Epiphanies

"Epiphanies" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 2, Episode 13
Writer(s)	Joel Anderson Thompson
Story by
Director	Rod Hardy
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	Colm Feore as President Adar
Production No.	213
Nielsen Rating	1.9
US airdate	2006-01-20
CAN airdate	2006-04-08
UK airdate	2006-03-28
DVD release	19 September 2006 US 28 August 2006 UK
Population	49,598 survivors ( 6)
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Resurrection Ship, Part II	Epiphanies	Black Market
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
Podcast Transcript – View
Continuity Errors Present – View
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Listing of props for this episode
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Admiral William Adama questions whether or not Sharon Valerii's pregnancy should be aborted. Meanwhile Roslin's health declines rapidly as a pro-Cylon peace group attempts to sow violence and discontent within the Fleet.

Summary

• President Laura Roslin is brought on board Galactica for intensive care treatment. She has days to live.
• As she lays in bed, dying, Roslin tells Adama that Sharon Valerii's unborn baby represents a potential threat to the Fleet and must be aborted to prevent the Cylons from achieving their goal.
• Adama agrees to carry out Roslin's orders, despite Baltar's protests that the child should be studied. Virtual Six urges Baltar to do whatever it takes to save the baby.
• As expected, both Helo and Sharon react badly to the President's decision.
• Captain Kara Thrace and Lieutenant Louanne Katraine are conducting Viper tests. During a test of the Viper's projectile systems, Kat's port gun is destroyed and a piece of it impacts on Thrace's cockpit.
• Cally and CPO Tyrol discover that several rounds of ammunition from the damaged Viper are unusually light and fragile. These rounds break and misfire, leaving the projectile lodged in the barrel. When the next round fires, the overpressure destroys the gun. They determine the ammunition has been sabotaged.
• The sabotage investigation quickly leads Lee Adama and Kara Thrace to Asha Janik, one of the recent civilian hirees in Galactica's armory. When they apprehend her, she declares her allegiance to an organization claiming to want peace with the Cylons.
• The new peace movement, led by Royan Jahee, gains momentum as the civilian population begins to realize that victory against the Cylons is impossible and questions the Fleet's 'attack-and-retreat' tactics.
• In an effort to stop the movement, Adama has Jahee arrested and thrown in the brig.
• Meanwhile, Baltar visits Cloud 9 and discovers that Gina, the Number Six who escaped from Pegasus, has joined the Peace Movement (who are unaware of her true identity). Baltar tries to share his feelings with Gina, but Gina is still haunted by the torture she endured on Pegasus and rejects his advances.
• The Peace Movement continues to cause trouble for the Fleet by damaging a Tyllium ship with a suicide bombing.
• Vice President Gaius Baltar is given the presidential tour by Billy Keikeya in preparation for his assumption of the Presidency. Billy reveals a letter from Roslin, to be opened upon her death.
• Back on Galactica, Marines led by Adama subdue Sharon and take her for the operation. Helo confronts them and pleads with Adama to reconsider. At one point, Helo goes so far as to reach for his weapon.
• Before the confrontation can spiral out of control, Baltar arrives saying he's made a remarkable discovery about Sharon's baby.
• An infusion of Sharon Valerii's fetal blood ostensibly destroys the cancerous masses in Roslin's system. Valerii's pregnancy is allowed to continue for further research.
• Roslin has Jahee released from the brig but warns him that any more acts of sabotage from his group will result in dire consequences.
• Meanwhile, Baltar is pleased that Sharon's baby has been saved. Virtual Six, however, suggests that he read the letter from Roslin. A curious Baltar reads the letter in which Roslin advises him to think less about himself and more about others. Baltar is insulted by Roslin's lack of trust in him.
• Back on Cloud 9, Gina starts to doubt that the Peace movement is going to get any real political support. However, Jahee reveals that although Roslin won't help them, Vice President Baltar has secretly pledged his support. He has also sent them something as a token of his good will: the nuclear warhead from his lab.

On Caprica, prior to the Cylon Attack

• Roslin finds out she has cancer.
• Roslin meets with President Richard Adar to discuss a teacher's strike, and his response.
• Roslin meets with the leader of the educational alliance, Naylin Stans, and strikes an agreement.
• After a brief romantic interlude with Roslin, Adar states her methods and results in dealing with the educational alliance has left him in an awkward position in dealing with other unions, and asks for her resignation.
• Roslin refuses to resign for the moment, and departs for Galactica's decommissioning ceremony.
• Roslin sees Gaius Baltar with Number Six in her dream state. She then seems alarmed to see Dr. Baltar when she wakes up and tries to say something to him.

