Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

Scattered

2026-02-12T17:49:32Z

AshhawkBurning: Rewording the scene of Tigh setting his medals on fire, for on-screen accuracy and to reflect RDM's podcast observation that, though they tried to make it seem like "the whole place might go up", that wasn't conveyed.

{{Episode Data
| image =Tighadama.jpg
| title=Scattered
| series=
| season=2
| episode=1
| guests=
| writer=[[David Weddle]] [[Bradley Thompson]]
| story=
| director=[[Michael Rymer]]
| production=201
| rating= 2.6
| US airdate=2005-07-15
| CAN airdate=2006-01-14
| UK airdate=2006-01-10
| dvd= {{Season 2.0 NTSC DVD release date}} '''US''' {{Season 2 PAL DVD release date}} '''UK'''
| podcast = Y
| population= 47875
| oldpopulation= 47887
| extra= '''Season 2.0 Premiere'''
| prev=[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]
| next=[[Valley of Darkness]]
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: ''Chaos is rampant as paramedics try to save Commander [[William Adama|Adama]]'s life after [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|he is shot]], and ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'' is accidentally separated from the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]].''

: '''''Note''': This is part one of a two-part episode. Part two is "[[Valley of Darkness]]".''

== Summary ==
=== Teaser ===
* Moments after [[William Adama|Commander Adama]] is shot by [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]], [[Lee Adama|Captain Adama]] yells out for Doctor [[Cottle]]. Since he is not on board, [[Anastasia Dualla|Dualla]] searches for him throughout the rest of the fleet.
* Medics arrive and take Adama to sickbay. Meanwhile, Boomer wonders what has happened, and in response, [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] has the [[Marine]]s take her to the brig.
* Also, Tigh has brief flashbacks back to the time when he first meets Adama.
* [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]] then detects a [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] on [[DRADIS]], preparing to ambush [[The Fleet (RDM)|the fleet]]. Dualla locates Cottle on board the ''[[Rising Star (RDM)|Rising Star]]''; however, he cannot be shuttled to ''Galactica'' as Tigh is forced to order the fleet to make an [[Emergency jump coordinates|emergency]] [[FTL]] jump to escape the Cylons. When asked about the survivors on the surface of {{RDM|Kobol}}, Tigh replies by saying that the people down there will have to wait.
* Meanwhile, Apollo is taken to the brig alongside [[Laura Roslin|President Roslin]] who is given news that Adama has been shot. Apollo asks [[Venner|Corporal Venner]] to remove his cuffs, but is denied.
* After the rest of the ships in the fleet have escaped, ''Galactica'' performs its own jump to safety; however, when Gaeta reads DRADIS there are no other ships nearby. They have somehow lost the fleet, and are stranded in space, alone.

=== Act 1 ===
* [[Gaius Baltar]] and [[Number Six]] are inside the [[Opera house]] where they look down at their child. Baltar wonders if the baby is metaphorical, but Six tells him that the baby is real and she is the mother and Gaius the father. The child may not be born yet, but will soon be. Six then asks Gaius if he wishes to hold her. Hesitantly, he agrees and moves to do so when he wakes realizing it was just a dream and mutters "am I the father?"
* Baltar and the rest of crew of [[Raptor 1]] are still on the surface of Kobol, near the ruins of the city. [[Diana Seelix|Seelix]] is giving the injured [[Socinus]] some [[serisone]] to help him breathe and [[Cally]] presses Baltar to carry something along with the others when they make their way to the tree line and await rescue.
* While checking the supplies, the team hears a sonic boom, and realize that a [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylon]] ship has entered the planet's atmosphere and they must find cover immediately. Although [[Galen Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] feels they have enough time to ensure they have all of the needed supplies before moving out, {{callsign|Crashdown}} overrides him and leads the group to hide among the trees.
* On ''[[Galactica (TRS)|Galactica]]'', Tigh changes his blood-soaked clothes while [[Ellen Tigh|Ellen]] asks what happened to the fleet. Tigh explains that every watch they update their emergency jump calculations with new star fixes to compensate for inertial drift, and then transmit them to the rest of the fleet. This time. however, ''Galactica'''s updated theirs, but neglected to transmit them to the other ships. When he mentions it was [[Gaeta]] who forgot to send the updates, Ellen is quick to attack him, but Tigh counters that it wasn't "the kid's fault".
* Ellen then tells him that now he is the one in charge of the fleet to which Tigh responds that it is not his command, no matter how much Ellen wants him to be.
* Later upon entering the [[CIC]] Tigh tells the crew in that Adama is still the commander, and will be until the day he dies, and they will not let him die. After everyone resumes their duties he turns to Gaeta and [[Aaron Kelly|Kelly]], who have come up with an idea on how to locate the rest of the fleet. If they jump back to their original coordinates, their navigation computers can use the star fixes to generate a best fit solution for the fleet's current location. However, it will take 12 hours to locate the fleet, and with a basestar in the area, they won't be able to survive long enough to jump again.
* In the brig, Apollo and Roslin talk about wanting the ship to return to their jump point, since Starbuck will have no way of locating the fleet, should she return with the [[Arrow of Apollo]]. Roslin apologizes to Apollo for making him go against his own father but he forestalls her by implying he did it for his own ideals which amounted to nothing.
* On Kobol, the survivors have made their way into the trees and Baltar sees a baby cot as they walk further in.
* The team decides to stop and Seelix looks for some more serisone. Tyrol asks Socinus how he is doing to which he replies that he can hear birds, something they have not heard for a while.
* Seelix is unable to find the second med kit which contains the needed serisone. Crashdown blames [[Tarn]] for not bringing it and orders him to retrieve it alone; however, the Chief and Cally are able to convince Crashdown that they should go with Tarn as backup. The three then head back to the Raptor crash site.
* On {{RDM|Caprica}}, in the [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies]], [[Kara Thrace]] and {{callsign|Karl Agathon}} look over the body of the dead Six. [[Sharon Agathon|Sharon]] then warns them that they need to leave, as the Six will [[download]] into another body and reveal their location to the other Cylons.
* Starbuck is annoyed that they are to listening to a Cylon though Helo counters that Sharon has gotten him this far. Sharon also tries to convince Starbuck by reciting a memory she has of her.
* Starbuck reacts by pulling out her gun and pointing it a her. Helo tries to stop her from shooting but Starbuck doesn't listen and pulls the trigger her shot missing when Helo pushes her arm and then revealing Sharon is carrying his child.
* Starbuck is upset at Helo for falling for a machine and they begin to argue until they hear a noise. They rush outside just in time to see the [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] Starbuck arrived in flying off. The scene ends with Starbuck exclaiming "bitch took my ride."

=== Act 2 ===
* Tigh visits the sickbay, and he has another flashback of himself and Adama in a bar during which Adama tells him that he is going back to the fleet.
* Tigh subsequently talks to [[Layne Ishay]], who tells him that Adama has lost a lot of blood, and the bullets have damaged his spleen. She feels unequal to the task being only a medic and wants Dr Cottle to operate. Tigh informs her that he is not available and she will need to perform the role of a doctor in order to save Adama.
[[File:201 02.jpg|thumb|Tigh brutalizes Valerii during her interrogation.]]
* After leaving sick bay, Tigh heads to the brig where Boomer is being held to question her. He orders her to tell him how many Cylons are in the fleet and who gave the command to shoot Adama. Boomer, still in shock at what has happened is unable to answer until she finally says 'just get it over with, you frakking coward."
* Angered by her reply, Tigh beats her, and orders one of the Marines to give him a sidearm so that he can shoot but is stopped from doing so by a memory of a door with the number 3 on it that is about to be opened.
* On Kobol Tyrol, Cally and Tarn return to the Raptor crash site, find the missing medkit. and make their way back to the rest of the team.
* As they walk, Cally and the Chief engage in some light banter when they suddenly fall under gunfire.
* Cally and Tyrol are able to take cover but Tarn is shot twice in the chest before he can do the same. Tyrol gives Cally the rifle so she can cover him while he tries to get to Tarn, who is shot once more. Tyrol manages to reach him, picks him up and moves away from the firing Cylons with Cally in tow.

=== Act 3 ===
* Once the Chief and Cally manage to evade the Cylons, they stop to check on Tarn's condition. Tyrol is reassuring him when he stops breathing and dies. The Chief is momentarily at a loss but finally takes Tarn's [[dog tag]]s, and the two continue on.
* On ''Galactica'', Dualla and Gaeta are washing up in the officer's Head where she tries to comfort him by telling him that their current situation is not really his fault. After she leaves, Gaeta becomes inspired by the arrangement of soap bars next to the sinks to build a firewall for ''Galactica'''s computers, and rushes to the CIC to present his idea to Tigh and Kelly.
* In CIC, Gaeta explains that they could calculate the fleet's location in 10 minutes if they network the ship's computers.
* Kelly objects to the idea, bringing up Commander Adama's past reluctance to networking which would make them vulnerable to a cyber-attack by the Cylons. Gaeta counters by explaining that he would devise a series of firewalls to halt the virus protecting the mainframe. Having no other good options, Tigh gives his approval for Gaeta to proceed.
* As they prepare to jump to their previous location, Tigh has another flashback. In this one Adama informs him that he is back in Colonial Military due to his [[Carolanne Adama|wife's]] connections with the [[Defense Subcommittee]]. Confident, Adama tells Tigh that he will command his own [[battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] one day.
* Tigh decides to conditionally release Apollo so that he can resume his role as CAG, though he must return to the brig when not on duty and not attempt to free Roslin. As the Colonel is leaving the brig Roslin talks to him but he refuses to hear her.
* Back in CIC, Gaeta has networked the ship's computers and set up five firewalls to protect them. Although Gaeta is less than confident and expresses that would have liked Baltar's help, Tigh says he trusts him, and will take his work "over that shifty son of a bitch any day."
* Once everything is ready, ''Galactica'' jumps to their previous location and start the calculations. Multiple [[DRADIS]] contacts are detected: the basestar and raiders, who prepare to attack them.

=== Act 4 ===
* ''Galactica'' holds off the Cylon basestar with weapons fire, while the [[Viper Mark II|Vipers]] are launched to intercept the raiders. Those in the cockpit include Apollo, {{callsign|Kat}}, [[Flyboy]] and {{callsign|Hot Dog}}.
* One of the Raiders sends a [[Cylon computer virus|computer virus]] to ''Galactica'', which immediately tries to infect the computer systems and quickly breaches the first firewall.
* While engaging the Raiders, Apollo notices a [[Cylon Heavy Raider|strange Cylon vessel]] among them and engages it with Kat's assistance.
* While the ship is taking hits from missiles, Ishay and her team begin to operate on Adama. His heart stops beating and unable to use the defibrillator to restart it, Ishay asks for a surgical knife.
* In the brig, [[Venner|Corporal Venner]] asks for [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]] to pray with him.
* The second firewall is breached while the jump calculations are only halfway done, followed soon after by a breach of the third.
[[File:Flakfield.jpg|thumb|Apollo nears the flak field while trying to stop the Heavy Raider.]]
* Apollo nears the strange Cylon vessel, which turns around and tries to destroy Apollo's Viper. He manages to damage the ship, but it reverses course and heads directly towards ''Galactica''. Kat urges Apollo to halt pursuit, since he is getting too near ''Galactica'''s guns. Eventually, Apollo has no choice but to disengage and the Heavy Raider crashes into ''Galactica''{{'|s}} starboard flight pod.
* Ishay opens Adama's chest and performs a heart massage.
* The fourth firewall is breached leaving only one protecting the ship's computers from being overtaken by the Cylons.
* Finally, calculations are complete and Gaeta breaks the network link.
* All Vipers are ordered back to the ship and Tigh orders a jump to the fleet's calculated location.
* After the jump, Gaeta reads DRADIS, reporting several signals which turn out to all be Colonial. The calculations were correct and fleet has been found, elating the crew. Tigh is quick to order ''Rising Star'' to send Cottle over ''Galactica'' ASAP.
* In sickbay, Tigh congratulates Ishay for her work to revive Adama, and stop the bleeding. After she leaves, Tigh talks to Adama who is still unconscious, and wonders if he can hear him.
* Tigh has another flashback, involving the same "3" door seen earlier. It opens with Tigh dousing his sash and medals liberally in lighter fluid, preparing to set them — and potentially anything nearby — alight. He hears a knock on the door and after some hesitation, he answers it. Two MPs inform him that he is back in the fleet courtesy of "Major Adama".
* After the flashback, Tigh tells Adama that he shouldn't have let him back into the service, instead letting him die along with the other billions of people killed during the Cylon attack. He never wanted command, and urges Bill not to die.
* Meanwhile, in the starboard flight pod, the wreckage of Heavy Raider seems completely quiet as it rests in ''Galactica'''s museum. Suddenly the red pulsating eyes of several [[Cylon Centurion]]s appear as they emerge from the damaged craft and into ''Galactica''.

== Notes ==

*The second season introduces the practice of showing the current Fleet population in the opening credits. Throughout this episode, that population is 47,875. This represents 12 total casualties since "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II".
** This may reflect in part the presumed loss of at least 1 Raptor crew from the previous episode. The death rate from natural causes in the fleet is likely 2 per day (assuming an equal distribution of ages & an average lifespan of 80 years/29,200 days, in Earth terms; if the fleet skews younger or older, then it could be a bit lower or higher, respectfully.
* [[Socinus]]{{'}} lungs are filling with fluid.
** Supporting this, the medication given to [[Socinus]]{{'}} was called ''sersone'' which can be assumed to be a steroidal anti-inflammatory (other medications of the class on Earth also end in "sone" such as ''dexamethasone'' or ''prednisone''). Such medications counteract the human body's inflammatory response, including pain and swelling in response to trauma.
* Captain Kelly is third in the chain of command, after Tigh. This is demonstrated in the [[Miniseries]], as Kelly attempts to give orders on trying to stop the fires after the nuclear strike on the battlestar, while Tigh hesitates giving the order to vent the affected compartments.
** It is possible that Kelly is only third in command because of the "malefactions" of Apollo, and that, typically as fourth it is not a surprise that he is not seen before. The sudden incapacity of two superiors has bumped him up the ladder.
** Kelly could be respnsible for [[CIC]] on 3rd shift, when most of the main crew are off duty; moreover, his post for Condition One could be somewhere other than CIC, perhaps the [[War Room]] or some other secondary command location.
** While Doctor Cottle holds the rank of Major, as physician he would not be in ''Galactica'''s chain of command at all. In the military there are times when a lower ranking person will be in "operational command" of people who are technically higher in rank. This is the distinction between a [[w:staff officer|staff officer]] and a [[w:line officer|line officer]]. Line officers are those officers in general military specialities, and are eligible to command ships and other units. Staff officers, however, are only permitted to command units within their speciality (like medical personnel). Aboard ships, the senior line officer is in command, no matter the rank of any embarked staff officer. While the line officer will treat the staff officer with all courtesy and respect of the higher rank, the line officer is not obligated to follow any orders of the staff officer not within the staff order's speciality. This is how a doctor (staff position) may remove a line officer who is not fit for duty from command, but may not assume command unless ''all'' line officers are incapacitated.
* Adama and Tigh served on a merchant freighter together after leaving the military; Adama was responsible for bringing Tigh back into the military when he reentered.
* This episode marks the first (known) attempt at networking ''Galactica'''s computer systems, at least under William Adama's command.
* Tigh's distrust of Baltar seems evident in this episode, particularly in the reply he made to [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]] regarding the trust he had in the Lieutenant's programming abilities over Baltar's.
* Tigh's wife has taken residence in Tigh's quarters.
* Starbuck seems to incorrectly assume that there is a "real" Sharon Valerii and that the Valerii on Caprica is just a copy of her.
* This episode introduces the first combat depiction of the Cylon [[Heavy Raider]], previously seen during "[[Colonial Day]]".
* This episode shows the first change in the intro sequence, including subtitles, a lack of the "episode clip" sequence, and the use of the theme music previously used only in the UK showings of the first season.
*[[Kerry Norton]] (paramedic [[Layne Ishay]]) is the wife of [[Jamie Bamber]] ({{callsign|Apollo|nolink=y}})
== Analysis ==
[[File:Firewallbreech.jpg|left|thumb|Gaeta's firewall under attack, but not (yet) breached.]]
[[File:Virus Scattered.JPG|right|thumb|The virus breaches Gaeta's last firewall on the display in the upper-left corner.]]
*As Gaeta leans away from the status display to the floor to yank out the cable networking the computers (while he's not looking), the display does show that the last firewall is breached (probably why the Cylons were able to infiltrate a few but not all of ''Galactica'''s computers). Once he unplugs the network, the firewall status disappears from the screen. When he sits up and looks at the screen, it only says that the fleet position is plotted and that the network is offline.
 
