Resistance (episode)

"Resistance" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 2, Episode 4
Writer(s)	Toni Graphia
Story by
Director	Alan Kroeker
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek
Production No.	204
Nielsen Rating	1.9
US airdate	2005-08-05
CAN airdate	2006-02-04
UK airdate	2006-01-31
DVD release	20 December 2005 US 28 August 2006 UK
Population	47,861 survivors ( 1)
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Fragged	Resistance	The Farm
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
Podcast Transcript – View
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Riots break out in the Fleet over Tigh's declaration of martial law, and a group of Galactica crewmembers led by Lee Adama smuggle Laura Roslin out of the brig and into Tom Zarek's hands. Meanwhile, Kara Thrace and Karl Agathon fall in with a group of humans who survive on Caprica and started a resistance movement.

Summary

On Galactica

• After returning to Galactica (after being rescued from Kobol in the last episode), Chief Tyrol is arrested and interrogated by Colonel Tigh, who believes that Tyrol may be a Cylon. Although Tyrol states otherwise, Tigh believes that, because of the Chief's relationship with Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, now a known humanoid Cylon, he can't be trusted. Tyrol is then put into the same brig as Valerii, and warns her to stay away.
• Gaius Baltar is questioned by Cally on why no one will help Tyrol. Baltar lies by telling her that his Cylon detector was flawed, and that he will try to prove that Tyrol is innocent. Cally threatens to reveal what he did to Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo if he doesn't help her.
• After arriving in CIC, Baltar is questioned by Tigh on why the Cylon detector failed to screen out Valerii. Baltar makes up a convenient technical excuse that Tigh dismisses as so much technobabble. The acting commander orders Baltar to test Tyrol. When Baltar suggests he should assume the role of acting president if Laura Roslin is incapacitated, Tigh tells him he has no power under martial law.
• Lt. Gaeta alerts Tigh to a number of ships in the Fleet that refuse to supply Galactica with food, water, and tylium, and also protest Laura Roslin's incarceration.
• On his way to the brig, Lee Adama meets Anastasia Dualla in the hall, who tells him that Commander Adama is still sedated, and that there is a lot of protest and dissension within the Fleet. Dualla also tells Captain Adama that Tigh's alcohol problem is spinning out of control.
• In his quarters, Tigh tries to figure out a way to get the needed supplies from the protesting ships. Ellen Tigh belittles him and then suggests that he needs to assert his authority. This prompts Tigh to send a stern warning to the other ships, warning them to either resupply Galactica or face consequences.
• In the brig, Captain Adama tells Roslin that she still holds significant influence on some members of the Fleet (as evidenced by her growing relationship with Corporal Venner), which prompts Roslin to state something bad is going to happen in the Fleet.
• With the supply ships still refusing to supply Galactica, Tigh orders squadrons of Colonial Marines to board the ships and take the supplies by any means necessary.
• On the transport ship Gideon, a group of Marines, led by Lt. Joe "Hammerhead" Palladino, attempt to take food supplies off the ship. The civilians grow angrier and fight the troops. A noise that sounds like a gunshot is heard, and the Marines fire on the crowd in response, killing 4 civilians.
• Tigh realizes that he has made the supply problem much worse. News of the riot causes Roslin to realize that it will splinter the Fleet making them easy targets for the Cylons. Roslin tells Captain Adama that she needs to leave Galactica as soon as possible to which he replies that he will come with and has already figured out a way to get off the ship.
• Tigh tells his wife that he is not fit for command, and he knows that she was manipulating him into using strong-arm tactics to resupply Galactica. Ellen retorts that if she didn't motivate him, he would never stop drinking. This causes a fight between the two that ends up with them making love.
• In the brig, Boomer tells Tyrol that she still loves him, but Tyrol dismisses her. Baltar enters the room to test Tyrol to prove he is really human. When injected with a syringe, Tyrol goes into a state of shock. Baltar reveals to Boomer that he has injected him with a toxin. He then tells her that he covered up her true nature as a Cylon from the rest of the Fleet, and that if she wants to save Tyrol, she must reveal how many humanoid Cylons remain in the Fleet. Under duress, Valerii tells Baltar that there are eight other Cylons in the Fleet. Baltar then revives Tyrol.
• Captain Adama begins the escape plan by closing down a causeway on the ship for maintenance, securing a Raptor with which to leave the ship (with the help of Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson), and subsequently brings Roslin from the brig to the shuttle bay, along with Elosha. When Roslin motions Billy Keikeya to board the ship, he tells her that he will be staying behind, because he does not want to be part of a civil war.
• On the bridge, Tigh learns that Captain Adama and Roslin have escaped on a Raptor authorized to launch for use by Doctor Cottle. Despite being given a chance to destroy the ship, Tigh holds the fire order on the Raptor, which escapes to Cloud 9.
• Upon arriving on Cloud 9, Roslin learns that Captain Adama has enlisted the help of Tom Zarek to hide within the Fleet until they can muster enough support to overthrow Tigh on Galactica.
• As Ellen Tigh is complaining to her husband for not firing on Captain Adama, Commander Adama arrives in the room, having recovered enough to walk and move again. His first words are to ask what has happened on his ship. Tigh tells Adama that he messed things up badly, and Adama responds that they will fix the problem together. Ellen Tigh, meanwhile, leaves the room on Adama's request, her hand grasping harshly at the door frame as she leaves in apparent frustration at the turn of events.
• Tyrol is released and Baltar tells him that Boomer will be sent to new, fortified cell for testing. Boomer is led down the corridor to her new prison, with a conflicted Tyrol following. While in route she is surrounded by crew members who yell and heckle her. Suddenly Cally steps from within the crowd and shoots Valerii point-blank in the abdomen. As Cally is taken into custody, the dying Boomer tells Tyrol she loves him, and dies.

