Battlestar Wiki - User contributions [en]

Naturalistic science fiction

2006-11-20T19:31:23Z

Nerds: /* Characters */ Filled out this section

{{RDM science series}}

'''"Naturalistic science fiction"''' ('''NSF''') is a term created by [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|the Re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'']] co-creator [[Ronald D. Moore]] to describe that show's esthetic. NSF is meant to be a realistic take on the SF genre, with its roots in drama rather than adventure tales. It eschews science-fiction staples such as one-dimensional characterizations, clear-cut conceptions of good and evil, so-called "technobabble" (technical-sounding terms that have mostly been made up), and "[[Wikipedia:deus ex machina|deus ex machina]]" approaches (in which a seemingly intractable problem in the plot is solved using a previously-unknown technical capability). In the case of episodic drama like the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'', there is also more of an effort at continuity - the events in one episode have visible effects in subsequent episodes, unlike other science-fiction shows in which episodes are more stand-alone. Naturalistic SF combines elements of [[Wikipedia:Soft science fiction|"soft" science fiction]] (where characterization is of prime importance) and [[Wikipedia:Hard science fiction|"hard" science fiction]] (where plausible technical accuracy is preferred). Fundamentally, it is a drama with sci-fi elements.

== Ron Moore's Essay on NSF ==
{{:Sources:RDM's essay on Naturalistic Science Fiction}}

== Analysis of NSF Principles in the Show==

===Characters===
For [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|the new ''Battlestar Galactica'' series]], naturalistic SF means that characters are more three-dimensional, complete with flaws, neuroses, and even addictions. There is an attempt to stay away from stereotypical archetypes in science fiction or adventure stories such as the "smoking chauvinist," "loyal soldier," "heroic lead," "spiritual commander," or "whiz-kid genius."

The characters change over time, showing different facets of their personalities: President [[Laura Roslin]] begins the first season cautious and rulebound; by the second season she has ordered that a high-ranking military member be assassinated ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]) and attempts to steal an election ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]). The [[Cylon]]s, who in the beginning are out simply to destroy humanity, later have a change of heart, feeling guilty about the destruction they have brought about, and decide simply to enslave them ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

As a general rule, the characters of ''Battlestar Galactica'' are not carbon copies of character archetypes found in other TV science fiction. For example, instead of the "lovable, irascible doctor" like Dr. McCoy on ''Star Trek'', Major [[Cottle]] is rude and arrogant to his patients.

====Counterpoints and aired contradiction====
Starbuck, as the rude and cocky pilot, fills a well-known archetype, similar to [[Wikipedia:Han Solo|Han Solo]] of ''[[Wikipedia:Star Wars|Star Wars]]''. Still, there are more facets to her personality than that: from the beginning she is plagued with guilt about her role in the death of [[Zak Adama]], and later her flying skills are perceived to have atrophied as a result of alcoholism and apathy.

===Technology===
'''Technology''' is far enough advanced for star travel to be possible (see: [[FTL]] travel) and plausible, yet every other aspect of Colonial technology is humbly realistic. Instead of using technology such as [[Wikipedia:Star Trek|"Star Trek's"]] transporters, people need to be physically shuttled between ships on smaller craft like [[Raptor|Raptors]].

Energy weapons such as "Star Trek's" phasers and photon torpedoes are replaced with ordinary projectile weapons and Earthly mass-destruction ordnance: guns, bullets and nuclear bombs. Other SF "[[Wikipedia:deus ex machina|deus ex machina]]"-style comparatively fanciful technologies are avoided entirely or replaced with technology more in line with what's seen in modern life on Earth today. When [[the Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] runs out of water, ''Galactica'' is forced to search for a planetary body that has water ([[Water]]). Technology looks familiar to the viewer, from the phones to computer screens to the bathrooms.

Much like [[Aaron Doral]] noted in the opening of the [[Miniseries]], form follows function when it comes to the ship designs. ''Galactica'' is designed as a battle cruiser / aircraft carrier in space; the hull is lined with armor plating, strengthened by [[Frame|structural ribbing]] and insulated from external explosions by internal structures such as water tanks ([[Water]]). The command center of the ship, the [[CIC]], is buried deep within the ship and protected from any attacks, unlike ''Star Trek's'' starships, whose bridges are openly exposed at the top-center of the ship on most classes, as few are technically designated for war.

Many Colonial civilian ships are spaceborne variations of ships you may see in the air or at sea in the real-world Earth. ''[[Colonial One]]'' is designed to be a [[Intersun|jetliner in space]] and is set up similar to a real world passenger airliner with rows of seats separated into various classes down the fuselage, cramped airplane bathrooms, cargo bays in the ship's underbelly and private cabins for VIPs.

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
A seemingly large violation of this rule was Laura Roslin's sudden cancer cure in "[[Epiphanies]]", and tied in with that, the ability of Cylon and human to conceive children such as [[Hera]], given the unlikely blend of Cylon physiology to human physiology and the Cylon's continued use of [[Silica Pathways]] in Cylon agents (this was illustrated on copies of [[Aaron Doral]] and [[Leoben Conoy]] at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]).

===No "Deus Ex Machina" Concepts===

Characters like [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] are annoyed by endless '''[[technobabble]]'''. Complex procedures needed to further the plot are often explained in context to the episode in simple and down-to-earth terms, if they're ever explained at all.

When technology is mentioned, it's typically analogous to something found on the real-world Earth. Terms such as "[[Stims|stims]]", "[[Morpha|morpha]]", "[[DRADIS]]" and "[[wireless]]" have somewhat-familiar real-world counterparts

''Galactica'' and its Fleet have to be creative with the very limited resources in the Fleet. They cannot barter with other civilizations (as there aren't any) or make parts with "replication technology." They have a limited supply of everything: [[Viper (RDM)|fighters]], ammunition, food, water, and people. Specialized crew members, such as [[List of Pilots|pilots]] and [[Cottle|doctors]], are in even shorter supply. In "Battlestar Galactica's" world, they don't have a home-base or a parent government: What they are and what they have is literally visible in every episode--and everything is wearing or running out. This is can be seen in the deteriorating conditions of ''Galactica'''s Vipers, which began the [[Miniseries]] in pristine condition, but, through extended use, all now have significant battle damage, burns, scars, scrapes and dents; several have been damaged beyond repair ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
Again, Roslin's cancer cure by [[Gaius Baltar]] suggest a sudden and undesirable use of the deus ex machina tactic to further a plot line (the survival of the child later known as [[Hera]]). Also, [[Boomer]] always just happens to find water and tylium or whatever the fleet is in desperate need of.

===Space is big...and lonely===

There are no "planet-of-the-week" episodes. The Fleet does not encounter a new planet or culture every week as is typically done in episodes of "Star Trek" and "Stargate". The universe remains so big as to appear almost empty, with the odds of meeting other intelligent beings (excluding, perhaps, remnants of the [[Earth|Thirteenth Tribe]]) practically nil. Many [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]] episodes primarily focus on internal Fleet survival issues ("[[Water]]", "[[Bastille Day]]", and "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]").

Humanoid or other intelligent life (save that of the Fleet's nemesis, the human-created [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]) does not exist, as almost all of the encountered planets will be mostly uninhabitable and lifeless.

The characters do speak of animals from the now Cylon-occupied Colonies, and they share most of the names we use in the real-world Earth: [[Life Forms of the Twelve Colonies|chickens, dogs, cattle, and cats]] existed on their worlds. [[Socinus]] notes while on [[Kobol]] that he is able to listen to the birds in the trees for the first time since the Cylon attack ([[Scattered]]). A dog, [[Jake (New Caprica)|Jake]] is to be seen on [[New Caprica]] in the third season (''[[Occupation]]''); it presumably came with passengers on the fleet.

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
Whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, and whether it is in fact common, has long been a controversial issue, and a matter of speculation. At the moment, there is no way to know whether the "naturalistic science fiction" approach to exterrestrial life is in fact the accurate one.

===Storytelling and music===

[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|''Battlestar Galactica'']] avoids the thematic elements found in ''[[Wikipedia:Star Trek|Star Trek]]''. The series has a [[Wikipedia:Documentary film|documentary-style, ''cinema verite'']] visual feel and tribal music that stands in contrast to the more standard orchestral overtures used in ''Star Trek'', ''Star Wars'', and the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|original]] ''Battlestar Galactica''.

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
Debatably, several ceremonies conducted on the show were appropriate times for traditional Western martial overtures or marchs ([[Miniseries]], [[Act of Contrition]], [[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]), and they would have been used based on the parallels between the [[Colonial Fleet]] and modern armed forces; given this, their exclusion may be a loss of authenticity.

== External Links ==
*[http://www.galactica2003.net/articles/concept.shtml Reprint of RDM's Take on Naturalistic SF]
*[[Wikipedia:Hard Science Fiction|Hard Science Fiction]]

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Hollywood Buzzwords]]

Saul Tigh

2006-11-16T15:31:40Z

Nerds: /* Occupation and Resistance */ Reported by Jammer

{{Character Data
|photo= Season 3 - Promo - Epi 5 - Saul Tigh.jpg
|age= 65-71
|colony= Aerelon
|birthname= Saul Tigh
|callsign=
|seen= Miniseries
|death=
|parents=
|siblings=
|children= None
|marital status=Widower, formerly married to [[Ellen Tigh]]†
|role= Executive Officer, ''[[Battlestar]] [[Galactica]]''
|rank= Colonel
|actor= [[Michael Hogan]]
|cylon=
|name=
}}

== Biography ==

=== Background ===

'''Colonel Saul Tigh''' was born on the colony of [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Aerelon|Aerelon]].<ref name="aerelon">"Cylon Intelligence Report: Personnel File: Saul Tigh." <u>Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine</u>. Feb./Mar. 2006: 62.</ref> A veteran of the Cylon War, Saul Tigh is sometimes estranged from his wife and has been somewhat disillusioned with his career, seeking refuge in alcoholism - a move which has lead many in the crew to view him with contempt ([[Miniseries]]; "[[33]]").

He is a third generation Colonial soldier. [[Saul Tigh (father of)|His father]] was a decorated fighter pilot killed in combat and [[Saul Tigh (grandfather of)|his grandfather]] served under President [[Mueller (president)|Mueller]]. According to [[Billy Keikeya]], Tigh was a published military historian until personal problems became apparent ([[Miniseries]], [[List of Deleted Scenes (RDM)|deleted scene]]).

Tigh began his career as a deckhand<ref name="deckhand">''Ibid''. "Saul Tigh entered the fleet as a deckhand but rose through the ranks and was a CPO (Chief Petty Officer) by the time the First Cylon War broke out."</ref>. By the second year of the first [[Cylon War]], he was serving as a gunner's mate onboard the ''[[Brenik]]''. His ship was boarded by the Cylons where he and others fought in hand to hand combat, during the bloodiest time of that war. It was during this battle that he saw his first dead man, [[Duncan Rafferty]], who was violently vivisected by Centurions ([http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season02/202/deleted1.html deleted scene], [[Valley of Darkness]]). His ship was subsequently destroyed and he survived. He was transferred to another unnamed ship, which succumbed to a similar fate as his original ship. Having born witness to many a bloody combat, he became emotionally scarred, which had, among other impetuses, led him to alcoholism.
[[Image:Tighadama.jpg|Tigh and Adama's first meeting.|left|thumb]]

Tigh eventually achieved the rank of Chief Petty Officer ([[Galen Tyrol]]'s position on ''Galactica''). When Viper pilot numbers began running low in the war, Tigh was drafted into Colonial Officer Candidate School and was reassigned as a Viper pilot.<ref>{{cite rdm podcast|episode=Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down}}</ref> As a pilot, he demonstrated considerable skill, earning several medals while posted aboard the battlestar ''[[Athena (Battlestar)|Athena]]''.<ref name="athena">''Ibid''. "Tigh joined the Colonial Officer Candidate School and was reassigned as a Viper pilot, something he excelled in, earning a string of medals in his post aboard the battlestar Athena."</ref>

After the cessation of hostilities, he was dismissed from service and eked out an existence as a deckhand aboard a commercial freighter. Tigh clearly experienced signs of post-traumatic stress disorder; he commented that everytime he smelled grease or machine oil he would nearly vomit, as this smell reminded him of the "stink" of Centurions ([[Valley of Darkness]], [[List of Deleted Scenes|deleted scene]]). While onboard, he drowned himself in alcohol and, after a time, encountered [[William Adama]], who had not seen as much combat experience as Tigh himself. They became fast friends, and remained in touch after Adama reenlisted with the service. Two years later<ref name="adama">''Ibid''. "Adama reenlisted with the service and Tigh spent two years drinking before Adama pulled strings to get him back into service. Saul Tigh was straightening his life out when he met his wife Ellen, who he courted and married within two months. Ellen did not take well to military life, and her repeated infidelities drove him back to drink. Ellen and Saul separated shortly before the Cylon attack."</ref>, he was able to pull strings to reenlist Tigh as well ([[Scattered]]).

