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Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I

2006-03-06T18:33:37Z

Avon: /* Questions */ Added question about cylon infiltrators

{{Episode Data|
Image = [[Image:Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I.jpg|300px]]
| Title= Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I
| Series= [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|The Re-imagined Series]]
| Season= [[Season 2 (2005-06)|2]]
| Episode= 19
| Guests= [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]] [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0874001/ Michael Trucco] as [[Samuel Anders]]
| Writer=[[Ronald D. Moore]]
| Story=
| Director=[[Michael Rymer]]
| Production=
| Rating=
| US Airdate=March 3, 2006
| UK Airdate=
| DVD=
| Population= 49,579
| Prev= [[Downloaded]]
| Next= [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]
}}

== Overview ==
''As the presidential election looms just weeks away, the accidental discovery of a habitable planet sparks debate in the Fleet: Colonize? Or keep seeking Earth? Meanwhile, Starbuck leads a rescue mission of Raptors back to Caprica to save Anders and his resistance''.

== Summary ==
*[[William Adama|Adama]] has finally given [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] the go-ahead to plan a rescue mission to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Caprica]]. On [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus'']], she lays out their plan: they will use ''all'' of their remaining [[Raptor|Raptors]] — 20 in all — and use the navigation computer/organ from one of the captured [[Heavy Raider]]s to calculate the Jumps back to Caprica. Using this, they can make it back to Caprica in a series of 10 Jumps. They will go undetected when they reach Caprica by making a risky jump to just a few klicks above the surface, within the atmosphere itself, below [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] [[DRADIS]]. Their biggest obstacle to doing this was actually interfacing with the Heavy Raider's navigation "computer", but now they will take [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|''Caprica''-Sharon]] along in Starbuck's Raptor with it; Sharon will directly interface with the computer (by inserting a fiber-optic cable into her arm, like she did in "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]").
*The presidential election is two weeks away, and [[Laura Roslin|Roslin]] is ahead in the polls. The only real arguments that [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] has against her that give him any ground are when he accuses her of pandering to the religious fundamentalists (i.e. her recent policy switch on abortion) and guiding the Fleet based on the scriptures alone. Conferring with his campaign manager [[Tom Zarek]] in his lab, Baltar realizes he'll need more than this to turn the fleet againt Roslin. Meanwhile, Roslin is doing a little rehearsal ritual for the presidential debate with Adama in his quarters.
*On the hangar deck, [[Galen Tyrol|Chief Tyrol]] is sleeping on the floor and twitching convulsively, having a nightmare. [[Cally]] searches around the deck to find him, and is confused by the sight when she finds him. Cally tried to wake Tyrol up, but snapping right out of his nightmare he attacks Cally, punching her in the face until she is a bloody pulp and unconscious. Realizing where he is and what's going on, Tyrol is horrified, and carries Cally in his arms to sickbay.
*[[Lee Adama|Apollo]], now commander of ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', has conflicting feelings about Starbuck's mission to rescue Anders, but wishes her good luck in finding him.
*[[Karl Agathon|Helo]] and ''Caprica''-Sharon travel in Starbuck's Raptor. Sharon is still deeply depressed about her daughter [[Hera]]'s seeming death, and has been shutting herself out. Helo tells her that he won't let her do that and won't give up on her. Sharon tells him that she has the feeling that something bad will happen in the future; not on the mission to Caprica, but something else.
*On the very first jump out of the series of ten, [[Margaret Edmonson|Racetrack]]'s Raptor jumps to the wrong set of coordinates. Starbuck's orders were to keep going ahead until they lose 3 Raptors, so they go on ahead, while Racetrack prepares to follow her orders to return to [[Galactica (RDM)|''Galactica'']] if separated. Her Raptor jumped into the middle of a gas cloud with a lot of interference, and upon clearing it, a new planet is found. Scanners indicate that it is a human-habitable planet. She returns to ''Galactica'' with news of the discovery.
*The crew goes over the scans from the planet; it can sustain human life and subsequent scouting shows that in contains animal and vegetative life; they could indeed settle here. However, it is a cold world and somewhat harsh; only a temperate band around the equator covering about 20% of the surface would be habitable. After some prodding from [[Six]], Baltar and Zarek realize that they can use this as their wedge issue to turn the people against Roslin: offer them permament colonization on this planet.
*[[Tory Foster|Tory]] goes over new poll numbers with Roslin on [[Colonial One]]: Baltar has been gaining ground with his new offer to stop running from the Cylons and stay here. The planet is hidden by interference from the gas clouds, and many people want to just stop their constant chase in the refugee fleet. Roslin points out that if the Colonials could find the planet, the Cylons could just as easily. Also, life on the planet would be harsh. Tory points out that Baltar is pandering to the people's hopes, giving them false ones that they greatly desire, while Roslin is pointing out justifiable fears that they simply don't want to hear; people will vote their hopes.
*Shocked by his attack on Cally, Chief Tyrol has asked for religious counselling, and meets with a priest named [[Brother Cavil]]. Tyrol explains that it is because he doesn't believe that psychoanalysis works, but is himself a very [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies|religious]] man. Cavil is somewhat loose and sarcastic in his counseling, leaving Tyrol a little pertubed and confused. Cavil tells Tryol that he must look for the problem in himself and questions Tyrol, and when Tyrol denies that he has been having disturbing dreams, Cavil can see through it, so Tyrol relents.
*For weeks, Tyrol has been having the recurring dream that he walks onto the upper level of the hangar deck, climbs over the railing and kills himself by jumping to his death. Cavil says it is because Tyrol has a subconscious desire to kill himself. Tyrol explains that he has had the gnawing worry since [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|''Galactica''-Sharon]] died that he might himself be a [[Cylon agent|Cylon]]. ''Galactica''-Sharon never really knew she was a Cylon, even up to the point that she died, but reported strange fears that something bad was going to happen and she had to stop herself: how would Tyrol, or anyone else, really ''know'' if they were a Cylon sleeper agent or not? Tyrol is frightened by the prospect.
*Cavil assured Tyrol that he is not a Cylon, sarcastically quipping that he knows because he is a Cylon himself, and hasn't seen Tyrol at any of the meetings. Tyrol feels ashamed to go back to the hangar deck crew after the accident, but Cavil assures him that they're the only family he has left, and they love him. Cally most of all.
*At the final presidential debate, Baltar's charisma and hopes of finally giving up their run from the Cylons starts to pull him ahead in the polls, and Roslin's warnings that this planet is not safe and determination to keep searching for Earth do not gain wide support. Baltar apparently wins the final debate. Roslin tells him to go frak himself.
*The Raptors rescuse mission makes the final jump to Caprica. [[Raptor 612]] is lost because it jumps right into the middle of a mountain. The remaining Raptors continue on, then Starbuck, Helo, Sharon and the marines continue on foot.
*One klick away from the resistance's base camp, they see movement, and find [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] and his whole group. Starbuck is overjoyed to see him, but Anders warns that the Cylons are right behind them; the resistance's base was ambushed that morning, and half of Anders' men are dead.
*The [[Colonial Marine Corps|marines]] and [[Resistance (movement)|resistance]] members start coming under Cylon artillery fire. After running briefly, they reach a point where the arc of the artillery shells is right above them, and cannot hit them. However, the artillery's killzone is now between them and retreat back to the Raptors. To be continued...