Starbuck and Anders playing a game of pyramid.

On Caprica

• While trying to find their way in the wilderness Helo and Starbuck hear noises of a group approaching, which turn out to be humans who think they are Cylons. After a brief firefight the groups are at a standoff until they convince each other that they are not Cylons. When asked about the groups identity, Helo recognizes them as members of a pyramid team called the Caprica Buccaneers.
• The pyramid team-turned-resistance fighters have been attacking the Cylons and stealing supplies from them for weeks having escaped the Cylon attack because they were away for training in remote mountains at the time.
• The Buccaneers take Helo and Starbuck to an abandoned high school, where they stay for the night. Starbuck, intrigued by a makeshift pyramid court, challenges the leader of the group, Anders, to a game.

Notes

General

• As of the opening credits, the Fleet population is now 47,861, reflecting the death of Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo in "Fragged".
• This episode makes the first mention of Pegasus in the Re-imagined Series.
• This episode also uses Tyrol's first name, "Galen," in dialogue. Previously it was only known from an entry in Ron D. Moore's blog.
• There is a small resistance movement on Caprica comprising as of now 53 people, and Karl Agathon and Kara Thrace have joined up with them.

Cylons

• Saul Tigh accusing Galen Tyrol of being a Cylon is reminiscent of the communist witch hunts of the McCarthy era. Of course, in light of "Crossroads, Part II," this accusation is ironic.
• If Boomer is to be believed, there are eight more Cylons hiding in the Fleet. It has already been established that there are only 12 Cylons models in existence, and four have already been revealed in the Fleet (Shelly Godfrey, Leoben Conoy, Aaron Doral, and now Boomer), so each of the as-yet-unknown models may have a representative copy hiding in the Fleet. However, it should be noted that Boomer produces this number under extreme duress. It is possible that she simply fabricates it, or that Baltar is relying on "God" to produce it for her, as he himself did in "The Hand of God". Otherwise, Baltar asserts during the scene that Boomer has the information in her subconscious, so this may be a way of producing it from extreme duress. Furthermore, Baltar counts down "10, 9" stopping before 8: her model number.
  • See Answered Questions from Season 2 for more insights.
• Virtual Six considers the term "toaster" to be a "racial epithet".

