Flight of the Phoenix

2005-09-17T20:41:10Z

DuneMuadDib: /* Notes */

== Overview ==

''Galactica is besieged, first internally by [[Cylon]] computer viruses, then externally by a large imminent Cylon attack force. Faced with a [[Viper]] shortage, [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] tackles the difficult task of building them from scratch. Meanwhile, [[Helo]] is dealing with the repercussions of his relationship with [[Sharon Valerii]], a known [[Humano-Cylon]].''

== Summary ==
* [[Laura Roslin]]'s illness has reached a critical level. While she is still well enough to walk, Dr. [[Cottle]] gives her approximately one month to live.
* [[Helo]] has become ''persona non grata'' to many of the crew who distrust him due to his romance with the Caprica copy of [[Humano-Cylon]] [[Sharon Valerii]].
* Many of the crew, even the generally level-headed and reliable Lieutenant [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]], are showing the strain of the apparent futility and fatigue of running from the Cylons.
* Chief [[Tyrol]], with also little else to do with scrapped Vipers, begins a project to craft a new fighter. Initially many crew are very skeptical, but soon many others help Tyrol.
* Helo suggests carbon composite material for the skin in lieu of the rare plate metal for the fighter. Like the American F/A-22 Raptor Air-Dominance Fighter, Tyrol's new ship is nearly invisible to [[DRADIS]].
* A Cylon [[Logic bomb]] has attacked ship's systems and will fully control ''[[Galactica]]'' once an expected Cylon force arrives to activate it by infiltration. Gaeta and Baltar work together to figure a way to rid the ship of it by erasing the hard drives of all computers. Doing this, however, would leave the ship a sitting duck for an attack while time is needed to restore function and data to the computers.
* Adama, after asking the advice of the President, allows the Caprica Valerii to connect herself to the ship's mainframe and communication systems while Gaeta and Baltar erase the hard drives of all computers.
* A Cylon fighter armada consisting of hundreds of [[Raider]]s and [[Heavy Raider]]s attempts to activate the bomb. However, Valerii responds by transmitting a version of the same bomb to the Cylon fleet, disabling it as the Cylons did the Colonial fleet during the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. The Viper squadrons annihilate the helpless Cylon fleet in a joyous moment of payback.
* [[Kara Thrace]] takes the new fighter, dubbed the [[Blackbird]], for a initially ungainly test spin. This fighter was designed for speed, and delivers it. Wingman [[Lee Adama]] is horrified when the Blackbird disappears, but Kara rises above to face his ship quietly, proving the new fighter's stealth ability.
* In a ceremony similar to the one given to Commander Adama in the [[Mini-Series]], President Roslin inspects and christens the new fighter. Many sign the ship. Tyrol reveals the name of this first fighter: ''Laura''.
* The mere work on the new fighter renewed the creativity and hope of the crew--a reason why Adama allowed its construction to continue, despite the logic bomb crisis.

== Questions ==
* This episode was rare in that Baltar's [[Number Six]] was completely absent in this episode, despite the Cylon-rich plot. What would she had to say about Valerii's aid or the logic bomb?

== Analysis ==
* While Humano-Cylons appear human to the cellular level, Sharon could control a fiber-optic connection inserted into her forearm. This suggests that the humanoid Cylon design uses light-sensitive cells disguised as regular cells in their forearms as data access nodes, probably involving the cells interacting with her [[Silica Pathways|Silica Relays]] in her brain, the last vestiges of the humanoid Cylons' mechanical nature. Based on Valerii's extreme discomfort in having to cut herself to insert the data line to be connected this way, it could be presumed that this is not a typical practice for Humano-Cylons.
* Continuing from "[[Resistance]]", Dualla is shown being attracted to Apollo.
* Tyrol's comment to Lee Adama on the lack of miracles, and his answer to the problem, may remind some of another [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/character/1112502.html great miracle worker] in science fiction.
* Despite Valerii's belief that she has become a "liability" to the Cylons, the previous episode made it clear that they considered the survival of her baby a paramount concern. The virus, installed before her arrival, was probably oblivious to this, but the massive fleet the Cylons deployed to interdict ''Galactica'' could not have been. Additionally, an earnest attack would almost certainly have included a basestar. We must therefore assume that the Cylons had a more complicated motive in making such a massive material sacrifice.
** Perhaps they hoped to furnish Valerii with an opportunity to demonstrate her loyalty and strategic value to the fleet, thus enabling her to ensure her future safety.
** Alternatively, perhaps the fleet was sent to ''remove'' the logic bomb from Galactica, now that it was putting Valerii in harm's way.

== Notes ==

* Population count is 47,853. This is the first time this season that there has been no net change in the count from the previous episode ([[Final Cut]]).
* Literary/Film Reference: ''[[Wikipedia:Flight of the Phoenix|Flight of the Phoenix]]'' is the title of a 1964 novel where survivors from a plane crash in the middle of a desert attempt to rebuild the plane from the wreckage. Two movies, one made in 1965 and the other in 2004, were also made following a similar story line inspired by the book.
* The [[Wikipedia:phoenix|phoenix]] is a character from Egypt mythology where, at the end of its lifespan, the bird turns to ash -- only to have another phoenix arise.
* The name of new fighter, Blackbird, is also shared with the worlds's fastest supersonic aircraft, the American SR-71, which also has some stealth ability (though the Aurora is supposedly faster).
*There is a wide shot when apparently ''all'' of Galactica's Vipers are deployed where it's possible to count how many they have. Oddly, the current count says that there should be no more than 35, but there are 42 Vipers visible on screen.
**There are at least 7 Viper Mk. VII's visible in this shot.
*The first episode without an appearance by Number Six.
*At the end when Chief Tyrol reconciles with Cally (no longer upset with her for killing Galactica-Boomer), she reaches into a Viper and fixes something he couldn't reach, and he responds "Nice to be small, huh?". This is remeniscent of the scene at the end of the [[Mini-series]], when they have almost the exact same exchange. In that scene, they were reconciling after ''Cally'' got angry that Tyrol was having a relationship with Galactica-Boomer.
*Helo now wears a Viper patch on his flightsuit. He wasn't visibly identified as piloting one of the Vipers deployed against the Cylons, but indeed may have been.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

*<b>Apollo:</b> Nobody's expecting a miracle.
*<b>Tyrol:</b> Maybe that's the problem.

== Official Statements ==




== Statistics ==



=== Guest Stars ===

=== Writing & Direction ===

*Written by
*Directed by

=== Production Notes ===

*Series: 2 (2005 / 2006)
*Production Number: 2.??
*Airdate Order: 9 (of 20)

=== First Run Air Dates & Releases ===

*UK Airdate:
*US Airdate: September 16th, 2005
*DVD Release: (UK)

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Flight of the Phoenix