== Questions ==
*Did [[Raptor 612]] Jump "into" the mountain by crashing into it, or did they jump ''inside'' of it?
**RDM confirms in the podcast that by "jumped into the mountain" it doesn't mean "they jumped close to it and thus crashed", it means, exactly like a Star Trek transporter accident, that they materialized from the Jump into solid rock, "half-phased".
*If Raptor 612 was destroyed by jumping into a mountain, how was their transponder still operational?
**Perhaps that part of the Raptor was in an air pocket in the rock, and thus not phased into it. RDM says in the podcast that the Raptor Jumping into the mountain wasn't like "swapping" spatial matter between two points: like a teleporter accident, the Raptor and its crew were horrifically merged into the rock itself.
*Is the previous distance limit for Colonial [[FTL]] jumps on account of something like mathematical calculations? Have any of the other Raptors, besides the lead Raptor, been modified, or do they just receive coordinates from the one Raptor with Caprica-Boomer and the Cylon device?
**No, or at least, not entirely. Based on Starbuck's jump back to Caprica in a Cylon Raider and other comments made in season 1, the Cylon FTL drive is far more capable to begin with. Colonial navigation systems would not be designed to take advantage of a markedly superior FTL drive because there would have been no need. Even by using the Cylon navigation computer, with its much better calculations, they needed ten jumps to return to Caprica.
*Does the fleet have the resources to sustain long term settlements on the newly found planet?
**Shelter could be taken care of by canabalizing the ships of the fleet for building materials. But the question of how many homes can be made for how many of the 49,000+ survivors simply by recycling the materials availible still remains. Even if ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' themselves were recycled, would there be enough materials, or would the Battlestars still be necessary for orbital defence?
**The planet itself may have natural resources—in "[[Scar]]", a mining ship collected metals to build new Vipers, so mining the planet itself may be possible. In this case it would be unnecessary to cannibalize the fleet.
*Zarek says the people have been cooped up in metal boxes since the attack. How literally does he mean this—for instance, are people living inside converted cargo holds as they were in the original series?
**Judging from RDM's podcast, he just meant being stuck inside of cramped ships in general, i.e. even the ''Galactica'' crew (who have dedicated crew quarters).
*How was the Raptor able to jump back to the fleet if their FTL navigation computer was not working properly?
**Racetrack's navigator says she gave him the coordinates, so it is possible that she relayed them incorrectly rather than a malfunction in the computer. Alternatively, they could have tracked down any fault and repaired it. In any case, the coordinates for the Raptor's original jump point would probably still be in the system.
*What about the Cylons hiding within the fleet? With the possible settlement of the planet being openly debated can the Cylon infiltrators not contact the Cylon fleet and inform them of the Colonials intentions?
**Perhaps the interference around the planet is blocking long range communications?
**Caprica-Sharon implies that there are Cylons amongst the fleet by telling Adama she would not identify them if asked.

== Analysis ==
*Timeline:
**Zarek states that the people of the fleet have been "cooped up in metal boxes for nine months", putting this episode not long after "[[Downloaded]]".
**At the beginning of the episode, the election is still "two weeks away".
**At the beginning of the first debate, the announcer states Balter declared his bid for presidency a month ago.
**At the conclusion of the second debate, the polls will open in three days.
*[[Margaret Edmonson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmonson]] is apparently assigned to ''Pegasus'' at present, since Dualla refers to her mission as the "Pegasus survey team".
**She could have been flying a ''Pegasus'' Raptor.
*[[Lee Adama]] is now wearing a wristwatch, perhaps [[Barry Garner]]'s from "[[The Captain's Hand]]".
*It is safe to emerge from a hyperspace jump inside a planetary atmosphere at 2km, but not within solid rock. For comparative purposes, the density of air at 2km in an earth-like atmosphere is about 1 kg/m3, while the density of silica rock is about 2,600 kg/m3.
*''BattlestarWiki'' has been trying for some time to reconcile on the [[Timeline (RDM)|Timeline]] the apparent jump from 3 months to 6 months that occured at the beginning of Season 2.5, a part of which was that back in "[[Bastille Day]]" it was stated on screen that the presidential elections were due in '''seven''' months. However, over 7 months passed by the end of "[[Scar]]", and there wasn't even talk of the elections until "[[The Captain's Hand]]". In the podcast for this episode, Ron Moore appears to reveal that he has simply forgotten this point. When he refers to the fact that "elections were promised back in "Bastille Day"", Moore says that he remembers that the line in "Bastille Day" was '''nine''' months, not seven. This is more than a one-episode goof, becuase one month after "Bastille Day" in "[[Colonial Day]]", it was stated that the elections were six months away. In the podcast it seems that Moore is truly and simply mistaken, and there is no explanation for the descrepancy betwen the "seven months after the attack" figures given in "Bastille Day" and "Colonial Day", and the new "nine months after the attack" figure at the end of season 2.5. It is simply a mistake.

== Notes ==
*The re-cap for this episode includes scenes not actually shown in previous episodes—for instance, Starbuck demanding to the dying Roslin circa "[[Epiphanies]]" that they go back and rescue the Caprica resistance.
*When Baltar sarcastically quips that Zarek (and Six) expect him to just sit around and wait for "The Hand of God" to deliver them something they can use to their advantage against Roslin, he is of course referencing the previous episode titled "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]". Ironically, Baltar considers himself the hand of God in that episode. Further, a "chance serendipitous event" (namely the discovery of an inhabitable planet) does deliver them something they can use against Roslin.
*Likewise, when Apollo wishes Starbuck "good hunting", there's a tone of concern, and he seems to pause before saying it, as if Apollo meant to say something else but changed his mind. This may be a reference to "[[33]]", when Starbuck tells Apollo to say "good hunting" instead of "be careful out there".
*This episode has many parallels to "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]" and "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]": the discovery of an inhabitable planet, Gaeta plotting a Raptor jump dangerously close to a planet surface, Starbuck's use of captured Cylon technology to return to Caprica, the intercutting of several plot threads in the teaser, a character contemplating suicide out of fear of being a Cylon, and difficulties between Helo and Sharon. In addition, Tyrol's assault of Cally is something of a parallel to Helo shooting Sharon in "Kobol's Last Gleaming"—in both cases, a man driven to rage physically and emotionally wounds a woman who loves him. The opening teaser is also simmilar to "[[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I]]", a montage introducing the various plot threads of the episode played against a haunting theme that spans the entire teaser.
*When Lt. Gaeta takes his shirt off in the head, he can be seen to still be sporting the tiger tatoo that we first saw in "[[Final Cut]]".
*The combined Colonial fleet had 20 Raptors in this episode, of which 1 was destroyed before the end. Previously, ''Galactica'' was confirmed to have at least 5 left ([[The Farm]]), with the suggestion that there may be as many as 8 ([[Resistance]]). Doubtlessly, ''Pegasus'' brought at least an equal number of Raptors with it when it joined the Fleet, but 20 is still a high number for this. Perhaps a disproportionately large number of Raptors escaped to [[Ragnar Anchorage]] during the [[Miniseries]]. Or perhaps like in real life with American Nimitz class Aircraft Carriers that carry a larger number of fighter aircraft compared to older Forrestal class carriers, the Pegasus, being a larger and more modern Battlestar than Galactica, it has the capability to carry a larger complement of Raptors. Unlike Vipers, Raptors do have FTL drives. We actually saw Boomer and Helo escaping the destruction of their Viper squadron, because Raptors do not engage in frontline combat, and because they have an extenstive ECM suite which Helo was trying to jam the Cylon virus signal with. Indeed, [[Crashdown]] was a Raptor ECO, but Boomer stated that he was not from ''Galactica'', but a refugee "from Triton" (either a battlestar or a planet).
**Also, more Raptors could have been built with extra materials after the Viper squadrons were manufactured ([[Scar]]).
*The jump error that landed the Raptor in the nebula was attributed to a "firmware error" by the crew. This may be an indication that there was firmware upgrade to deal with the increased FTL jump distances provided by the Cylon computer.
*When Cavil is consoling Tyrol's fears that he might unknowingly be a Cylon sleeper agent, just like Boomer was, Tyrol asks him how he can know for sure. Cavil sarcastically answers that it's because maybe he's a Cylon, and he hasn't seen Tyrol at any of the meetings: Number Six also sarcastically remarked to Baltar in the Miniseries that [[Aaron Doral]] could not be a Cylon, because she hadn't "seen him at any of the good Cylon parties"...but of course, Doral actually ''was'' a Cylon, implying that Cavil is truly more than he seems.
*Tory actually paraphrases the title of this episode aloud, saying that the new planet offers people in the Fleet the hope that they can "lay down their burdens" and stop running.
*During the premiere airing of this episode on the Sci-Fi Channel, before the Teaser segment a "Parental Discretion Is Advised" black and white message was inserted. At the end of the Teaser, Tyrol beats Cally to a bloody pulp.
*Lee Adama is now wearing a new uniform as Commander of ''Pegasus'': it is a Commander's uniform, denoted by the new red trim (with gold inner trim), and it has a white "''Pegasus'' BSG-62" patch, replacing his old gold "''Galactica'' BSG-75" patch.
*Dualla's photo of Adama is the left half of a group shot with Kara Thrace and his brother Zak Adama. The original belongs to Thrace, and she has kept it in her locker on ''Galactica'' since the miniseries.
*Dualla refers to "rivers of milk and honey" on the newly discovered planet. The phrase "land of milk and honey" is a common epithet for the promised land in the Torah, appearing in Exodus 3:8, 3:17, 13:5, 33:3, Leviticus 20:24, Number 13:27, 14:8, 16:13-14, and Deuteronomy 6:3.
*Commander Lee Adama is seen eating noodles with chopsticks in his quarters, just like his father in "[[33]]", etc. Interesting note Adama sticks his chopsticks inside the bowl of noodles so that the chopsticks stand up in the bowl, which is a sign of bad luck to the Chinese. Non-asians that use chopsticks frequently do not pay heed to the bad luck superstition, similiar to the Japanese custom of not giving knives as a wedding present for the same reason (bad luck). This is a sign of cultures borrowing from each other piecemeal.
*In the podcast, RDM states that originally instead of Starbuck, Helo, and Sharon leading the other Raptors in another Raptor, they would have been flying in the captured Heavy Raider itself. However, the 2 part season finale went overbudget and cuts had to be made, and the cost of building the Heavy Raider interior was deemed prohibitively expensive. Thus, they bring the Heavy Raider computer/organ with them in a normal Raptor. Moore said he believed that fans "wouldn't miss" an actual appearance by the Heavy Raider.
*Col. Tigh appears in this epsiode twice but doesn't speak a single line.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*''Chief Tyrol is worried that like'' Galactica''-Sharon, he could just as well be another Cylon sleeper agent:''
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' How do you know I'm human?
:'''Brother Cavil:''' Oh, well, maybe because I'm a Cylon and I've never seen you at any of the meetings.

