Act of Contrition

"Act of Contrition" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 4
Writer(s)	Bradley Thompson David Weddle
Story by
Director	Rod Hardy
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	{{{guests}}}
Production No.	104
Nielsen Rating	2.5
US airdate	2005-01-28
CAN airdate	2005-02-05
UK airdate	2004-11-08
DVD release	20 September 2005 US 28 March 2005 UK
Population	47,958 survivors ()
Additional Info
Full Credits
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Bastille Day	Act of Contrition	You Can't Go Home Again
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
Deleted Scenes
[[IMDB:tt{{{imdb}}}|IMDb entry]]
Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
Photo Gallery			@ BW Media
Promotional Materials
Online Purchasing
Amazon: Standard Definition | High Definition

When several Viper pilots are killed in a freak accident, Adama turns to Kara "Starbuck" Thrace for help - but her involvement in the aftermath of the accident and in training new pilots causes the truth surrounding Zak Adama's death to finally surface.

Summary

On Galactica

• It is Dwight "Flat Top" Saunders' 1,000th deck landing, which brings Galactica's pilots down to the hangar deck to celebrate.
• As the celebrations continue, a communication drone stowed on the hangar deck breaks loose from its restraints, falling to the deck and igniting its motor. The drone flies across the hangar, smashing into the celebrating pilots where it explodes, killing Flat Top and twelve others and putting seven more in sickbay.
• As the surviving pilots prepare for the services for the dead, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace has flashbacks to her first meeting with William Adama, following the death of his son, Zak.
• During the memorial service itself, she, Lee Adama and Bill Adama all have flashbacks – to Zak Adama's funeral and (in Thrace's case) to her telling Zak he has qualified as a Viper pilot.
• Following the service, Commander Adama asks Thrace to oversee the training of any new pilots they can find in the Fleet.
• Thrace is initially hesitant, and the Commander guesses the cause is Zak's accident. He reassures her that his son's death was not her fault – which causes Thrace to remember her admission to Lee Adama: that she passed Zak Adama through his basic training when he had in fact failed ^{(TRS: "Miniseries")}.
• She reluctantly accepts the duty, but memories of Zak Adama continue to haunt her as she plays cards with Gaius Baltar, oblivious to a conversation that takes place between Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo and Felix Gaeta concerning Baltar's Cylon detector – a conversation that leaves Boomer very uncomfortable.
• Elsewhere on Galactica, President Laura Roslin is examined by the ship's medical officer, Doctor Cottle. His diagnosis is not good: her cancer is inoperable. Roslin decides that she wants to try alternative therapy using Chamalla extract – something with entirely unproven effectiveness.
• Later, Thrace meets her first batch of recruits. They are all pilots – but none have ever flown a Viper. With no simulators aboard Galactica, the newbies – nuggets – are thrown straight into the cockpit of the real thing.
• Their performance during their first training flight is hardly stellar, and Thrace is uncompromisingly hard on the first batch of recruits, washing them all out.
• Captain Adama confronts her on her decision, and realizes it is caused more by guilt about Zak Adama than on the ability of the trainees. When she refuses to reinstate the trainees, he takes the matter up with Commander Adama.
• Commander Adama initially supports Thrace's decision, but a misunderstanding between him and Lee Adama causes him to meet with Thrace to discuss Zak's death.
• When Starbuck tries to dodge the issue, Adama pins her down, and she admits the truth: Zak botched his final training flights, but she passed him because she was in love with him and they were engaged – but Zak really wasn't the right material for flying Vipers.
• Angered and hurt, Adama orders her to reinstate the trainees and to get out of his cabin.
• Starbuck pilots Viper 1104 and leads a handful of the trainees on a training flight, about to begin a Thorch weave maneuver lesson when DRADIS detects a group of Cylon Raiders. Starbuck orders her nuggets to return to Galactica and enters the combat zone, initially unaware that Hotdog chose to stay as her wingman.
• In the ensuing dogfight, Starbuck takes care of the Raiders (with Hot Dog's aid), but her Viper is damaged after dispatching (but not destroying) the last Raider, losing first her transponder and then complete flight control.
• Hotdog's Viper is severely damaged, but he survives and awaits a SAR pickup.
• Viper 1104 goes into a flat spin as Thrace and the last Raider (that's apparently dead) from the small squadron fall into the gravity well of a nearby moon. The moon's atmosphere eventually tears Viper 1104 apart, forcing her to eject.