Notes

• This episode is part of the Season two timeline discontinuity.
• In the podcast, Ron Moore stated that a longer, more detailed explanation of the curing of Roslin's cancer using fetal hybrid blood was filmed - explaining that it was the fetal blood stem cells from the baby that were the actual cure - but Moore was afraid that this would be seen as technobabble and criticized by fans, so it was edited down to a truncated version. Ironically, this resulted in widespread complaint in critic reviews and fan message boards that there was too little explanation in the final version, and uses made up science in favor of real one.
• Lee Adama is once again a Captain, and has been reinstated as Galactica's CAG. His authority apparently extends to the Pegasus squadrons as well. This is consistent with Cole Taylor's authority over Galactica's air wing, when Pegasus was the flagship.
• Gina Inviere has joined the Cylon sympathizers. The other members of the resistance are apparently unaware she is a Cylon agent.
• Roslin was in an intimate relationship with President Adar.
• Roslin now recalls witnessing Gaius Baltar's affair with a copy of Number Six on Caprica, prior to the attack.
• The radiation symbol used by the Colonials is different from the one used in reality, but is still easily recognizable.
• Galactica has been recruiting civilians to handle "grunt work" on the hangar deck.
• Baltar was aware of the Demand Peace movement prior to this episode.
• At least three bodies can be seen being vented into space after the explosion aboard Daru Mozu.
• The file photograph of Number Six is of Shelly Godfrey, seen in the episode "Six Degrees of Separation".
• The nuclear device Dr. Baltar gives the resistance is the same one he was given to create his Cylon detector in "Bastille Day".
• Pegasus is barely featured in this episode, and none of her crew or interior locations are seen, except in the pre-episode recap.
• Admiral Adama continues to wear his commander's uniform with new admiral's rank insignia at his collar.
• This episode, which contains the issue of abortion, was first aired on January 20th, 2 days before the anniversary of the United States Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision of 1973.
  • The issue of abortion is not, however, directly addressed—very few, if any, real-life abortions happen because of the national security implications.

Analysis

• The survivor count this episode is 49,598, a net loss of six since "Resurrection Ship, Part II". Admiral Cain and the Pegasus Marine killed by Gina Inviere account for two. Presumably the remaining were pilots or crew lost during the attack on the Resurrection Ship. This seems to be extremely good fortune, as the two battlestars engaged in a major fleet action for an extended time.
• Roslin's affair with Adar was suggested by her comment in the Miniseries that "he had a way about him... you just couldn't say 'no' to him."
• Naylin Stans implies that he believes the teacher's strike is a cause worth dying for. This claim is very hyperbolic.
  • The fact that President Adar was willing to use the military to enforce a back-to-work order seems to indicate that the protest must have been more serious than simple wage issues.
• Roslin's medical chart shows her name and other information such as date of birth, but this information is too blurry for viewers to read.
• Roslin's recollections of Baltar on Caprica do not match the same scene in the Miniseries. For example: Baltar and Six did walk together and kiss, and she was carrying the same case in her left hand, but they did not "make out" against a wall. Each character did end the Miniseries scene by saying they were meeting someone else, however.
  • Logically, it isn't the same scene. Baltar and Six were on Caprica for a while, and they could easily have been making out a different time on the same day. The episode actually makes no attempt to establish that Roslin is seeing the same scene of Baltar and Number Six (that we the viewers saw in the Miniseries), from a different angle.
• Watching closely during the early scene when Starbuck and Kat are flying the CAP, it seems probable that actress Luciana Carro (Kat) said the real "F word" instead of the ersatz "Frak," which was then dubbed over (as it is a closeup, it's noticeable that her lips don't quite correspond to it). She actually seems to have done this in the past on many occasions.
• Roslin's cancer cure seems somewhat a "deus ex machina." For more analysis on the cure, see this section of the article Science in the Re-imagined Series.
  • It should be noted that the cure might not be permanent and the cancer may return in the future (as hinted by Ronald D. Moore in the podcast for this episode).
• A nuclear warhead was smuggled from Galactica to Cloud 9. How would such a device get past the various radiological sensors throughout the Fleet?
  • This is a plot complication used in "Flesh and Bone" as well when a copy of Leoben Conoy claims that a nuclear device is hidden in the Fleet. "Flesh and Bone" establishes that Colonial radiological scanning technology is limited. It would take hours for them to scan the entire Fleet. The process does work faster when they know specifically what ship to scan, such as the Olympic Carrier when it reappears in "33" because it is a potential hostile, or Cylon ships. Here, they don't know they should scan the outgoing Raptor (how frequently do people move nuclear warheads in the Fleet without their knowledge?) so they didn't think to scan it. In short, they do not scan all air traffic.
  • Like any device, radiological sensors are only effective when they are online. It is possible that these sensors are intelligent enough to ignore known radioactive sources, such as Galactica's existing stores of nuclear warheads.
  • That the nuke even got on board departing craft is another indication of lax security measures on Galactica. A known terrorist representative is leaving Galactica with an unidentified container with unknown contents and no one inquires about its contents.
• Baltar's motivation for saving Roslin is two-fold: One, he does not necessarily want the job of shepherding humanity, at least not until an opportunity presents itself where doing so would save his hide again in later episodes. Most importantly, with his virtual Six nagging and threatening him, saving Roslin provides the reason to keep the Cylon child as a valuable commodity to where even Roslin realized that it is different.