*'''Brother Cavil:''' Do you know how useless prayer is? Chanting, and singing, and mucking about with old half-remembered lines of bad poetry? And you know what it gets you? Exactly nothing.

*'''Gaius Baltar:''' I'm not sure if you're aware, [[Tom Zarek|Tom]], but the mob isn't usually in the habit of electing ungodly apostates who denegrate people of faith.

== Official Statements ==

*''In an interview in issue #197 of TV Zone, James Callis (Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]]) said:'' "the arrival of the Pegasus has helped galvanize our characters into who they are and who they’re trying to be. These later episodes [in Season 2] also further drive home the fact that the Galactica’s crew could be exterminated by its own kind, meaning that Humans are potentially far more terrifying an enemy than perhaps the Cylons."

== Guest Stars ==

*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0874001/ Michael Trucco] as [[Samuel Anders]]
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001777/ Dean Stockwell] as [[Brother Cavil]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Aaron+Douglas Aaron Douglas] as CPO [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Nicki+Clyne Nicki Clyne] as Specialist [[Cally]]
*[http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Leah+Cairns Leah Cairns] [[Margaret Edmonson|Racetrack]]
*Rekha Sharma as [[Tory Foster]]
*Alisen Down as Jean Barclay
*Colin Lawrence as "Skulls" McCall
*[http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0443286/ David Kaye] as [[James McManus]]

{{Episode List}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: RDM]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Michael Rymer]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Ronald D. Moore]]

Leland Adama

2006-03-03T18:26:02Z

Avon: minor change: her not he

{{Character Data|
|photo= [[Image:Lee Adama promo.jpg|200px]]
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]]
|birthname= Lee Adama
|callsign= Apollo
|death=
|parents= [[Caroline Adama]] (mother, likely deceased), [[William Adama]] (father)
|siblings= [[Zak Adama]] (deceased)
|children=1 unborn child with Gianne (presumed deceased)
|marital status= Dating [[Anastasia Dualla]]
|role= Commander, battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''
|rank=Commander
|cylon=
|actor=[[Jamie Bamber]]
|name=
}}

''The article discusses the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] character with the pilot callsign of "Apollo." For information on his [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] counterpart, see [[Apollo (TOS)]].''

== Biographical Notes ==

=== Background ===

'''Lee "Apollo" Adama''' is the eldest son of [[Caroline Adama|Caroline]] and [[William Adama]]. Together with his younger brother, Zak, he was raised largely by his mother on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]], following his parents' divorce when he was eight.

Despite his father's estrangement from the family, Adama nevertheless inherited his passion for flying - a passion that saw him enrolling in the Colonial military reserves after graduating from college. Following his basic training, he graduated from the military academy third in his class and immediately applied for flight school.

Not to be outdone by his elder brother, Zak Adama applied for military service, a move that eventually brought tragedy to the Adama household.

Accepted into flight school, Adama proved himself a gifted and natural pilot, hampered only by his tendency to over-intellectualise things - a result of his upbringing with his mother, who encouraged him to read widely, and think freely (encouragement that lead him to read banned texts by the renegade [[Tom Zarek]] while at college ([[Bastille Day]])).

Graduating from flight school, Adama was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Colonial Reserve, flying the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] Mark VII. During this time, he was also introduced to [[Kara Thrace|Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]], a training instructor at flight school, who was also involved with Zak Adama. While Adama was still at flight school, the three frequently spent time together, and Adama and Thrace developed a friendship through Zak Adama ([[Mini-Series]]).

=== Brother's Death ===

Tragedy struck some two years prior to the renewed Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies when Zak Adama, recently graduated from flight school, was killed on a routine Viper mission. At the time, the cause of the accident was put down to pilot error. However, Lee Adama chose to blame the mishap on his father, whom he believed had pushed Zak into applying for military service and for applying for flight school ([[Mini-Series]]).

Following Zak's death, Lee Adama became estranged from his father, seeking to build his career well away from any influence exerted by either William Adama or the legendary [[Original battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'', his father's command. While he was successful in this - gaining promotion to Captain through his own abilities, the decision nevertheless placed a heavy strain on his friendship with Kara Thrace, as she applied for pilot duty aboard ''Galactica''.

Adama spends much time on Caprica and becomes engaged to a woman named [[Gianne]]. She tells him she is pregnant with their child, causing him to run from her due to his own family issues. Before he can speak with her again he is assigned to ''Galactica''. ([[Black Market]])

Adama is reunited with both his father and Kara Thrace when it was decided ''Galactica'' should be decommissioned and handed over to civil authorities as a living museum and educational center of the [[Cylon War]]. As a part of the final ceremonies marking ''Galactica's'' retirement, Lee Adama is ordered to participate in a final Viper flyby to salute both the ship and her commanding officer - an assignment he undertakes grudgingly, doing little to hide his true feelings from the moment he arrives on the battlestar ([[Mini-Series]]). Matters are not helped when he discovers he will fly not in his own Mark VII Viper, but in the newly-restored Mark II Viper his father had flown during the Cylon War ([[Mini-Series]]).

Things worsen after the PR official aboard ''Galactica'', [[Aaron Doral]], sees Captain Adama's presence on ''Galactica'' as a major PR opportunity and has Adama and his father pose for pictures together. Immediately following this, Adama confronts his father over Zak's death, during which he vents two years' worth of anger, clearly expressing his belief that William Adama was responsible for the loss of his brother.

=== Surprise [[Cylon Attack]] ===

Following the decommissioning ceremony, Lee Adama departs ''Galactica'', acting as a unofficial escort for ''[[Colonial Heavy 798]]'', the official transport for Secretary of Education [[Laura Roslin]], who represented President [[Richard Adar|Adar]] at the ceremony. Mid-way through their return to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]], Adama and the crew of ''Colonial Heavy 798'' hear of the Cylon attacks on the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]], and soon find themselves under direct attack. While Adama is able to thwart the missile attack, his father's old Viper is disabled and is brought aboard ''Colonial Heavy 798''. Adama becomes one of Laura Roslin's unofficial advisors, aiding her in her self-appointed rescue mission. Adama's annoyance of his father's old Viper comes back to haunt him when [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]], returning from her unexpected rescue mission on Caprica and disastrous attack on two [[Cylon Raider]]s, notes to him that other Vipers and other modern Colonial spacecraft like his Mark VII were [[Command Navigation Program|easily destroyed]] by Cylon attacks.

Following his disobedience of a direct order from his father , Adama again saves ''Colonial Heavy 798'' from a nuclear missile attack with a failed experiment he toyed with in [[War College]], using ''Galactica's'' [[EMP]] coils that were placed on the ship for return to Caprica and the Colonial Fleet - while simultaneously making it look like the ship had been destroyed. He supports Roslin in her rescue efforts. Adama persuades Roslin to lead the [[FTL]]-capable ships to follow ''Galactica'' to the [[Ragnar Anchorage]].

As the ranking pilot aboard ''Galactica'', and despite his relative inexperience, Adama finds himself promoted to the position of CAG by Colonel [[Saul Tigh]].

Apollo leads a Viper squadron in keeping [[Cylon Raider]]s at bay while the civilian [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] Jumps away from Ragnar Anchorage. His ship is badly damaged midway in the battle and Adama would have been killed by a missile were it not for the lightning-fast and highly-accurate shooting of Starbuck. Starbuck's highly unconventional flying force-fits her fighter and Adama's now-powerless Viper nose-to-nose and flies him back to the battlestar seconds before the port [[flight pod]] closes and ''Galactica'' Jumps away.

The attacks presumably kill Lee's fiancé [[Gianne]] and their unborn child before Lee can speak to her again. This drives him into depression leading him to at an unknown time start seeing a prostitute named [[Shevon]] ([[Black Market]]).