*In this episode, the viewers discover that [[Aaron Kelly|Captain Aaron Kelly]] is third-in-command, but haven't really seen that much of him since the [[Miniseries]] (although he is doing his job as [[Landing Signal Officer]] in "[[Final Cut]]"), which makes this seem contrived. However, in the Miniseries, Kelly gives Tyrol an order to aid the stricken port flight pod rescue after Tigh hesitates to give an order (himself following Adama's command to tend to the matter). Giving such an order with the second-in-command standing there is something only a third-in-command would have the guts or authorization to do. Tigh did countermand him moments later to order the venting of the pod, but did not suggest he was out-of-line for stepping in. This strongly suggests that Kelly already was third-in-command, either at the time of decommissioning or as a direct result of casualties taken in the attack. Additionally, "[[Final Cut]]" seems to establish that as [[Landing Signal Officer|LSO]], he just spends most or all of his duty time in the flight pod, and thus wouldn't normally be seen in CIC. Given that a battlestar's initial defense involves the reliability of Viper launches, Kelly's rank and duties could be considered just as important as the command staff needed to initiate the launch orders.
**From [[Ron Moore]]'s blog on [http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/ July 27th, 2006]:
::"The appearance/disappearance of Captain Kelly has more to do with the budgeting process on the show than any creative issue. We only have so much money to spend each week and it's not worth it to pay to bring in Kelly (or any other recognizable guest-star for that matter) unless he's integral to the plot. So, we ask you to take the leap with us and assume that characters like Kelly and Kat and Hotdog and so on, are still aboard ship and doing their jobs even when they're not featured on camera, and therefore are ready to step into action the moment we actually need them for a story."

*The starboard flight pod is significantly damaged in this episode. However, as Ron Moore states in the audio commentary (podcast) for this episode, that this landing pod - originally set up as a museum - is not in active use.
*Computers simply being networked is not a sufficient condition to allow foreign interference - why would any of the systems [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]] links be connected to [[wireless]] channels? Is the infiltration that he detects originating from within ''Galactica''?
**As with any other Colonial ship, ''Galactica'' receives data all the time from exterior sources. In addition to its mainframe computer, ''Galactica'' primary computers include the FTL, Navigation, Damage Control, and Fire Control systems. The mainframe ostensibly handles wireless communications (Note [[Sharon Valerii|Caprica-Valerii]]'s request for access to the mainframe with its communications channels in "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]"). The mainframe probably ''did'' come under attack by the Cylon virus but was able to avoid infection because a Colonial mainframe may have been what the Colonials believed would be the central lynchpin in stopping any Cylon computer cracking.
**While the Colonial Fleet became lax in their computer defenses years after the [[Cylon War]], they probably believed that a networked computer system would be acceptable provided that their battlestar's mainframe computer or a robust avionics package and programming would be able to block or stop any electronic incursion. That fact might have been true—were it not for the [[Command Navigation Program]], which gave the Cylons a backdoor to any Colonial flight computer system. Instead of ramming the main door (mainframe) down, the Cylons used the "window," entering through a lesser computer (or opening a hole in their network) to achieve the same effect. The CNP helped to bypass the defenses of the mainframe, where normal communications were probably screened and electronic attacks thwarted, to enter through another system.
**''Galactica'''s computers may have never been networked in her history before this episode. Her computers may also not be as robust as her sister battlestars. But her computers were designed to be networked or run separately since Gaeta was able to set up a network at all. It was very likely that the mainframe was part of Gaeta's ad hoc network since the other computers would not be able to gather any data from the mainframe's wireless communications. Once the connections were made, the other computers (all of which probably had less resistance or defenses to Cylon viruses) were likely more susceptible to infection than the mainframe as these computers could now "hear" the same things that the mainframe heard normally in its business (such as Cylon electronic attack sequences), but was far more able to thwart. The lesser computers became infected quickly. After a time, even the mainframe in whole or in part would be infected since the Cylon virus is remarkably adaptable and polymorphic, even turning later into a [[Logic bomb]] after learning and probing ''Galactica''{{'|s}} hardware (in "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]").
**See also [http://www.hollywoodnorthreport.com/article.php?Article=2385 Galactica Techblog #4] by science adviser [[Kevin Grazier]].

* The members of ''Galactica'''s crew jump to the conclusion that Lieutenant Valerii must be a Cylon, without considering the possibility that she acted in support of President Roslin, or in collusion with one of the many dissident factions within the fleet, or that she is suffering from mental illness. The suspicious nature of her recent cheek wound should make this last concern particularly plausible.

== Questions ==

* Does Tigh recall that [[Gaius Baltar]] first tested his [[Cylon detector]] on Valerii? Or did he know in the first place? ([[Resistance (episode)|Answer]])
* Regarding the firewall status display: What is not to say that the Cylons programmed the display, or more accurately the GUI interface for it, to show a false reading on their intrusion progress? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]] for a related topic)
* Just how many aboard ''Galactica'' agree with Adama's decision to jail Roslin? ([[Home, Part I|Answer]])
* Is [[LSO]] Captain Kelly normally third in the chain of command on ''Galactica'', or would a CAG outrank him if on board the ship?
* While it appears that the cylon virus was introduced bg a Cylon raider that initiated a scan, in the [[Miniseries]], [[Gaius Baltar]] comments to [[Felix Gaeta]] that the Cylons were able to overcome colonial defences by infecting the nav computers; Gaeta remarks that they were lucky that the computers were not networked on Galactica. Did Gaeta purge the nav computer in the interim or was the virus waiting for an opportunity?

== Official Statements ==

=== From [http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/ RDM's blog] ===

{{Dialogue
| context = {{from_RDM_blog}}
| lines =
'''[[Ronald D. Moore]]:''' We've almost completed shooting the opening of Season Two, with [[Michael Rymer]] back at the helm filming a two-parter written by [[David Weddle]] & [[Bradley Thompson]] called 'Scattered' and '[[Valley of Darkness]].'

Things have been going well so far, with a good mood on the set and a feeling of satisfaction and pride running through the whole team at their accomplishments in year one and anticipation for year two."
}}

=== From the [[Podcast:Scattered|podcast]] ===

{{Dialogue
| context = Regarding the bar room scenes ''(i.e. how [[Saul Tigh]] and [[William Adama]] met)'' that were filmed, but weren't fully utilized:
| lines =
'''[[Ronald D. Moore]]:''' We were going to open this show, with just that scene, to show how the two men met. And then come into this scene we're watching now, where Tigh takes command of ''Galactica'', and Adama's been shot, and there's all this chaos.

And the episode was going to continue to sort of flashback onto their relationship. On the early days of Tigh and Adama. [...] And we shot those sequences. And edited it together, and we looked at them, but ultimately we didn't like them.

We just didn't feel—they weren't quite the show. [...] You can't really put your finger on any particular person, except maybe me, because it is my concept. [...] I don't know if I created, or had the writers of this episode, [[Bradley Thompson]] and [[David Weddle]], I don't know if I really gave them a rich enough environment to tell that backstory.
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = On splitting the original "Scattered" into "Scattered" and "[[Valley of Darkness]]":
| lines =
'''[[Ronald D. Moore]]:''' We've always struggled with the length of our scripts, the length of our episodes. If you look at it, there's only 40 minutes and change of actual program content. And our scripts tend to run, in the early drafts, in the 50s or low 50s. [...] 60 page scripts are not unheard of.

An ideal page script for us, going into shooting, is usually around 46-47 pages. Sometimes we make that, sometimes we don't. [...] And I think we did on 'Scattered', I think in the final draft it was around 47-48 pages.

The shows are still too huge. They're still too long. The style of storytelling—I might have talked about this before—just requires spending more time on character, creating moments, really, sort of, taking your time as you go through the show. [...] So we essentially divided it into two and created another action storyline for part two.
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = On the scene in which Tigh is about to set his medals on fire:
| lines =
'''[[Ronald D. Moore]]:''' The great thing here is this is- there's a definite homage quality in this to ''[[w:Apocalypse Now|Apocalypse Now]]'' which is one of our- a brilliant film. One of our all-time favorites and we certainly wanted to pay respect to that in certain ways with this scene.

But it's not the same scene. They don't put him in the shower and sober him up. It's- he just goes off and pulls himself together. Which, for our story, is more effective.

There was something great about him getting ready to light his own medals on fire with the lighter fluid and I wanted to convey this idea that he might- the whole place might go up but we didn't q- we weren't able to quite convey that.
}}

=== Interviews ===

{{Dialogue
| context = [[Jamie Bamber]] talks about the challenge of filming the episode's opening act:
| lines =
'''[[Jamie Bamber]]:''' So far this season I've been given great stuff to do, and [[Lee Adama|as my character]] I've been very careful not to apologize for the decision he made in ''[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|Kobol's Last Gleaming]]''. It's the one thing that Lee can claim as his own act and he's not about to second guess himself.

[[Michael Rymer]] ''[who directed ''Kobol's Last Gleaming'' and ''Scattered'']'' and I got together early on and decided that would be the case. We could have taken Lee down either path. He could have felt massive guilt in the way in which his father is gunned down seconds after betraying him, and then not having the chance to put that right.

It would have been easy to go back and question what he did, but I think the character is far more interesting and stronger for not doing that. Lee is standing on his own two feet and moving forward, which he has to do.
| source = <ref name="starburst_71_19-20">Steven Eramo, "Jamie Bamber: A Man for all Seasons". Starburst, Special 71: [http://bsgmedia.org/gallery/albums/StarburstScans/BSGscan11.jpg 19]-[http://bsgmedia.org/gallery/albums/StarburstScans/BSGscan12.jpg 20]</ref>
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = In issue #348 of ''Starlog'' magazine, p.33, [[Nicki Clyne]] ''(Cally)'' said:
| lines =
'''[[Nicki Clyne]]:''' Cally is supposed to provide the Chief firecover by shooting at the Cylons. I focused on doing it right, because the weapons experts showed me how to aim and fire the guns, but the director said "No, you're shooting those weapons ''too'' well. Remember, Cally hasn't fired a weapon since basic training!"

But I figured, "Hey, if ''I'' can learn to shoot a gun that quickly, then Cally certainly can". That was my defense!"
}}

{{Quote
| context = [[Grace Park]] on a deleted scene between [[Sharon Valerii]] and [[Saul Tigh]]:
| text = We shot a scene where I’m in the brig, and [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] is trying to get in my face, and I’m all, 'Just shoot me now, you pussy.' It was great.
| sign = [[Grace Park]]
| source = <ref>http://scifi.about.com/od/bgsonscifi/a/parkinter2_2.htm</ref>
}}

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

{{Quote
| context = In ''Galactica'''s sickbay:
| text = ''(to Commander Adama)'' You never should have brought me back into the service. If you had just let me be, I'd have died back there on Caprica along with everyone else, and been happier for it. I don't want a command. I never did. Don't you dare die on me now.
| sign = [[Saul Tigh]]
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = During a flashback sequence:
| lines =
'''[[Saul Tigh]]:''' So, how'd you do it? How'd you get off this [[frak]]king freighter?

'''[[William Adama]]:''' Connections. [[Carolanne Adama|Anne's]] father has a friend in the Defense Committee.

'''Saul Tigh:''' So the new wife comes through. I wish I had in-laws with pull.

'''William Adama:''' Give me a couple years. I'll have some pull. You watch me. I'll have my own battlestar someday.
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = In ''Galactica'''s brig:
| lines =
'''President [[Laura Roslin]]:''' ''(to Tigh)'' Colonel, once we find the fleet, I'd like to have a word with you.

'''[[Saul Tigh]]:''' There's nothing to talk about. You went up against [[William Adama|the old man]] and you lost.
}}

{{Quote
| context = Tigh's pep talk to the [[CIC]] crew:
| text = This is his command. His orders are still the word of the Gods on board this ship. Just so we're clear. This will be Adama's command until the day he dies. And we are not going to let him die. So say we all.
| sign = [[Saul Tigh]]
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = On Caprica, Valerii being "right":
| lines =
'''{{callsign|Starbuck}}:''' She's right, huh? Sharon the Cylon is right. Let's all just listen to Sharon the Cylon. Do whatever she says. Because that's a good idea.

'''{{callsign|Helo}}:''' Hey, Kara, she helped me get this far.

'''Starbuck:''' OK. I get it. I get it, Helo. You and I go way back, so I get it. All right? I remember how you felt about her, but she is not the real Sharon. That is some cheap, knock-off copy.
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = After Starbuck shoots at Caprica Valerii:
| lines =
'''{{callsign|Helo}}:''' I'm not going to let you kill her. She's carrying my child.

'''{{callsign|Starbuck}}:''' My Gods, men are so painfully stupid sometimes! How do you know that?

'''Helo:''' I know, all right? She's not lying.

'''Starbuck:''' They lie about ''everything'', Helo. Their entire existence is a ''lie''. They're not human, Helo, they're machines. You can't have a baby with a ''machine''.

'''Helo:''' I don't know what to tell you, OK? But I believe her. It's hard to describe, we've been together for a long time. I mean, I know what she is, but she's not like the others! Look at me, she is not.
}}

{{Dialogue
| context = Lee Adama gives his word to Tigh regarding his parole:
| lines =
'''{{callsign|Lee Adama}}:''' All right, you have my parole. When I'm on duty, I will make no attempt to free her or sow insurrection among the crew. When I'm not on duty, I'll report back to this cell.

'''[[Saul Tigh]]:''' ''(matter-of-factly)'' Pre-flight brief is underway in the ready room.

'''Adama:''' Right.
}}

{{Quote
| context = {{audio|BitchTookMyRide.mp3|''Starbuck, upon the realization that Caprica Valerii has just stolen her Cylon Raider:''}}
| text = Bitch took my ride...
| sign = [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]]
}}

== Guest stars ==
*[[Michael Hogan]] as Colonel [[Saul Tigh]]
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Tahmoh Penikett]] as Lt. [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]]
*[[Paul Campbell]] as [[Billy Keikeya]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally Tyrol|Cally Henderson]]
*[[Alessandro Juliani]] as Lt. [[Felix Gaeta]]
*[[Kandyse McClure]] as Petty Officer [[Anastasia Dualla]]
*[[Samuel Witwer]] as [[Alex Quartararo|Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo]]
*[[Kate Vernon]] as [[Ellen Tigh]]
*[[Alonso Oyarzun]] as Specialist [[Socinus]]
*[[Kerry Norton]] as Paramedic [[Layne Ishay]]
*[[Kurt Evans]] as Paramedic [[Howard Kim]]
*[[Chris Shields]] as Corporal [[Venner]]
*[[Luciana Carro]] as Lt. [[Louanne Katraine|Louanne "Kat" Katraine]]
*[[Bodie Olmos]] as Lt. [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]
*[[Jennifer Halley]] as [[Diana Seelix]]
*[[Warren Christie]] as [[Tarn]]
*[[Ty Olsson]] as Captain [[Aaron Kelly]]
*[[Nicholas Treeshin]] as Sergeant [[Watkins]]
*[[Michael Tayles]] as [[Flyboy]]
*[[Leah Cairns]] as Lt. [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
*[[Aleks Paunovic]] as Sergeant [[Omar Fischer]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{episode list (RDM season 2)}}

[[Category:Episodes written by Bradley Thompson]]
[[Category:Episodes written by David Weddle]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Michael Rymer]]
[[Category:RDM]]

[[de:Die verlorene Flotte]]
[[fr:Épisode:Le Tout pour le tout]]

Timeline - Season 1 (RDM)

2026-02-11T20:12:36Z

AshhawkBurning: Converted Day 24's episode citations to the TRS template for consistency

{{disline|For the timeline overview see [[Timeline (RDM)]]. For the rest of the series see [[Timeline - Season 2 (RDM)]], [[Timeline - Season 3 (RDM)]] and [[Timeline - Season 4 (RDM)]].}}