Questions

Answered Questions

• Now that Roslin recalls Baltar's involvement with a Cylon agent on Caprica, what will she do about it? (One answer)
• Will Roslin's attitude toward the Cylon fetus change following her recovery? (Answer)
• Galactica and its Raptors are capable of detecting radiological devices. Why wasn't the bomb noticed in transit? (see Analysis)
• Alternately, is the nuclear device actually functional? (Answer)
• Now that Roslin is no longer dying of cancer, is she still the "Dying Leader" foretold by the Book of Pythia? (Possible answer)

Unanswered Questions

• Kara Thrace is flying Mk. II Vipers with Galactica's pilots again. Is she still the CAG of Pegasus?
• Why is Lee suddenly being disrespectful towards Colonel Tigh in CIC?
• Given that Asha Janik had no previous criminal activity or associations, how is Captain Adama able to determine that she, by name, was responsible for the munitions sabotage?
  • It is possible that Lee was questioning all civilian personnel and Janik simply panicked when she saw him. In addition, they could have lot numbers or other identifiers on ammunition containers that made it possible to single out or narrow down whoever produced a specific batch of shells.
• Will there be any consequences for Agathon's near-mutiny?
• Roslin's recent series of Machiavellian orders (Cain's assassination in "Resurrection Ship, Part I," and the forced abortion here) appear to have been facilitated by her belief that, given her impending death, she wouldn't have to deal with the ethical ramifications. Will this alter her relationship with Admiral Adama in the long term?
• Why wasn't the nuclear warhead from Baltar's abandoned Cylon detector confiscated after the device was declared to be a failure?
• Is security really so lax that Baltar (whom Adama does not consider especially trustworthy) would be able to smuggle one of Galactica's very few nuclear warheads off-ship?
• Why aren't there posters of Gina Inviere scattered all over the fleet to inform everyone of her Cylon identity, making it difficult for her to hide, let alone lead a Cylon-sympathy movement? This is especially curious given the previous broadcast by Roslin of pictures of other Cylon agents in "Litmus".
• Why is it that in the last episode, "Resurrection Ship, Part II," Sharon is not noticeably pregnant even when wearing a close-fitting tank top, but is now suddenly visibly quite progressed in her pregnancy? (This is part of the Season two timeline discontinuity)

Official Statements

• See Podcast:Epiphanies for Ronald D. Moore's comments about this episode.

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Admiral Adama informs Agathon of Roslin's decision to terminate Sharon's pregnancy.

William Adama: There's no easy way to say this. It's about the Cylon. The President has decided that her pregnancy will be terminated.

Karl Agathon (taken aback): What? Why?

Adama: Doc Cottle discovered some anomalies in the fetal blood work.

Agathon: Isn't that expected?

Adama: Maybe. But the President believes that to allow the baby to come to full term, it constitutes an unacceptable risk to the Fleet.

Agathon: I don't understand. Sharon's only helped us since she came back from Caprica. She even turned on her own.

Adama: To save her life. Don't mistake the will to live for genuine compassion, Lieutenant. She's still the enemy.

Agathon: Does she know?

Adama: Not yet.

Agathon: Then I should be the one to tell her. If that's all, sir.

Adama: Helo, I don't expect you to agree to the decision, but I need you to accept it.

Agathon: We're talking about my child, sir. Part of me. But I guess it's easier to kill when you call it a Cylon.

Adama: Dismissed.

• During Roslin's flashbacks:

President Richard Adar: One of the most interesting things about being President is that you don't have to explain yourself. To anyone.

• Roslin earlier attributed this saying to Adar in the episode "Flesh and Bone".

Secretary Roslin: I am on my way to Galactica to represent this administration. When I return, if you still want my job, be prepared to fight.

Guest stars

• Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh
• Aaron Douglas as Chief Galen Tyrol
• Tahmoh Penikett as Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon
• Paul Campbell as Billy Keikeya
• Nicki Clyne as Specialist Cally Henderson
• Alessandro Juliani as Lt. Felix Gaeta
• Kandyse McClure as Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla
• Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. Cottle
• Paul Perri as Royan Jahee
• Luciana Carro as Lt. Louanne "Kat" Katraine
• Bodie Olmos as Lt.Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza
• Leah Cairns as Lt. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson
• David Richmond-Peck as Naylin Stans
• Holly Dignard as Asha Janik
• Jennifer Kitchen as Marine