellway]]
*James Bell as Lt. [[Steve Fleer|Steve "Red Devil" Fleer]]
*Kurt Max Runte as Ensign Charles Bellamy
*Kimani Ray Smith as Pegasus Sergeant

{{Episode List}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: RDM]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Jeff Vlaming]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan]]

Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

The Captain's Hand