Character Developments

• Chief Tyrol has been serving on battlestars since he was 18. Other battlestars he has served on include Columbia, Atlantia, and Pegasus.
  • According to an interview on Subject2Discussion, actor Aaron Douglas (who plays Tyrol) said that a connection between this line, and the later arrival of Pegasus, never occurred to him until a fan asked him about it at a convention after the episode had aired. Douglas is unaware if the writers intended any further backstory behind this for Tyrol, or if they were just throwing out battlestar names.
• Lee Adama can pilot a Raptor. He brought a pilot along with him in "Fragged".
• Brendan Costanza is now leading Combat Air Patrols.
• This episode introduces a conspiracy to free Laura Roslin from imprisonment.
• The background music in the scene where Lee Adama says goodbye to his unconscious father is a faint echo of "Wander my Friends," the victory music from "The Hand of God".
  • Curiously, Baltar's theme plays in the background of the episode's penultimate scene, in which the now-conscious Adama talks with Tigh.
• Dualla has indicated that she would prefer Lee to be in command, as opposed to the frequently inebriated Tigh. She also casts a friendlier-than-usual glance at Lee's backside as he is escorted to the brig, which foreshadows developments in their relationship later in the season.
• Six and Ellen Tigh are both blonds who drive the men to action by whispering over their shoulders.

Technology

• One of the Raptors is aboard Cloud 9. It was all Galactica could do to muster two Raptors in "Fragged," although they had four in operation earlier that day in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II".
• Tylium is used to fuel the maneuvering thrusters on the Viper craft, as well as the FTL engines for the rest of the Fleet.
• Colonel Tigh derides Dr. Baltar for using "technobabble" pseudo-scientific explanations frequently used on Ron Moore's old "Star Trek: The Next Generation" series.

Timeline Placement

• This episode gives no direct indication of its date. All the first season episodes identify the date during their Caprica segments, and the first three episodes of this season take place on the same day as "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II". There are a few possible indicators of time elapsed:
  • Tyrol is in a holding cell. He apparently hasn't been there for long, and his arm is still in a sling.
  • Baltar's numerous facial cuts and scrapes are still somewhat visible.
  • Apollo has been gone from the officer's card game long enough to be missed. His last game was on Day 50.
  • Apollo asks Dualla how his father is doing "this morning," and Dualla's response implies that this is at least the second time he's asked her. His first opportunity to do so would have been on the morning of Day 52. Ronald D. Moore's podcast says that this conversation has been a "routine happening each day," i.e., more than twice. This puts this episode at Day 54 at least.
  • According to the episode "Final Cut," Tigh was in command for "over a week," which unfortunately tells little - the next episode, where Adama finally resumes command, takes place "the next week" after this one.
  • However, the episode Downloaded (Season 2, Episode 18) starts with a flashback of Six resurrecting after dying in the attack on the Colonies. The next scene is a flashback to "Ten weeks later," and cuts to the scene on Galactica where Cally shoots and kills Boomer.
• Boomer dies in this episode, shot by Cally. There is still the Valerii copy on Caprica, which will reappear in the next episode, and in later episodes be taken aboard Galactica ^{(TRS: "Home, Part II")}.

Mirroring Real-life Events

• Boomer dies in a manner that mirrors what happened to Lee Harvey Oswald (the assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy). Oswald himself is shot at point blank range by a man named Jack Ruby while being transferred to another prison. According to an interview with Aaron Douglas, the scene was intentionally meant to resemble the infamous video of Ruby shooting Oswald: before it was shot, all of the Marine and crew extras were shown the Ruby video, and instructed to copy the reactions of specific guards in the video to make the scene more closely resemble the assassination.
• The shooting on the Gideon was inspired by the Kent State Shootings. Some have also stated that it is somewhat similar to the Boston Massacre, which helped spark the American Revolutionary War. Ronald D. Moore's podcast says that this scene was directly inspired by the Boston Massacre. A group of armed soldiers, not trained or equipped as riot police, are being pelted with objects (albeit non-lethal ones) by a hostile crowd and react with the training and equipment that they have when a threat is perceived.