Following his reenlistment Saul met his future wife Ellen, whom he courted and married after two months, about 7 years before the [[Miniseries]]. Unfortunately, Ellen did not take well to military life and her repeated infidelities drove Saul back into the bottle. The two separated shortly before the Cylon attack.<ref name="adama"/>

Following the Cylon attack, Tigh recovers some of his old verve and attempts to give up alcohol. However, this, combined with the initial stress of flight from the Cylons causes him to over-compensate as a martinet, frequently driving the personnel overly-hard, and berating where encouragement would prove the better option ([[33]]). He excuses this by using the truism that the XO is supposed to be the "hard face" of command.
[[image:33-Tigh_Adama.jpg|thumb|right|"If the crew doesn't hate the XO, then he's not doing his job."]]
With his drinking problem relatively under control, Tigh settled back into his role as the ''Galactica's'' Executive Officer and proved himself both honest and level-headed - if still hard on himself and others - in a number of circumstances, and he provided the kind of support [[William Adama|Adama]] needed.

During Cylon attacks, he proves himself to be an excellent battle manager and tactician. His quick actions sometimes save the ship and [[The Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] from damage or destruction ([[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]], [[Scattered]], [[Valley of Darkness]]).

Tigh is uneasy around President [[Laura Roslin]] ([[Water]]), and resents what he sees as her interfering with Adama's command ([[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]) - something born out of his deep respect for Adama which even the most heated of disagreements between them ([[You Can't Go Home Again]]) cannot disrupt.

Tigh personally dislikes [[Kara Thrace]], one of ''Galactica's'' pilots and, while grudgingly conceding she is a fine pilot, does not understand what Adama sees in her ([[Miniseries]]). Tigh sees Thrace as an egotistical, insubordinate youngster. While they have tried to bury the hatchet between them ([[Miniseries]], [[Water]]), there is potentially too much water under the bridge now for them to get completely past their differences.

Outside of Adama, Tigh has few others he regards as confidants aboard ship; and since the initial Cylon attack, he withdraws from interacting with the crew during off-duty hours, making him perhaps more isolated than even Adama - who is at least held in awe and respect by the crew.

=== Wife's Return ===
[[image:Tigh_Me_Up_Tigh_Me_Down-Saul_Ellen.jpg|thumb|left|'''Saul''' and his newly returned wife, [[Ellen Tigh|Ellen]], making a toast: "To starting over" ([[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]).]]
Some three weeks after the Cylon attack on the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]], Tigh is stunned to discover his wife, [[Ellen Tigh|Ellen]], has not been killed as he had thought, but was rescued from [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Picon|Picon]], and carried aboard the ''[[Rising Star (RDM)|Rising Star]]'' as an unconscious "Jane Doe". Whether this reunion will be for his betterment or not remains to be seen.

Despite the emotional implications from the destruction of the Colonies and life aboard the ship, Tigh is reluctantly thrust further into politics as his wife plays her schemes. Much to his disdain, his wife attempts to procure photo opportunities with the likes of [[Tom Zarek]] -- a person Tigh views with the utmost contempt ([[Colonial Day]]). Additionally, Ellen seems to re-establish Saul Tigh's alcoholism with gratuitous drinking.

Despite this, Adama sends Tigh with a squadron of [[Colonial Marine Corps|marines]] to arrest [[Laura Roslin]] after Adama discovers that she convinced [[Kara Thrace]] to [[FTL|Jump]] back to [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Caprica|Caprica]] to retrieve a historical artifact called the [[Arrow of Apollo]] from the Delphi Museum. This action deprives the Fleet of a crucial military asset -- a captured [[Cylon Raider]], intended to have been used to plant a nuclear warhead aboard a basestar in orbit around the planet believed to be [[Kobol]] -- and convinces Adama that Roslin is abusing her authority.

Onboard ''[[Colonial One]]'', Tigh's men and Roslin's [[Presidential Security Service|personal security agents]] are at a standoff when [[Lee Adama]] aims a weapon at Tigh's head and attempts to thwart the arrest. Attempting to defuse the situation, Roslin agrees to be arrested and Lee Adama is arrested on charges of treason ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]).

=== Tigh in Command ===
[[Image:Scattered-Tigh.jpg|thumb|right|Tigh realizing he's in a bit over his head ([[Scattered]]).]]
Tigh is present in [[CIC]] during the attempted assassination of Adama by [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]]. As guards restrain Valerii, Tigh attempts to stop the bleeding from the torso gunshot wounds Adama sustained in the attempt ([[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]). Needing reliable officers, Tigh grants Lee Adama a parole from his arrest. After his daily duties as [[CAG]] are done, Lee promises to return to the brig when off-shift.

With Adama incapacitated and with Roslin dethroned, Tigh tries to maintain order. However, his irrational and gruff command style displeases many crewmembers. Morale and ship efficiency began to suffer. Ellen Tigh becomes a private advisor to her husband, frequently questioning his power to command while also suggesting ways of usurping more power and quashing his opponents. Ellen Tigh's advice only exacerbates an already-deteriorating situation.

Tigh's interrogation of suspected Cylon collaborators or infiltrators is brutal. After beating, then nearly shooting the ''Galactica'' copy of Valerii, other issues in the Fleet divert him from further interrogation. He orders a special cage made for her for later interrogation. Tigh also savagely interrogates Valerii's former lover, Chief [[Galen Tyrol]] as a possible [[Cylon agent]] himself. Tigh would have left him with Valerii in the newly built Cylon cage if [[Gaius Baltar]] did not intervene to prove medically that Tyrol is not a Cylon himself.

With Roslin in prison, uprisings begin as civilian ships refuse to supply ''Galactica'' until Roslin is released. Worse, the [[Quorum of Twelve]] demand to see Roslin. Knowing of Roslin's hallucinations in the brig, he intentionally invites the Quorum to see Roslin in her poor state in hopes of disillusioning the Quorum. However, Roslin recovers sufficiently from her [[Chamalla]] withdrawal after getting a supply smuggled to her by Corporal [[Venner]], her guard. Tigh, a secular man, believes that the accounts within the [[Sacred Scrolls]] weren't to be believed, and teases Roslin in front of the Quorum on her visions. Roslin not only is able to speak to the Quorum, but decisively reinforces her decisions as well as her role in the search for the location of Earth as told in the Pythian prophesies. This act greatly impresses the dominantly religious-minded Quorum, and infuriates Tigh; fearing a larger civilan government uprising led by the Quorum. Tigh institutes [[Wikipedia:martial law|martial law]] throughout the Fleet in an attempt to maintain order in a rapidly chaotic shuffle of power between the civilian and military governments ([[Fragged]]).

The supply situation leads Tigh to a poor decision of using Viper pilots to command marines in forcibly retrieving supplies. On [[Gideon|one ship]], a riot leads to four deaths and many injuries due to the pilot's inexperience in managing such a situation. Unlike Adama (who likely would have taken direct responsibility for the "Gideon Massacre"), Tigh places blame solely on the pilot, absolving himself from the incident.

=== Fleet Factioning and Adama's Return ===

The shootings, Tigh's decision for martial law, and his unwillingness to discuss anything with anyone except Ellen Tigh (and the unconscious Adama) becomes the dividing point of those wanting to press on to finding Earth, and those wanting to settle on Kobol ([[Season 2 (2005-06)|Season 2]]). Tigh's drinking spirals further out of control, leading to more erratic behavior and causing great concern regarding his ability to effectively command, particularly among the [[CIC]] staff. The situation comes to a head when Roslin, tacitly aided by other officers and crew on ''Galactica'', escapes the brig in an attempt to hide amongst the many ships in the Fleet with the aid of [[Tom Zarek]]. Tigh chases down the escaping Raptor using the [[CAP]], having the Viper fire across the bow of the fleeing Raptor to persuade it to return. The Raptor brazenly continues onward, leading to a crucial decision for the Colonel. Tigh allows the Raptor to escape rather than shooting it down, which would have killed Adama's son and the President and could have destabilized the fleet.
[[image:Flight_of_the_Phoenix-Tigh_Adama.jpg|thumb|left|Tigh and Adama share a knowing smirk at the commissioning of the [[Blackbird]], ''Laura'' ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).]]

Fortunately for the fleet and Colonel Tigh, Commander Adama regains consciousness shortly after the escape and asks what had happened during his absence. Tigh confesses that he has "frakked things up good," but Adama reassures his friend, saying, "I never had much use for people that second-guessed my decisions, especially if they've never held a command. They don't understand the pressure to make a call that affects the lives of thousands, and you have no one to turn to for backup."

Despite all the serious problems that Tigh created, Adama doesn't blame him, telling Tigh that whatever bad calls were made, they would pick up the pieces together ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]).

Both Adama (also a rather secular man) and Tigh are astounded at the number of ships that secede from the main fleet to join the [[Laura Roslin faction|faction]] that sought the [[Tomb of Athena]] with President Roslin ([[The Farm]]). Tigh backs up Adama while he maintains a similar official position on Roslin and the separated ships as Tigh has. However, after Adama realizes that survival of the entire Fleet would only come if everyone held together, Adama begins to prepare a journey to Kobol to retrieve the remainder of the Fleet and reach out to Roslin ([[Home, Part I]]). At first Tigh seems to believe that Adama is retrieving the faction by more military means, and scoffs at Roslin's religious views on the quest until he realizes that Adama is beginning to follow Roslin's information, taking her reports and visions seriously. Tigh is left in command while Adama successfully reunites the Fleet and reconciles with Roslin ([[Home, Part II]]).

=== Fallout from [[Gideon|the Gideon Incident]] ===

''Galactica'''s crew never liked Tigh, and Tigh never asked for their love. Still, the ''Gideon'' Incident was possibly the last straw for many in CIC to lose their trust. Aiding President [[Laura Roslin]]'s escape is one example to that ([[Resistance (episode)|Resistance]]).

After [[William Adama|Adama]] returned to command and Roslin restored to presidency, for a moment the incident was almost forgotten. Before she was invited to ''Galactica'', reporter [[D'anna Biers]] was preparing a story about the incident, which would destroy public's view towards Tigh, and eventually the ''Galactica''. However she dropped the subject in favor of a ''Galactica'' documentary.

Lt. [[Joe Palladino|Joe "Hammerhead" Palladino]], the pilot in charge of the boarding operation to ''Gideon'', eventually lost his temper, presumebly due to D'anna Biers' provocative interview style. He first vandalized Tigh's quarters, then tried to sabotage his [[Raptor]], and finally attacked his wife at the gun point and threatened to kill Tigh. Still, Tigh managed to convince Palladino to drop his weapon, before the room was raided by commandos. This incident was also video taped by Biers' crew, but as far as shown the documentary doesn't mention the ''Gideon'' Incident at all ([[Final Cut]]).

Even though Tigh did his best to evade responsibility of this incident, it is possible to see that his temper and attitude has somehow changed after the command fiasco, like helping [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] with [[Blackbird]] ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).