{{timeline series}}

==''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' Aftermath==
*'''Day 2:''' ''Pegasus'' sends Raptor scouts to confirm the destruction of the Colonies. The Raptors return with images
*''Pegasus'' detects and attacks a [[Battle of the Communications Relay|Cylon communications relay]], which turns out to be a staging grounds for Cylon Raiders. Admiral [[Helena Cain]] executes her X.O. Colonel [[Jurgen Belzen]] for refusing to order the Vipers to launch. [[Gina Inviere]] is exposed as a Cylon agent when another Six is spotted commanding a boarding party of Centurions. Inviere is imprisoned
*''Pegasus'' encounters ''Scylla'' and 14 other civilian ships. The ships are stripped of useful parts, including FTL drives, and people. Civilians deemed non-essential are abandoned on the now-stranded ships. Several civilians aboard the ''Scylla'' are executed, discouraging further protest {{TRS|Razor}}

=="[[33]]" through "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|Hand of God]]"==

*'''Day 6:''' ''Galactica'' pursued by the Cylons for six days. The ship ''[[Olympic Carrier]]'' is destroyed {{TRS|33}}
*'''Day 7:'''
**First new child born on the ''[[Rising Star]]''
**''Pegasus'' encounters a fleet of 15 civilian ships, including ''[[Scylla]]'' {{TRS|Resurrection Ship, Part I}}
*'''Day 8:''' [[John Cavil]] convenes a meeting with [[Shelly Godfrey]], [[Number Six#Tough Six|Tough Six]], [[Leoben Conoy (New Caprica copy)|Leoben Conoy]], and [[Aaron Doral]] in his chapel on ''Galactica'' to discuss their plan for eliminating the fleet {{TRS|The Plan}}
*'''Day 9:''' Cavil places an elephant statuette in Lieutenant [[Sharon Valerii]]'s quarters to activate her buried memories. Valerii meets with him in his chapel and proposes to sabotage the water tanks to cripple the fleet {{TRS|The Plan}}
*'''Day 10:''' ''Galactica''’s water tanks damaged by Valerii's sabotage {{TRS|Water}}
*'''Day 12:''' Prisoner uprising, led by [[Tom Zarek]] on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' {{TRS|Bastille Day}}
*'''Day 14:''' Starbuck goes missing after [[Skirmish over the Red Moon|a battle with Cylon forces]] {{TRS|Act of Contrition}}
*'''Day 15:''' Starbuck returns to the Fleet with a captured Cylon Raider {{TRS|You Can't Go Home Again}}
*'''Day 17:''' A suicide bomber nearly kills Adama and Tigh; investigation centers on Galen Tyrol {{TRS|Litmus}}.
*'''Day 21:''' First recollection by any of the ''[[Rising Star (RDM)|Rising Star]]'' crew members of giving [[Ellen Tigh]] medical assistance (before "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]")
*'''Day 24:'''
**[[Sharon Agathon|"Caprica" Valerii]] and {{callsign|Helo}} make love for the first time
**Shelly Godfrey implicates Dr. Baltar in the attack on the Colonies. Commander Adama grows suspicious of her and has her placed under surveillance. Cavil and Tough Six trick the guards, Godfrey is airlocked by Cavil {{TRS|Six Degrees of Separation|The Plan}}
*'''Day 25:''' A copy of [[Leoben Conoy]] found, interrogated and ejected from airlock {{TRS|Flesh and Bone}}
*'''Day 26:''' Ellen Tigh regains consciousness ("a couple of days" before "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]")
*'''Day 28:''' William Adama retrieves [[Ellen Tigh]] {{TRS|Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down}}
*'''Day 36:''' A [[tylium (RDM)|tylium]]-rich asteroid with a [[Cylon Refinery|Cylon refinery]] is located, and plans are made to capture it {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}
*'''Day 37:''' Caprica-Valerii begins showing the first signs of pregnancy {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}
*'''Day 38:''' ''Galactica'' [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid|engages the Cylon mining base]] and retrieves needed tylium fuel {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}

=="[[Colonial Day]]" through "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]"==

*'''Day 46 - 49''' {{TRS|Colonial Day}}''':'''
**Delegates selected for the [[Quorum of Twelve]], including [[Tom Zarek]]
**Gaius Baltar selected to represent [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
**A victory party leads Baltar and Thrace to have a one-night stand <ref>Roslin states that the chair will remain open for nominations for 72 hours on the morning of Day 47, but the [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|next episode]] clearly takes place the day after the victory party, and is stated to take place on Day 50.</ref>
**Helo and Caprica-Valerii infiltrate the spaceport. Helo discovers Valerii is a Cylon and flees
*'''Day 50''' {{TRS|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I}}:'''
**Boomer and Crashdown stumble upon {{RDM|Kobol}}
**Roslin unsuccessfully petitions Commander Adama to send the Cylon Raider after the [[Arrow of Apollo]] on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]].
**Scout party ambushed by a [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] at Kobol
*'''Day 51''' {{TRS|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II}}:'''
**Survivors of [[Raptor 1]] escape the wreck
**Starbuck diverts the captured Cylon raider and jumps to Caprica, retrieves the [[Arrow of Apollo]] and meets up with Helo
**Adama terminates Roslin's presidency and arrests her after learning that Starbuck took the Cylon Raider back to Caprica at her request
**Boomer successfully destroys the basestar over Kobol
**On her return to ''Galactica'', Boomer's Cylon programming activates; she shoots Commander Adama at point-blank range

==Season 2==

:''Continued at [[Timeline - Season 2 (RDM)]]''

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Behind the Scenes]]
[[Category:Colonial History]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Kara Thrace

2026-02-11T19:54:16Z

AshhawkBurning: Behind the scenes: Changed the mention of grabbing Adama's hand to grabbing her own head (see the podcast's discussion page)

{{disline|This article discusses the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] character with the pilot callsign of "Starbuck." For information on Kara Thrace's counterpart in the {{TOS|Battlestar Galactica|Original Series}}, see [[Starbuck (TOS)]].}}

{{Character Data
|photo= Kara Thrace.jpg
|age=
|colony= {{RDM|Caprica}}
|birthname= Kara Thrace
|callsign= Starbuck
|seen= Miniseries
|pseen=Daybreak, Part II
|death= Viper destroyed near gas giant, crashing on [[Earth (RDM)#Arrival_and_Ruins|Cylon Earth]] ([[Maelstrom]]/[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]); Mysteriously reappears {{TRS|Crossroads, Part II}}; Vanishes in Tanzania on [[Earth (RDM)#A_New_Earth|pre-historical 2nd Earth]] {{TRS|Daybreak, Part II}}
|parents= [[Socrata Thrace]]† (mother) [[Dreilide Thrace]]† (father)
|siblings=
|children=
|marital status= Married to [[Samuel Anders]]† (formerly engaged to [[Zak Adama]]†)
|rank=Captain
|role= Viper pilot; flight instructor; ''Galactica'' [[Commander Air Group|CAG]]; "Pegasus" CAG; angel-prophet; captain of ''[[Demetrius]]''
|actor= [[Katee Sackhoff]] [[Erika-Shaye Gair]] (child)
|cylon=
|serial = 462753 <ref name="serial"> Confirmed number from QMX dogtags given to them by the studio.</ref>
|sortkey=Thrace, Kara
|series=TRS
}}
'''Kara "Starbuck" Thrace''' is a gifted [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] pilot, with an attitude that has hindered her career in the Colonial Fleet. However, [[William Adama]] has confidence in Thrace's military skills, and she greatly aids the Fleet inside and out of the cockpit. She is the final [[Commander Air Group|Commander, Air Group]] (CAG) of ''{{RDM|Galactica}}'', and mysteriously vanishes in a region that will later be known as Tanzania on [[Earth (RDM)#A_New_Earth|the second Earth]] shortly after the Fleet's arrival on the planet {{TRS|Daybreak, Part II}}.

== Background ==

[[File:YoungKaraThrace.jpg|thumb|left|A young Kara Thrace in a vision {{TRS|Maelstrom}}.]]
*Thrace's mother [[Socrata Thrace|Socrata]] was a former [[Colonial Marine Corps]] sergeant major. She beat her daughter so frequently that Thrace came to accept pain as a way of life {{TRS|Flesh and Bone|Maelstrom}}.
*Her father [[Dreilide Thrace|Dreilide]] was a pianist and composer. Kara seems to have been closer to him than with her mother {{TRS|Valley of Darkness|Someone to Watch Over Me}} until he left them.
*Thrace left home to join the [[Colonial Fleet (TRS)|military]]. During her training, she was disciplined for insubordinate conduct towards [[Mike Gibbons|superior officers]].
*She was a talented [[Pyramid (RDM)|Pyramid]] player {{TRS|Resistance (episode)}}, and was up for the pros, but an injured knee took her out of contention. However, she discovered a passion and skill for being a fighter pilot ([[Podcast:The Hand of God]]).
*One of her early posts was aboard the battlestar ''[[Triton (RDM)|Triton]]''. While there, she offended Commander [[Myron Ruth]], who initiated court-martial proceedings against her, but the charges were later dropped {{TRS|The Son Also Rises}}.
*Thrace eventually returned to flight school as an instructor, where she fell in love with one of her students, [[Zak Adama]]. Despite his poor performance, she allowed him to pass his final check flight although he failed three of the required maneuvers {{TRS|Act of Contrition}}.
*Thrace lost Zak Adama when he was killed during a routine mission shortly after graduating. {{callsign|Lee Adama}} ("Apollo"), Zak's elder brother, blamed their father for Zak's death, and Thrace, feeling guilty, kept quiet. She met [[William Adama]] shortly after the accident, and the two formed a strong rapport and stood together at the funeral {{TRS|Act of Contrition}}.
*Thrace resigned as an instructor and returned to the Fleet as an operational pilot on the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''{{RDM|Galactica}}'' under the command of William Adama, where she served for some two years prior to the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] on the [[The Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Colonies]]. Before the Cylon attack, she was second-in-command to the [[CAG]], [[Jackson Spencer]].
*She has a rarely-used run-down apartment in [[Delphi]] that overlooked a parking lot, and a Colonial version of a [[Wikipedia:Humvee|Humvee]] which she and Helo use to escape the city and get to the country where she meets Samuel Anders. She was also an avid painter, and her apartment is cluttered with her paintings and a [[Starbuck's Poem|poem]] written on a wall {{TRS|Valley of Darkness}}. The apartment was neater when Thrace was with Zak Adama, although her [[Eye of Jupiter|mandala]] wall painting pre-dates that relationship {{TRS|Daybreak, Part I}}.
*Thrace hides the fact that she is deeply spiritual. She frequently prays to the [[Lords of Kobol]], particularly [[Aphrodite]] and [[Artemis]], in dire situations {{TRS|Miniseries|Flesh and Bone|You Can't Go Home Again}}.

==Character History==

===Pre-''Galactica''===
Thrace's first meets Lee Adama circa {{BCH|2}} when she is dating his brother, [[Zak Adama]], who she also trains as a flight instructor {{TRS|Miniseries|Act of Contrition}}. After the dinner, an immediate, intense chemistry between the two manifests, with Thrace daring Lee to make love to her on her dining room table. However, before they could act on their mutual attraction, the crash of a glass partially awakens Zak, causing them to realize what they were doing. They shake hands and say goodbye, with the moment serving as the foundation for their complex relationship throughout the series {{TRS|Daybreak, Part I|Daybreak, Part II}}.<ref name="daybreak">{{cite web |url=https://bearmccreary.com/bg4-daybreak-pt-2/ |title=BG4: "Daybreak, Parts I & II" |author=Bear McCreary |date=March 20, 2008 |access-date=July 26, 2025}}</ref>

: This flashback also reveals that there was a pigeon trapped in Lee's apartment after this visit. Throughout the finale, this pigeon becomes a symbol of Kara's spirit and Lee's love for her—the more he tries to capture it, the further away it flies, until finally he must let it go.<ref name="daybreak"/>