=== Special Advisor ===
[[image:Water_Apollo_Roslin.jpg|thumb|left|300px|[[Lee Adama|Adama]] and President Roslin shake hands after appointment as military advisor in "[[Water]]". (c) Universal)]]
Lee Adama finds himself attached to Roslin as a "special advisor" to further help her understand military matters. This appointment does not sit well with his father ([[Bastille Day]]).

When tensions rise during a hostage crisis with prisoners aboard the ''[[Astral Queen]]'', Adama resolves the situation with only one life lost through an arrangement reached between Adama and the leader of the convicts, [[Tom Zarek]]. While the solution is sensible, it is not to the liking of either Commander Adama or President Roslin.

In the weeks following the Cylon attack, Adama finds time to re-evaluate his relationship with his father - due in no small part to Starbuck's admission of her involvement in Zak's acceptance as a fighter pilot ([[Mini-Series]]) and his subsequent death. Father and son grow somewhat closer - even standing shoulder-to-shoulder when Starbuck is MIA ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]). Even so, Adama's former self-doubts and moodiness are not easily overcome and sometimes come back to haunt him when he is tasked to fill a role that others are unsure he can manage. As a Viper pilot, Adama is able to escape from Starbuck's shadow, proving himself capable in unconventional and skilled flying in the [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]] ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]).

After the tylium asteroid mission, Adama matures enormously, emerging from his shell as a somewhat disillusioned officer and becomes a practical leader who now comfortably straddles his responsibilities as [[CAG]] of ''Galactica'' with his duties as advisor to Roslin. With few issues with either Roslin or his father, Adama demonstrates his maturity particularly well in his handling of security arrangements for the initial meeting of Roslin's [[Quorum of Twelve]] aboard the luxury liner ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' ([[Colonial Day]]).

=== The Inner Conflicts at Kobol ===

Unfortunately, Adama's beliefs in the need for democratic representation and civil government brings him in direct conflict with orders given him by Commander Adama. During the arrest of Laura Roslin following her [[Arrow of Apollo|interference with military operations]], Captain Adama draws his gun on [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] in a direct act of mutiny, protesting his father's removal of Roslin from office. Arrested together with Roslin, Adama watches helplessly in [[CIC]] as [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Lieutenant Valerii]] shoots his father at point blank range, seriously wounding him ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).

Adama is temporarily furloughed by Colonel Tigh so that he can continue his CAG responsibilities, For a time, Commander Adama's initiative lives on through his son. Young Adama leads a fight with Cylons to buy time for ''Galactica'' to find its proper bearings to the civilian Fleet ([[Scattered]]), He leads a team of [[Marines]] to stop [[Cylon Centurion]]s from reaching [[Aft Damage Control]], saving the ship ([[Valley of Darkness]]). After that, Adama continues his initiative and leads a [[SAR]] mission with two [[Raptors]] to retrieve stranded Colonials on the surface of Kobol ([[Fragged]]).

Adama's desire to let democracy work without overt military action comes to a head once more as he plots with a handful of others to free Roslin and smuggle her away from ''Galactica'' ([[The Farm]]). Before he leaves, he apologizes to his unconscious Commander Adama at his bedside for what he is about to do: Leave with Roslin and a [[Laura Roslin faction|faction]] of ships to search for data on Earth on Kobol. Commander Adama begins to awaken just as Adama leaves his side.

On the ''[[Astral Queen]]'', Adama is so happy to see Kara Thrace returned safely from Caprica with the Arrow of Apollo that he hugs and also impulsively kisses her, pleasantly surprising Thrace ([[Home, Part I]]). Moments later, as the Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii entered, Adama instantly grabs the known [[Humano-Cylon|Cylon infiltrator]] in anger and would have killed her if Helo and Roslin did not intervene.
[[image:Home_pt1-Apollo_Starbuck.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Lee Adama|Adama]] and Kara Thrace speak aboard the ''Astral Queen'' in "Home, Part I". (c) Universal)]]
Later, with their military protocols and attitudes temporarily relaxed, Adama playfully teases the brooding Kara Thrace by stealing a [[pyramid (RDM)|pyramid]] ball she took as a keepsake from her time with [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] on Caprica. He returns the ball after sensing her depressed mood and tells her that he would be happy to listen to what was on her mind. In the same conversation, he lets it slip out that he loves Thrace. Amused, Thrace cheers up a bit and teases Adama, telling him that there are no take-backs on what he said.

Adama and Thrace join President Roslin and her other supporters on their quest to find the [[Tomb of Athena]] on Kobol. When Cylon Centurions ambush the group along an ancient trail, Adama and Thrace work well together in the fight, complementing each other for their fine shooting. During the incident, Adama chases what appeared to be an escaping Valerii, with Thrace calling Adama back in vain. Valerii takes a grenade launcher and aims it in the direction of Adama, but Valerii actually uses the weapon to destroy the last Centurion instead before dropping the weapon to a very surprised Adama.

Adama's reunion with his recovered father on Kobol further mends the wounds between them, both politically and personally. Like Captain Adama had done on the ''Queen'', his father reacts violently to the existence of a another copy of Valerii, leaving Captain Adama in the awkward position of defending her from his father.

In the virtual planetarium created by the Tomb of Athena, Adama is the party member that completes the mystery of interpreting how to use the constellations as viewed from Earth to make a flight path. He spots the [[Wikipedia:Lagoon Nebula|Lagoon Nebula]] in the sky where the Scorpius constellation resided, a celestial body known to the Colonials which gives them a reference point to navigate to Earth. His father confirms Adama's observation, noting that the nebula is far away from their current location at Kobol.

After the Fleet's reunification, Lee Adama is fully restored to flight status and his position as the Commander, Air Group ([[Final Cut]]). Apollo doubts that [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] could successfully complete a prototype fighter later known as the [[Blackbird]], but in the end aids in its first test flight with Starbuck. Around this time, Adama begins to develop a peculiar attraction to Petty Officer 2nd Class [[Anastasia Dualla]] ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).

===Reassignment===
Apollo is on [[CAP]] when the [[Mercury class battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' reunites with ''Galactica'': he was one of the first to see it up close. Soon afterwards, friction develops between Adama and the CAG of ''Pegasus'', Captain [[Cole Taylor|Cole "Stinger" Taylor]]. Taylor feels that Adama's pilots were undisciplined and implies that Adama has his position through his father's influence. Taylor recommends that Adama have his pilots focus on keeping a "killcount" of Raiders to encourage competition between his pilots, while Adama stresses that his first priority is to make sure that all of his pilots merely survive another day.

To Adama's shock, Admiral [[Helena Cain]] re-assigns him and Lt. Thrace to ''Pegasus'', under Taylor's command. Cain believes that having Commander Adama's son in the role of CAG was a mistake that had clouded Commander Adama's judgment, as young Adama had been insubordinate and even [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|mutinous]] in the past. During a briefing on an upcoming scouting mission against the Cylon fleet following them, Thrace crassly points out that it would never work. She is grounded while Taylor orders Adama to perform the humiliating task of co-piloting a Raptor. However, after the briefing, Adama surreptitiously gives Starbuck a surveillance package and tells her to take the Blackbird to carry out a recon mission on her own. When Commander Adama and Admiral Cain turn on each other, Apollo is away in Taylor's Raptor on his recon mission ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).

As the two battlestar commanders begin sparring with Vipers, ''Pegasus'' orders Taylor to relieve Adama of duty. Taylor pulls his sidearm and takes away Adama's. Now weaponless and with nothing more to do than to ride along, Adama asks permission to head to the rear of the Raptor. While Taylor is busy, Adama secretly sends an encoded [[wireless]] message to Starbuck on her whereabouts with the Blackbird and the secret stealth mission he tasked her with. It happened that Starbuck arrives back in the Fleet's space to see the furious and dangerous game of Viper-tag and replies to Adama, asking what was going on. Starbuck's return on the outer fringes of [[DRADIS]] activate proximity alarms on both ''Pegasus'' and ''Galactica'', whose Vipers unite as a team to intercept what they think is a [[Raider]]. Starbuck manages to identify herself before things get out of hand.

Kara Thrace downloads her reconnaissance photos of what would be later known as the [[Resurrection Ship]] to a very surprised Admiral Cain, who promotes Thrace to Captain as well as assigning her as ''Pegasus'' [[CAG]], replacing Cole Taylor. Cain feels that persecuting Adama for authorizing Thrace's mission would be odd since she was promoting Thrace, so she decides to take Adama off flight status. In light of Thrace's new task of planning an attack on the Resurrection Ship, Thrace asks for and successfully returns Adama to flight status. He remains, however, demoted to Lieutenant ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

Adama visits [[Karl Agathon]] and [[Galen Tyrol]] in the ''Pegasus'' brig, asking the two of them with a smile, "So, just how many kinds of stupid are you?" He informs them that their scheduled execution is on hold until at least after the battle operation, and tells how Commander Adama "went to the mat" for both of them in trying to get them back, almost going into a shooting war with ''Pegasus''.