=== ''Pegasus'' Discovered ===

Things once again turn on their head when ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' has a chance encounter with the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', a modern type of battlestar and the flagship of Admiral [[Helena Cain]]. Cain, being the superior officer, assumes complete command of the Fleet. The naturally suspicious Tigh is wary about this mixed blessing, but takes it in stride like everything else up until now. When he begins to regularly speak with ''Pegasus''’s own XO [[Jack Fisk]], his suspicions slowly prove to be well founded.

Fisk's conscience-clearing sessions with Tigh reveal that Admiral Cain was responsible for a set of atrocities, the most damning being the pillaging and stranding of a small civilian fleet in open space. When Tigh relays this information to Commander Adama, Adama reminisces about their own questionable activities, particularly their actions regarding the ''[[Olympic Carrier]]''. However, Adama keeps Tigh's warnings in mind and they help him in his decision to stand up to Cain later on ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]] through [[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]).

=== The Election and New Caprica ===
When the Presidential election arrives, Col. Tigh is charged with overseeing the vote tallies on ''Galactica''. When it appears that [[Gaius Baltar|Baltar]] would win the vote, [[Tory Foster]], President Roslin's aide, approaches Col. Tigh and Petty Officer [[Dualla]] to conspire to steal the election for Roslin, forseeing certain dissaster in a Baltar presidencey. Tigh, never a fan of Baltar's to begin with, assists in the deception in order to keep Baltar out of office. The plot is overturned when Lt. [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]] later notices the Colonel's suspicious and stand-offish behaviour regarding the ballot boxes. Admiral [[William Adama|Adama]] lets Tigh and Dualla off the hook and the official vote tallies are "revised" without the public learning of the Roslin campaign's attempt to steal the election.

One year later, after the fleet settles on [[New Caprica]] on the orders of President Baltar, most of the military staff have all but retired from active service. Col. Tigh is one of the few officers still serving aboard ''Galactica'', but the day eventually comes when Admiral Adama discharges his friend and XO from his duties to let him return to civilian life with his wife. On the surface of New Caprica, now-Mr. and Mrs. Tigh run into [[Kara Thrace]] at [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]] and [[Cally]]'s union rally. The former colonel and captain share an unusually warm embrace, having put their differences behind them at some point in the preceding year, or Thrace being happy to see a familiar face of the ''Galactica'' family. Unfortunately, their reunion does not last as a large Cylon fleet appears in orbit over the planet and the Cylons occupy New Caprica without firing a shot. Tigh and his wife are last seen watching in utter shock as [[Cylon Centurion]]s march through the streets of New Caprica City ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).

=== Occupation and Resistance ===
Two months into the occupation of New Caprica by the Cylons, Saul Tigh is organizing and recruiting for [[New Caprica Resistance|the resistance on New Caprica]] along with [[Galen Tyrol]] and [[Jammer]]. When the Cylons begin to find the weapons hidden by the Resistance, Tigh orders them to be stored in the Temple, believing it to be the safest place as the Cylon respect the sanctity of the Temple and will not search it. When the Cylons discover the weapons, [[Nora]] is shot and [[Cally Tyrol]] and her baby barely escape. This leads several members of the [[New Caprica Resistance]] to question whether Tigh is going too far. After Tigh plans an attack that could endanger patients at a hospital, Jammer reports him to the Cylon authorities. ([[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]). The Cylons imprison Tigh and physically tear his right eye out. He is badly beaten and put into a small holding cell. Ellen Tigh's sexual efforts with [[Cavil]] lead to Saul's eventual release ([[Occupation]]) though this is later revealed to be a Cylon ruse to blackmail Ellen into collaboration with the Cylons as well as find the location of a high level meeting of the Insurgency.

===Escape from New Caprica===
[[Image:Saulellen.jpg|Saul handing Ellen her poisoned drink.|thumb]]
Tigh actively participates in the exodus from New Caprica, leading an attack on the shipyard with Galen Tyrol, during which they are aided by Vipers of ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica's]]'' [[Blue Squadron]].

Following the exodus, he resumes his post as the Executive Officer of ''Galactica'', but is unable to conceal his contempt for those who colluded with the Cylons, such as [[Felix Gaeta]]. In a face off with Admiral Adama, in which the senior officer orders Tight to "sleep it off", it is clear that the events on New Caprica - most notably, his wife's death - are still adversely affecting Tigh.

Tigh is also the apparent ringleader of [[The Circle]], a group of six people authorised by then-President [[Tom Zarek]], charged with bringing collaborators to justice. Thirteen people fall victim to The Circle's mandate, including [[Jammer]].

==Notes==
* Tigh's first name has been given as "Paul" on a number of websites. This is based on an early [http://www.twiztv.com/scripts/battlestar/season1/galactica-ms1.pdf version of the script] '''(PDF file)''', which has Adama speaking to "Paul" in their discussion of his fight with Kara Thrace. Since this version of the script has significant differences to the final script, its canonical value is low.
* [[Ronald D. Moore]] has indicated via the [[podcast]] commentary on the episode "[[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]" that the character's name initially was Paul Tigh. The name, however, had to be changed due to legal issues that Moore was unable to recall in that podcast.
* Tigh is based off the character of Paul Eddington in the movie "[[Wikipedia:In Harm's Way|In Harm's Way]]" portrayed by Kirk Douglas (with John Wayne).
* Tigh's age is one of the only ones which can be accurately deduced. In a [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season02/202/deleted1.html deleted scene] from [[Valley of Darkness]], we learn that he was serving on the [[Brenik]] when it was boarded during the second year of the Cylon War. Tigh tells us that he was "just a kid. Virgin. Teenager." We know that [[Colonial Day (holiday)|Colonial Day]] is the anniversary of both the unification of the Colonies, and (roughly) the outbreak of the Cylon War (Source: [http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2005/04/index.html#a000025 RDM, April 11, 2005]), and was 52 years ago ([[Colonial Day]]). Thus, Saul Tigh is between 63 and 69 years old at the beginning of season 2. Season Three begins about two years after this conversation.
* In the DVD commentary of "[[Act of Contrition]]", Ron Moore notes that actor [[Michael Hogan]] won the role of Tigh over [[Donnelly Rhodes]], who was one of two other actors vying for the part. Rhodes however went on to play the role of [[Cottle|Dr. Cottle]], ''Galactica'''s CMO.

{{start box}}
{{succession box|before=''(unknown)''|title=Executive Officer of the [[Galactica type battlestar|battlestar]] ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''|after=[[Karl Agathon]]}}
{{succession box|before=[[Karl Agathon]]|title=Executive Officer of the [[battlestar]] ''[[Galactica (RDM)| Galactica]]'' |after=Incumbent}}
{{end box}}

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

{{Characters}}

[[Category:A to Z|Tigh, Saul]]
[[Category:Characters|Tigh, Saul]]
[[Category:Characters (RDM)|Tigh, Saul]]
[[Category:RDM|Tigh, Saul]]

The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I

2006-11-16T15:25:33Z

Nerds: Improvements

{{Episode Data
| image = nightcylons.jpg
| title= The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I
| series= 1980
| episode= 7
| writer= [[Glen A. Larson]]
| story=
| director= [[IMDB:nm0626872|Sigmund Neufeld Jr.]]
| guests= [[imdb:nm0413125|Wolfman Jack]] as Himself
| production= 1.7
| rating=
| US airdate= 1980-04-13
| UK airdate=
| dvd=
| population=
| prev= [[Spaceball]]
| next= [[The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II]]
}}

== Overview ==

:''After a renegade [[Cylons (TOS)|Cylon]] fighter crash-lands on [[Earth]], [[Troy (1980)|Troy]] and [[Dillon]] must stop the surviving Cylons from using radio equipment to contact the rest of the Cylon fleet.''

==Summary==

* Recon Delta, which consists of a two-man [[Viper (TOS)|Viper]] crewed by Captain Kanon and Lieutenant Britton, is on patrol when it picks up readings of an advanced Cylon fighter.

* Suddenly, a previously unseen [[Cylon Raider|Cylon Raider]] appears and fires at them.

* The warbook brings back a readout of the occupants: the Raider crew appear to be human!

* Kanon decides on a desperate strategy and rams the ship, damaging both craft.

* The huge Cylon fighter tumbles towards Earth, and Britton is injured.
[[Image:Warbook.jpg|left|thumb|The advanced Cylon 'A-B' Fighter displayed in the Warbook]]

* Aboard the Cylon 'A-B' craft, Humanoid Cylon [[Andromus]] is in command, another humanoid named Andromidus as his second, with three [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|centurions]] rounding out the crew.

* Having lost their communications they cannot call for help, but Andromus soon realizes the planet they are plummeting toward is the mythic human colony of Earth.

* Meanwhile, [[Troy (1980)|Captain Troy]] and [[Dillon]] have taken [[the Super Scouts]] to watch a movie.

* Troy's communicator chirps with a message from [[Adama (1980)|Adama]]. [[Galactica (TOS)|''Galactica'']] has lost contact with its recon patrol and is believed to be headed to Earth.

* Troy and Dillon are ordered to meet the stricken Viper at the point it's likely to come down, which is predicted to be in the area of New York City.

* As the United States Air Force has been detecting Vipers lately, Troy and Dillon elect to take a plane to New York. The kids are ferried to Griffith Observatory and left in the charge of [[Jamie Hamilton|Jamie]].

* Once aboard the plane, and in flight to New York, Troy and Dillon are surprised that a terrorist attempts to take control and orders the pilot to divert to Cuba.

* Troy and Dillon drop him with a joint round of stun gun fire. Later, after activating their invisibility screens in the toilets, Troy and Dillon hustle off the plane as soon as it lands.

* Troy and Dillon grab a cab and direct the driver north - toward the crash site.

* On ''Galactica'', the recon fighter has managed to return, but have reported information about the humanoid Cylons they believe are now headed to Earth.

* The expected landing zone of the Cylon warship is narrowed down to 'sixty miles north of New York City', and the Air Force, now under the command of Colonel Briggs is also aware.

* Troy and Dillon race to reach the crash site before the USAF.

* The A-B craft comes down north of New York, and crashes.

* Andromus, and a single centurion known as [[Centuri]], survive the crash of the A-B craft.

* The centurion frees Andromus from the wreckage and leaves the area, having activated a self-destruct mechanism on the ship.

* Andromus surmises that they can find a transmitter in nearby New York City and the twosome begin their search to find a place from which they can signal a Cylon baseship.

[[Image:carride.jpg|thumb|Andromus and Centuri ride with Norman and Shirley]]
* Reaching a nearby highway, the two Cylons are mistaken for hitchhikers by a couple dressed for Halloween. Getting into the car, the Cylons meet Norman and Shirley who are on their way to a party where Wolfman Jack, the radio personality, will be present.

* Andromus realizes that Wolfman may be able to help him find a transmitter, and agrees to attend the party.

* Gazing at Centuri in the back seat, Shirley compliments him on having such a great costume.

== Questions ==



== Analysis ==



== Notes ==

* This episode marks the introduction of [[Cylon agent|humanoid Cylons]], which would become a defining convention of the the 2003 re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica.

* [http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Sheila+DeWindt Sheila DeWindt] (stewardess) also appeared in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|original series]] as [[Deitra]].

* This is perhaps the only episode of any of the Galactica series that is set on a specific date: the night of October 31, 1980.

* The appearance of popular 1970's disc jockey Wolfman Jack in this and the following episode may be the only time that the ''Battlestar Galactica'' universe has featured, or even mentioned, a real-life person (with the possible exception of [[Saul Tigh]]'s occasional exclamations of "Jesus").

