Occupation

2006-10-11T02:29:15Z

SteveVanEgmond: /* Analysis */

{{Episode Data
| title= Occupation
| image=Season 3 - Promo - Epi 1 - 2 - Number Three talking.jpg
| season= 3
| episode= 1
| guests=
| writer= [[Ronald D. Moore]]
| story=
| director= [[Sergio Mimica-Gezzan]]
| production= 301
| rating= 1.8
| US airdate= 2006-10-06
| UK airdate=
| population=
| prev= [[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]
| next= [[Precipice]]
}}

== Overview ==
:''It's been four months since the [[Cylons (RDM) |Cylons]] occupied the human settlement of [[New Caprica]], and ''[[Galactica]],'' ''[[Pegasus]]'', and a handful of ships jumped to safety. On New Caprica, a resistance has begun to challenge the Cylons. Aboard Galactica, [[Admiral Adama]] struggles with plans for a rescue, having only a handful of untested pilots at his command, understaffed ships, and facing a nearly impossible task.

== Summary ==
*The episode begins with a series of cut scenes. Light flashes over [[Saul Tigh]]'s face. He is in a prison cell, his missing eye patched over with a gauze bandage, and has scratched notches into a calendar on the wall. His wife, [[Ellen Tigh]], is having sex with one of the [[Cavil]]s. [[Laura Roslin]] lights a candle and prays to the [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#Lords of Kobol|gods]]. [[Galen Tyrol]] and [[Samuel Anders]] are planting a bomb using [[G-4]] and an [[A-type detonator]] within a building space.
*[[Kara Thrace]] is inside a neatly decorated room, setting a table.
*Admiral [[William Adama]] tries to strategize a rescue plan with a series of various models of fighters, support vehicles and other civilian ships in the [[Situation Room]]'s plot table, but becomes frustrated and hurls a model across the table.
*Another Cavil walks into Tigh's cell and taunts him as he attempts to hide the calendar that he has scratched in the wall. A copy of [[Leoben Conoy]] walks into the room where Thrace sits at table, carrying her dinner. He sits and prays to [[God|"The Heavenly Father."]]
*Thrace coyly asks the Conoy copy for a knife for her steak, but Conoy takes his knife and cuts her steak himself.
*Tyrol and Anders scatter away as a [[Heavy Raider]] lands near their bomb.
*After Ellen Tigh's liaison with her Cavil copy, she asks when will she gets what she asked for, suggesting a previous deal. The Cylon informs her that it should be happening right at that moment. At same time, the Cavil in the cell with Colonel Tigh releases him from prison in a very taunting way. Tigh exits the prison and his wife meets him at the gate.
*A group of '[[Cylon agent|skinjobs]]' including at least 3 [[Eight]]s, 3 [[Six]]es, and 2 [[Five]]s approach the Heavy Raider as several '[[Cylon Centurion|chromejobs]]' exit it. Tyrol and Anders set off the bomb. A great explosion ensues that is witnessed by the Conoy copy with Thrace from their apartment. He returns to the table, pushes his knife away from Thrace.
*As he comments on how beautiful she is, Thrace stabs him in the neck with metal chopsticks. As he dies (while Thrace repeatedly stabs his chest for good measure), he tells Thrace that he will see her soon. She tells him to take his time. Then, after wiping her hand on the carpet, she returns to the table and calmly resumes eating dinner.
*Colonel Tigh is running the resistance effort, with Tyrol and Anders acting as his second in command officers.
*Every day a Raptor jumps in and listens for a wireless broadcast. With the list of jamming frequencies provided by Gaeta, Tyrol manages to contact the Colonial Fleet.
* Now having made contact with the Galatica and feeling that rescue may be near Tyrol has second thoughts that a suicide bombing may not be the best course of action, but Tigh disagrees and says to only call off the attack if Baltar will not be attending.
*Baltar decides not to attend the graduation ceremony. Gaeta is unable to signal Tyrol in time of this last-minute change.
*With little left to lose, [[Duck]] prays to the [[Religion in the Twelve Colonies#The Lords of Kobol|gods]]. He has placed several packs of explosives around his waist, wiring himself as a living bomb. He dons his [[NCP]] uniform to attend their graduation ceremony, intending to kill [[Gaius Baltar]] and as many traitors and Cylons as he can.
*As a [[Number Three]] presents Duck with his graduation certificate he detonates the explosives attached to his body, his last words being "I'll see you soon [[Nora]]."

== Questions ==
*How did Anders manage to recover from his pneumonia without the medical supplies Thrace was seeking in "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]"?
**Left untreated, pneumonia may have a mortality rate of over 30% [http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/byname/pneumonia-bacterial.htm]. If his recovery was entirely due to his own immune system and bedrest, there is a possibility that his lungs may have been permanently damaged by scarring.
**It is also possible that the Cylons made more medical supplies available to the colonies. In this case, further questions would be raised due to the involvement of cylon [[Leoben Conoy]] with Anders's wife.