After the battlestar commanders and their teams are briefed by Thrace on her attack plan, Commander Adama requests Thrace to stay to talk more on the plan and dismisses his son, asking him cryptically to "stay focused, son." With young Adama gone, the elder Adama asks Thrace to kill Cain after the operation to prevent her from eventually having Commander Adama killed and, in turn, doom the Fleet to Cain's tyrannical commands. Commander Adama tells Thrace to take Lee Adama with her, to watch her back ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]).

=== Battle of the Resurrection Ship ===

With the recon photos from Starbucks mission in hand, Thrace plans an assault on the Resurrection Ship and the two [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]]s defending it. At the same time, Starbuck told Apollo that his father had ordered her to kill Cain after the battle, and for Apollo to watch her back. Outraged, Apollo confronted his father with this, who said that it wasn't something he wanted to do but that had to be done. However, Apollo was shocked when his father told him that assassinating Cain was President Roslin's idea. Apollo was in disbelief that as a society they had fallen to these levels. Thrace assigns Adama the specific task of disabling the Resurrection Ship's [[FTL]] drive by sneaking up on it in the Blackbird and destroying it with a precision missile strike. Apollo is successful in his mission and disables the Resurrection Ship, however, he is then hit by a floating piece of debris. Apollo is able to eject, but the Blackbird is destroyed. Alive, but not unscathed, Apollo floats in space watching the battle take place, able to faintly hear the [[Dee]] calling for him over the wireless. A small hole in the leg on his flight suit allows most of his oxygen to escape into space. Drifting in and out of consciousness, he finds himself floating in a body of water, presumably on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] before the attack.

Adama is found shortly afterwards by a [[SAR]] [[Raptor]] and is brought back from the brink of death on board. However Apollo becomes despondent and distant from his friends and family after his near death experience. In the pilots locker room, Thrace tells Adama "Lets just be glad that we both came back alive, alright?" to which Adama responds "Thats just it, Kara, I didn't want to make it back alive." ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]])

=== The Black Market ===

Adama (who has had his captains rank restored) and Thrace apprehend Viper saboteur [[Asha Janik]] of the [[Demand Peace]] group which is trying to make peace with the Cylons. ([[Epiphanies]])

After President Roslin is saved from her cancer ([[Epiphanies]]) she begins trying to put down the Fleet's [[Black market (organization)|Black Market]]. New Pegasus commander [[Jack Fisk]] is soon murdered leading the elder Adama (now an Admiral) to assign his son to investigate. After seeing prostitute [[Shevon]] and her daughter [[Paya]] on ''[[Cloud 9]]'' Adama is asked by [[Anastasia Dualla]] where the relationship between the two of them was going. After he can't answer Dualla takes it to mean it is over. Adama rushes back to Shevon's quarters after hearing a call for help from her, and is ambushed by thugs. Their leader [[Phelan]] warns him against investigating further. Lee is knocked unconscious and upon awaking finds everyone gone except the corpse of Fisk's murderer.

With some help from [[Tom Zarek]] Adama finds the Black Markets main ship ''[[Prometheus]]'', abroad which Paya and other children are locked up. He confronts Phelan who tells him a Black Market is needed in the Fleet since no supplies will ever reach the people any other way. Shevon is dragged out to admit she works for Phelan as a prostitute. Adama shoots Phelan and tells his bodyguards the market will continue unless it keeps holding back essential medicines, killing, and using child prostitution.
Shevon refuses to see Adama anymore, stating to him she and Paya are just replacements for his lost fiancé [[Gianne]] and their unborn child. ([[Black Market]])

===Friendly Fire===
While on leave to [[Cloud 9]] with [[Anastasia Dualla]], a group of terrorists demanding they be allowed to kill [[Sharon Valerii]] held about a dozen people, including Dualla, Billy Keikeya, [[Ellen Tigh]] and Adama, hostage in a bar. Lee reacted quickly, sabotaging the bar's sensors so it appeared they were leaking atmosphere. The sabotage enabled Capt. Thrace to gather intelligence on the situation, but her cover was blown, and she was forced to lay down some fire to escape. One shot hit Adama in the chest. Dualla was able to care for Adama long enough for him to survive to Galactica's sickbay, and later sat at his bedside while he recovered. ([[Sacrifice]])

===A Worthy Command ===

Adama finds himself promoted to Major and assigned to battlestar [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus]]'' as the [[Executive officer]] for new commander [[Barry Garner]], a former officer in Engineering. Garner finds an instant dislike for Starbuck and soon orders her to be sent back to ''Galactica''. Meanwhile, a Raptor recon mission near a binary star system becomes a [[SAR]] as the two craft go missing. Against orders from Admiral Adama, Garner takes ''Pegasus'' in to search for the Raptors. His impulsive and unwise efforts result in a Cylon ambush of three basestars.

With the FTL drive damaged, he relegates command to Major Adama and heads below to help in FTL repairs. After a moment's hesitation (perhaps thinking what his father would do), Adama orders the forward guns to fire on the nearest basestar's central spire, critically damaging the basestar and forcing its retreat, while commanding the battlestar's fighters (led by Starbuck) to guard embattled areas damaged from nuclear pummeling. After Commander Garner successfully repairs a critical area and the FTL drive repaired, Major Adama retrieves the fighters and Jumps back to the Fleet and relative safety.

Admiral Adama debriefs his son, and congratulates him by promoting him to the rank of Commander and giving him command of battlestar ''Pegasus'' ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

== Notes ==

''Some of this information may not be [[canon]].''

*From [[Ronald D. Moore]]'s [[Wikipedia:blog|blog]], in response to a fan's question:

<blockquote>In my first draft of the [[Mini-Series|mini]], Lee Adama had just been accepted into test pilot school on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] and was not currently assigned to any [[battlestar]]. Presumably, he had been posted to at least a couple of battlestar [[CAG|air groups]] in his career, as well as several ground assignments as well. This isn't [[canon]] yet, however, and I'm currently thinking of changing some elements of his specific backstory as I work on storylines for [[Season 2 (2005-06)|Season Two]]. Overall, I'd say Lee was striving (perhaps too hard) to blaze a different path for himself in the fleet from that of his [[William Adama|father]]. I don't think Lee ever saw himself as a battlestar commander and was looking for a different way to make his mark.</blockquote>
*According to Jamie Bamber, Adama's official character biography states that “Lee is never so happy as when he’s in his kitchen cooking.”

*The subtitles under Apollo's name in "[[Final Cut]]" list him as "CFR". In the podcast, RDM explained that this stood for Colonial Fleet Reserves; likely analogous to the U.S. Army Reserve, the U.S. Air Force Reserve and such of the United States military; and Apollo is in that because, as stated above, he wasn't sure what he was doing with his life and wasn't sure if he was going to pursue a full career in the Fleet.
* Jamie Bamber is the husband of actress Kerry Norton, who portrays [[Layne Ishay]], the paramedic from "[[Scattered]]".
* Bamber is actually a British citizen; he disguises his accent to play the role of Lee Adama.

Here is SkyOne's summary of Lee Adama:

:''Lee was born and raised on the colony of Caprica, where his family were born. A headstrong, scrappy boy, he was forever getting into fights at school.''

:''His parents divorced when he was just eight and his younger brother Zak was raised by their mother. His father visited him when he could, but military life often took him away for long periods. Nevertheless, both boys grew up worshipping this distant figure.''

:''Lee always wanted to be a pilot; to follow in his father's footsteps and join the fleet. He studied hard at school, aced his entrance exams to the academy and graduated third in his class. But the boy's hero-worship eventually turned to resentment, and neither knew how to repair it.''

:''While Lee was at flight school, his younger brother was away at Viper Squadron and a plum assignment on Atlantia - flagship of the fleet. Lee tried to dissuade him, but Zak did not want to be the only Adama without wings on his uniform. Zak's application was turned down. As Commander Adama pulled a few strings to get his son in, Lee was furious.''

:''Two weeks later, Zak's plane went down while he was flying a routine solo mission and he was killed. Lee spent the next two years focusing on his career, having no personal life and working to become the perfect fighter pilot.''