* Although the Galactica 1980 writers sometimes strained to produce educational themes throughout the program, other than some astronomy lessons at the start, there is not too much of that attempted in this episode.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==




== Official Statements ==



== Guest Stars ==
*[[imdb:nm0200122|William Daniels]] as Norman
*[[imdb:nm0662430|Lara Parker]] as Shirley
*[[imdb:nm0725052|Peter Mark Richman]] as Colonel Briggs
*[[imdb:nm0205380|Roger Davis]] as [[Andromus]]
*[[imdb:nm0223179|Sheila DeWindt]] as Stewardess
*[[imdb:nm0494660|René LeVant]] as 1st Officer
*[[imdb:nm0341483|Ed Griffith]] as 2nd Officer
*[[imdb:nm0590039|Jed Mills]] as Cabbie
*[[imdb:nm0641152|Timothy O'Hagan]] as Kanon
*[[imdb:nm0955252|Neil Zevnik]] as Andromidus (uncredited)
*[[imdb:nm0194009|Rex Cutter]] as [[Centuri]] (uncredited)
*Robert Lunny as Britton (uncredited)

{{Episode List (1980)}}

[[Category:A to Z|Night the Cylons Landed, Part I, The]]
[[Category:1980|Night the Cylons Landed, Part I, The]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Glen A. Larson|Night the Cylons Landed, Part I, The]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Sigmund Neufeld Jr.|Night the Cylons Landed, Part I, The]]

Gravity in the Re-imagined Series

2006-11-08T19:37:28Z

Nerds: Re-write - tried to make more encyclopedic, if that's the word

{{RDM science series}}

:''Much of the information here was derived from the Wikipedia article on [[Wikipedia:Artificial gravity|artificial gravity]].''

Of course, it's very practical for humans, who evolved in '''gravity''', to have it aboard their ships.

Cinematically, it also makes it much easier for the show to keep production costs down by not having to simulate weightlessness on board the fleet in the [[Re-imagined Series]].

That doesn't mean we can let the [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|Colonial Fleet]] get away with just having artificial gravity without some explanation, especially given [[Ronald D. Moore|Ron D. Moore]]'s [[Naturalistic science fiction]] principles of his show. From a science fiction perspective, this has always been the hardest "technology" to explain away in a show.

[[Image:Synthgravity1.jpg|right|thumb|Throwaway graphics in the upper right corner of this computer display shows terms relating to the artificial gravity in a [[Raptor]].]]
So far, the only information acknowledging the use of artificial gravity in the series comes from a few close-ups of [[Computers|computer]] displays, where the terms "Gravity control" and "synthetic gravity" are shown (look to the upper right of the picture shown).

From what scientists have theorized, gravity could be artificially generated in several ways:

* ''Rotation of the spacecraft'' to generate centrifugal forces within a spacecraft.
:This motion would push objects and people in the ship outward, so the outside skin of the ship would act as the "floor". This was done in the movie ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (the crew compartment inside the ''Discovery'' spun) and the TV show "[[Wikipedia:Babylon 5|Babylon 5]]" (the cylindrical space station spun on its longitudinal axis). One of the [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]]'s ships in fact sometimes uses this form of artificial gravity: the [[Space Park]]. Viewers can get a good view of this ship in motion when the Fleet leaves [[Ragnar Anchorage]] in the Miniseries. It's specified that the ship's design dates from a period when centrifugal force was the main artificial-gravity solution in place, before whatever current technology is in use came into widespread use.

* ''Keeping the ship at constant acceleration'', with the crew standing in the opposite direction of acceleration.
:Same principle that every astronaut experiences as their rocket launches into space and accelerates. This of course means that the ship must get progressively faster for eternity; stabilizing speed would lead to weightlesness, and stopping the ship would send everyone crashing into the ceiling.

* ''Place something with a lot of mass'' within your ship.
:This isn't artificial gravity, but the real thing. But there is the matter of the energies required to move your ship, the large gravity well that wants to attract other objects into your ship's general direction, and the shape of your ship. Gravity just '''works''', pulling from every direction, so you would need a round ship to keep from strange changes in gravity aboard a ship. Worst of all, the amount of fuel needed to move a ship with a local mass concentration would be very high.

* ''Use tidal forces''.
:Stretch a tether with a small mass between a large gravity source and the ship you want. Cheap, fuel-free, and reliable. There's the matter of actually being able to travel somewhere besides planetary orbit without losing gravity, however.

* ''Use magnetism''.
:The term for this is [[Wikipedia:Diamagnetism|diamagnetism]]. Based on the technologies we've seen in the Re-imagined Series (such as their use of magnetism for landing and launching Vipers)<ref name="vipers">In the [[Miniseries]], viewers see a preflight checkout and launch of the fighters. For launch, the [[Launch tubes|launch tube]] uses a magnetic catapult ("magcat") to hurl the Viper out. On landing, either magnetism or some blend of artificial gravity pulls Vipers to rest on the deck of the [[Flight pod|flight pod]]. This force appears to be just strong enough; note the bouncing that the fighters do as their landing skids hit the landing deck while they retreat to ''Galactica'' as it prepares to Jump from Ragnar Anchorage at the conclusion of the Miniseries.</ref>, this principle has the most viability, but it also fraught with huge problems in application.
:''Everything'' has a magnetic attraction, but most objects (a human body included) have very little of it. Diamagnetism at the present time has mostly been used to ''repel'' two objects, i.e. to levitate one of them, instead of to attract them, as gravity would.<ref>Scientists on Earth have actually [http://www.hfml.science.ru.nl/levitate.html levitated a frog at a force of 1''g'' ] (Earth's gravity), but it took a massive amount of cryogenically frozen hardware to do it, and that was using the magnet to push ''away'' from Earth's gravity, not push the object ''down''.</ref>. Also, high magnetic field concentrations are probably not very healthy in the long term. [http://star-www.st-and.ac.uk/~jrs/safety/magnetic.html]

Other, less-scientific possibilities that the writers could use include:

* ''Simulate gravity with force fields.''
:The central spaceship in the TV show "[[Wikipedia:Andromeda|Andromeda]]" uses "gravity generators". The "Star Trek" universe has a similar concept. This seems to be a slap in the face of the realistic SF ethos since it has no basis in scientific plausibilty at present.

* ''Spacetime manipulation.''
:The ability to do [[FTL|Faster Than Light travel]] indicates the Colonials have the advanced technology to manipulate the fabric of spacetime. This same ability might be harnessed to provide artificial gravitation. However, ''Galactica's'' FTL drives are often inactive on the show (they're inactive until they're "spun up"), while the gravity is always on.

So far the concept of artificial gravity in the show has yet to be explained.

===What about the flight pods on ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''?===

Unlike ''Galactica's'', each flight pod on the advanced battlestar ''Pegasus'' are divided along its length into two landing bays. In "[[The Captain's Hand]]," viewers see Vipers inverting (relative to the battlestar) and landing on the bays "upside down." Is artificial gravity to be credited with this?

The answer is more likely magnetism. Vipers are launched with a magnetic catapult, and (as seen in "[[The Hand of God]]") can magnetically mate using their landing skids to a metal surface (in this case, the interior of a freighter). Like gravity, magnetism works in any direction, and takes little to maintain. Confirming this idea is a scene from the [[miniseries]]. As ''[[Colonial Heavy 798]]'' lands in ''Galactica's'' port flight pod to offload passengers for the decommissioning ceremony, we see two spacesuited figures working on the deck. The two crewmembers are floating, suggesting that artificial gravity is ''not'' in use. Reinforcing this are the [[Combat landing|combat landings]] done by Vipers. The fighters bounce very noticeably at high speeds but, unlike a rock skipping across a pond, the Viper bounces less ballistically, suggesting that magnetism, a weaker force than gravity, is at work. How the Vipers get from the upside-down flight deck to the right-side-up [[hangar deck]], however, has yet to be seen.

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

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:RDM]]
[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Technology (RDM)]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
[[Category:Terminology (RDM)]]

Naturalistic science fiction

2006-10-19T21:23:44Z

Nerds: Tried to improve the quality of the writing, remove some navel-gazing and biased writing

{{RDM science series}}

{{NPOV}}

'''"Naturalistic science fiction"''' ('''NSF''') is a term created by [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|the Re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'']] co-creator [[Ronald D. Moore]] to describe that show's esthetic. NSF is meant to be a realistic take on the SF genre, with its roots in drama rather than adventure tales. It eschews science-fiction staples such as one-dimensional characterizations, clear-cut conceptions of good and evil, so-called "technobabble" (technical-sounding terms that have mostly been made up), and "[[Wikipedia:deus ex machina|deus ex machina]]" approaches (in which a seemingly intractable problem in the plot is solved using a previously-unknown technical capability). In the case of episodic drama like the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'', there is also more of an effort at continuity - the events in one episode have visible effects in subsequent episodes, unlike other science-fiction shows in which episodes are more stand-alone. Naturalistic SF combines elements of [[Wikipedia:Soft science fiction|"soft" science fiction]] (where characterization is of prime importance) and [[Wikipedia:Hard science fiction|"hard" science fiction]] (where plausible technical accuracy is preferred). Fundamentally, it is a drama with sci-fi elements.

== Ron Moore's Essay on NSF ==
{{:Sources:RDM's essay on Naturalistic Science Fiction}}

== Analysis of NSF Principles in the Show==

===Characters===
For [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|the new ''Battlestar Galactica'' series]] naturalistic SF means that '''characters''' are viewed as normal, everyday people, complete with flaws, neuroses, and even addictions. There will be no stereotypical SF characters such as the "smoking chauvinist," "loyal soldier," "heroic lead," "spiritual commander," "whiz-kid genius," or "sexy doctor."

As a general rule, the characters of ''Battlestar Galactica'' aren't carbon copies of character archetypes found in other TV science fiction. For example, instead of the "lovable, irascible doctor" like Dr. McCoy on ''Star Trek'', Major [[Cottle]] is the exact opposite, being very rude and arrogant to his patients.

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
Starbuck, as the rude and cocky pilot, fills a well-known archetype, and is similar to [[Wikipedia:Han Solo|Han Solo]] of ''[[Wikipedia:Star Wars|Star Wars]]''. (Both Solo and Starbuck have back-stories explaining their behavior, although in Solo's case this is revealed only in the Star Wars [[Wikipedia:Expanded Universe|Expanded Universe]].)

===Technology===
'''Technology''' is far enough advanced for star travel to be possible (see: [[FTL]] travel) and plausible, yet every other aspect of Colonial technology is humbly realistic. Instead of using technology such as [[Wikipedia:Star Trek|"Star Trek's"]] transporters, people need to be physically shuttled between ships on smaller craft like [[Raptor|Raptors]].

Energy weapons such as "Star Trek's" phasers and photon torpedoes are replaced with ordinary projectile weapons and Earthly mass-destruction ordnance: guns, bullets and nuclear bombs. Other SF "[[Wikipedia:deus ex machina|deus ex machina]]"-style comparatively fanciful technologies are avoided entirely or replaced with technology more in line with what's seen in modern life on Earth today. When [[the Fleet (RDM)|the Fleet]] runs out of water, ''Galactica'' is forced to search for a planetary body that has water ([[Water]]). Technology looks familiar to the viewer, from the phones to computer screens to the bathrooms.

Much like [[Aaron Doral]] noted in the opening of the [[Miniseries]], form follows function when it comes to the ship designs. ''Galactica'' is designed as a battle cruiser / aircraft carrier in space; the hull is lined with armor plating, strengthened by [[Frame|structural ribbing]] and insulated from external explosions by internal structures such as water tanks ([[Water]]). The command center of the ship, the [[CIC]], is buried deep within the ship and protected from any attacks, unlike ''Star Trek's'' starships, whose bridges are openly exposed at the top-center of the ship on most classes, as few are technically designated for war.

Many Colonial civilian ships are spaceborne variations of ships you may see in the air or at sea in the real-world Earth. ''[[Colonial One]]'' is designed to be a [[Intersun|jetliner in space]] and is set up similar to a real world passenger airliner with rows of seats separated into various classes down the fuselage, cramped airplane bathrooms, cargo bays in the ship's underbelly and private cabins for VIPs.