On Caprica

• Karl "Helo" Agathon and Sharon Valerii are tracking the source of the signal they previously picked up out in the woods ^{(TRS: "Water")}.
• The signal leads them to a restaurant in the city, which has a radiation shelter under it, stocked with everything they need to survive — water, food, blankets — even anti-radiation medication.
• Their arrival at the restaurant is observed by a copy of Six.

Notes

In-Universe

• The episode takes place 48 hours after the prisoner uprising on Astral Queen in "Bastille Day".
• Water replenishment operations are still underway.
• William Adama's relationship with Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is not as long-standing as the Miniseries appears to suggest: they have only served together for two years. However, their dynamic is very much like that of a father and daughter.
• Word is leaking out about Baltar's Cylon detector.
• The central conflict revolves around Thrace's guilt over her fiancé, Zak Adama. She passed him for flight duty despite his poor piloting skills, which led directly to his death. According to the commentary, the writers decided William Adama did not know about her involvement prior to this episode, making his discovery genuine. The producers considered this a "one time only" storyline that was a key emotional moment for the season.
• According to Ron Moore, the writers were still "feeling our way through" the Caprica storyline at this point in the season. David Eick noted that this episode's plot for Karl "Helo" Agathon and Caprica-Valerii was "a bit of shoe leather" to keep the story active, as they felt they had to visit Caprica in every episode.

Military Observations

• Following the hangar deck accident, Galactica has a remaining contingent of 40 Vipers, but now only has 21 combat-ready pilots and a further 8 newbie "nuggets".
• Dr. Cottle makes his first appearance. Ron Moore states he was intentionally written to be the opposite of the "touchy-feely," Dr. McCoy-style doctor, wanting a character who would light a cigarette in front of a cancer patient and refuse to put it out. The actor, Donnelly Rhodes, was one of the finalists for the role of Saul Tigh.
• The Colonial military use what appear to be HumVees and Deuce-and-a-half trucks.

Real-World and Production

• The hangar deck accident was inspired by a real-life disaster aboard the USS Forrestal in 1967. The network was concerned about the number of deaths, which was reduced from 30 in the script to the 13 seen on screen as a compromise.
• The "Jody" chant performed by the pilots was adapted from a real U.S. Air Force cadence for A-10 Warthog pilots. The show's military advisor, Ron Blecker, was reportedly not a fan of the adaptation.
• The recurring Viper ejection sequence that opens each act is an homage to the film The Right Stuff.
• The original plan for the ejection sequence was for the pilot's identity to remain a mystery until the very end of the episode. The decision to reveal it was Kara "Starbuck" Thrace early on was made late in post-production, a choice director Rod Hardy was reportedly not happy with.
• While Starbuck's Viper is burning on entry into the atmosphere, the Viper's altimeter is shown going in reverse, indicating altitude gain instead of a descent.
• In the scene where Karl "Helo" Agathon and Sharon find the fallout shelter, the bookshelf that covers the entrance contains books from modern-day Earth. As it falls, "The Final Diagnosis" by Arthur Hailey is visible, as is another book with what appears to be a Nazi swastika and a photo of Adolf Hitler on its cover.
• The first draft of the script for "Act of Contrition" contained a subplot in which President Roslin visited an overcrowded ship and attempted to improve its passengers' conditions.
• Director Rod Hardy is an Australian director whose credits include The X-Files, JAG and the soap Neighbours.

Writing and Development

• The storyline for the episode came from writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle asking, "What happens when they start running out of pilots?" This naturally led into the events surrounding Zak Adama's death, as it is Kara's job to train replacement pilots, forcing her to face the past.
• Ronald D. Moore had set up a fascinating triangle between Adama, Lee, and Kara in the miniseries and left "a huge skeleton in Kara's closet that was worth exploring." Thompson and Weddle wanted to explore all three characters' reactions to Zak's death and the circumstances surrounding it.
• Instead of having the characters merely talk about the events surrounding Zak's tragic death, Thompson and Weddle decided to depict them in flashbacks. Their concept was embraced by Ronald D. Moore, who personally added Adama's first meeting with Thrace to the episode's script, and ultimately decided to frame the whole episode around Thrace crash-landing her Viper onto a barren moon.
• The flashbacks were consciously written like the opening of Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway. Moore came up with the idea of Thrace's Viper going down at the beginning of each act, which the writers thought was brilliant because it was a metaphor for what was going on in her life.
• While writing the flashbacks to the time of Zak's death, Thompson and Weddle used Moore's Series Bible as a source of background information about the characters. "The Series Bible contained a lot of really good ideas about why these people ended up where they are, and where they came from," notes Thompson. "We used things in that whenever they helped the drama, but also changed things where it helped the drama. Ron is great in that respect — he's always open to new ideas".
• An idea that came out of the Series Bible was a one-night stand between Lee and Kara. Thompson and Weddle's original story outline for "Act of Contrition" featured a romantic encounter between the two characters, but it was dropped from their script. "We decided it was too early to do that," reveals Weddle. "We wanted to keep the tension between the characters and really expand it over a longer period of time".
• Originally, the writers planned to do the attrition phase of the Battle of Britain and show Galactica's pilots repeatedly getting shot up by the Cylons and dying. But as Moore pointed out, that was way too hard to produce. So instead, he suggested they do something like the accident that took place aboard the USS Forrestal in the Vietnam War. "That was a great way to kill the Viper pilots off quickly with one effect".