Analysis

• Continuing from the events of last episode, "Fragged," Cally has indeed threatened Dr. Baltar with revealing that he fragged Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo in return for demanding that he help Chief Tyrol.
• When Baltar interrogates Boomer by threatening to kill Tyrol if she refuses to supply him information, he could be trying to ascertain if it is really possible for a Cylon (like Caprica-Six) to genuinely love a human (like himself).
• Baltar has a working Cylon detector ^{(TRS: "Flesh and Bone")} and access to blood samples from every Colonial in the Fleet. It could well be that he already knows how many Cylon infiltrators are in the fleet, and was actually testing Boomer to see if she did, too. Before Cally shot her, he was intending to interrogate her further—perhaps this was a trial run of the method he intended to use to extract vital information from her subconscious? However, Baltar told Six that it would take around 60 years to test everyone in the Fleet because one person's complete test would take 11 hours; he doesn't know how many are in the Fleet.
  • It takes him less than two minutes to determine Boomer's true nature in "Flesh and Bone". Whatever reason Baltar has for giving the 11 hour estimate clearly doesn't preclude him determining unambiguous positives in a more reasonable timeframe. What he could be referring to is that 11 hours is how long a definite "not Cylon" reading would take. A detection could be almost instantaneous.
  • It has been (approximately, see timeline issues below) 26 days since "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down," during which only one result was produced (for Ellen Tigh), minus the 3 days Baltar spent attending Quorum sessions and 2 days stranded on Kobol. The remaining 20 day period would only be sufficient to produce an additional 43 results. Tigh's chagrin that "no one's results are definitive" may imply that a substantially greater number have been produced.
  • As of "Home, Part I," this line of inquiry is somewhat moot. Baltar does not know the identity of the remaining Cylon infiltrators, and regrets not asking Boomer before her death.
• Tigh's authority on the ship appears to have grown more tenuous. Numerous officers and crew are now willing to actively assist in Roslin's escape. Dualla, Dr. Cottle and Lee Adama are all directly involved. Gaeta assists indirectly by denying knowledge of the unusual transmissions detected prior to the jail break even after asking Dualla about them earlier. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson lies about problems with her Raptor, giving Adama an excuse to return to the hangar deck.
• Gaeta, who is known as a very correct officer, lies to Colonel Tigh when he asks if there were any unusual transmissions before President Roslin's escape.

Questions

Answered Questions

• What will Commander Adama do to resolve the crisis now that he has regained consciousness? (Answer 1 and Answer 2.)
• What will happen to President Roslin, now on the run? (Answer 1 and Answer 2)
• What will happen to Cally now that she has killed Boomer? (Answer 1 and Answer 2)
• Could Boomer return to the show, to be reunited with Chief Tyrol, after having her consciousness transferred to another body? (Answer 1 and Answer 2)
• Chief Tyrol mentions that he once served aboard the battlestar Pegasus. Will this be significant when Pegasus is discovered by Galactica? (Answer)
• Who are the eight Cylons in the Fleet? (Answer)