=== ''Galactica'' and Pre-New Caprica ===

*Thrace's attitude quickly runs her afoul of Colonel [[Saul Tigh]], ''Galactica''{{'|s}} [[executive officer]]. Their open mutual dislike of one another leads to the point where blows are exchanged, with Thrace ending up in the brig. After the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] she is released from the brig and returns to duty as Viper pilot.
*Thrace manages to keep two of three nuclear missiles from striking ''Galactica'' in their first Cylon sortie, and saves Lee from doom in an innovative maneuver in the [[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage]].
*Her skills in saving Lee brings her grudging respect from Colonel Tigh, but she is unable to accept his offer of the olive branch—an act that will have repercussions for her later {{TRS|Miniseries}}.
[[image:Bastille_Day-Starbuck_Boxey.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace as acting [[CAG]] with [[Boxey (RDM)|Boxey]] as assistant {{TRS|Bastille Day}}.]]
*Thrace participates in a hostage rescue mission aboard ''[[Astral Queen]]''. Following the successful mission, Thrace tries to mend fences between herself and Colonel Tigh with a toast (consisting of water), apologizing in much the same way as Tigh himself had tried after their initial escape from [[Ragnar Anchorage]]. But Tigh rejects Thrace's apology, stating that her flaws are professional, while his flaws were personal {{TRS|Bastille Day}}.
*Thrace eventually admits her secret about Zak Adama to William Adama himself, an act that brings their close friendship almost to the breaking point {{TRS|Act of Contrition}}.
*During a surprise encounter with Cylons during [[nugget]] training, Thrace destroys several Cylon Raiders, but her ship is damaged and tumbles towards a small red moon with an unbreathable atmosphere. With her Viper in a fatal flat-spin, Thrace is forced to eject from her Viper {{TRS|You Can't Go Home Again}}.
*Thrace (nursing a damaged knee) repairs the downed Cylon Raider found on the inhabitable moon and returns to ''Galactica'', giving the Fleet a vital piece of Cylon fighter technology for study and use.
*The recovering Thrace, off flight status, is asked by Commander Adama to plan a special attack on a Cylon [[tylium (RDM)|tylium]] refinery. The tactical planning role is not something she relishes, and she frequently shows resentment towards others for her condition {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}.
*During Thrace's undesired interrogation of a Cylon prisoner, a copy of a known [[Humanoid Cylon|Cylon]] named [[Leoben Conoy]], she uses some drastic acts to try to extract the information from the humanoid Cylon {{TRS|Flesh and Bone}}.
[[image:Starbuck-Kobols_Last_Gleaming_pt2.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace retrieves the [[Arrow of Apollo]] {{TRS|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II}}.]]
*Thrace is assigned to plant a nuclear device on board a [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] in orbit around {{RDM|Kobol}}. She disobeys orders to retrieve the [[Arrow of Apollo]] at the request of President Roslin, since she discovered Commander Adama's speech concerning knowledge of the location of Earth was a lie. She [[FTL|jump]]s to Caprica {{TRS|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I}}, landing in [[Delphi]] in the captured Cylon [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Raider]], depriving the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] of the valuable military asset.
*In the [[Delphi Museum of the Colonies]] with the Arrow, she is violently attacked by a copy of [[Number Six]]. Despite being heavily outmatched in the fight, Thrace luckily defeats the Cylon.
*At the museum, she reunites with {{callsign|Karl Agathon}}, whom she thought dead, and discovers [[Sharon Agathon|a second copy]] of [[Sharon Valerii]], realizing instantly that the woman is a Cylon.
*"Caprica Valerii," fearing for her child, steals Thrace's Raider. In exasperation, Thrace only mutters: "Bitch took my ride" {{TRS|Scattered}}. Like Agathon, Thrace is left with no way to return to the Fleet unless she could find her Raider or another Cylon spacecraft, as only Cylon navigational computers are powerful enough to plot jumps over such large distances..
*Thrace berates Agathon's love for the Caprica copy of Valerii. Thrace finds the keys of her surplus military utility vehicle in her old jacket in her old apartment. Thrace has a ride again, if only to move more efficiently about Caprica {{TRS|Valley of Darkness}}.
[[File:ThraceAndersResistance.jpg|thumb|right|Thrace and Anders playing Pyramid on Caprica {{TRS|Resistance (episode)}}.]]
*Thrace and Agathon meet a [[Caprica Resistance|resistance movement]] on Caprica. Thrace and [[Samuel Anders]] strike up a rapport as fellow [[Pyramid (RDM)|Pyramid]] players and end up having sex.
*During planning to steal a [[Heavy Raider]], Thrace is shot in a military action, waking up in a hospital on Caprica. Thrace is told by her doctor, [[Simon]], that Anders died from wounds he suffered in getting Thrace to safety.
*Thrace discovers that Simon is working with a [[Number Six|known humanoid Cylon]]. She overhears that the next day he plans to extract her ovaries for use in the Cylon's attempts to study and create a hybrid Cylon/human embryo. Simon also makes the mistake of calling Thrace by her callsign, Starbuck, which she had never revealed.
*Staggering and in pain, Thrace kills Simon and escapes the hospital, but not before clocking a Six copy with a fire extinguisher and destroying the local farm power supply, mercy-killing [[Sue-Shaun]] and several other women in the facility.
*Another Simon copy appears just as the Resistance attacks the facility. The second Simon, now revealed as a humanoid Cylon himself, is immediately killed by the Resistance, but a squad of [[Cylon Centurion]]s appear and pins the Resistance down. Luckily, [[Sharon Agathon|Caprica-Valerii]] swoops in with a stolen [[Heavy Raider]], destroys the Centurions and flies the Resistance and Thrace out of harm's way.
*Thrace promises Anders that she'll [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I|return with a rescue mission]] for the remaining survivors. Anders returns the Arrow of Apollo to Thrace, which he hid on the resistance grounds for safekeeping {{TRS|The Farm}}.
*Thrace, Agathon and the pregnant "Caprica Valerii" land on ''[[Astral Queen]]'' in the Heavy Raider. Finding the [[Laura Roslin faction]] in orbit of {{RDM|Kobol}}, Thrace is reunited with Lee. He kisses her impulsively, catching Thrace by pleasant surprise, but a tense standoff follows when Lee discovers that another Sharon copy has returned with them. Roslin helps defuse the situation, and Thrace delivers the Arrow of Apollo to the President.
*Temporarily removed from military protocol, Lee playfully teases Thrace by stealing a pyramid ball she took from Caprica. Adama senses her depression about Caprica and tells her that he'd be happy to hear about any problems she had. He also let slip that he loved her, which brightened Thrace's mood to the point where she teased him back about his slip.
*With a team led by Laura Roslin, Lee, and, later, joined by the recovered Commander Adama, Thrace enters the [[Tomb of Athena]] and successfully uses the Arrow of Apollo to activate a hologram that shows constellations of the Twelve Colonies' ancient symbols.
*Thrace realizes that they are on a recreation of Earth. Together with Lee, they locate the Lagoon Nebula, a celestial body known to Commander Adama and Lee, and gather sufficient information to begin an actual course to Earth {{TRS|Home, Part II}}.
*Thrace shows off the impressive stealth abilities of the new [[Blackbird]] fighter in her maiden flight {{TRS|Flight of the Phoenix}}.
*With the arrival of ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', Admiral [[Helena Cain]] summarily assigns Thrace (and Lee) to ''Pegasus'' after digesting the reports of ''Galactica'''s officers.
*[[Cole Taylor|''Pegasus''{{'|s}} CAG]] removes Thrace from the Cylon recon mission. Lee secretly tells her to use the [[Blackbird]] to take recon photos of the Cylon Unknown {{TRS|Pegasus (episode)}}.
*Returning from her very successful mission, the [[Blackbird]]'s lack of a Colonial transponder is mistaken for a Cylon [[Raider]] on [[DRADIS]], and Thrace is nearly confronted and shot at by Vipers from ''Pegasus'' and ''Galactica''. After narrowly avoiding certain death by declaring herself a friendly, Thrace transmits her recon photos to ''Pegasus''.
*Admiral Cain is very impressed with Thrace's performance and promotes her to Captain and ''Pegasus'' CAG.
*Thrace is assigned the task of planning the joint attack on the Resurrection Ship, but successfully asks to have Lee on her team, restoring him to flight status.
*After she briefs Cain and Commander Adama on her battle plan, Adama asks Thrace privately to assassinate Cain after the battle is complete. Adama fears that if Cain continues to command, the Fleet would be in mortal jeopardy from Cain's draconian command {{TRS|Resurrection Ship, Part I}}.
*Thrace's battle planning, as before on the [[tylium (RDM)|tylium]] [[The Hand of God (RDM)|mine]], works to near-perfection, with the Resurrection Ship destroyed and its supporting basestars.
*As a result of the battle events, Thrace is left without backup as she walks to ''Pegasus''{{'|s}} CIC to shoot Cain, obviously afraid and apprehensive. When Commander Adama calls, Thrace slowly moves her hand to her sidearm but, to her relief, Adama does not give the kill order and cryptically instructs her to stand down {{TRS|Resurrection Ship, Part II}}.
*Thrace and [[Louanne Katraine|Louanne "Kat" Katraine]] are involved in the protection of a mining operation from periodic Raider attacks. One Raider, nicknamed [[Scar (Raider)|Scar]], fuels an intensive rivalry for the pilot's "top gun" honor. Thrace, still depressed over her inability to convince Fleet command to initiate a rescue for Samuel Anders and his resistance, drinks heavily and obsesses over removing Scar from the sky, even at the cost of her life. Fortunately, Thrace realizes the futility of her actions, and works together with Katraine to destroy the remarkably dangerous Raider {{TRS|Scar}}.
*A few weeks later, Thrace takes leave on ''[[Cloud 9]]'' when she was dragooned into rescuing Lee and several other ''Galactica'' crew and residents after terrorists take them hostage in exchange for the incarcerated [[Sharon Agathon|Sharon Agathon neé Valerii]]. Thrace gathers intelligence on the situation, but her cover is blown. In the retreating firefight, Lee is caught in the crossfire. After the situation is resolved, Thrace intended to sit at Lee's bedside, only to discover that Dualla beat her to it {{TRS|Sacrifice}}.
*Later, Thrace is assigned to ''Pegasus'' as a flight trainer. Though the pilots like her, Commander [[Barry Garner]] does not, eventually confining her to quarters for "insubordination." Following the [[Battle of the Binary Star System|ill-fated rescue and retreat]] from a Cylon ambush (where Thrace leads the fighters) and [[Battle of the Guardian Basestar|after a search, rescue and destroy mission to a Cylon-war era basestar]], Thrace informs Lee—now commander of ''Pegasus''—that she was taking over his old CAG post aboard ''Galactica'', joking that she has a problem with her commander wanting to send her off to get killed ("[[The Captain's Hand]]," "[[Razor]]").
*Thrace gets her wish: the Caprica rescue is approved, and she leads a large Raptor squadron to the planet. The group soon met up with Anders, who reports that their HQ had been destroyed and Thrace's timing was just perfect. A squad of Centurions ambush and pin down the group moments later {{TRS|Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I}}.
*Still pinned down from attack fire, Thrace and Anders agree to kill each other to avoid capture and internment at a [[Farms|farm]]. But the attack stops, and a [[Cavil|man]] appears, praising the [[Lords of Kobol|Gods]] as he announces that the Cylons not only have ceased fire, but are abandoning the Twelve Colonies. Thrace isn't really surprised to discover that the man, known as Brother [[Cavil]], was a Cylon upon their return to the Fleet.
*Thrace and Anders proceed to get drunk, and host a disastrous encounter with Lee. This apparently led to a rift between the two comrades.
[[File:Leobenkara.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Leoben with Kara Thrace {{TRS|Exodus, Part I}}.]]
*The evening of the founding of [[New Caprica]], Kara slept with Lee and proclaimed her love for him as she was uncertain regarding her feelings toward Anders. The following morning she quickly married Anders in a ceremony near the river, despite declaring to Lee just the previous evening that she had no intention of getting married. This caused a rift between Kara and Lee that lasted for well over a year {{TRS|Unfinished Business}}.
*Life on New Caprica tempered Thrace, and she often behaved in ways Thrace never would have, including hugging Colonel Tigh and pampering Anders during his bout with an illness.
*She watches in horror at the sudden arrival of hundreds of Cylon ships in the sky over New Caprica. A few of ''Galactica''{{'|s}} former crew gather near Thrace, looking to her for guidance. She responds the only way she knows how: "Fight 'em until we can't" {{TRS|Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II}}.

=== The New Caprica Ordeal and Her Death ===

*After Baltar's surrender of New Caprica, Conoy keeps Thrace prisoner in an apartment located within the Cylon-built [[New Caprica Detention Center]] in an attempt to convince Thrace that she loves him and also convert her to the [[Cylon Religion|Cylon monotheistic religion]]. She repeatedly kills Conoy a total of five times in an attempt to convince him to let her go ("[[Occupation]]," "[[Precipice]]").
*Conoy introduces Thrace to a small child named [[Kacey Brynn|Kacey]], who appears to be approximately two to three years in age, whom he claims is their biological daughter, created using one of Thrace's extracted ovaries {{TRS|The Farm}} and his genetic material. Conflicted, Thrace leaves the child unattended, which later results in Kacey falling down the apartment's stairs {{TRS|Precipice}}. After the fall, Thrace begins to change her attitude towards the child and begins to offer affection towards Conoy ("[[Precipice]]," "[[Exodus, Part I]]").
*Upon her return to ''Galactica'' after Admiral Adama's [[Battle of New Caprica|daring rescue attempt]], Thrace heartbreakingly discovers that Kacey was simply another manipulation on Conoy's part; Kacey is merely a human child whom the Cylons had abducted from [[Julia Brynn|her mother]] {{TRS|Exodus, Part II}}.
*Bearing the psychological scars of her four month ordeal with Leoben and Kacey, Thrace is recruited by [[Diana Seelix]] as a last minute replacement juror in the [[Circle]] after Anders' resignation. Thrace's involvement in the Circle precipitates the breakup of her marriage with Anders. Initially wondering about the legality of the tribunal, she is the fifth vote to find [[Felix Gaeta]] guilty of treason and collaboration. Later, when Gaeta is about to be killed in one of ''Galactica''{{'|s}} [[launch tubes (RDM)|launch tubes]], she demands that he beg for his life. Thrace physically assaults him and goes down the litany of "lies" that Gaeta told her earlier about him helping the [[New Caprica Resistance|insurgency]]. As she does so, [[Galen Tyrol]], one of the Circle's jurors, overhears this and confirms the story. In a sense of confusion after learning that Gaeta was telling the truth, Thrace leaves the launch tube {{TRS|Collaborators}}.
*During a combat exercise between Vipers, Thrace breaks formation and collides with another pilot, forcing an end to the war games and causing Lee to revoke her flight status. Later, at her bunk she is met by Kacey and her mother, whom she dismisses, telling Kacey's mother not to visit her again. In the pilots' rec room, Thrace and Colonel Tigh begin to sow dissent between the survivors of New Caprica and the crew that stayed behind on ''Galactica'', insinuating that those who stayed behind did not suffer like those on New Caprica did, and that the crew of ''Galactica'' took too long to organize a rescue. Admiral Adama, upon learning of this from Karl Agathon, confronts Thrace and Tigh on their behavior. He challenges them to shoot him, as their constant complaining is tantamount to pulling the trigger. When neither do, Adama throws Thrace off her chair and demands that both she and Tigh shape up and move on with their lives. Spurred by Adama's words, Thrace cuts her hair and returns to duty. Later, in uniform, she visits Kacey and her mother on the [[Dogsville|converted hangar deck]] {{TRS|Torn}}.
*Thrace enters an affair with Lee, rekindling their romance on New Caprica {{TRS|Unfinished Business}}. Both Anders and Lee's wife, Lieutenant [[Anastasia Dualla]], are more than vaguely aware of the pair's sexual tension. Lee ends the affair and reconciles with his wife despite still being in love with Thrace, but Thrace refuses to give Anders any further attention than a periodic sexual fling.
*Thrace is involved with the defense of the incorrectly called "[[Temple of Five]]" but is severely injured, leaving her rescuer, Dualla, to return them to ''Galactica'' {{TRS|Rapture}}. Agathon recognizes the strange circular [[Eye of Jupiter|mandala]] in the Temple, created 4,000 years before, and its resemblance to a symbol that Thrace painted in her apartment. When shown the symbol, the recovering Thrace is darkly reminded of Leoben's prophesy.
*During refueling operations above a gas giant, Thrace is continually attracted to what she believes is a Cylon contact, which she chases to find a planetary storm that resembles the mandala. She dives into it, almost losing control before coming to her senses and returning.
*Command staff and Thrace question her competency to continue flying, but Lee volunteers encouragement and offers to fly as her wingman on her next [[Combat Air Patrol|CAP]].
*Thrace finds herself attracted by another apparent Cylon contact. As she descended, her Viper is struck by debris and she, while unconscious, experiences a revelation about her mother, [[Socrata Thrace]], and guided through the vision by what looks to be a Leoben copy.
*Starbuck regains consciousness but chooses to continue her descent despite Lee's desperate pleas to ascend. "I'll see you on the other side (...) Just let me go" were her last words as her Viper explodes. A grief-stricken Lee tells [[CIC]] that he did not see any ejection {{TRS|Maelstrom}}.
*While preparing for a Cylon engagement near the [[Ionian nebula]], Lee (who has [[Crossroads, Part I|since left]] the Colonial Military) detects a bogey on [[DRADIS]]. While he searches for the target, Lee finds himself momentarily in a cat-and-mouse chase game with the mysterious target. As Lee attempts to regain sight of the bogey, it positions itself next to his Viper.

=== Return from the Dead and Suspicion ===

*The [[Starbuck's Viper|pristine Viper Mark II]] that comes alongside is flown by Thrace herself. A shocked and confused {{callsign|Lee Adama}} (now a civilian) listens to the apparently-resurrected Kara Thrace, who tells him that she has been to [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]] and she has returned to take the Fleet to it {{TRS|Crossroads, Part II}}.
*After the [[Battle of the Ionian Nebula|battle at the nebula]], she returns to ''Galactica'' where everyone is astounded to see her alive. While everyone believed her dead for over two months, only several hours have passed for her. She has returned with recon photography of [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]], but no navigational data or knowledge of how she got there. Further complicating her claim is the fact that her Viper is nearly pristine, as if it had just been built. Despite her passing a medical examination by Doctor [[Sherman Cottle]], almost everyone, including Thrace herself, wonders if she could be a Cylon.
*When the Fleet jumps further away from the Ionian Nebula, she experiences headaches and says that she is losing the intuitive feeling of the way to Earth. Desperate to lead the Colonials there, she breaks into Adama's quarters and confronts Roslin at gun point {{TRS|He That Believeth in Me}}.
*Thrace is eventually subdued by [[Colonial Marines]] and imprisoned in the [[brig]]. Lee visits Thrace in the brig and tells her that he believes her. Thrace is happy that he does and they share a kiss before Lee leaves for ''[[Colonial One]]''. Although not sure what to make of her claims, Admiral Adama releases her later, and gives her command of ''[[Demetrius]]'', and a crew including {{callsign|Karl Agathon}} and Samuel Anders, telling her to try to find Earth {{TRS|Six of One}}.
*Thrace irritates her crew by frequent, unexplained course changes and rarely leaving her quarters, where she holes herself up to study star charts. When her husband confronts her about her command style and their marriage, she tells him that she is not the same person he married and tries to throw him out of her cabin. However, when Anders holds her, she tells him that she wants to have sex in order to feel something. Afterwards, she says that she feels distanced from her body and the events around her {{TRS|The Ties That Bind}}.
* When a [[Leoben Conoy]] copy comes aboard ''Demetrius'' with the offer of an alliance with the Cylons, a power struggle among the crew breaks out when Thrace orders to jump to his baseship {{TRS|The Road Less Traveled}}. The fight ends with Gaeta getting shot in the leg by Anders. After standing down, Thrace decides to accompany Conoy with a small team. On his baseship she meets the Cylon [[Hybrid]], who repeats the [[first Hybrid]]'s [[The Destiny|prophecy]] {{TRS|Razor}} and gives her the next task: join the Cylons to unbox [[Number Three]] to learn what she knows of the Final Five {{TRS|Faith}}.
* After the unboxing, Thrace reacts with shock and disbelief when she learns that her husband is a Cylon. She investigates the [[Starbuck's Viper|Viper she returned in]] and notices that it receives a strange signal, giving her a direct bearing to Earth. Her discovery stops the imminent execution of Colonel Tigh and leads to a truce with the [[Cylon Civil War|Cylon rebels]]. After arriving at Earth, Thrace is part of the first group on the surface, but finds only a destroyed city {{TRS|Revelations}}.