Performance and Reception

• The episode provided Katee Sackhoff with a welcome opportunity to explore Kara's feelings about her involvement in Zak's tragic death, and share some memorable moments with Edward James Olmos' Commander Adama.
• The episode also required Sackhoff to shoot a love scene with guest actor Tobias Mehler, who plays Zak.
• On the day they shot the love scene, Sackhoff won the crew's "Five Dollar Friday" drawing, receiving $300 in one dollar bills and quarters.
• Kara's recollection of her life with Zak features a deliberately unconventional blend of musical themes from Bear McCreary, including a hip-hop piece in 7/4 time that functions as source music during the card game.
• The episode earned its place among the most memorable hours of Battlestar Galactica's first season, with David Eick noting it stands alongside "33" and the two-part finale as one of the season's strongest episodes.

Character Development

• Dr. Cottle is described as "an offbeat and quite irreverent character" who "is supposed to be retired but was pressed back into service following the destruction of the Colonies. He doesn't have a lot of supplies, so he's a bit cranky. And he's not someone who practices what he preaches — which you can see in the fact that he's a smoker". Actor Donnelly Rhodes made his debut as Dr. Cottle in this episode. A veteran Canadian stage and screen actor whose credits range from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Young and The Restless and Soap to Da Vinci's Inquest, Rhodes knew little about Battlestar Galactica before he was cast as Cottle.
• Writer David Weddle named Dr. Cottle after a real-life physician he knew from his childhood.
• Bodie Olmos, the real-life son of Battlestar Galactica's leading man, Edward James Olmos, was cast as one of Galactica's Viper pilots after auditioning for the show's makers. Following Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza's memorable debut in "Act of Contrition," Olmos went on to play the character on a recurring basis throughout the rest of the first season.

Analysis

• This episode emphasizes many of the goals set at the series' creation to make a sci-fi series that is grounded in realism. The logistical limitations on the Fleet are readily apparent: this episode highlights how difficult it is for Galactica to train new combat-ready pilots, as there are no reserve pilots and civilians with little or no prior flying experience are all that they have to work with.
• Further, this episode shows that sometimes accidents simply happen on a battlestar: this is not a perfect, pristine in-story universe but a worn, run-down real world. The accident on the flight deck occurred not through sabotage or some sort of technobabble space anomaly, but simply because an old piece of equipment wore out.
• The realism highlighted by this episode is again apparent in the climactic scene between Starbuck and Commander Adama, in which she reveals that she was responsible for his son's death. The dramatic situation it focused on is not centered around some sci-fi concept, but the interactions between people which could have occurred on present-day Earth. If the script for this episode were ported onto another series set on a modern-day Navy aircraft carrier, there would be few if any changes to it. It is a drama script, which happens to be set in space, which was one of the goals of the series.

Questions

Answered Questions

For answers to the questions in this section, click here.

• Why does Major Sherman Cottle smoke, knowing full well the medical implications of cigarette smoking?

Unanswered Questions

None yet.

Official Statements

• Ron D. Moore discusses Cottle's smoking:

  Moore: Because smoking is cool. Don't let anyone tell you different, kid. [...] Seriously, we're showing people doing what people really do and not all of their choices are smart ones. We smoke, we drink, we have sex with the wrong partners—we make lots of bad choices and some of them we do knowingly and in full cognizance of the risks and consequences. Dr. Cottle obviously knows the risks associated with smoking and he elects to do it anyway — that's his choice.