As this information does not come from the official Scifi.com site, it's authenticity is in question. Further, it is contradicted by on screen evidence: Zak was killed in an accident at flight school, and was never on a battlestar. Further, Lee did not work hard (at least after Zak's death) to be the best Viper pilot or to improve his career; multiple cast interviews and RDM podcasts state that he was despondent, didn't know what to do with his life, and was considering leaving the service. Further, in "[[Final Cut]]" we see that he is a member of the Colonial Fleet Reserves, not regular fleet, indicating that he wasn't particularly concerned with a lifelong career.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; border: 1px solid red; font-size:95%;"
|- style="text-align: center;"
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Preceded by: '''[[Jackson Spencer|Jackson "Ripper" Spencer]]'''
|width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Commander Air Group of the Battlestar ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Succeeded by: '''[[Kara Thrace|Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]]'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; border: 1px solid red; font-size:95%;"
|- style="text-align: center;"
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Preceded by: '''[[Barry Garner]]'''
|width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Commander of the Battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Succeeded by: Incumbent
|-
|}

== See Also ==

* [[Apollo (TOS)]]
* [[Richard Hatch]]
* [[Tom Zarek]]

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Adama, Lee]]
[[Category:Characters|Adama, Lee]]
[[Category:RDM|Adama, Lee]]
[[Category:People from Caprica|Adama, Lee]]

Leland Adama

2006-03-03T18:20:50Z

Avon: /* Battle of the Resurrection Ship */

{{Character Data|
|photo= [[Image:Lee Adama promo.jpg|200px]]
|age=
|colony= [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]]
|birthname= Lee Adama
|callsign= Apollo
|death=
|parents= [[Caroline Adama]] (mother, likely deceased), [[William Adama]] (father)
|siblings= [[Zak Adama]] (deceased)
|children=1 unborn child with Gianne (presumed deceased)
|marital status= Dating [[Anastasia Dualla]]
|role= Commander, battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''
|rank=Commander
|cylon=
|actor=[[Jamie Bamber]]
|name=
}}

''The article discusses the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]] character with the pilot callsign of "Apollo." For information on his [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] counterpart, see [[Apollo (TOS)]].''

== Biographical Notes ==

=== Background ===

'''Lee "Apollo" Adama''' is the eldest son of [[Caroline Adama|Caroline]] and [[William Adama]]. Together with his younger brother, Zak, he was raised largely by his mother on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]], following his parents' divorce when he was eight.

Despite his father's estrangement from the family, Adama nevertheless inherited his passion for flying - a passion that saw him enrolling in the Colonial military reserves after graduating from college. Following his basic training, he graduated from the military academy third in his class and immediately applied for flight school.

Not to be outdone by his elder brother, Zak Adama applied for military service, a move that eventually brought tragedy to the Adama household.

Accepted into flight school, Adama proved himself a gifted and natural pilot, hampered only by his tendency to over-intellectualise things - a result of his upbringing with his mother, who encouraged him to read widely, and think freely (encouragement that lead him to read banned texts by the renegade [[Tom Zarek]] while at college ([[Bastille Day]])).

Graduating from flight school, Adama was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Colonial Reserve, flying the [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] Mark VII. During this time, he was also introduced to [[Kara Thrace|Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]], a training instructor at flight school, who was also involved with Zak Adama. While Adama was still at flight school, the three frequently spent time together, and Adama and Thrace developed a friendship through Zak Adama ([[Mini-Series]]).

=== Brother's Death ===

Tragedy struck some two years prior to the renewed Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies when Zak Adama, recently graduated from flight school, was killed on a routine Viper mission. At the time, the cause of the accident was put down to pilot error. However, Lee Adama chose to blame the mishap on his father, whom he believed had pushed Zak into applying for military service and for applying for flight school ([[Mini-Series]]).

Following Zak's death, Lee Adama became estranged from his father, seeking to build his career well away from any influence exerted by either William Adama or the legendary [[Original battlestar (RDM)|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica]]'', his father's command. While he was successful in this - gaining promotion to Captain through his own abilities, the decision nevertheless placed a heavy strain on his friendship with Kara Thrace, as she applied for pilot duty aboard ''Galactica''.

Adama spends much time on Caprica and becomes engaged to a woman named [[Gianne]]. She tells him she is pregnant with their child, causing him to run from her due to his own family issues. Before he can speak with her again he is assigned to ''Galactica''. ([[Black Market]])

Adama is reunited with both his father and Kara Thrace when it was decided ''Galactica'' should be decommissioned and handed over to civil authorities as a living museum and educational center of the [[Cylon War]]. As a part of the final ceremonies marking ''Galactica's'' retirement, Lee Adama is ordered to participate in a final Viper flyby to salute both the ship and her commanding officer - an assignment he undertakes grudgingly, doing little to hide his true feelings from the moment he arrives on the battlestar ([[Mini-Series]]). Matters are not helped when he discovers he will fly not in his own Mark VII Viper, but in the newly-restored Mark II Viper his father had flown during the Cylon War ([[Mini-Series]]).

Things worsen after the PR official aboard ''Galactica'', [[Aaron Doral]], sees Captain Adama's presence on ''Galactica'' as a major PR opportunity and has Adama and his father pose for pictures together. Immediately following this, Adama confronts his father over Zak's death, during which he vents two years' worth of anger, clearly expressing his belief that William Adama was responsible for the loss of his brother.

=== Surprise [[Cylon Attack]] ===

Following the decommissioning ceremony, Lee Adama departs ''Galactica'', acting as a unofficial escort for ''[[Colonial Heavy 798]]'', the official transport for Secretary of Education [[Laura Roslin]], who represented President [[Richard Adar|Adar]] at the ceremony. Mid-way through their return to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]], Adama and the crew of ''Colonial Heavy 798'' hear of the Cylon attacks on the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]], and soon find themselves under direct attack. While Adama is able to thwart the missile attack, his father's old Viper is disabled and is brought aboard ''Colonial Heavy 798''. Adama becomes one of Laura Roslin's unofficial advisors, aiding her in her self-appointed rescue mission. Adama's annoyance of his father's old Viper comes back to haunt him when [[Sharon Valerii|Boomer]], returning from her unexpected rescue mission on Caprica and disastrous attack on two [[Cylon Raider]]s, notes to him that other Vipers and other modern Colonial spacecraft like his Mark VII were [[Command Navigation Program|easily destroyed]] by Cylon attacks.

Following his disobedience of a direct order from his father , Adama again saves ''Colonial Heavy 798'' from a nuclear missile attack with a failed experiment he toyed with in [[War College]], using ''Galactica's'' [[EMP]] coils that were placed on the ship for return to Caprica and the Colonial Fleet - while simultaneously making it look like the ship had been destroyed. He supports Roslin in her rescue efforts. Adama persuades Roslin to lead the [[FTL]]-capable ships to follow ''Galactica'' to the [[Ragnar Anchorage]].

As the ranking pilot aboard ''Galactica'', and despite his relative inexperience, Adama finds himself promoted to the position of CAG by Colonel [[Saul Tigh]].

Apollo leads a Viper squadron in keeping [[Cylon Raider]]s at bay while the civilian [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] Jumps away from Ragnar Anchorage. His ship is badly damaged midway in the battle and Adama would have been killed by a missile were it not for the lightning-fast and highly-accurate shooting of Starbuck. Starbuck's highly unconventional flying force-fits her fighter and Adama's now-powerless Viper nose-to-nose and flies him back to the battlestar seconds before the port [[flight pod]] closes and ''Galactica'' Jumps away.

The attacks presumably kill Lee's fiancé [[Gianne]] and their unborn child before Lee can speak to her again. This drives him into depression leading him to at an unknown time start seeing a prostitute named [[Shevon]] ([[Black Market]]).

=== Special Advisor ===
[[image:Water_Apollo_Roslin.jpg|thumb|left|300px|[[Lee Adama|Adama]] and President Roslin shake hands after appointment as military advisor in "[[Water]]". (c) Universal)]]
Lee Adama finds himself attached to Roslin as a "special advisor" to further help her understand military matters. This appointment does not sit well with his father ([[Bastille Day]]).

When tensions rise during a hostage crisis with prisoners aboard the ''[[Astral Queen]]'', Adama resolves the situation with only one life lost through an arrangement reached between Adama and the leader of the convicts, [[Tom Zarek]]. While the solution is sensible, it is not to the liking of either Commander Adama or President Roslin.

In the weeks following the Cylon attack, Adama finds time to re-evaluate his relationship with his father - due in no small part to Starbuck's admission of her involvement in Zak's acceptance as a fighter pilot ([[Mini-Series]]) and his subsequent death. Father and son grow somewhat closer - even standing shoulder-to-shoulder when Starbuck is MIA ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]). Even so, Adama's former self-doubts and moodiness are not easily overcome and sometimes come back to haunt him when he is tasked to fill a role that others are unsure he can manage. As a Viper pilot, Adama is able to escape from Starbuck's shadow, proving himself capable in unconventional and skilled flying in the [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid]] ([[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]).