=== The Thirteenth Colony and the Search for a New Home ===
*Thrace and [[Leoben Conoy]] explore the devastated Earth trying to find the source of the signal. They find pieces of wreckage belonging to a [[Viper (RDM)|Colonial Viper]]—the [[Viper 8757|same Viper]] that Thrace [[Maelstrom|flew into the gas giant]]. Finally, they come upon the cockpit of the crashed Viper, with its pilot still inside. Thrace is horrified to discover that the carcass inside the cockpit is hers. Thrace reveals to Conoy that the [[Hybrid]] aboard the rebel baseship called her the "Harbinger of Death." Conoy has no explanation for any of this and flees the scene, leaving Thrace alone to wonder who or what she really is. Thrace later retrieves the dog tags and wedding ring from the body. She then cremates the body and returns to ''{{RDM|Galactica}}''. She does not tell anyone what she has discovered {{TRS|Sometimes a Great Notion}}.
*After ''Galactica'' leaves Earth, Thrace is still trying to come to terms with her discoveries there. [[Felix Gaeta]], who is unhappy about the Fleet's alliance with the [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylons]] and for the events leading up to that point (including a [[The Face of the Enemy|certain revelation]] about his role on [[New Caprica]]), decides to pick a fight with her. Gaeta accuses Thrace of collaborating with the Cylons: Thrace responds by telling him she isn't afraid to beat up a cripple and storms out {{TRS|A Disquiet Follows My Soul}}.
*A withdrawn Thrace later has an altercation with [[Brendan Costanza|Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza]]. She teases him about his unexpected fathering of [[Nicholas Tyrol]]. Costanza is unamused, angrily retorting that Thrace slept with half the Fleet herself and has nothing to show for her efforts. This hits a nerve and Thrace throws a bowl of food at a retreating Costanza.
*An alarm goes off and Thrace is ordered by [[Noel Allison|Noel "Narcho" Allison]] to evacuate the area. Thrace is suspicious and when she presses Allison for more information, he snaps that no one even knows what she is any more.
*Thrace turns to see a group of marines and civilians led by [[Charlie Connor]] run past her, and she follows them. She sees the group break into a weapons locker and arm themselves. She hears Connor giving his men orders to take the [[hangar deck]].
*Thrace rushes back to her barracks and grabs her weapons. She then tries to warn the CIC, but Gaeta blocks her calls. Realizing that Gaeta is also involved, Thrace takes off for the hangar deck.
*She arrives at the hangar deck just in time to rescue {{callsign|Lee Adama}} from Connor and his men, who are being assisted by [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]] and [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]. Thrace kills one of the marines and wounds Skulls, forcing the others to back off. She and Lee then hurry away.
*Thrace and Lee take refuge inside a storage compartment. Lee doesn't think they can defeat the mutiny alone. Thrace responds by kissing him. She then says that this is the first time in weeks that she feels right.
*Thrace and Lee head for the CIC. They find that the mutiny has spread all across the ship. They arrive at Admiral Adama's quarters, where they meet [[Laura Roslin]]. After learning of the mutiny, Roslin decides that she must come out and address the Fleet. However, the ship's communications are down, and the only working [[wireless]] transmitter on the ship is in [[Gaius Baltar]]'s possession.
*Thrace, Adama, and Roslin make it to Baltar's compartment, where they find [[Galen Tyrol]] organizing a defense. Tyrol tells them that Admiral Adama has been arrested and is being escorted to the brig. Tyrol also tells them about a secondary storage airlock they can use to escape the ship. Thrace and Adama head off to rescue the admiral.
*At the brig, they find that [[William Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh]] have already escaped custody. They have also taken the rebel marine, [[Allan Nowart]], prisoner. Thrace tries to kill Nowart, but Adama thwarts her. As Nowart flees, Thrace argues that the mutineers are no longer his men, and as such are the enemy and that they can't afford to take prisoners.
*Thrace, Tigh and the Adamas arrive at the secondary storage airlock, where they find Tyrol, Roslin and Baltar waiting. A [[Raptor]] piloted by an [[Eight]] docks. After Roslin and Baltar board the Raptor, Thrace, Lee and Tyrol head off to continue the fight against Gaeta and [[Thomas Zarek]]'s forces {{TRS|The Oath}}.
*Lee and Thrace head off to free the captives held in the brig, while Tyrol goes to sabotage the ship's FTL drive. They take out the mutineers guarding the brig and free Tigh, {{callsign|Athena}}, {{callsign|Karl Agathon}}, [[Hera Agathon]], [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Samuel Anders]].
*During the escape, a firefight ensues and Anders is shot in the back of the head by a mutineer. He is not killed but is in dire need of medical attention. Thrace yells at the others to go without her and she starts dragging Anders towards the infirmary.
*Thrace eventually exhausts herself trying to carry Anders and she collapses. Marine [[Parr]] escorting [[Romo Lampkin]] appears; Thrace attempts to shoot Parr, but her gun is empty— however, Lampkin suddenly stabs the marine twice in the neck with a pen, killing him.
*Thrace asks Lampkin to help her carry Anders to the infirmary. Lampkin is reluctant but eventually agrees to help {{TRS|Blood on the Scales}}.
*In the immediate aftermath of the mutiny, Thrace learns from Doctor [[Sherman Cottle]] that the bullet is still stuck in Anders' skull. Anders' suppressed memories of his Cylon life back on Earth are also triggered. To Thrace's disappointment, Anders does not have an explanation as to who she really is or how she apparently came back from the dead.
*Cottle manages to remove the bullet, which he gives to Thrace. However, when Thrace goes to speak with Anders, she discovers that he has zero brain activity—which the medical personnel are unable to explain {{TRS|No Exit}}.
*Thrace is later part of a joint Cylon-Colonial CAP which escorts [[Raptor 702|a Raptor]] carrying [[Ellen Tigh]] and [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] onto ''Galactica''.
*Thrace is later seen in [[Joe's Bar]] drinking and toying with the bullet removed from Anders' skull. She and Tyrol have a brief discussion about Valerii, who is being held in the brig {{TRS|Deadlock}}.
*Thrace gets a drawing of what seems to be stars from Hera and later visits Joe's Bar where she helps piano player [[Slick]] with the music he's composing. There she reveals that she used to play piano as a girl with her father until he left and then stopped and she had a song she used to play that made her happy. She realizes that Hera's drawing is of the notes for that song and she and Slick start playing it together. The music turns out to be [[The Music|the same music that activated the memories]] of the so-called [[Final Five]]. Slick, who was a manifestation of her father, disappears and Thrace later goes to Anders in the hope of finding out the reason she knew of the Music and its meaning, but is unsuccessful.

===Final Mission and Destiny Fulfilled===
*When Admiral Adama comes to see Anders—now acting as ''Galactica''{{'|s}} Hybrid—to find out the location of [[The Colony]], Thrace reveals to him that she has tried to make sense out of the notes by assigning numbers to them, but has had no luck in understanding it. She also tells him that she is dead, that she burned her own dead body on [[Sometimes a Great Notion| Earth]] and has no idea what she is. Adama tells her he knows what she is: she's his daughter. Later she and Adama spread red tape down the hanger deck to create a line for people to cross one way or the other to show whether or not they volunteer for the rescue mission for Hera. Thrace flanks the Admiral on the volunteers side of the line and doesn't move the whole time, having made her choice.
*During [[Battle of The Colony|the battle]], she leads a strike force that includes both Agathons into The Colony through Raptors. They encounter Sharon Valerii who gives them back Hera before being killed by Sharon Agathon. Thrace's team meets up with Lee's and they retreat to ''Galactica'', which has rammed itself into the Colony as part of the final assault.
*Thrace helps defend the ship and after an agreement is reached with Cavil, takes damage reports on their forces alongside Lee. After things go badly and the Colony starts to fall into the black hole with ''Galactica'', Thrace—the nearest person to the [[FTL]] console—is ordered to jump them away. Thrace doesn't know the rendezvous coordinates and, after Adama makes it clear that it doesn't matter, is inspired to input the numbers she assigned to [[The Music]]'s notes as the coordinates and jumps ''Galactica'' there. According to Thrace, Thrace jumps them to "the watchtower," which turns out to be the singular moon in orbit around another planet that the Colonials later dub [[Earth (RDM)|Earth]].
<blockquote>The revelation of how Thrace derives the coordinates from [[The Music]] becomes a pivotal moment in the series finale. According to composer [[Bear McCreary]], Thrace uses a diatonic scale system where each note in the [[Final Four Theme]] corresponds to its scale degree (1 through 7). This approach was chosen as the most intuitive solution that someone with Kara's musical background would arrive at, as basic ear training exercises teach students to think of the tonic as '1', the second scale degree as '2', and so forth.<ref name="daybreak" /></blockquote><blockquote>The sequence where Kara derives the coordinates is accompanied by an epic rock arrangement of McCreary's "All Along the Watchtower," combining the ethereal [[Starbuck#Leoben and Starbuck theme, Destiny theme|Starbuck Destiny Theme]] with electric bass, guitars, drums, orchestral strings, ethnic soloists, and taiko drums. The sequence is inter-cut with images of her father teaching her to play the piano, with the music building to huge, confident notes as the melody soars over an ever-crescendoing rhythm section.<ref name="daybreak" /></blockquote>

===Final Goodbye and Disappearance===
*Thrace says goodbye to Anders before he flies the Fleet into the sun, destroying ''Galactica'' and the other ships, and later says her final goodbye to William Adama. Then she says her final goodbye to Lee Adama, having fulfilled [[The Destiny|her destiny]] to bring the Fleet to the second Earth. He fails to comprehend her at first, but realizes what she means as they continue talking.

*In their final conversation, Thrace tells Lee: "I just know that I am done here. I've completed my journey...and it feels good." She also says: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life, Lee." When Lee describes his desire to explore and climb mountains, he turns to find that Kara Thrace has vanished as if she were a ghost. "Goodbye, Kara," he says. "You won't be forgotten."

*The symbolic pigeon from the flashbacks appears one final time as Lee realizes Kara is truly gone, with the bird flying out of his apartment window and away—representing how he must finally let her spirit go.<ref name="daybreak"/>

==Lords of Kobol, Hear My Prayer==

Despite her tough, rebellious exterior, Thrace is deeply spiritual and possesses a great deal of faith in the [[Lords of Kobol (RDM)|Lords of Kobol]]. She usually prays in moments of mourning or desperation, such as when she thinks Lee is dead {{TRS|Miniseries}}, when she is trapped on a desolate moon with a broken knee and low oxygen {{TRS|You Can't Go Home Again}}, and when she discovers she's in Cylon captivity {{TRS|The Farm}}. This spirituality is put to the test as a series of events lead her towards a mysterious destiny.

==The Destiny==
{{mainarticle|The Destiny}}

From early in her life, Kara Thrace has been guided through her mother's actions for a special role in life, a plot point that begins with a [[Leoben Conoy]] copy in the Season 1 episode, "[[Flesh and Bone]]". In "[[Maelstrom]]," the character dies, but reappears as a guide for the Fleet at the end of Season 3.

A Cylon [[First Hybrid|Hybrid]], speaking to Major [[Kendra Shaw]] moments before their deaths, warns her that Thrace is the herald of the apocalypse and the harbinger of death, that she would lead the human race to its end, and that she is not to be followed {{TRS|Razor}}. Similarly, another [[Hybrid]] describes her as the harbinger of death, and she would lead them to salvation and destruction {{TRS|Faith}}.

This becomes the case, as she leads ''Galactica'' (and the Fleet) to a second, new planet the Colonials dub "Earth." There, both Colonials and both races of Cylon (the Kobollian-based "[[Final Five]]" and the remaining models from the "[[Significant Seven]]") are saved. However, as they blend in with the native humans on the new Earth, the distinctive natures of Colonial human and Cylon creations blur and merge. In a sense, the blurring results in the "death" of both races as a new human race begins. [[Hera Agathon]]'s body, a perfect human/Cylon merging, is later represented as the Mitochondrial Eve for the humans on the New Earth {{TRS|Daybreak, Part II}}.

== Character Conception and Development ==
The decision to re-imagine Starbuck as a female character was one of the earliest and most significant changes made by creator [[Ronald D. Moore]]. He described the idea as an "intuitive thing," feeling it would make for a "more interesting character" and avoid direct comparisons to the original portrayal by [[Dirk Benedict]]. Moore believed the change would create different and more complex relationships between Starbuck, Apollo, and Adama.<ref group="Book">{{Cite book|author=David Bassom|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|year=2005|publisher=Titan Books|isbn=1845760972|page=15}}</ref>

Actress [[Katee Sackhoff]] was aware from the beginning that the change would be a "daring and controversial" choice, but she never had any doubts about it. "I thought the changes Ron Moore made to Starbuck for this show were all very exciting, and they reflected the world we live in today," she stated. "It was time for a change... Ron came up with a character that is true to the spirit of the original Starbuck in a lot of ways, but is also very different."<ref group="Book">{{Cite book|author=David Bassom|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|year=2005|publisher=Titan Books|isbn=1845760972|page=110}}</ref>

Sackhoff views her character as a "much more complex and troubled individual than the original Starbuck," believing that much of Starbuck's anger stems from her guilt over the death of [[Zak Adama]]. "Every mistake she’s made since Zak’s death comes back to that," Sackhoff explained. "Kara has to face that in season one, and also has to learn to start taking responsibility for everything she’s done."<ref group="Book">{{Cite book|author=David Bassom|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|year=2005|publisher=Titan Books|isbn=1845760972|page=110}}</ref>

The role was physically demanding, and Sackhoff embarked on a rigorous training regimen for two months to develop Starbuck's physique. "The general consensus was that I needed to look like I could kick a guy’s ass," she recalled.<ref group="Book">{{Cite book|author=David Bassom|title=[[Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion]]|year=2005|publisher=Titan Books|isbn=1845760972|page=113}}</ref>

==Notes==
*On the Sci-Fi Channel's preview for season 2.5 (US), Katee Sackhoff is quoted as saying that Starbuck is "the best Viper pilot...EVER."
*[[Wikipedia:Thrace|Thrace]] was a region in south-eastern Europe that was heavily influenced by the ancient Greeks and was eventually conquered by [[Wikipedia:Philip II of Macedonia|Phillip II of Macedonia]]. Thracians were considered by most to be the most ferocious fighters and were often highly paid mercenaries for Greek kings.
*Thrace may have been named after [[w:Thrax (mythology)|Thrax]], the son of [[w:Ares|Ares]], the god of war, who was said to reside on the Thracian plain in Greek mythology.
*After auditioning for the role of [[Anastasia Dualla|Dualla]], [[Grace Park]] was asked by director [[Michael Rymer]] to audition for the role of Starbuck, and she was actually one of two finalists up for the role. Ultimately Park was cast as [[Sharon Valerii|Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]].
*In a TV Guide [http://online.tvguide.com/newsearch/detail.aspx?id=4371595&sourcetype=S&progseriesparentid=4371595&tvobjectid=191395&keyword=Battlestar+Galactica&referrer=search1 photo shoot] at the BSG studios, Katee Sackhoff explained that the [[tattoo]] that Starbuck bears on her left arm is a wing and a circle and has half of the constellation of Capricorn (a reference to {{RDM|Caprica}} obviously) and a small symbol of the planet as well. The tattoo on Anders' arm is the other half of the symbol and when they embrace, the tattoos form the whole symbol. According to Sackhoff, Kara and Anders had the tattoos done around the time of their wedding, a fact later confirmed in dialogue during Season 4.5.
*The license plate on Thrace's truck on Caprica is "FB 42 E3" {{TRS|Valley of Darkness}}.
*In the series finale, the symbolic pigeon that appears throughout Lee Adama's flashbacks represents Kara's spirit and their love. According to composer Bear McCreary, the pigeon serves as a metaphor: the more he tries to capture it, the further away it flies, until finally he must let it go—mirroring his relationship with Kara throughout the series.<ref name="daybreak"/>

=== Behind the Scenes ===
* According to the producers, the relationship between [[William Adama]] and Thrace was conceived as a father-daughter dynamic from the beginning of the series.<ref>[[Podcast:Act of Contrition|Podcast for "Act of Contrition"]], timestamp 08:23</ref>
* The commentary confirms that Thrace's engagement to [[Zak Adama]] was the reason she passed him for flight duty despite his poor skills, making her feel fundamentally responsible for his death.<ref>[[Podcast:Act of Contrition|Podcast for "Act of Contrition"]], timestamp 07:50</ref>
* The producers intended to develop a rivalry between Thrace and the newly introduced "nugget" [[Louanne Katraine|Kat]], exploring what happens when a protégé begins to outperform her mentor.<ref>[[Podcast:Act of Contrition|Podcast for "Act of Contrition"]], timestamp 24:29</ref>
* David Eick praised [[Katee Sackhoff]]'s acting instincts, specifically citing her impulse to grab her own head during their emotional confrontation as an unscripted moment that was "so great."<ref>[[Podcast:Act of Contrition|Podcast for "Act of Contrition"]], timestamp 35:35</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|group="Book"}}
{{reflist}}

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{{succession box|before=[[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]]|title=[[Commander Air Group|Commander, Air Group]], ''{{RDM|Galactica}}''|after=''None'' Ship destroyed}}
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[[Category:Main Characters (RDM)]]
[[Category:Characters Portrayed by Multiple Actors]]
[[Category:People from Caprica]]
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[[de:Kara Thrace]]
[[fr:Kara Thrace]]

Podcast talk:Act of Contrition

2026-02-11T19:51:31Z

AshhawkBurning: /* "When she grabs the hand": correction to "head" */ new section

== "When she grabs the hand": correction to "head" ==

For the context of what I'm working from: I haven't listened to the podcasts in their original location, but many of the commentary tracks on the Blu-rays (perhaps even all) are clearly the same audio, both because they're identical to these transcripts and also because several of them so far have been verbally introduced as "podcasts".