== Analysis ==

* Prior to the Cylon occupation, the population of New Caprica City was 39,192. Since that time, there have been at least 43 deaths and 1 birth:
**[[Nicholas Tyrol]] was born sometime between "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]" and "[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]".
**There were 10 deaths in "[[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]]" due to the temple raid, including [[Nora]].
**There were at least 33 deaths in this episode due to the suicide bombing at the NCP graduation ceremony. The figure was supplied by the Cylon leadership, and it is unknown whether they included attacker [[Tucker Clellan]] among the casualties.
*However, establishing a current population statistic is impossible due to the long period of time (134 days) elapsed since that figure. There have almost certainly been additional births and deaths for which we are not able to account. Additionally, the status of [[Kacey]] remains an open question.
* Several New Capricans appear to have sores or lesions on their faces.
* During the episode, Conoy mentions that Kara Thrace has succeeded in killing Conoy five times (including the killing that was shown).
* Conoy is obsessed with a future he has "seen" in which Kara falls in love with him. He repeatedly tells Kara that she only needs more time.
* A civilian government appears to absent in the spaceborne fleet.
* The Cylons have either built a resurrection facility on New Caprica or positioned a [[Resurrection Ship]] near enough to the planet for downloads to take place.
**No resurrection ship was seen in orbit when the basestars were shown.
* Number Three allows herself to be seen openly among the Colonials. Presumably the cover of infiltrator [[D'anna Biers]] was compromised with the return of [[Samuel Anders]] the previous year.
*Although Jammer has been widely speculated to be a Cylon agent due to his pessimistic attitude and unlikely survival during the events of "[[Valley of Darkness]]", the events of this episode and comments by Ronald D. Moore seem to preclude the possibility.
**In [[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance]], a copy of [[Number Five]] refers to Jammer as a human.
**In this episode, it is seen that Jammer has joined the [[New Caprica Police]], an exclusively human organization.
**While Jammers's survival of the suicide bombing may seem suspect to some viewers, Moore states that an unfilmed scene was to show him waking up, under bodies, and having to move body parts out of the way (Source: Occupation, podcast).

== Notes ==
*The episode started off with a warning indicating "'''Mature Subject Matter'''"
*"Occupation/[[Precipice]]" was awarded the [[Awards and Honors|IGN.com Editor's choice award]], following a review in which it received a rating of 10/10.
*"Occupation" and "[[Precipice]]" is edited as one 2-hr episode with only one intro. However, in the podcast, [[Ronald D. Moore]] indicates the "beginning" of "Precipice".
*Unlike episodes of [[Season 2 (2005-06)|Season 2]], the intro to this episode does not give the survivor count. The population whiteboard present in season 1 & 2 has been replaced by Baltar's presidential portrait.
*The episode opens on the 134th day since the Cylon occupation.
*In her Diary/Journal Roslin notes that it is "Marsday", which is the Roman name for Ares. This is at least the second time that the Roman names for the Greek pantheon have been used.
*Crew changes in the year after settlement glimpsed in "[[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]" are confirmed here: Helo is serving as XO on ''Galactica'', with [[Kat]] as [[CAG]]. [[Dualla]], shown for the first time with Lieutenant rank insignia, is serving as XO on ''Pegasus''.
* [[Lee Adama]] has gained roughly 40 pounds since the the fleet found New Caprica. The Admiral states that he is soft, both physically and mentally.

== Noteworthy Dialogue ==
*''After hearing that contact had been established with New Caprica'' <br />
:'''Admiral Adama''': "It's gonna be okay. It's really gonna be okay." <br />

== Official Statements ==

== Guest Stars ==
*[[Lucy Lawless]] as [[Number Three]]
*[[Matthew Bennett]] as [[Number Five]]
*[[Callum Keith Rennie]] as [[Leoben Conoy]]
*[[Rick Worthy]] as [[Simon]]
*[[Dean Stockwell]] as [[Cavil]]
*[[Richard Hatch]] as [[Tom Zarek]]
*[[Alessandro Juliani]] as [[Felix Gaeta]]
*[[Luciana Carro]] as Lt. [[Louanne Katraine|Louanne "Kat" Katraine]]
*[[Leah Cairns]] as Lt. [[Margaret Edmondson|Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson]]
*[[Tahmoh Penikett]] as Lt. [[Karl Agathon|Karl "Helo" Agathon]]
*[[Christian Tessier]] as [[Tucker Clellan|Tucker "Duck" Clellan]]
*[[Nicki Clyne]] as [[Cally Henderson Tyrol|Cally Tyrol]]
*[[Aaron Douglas]] as [[Galen Tyrol]]
*[[Michael Trucco]] as [[Samuel Anders]]
*[[Kandyse McClure]] as [[Anastasia Dualla]]
*[[Dominic Zamprogna]] as [[James Lyman|James "Jammer" Lyman]]
*[[Brad Dryborough]] as Lt. [[Hoshi]]
*[[Rekha Sharma]] as [[Tory Foster]]
*[[Michael Hogan]] as [[Saul Tigh]]
*[[Kate Vernon]] as [[Ellen Tigh]]

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

{{episode list (RDM season 3)}}

[[Category: A to Z]]
[[Category: RDM]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Ronald D. Moore]]
[[Category:Episodes directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan]]

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