After the tylium asteroid mission, Adama matures enormously, emerging from his shell as a somewhat disillusioned officer and becomes a practical leader who now comfortably straddles his responsibilities as [[CAG]] of ''Galactica'' with his duties as advisor to Roslin. With few issues with either Roslin or his father, Adama demonstrates his maturity particularly well in his handling of security arrangements for the initial meeting of Roslin's [[Quorum of Twelve]] aboard the luxury liner ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' ([[Colonial Day]]).

=== The Inner Conflicts at Kobol ===

Unfortunately, Adama's beliefs in the need for democratic representation and civil government brings him in direct conflict with orders given him by Commander Adama. During the arrest of Laura Roslin following her [[Arrow of Apollo|interference with military operations]], Captain Adama draws his gun on [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] in a direct act of mutiny, protesting his father's removal of Roslin from office. Arrested together with Roslin, Adama watches helplessly in [[CIC]] as [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Lieutenant Valerii]] shoots his father at point blank range, seriously wounding him ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).

Adama is temporarily furloughed by Colonel Tigh so that he can continue his CAG responsibilities, For a time, Commander Adama's initiative lives on through his son. Young Adama leads a fight with Cylons to buy time for ''Galactica'' to find its proper bearings to the civilian Fleet ([[Scattered]]), He leads a team of [[Marines]] to stop [[Cylon Centurion]]s from reaching [[Aft Damage Control]], saving the ship ([[Valley of Darkness]]). After that, Adama continues his initiative and leads a [[SAR]] mission with two [[Raptors]] to retrieve stranded Colonials on the surface of Kobol ([[Fragged]]).

Adama's desire to let democracy work without overt military action comes to a head once more as he plots with a handful of others to free Roslin and smuggle her away from ''Galactica'' ([[The Farm]]). Before he leaves, he apologizes to his unconscious Commander Adama at his bedside for what he is about to do: Leave with Roslin and a [[Laura Roslin faction|faction]] of ships to search for data on Earth on Kobol. Commander Adama begins to awaken just as Adama leaves his side.

On the ''[[Astral Queen]]'', Adama is so happy to see Kara Thrace returned safely from Caprica with the Arrow of Apollo that he hugs and also impulsively kisses her, pleasantly surprising Thrace ([[Home, Part I]]). Moments later, as the Caprica copy of Sharon Valerii entered, Adama instantly grabs the known [[Humano-Cylon|Cylon infiltrator]] in anger and would have killed her if Helo and Roslin did not intervene.
[[image:Home_pt1-Apollo_Starbuck.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Lee Adama|Adama]] and Kara Thrace speak aboard the ''Astral Queen'' in "Home, Part I". (c) Universal)]]
Later, with their military protocols and attitudes temporarily relaxed, Adama playfully teases the brooding Kara Thrace by stealing a [[pyramid (RDM)|pyramid]] ball she took as a keepsake from her time with [[Samuel Anders|Anders]] on Caprica. He returns the ball after sensing her depressed mood and tells her that he would be happy to listen to what was on her mind. In the same conversation, he lets it slip out that he loves Thrace. Amused, Thrace cheers up a bit and teases Adama, telling him that there are no take-backs on what he said.

Adama and Thrace join President Roslin and her other supporters on their quest to find the [[Tomb of Athena]] on Kobol. When Cylon Centurions ambush the group along an ancient trail, Adama and Thrace work well together in the fight, complementing each other for their fine shooting. During the incident, Adama chases what appeared to be an escaping Valerii, with Thrace calling Adama back in vain. Valerii takes a grenade launcher and aims it in the direction of Adama, but Valerii actually uses the weapon to destroy the last Centurion instead before dropping the weapon to a very surprised Adama.

Adama's reunion with his recovered father on Kobol further mends the wounds between them, both politically and personally. Like Captain Adama had done on the ''Queen'', his father reacts violently to the existence of a another copy of Valerii, leaving Captain Adama in the awkward position of defending her from his father.

In the virtual planetarium created by the Tomb of Athena, Adama is the party member that completes the mystery of interpreting how to use the constellations as viewed from Earth to make a flight path. He spots the [[Wikipedia:Lagoon Nebula|Lagoon Nebula]] in the sky where the Scorpius constellation resided, a celestial body known to the Colonials which gives them a reference point to navigate to Earth. His father confirms Adama's observation, noting that the nebula is far away from their current location at Kobol.

After the Fleet's reunification, Lee Adama is fully restored to flight status and his position as the Commander, Air Group ([[Final Cut]]). Apollo doubts that [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] could successfully complete a prototype fighter later known as the [[Blackbird]], but in the end aids in its first test flight with Starbuck. Around this time, Adama begins to develop a peculiar attraction to Petty Officer 2nd Class [[Anastasia Dualla]] ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).

===Reassignment===
Apollo is on [[CAP]] when the [[Mercury class battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' reunites with ''Galactica'': he was one of the first to see it up close. Soon afterwards, friction develops between Adama and the CAG of ''Pegasus'', Captain [[Cole Taylor|Cole "Stinger" Taylor]]. Taylor feels that Adama's pilots were undisciplined and implies that Adama has his position through his father's influence. Taylor recommends that Adama have his pilots focus on keeping a "killcount" of Raiders to encourage competition between his pilots, while Adama stresses that his first priority is to make sure that all of his pilots merely survive another day.

To Adama's shock, Admiral [[Helena Cain]] re-assigns him and Lt. Thrace to ''Pegasus'', under Taylor's command. Cain believes that having Commander Adama's son in the role of CAG was a mistake that had clouded Commander Adama's judgment, as young Adama had been insubordinate and even [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II|mutinous]] in the past. During a briefing on an upcoming scouting mission against the Cylon fleet following them, Thrace crassly points out that it would never work. She is grounded while Taylor orders Adama to perform the humiliating task of co-piloting a Raptor. However, after the briefing, Adama surreptitiously gives Starbuck a surveillance package and tells her to take the Blackbird to carry out a recon mission on her own. When Commander Adama and Admiral Cain turn on each other, Apollo is away in Taylor's Raptor on his recon mission ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]).

As the two battlestar commanders begin sparring with Vipers, ''Pegasus'' orders Taylor to relieve Adama of duty. Taylor pulls his sidearm and takes away Adama's. Now weaponless and with nothing more to do than to ride along, Adama asks permission to head to the rear of the Raptor. While Taylor is busy, Adama secretly sends an encoded [[wireless]] message to Starbuck on her whereabouts with the Blackbird and the secret stealth mission he tasked her with. It happened that Starbuck arrives back in the Fleet's space to see the furious and dangerous game of Viper-tag and replies to Adama, asking what was going on. Starbuck's return on the outer fringes of [[DRADIS]] activate proximity alarms on both ''Pegasus'' and ''Galactica'', whose Vipers unite as a team to intercept what they think is a [[Raider]]. Starbuck manages to identify herself before things get out of hand.

Kara Thrace downloads her reconnaissance photos of what would be later known as the [[Resurrection Ship]] to a very surprised Admiral Cain, who promotes Thrace to Captain as well as assigning her as ''Pegasus'' [[CAG]], replacing Cole Taylor. Cain feels that persecuting Adama for authorizing Thrace's mission would be odd since she was promoting Thrace, so she decides to take Adama off flight status. In light of Thrace's new task of planning an attack on the Resurrection Ship, Thrace asks for and successfully returns Adama to flight status. He remains, however, demoted to Lieutenant ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

Adama visits [[Karl Agathon]] and [[Galen Tyrol]] in the ''Pegasus'' brig, asking the two of them with a smile, "So, just how many kinds of stupid are you?" He informs them that their scheduled execution is on hold until at least after the battle operation, and tells how Commander Adama "went to the mat" for both of them in trying to get them back, almost going into a shooting war with ''Pegasus''.

After the battlestar commanders and their teams are briefed by Thrace on her attack plan, Commander Adama requests Thrace to stay to talk more on the plan and dismisses his son, asking him cryptically to "stay focused, son." With young Adama gone, the elder Adama asks Thrace to kill Cain after the operation to prevent her from eventually having Commander Adama killed and, in turn, doom the Fleet to Cain's tyrannical commands. Commander Adama tells Thrace to take Lee Adama with her, to watch her back ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]).