This commentary moment coincides with Starbuck walking away from Adama after he tells her to "walk out of this cabin while you still can", grabbing her own head/hair in distress as she goes. I'm not completely certain if it's "head" or "hair" that's said, but after a few listens I'm leaning towards "head". Of course, "the head" isn't grammatically correct (and "the hair" wouldn't be either), but I think that happens because one of them interjects with something like "the grabbing of the head" and then the other echoes that wording. But it's definitely not "hand" - and it was [[Kara Thrace#Behind the Scenes|Starbuck's behind the scenes section]] that led me here, because it mentions grabbing Adama's hand (which doesn't happen in the scene) with this podcast as a source. I'm going to make a corresponding edit there.

If someone with a better grasp of American accents re-listens and decides it sounds more like "hair", I defer to their judgement! [[User:AshhawkBurning|AshhawkBurning]] ([[User talk:AshhawkBurning|talk]]) 19:51, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

Podcast:Act of Contrition

2026-02-11T19:51:16Z

AshhawkBurning: "When she grabs the hand" -> "head" (see discussion page)

{{Podcast Data
|special= Y
|season= 1
|episode= 4
|download link=
|local=
|posted date=
|transcribed by=Whisper & Gemini LLMs
|verified by=[[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin Jr.]] (WIP)
|length= 43:36
|finished= Y
|verified= Y
|rdm= Y
|de= Y
|mr=
|mrsron=
|speaker1=[[David Eick]]|speakerimage1=David_eick.jpg|title='Act of Contrition' Commentary from Home Video Release}}<blockquote>[[Ronald D. Moore]] and [[David Eick]] discuss the creation of "[[Act of Contrition]]", the fourth episode of Season 1. They cover the episode's framing device of the [[Viper (TRS)|Viper]] ejection sequence, the emotional weight of the hangar deck accident, and the decision to reveal {{Callsign|Starbuck}}'s culpability in [[Zak Adama]]'s death. The commentary explores the introduction of key characters like Dr. [[Sherman Cottle|Cottle]], the challenges of writing the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]]-occupied [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]] storyline, the stylistic choices in cinematography and directing, and the powerful performances that define the episode's most pivotal scenes.</blockquote>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Okay, and here we are, "[[Act of Contrition]]," fresh off of the drinking experiment that was "[[Bastille Day]]."<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:11</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And do we have to introduce ourselves every time in case they just...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:17</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, I guess. I'm [[w:Mark Stern (executive)|Mark Stern]].<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:19</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And I'm [[w:Bonnie Hammer|Bonnie Hammer]].<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:20</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, it's Ron and David with you once again. And thank you for listening to all these tracks in your [[w:DVD|DVD]] package, and please tell your friends to buy lots of sets.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:29</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Do you get residuals for these because of the... or do you get boned because of the creative buy? I think I get boned.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:35</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' No, I think the only thing I get are the [[w:Writers Guild of America|WGA]] residual, which is virtually nothing.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:40</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, I discovered the hard way on that [[w:NBC|NBC]] pilot deal that you don't get... Like, it doesn't matter.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:47</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' No, they fixed all those ways of getting rich off of these things. Yeah, so we're doing this purely for the love. Just project.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:00:54</ref>

'''David Eick:''' There's a lot of love in this room. I will say this episode is probably most of my friends' favorites. Like just my buddies, my college friends, my ex-girlfriends or whatever. This is the one that they singled out at the end of the season as their favorite.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:01:10</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This opening, this whole little thing, David and Bradley wrote the original draft of this. [[Bradley Thompson|Thompson]] and [[David Weddle|Weddle]], who were really good writers who I worked with on ''[[w:Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]''. And I was working on a rewrite and a draft. And I just sort of had this idea of the ejection sequence being something that we would use as a framing device. That is, it's something that we would open each act with and that eventually the show would catch up with the story at the end. And it was just very impressionistic. I didn't really know why or what it meant. I just had this notion of doing an ejection sequence from a [[Viper Mark VII|Viper]] into an atmosphere. And I thought it was really kind of cool and started talking to [[Gary Hutzel]], our visual effects supervisor about it very early.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:01:51</ref>

'''David Eick:''' This whole little piece of business is sort of rooted in not a literal tradition, but sort of it's symbolic of various traditions that are in the military and in the [[w:United States Navy|Navy]]. You know, I posited this idea that there was, you know, the the 1,000th uh trap or landing of fly of one of the pilots would be something that they would celebrate. And there are all these little traditions that are celebrated on warships of people's accomplishments and they're all kind of silly in one way, shape or form. There used to be a tradition in the Navy and on ships when they would cross the equator was called [[w:Line-crossing ceremony|crossing the line]] and they would have an elaborate ceremony where [[w:Neptune|Neptune]] would show up and they would humiliate the people who had never crossed the equator in various ways and it you know, went back a couple of centuries. And this is sort of, you know, an homage to those sorts of things that to me just sort of gave life to the ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' and spoke of this larger civilization that they were all part of that developed its own kind of odd little rituals and traditions.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:02:48</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' And I think I only spent the first four drafts begging Ron not to do it.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:02:53</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, and then you really want me to lose the Jody.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:02:57</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Well, I had the our military tech, [[Ron Blecker]], came into me, came into my office looking green. He had just read the Jody and was all colors of upset about how it did not in any way reflect the nature of these things. He knew exactly what Ron was going for. This is not authentic and...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:03:16</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And the truth was, the irony was I had taken an actual authentic [[w:Military cadence|Jody]]. It was an [[w:United States Air Force|Air Force]] Jody that I'd looked up that was about um uh [[w:Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II|Warthog]] pilots, A-10 pilots and it you can find it. It's like, A-10 pilots flying high and there's this whole elaborate Jody about them blowing up things and killing people and I essentially took it and just reworked it, you know, into [[Raptor|Raptors]] and [[Cylon|Cylons]] and stuff like that.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:03:40</ref>

'''David Eick:''' But this is uh now [[w:Rod Hardy|Rod Hardy]], who is a friend of [[w:Michael Rymer|Michael Rymer]], a fellow Aussie director and this was his first of uh so far three episodes that he did for us. He's a very talented director, lovely guy, pain in the ass, all the things you want a great director to be. And uh but the one thing that didn't work about the staging of that sequence was he put this scrawniest little guy in front.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' I know.

'''David Eick:''' And the smallest guy's leading the jody. And so after all the arguing with Ron about the jodies in the first place, then I get in the editing room and I'm suffering this scene would not die. So, it's uh, it's gone down in infamy. It's the one aspect of this episode I'm not crazy about, but it does work. And of course, we end the teaser on killing all them anyway. So I guess it was all fine.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:04:22</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' And the notion of having them all die in this fashion as opposed to like, you know, a hostile fire or some sort of, you know, Cylon encounter was also rooted in actual events. There were there was an incident on the [[w:USS Forrestal (CV-59)|''USS Forrestal'']] where an aircraft was being moved around on the flight deck and through an an accident, a piece of ordinance, a missile, fell to the flight deck, hit the deck and ignited and shot into...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:04:48</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Really? Just like that?

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Just like that.

'''David Eick:''' I thought that was all bullshit.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' No, it's actually true. It it shot across the flight deck, hit other aircraft and caused an enormous fire that killed many, I don't remember how many people died in it, but several officers and men died aboard the Forrestal. And it was an object lesson that then they would show for, because I think this incident happened in the 60s, early 60s. And the Navy had videotape of it that was just recorded at the time. And when I was in [[w:Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps|Navy ROTC]], it was one of the videos that they showed you. They showed you this as like a firefighting, look, this can happen to you on these ships. These are dangerous places. All kinds of accidents can happen if you're not paying attention. That's all it was. Somebody just wasn't paying attention and a missile fell and the next thing you know, all these all these men died. And I thought that that was important to sort of put in the audience's mind that it's not just the Cylons, you know.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:05:39</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Well, the network didn't wasn't fond of it. I do remember that. There was a lot of discussion. In fact, we we...

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' It's my favorite network note, because the way we solved the note was instead of 30 guys dying, it was 19 guys dying.

'''David Eick:''' I know, it was really, it was really one of those discussions where they were saying, well, but you've got 30 guys dying. I mean, it's just so dark and so this and so that. Well, what if it's 20? Okay, that's better. Okay, that's not so dark. Okay, whatever.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:06:25</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And the really interesting thing about this is that up until very, very late in post-production, in fact, one of the last decisions we made, which by the way, I just learned Rod was not happy about. In the script and all throughout production, these interludes that you'll soon see open every act of this this crash that's taking place with [[Kara Thrace|Kara Thrace]] in the middle of it had instead a person in a darkened helmet, and you didn't know it was Kara Thrace, you didn't know it was [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] until the very end when it's revealed that, oh my God, all this time it's been Starbuck. Well, we got to the episode and yeah, that was a great device on paper and we loved it all through production and it all made lots of sense, but it just never seemed like it was going to ever be quite as compelling as knowing that for some reason, Kara Thrace is going to be involved in this horrific, you know, crash. And it's her story. And I think because it became her story in some respects in post-production. It was always her story, but we really were able to focus it even more on her in post-production.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:07:17</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' It did seem like sort of a pointless mystery at some point. It was like, why are we hiding her face again? Why are we hiding her face again?<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:07:23</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And I think Rod is still clinging to kind of the original idea, but I I really do stand by the idea that you you reveal that it's her. And again, you know, people, I mean [[Jerry Holtz]], who's the artist behind the [[R&D TV]] logos at the end of this, was in tears at the end of this episode. Was so moved by it and said he hadn't seen science fiction that had had been this emotional since ''[[w:Blade Runner|Blade Runner]]'' and so I think sometimes the pieces just fall into place really well.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:07:47</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' It really does tap into, it's a very emotional episode and it taps right into this backstory that we dealt with in the [[Miniseries, Night 1|miniseries]] that [[Kara Thrace|Kara]] had, you know, was directly responsible. Well, not directly, I mean she's fundamentally responsible for the death of [[William Adama|Adama's]] son. And what was left kind of open in the miniseries was whether or not Adama was aware of that fact. I don't even know if you and I ever talked about the idea of whether he was aware of it or not ahead of time. It was certainly a mystery to [[Lee Adama|Lee]]. Lee finds out for the first time in the miniseries. And this was a chance to really sort of touch into that because I like the idea that Adama treated her like his daughter and that they had from the get-go, one of the ideas, conceptually on the show was that Adama had a closer relationship with Kara, with this young pilot who in some ways maybe reminds him of himself or for whatever reason he's bonded with her while he has a very difficult, dysfunctional relationship with his own son. And that Kara in many ways is like Adama in that politically, Kara and Adama would both be [[w:Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and Lee would have been the [[w:Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]. I mean if you had to put it in those terms, and I always liked that. And then to then really put that to the test to really say, okay, and what happens when Adama finds out? What when he finds out that she's the one that did that?<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:08:57</ref>

'''David Eick:''' I think we did... I remember pulling into a parking lot at [[w:CBS|CBS]] to go pitch something with Sean and you and I were on the phone talking about this very issue. And I was all distracted because I was thinking about Sean's pitch going, why are we having this conversation now? Haven't we figured... but it was about this issue. It was about does Adama know or was it a surprise to him? I do remember us talking about it.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:09:27</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, this is a very... this is a controversial episode for the network. Uh, we were coming off of... we had done "[[33]]," the first episode of [[Season 1 (2004-05)|season one]], which was very well received but kind of dicey in terms of the heaviness and the death and the darkness of it. And it really kind of had a ripple effect through the development of the subsequent episodes because of the concern that we, Ron and I were, you know, out of our minds and trying to do, you know, [[w:The Holocaust|Holocaust]] episodes every week. And this is an episode that starts off with the death of all these soldiers and that is driven by these memories of funerals and of the death of [[Zak Adama]] and of guilt and of all these themes that are just again, very dark, very heavy, very emotional, very sad. And we really uh struggled a lot to kind of keep this thing on the tracks and not let it become something treacly or let it become all about lessons. And I I would say it's got what is probably universally viewed as the best [[w:Edward James Olmos|Edward James Olmos]] scene of the first 13 episodes.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:10:34</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, when he confronts her or when she... Yeah.

'''David Eick:''' You know, when the two of them when Kara, I call her Kara, you call her Kara, I've noticed. When Kara and Adama confront each other and it's it's really one of the more powerful moments in the first season, I think.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This is a very tricky sequence when you look at it because this was we were trying... this is flashback and flashback within flashback. And it was a real question whether we could pull this off. I remember it was, you know, even at script, we were going, okay, this is asking a lot. You're asking the audience to track this ceremony, to go back to the old ceremony. And then within that, you know, at the funeral, Starbuck's remembering other things and whose point of view is it? And you know... we had various sort of um ideas about shifting point of view between Adama and Starbuck and Lee, actually, as I recall. There were ways of like making you go, okay, now this is how Lee remembers the event, this is how Adama remembers the event, this is how Kara remembers it. And that's still kind of there. If you watch the cut carefully, you can kind of see that we are shifting point of view between the three of them. But what comes through, I think, most strongly is just Starbuck. You're kind of like with her the whole way and you're kind of feeling her emotion and her memory of the whole thing. And it and it still plays. You don't really have to track the three of them.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:11:48</ref>

'''David Eick:''' You know, uh Eddie was very, very intent on carrying this water theme. You're drinking water not scotch here. They're drinking water. Eddie wanted to, you know, that water had become such a precious resource.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Which, you know, I mean God love it. Totally legitimate. We made a big, we made a whole episode about how.

'''David Eick:''' And he was like, okay fuckers, if you're gonna make an episode about [[water]], then we're going to deal with the water. So you'll notice that throughout the first season, there are many times when Adama is pouring water. It's this precious thing, you know. He uses it as a, as a conversation piece, it's used as an offering, it's...

