Sine Qua Non

2008-05-29T00:17:02Z

N7242c:

{{spoiler}}

{{Episode Data
| image=
| title=Sine Qua Non
| season= 4
| episode=8
| forumthread= 1199
| movie=
| guests=
| writer=[[Michael Taylor]]
| story=
| director=[[Rod Hardy]]
| production=10
| rating=
| US airdate=30 May 2008
| CAN airdate=30 May 2008
| UK airdate=27 May 2008
| dvd=
| oldpopulation=39673
| population=39674
| prev=[[Guess What's Coming to Dinner?]]
| next= [[The Hub]]
}}

== Overview ==
:''President [[Laura Roslin]]'s abduction by the Cylon [[Hybrid]] triggers a bitter power struggle within the Fleet. The [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum]] has little information and demands to know what happened, while [[Tom Zarek]] insists that he is to be declared interim president. [[Lee Adama]] opposes him and enlists the help of notorious lawyer [[Romo Lampkin]] to find a candidate for the post, leading to a surprising decision. Meanwhile, Admiral [[William Adama|Adama]] and Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] come to blows over Tigh's relationship with [[Caprica-Six]] and Adama's obsession to find Roslin.''

== Summary ==
=== Teaser ===
*With President [[Laura Roslin]] missing, a meeting is held by the [[Quorum of Twelve (RDM)|Quorum of Twelve]]. Vice President [[Tom Zarek]] heads the meeting and tells the delegates that with Roslin missing, he is to be sworn in as interim President.
*Upon hearing the news, [[Lee Adama]] contacts his [[William Adama|father]], who doesn't take it well.
*[[Natalie]], who has [[Guess What's Coming To Dinner?|just been shot]] by [[Sharon Agathon]], is taken to the [[sickbay|infirmary]]. She starts to have a vision or [[projection]] that she is in a forest on a sunny day. In real life, she only focuses on the faces of those who are taking her to the infirmary.
*Dr. [[Cottle]] immediately starts to operate on her. When she tries to make physical contact, likely sensing that she is about to die, Cottle takes her hand. However, just as they operate, her image of the forest brightens to a bright flash. The second this happens, her heart monitor flat lines, and Cottle announces her death.
*Admiral Adama sees Sharon Agathon and is angered by her decision to kill an unarmed woman, even if she was a [[Cylon (RDM)|Cylon]]. Agathon starts to explain her dream about a [[Number Six|Six]] taking away her [[Hera Agathon|child]] at the [[Opera House]]. Eventually, Adama orders a guard to take her away to the [[brig]] and refuses her access to her daughter.
*When Adama returns to the [[CIC]], he hears that the [[Resurrection Hub]] has disappeared from its last known location.

=== Act 1 ===

=== Act 2 ===

=== Act 3 ===

=== Act 4 ===

== Notes ==

* ''[[w:Sine qua non|Sine qua non]]'' is a Latin phrase meaning "without which it could not be". It is famously used by [[w:Andrew Jackson|Andrew Jackson]], who says the following after receiving an honorary degree from [[w:Harvard|Harvard]]: "[[w:E pluribus unum|E pluribus unum]], my friends. Sine qua non."
*Most civilians appear to have incorrectly assumed that the basestar's disappearance was a deliberate act of kidnapping, possibly in retaliation for Natalie's shooting.
* The pistol Lampkin uses to threaten Adama is a [[Stallion]]. The model previously appeared prominently in "[[Home, Part II]]".
* The episode features the first explicit mention of [[Gravity in the Re-imagined Series|artificial gravity]] in dialogue.
* The book ''[[Searider Falcon]]'' makes another appearance. Adama finds it in the derelict Raptor, somewhat singed.
* The lullaby [[Sharon Agathon]] hums to [[Hera Agathon|Hera]] is the same one hummed by [[Sharon Valerii]] to a captured [[Raider (RDM)|Raider]] in "[[Flesh and Bone]]".
* The infamous number, [[47]], appears in this episode as well: [[Romo Lampkin]] tells [[Lee Adama]] that they went through 47 candidates for interim president when confronting him on ''[[Colonial One]]''.

== Analysis ==
* The child of [[Caprica-Six]] and [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] will be the first known fully Cylon child (if it survives to be born).
* The ability of Tigh to impregnate Six indicates a fundamental difference between the [[Final Five]] and [[Significant Seven]], as Significant Seven Cylons have been thus far unable to conceive with one another.

== Questions ==

== Official Statements ==

* ''[[Michael Taylor]] discusses his spoiler-free impressions of a scene:''
: I was in the editing room, watching one of our talented editors assemble a rough cut of a single scene. Not a huge scene, just a relatively brief but quietly powerful scene between [[William Adama|Adama]] and [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] (you’ll see it in Episode 8, “Sine Qua Non”). What struck me is that while the dialogue was relatively simple, these two actors brought so much to it that the smallest looks and gestures carried immense weight. It made me realize anew how, after four seasons, these characters have accumulated so much history and nuance. As embodied by actors like [[Edward James Olmos|Edward J. Olmos]] and [[Michael Hogan]], they are wrenchingly human. Less characters than people I have now spent years with, and who still surprise me.<ref name="thewatcher">{{cite_web|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/11/answers-to-your.html|title=Answers to your 'Razor' questions and clues about 'Battlestar Galactica's' final season|date=16 November 2007|accessdate=16 November 2007|last=Ryan|first=Maureen|format=|language=}}</ref>

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==

== Guest Stars ==
* [[Michael Hogan]] as Colonel [[Saul Tigh]]
* [[Kandyse McClure]] as Lieutenant [[Anastasia Dualla]]
* [[Kate Vernon]] as [[Virtual Ellen]]
* [[Mark Sheppard]] as [[Romo Lampkin]]
* [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
* [[Donnelly Rhodes]] as Doctor [[Cottle]]
* [[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
* [[Leah Cairns]] as Lieutenant [[Margaret Edmondson |Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
* [[Colin Lawrence]] as Lieutenant [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]
* [[Ryan McDonell]] as Lieutenant [[Eammon Pike|Eammon "Gonzo" Pike]]
* [[Alexandra Thomas]] as [[Hera Agathon]]
* [[Donna Soares]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Gemenon Delegate|Gemenon Delegate]]
* [[Andrew McIlroy]] as [[Jacob Cantrell]]
* [[Judith Maxie]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Picon Delegate|Picon Delegate]]
* [[Iris Paluly]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Speaking Delegate #2|Speaking Delegate #2]]
* [[Veena Sood]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Speaking Delegate #3|Quorum Delegate]]
* [[Laara Sadiq]] as [[Unnamed civilians in the Fleet (RDM)#Priestess|Priestess]]

== References ==
<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>

{{Episode list (RDM season 4)}}

[[Category:Episodes directed by Rod Hardy]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Michael Taylor]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

Sine Qua Non