=== Battle of the Resurrection Ship ===

With the recon photos from Starbucks mission in hand, Thrace plans an assault on the Resurrection Ship and the two [[Basestar (RDM)|basestar]]s defending it. At the same time, Starbuck told Apollo that his father had ordered her to kill Cain after the battle, and for Apollo to watch her back. Outraged, Apollo confronted his father with this, who said that it wasn't something he wanted to do but that had to be done. However, Apollo was shocked when his father told him that assassinating Cain was President Roslin's idea. Apollo was in disbelief that as a society they had fallen to these levels. Thrace assigns Adama the specific task of disabling the Resurrection Ship's [[FTL]] drive by sneaking up on it in the Blackbird and destroying it with a precision missile strike. Apollo is successful in his mission and disables the Resurrection Ship, however, he is then hit by a floating piece of debris. Apollo is able to eject, but the Blackbird is destroyed. Alive, but not unscathed, Apollo floats in space watching the battle take place, able to faintly hear the [[Dee]] calling for him over the wireless. A small hole in the leg on his flight suit allows most of his oxygen to escape into space. Drifting in and out of consciousness, he finds himself floating in a body of water, presumably on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] before the attack.

Adama is found shortly afterwards by a [[SAR]] [[Raptor]] and is brought back from the brink of death on board. However Apollo becomes despondent and distant from his friends and family after his near death experience. In the pilots locker room, Thrace tells Adama "Lets just be glad that we both came back alive, alright?" to which Adama responds "Thats just it, Kara, I didn't want to make it back alive." ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]])

=== The Black Market ===

Adama (who has had his captains rank restored) and Thrace apprehend Viper saboteur [[Asha Janik]] of the [[Demand Peace]] group which is trying to make peace with the Cylons. ([[Epiphanies]])

After President Roslin is saved from her cancer ([[Epiphanies]]) she begins trying to put down the Fleet's [[Black market (organization)|Black Market]]. New Pegasus commander [[Jack Fisk]] is soon murdered leading the elder Adama (now an Admiral) to assign his son to investigate. After seeing prostitute [[Shevon]] and her daughter [[Paya]] on ''[[Cloud 9]]'' Adama is asked by [[Anastasia Dualla]] where the relationship between the two of them was going. After he can't answer Dualla takes it to mean it is over. Adama rushes back to Shevon's quarters after hearing a call for help from her, and is ambushed by thugs. Their leader [[Phelan]] warns him against investigating further. Lee is knocked unconscious and upon awaking finds everyone gone except the corpse of Fisk's murderer.

With some help from [[Tom Zarek]] Adama finds the Black Markets main ship ''[[Prometheus]]'', abroad which Paya and other children are locked up. He confronts Phelan who tells him a Black Market is needed in the Fleet since no supplies will ever reach the people any other way. Shevon is dragged out to admit she works for Phelan as a prostitute. Adama shoots Phelan and tells his bodyguards the market will continue unless it keeps holding back essential medicines, killing, and using child prostitution.
Shevon refuses to see Adama anymore, stating to him she and Paya are just replacements for his lost fiancé [[Gianne]] and their unborn child. ([[Black Market]])

===Friendly Fire===
While on leave to [[Cloud 9]] with [[Anastasia Dualla]], a group of terrorists demanding they be allowed to kill [[Sharon Valerii]] held about a dozen people, including Dualla, Billy Keikeya, [[Ellen Tigh]] and Adama, hostage in a bar. Lee reacted quickly, sabotaging the bar's sensors so it appeared they were leaking atmosphere. The sabotage enabled Capt. Thrace to gather intelligence on the situation, but his cover was blown, and she was forced to lay down some fire to escape. One shot hit Adama in the chest. Dualla was able to care for Adama long enough for him to survive to Galactica's sickbay, and later sat at his bedside while he recovered. ([[Sacrifice]])

===A Worthy Command ===

Adama finds himself promoted to Major and assigned to battlestar [[Pegasus (RDM)|''Pegasus]]'' as the [[Executive officer]] for new commander [[Barry Garner]], a former officer in Engineering. Garner finds an instant dislike for Starbuck and soon orders her to be sent back to ''Galactica''. Meanwhile, a Raptor recon mission near a binary star system becomes a [[SAR]] as the two craft go missing. Against orders from Admiral Adama, Garner takes ''Pegasus'' in to search for the Raptors. His impulsive and unwise efforts result in a Cylon ambush of three basestars.

With the FTL drive damaged, he relegates command to Major Adama and heads below to help in FTL repairs. After a moment's hesitation (perhaps thinking what his father would do), Adama orders the forward guns to fire on the nearest basestar's central spire, critically damaging the basestar and forcing its retreat, while commanding the battlestar's fighters (led by Starbuck) to guard embattled areas damaged from nuclear pummeling. After Commander Garner successfully repairs a critical area and the FTL drive repaired, Major Adama retrieves the fighters and Jumps back to the Fleet and relative safety.

Admiral Adama debriefs his son, and congratulates him by promoting him to the rank of Commander and giving him command of battlestar ''Pegasus'' ([[The Captain's Hand]]).

== Notes ==

''Some of this information may not be [[canon]].''

*From [[Ronald D. Moore]]'s [[Wikipedia:blog|blog]], in response to a fan's question:

<blockquote>In my first draft of the [[Mini-Series|mini]], Lee Adama had just been accepted into test pilot school on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] and was not currently assigned to any [[battlestar]]. Presumably, he had been posted to at least a couple of battlestar [[CAG|air groups]] in his career, as well as several ground assignments as well. This isn't [[canon]] yet, however, and I'm currently thinking of changing some elements of his specific backstory as I work on storylines for [[Season 2 (2005-06)|Season Two]]. Overall, I'd say Lee was striving (perhaps too hard) to blaze a different path for himself in the fleet from that of his [[William Adama|father]]. I don't think Lee ever saw himself as a battlestar commander and was looking for a different way to make his mark.</blockquote>
*According to Jamie Bamber, Adama's official character biography states that “Lee is never so happy as when he’s in his kitchen cooking.”

*The subtitles under Apollo's name in "[[Final Cut]]" list him as "CFR". In the podcast, RDM explained that this stood for Colonial Fleet Reserves; likely analogous to the U.S. Army Reserve, the U.S. Air Force Reserve and such of the United States military; and Apollo is in that because, as stated above, he wasn't sure what he was doing with his life and wasn't sure if he was going to pursue a full career in the Fleet.
* Jamie Bamber is the husband of actress Kerry Norton, who portrays [[Layne Ishay]], the paramedic from "[[Scattered]]".
* Bamber is actually a British citizen; he disguises his accent to play the role of Lee Adama.

Here is SkyOne's summary of Lee Adama:

:''Lee was born and raised on the colony of Caprica, where his family were born. A headstrong, scrappy boy, he was forever getting into fights at school.''

:''His parents divorced when he was just eight and his younger brother Zak was raised by their mother. His father visited him when he could, but military life often took him away for long periods. Nevertheless, both boys grew up worshipping this distant figure.''

:''Lee always wanted to be a pilot; to follow in his father's footsteps and join the fleet. He studied hard at school, aced his entrance exams to the academy and graduated third in his class. But the boy's hero-worship eventually turned to resentment, and neither knew how to repair it.''

:''While Lee was at flight school, his younger brother was away at Viper Squadron and a plum assignment on Atlantia - flagship of the fleet. Lee tried to dissuade him, but Zak did not want to be the only Adama without wings on his uniform. Zak's application was turned down. As Commander Adama pulled a few strings to get his son in, Lee was furious.''

:''Two weeks later, Zak's plane went down while he was flying a routine solo mission and he was killed. Lee spent the next two years focusing on his career, having no personal life and working to become the perfect fighter pilot.''

As this information does not come from the official Scifi.com site, it's authenticity is in question. Further, it is contradicted by on screen evidence: Zak was killed in an accident at flight school, and was never on a battlestar. Further, Lee did not work hard (at least after Zak's death) to be the best Viper pilot or to improve his career; multiple cast interviews and RDM podcasts state that he was despondent, didn't know what to do with his life, and was considering leaving the service. Further, in "[[Final Cut]]" we see that he is a member of the Colonial Fleet Reserves, not regular fleet, indicating that he wasn't particularly concerned with a lifelong career.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; border: 1px solid red; font-size:95%;"
|- style="text-align: center;"
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Preceded by: '''[[Jackson Spencer|Jackson "Ripper" Spencer]]'''
|width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Commander Air Group of the Battlestar ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Succeeded by: '''[[Kara Thrace|Kara "Starbuck" Thrace]]'''
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; border: 1px solid red; font-size:95%;"
|- style="text-align: center;"
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Preceded by: '''[[Barry Garner]]'''
|width="40%" style="text-align: center;" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Commander of the Battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="{{{rows}}}" | Succeeded by: Incumbent
|-
|}

== See Also ==

* [[Apollo (TOS)]]
* [[Richard Hatch]]
* [[Tom Zarek]]

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Adama, Lee]]
[[Category:Characters|Adama, Lee]]
[[Category:RDM|Adama, Lee]]
[[Category:People from Caprica|Adama, Lee]]