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
A seemingly large violation of this rule was Laura Roslin's sudden cancer cure in "[[Epiphanies]]", and tied in with that, the ability of Cylon and human to conceive children such as [[Hera]], given the unlikely blend of Cylon physiology to human physiology and the Cylon's continued use of [[Silica Pathways]] in Cylon agents (this was illustrated on copies of [[Aaron Doral]] and [[Leoben Conoy]] at [[Ragnar Anchorage]]).

===No "Deus Ex Machina" Concepts===

Characters like [[Saul Tigh|Colonel Tigh]] are annoyed by endless '''[[technobabble]]'''. Complex procedures needed to further the plot are often explained in context to the episode in simple and down-to-earth terms, if they're ever explained at all.

When technology is mentioned, it's typically analogous to something found on the real-world Earth. Terms such as "[[Stims|stims]]", "[[Morpha|morpha]]", "[[DRADIS]]" and "[[wireless]]" have somewhat-familiar real-world counterparts

''Galactica'' and its Fleet have to be creative with the very limited resources in the Fleet. They cannot barter with other civilizations (as there aren't any) or make parts with "replication technology." They have a limited supply of everything: [[Viper (RDM)|fighters]], ammunition, food, water, and people. Specialized crew members, such as [[List of Pilots|pilots]] and [[Cottle|doctors]], are in even shorter supply. In "Battlestar Galactica's" world, they don't have a home-base or a parent government: What they are and what they have is literally visible in every episode--and everything is wearing or running out. This is can be seen in the deteriorating conditions of ''Galactica'''s Vipers, which began the [[Miniseries]] in pristine condition, but, through extended use, all now have significant battle damage, burns, scars, scrapes and dents; several have been damaged beyond repair ([[Flight of the Phoenix]]).

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
Again, Roslin's cancer cure by [[Gaius Baltar]] suggest a sudden and undesirable use of the deus ex machina tactic to further a plot line (the survival of the child later known as [[Hera]]). Also, [[Boomer]] always just happens to find water and tylium or whatever the fleet is in desperate need of.

===Space is big...and lonely===

There are no "planet-of-the-week" episodes. The Fleet does not encounter a new planet or culture every week as is typically done in episodes of "Star Trek" and "Stargate". The universe remains so big as to appear almost empty, with the odds of meeting other intelligent beings (excluding, perhaps, remnants of the [[Earth|Thirteenth Tribe]]) practically nil. Many [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]] episodes primarily focus on internal Fleet survival issues ("[[Water]]", "[[Bastille Day]]", and "[[The Hand of God (RDM)|The Hand of God]]").

Humanoid or other intelligent life (save that of the Fleet's nemesis, the human-created [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]) does not exist, as almost all of the encountered planets will be mostly uninhabitable and lifeless.

The characters do speak of animals from the now Cylon-occupied Colonies, and they share most of the names we use in the real-world Earth: [[Life Forms of the Twelve Colonies|chickens, dogs, cattle, and cats]] existed on their worlds. [[Socinus]] notes while on [[Kobol]] that he is able to listen to the birds in the trees for the first time since the Cylon attack ([[Scattered]]). A dog, [[Jake (New Caprica)|Jake]] is to be seen on [[New Caprica]] in the third season (''[[Occupation]]''); it presumably came with passengers on the fleet.

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
Whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, and whether it is in fact common, has long been a controversial issue, and a matter of speculation. At the moment, there is no way to know whether the "naturalistic science fiction" approach to exterrestrial life is in fact the accurate one.

===Storytelling and music===

[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|''Battlestar Galactica'']] avoids the thematic elements found in ''[[Wikipedia:Star Trek|Star Trek]]''. The series has a [[Wikipedia:Documentary film|documentary-style, ''cinema verite'']] visual feel and tribal music that stands in contrast to the more standard orchestral overtures used in ''Star Trek'', ''Star Wars'', and the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|original]] ''Battlestar Galactica''.

====Counterpoints and Aired Contradiction====
Debatably, several ceremonies conducted on the show were appropriate times for traditional Western martial overtures or marchs ([[Miniseries]], [[Act of Contrition]], [[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]), and they would have been used based on the parallels between the [[Colonial Fleet]] and modern armed forces; given this, their exclusion may be a loss of authenticity.

== External Links ==
*[http://www.galactica2003.net/articles/concept.shtml Reprint of RDM's Take on Naturalistic SF]
*[[Wikipedia:Hard Science Fiction|Hard Science Fiction]]

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Hollywood Buzzwords]]

Messengers

2006-10-19T18:11:15Z

Nerds: /* Both are implanted chips */ Added cradle coincidence

[[image:Tigh_Me_Up_Tigh_Me_Down-Baltar_Six.jpg|thumb|Number Six and [[Gaius Baltar]] in his lab aboard ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''.]]
=Baltar's Internal Six=
Fleeing Caprica City and then the planet itself, Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]] is shocked to discover that [[Caprica-Six|the woman he had a relationship with on Caprica]] lives on - inside his head.

At first he tries to dismiss her presence as a manifestation of his own guilt over what has happened to his people, and his role in it. However, Six suggests that she is in fact a controlled hallucination resulting from a chip she implanted inside his head. However, while some of her actions - such as terrifying Baltar into constructing a genuine [[Cylon detector]] ([[Bastille Day]]) - very much suggest she is a part of his own psyche, this is countered by her underlying actions and deeds, all of which represent a furtherance of those aims and goals she expressed as a corporeal entity. Some of these are characteristics never witnessed by Baltar himself - such as her jealous reaction to [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Boomer]]'s visit with Baltar in his lab ([[Flesh and Bone]]), which closely mirrors the jealousy [[Six#Caprican_Overseer_Copies|she]] shows towards the [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Valerii copy on Caprica]] ([[Litmus]], [[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]).

Her existence as a personality download within Baltar's brain is a view he himself comes to embrace, as he relies more and more on her for guidance and insight into Cylon ways - so much so that she deliberately suggests that her presence within him is something of which other Cylons have no knowledge. However, in her relentless drive to get Baltar to fully accept the Cylon concept of God, it certainly '''seems''' for a time that not only are other Cylons in the fleet aware of her "existence", they are in communication with her: hence the arrival of "Shelly Godfrey" onboard ''[[Galactica]]'' with her accusations of treachery at the precise time Six ceases to communicate with Baltar.
[[image:brainscan.jpg|left|Baltar recieves his brain scan from Dr. Cottle, as Six looks on in amusement.|thumb]]

When Baltar begins to deny Six's actual existence, she turns the tables on him by assuming a more 'natural' appearance and telling him that he is, indeed, "crazy" ([[Home, Part II]]). Baltar asks Dr. [[Cottle]] to perform a brain scan to check for anything unusual. "Nothing, nothing, more nothing" is the gruff diagnosis from Cottle. However, later in the same episode Baltar comes to believe that the Six he sees could could not possibly be a hallucination caused by him going "crazy", because she seems to know things (such as that [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] was pregnant) that his subconscious mind has no way of knowing. When confronted with this, Six agrees that she is not a product of Baltar's mind, although scans show no chip in his brain. When Baltar asks her what she really was, Six only replies that "I'm an angel of God sent here to protect you, to guide you and to love you". While Baltar may not have a conventionally visible chip in his head, it could conceivably be organically-based (like the [[Cylon agent]]s) and indistinguishable from other tissues in his brain or central nervous system. There was thought by many to be a remote chance that Baltar could be a Cylon agent himself (see the [[Cylon agent speculation]] article for arguments for and against Baltar as a Cylon agent), but later episodes have all but disproven this.

[[image:KobolHallu.jpg|thumb|Hallucinations on Kobol.]]
Not only does Baltar's former lover appear to him as herself in the context of his physical surroundings, but she can also make him see or experience an environment which is not real. Six has often interacted with him in the memory of his lakeside house on Caprica, which now exists purely in Gaius' mind ([[33]]). These visions have become less frequent as Dr. Baltar feels less nostalgic about his former dwelling ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]) .

The best example of Six's powers of illusion is during Baltar's ordeal on Kobol, in which he had a number of mass hallucinations. The first was during the traumatic crash of [[Crashdown|Lt. Crashdown]]'s Raptor. Six appeared to save Baltar's life by leading him through the flames unharmed. In reality, he was saved by Crashdown. The next vision was of the Forum and the City of the Gods, which he saw complete and undamaged. In this hallucination, Six leads him down the aisle of the Great Opera House onto the stage, where a white cradle awaits them. Six reveals to him there the plan that God has for Baltar and she, to create the [[Hera|next generation of God´s Children]]. (Interestingly enough, we later see that same cradle in [[New Caprica|New Caprica]], where baby Hera is kept.)

The next hallucination in Kobol also deals with the Cylon hybrid child. Baltar has a vivid dream in which ''Galactica'''s [[SAR]] team has arrived, with Adama leading the mission. Adama takes Baltar's child, and proceeds to drown her. When Baltar wakes up, he realizes that he must stop at nothing to ensure the survival of his baby, which seems to be exactly what Six wanted to see happen. Later, she tells him that one of their party will betray the others during the mission to destroy the Cylon missile battery preventing their rescue, and that to prove his worthiness as a father he must act like a real man for a change. This prompts him to take part in the mission as a scout, and later to kill Crashdown when he threatens [[Cally]]'s life.

When the [[Pegasus (RDM)|Battlestar Pegasus]] joins with the Fleet, Dr. Baltar is asked to examine their Cylon prisoner, [[Gina]]. Both the doctor and his Internal-Six are shocked and horrified to find that Gina (another Number Six version) has been tortured and gang-raped by the Pegasus crew. Six tearfully asks Baltar to help Gina, and he vows to do everything he can ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]). Her concern is replaced by jealousy and animosity, however, when she begins to suspect that Gaius is developing feelings for her "3-dimensional duplicate." Baltar learns from the suicidally depressed Gina that the large, previously unidentified vessel in the Cylon fleet following Galactica is the Resurrection Ship, where Cylon consciousnesses are downloaded into new bodies following the demise of their previous ones. Giving this information to Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain]] and Commander [[William Adama|Adama]] results in the destruction of the ship and thus the permanent deaths of the Cylon agents aboard the [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestars]] guarding it, and of the attached squadrons of [[Raiders]]. Six proclaims that causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cylons is an unforgivable sin, but Gina says that God will forgive Gaius and her. Baltar chooses to listen to Gina, and his internal Six temporarily vanishes ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

=Six's Internal Baltar=
[[image:LBlt.jpg|thumb|left|Turnabout is fair play.]]
In the episode "[[Downloaded]]" it is revealed that the vision of Number Six that Baltar sees everywhere is definitely not the same Number Six consciousness as the one he had a relationship with back on Caprica: [[Caprica-Six]]'s consciousness downloaded into a new body, and for nine months continued to live on Cylon-occupied Caprica. Within a few seconds, it it clear that "Caprica's" personality is completely different from the one in Baltar's head. Not only that, but just as Baltar has visions of her, Caprica-Six has persistent visions of [[Gaius Baltar]]. This image confronts her with her guilt in the slaughter of billions of human beings, and with the logical error behind the Cylons' actions. If murder, genocide, and vengeance are sins in the eyes of God when humans commit them, then why would God sanction the Cylons' mass murder of an uncountable number of unsuspecting people? Under the influence of Internal-Baltar, "Caprica" speaks out against the war alongside the reincarnated [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]], and a new path is forged.

=Theories=
There are various competing theories about the nature of the visions Baltar and Caprica-Six have of each other:

==Both are implanted chips==
In this theory, Number Six implanted a chip, containing one of her "sister" consciousnesses, into Baltar sometime before or during the attack on Caprica. Given the symmetrical nature of the hallucinations, the resurrected Caprica-Six must now have a chip of Baltar implanted in her brain. There are various pieces of evidence for this:
* This is the theory that the internal Six initially offers to Baltar
* The internal Six seems to know some pieces of information that Baltar does not; she offers Baltar a hint about a mysterious device on the ''Galactica'' bridge that leads to his uncovering of [[Aaron Doral]] as a Cylon agent; on the other hand, it could be that Baltar himself discovered the device but subconsciously transferred that part of his thinking to the hallucination of Six. She also later showed him a vision of a human-Cylon baby in a cradle (in [[Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II]]) that exactly matched the cradle that [[Hera]], the first human-Cylon baby, was later carried in.