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' It's interesting. I think you kind of assume it's [[w:Vodka|vodka]] because of the way they're playing it, but but it is supposed to be water. Yeah.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:12:29</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And he's got, he really, as an actor, I think Eddie really likes Katie a great deal personally. And I think that he's, yeah, he sees in her, I think, the same sort of, you know, raw, not so raw, by the way, anymore. But the potential of, you know, are we working with, you know, [[w:Katharine Hepburn|Catherine Hepburn]]?<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:12:51</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Oh, I know. I mean, I have, I've been on the soundstage with Eddie and just had sort of a sides with him now and again. And he'll come out of the scene with Katie and just go, you know, she's really something. She is going places.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:13:03</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, please don't. Because you're going to ask for more money and we can't pay. God, she's not hearing any of this. But he's very enamored of her, and I think you can tell in these scenes there's this sort of sparkle in his eye when he deals with her, which, of course, really works within this story because she's about to completely break his heart.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:13:19</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Oh, yeah. I mean, he just walks so into it. It's beautifully done because Eddie is playing it really like he just loves her. He has complete faith in her. He's relaxed. She's not. And he's just, you know, it's making it so much worse. It's just making it so much worse for Starbuck.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:13:34</ref>

'''David Eick:''' You know, it's interesting when you go back and look at these things because one of the hurdles we were constantly faced with on all these episodes is the directing choices. And we take the directing of the show very seriously and we assign accountability and responsibility to our directors that probably is much greater and more far-reaching than a lot of television shows. And by that I mean in casting, in how scenes are played, in staging, which believe it or not some producers will instruct directors how they're to shoot every scene. And as I mentioned on the previous episode, while I'm certainly guilty of asking directors to reference shots from films or to allow me to inspire them from movies that I think make points well in similar ways that we might be trying to do in an episode, our directors really do have a great deal of free reign, visual effects being one category in particular, where we really do ask them to conceive ideas, and then we will go about adjusting them as necessary, but allowing them to actually have a vision. Rod Hardy, who I mentioned, came back, has come back a couple of times. As you said, you're watching this, you're struck by just that scene we were just watching, how well composed it is, how graphic the shots are. He really understands the emotion of the story, which you find in episodic can be challenging. Some directors will come and you'll talk to them for hours and hours and hours. You'll get the dailies back and go, they completely, fundamentally misunderstood the point of the scene.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:15:02</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' And I think what's also interesting watching these back-to-back is that the directors have a distinct look to them. I mean, this is not shot.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:15:08</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Even within style, they have their own style.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' And I think that's great. One of the really strong suits of the show is its ability to experiment, to give reign to the directors and the actors to really embrace the show and create something that they own and they're a part of. And each one of these episodes is like sort of a little individual movie in that they don't feel cookie cutter. And there's really no typical ''Battlestar Galactica''episode. I mean, in style of storytelling or in character development or direction, they're all kind of unique pieces.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:15:40</ref>

'''David Eick:''' No, we definitely have, I mean, as anyone who watches normal science fiction can tell, a style to the show. But in my experience, producers in television, which is a producer's medium, producers who try to impose on directors such limitations and such strict boundaries are really kind of only doing so to exercise their own ego. Because then what happens is they get the cuts, and then they're miserable and screaming and yelling and cursing the director because the cuts don't reflect what he does.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:16:07</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This isn't the way I told you to shoot them.

'''David Eick:''' And the truth is if you invite the director in as a partner, as a creative partner, and as Ron was just saying, give them some carte blanche creatively, visually, give them a set of boundaries, but that within those boundaries they can be creative. They can, I mean, Rod uses a lot more dolly shots, a lot more long lens shots, a lot more cranes than really we ever do elsewise. And I think it's unique. I mean, you watch Rod Hardy episodes of ''Battlestar Galactica'', you can sort of tell they're Rod Hardy episodes of ''Battlestar Galactica''. And not that, you know, I don't mean to be harping about Rod Hardy. Rod can't, you can't raise your price either, by the way. But by empowering them, you get better work is my point. You don't find yourself frustrated in the editing room nearly as much, I don't think, because you're looking at the work of somebody who, at every step in the process, has felt like a creative partner. And it's felt like he's been invited to be a part of the family. And the work's better.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:16:56</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' And that makes our jobs easier. It does. It makes the job fun. Because then you sit in the editing room and you're really interested. I'm always interested to see the first cuts because they're always sort of a unique experience. It's never exactly the way that you thought it would be on the page. And that's exciting. It's like sitting down and watching a movie for the first time.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:17:13</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Now, having said everything I just said, I have a pathological terror of watching first cuts.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:17:19</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' You're terrified. I'm really excited.

'''David Eick:''' I can't bear it. I sit and look at the DVD sitting on my coffee table in my den for at least a day before I can put it in. It just sits there mocking me. Watch me. Watch me. I usually have to wait for Ron to see it first and tell me it's okay, and then I can put it in.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:17:37</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This was, you know, at this point in the season, I think we were still, in all honesty, I think we still weren't quite sure where this storyline was going. This was feeling our way through it. Okay, we've committed. We're going to do a story on Caprica every week. I felt in the first season that you could not skip one, that I thought the audience was just going to lose touch with this show, with this storyline, if we had not kept going there every week. But in the early episodes, it wasn't entirely clear what the point of this story was, in all honesty. So this one, I think, was a bit of shoe leather. This one's like, okay, they're going to go look around here for a while. They're going to find some supplies. But this is the one with the toaster, isn't it? Or is that the next one?<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:18:26</ref>

'''David Eick:''' No, that's the next one. That's the next one. I can always tell when Ron's groping these scenes, because if you look at the pages of the script, there are a lot of ellipsises, a lot of dot, dot, dots. Characters have extra long speeches.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:18:38</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Oh, yeah.

'''David Eick:''' And there's a lot of beginnings of sentences that end in ellipses and then rephrasing of the same idea that end in ellipses.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' There's a lot of business. There's a lot of sort of, he discovers a book, he's fascinated by the book.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:18:51</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And I always get those scenes on the paper and I'll look at him and go, okay, Ron isn't sure what the scene is about. I can tell he's roping for what the scene is about.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:18:59</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' When I am uncertain what the scene is about, I just start playing around and they'll just start moving in directions. They pick up items, they talk about items, they digress into things about their backstories, and eventually maybe by the end of a three-page scene, you'll have found what the idea of the scene is, and then I'm just moving on, and then David later says, okay, I see you groping for this. But I think really the point of this scene is on page three. You could probably lose two pages out of this without it being too much trouble, and you go, oh, yeah, that's right, yeah, that is the point of the scene now.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:19:30</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Well, the good thing about that for me was, having written my first episode in season two, I learned from that so well because every time I would try to start a scene, once I got to the bottom of the page one and realized I hadn't written anything yet, I was like, I now know. I now know exactly what's happening. Stop. So in a way, it's been very instructive for me because I can go, okay, now I know that if you get to that place, it means you're still not sure what the scene's about.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:19:56</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, because a lot of, I mean, it's interesting because, or it's sort of interesting. I mean, when you're writing TV and you're running the show or you're the head writer, there's just a lot of writing involved. There's a tremendous amount of sort of page output that you're concentrating on. You've got to get so many pages a day. You've got to like, I've got to get this rewrite of this script out by tomorrow. I've got to hit this mark. And as a result, you don't really have the luxury of whatever writer's block is, which is something that I hear that writers have. But I've worked in TV all my professional career and features. And you just don't have that luxury. So as a result, sometimes you're just forcing yourself to keep writing. You just keep going in the scene until you find what the scene is about. And you're hoping that you have enough time to go back and tighten it up. Or you get to the end of a script and you're hoping against hope that you have enough time to go back and take a polish through everything or take a good solid second draft as a writer. And sometimes you just don't. Sometimes you just have to get it out there and publish it and get it to the production team and let them prep it and let them move on.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:20:56</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This is the first appearance of [[Dr. Cottle|Dr. Cottle]], which became one of my favorite characters. There he is with the cigarette. I love this more than I can tell you. this notion when we, I mean, we didn't have a doctor in the miniseries. We'd gotten until episode four before we had to have a doctor, but you felt like you had to deal with Laura's cancer, and, okay, we've got to do something on that storyline. And I really did not want to do the touchy-feely doctor. I wanted to go as far away from [[w:Leonard McCoy|Dr. McCoy]] and all the sort of, you know, avuncular, but lovably crusty sort of doctors that are on these shows and movies as you could. So I wanted the doctor that came in and lit a cigarette with the cancer patient and refuses to put it out when she asks him to,<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:21:58</ref>

'''David Eick:''' which is really what kicks it over the side.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' It's one thing that he's smoking, but when she says, do you mind? And he says, yeah, I do. And he just keeps smoking. That, to me, I was like, okay, I love this character. I want to see this guy as much as we can.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:22:10</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And he's great.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This is really good because he's not just a jerk. I mean, he really does have a humanity to him. And even though he's kind of been a bastard in the scene and pushes her, I mean, at the end, he tells her that she, you know...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:22:40</ref>

'''David Eick:''' You know, he was a finalist for TIE.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Oh, that's right. He was one of the finalists for TIE.

'''David Eick:''' He and two other guys, including the guy that got the role, Michael Hogan, were finalists for TIE.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, when he says prayer, you know, it's something you should really consider. And the look on Mary's face. I mean, it's affecting because he is such a prick. And then you go, wow, if he thinks that it's bad, then it must be really bad.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:23:01</ref>

'''David Eick:''' This is one of the first times in the new season that we demonstrated hostility or tension between these two characters.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:23:15</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' If you go back and look at that carefully, too, you'll see that Lee really is wearing the bruises from Bastille Day on his face. He's still scarred up and scraped. And, you know, normally you would just paper that over. You would just say, oh, you know, the bruises are gone. We don't want to see him bruised next week.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:23:28</ref>

'''David Eick:''' This young actress playing [[Louanne Katraine|Kat]], who was just on the right there a second ago, has proven to be, and there's [[Bodie Olmos]], Eddie's son, in the center there, who's [[Brendan Costanza|Hot Dog]], who's also become a recurring character.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:23:41</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Well, those three in the front, I mean, [[Perry|Chuckles]], Hot Dog, and Kat, they all became pilots to us. I mean, and I don't think we really had any expectation of that. The idea was we were going to do the Nuggets, the new pilots, was just going to be its own kind of story. And maybe you might see one of these guys again later. And what started happening is the writers just started putting them in, like, almost every scene that we dealt with the pilots. So these became, like, our recognizable faces.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:24:05</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Kat is quite a find. She is someone we're now talking about and have already built into a much more prominent character. She's just a really, really talented actor. and she's someone who, in a different way than Katie, a very different way from Katie, just exemplifies that sort of masculine fortitude, despite being a woman that is required to be a pilot like this. And one of the upcoming episodes, we're actually going to deal with the tension between Kara, Thrace, and Kat in terms of, you know, which one of them is sort of...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:24:35</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, what happens when your protege starts out distancing you? Right. You know, what happens when, yeah, you train this young pilot, and it's great that she's a hot shot and all that, and then, well, wait a minute, what if she starts being better than you are? Yeah.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:24:47</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This is another great little sequence in visual effects. I mean, it's really cool that it's just a training mission. It's not, you know, a major combat role. But, you know, landing on the deck of ''Galactica''is a tricky thing. And, you know, I mean, you can argue that, okay, it's space. Maybe they could do this different ways and it shouldn't be dangerous. but it's more really about the truth of being a combat pilot and the tricky things that it is to be a carrier pilot specifically. And I've been on a carrier and watched them do flight operations, and it is a remarkable skill that a pilot can land their craft on a moving carrier deck over and over again. And it's just such an important part of the job that I really wanted it to be part of their job as well.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:25:37</ref>

'''David Eick:''' I like it because we turned the alligator legs of the original ''Battlestar Galactica''structure into having a practical value, which are these landing pods. In the original Battlestar Galactica, I think they were just designed, they looked like skis.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:25:52</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' I think they did launch out of them as well, but they didn't, and they had a landing bay, but it was very different than ours. It didn't go through the whole tube.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:25:59</ref>

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, the holes, the whole, the fact that it's a tube, and I've always gotten such a kick out of the idea that it's treated like that. It, in one visual image, reinforces the relationship of this thing to an actual aircraft carrier, which has an open end on both sides, obviously, just to kind of give you some root.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:26:17</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, because the metaphor is that it's a carrier. And I think at every turn, we try to emphasize that point, from the decor to just the background there on the wall is the communications device, which has a handle, a handset with a cord. It looks a lot like what they have on real Navy ships. And it just roots you in what this is supposed to be. It's not, again, it's going back to what we said earlier. It's not a made-up fantasy world entirely. there are things within it that you can get your arms around and say, okay, this is a carrier. It's like an aircraft carrier. It's a squadron. The terminology is the same. There's a CAG, commander of an air group. You know, there's all the sort of nomenclature is similar. The tasks that they have to do is similar. And it just, it's familiar. You don't have to sort of keep thinking about, oh yeah, it's science fiction. And what does that mean again? And what do they call that thing that they land on? It doesn't matter. It's a, it's, they come and they land on it.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:27:06</ref>

'''David Eick:''' In terms of taking this out of the traditional trappings of space opera, you look at the lighting here, which is done by [[w:Stephen McNutt|Steve McNutt]], and [[w:Joel Ransom|Joel Ransom]] had done the photography in our miniseries with quite an unusual approach to the genre himself, where we really blew out the whites and crushed the blacks, and we went for this incredibly contrasty look. It was all shot on film, so it had a grainy quality that we also pushed. And then when it came to the series, the one-hour series, we elected to do something kind of experimental. We didn't have Joel anymore, who had gone off to do bigger things. And so, Steve McNutt was a guy I worked with on a show called ''[[w:American Gothic (1995 TV series)|American Gothic]]'', and he had since become something of a black belt in a new medium that's called [[w:High-definition video|high def]]. And we're shooting this show on tape, basically. I mean, what you're seeing right now is...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:27:55</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' It's all videotape.

'''David Eick:''' ...is a very rich breed of videotape. And Steve took the principle that we had kind of developed with Joel, that Reimer and I had, through much experimentation and trial and error, developed with Joel, and then taken it in a slightly different direction, which is actually darker. I mean, the image itself is darker than in the miniseries. It's more shadowy. The mid-tones are a bit richer. And in the process, I think he's maintained the principle of the miniseries, and yet there is this very, very apparent departure from what I gather, because I don't watch them a lot, but from what I kind of understand generally is the aesthetic approach to [[w:Star Trek|Star Treks]] and [[w:Stargate|Stargates]]. And not to denigrate them, not to wash them all together as though they all have the same look, because obviously I understand that they don't. But there is just, I guess you could say, a more fantastical...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:28:45</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, it's not like this. It's less driven by source. It's much more of a flat sort of general wash through the shows. I mean, there was some lovely cinematography on Star Trek. And [[w:Marvin V. Rush|Marvin Rush]] was our DP on a couple of the series. It did some really interesting things, but it really didn't have this kind of look to it. I mean, this just feels more like a... And a lot of that is just the intent. You know, the [[w:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|Enterprise]] was never intended to feel like a real place in a way. It was a hyper-real environment. It was a notion of the future that was idealized or romanticized, and you kind of went with that. This is trying to be something different. This is, okay, here's a real place. These people really inhabit a ship that they live in. in the Enterprise, you know, the hallways were always clean, you know, there was never really sloppy books everywhere, and people, you know, just sort of walked around very upright, and there was a certain way of walking, you know. When you were in [[w:Starfleet|Starfleet]], there was the Starfleet walk, you know, in essence. If you watch any of the shows, watch the extras in the background, they have the Starfleet walk, you know. This show, it's more human. It's just more, it's less controlled. It's a much sort of, you know, anything can happen kind of environment, And the cinematography kind of reflects that. There's much more accident of shadow. There's less sort of fetishism about composing certain angles. And, you know, it just feels looser.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:30:08</ref>

'''David Eick:''' This is different, because this is the shot on screen right now. It's the flashback with Zach and Kara. But this is intentionally dreamlike. This is a memory. This takes you out of sort of the day-to-day reality.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:30:27</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And certainly Rod Hardy was more interested, I think, in these more sort of beautified, composed shots than he was in the documentary style. And so at any point, he had an opportunity in this episode, which features a lot of flashbacks, a lot of memories, a lot of those things. He was so thrilled to be able to dive into that because I think it's probably more his taste.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:30:50</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This is the scene. I mean, this is this is one of the best scenes of the entire first season.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:31:14</ref>

'''David Eick:''' It really is. I mean would that we were able to match this in any season. I really think this is, you know, I'm loath to pat ourselves on the back too much and certainly we spend a lot more time talking about how we not screw up ''Battlestar Galactica''than we do talking about how great we think ''Battlestar Galactica''is. But this would be one of the scenes and certainly one of the key moments in the run of the first season that I've gone back to a number of times in watching it and in my head thinking about whatever episode we're in the middle of doing. Gee, are we ever going to get back to this place? Because it's certainly kind of transcendent in a way and very much an example of two incredibly talented people really on their A-game, great chemistry, magnificent material to work with first of all.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:31:59</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Just believe in it.

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, and a director who understood the point of the scene.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:32:03</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' It's just all there. It's really just all there in their faces.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:32:07</ref>

'''David Eick:''' This was one time only subject matter. It's like, okay, we're gonna do the episode where...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:32:15</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' You can only find this out once.