• Bodie Olmos talks about his most challenging day on-set:

  Olmos: Interesting[ly] enough, probably the first episode I was in, "Act of Contrition". I was so excited, nervous and amazed that I was on the show. That for me was a rough day, let me tell you! I could hardly sit still and the day seemed so long. I just wanted to be good, and make sure I knew what this character was all about, which is very difficult. I think it evolves. One minute you may think he is like this but then you see that he actually believes something else. So I was definitely glad to make it through that one.

• Katee Sackhoff on filming the episode:

  Sackhoff: It was great to do that episode. When I first heard what they were doing, my initial reaction was that it was too soon for Kara to reveal her secret to Adama. But I now think it was played out just right. And I was really excited to have those scenes with Eddie just because I knew they would be great, because he gives so much.

• Edward James Olmos on the emotional impact:

  Olmos: That was a beautiful episode. Those scenes were just fantastic. You really feel for the characters. It's a brutal moment when Adama tells Starbuck to get out of the room while she still can. I dismiss her totally from my life in that moment. It's very hard for her, but it's a harsh reality that he has to face — he learns that this person effectively allowed his son to kill himself.

• Katee Sackhoff on meeting Tobias Mehler:

  Sackhoff: I think the first time I met him was in the makeup trailer when they were doing his body makeup. I was like, 'Pleased to meet you. I'm going to make out with you in two minutes!'

• Katee Sackhoff on winning "Five Dollar Friday":

  Sackhoff: On Fridays, everybody on the cast and crew puts in five dollars and the winner of the draw wins it all — it's usually between $200 and $400. I just happened to win that day, so right after I shot the love scene, I got paid $300 in one dollar bills and quarters. I was like, 'Oh my God! Now I feel like a prostitute!' It was a perfectly fitting end to the day!

• Bear McCreary on the musical score:

  McCreary: I wrote a funky little hip-hop piece in 7/4 that functions as 'source music' while Kara plays cards with the gang. As we cut to her flashbacks of Zak, the beat drifts into the background, behind an atmospheric and ethereal score.

• David Eick on the episode's impact:

  Eick: I think it stands alongside '33' and the two-part finale as one of the season's strongest episodes. It's deeply emotional. It taps the reservoirs of two of our best actors, Eddie and Katee, and it just turned out great. I actually think it elevated the genre. A lot of people said they were not accustomed to being moved like that by a science fiction show.

• David Weddle on naming Dr. Cottle:

  Weddle: He was the doctor I had as a kid. He bears absolutely no resemblance to this Dr Cottle. He was kind, solicitous and did not smoke. And this is how I repay him!

Noteworthy Dialogue

• In Adama's Cabin, with Thrace and Adama, discussing comments made earlier by Lee Adama:

Adama: He said something else. That you might have been feeling guilty about something you did for Zak. What did you do for him?

Thrace: I don't know. You'd have to ask Lee.

Adama: I'm asking you.

Thrace: Well I don't kn- I, ah...I don't really know what he was talking about, so...

Adama: Don't fence with me, Kara. I love you like a daughter. I don't deserve that.

Thrace: Ummm...Zak...failed...basic flight. He wasn't a bad pilot, he just had no feel for flying...and, um, when it came to his final check ride he...busted...three of the test manoeuvres, and I should have flunked him, but I didn't. The bottom line is your...son...didn't have the chops to fly a Viper...and I killed him.

Adama: (following a flashback) You did it because you were engaged.

Thrace: (breaking down) Because I made a mistake...because I was just...I was so in love with him...and I let that get in the way of doing my job...and um, and he um, he just wanted it so much, and I...I didn't want to be the one who crushed him...

Adama: Reinstate the trainees to flight status.

Thrace: I will...but I just want you to understand...that I...

Adama: Do your job.

Thrace: Yes sir...

Adama: And walk out of this cabin...while you still can...

Guest stars

• Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh
• Aaron Douglas as Chief Galen Tyrol
• Tahmoh Penikett as Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon
• Kandyse McClure as Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla
• Paul Campbell as Billy Keikeya
• Alessandro Juliani as Lt. Felix Gaeta
• Samuel Witwer as Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo
• Lorena Gale as Elosha
• Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. Sherman Cottle
• Jill Teed as Sergeant Hadrian
• Tobias Mehler as Zak Adama
• Colby Johannson as Lt. Dwight "Flat Top" Saunders
• Bill Meilen as Caprica Cleric
• Bodie Olmos as Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza
• Lucianna Carro as Louanne "Kat" Katraine
• Terry Chen as Donald "Chuckles" Perry

References

External Links

• Contrition at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.