==Both are self-generated hallucinations==
In this theory, both Baltar and the resurrected Caprica-Six have begun hallucinating a vision of the other, in both cases as a psychological defense against massive feelings of guilt for their role in the near-destruction of humanity. There are various pieces of evidence for this:
* Both visions differ in personality from the people they represent; in both cases, the visions are confident and scoff at the failings of their subject; the real people remain guilt-ridden and indecisive.
* There is, as yet, no conceivable explanation for how a chip of Baltar could have been planted inside the resurrected Caprica-Six.
* After the Cylon takeover of [[New Caprica]], when Baltar and Caprica-Six resume their relationship, the internal Six appears to Baltar only when Caprica-Six is absent, indicating that he at some level does have control over her appearances.

==Both began as hallucinations, but the internal Six took on a life of its own==
This theory is similar to the general hallucinations one, but takes into account the bizarre events of the episode ''[[Six Degrees of Separation]]''. In that episode, Internal-Six warns Baltar that she will punish him for mocking her religious beliefs; she then disappears from his consciousness, and quickly thereafter a Six-model appears in the flesh on the ''Galactica'', claiming her name is [[Shelly Godfrey]], accusing him of treason. When it appears he may be executed on these false charges, a devastated Baltar accepts the [[God|Cylon God]] as his own; soon thereafter, "Godfrey" disappears from the ship and Internal-Six reappears to Baltar, pleased at his conversion. Under this theory, "Godfrey" was in fact a physical manifestation of Baltar's hallucination, created by some unexplained (and possibly never-to-be-explained) process.

==Other theories==
* Internal-Six is in fact an angel, as she has claimed (or a fallen angel).
* They are both angels, on opposite sides of a celestial war ''(see [[Beings of Light]], [[War of the Gods]])''
* They are both on the ''same'' side in a war against both Cylon and Man
* Baltar (a human, not an agent) actually died in the nuclear blast, but was somehow resurrected, with ''something'' of himself and Six becoming interchanged. Now a part of him is living in her, and vice versa. This would explain why the hallucination versions are in such stark contrast to the real versions, since they would be missing parts of themselves. It would also explain the "chip in Gaius'"- since he is in effect a "chip", and she is in him.

The answers remain unknown.

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Messengers

2006-10-16T00:35:53Z

Nerds: Overhaul of analysis and theories - it read too much like a discussion board

[[image:Tigh_Me_Up_Tigh_Me_Down-Baltar_Six.jpg|thumb|Number Six and [[Gaius Baltar]] in his lab aboard ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]''.]]
=Baltar's Internal Six=
Fleeing Caprica City and then the planet itself, Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]] is shocked to discover that [[Caprica-Six|the woman he had a relationship with on Caprica]] lives on - inside his head.

At first he tries to dismiss her presence as a manifestation of his own guilt over what has happened to his people, and his role in it. However, Six suggests that she is in fact a controlled hallucination resulting from a chip she implanted inside his head. However, while some of her actions - such as terrifying Baltar into constructing a genuine [[Cylon detector]] ([[Bastille Day]]) - very much suggest she is a part of his own psyche, this is countered by her underlying actions and deeds, all of which represent a furtherance of those aims and goals she expressed as a corporeal entity. Some of these are characteristics never witnessed by Baltar himself - such as her jealous reaction to [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Boomer]]'s visit with Baltar in his lab ([[Flesh and Bone]]), which closely mirrors the jealousy [[Six#Caprican_Overseer_Copies|she]] shows towards the [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Valerii copy on Caprica]] ([[Litmus]], [[Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down]]).

Her existence as a personality download within Baltar's brain is a view he himself comes to embrace, as he relies more and more on her for guidance and insight into Cylon ways - so much so that she deliberately suggests that her presence within him is something of which other Cylons have no knowledge. However, in her relentless drive to get Baltar to fully accept the Cylon concept of God, it certainly '''seems''' for a time that not only are other Cylons in the fleet aware of her "existence", they are in communication with her: hence the arrival of "Shelly Godfrey" onboard ''[[Galactica]]'' with her accusations of treachery at the precise time Six ceases to communicate with Baltar.
[[image:brainscan.jpg|left|Baltar recieves his brain scan from Dr. Cottle, as Six looks on in amusement.|thumb]]

When Baltar begins to deny Six's actual existence, she turns the tables on him by assuming a more 'natural' appearance and telling him that he is, indeed, "crazy" ([[Home, Part II]]). Baltar asks Dr. [[Cottle]] to perform a brain scan to check for anything unusual. "Nothing, nothing, more nothing" is the gruff diagnosis from Cottle. However, later in the same episode Baltar comes to believe that the Six he sees could could not possibly be a hallucination caused by him going "crazy", because she seems to know things (such as that [[Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy)|Sharon Valerii]] was pregnant) that his subconscious mind has no way of knowing. When confronted with this, Six agrees that she is not a product of Baltar's mind, although scans show no chip in his brain. When Baltar asks her what she really was, Six only replies that "I'm an angel of God sent here to protect you, to guide you and to love you". While Baltar may not have a conventionally visible chip in his head, it could conceivably be organically-based (like the [[Cylon agent]]s) and indistinguishable from other tissues in his brain or central nervous system. There was thought by many to be a remote chance that Baltar could be a Cylon agent himself (see the [[Cylon agent speculation]] article for arguments for and against Baltar as a Cylon agent), but later episodes have all but disproven this.

[[image:KobolHallu.jpg|thumb|Hallucinations on Kobol.]]
Not only does Baltar's former lover appear to him as herself in the context of his physical surroundings, but she can also make him see or experience an environment which is not real. Six has often interacted with him in the memory of his lakeside house on Caprica, which now exists purely in Gaius' mind ([[33]]). These visions have become less frequent as Dr. Baltar feels less nostalgic about his former dwelling ([[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]) .

The best example of Six's powers of illusion is during Baltar's ordeal on Kobol, in which he had a number of mass hallucinations. The first was during the traumatic crash of [[Crashdown|Lt. Crashdown]]'s Raptor. Six appeared to save Baltar's life by leading him through the flames unharmed. In reality, he was saved by Crashdown. The next vision was of the Forum and the City of the Gods, which he saw complete and undamaged. In this hallucination, Six leads him down the aisle of the Great Opera House onto the stage, where a white cradle awaits them. Six reveals to him there the plan that God has for Baltar and she, to create the [[Hera|next generation of God´s Children]]. (Interestingly enough, we later see that same cradle in [[New Caprica|New Caprica]], where baby Hera is kept.)

The next hallucination in Kobol also deals with the Cylon hybrid child. Baltar has a vivid dream in which ''Galactica'''s [[SAR]] team has arrived, with Adama leading the mission. Adama takes Baltar's child, and proceeds to drown her. When Baltar wakes up, he realizes that he must stop at nothing to ensure the survival of his baby, which seems to be exactly what Six wanted to see happen. Later, she tells him that one of their party will betray the others during the mission to destroy the Cylon missile battery preventing their rescue, and that to prove his worthiness as a father he must act like a real man for a change. This prompts him to take part in the mission as a scout, and later to kill Crashdown when he threatens [[Cally]]'s life.

When the [[Pegasus (RDM)|Battlestar Pegasus]] joins with the Fleet, Dr. Baltar is asked to examine their Cylon prisoner, [[Gina]]. Both the doctor and his Internal-Six are shocked and horrified to find that Gina (another Number Six version) has been tortured and gang-raped by the Pegasus crew. Six tearfully asks Baltar to help Gina, and he vows to do everything he can ([[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]). Her concern is replaced by jealousy and animosity, however, when she begins to suspect that Gaius is developing feelings for her "3-dimensional duplicate." Baltar learns from the suicidally depressed Gina that the large, previously unidentified vessel in the Cylon fleet following Galactica is the Resurrection Ship, where Cylon consciousnesses are downloaded into new bodies following the demise of their previous ones. Giving this information to Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain]] and Commander [[William Adama|Adama]] results in the destruction of the ship and thus the permanent deaths of the Cylon agents aboard the [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestars]] guarding it, and of the attached squadrons of [[Raiders]]. Six proclaims that causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cylons is an unforgivable sin, but Gina says that God will forgive Gaius and her. Baltar chooses to listen to Gina, and his internal Six temporarily vanishes ([[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]).

=Six's Internal Baltar=
[[image:LBlt.jpg|thumb|left|Turnabout is fair play.]]
In the episode "[[Downloaded]]" it is revealed that the vision of Number Six that Baltar sees everywhere is definitely not the same Number Six consciousness as the one he had a relationship with back on Caprica: [[Caprica-Six]]'s consciousness downloaded into a new body, and for nine months continued to live on Cylon-occupied Caprica. Within a few seconds, it it clear that "Caprica's" personality is completely different from the one in Baltar's head. Not only that, but just as Baltar has visions of her, Caprica-Six has persistent visions of [[Gaius Baltar]]. This image confronts her with her guilt in the slaughter of billions of human beings, and with the logical error behind the Cylons' actions. If murder, genocide, and vengeance are sins in the eyes of God when humans commit them, then why would God sanction the Cylons' mass murder of an uncountable number of unsuspecting people? Under the influence of Internal-Baltar, "Caprica" speaks out against the war alongside the reincarnated [[Sharon Valerii (Galactica copy)|Sharon Valerii]], and a new path is forged.

=Theories=
There are various competing theories about the nature of the visions Baltar and Caprica-Six have of each other:

==Both are implanted chips==
In this theory, Number Six implanted a chip, containing one of her "sister" consciousnesses, into Baltar sometime before during the attack on Caprica. Given the symmetrical nature of the hallucinations, the resurrected Caprica-Six must now have a chip of Baltar implanted in her brain. There are various pieces of evidence for this:
* This is the theory that the internal Six initially offers to Baltar
* The internal Six seems to know some pieces of information that Baltar does not; most notably, she offers Baltar a hint about a mysterious device on the ''Galactica'' bridge that leads to his uncovering of [[Aaron Doral]] as a Cylon agent; on the other hand, it could be that Baltar himself discovered the device but subconsciously transferred that part of his thinking to the hallucination of Six.

==Both are self-generated hallucinations==
In this theory, both Baltar and the resurrected Caprica-Six have begun hallucinating a vision of the other, in both cases as a psychological defense against massive feelings of guilt for their role in the near-destruction of humanity. There are various pieces of evidence for this:
* Both visions differ in personality from the people they represent; in both cases, the visions are confident and scoff at the failings of their subject; the real people remain guilt-ridden and indecisive.
* There is, as yet, no conceivable explanation for how a chip of Baltar could have been planted inside the resurrected Caprica-Six.
* After the Cylon takeover of [[New Caprica]], when Baltar and Caprica-Six resume their relationship, the internal Six appears to Baltar only when Caprica-Six is absent, indicating that he at some level does have control over her appearances.

==Both began as hallucinations, but the internal Six took on a life of its own==
This theory is similar to the general hallucinations one, but takes into account the bizarre events of the episode ''[[Six Degrees of Separation]]''. In that episode, Internal-Six warns Baltar that she will punish him for mocking her religious beliefs; she then disappears from his consciousness, and quickly thereafter a Six-model appears in the flesh on the ''Galactica'', claiming her name is [[Shelly Godfrey]], accusing him of treason. When it appears he may be executed on these false charges, a devastated Baltar accepts the [[God|Cylon God]] as his own; soon thereafter, "Godfrey" disappears from the ship and Internal-Six reappears to Baltar, pleased at his conversion. Under this theory, "Godfrey" was in fact a physical manifestation of Baltar's hallucination, created by some unexplained (and possibly never-to-be-explained) process.