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, exactly. In a way, you know, I guess maybe the lesson is that because we have planted the seed in the miniseries to say, okay, there was this death, there was this, and so what's the mystery about the death and what can we discover about the death? And maybe the way to get back to this kind of thing is to start thinking in terms of, because, you know, we haven't really broken the back 10 yet, I mean, other than the first couple, is to start thinking in terms of what other secrets are there. You've been talking about Lee and his his, you know, former love and and that kind of thing, but maybe by planting a few more of those seeds, I guess that's what Lost is doing. I don't really know.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:32:52</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Well, I mean, in a way, what's Adama's secret? I mean, that's an interesting question. What is the thing that makes him tick in a way? We've delved into Ty's background much more so in the second season. There's a whole Ty arc that opened the second season, and you hear more about who he is and what kind of man he is, what he went through in the first war. But who's Adama? We even have a Laura Roslin episode. We delve into her backstory and who she was on the day of the attack and things about her that the audience didn't know and I think we'll be surprised to learn. But Adama's like the big mystery figure. In fact, in some ways, he's such an interesting cipher. You don't want to know too much about him. But there should be some surprising things about who this guy was. Just the little texture that we threw in in a later episode of [[Litmus (RDM)|Litmus]], which told you that he's not the latest in a chain of military commanders stretching back generation to generation. His father was a civil liberties lawyer. I mean, that alone surprises you.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:33:48</ref>

'''David Eick:''' In the miniseries script, in a scene that was shot but not included in the final cut, Adama is destroying all the ordnance from Galactica. It's in a ceremonial move that represents the retirement of a Battlestar. They destroy all their weaponry because it's dangerous stuff. And so there's this glorious moment where he sends it all out into space and it blows up and the visual effects never worked anyway. But he begins the scene saying, my father always said that a Battlestar was like a... And the clear implication was that his father was a commander of the Battlestar.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:34:33</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' That's right. I forgot about that.

'''David Eick:''' And the fact that that, and the only reason, I remember the first time I read your first draft of the Bible, and you went into Adama's father. Initially, I was like, wait a minute. He can't be a lawyer. But then I, well, hold on. The world hasn't seen that scene.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:34:47</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' That's right. We cut that scene. I forgot about that. Yeah, there's times you just make these, this is.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:34:54</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And usually Eddie is pretty...

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Eddie's pretty on that stuff.

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, I'm surprised he didn't catch that one.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Because there are little throwaways of dialogue sometimes in a scene that then you're later going, "Oh man, that's locked me into something here."<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:35:04</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And you know, it's interesting because Eddie was so stoic. You know, he plays this role. And I was saying to Ron after the end of it...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:35:24</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Look at him. I mean, it's like he's just about to blow her across that room.

'''David Eick:''' And he's, you forget because we've done, you know, the miniseries in three episodes. When she grabs the head, that kills me.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:35:35</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' I know, it's like, oh, fuck.

'''David Eick:''' That's so great. Her impulses are so impeccable. But when we were talking after the first season about how the man, Eddie Olmos, is so great at playing this stoic character, and I'd said to Ron, I'd seen ''[[w:Stand and Deliver|Stand and Deliver]]'', which I'd seen before, but hadn't seen since we started doing the show, and he's completely different. This is Gary Hutzel kind of on his game in an unbelievable way. But Eddie is so versatile and so capable of levels of complexity and intensity that we really hadn't seen a lot of, except for these precious moments when you go and you look at the show and you realize it's really kind of this arc he's playing himself. He so resists going for what he calls result acting. He won't go there. He won't go into a place where you're trying to get a specific emotional beat and he's got to deliver it like the milkman. He just doesn't do that, which is incredibly beneficial to the show. But you look at a scene like that, and you're like, okay, you know, don't underestimate in any way the man.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:36:38</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Oh yeah, don't mess with this guy.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:36:40</ref>

'''David Eick:''' This is a very interesting set here. This is what we call the junior officers' quarters and I'm really glad that we made this sort of choice to put them in bunks and imply that these guys all have to kind of bunk together even though it seems like there's a lot of room in these ships and they're still pretty cramped and hard to deal with. But last weekend I was in San Francisco and the ''[[w:USS_Hornet_(CV-12)|USS Hornet]]'', a carrier, is tied up at Alameda Point and I went on it and was wandering around the ship and just sort of getting off on the whole thing 'cause that's what I like to do. And they had some of the pilot staterooms were open and they are so small. I mean it's they're like closets and they're bunk beds and I mean they're like the size of that bathroom over there. I mean they're like two bunks, one on top of each other, a desk the size of this little ottoman which is about two by two and a little tiny sink and a mirror and two narrow lockers and you can barely turn around in here. And this was where the pilots, you know, the sort of, you know, the guys that are really, you know, living it large on an aircraft carrier got to live and they lived in these...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:37:43</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' And how long would they spend in those, in that space?

'''David Eick:''' Months. Months and months at sea. Yeah, they'd be on deployment on this. This was this was a ship that dated back to World War II and had gone through various um overhauls and conversions and served in Vietnam and was retired I think in the late '70s or something like that.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:37:57</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' This is in San Francisco or...

'''David Eick:''' It's in San Francisco, it's tied up in Alameda. But this is this is a... It's a museum. It's it's what ''Galactica'' was going to become. It's a museum ship. It's like...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:38:10</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Is there a gift shop?

'''David Eick:''' There's a gift shop on the hangar deck. And they have like, you know, aircraft that used to serve are like roped off with little... It's exactly what was going to become of ''Galactica'', you know. It's really interesting. I hadn't seen it before I wrote the miniseries, but I kind of knew what those ships were like. And you'd walk through and there was like guided tours and the flight deck was really torn up and needed to be restored and there were areas you couldn't even go in. It's it's really interesting.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:38:43</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' We should go because we're going, you know, we're going up there, I think I told you at the end of September.

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's worth the trip. It's really interesting. It's kind of run down. It's not really gleaming and sparkling by any means, but it gives you a real strong feel for, oh man, do you really want to be in this ship in bad weather and in the middle of the night and putting your flight gear on and you can barely move around in here and then go up to this flight deck and the aircraft are quite large and scary and noisy and climb up there and then shoot off the end of this deck, which seems way too small to either land or get launched off of. Yeah, it's amazing.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:39:17</ref>

'''David Eick:''' This is the best visual effects of the season. Because we were because of the ''[[w:The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff]]'',' which was the movie we were quoting in this episode. The ejection sequence is a quote from 'The Right Stuff.' But uh these are the best visual effects we've ever done because we entered an atmosphere, which is different from space, so it represented all these new challenges to us. And as you'll see as the episode wraps up here, Gary Hutzel and the team at [[w:Zoic Studios|Zoic]] really just pushed all sorts of envelopes in different directions that we never thought we could do with this. We just thought we were going to have to shoot some of this practically. We were going to have to, I mean, there's a lot of...<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:39:45</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' They fell in love... I mean, this is the kind of show that then the animators and artists at Zoic and the other companies just they kind of fall in love with certain episodes and then they start delivering extra shots because they want to, you know, not even that they're budgeted in. They just start giving you freebies because they so enjoy the work.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:39:55</ref>

'''David Eick:''' What's interesting is in all those sorts of wider shots is that's all [[w:Computer-generated imagery|CGI]]. The pilots within the cockpits are not live-action actors. They're also CGI. In fact, there's a point in the ejection sequence when the figure of Kara getting thrown out of the viper is all CGI as well.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:40:02</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' And you get pretty tight on her, too. Yeah.

'''David Eick:''' The original idea was that at that shot, when her face was obscured all the way through, it wasn't until that moment that she kind of comes into the camera that you would realize that it was Starbuck.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:40:09</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Because that was the justification that the power went out and that's why you couldn't see her face.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:40:14</ref>

'''David Eick:''' This was in Ron's script or David and Bradley's script had the the lateral spin, which I never really knew what it meant until I saw this.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:40:18</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah.

'''David Eick:''' Oh, okay. A lateral spin. The wing goes. It's a great shot.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' That's awesome, man. And she's like in a complete panic.

'''David Eick:''' Right. Yeah, you see her face is kind of dirty.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' And her face is dirty. And the reflection in the mask is some of the best visual effects, really.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:40:22</ref>

'''David Eick:''' And she's trying to grab the handle.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' She's reaching, it's still Katie. Now it's CGI. It's totally CGI. All the debris, the smoke, the clouds. The original idea was that at that shot, when her face was obscured all the way through, it wasn't until that moment that she kind of comes into the camera that you would realize that it was Starbuck.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:41:20</ref>

'''David Eick:''' We're going to keep playing this until we get to the end because this was Jerry's favorite episode. I'll use this time to talk about Jerry. Jerry and I concocted this idea that Ron kind of went along with and didn't really know what the hell I was talking about, which was a way to do a logo for our production company, which we sort of just anointed for the purposes of this show R&D TV, a play on research and development. And my high school friend Jerry, who was a great mimic all through high school and has become something of a talented artist of many different media, was exchanging emails with me and I suggested that he depict animated versions of Ron and I solving arguments because the nature of producing a television show is of course to argue. In as violent and bloody and graphic a way as possible and let that be the logo. So I grabbed a digital camera. I think uh Bradley actually came over to do some shots, took shots of me and Ron in various profiles. Ron's still like just, you know, talking about some episode all throughout it.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:42:58</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah, we were just having a story meeting or something.

'''David Eick:''' Yeah, and you know, and then it resulted in what you're about to see. And it's not even my voice. It's not even your voice. I mean people say, 'Oh my god, you did such a great job.'<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:43:08</ref>

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' We should bleep out the...

'''David Eick:''' Yeah. The reality.

'''Ronald D. Moore:''' Yeah.

'''David Eick:''' See you next time.<ref>Podcast for {{TRS|Act of Contrition|prose=y}}, timestamp 00:43:12</ref>
== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{Podcast list (RDM season 1)}}

User talk:AshhawkBurning

2026-02-05T20:25:48Z

AshhawkBurning: /* Thanks for your edit! */ Reply

== Thanks for your edit! ==

Just wanted to drop a note and thank you for your "Hand of God" timeline edit. Appreciate your support and engagement! [[User:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|Joe Beaudoin]] [[User talk:Joe Beaudoin Jr.|So say we all]] - [[Battlestar Wiki:Site support|Donate]] 19:55, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

:Thanks for dropping in! Very glad to contribute. I rewatched the series on Blu-ray recently, then went right back to the beginning and started re-rewatching, so things are pretty fresh. Thank you for making this wiki in the first place; it's been a great help! [[User:AshhawkBurning|AshhawkBurning]] ([[User talk:AshhawkBurning|talk]]) 20:25, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

User:AshhawkBurning

2026-02-01T19:35:23Z

AshhawkBurning: User Data box

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Timeline - Season 1 (RDM)

2026-02-01T19:06:45Z

AshhawkBurning: Split up the three days covered in "The Hand of God" according to on-screen titles for days 36 and 37; day 38 is canonically a new day and in line with William Adama saying that the tylium asteroid operation "starts in 48 hours".

{{disline|For the timeline overview see [[Timeline (RDM)]]. For the rest of the series see [[Timeline - Season 2 (RDM)]], [[Timeline - Season 3 (RDM)]] and [[Timeline - Season 4 (RDM)]].}}

{{timeline series}}

==''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' Aftermath==
*'''Day 2:''' ''Pegasus'' sends Raptor scouts to confirm the destruction of the Colonies. The Raptors return with images
*''Pegasus'' detects and attacks a [[Battle of the Communications Relay|Cylon communications relay]], which turns out to be a staging grounds for Cylon Raiders. Admiral [[Helena Cain]] executes her X.O. Colonel [[Jurgen Belzen]] for refusing to order the Vipers to launch. [[Gina Inviere]] is exposed as a Cylon agent when another Six is spotted commanding a boarding party of Centurions. Inviere is imprisoned
*''Pegasus'' encounters ''Scylla'' and 14 other civilian ships. The ships are stripped of useful parts, including FTL drives, and people. Civilians deemed non-essential are abandoned on the now-stranded ships. Several civilians aboard the ''Scylla'' are executed, discouraging further protest {{TRS|Razor}}

=="[[33]]" through "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|Hand of God]]"==

*'''Day 6:''' ''Galactica'' pursued by the Cylons for six days. The ship ''[[Olympic Carrier]]'' is destroyed {{TRS|33}}
*'''Day 7:'''
**First new child born on the ''[[Rising Star]]''
**''Pegasus'' encounters a fleet of 15 civilian ships, including ''[[Scylla]]'' {{TRS|Resurrection Ship, Part I}}
*'''Day 8:''' [[John Cavil]] convenes a meeting with [[Shelly Godfrey]], [[Number Six#Tough Six|Tough Six]], [[Leoben Conoy (New Caprica copy)|Leoben Conoy]], and [[Aaron Doral]] in his chapel on ''Galactica'' to discuss their plan for eliminating the fleet {{TRS|The Plan}}
*'''Day 9:''' Cavil places an elephant statuette in Lieutenant [[Sharon Valerii]]'s quarters to activate her buried memories. Valerii meets with him in his chapel and proposes to sabotage the water tanks to cripple the fleet {{TRS|The Plan}}
*'''Day 10:''' ''Galactica''’s water tanks damaged by Valerii's sabotage {{TRS|Water}}
*'''Day 12:''' Prisoner uprising, led by [[Tom Zarek]] on the ''[[Astral Queen]]'' {{TRS|Bastille Day}}
*'''Day 14:''' Starbuck goes missing after [[Skirmish over the Red Moon|a battle with Cylon forces]] {{TRS|Act of Contrition}}
*'''Day 15:''' Starbuck returns to the Fleet with a captured Cylon Raider {{TRS|You Can't Go Home Again}}
*'''Day 17:''' A suicide bomber nearly kills Adama and Tigh; investigation centers on Galen Tyrol {{TRS|Litmus}}.
*'''Day 21:''' First recollection by any of the ''[[Rising Star (RDM)|Rising Star]]'' crew members of giving [[Ellen Tigh]] medical assistance (before "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]")
*'''Day 24:'''
**[[Sharon Agathon|"Caprica" Valerii]] and {{callsign|Helo}} make love for the first time
**Shelly Godfrey implicates Dr. Baltar in the attack on the Colonies. Commander Adama grows suspicious of her and has her placed under surveillance. Cavil and Tough Six trick the guards, Godfrey is airlocked by Cavil ([[Six Degrees of Separation]], [[The Plan]])
*'''Day 25:''' A copy of [[Leoben Conoy]] found, interrogated and ejected from airlock {{TRS|Flesh and Bone}}
*'''Day 26:''' Ellen Tigh regains consciousness ("a couple of days" before "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]")
*'''Day 28:''' William Adama retrieves [[Ellen Tigh]] {{TRS|Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down}}
*'''Day 36:''' A [[tylium (RDM)|tylium]]-rich asteroid with a [[Cylon Refinery|Cylon refinery]] is located, and plans are made to capture it {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}
*'''Day 37:''' Caprica-Valerii begins showing the first signs of pregnancy {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}
*'''Day 38:''' ''Galactica'' [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid|engages the Cylon mining base]] and retrieves needed tylium fuel {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}

=="[[Colonial Day]]" through "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]"==

*'''Day 46 - 49''' {{TRS|Colonial Day}}''':'''
**Delegates selected for the [[Quorum of Twelve]], including [[Tom Zarek]]
**Gaius Baltar selected to represent [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]]
**A victory party leads Baltar and Thrace to have a one-night stand <ref>Roslin states that the chair will remain open for nominations for 72 hours on the morning of Day 47, but the [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|next episode]] clearly takes place the day after the victory party, and is stated to take place on Day 50.</ref>
**Helo and Caprica-Valerii infiltrate the spaceport. Helo discovers Valerii is a Cylon and flees
*'''Day 50''' {{TRS|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I}}:'''
**Boomer and Crashdown stumble upon {{RDM|Kobol}}
**Roslin unsuccessfully petitions Commander Adama to send the Cylon Raider after the [[Arrow of Apollo]] on [[Caprica (RDM)|Caprica]].
**Scout party ambushed by a [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]] at Kobol
*'''Day 51''' {{TRS|Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II}}:'''
**Survivors of [[Raptor 1]] escape the wreck
**Starbuck diverts the captured Cylon raider and jumps to Caprica, retrieves the [[Arrow of Apollo]] and meets up with Helo
**Adama terminates Roslin's presidency and arrests her after learning that Starbuck took the Cylon Raider back to Caprica at her request
**Boomer successfully destroys the basestar over Kobol
**On her return to ''Galactica'', Boomer's Cylon programming activates; she shoots Commander Adama at point-blank range

==Season 2==

:''Continued at [[Timeline - Season 2 (RDM)]]''

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Behind the Scenes]]
[[Category:Colonial History]]
[[Category:RDM]]