==Other theories==
* Internal-Six is in fact an angel, as she has claimed (or a fallen angel).
* They are both angels, on opposite sides of a celestial war ''(see [[Beings of Light]], [[War of the Gods]])''
* They are both on the ''same'' side in a war against both Cylon and Man
* Baltar (a human, not an agent) actually died in the nuclear blast, but was somehow resurrected, with ''something'' of himself and Six becoming interchanged. Now a part of him is living in her, and vice versa. This would explain why the hallucination versions are in such stark contrast to the real versions, since they would be missing parts of themselves. It would also explain the "chip in Gaius'"- since he is in effect a "chip", and she is in him.

The answers remain unknown.

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Cylons]]
[[Category:Cylons (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.5 (Region 1 DVD)

2006-10-15T23:23:40Z

Nerds: Updated

{{DVD Data
| image= BSG-2.5-R1.jpg
| alt= Region 1 DVD Case Art
| title= Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.5
| studio= Universal
| discs= 3
| runtime= 521 minutes
| region= 1
| released= {{Season 2.5 NTSC DVD release date}}
| prev= [[Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 (Region 1 DVD)]]
| next= None
}}
==Summary==
The '''Season 2.5 DVD''' box set, which was released in the USA and Canada on September 19, 2006, contains the second half, or episodes 11-20, of [[Season 2 (2005-06)|Season 2]], and the extended version of episode 10, ''[[Pegasus (episode)|Pegasus]]''.

===Episodes===
#[[Pegasus (Extended Version)]]
#[[Resurrection Ship, Part I]]
#[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]
#[[Epiphanies]]
#[[Black Market]]
#[[Scar]]
#[[Sacrifice]]
#[[The Captain's Hand]]
#[[Downloaded]]
#[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I]]
#[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]

===Special Features===
* Deleted scenes for all episodes
* Audio commentary for [[Pegasus (Extended Version)]] with [[Ronald D. Moore]] and [[David Eick]]
* Podcast commentaries with [[Ronald D. Moore]] (and occasionally his wife) for all other episodes
* Several of [[David Eick]]'s video blog episodes: "On the Set of the 'New' Pegasus", "The 'Magic' of Battlestar Galactica", "Never Let the Inmates Run the Asylum", "Scenes From the Videoblog Floor", and "Sex, Lies and a Videoblog"
* R&D video logos (the short animated snippets that run after the end of each episode)
* Sneak peeks of various upcoming TV-show DVD releases

===Languages===
*English 5.1 Surround

===Subtitles===
*English
*Spanish

==External Links==
*[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GFLEAO/ Season 2.5 DVD set at Amazon.com]

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

__NOEDITSECTION__
{{DVDs RDM}}
[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:DVDs]]
[[Category:DVDs (RDM)]]
[[Category:Merchandise]]
[[Category:RDM]]

Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I

2006-10-13T19:05:17Z

Nerds: /* Analysis */ I'm pretty sure there was only one press conference on the abortion ban

{{Episode Data
| image = Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I.jpg
| title= Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I
| season= 2
| episode= 19
| guests= [[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]<br/>[[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]]<br/>[[Dean Stockwell]] as [[Cavil|Brother Cavil]]
| writer= [[Ronald D. Moore]]
| story=
| goof= Y
| director= [[Michael Rymer]]
| production=
| rating= 1.8
| US airdate= 2006-03-03
| UK airdate= 2006-05-09
| dvd= {{Season 2.5 NTSC DVD release date}} '''US'''<br/>{{Season 2 PAL DVD release date}} '''UK'''
| population= 49,579
| prev= [[Downloaded]]
| next= [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]
| podcast= Y
}}

== 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, [[Kara Thrace|Starbuck]] leads a rescue mission of Raptors back to [[The_Twelve_Colonies_%28RDM%29#Caprica|Caprica]] to save [[Samuel Anders|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]] 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 apparent 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 Edmondson|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 continue on, 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 settlement 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 stop their constant run in the refugee fleet. Roslin points out that if the Colonials could find the planet, the Cylons could just as easily. Tory points out that Baltar is pandering to the people's hopes, while Roslin is pointing out the bitter truth that they simply don't want to hear; people will vote their hopes.
*Shocked by his attack on Cally, Chief Tyrol asks for religious counselling, and meets with a priest named [[Cavil|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 commits suicide 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, especially Cally.
*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 rescue 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 [[Caprica 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 ==
*If Raptor 612 was destroyed by jumping into a mountain, how was their transponder still operational? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])
*Does the fleet have the resources to sustain long term settlements on the newly found planet? Even if ''Galactica'' and ''Pegasus'' themselves were recycled, would there be enough materials, or would the Battlestars still be necessary for orbital defence?
*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? Or did he just meant being stuck inside of cramped ships in general, i.e. even the ''Galactica'' crew (who have dedicated crew quarters)?
*Laura states that Baltar does not have a key issue besides the "religious angle." What about the abortion issue from "[[The Captain's Hand]]"? (see [[#Analysis|Analysis]])

== Analysis ==
*Timeline:
**According to [[Six]], on the night of the first debate the election is still "two weeks away".
**At the beginning of the first debate, [[James McManus]] states Baltar declared his bid for presidency a month ago. This took place at the end of "[[The Captain's Hand]]".
**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]]" around Day 270.
**At the conclusion of the second debate, the polls will open in three days.
**It appears to take the Raptors 10 days to make the trip back to Caprica. Not enough is known yet about the vagaries of Colonial FTL drives and computers to explain why it should take so long.

*[[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]] 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/m<sup>3</sup>, while the density of silica rock is about 2,600 kg/m<sup>3</sup>.

*When Tyrol's counseling with Cavil is coming to an end, Cavil notes to Tyrol that Cally "especially" loves him. Tyrol is apparently oblivious to this obvious fact up to that point.

*In this episode they refer to "the captured Heavy Raider", singular. This would imply that only the one Starbuck brought back from Caprica in "[[Home, Part I]]" was still functional at all, and the one that crashed into ''Galactica'' in "[[Scattered]]" was damaged beyond salvage or repair.

*The pro-settlement faction seems to assume that Cylon agents still hiding within the Fleet will not be able to contact the Cylon fleet to track the Colonials, in particular in view of the shielding afforded by the gas cloud near New Caprica.

*When [[Raptor 612]] jumps into the mountain, it jumps '''into''' the mountain. 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".

*The "''religious''" angle that Baltar was using was based on the abortion issue. The banning of abortion by Roslin was two-folded. First, it was meant to prevent any action that would hinder the growth of humanity's population. Second, it was meant to mollify the religious faction, who objected to abortion on dogmatic grounds.

== Notes ==
*This episode is part of the [[Season two timeline discontinuity]].
*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.
*Roslin's comment to Baltar after the last presidential debate, "Why don't you go frak yourself", is likely inspired by the [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html incident] on June 22, 2004 in the US Senate, when Vice President [[Wikipedia:Dick Cheney|Dick Cheney]] told Senator [[Wikipedia:Patrick Leahy|Patrick Leahy]] to "go fuck yourself".
*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.
*When Lt. Gaeta takes his shirt off in the washroom, his tiger tatoo from "[[Final Cut]]" can be seen.
*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 (episode)|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]]. 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" (a battlestar). 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.
**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.
*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. [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] appears in this epsiode twice but doesn't speak a single line.
*This is the first time since the [[Miniseries]] that Helo is seen fulfilling his duties as an [[ECO]].
*Apollo quips that if they find a habitable planet, he'll build the pilots a bar on it. Actor Jamie Bamber has said in interviews that part of Apollo's backstory is that he didn't know what he was going to do with his life; he's in the Colonial Fleet reserves, not a full-career commitment, etc. He said that right before the attack, Apollo was supposed to be considering leaving the service and just openning up a bar somewhere.
*Actress [[Leah Cairns]] said in an [http://podcasts.lvrocks.com/details.aspx?castid=5 interview] on June 27th, 2006 that a fan, [[User:Sabaceanbabe|Sabaceanbabe]], wrote a short fanfiction romance story (located [http://sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com/38792.html here], scroll down to part 5) on the messageboards between [[Margaret Edmondson|Racetrack]] and Helo, and she decided to work it into her character's backstory: Cairns plays her scenes as if Racetrack is attracted to Helo and jealous of Caprica-Sharon. Tahmoh Penikett is aware of this and when playing Helo recognizes this, though he is not attracted to her and loves Caprica-Sharon. In the opening scene of this episode, when Caprica-Sharon is brought into the ''Pegasus'' pilot briefing room (essentially the only time in the series so far in which Racetrack, Helo, and Caprica-Sharon were in the same scene), Cairns asked director Michael Rymer if they could film a few extra shots working in these elements she had developed for her backstory, and he agreed, so several extra shots were filmed for this scene: after Helo walks over to Caprica-Sharon, Racetrack looks jealously at them and Helo notices while Caprica-Sharon doesn't. These shots were filmed, but were removed in the editing room. They might appear in the Season 2.5 DVD extras.
*Ron Moore co-hosted the podcast commentary for this episode with his wife [[Terry Dresbach]]

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*''Laura Roslin is preparing for the presidential debate''
:'''Laura Roslin:''' This is what I do, I memorize the talking point, then tear the card…let the pieces fall as they may. It helps.
:'''William Adama:''' Yeah, my father used to break pencils before going into court, and then borrow one from the clerk. "Break preconceptions, work with what you have."
:'''Laura Roslin:''' You know, I like that. Let me see…:''
:''Laura breaks a pencil''
:'''Laura Roslin:''' That's good…. But what happens if the moderator doesn't have a pencil?
:'''William Adama:''' Then you're pretty screwed.

*''Brother Cavil explains to Chief Tyrol the "value" of prayer:''
:'''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.
:'''Chief Tyrol:''' Are you sure you're a priest?

*''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.

*''Baltar and Zarek discuss campaign strategy''
:'''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.
:'''Tom Zarek:''' Things are gonna turn around. You'll see.
:'''Gaius Baltar:''' What is that, advice? Well, thank you for your ''keen'' insight, your ''astounding'' political acumen. You know, I'm so assured right now, Tom, I'm just going to sit right back and wait for the hand of God to reach down and change my political fortunes!

== Official Statements ==

*''In an interview in issue #197 of TV Zone, James Callis (Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]]) said:'' "[T]he 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."

=== From RDM's blog ([http://blog.scifi.com/battlestar/archives/2006/03/#a000409 March 28, 2006]) ===

* '''"Why is the fleet so concerned [about] [[Government|elections]]? They are running for their lives, so I would think holding elections would be the least of their problems."'''

: I felt right from the beginning that question of who was in charge and how a democratic society would deal with this situation was one of the fundamental questions of the show. If democracy means anything, it means that people get to decide who their leaders are and what kind of life they choose to lead. And the operative word is "choose." Democracies are about choices, some made intelligently and thoughtfully, and some not so much. [[William Adama|Adama]] and the ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' were faced with an immediate question as to the role of the military in this surviving population: were they still the servants of the people, or were they the overseers? Adama's choice was to preserve the idea of their society, indeed of their entire civilization while still striving to protect them from their enemies both within and without. It was, and continues to be a difficult balancing act, but as he said in "[[Resurrection Ship, Part I|Resurrection Ship]]": [[Themes in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|it's not enough to survive, you have to [be] worthy of suriving]].

: If the military simply took choice away from the people of the fleet, if it simply decided that the senior commanders knew best and that was that, then the people out there in those ships become irrelevant. They're cargo. It's a military world and a military society and everything else is secondary. Down that road lies the cautionary tale of Admiral [[Helena Cain|Cain]] and the battlestar ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]''. One Adama and ''Galactica'' decided not to go down that road, then the entire panoply of democracy was in play -- representation by consent and elections to determine those representatives.

=== Interviews ===

* '''[[Nicki Clyne]] ([[Cally]]) talks about [[Galen Tyrol|Tyrol]]'s maddened assault on Cally:'''
:It was difficult for people to watch. Even when we were filming it and it was difficult to do. Not only physically, but I had to make it look real. Actually, [[Aaron Douglas|Aaron (Douglas]]–Chief Tyrol) actually punched me in the face! (''she chuckled as she continued on'') And, it’s really difficult, but the funny part about it is that he and I were trying to be brave, but whenever you get knocked in the face I think the instinct is to start crying. I was laughing at the same time, trying to persuade everyone that I was fine, but there were tears streaming down my face. And, Aaron was all, ‘But it wasn’t me.’ I was like, ‘Ok, ok, I am not blaming you, I know it was an accident, but I don’t think I punched myself in the face.’ He felt terrible about it happening. It was fine. Luckily, I didn’t get a bruise and slow everything up.
:But it was difficult and I am trying to block the punches and then my own hand was going into the whole scene and realizing what he had done. It was pretty emotional. [http://scifibrain.ign.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2384&Itemid=0]

== Guest Stars ==
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as Chief Petty Officer [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as Specialist [[Cally]]
*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]]
*[[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
*[[Dean Stockwell]] as [[Cavil|Brother Cavil]]
*[[Alisen Down]] as [[Jean Barolay]]
*[[Leah Cairns]] as Lt. [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
*[[imdb:nm0443286|David Kaye]] as [[James McManus]]
*[[imdb:nm0492687|Colin Lawrence]] as [[Hamish McCall|Hamish "Skulls" McCall]]

== External Links ==
[http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/episodes/season02/219/ "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I"] at scifi.com

{{episode list (RDM season 2)}}

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

[[de:Das neue Caprica, Teil I]]

Dirk Benedict

2006-10-13T17:47:17Z

Nerds: Improved

{{Star Data|
image = benedict-ateampromo.jpg
| character= [[Starbuck (TOS)|Starbuck]]
| imdb= 0070767
}}

Actor '''Dirk Benedict''' played the womanizing, cigar-smoking, card playing and incredibly skilled Colonial Warrior known as Lieutenant [[Starbuck (TOS)|Starbuck]] in the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original ''Battlestar Galactica'' series]].

Born Dirk Niewoehner in Montana in 1945, Benedict (his last name a stage name given to himself after enjoying a serving of Eggs Benedict) was an excellent high school athlete and aspiring musician.

His acting career began with an odd bet with his college football team members, which landed him in a leading role in a show at Whitman College in the state of Washington, and starring in many other productions. Graduating from college with a degree in Music, Benedict decided to pursue acting as a career, under the tutelage of John Fernald. Benedict played many roles in summer stock, performing many roles in classic plays by Shakespeare and Ipsen.

Benedict moved to New York and found supporting roles in several Broadway shows, including the leading role in the play, ''[[Wikipedia:Butterflies Are Free|Butterflies Are Free]]'' with the late [[Wikipedia:Gloria Swanson|Gloria Swanson]], who portrayed his mother.

Benedict found himself in small but interesting roles in some TV series, including work in ''[[Wikipedia:Hawaii Five-O|Hawaii Five-O]]'' and the lead in a one-season show by TV show mogul Aaron Spelling called ''Chopper One''. Benedict left acting for a few years in a lifelong desire to visit every state in the U.S.

Benedict's casting as "Starbuck" in "Battlestar Galactica" made him nationally famous. He made an appearance on the final episode of [[Galactica 1980]], entitled ''[[The Return of Starbuck]]''. This episode is considered by fans of the Original Series as the only significant contribution from "Galactica 1980", a show otherwise considered [[canon|noncanonical]] by many.

[[Image:ATeamCylon.jpg|left|thumb|Dirk's A-Team 'Faceman' meets a Cylon.]]
After these series, Benedict found popularity again as the character of Templeton "Faceman" Peck on the long-running early-1980s TV series, ''[[Wikipedia:The A-Team|The A-Team]]'', produced by Galactica's owner, Universal. In the show's opening credits in later seasons, a [[Cylon Centurion Model 0005|Cylon Centurion]] is shown walking by Benedict's character, who gives a peculiarly humorous look of recognition of the robot as an in-joke to the actor's past role as Starbuck.

Benedict returned to the stage after ''Galactica'' as well, gaining fame in many popular roles there, and played guest and starring roles in a handful of TV movies and series.

As casting for the [[Tom DeSanto|Singer/DeSanto Continuation Project]] of a new "Battlestar Galactica" series in 2001 began, Benedict was slated to play an older Starbuck in the new series. However, the project folded due to Bryan Singer's movie directing comittments and delays on the TV industry caused by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Benedict (with fellow Original Series actor [[Richard Hatch]]) loaned his voice talents as the Original Series Starbuck to the [[Video Game|Battlestar Galactica video game]] that appeared in 2003. The characters of Starbuck and Apollo are available as wingmen pilots for the game player, using a game cheat.

[[Image:Starbucks at starbucks.jpg|thumb|The "Starbucks" meeting over coffee at Starbucks.]]
Benedict has yet to be cast in the [[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Re-imagined Series]]. He was considered for the role of the [[Armistice Officer]], but passed on the project. In another instance, he was considered to play a cigar-smoking [[God]] of the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]] in a dream sequence with [[Gaius Baltar]] in a Season 1 episode, but the idea was later dismissed. The original "good mood" towards the new series resulted in a meeting with [[Katee Sackhoff]] at a Starbucks coffee shop as seen in the [[Battlestar Galactica: The Lowdown (Mini-Series)|mini-series Lowdown]]. Benedict passes a cigar to Sackhoff in a kind of "passing the torch" ceremony.

However, in a May 2004 article from [[Wikipedia:Dreamwatch|Dreamwatch Magazine]] entitled "Starbuck: Lost in Castration" <ref name="dreamwatch">''Starbuck: Lost in Castration'' Mirrored at [http://www.dirkbenedictcentral.com/home/articles-readarticle.php?nid=5 www.dirkbenedictcentral.com]</ref>, Benedict harshly criticized the Re-imagined Series, citing its dark tone and supposed moral relativism:
:''"Re-imagining", they call it. "un-imagining" is more accurate. To take what once was and twist it into what never was intended. So that a television show based on hope, spiritual faith, and family is unimagined and regurgitated as a show of despair, sexual violence and family dysfunction.''

Benedict devoted the greatest part of the article to criticizing the producers' decision to turn Starbuck into a female character, [[Kara Thrace]] (whom Benedict derisively calls "Stardoe" throughout his commentary), tying it in to what he perceived as a general anti-masculinity agenda:

:''One thing is certain. In the new un-imagined, re-imagined world of Battlestar Galactica everything is female driven. The male characters, from Adama on down, are confused, weak, and wracked with indecision while the female characters are decisive, bold, angry as hell, puffing cigars (gasp) and not about to take it any more.''

The final passage reads:

:''And if you don't enjoy the show <nowiki>[...]</nowiki>, it's not the fault of those re-imaginative technocrats that brought them to you. It is your fault. You and your individual instincts, tastes, judgement. Your refusal to let go of the memory of the show that once was. You just don't know what is good for you. But stay tuned. After another 13 episodes (and millions of dollar of marketing), you will see the light. You, your instincts, your judgement, are wrong. McDonald's is the best hamburger on the planet, Coca-Cola the best drink. Stardoe is the best Viper Pilot in the Galaxy. And Battlestar Galactica, contrary to what your memory tells you, never existed before the Re-imagination of 2003.''

:''I disagree. But perhaps, you had to be there.''

==Personal life==

Benedict lives in Montana with his sons, George and Roland. At ''Galacticon'', the 25th anniversary convention, Benedict revealed that he has a third son named John. Unknown to Dirk, John was born in 1968 and given up for adoption. They connected for the first time when John was an adult.

==See also==

* [http://www.dirkbenedictcentral.com Official website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Benedict Dirk Benedict] at Wikipedia
{{imdb name|id=0070767|name=Dirk Benedict}}

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

[[Category:A to Z|Benedict, Dirk]]
[[Category:Cast|Benedict, Dirk]]
[[Category:Cast (TOS)|Benedict, Dirk]]
[[Category:TOS|Benedict, Dirk]]

Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards

2006-10-03T04:47:57Z

Nerds: Fixes

{{Battle Data
|image=Battletemplatefix.jpg
|description=Fall of the Scorpian Ship Yards
|conflict=[[Cylon Attack|Second Cylon war]]
|date=[[Re-Imagined Series Timeline|Zero Hour]], concurrent with [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
|place=[[Scorpian Fleet Shipyards]]
|result=Decisive Cylon victory
|combatant1=[[Colonial Fleet]]
|combatant2=[[Cylons (RDM)|Cylons]]
|co1=Admiral [[Helena Cain]]
|co2=Unknown
|strength1=At least 3 [[Battlestar (RDM)|Battlestars]] (including ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', 3 support cruisers, associated [[Viper (RDM)|Vipers]], [[Raptor|Raptors]]
|strength2=Unknown number of [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestars]] and associated [[Raider|Raiders]]
|shiploss1=At least 2 battlestars and 3 other military vessels
|shiploss2=Unknown, minimal
|casualties1=Approx. 700 crewmen lost aboard ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'', plus those lost on other ships
|casualties2=Unknown, minimal
|prev=[[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]
|next=[[Battle of Ragnar Anchorage]]
}}
This surprise rout was a Cylon attack on the [[Scorpian Fleet Shipyards]] during the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies]]. The Scorpian Fleet Shipyards were hit with either three or four nuclear weapons: five ships, including two battlestars, were destroyed instantly. Admiral Cain ordered battlestar ''Pegasus'' to make a [[blind jump]], and luckily managed to survive the risky jump manuever unharmed.

''Pegasus'' was in dock in preparation for an overhaul scheduled over three months. Most of the ship's computers, with the possible exception of the [[FTL]] computer, were taken offline, but most importantly the computer network linking all computers on the ship was offline. Therefore ''Pegasus'' was unaffected by Cylon infiltration of the [[Command Navigation Program]]. Admiral [[Helena Cain]] was preparing for shore leave, as had many of her crew. She had planned to visit family and friends on [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)#Tauron|Tauron]] when the attack commenced.

Cain retrieved as many civilian and military staff from the shipyard into the relative safety of her battlestar as she could. Since the attack and defense computers were offline for the refit, it is presumed that, in the heat of battle, there was insufficient time to restart them to aid in a counterattack.

At the same time, a Cylon posing as a woman named [[Gina]] helped a Cylon boarding party gain access to the ship; she was presumably uncovered as a [[Cylon Agent]] during that action. The [[Cylon Centurion]]s' actions and damage from the Cylon vessels, which lead to exploding fuel and ordnance on the hangar decks, caused over 700 casualties.

With no defensive options, and destruction imminent, Cain ordered the [[CIC]] crew to activate the FTL system and make a jump--"Wherever. Anywhere. Just jump," she recalled to Commander [[William Adama|Adama]] and President [[Laura Roslin]] in a conversation shortly after battlestar ''Galactica'' encountered Cain's battlestar months later.
This was aided by the [[EMP|electro-magnetic pulse]] from the nuclear detonations that blinded the Cylon [[Dradis]] and made them oblivious of ''Pegasus`'' survival.<br>

The random jump was successful in that ''Pegasus'' escaped both the Cylon attack as well as the chance of colliding with celestial bodies.

''Pegasus'' also learned of the tainted CNP and its infiltration vulnerability from the Cylons from [[wireless]] chatter (as Petty Officer [[Anastasia Dualla]] learned in communications with the dying battlestar fleet), and summarily made essential modifications to all of her remaining military fighters and battlestar computers to avoid the threat.

== Notes ==

*The [[EMP|electro-magnetic pulse]] mentioned is, as is noted on its article, not ''really'' an EMP. See the article for further details.

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Colonial]]
[[Category:Colonial Battles]]
[[Category:Colonial Battles (RDM)]]
[[Category:Mentioned-Only]]
[[Category:Mentioned-Only (RDM)]]
[[Category:RDM]]