Unanswered Questions

• Does the survivor count discriminate between humans and Cylons? Was Boomer ever removed from this count? (Partial Answer)
• When was the survivor count updated to include the deaths of Tarn and Socinus on Kobol? Clearly not after the survivors were returned to Galactica, or the decrement between this episode and the last would be 3, not 1. Did the decrement of 1 between "Scattered" and "Valley of Darkness" refer to Tarn's death, or to Flyboy's before the opening credits?
• Eight ships in total refuse to resupply Galactica. Tigh orders "a Raptor and an armed Marine boarding party for every ship refusing the resupply order." Gaeta explains that they are short on manpower, but says nothing about equipment shortages. A caption then identifies "Galactica Boarding Party Six". Is it possible that Galactica was able to deploy eight Raptors following the destruction of two in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I," and the scrapping of an additional Raptor in "Fragged" (which in that episode was necessary to muster even two Raptors)? Were the boarding parties deployed sequentially, not simultaneously? If so, why would manpower shortage be a concern?
  • It is possible that Tigh commandeered civilian shuttles to carry boarding parties.
• Anders states that he and the other resistance fighters have seen Cylons in uniform. If these were indeed Cylons, which models were they?
• After it is decided that the cylon detector is faulty, why did the military not reclaim it?

Official Statements

• Nicki Clyne comments on Cally's motivations in shooting Boomer from Scifibrain's March 17, 2006 interview:
  1. I think Boomer represented all the things that were wrong for her at that time, including her relationship with Tyrol. So, I think she just saw Boomer as this symbol of what was wrong for her at the time. She couldn’t see any other way to deal with it.
  2. On whether or not Cally was guilty for killing Boomer: That is a tough one, and I think about that a lot, because I don’t think it is right to kill anything. I don’t think it can ever be a positive feeling. At the time, she felt like there was no other way, and that was her only option, but I am sure upon reflection in the brig, or when she got back to work, that she saw how it affected Tyrol. That she, she shows a lot of wondering. There is actually a scene that got cut [in "Flight of the Phoenix"], but she finally approaches the Chief, when she is finally sick of him ignoring her, after she has gotten out of jail, she says, "If I had a chance, I would do it all over again."

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Baltar tries to explain the failure of his Cylon detector:

Saul Tigh: What the hell's the matter with your Cylon detector, doctor? You gave the assassin a pass.

Gaius Baltar: Yes, but that was a beta test. A preliminary. Clearly I haven't perfected my methodology and she slipped through.

Saul Tigh: So what the hell are you telling me here, that we are back to square one? That no one's results are definitive?

Gaius Baltar: No, I am-

Saul Tigh: That we have no way of knowing who are the Cylons among us?

Gaius Baltar: -not saying that, since Valerii's test- since the assassin's test I've developed a new set of protocols which should eliminate any errors - anomalies - that popped up earlier. Look, if you let me test the chief's blood, I might be able to tell once and for all if-

Saul Tigh: No "if"! I want a definitive answer, no more of your weaselly technobabble. He's a Cylon or he's not. So get down there and do something right for a change.

Gaius Baltar: I am the Vice President. Legally speaking, if the President is incapacitated, shouldn't I take over her-

Saul Tigh: Legally speaking, I have declared martial law, that makes you nobody.

• In Galactica's brig, Tyrol is led into a cell with Sharon Valerii:

Sharon Valerii: (crying) Chief? I thought you were on Kobol?

(Tyrol is shoved into the cell, and Sharon tries to hug him)

Chief Tyrol: Don't you talk to me. Don't come near me. Don't even touch me. If you do, I will kill you.

• In one of Galactica's corridors:

Cally: They locked the Chief up with Boomer. Tigh thinks he's a Cylon.

Gaius Baltar: I know. I'm going to see the Colonel now. If anyone's going to find a way to clear the Chief, or...

Cally: Or what? Throw him out the airlock like a piece of garbage? If Commander Adama were in charge, this would have never happened.

Gaius Baltar: Yes, but he's not in charge, is he?

• Chief Tyrol has been accused of being a Cylon, and Cally pleads with Baltar for help:

Cally: I've known the Chief for years. He's no Toaster!

Baltar: He was involved with Lieutenant Valerii, who most certainly is a Toaster.

Number Six: That word is racist! I don't like it!

Cally: Sure...he's shown some bad judgment getting involved with her. But that doesn't mean he's a Toaster. You've got to help him.

Number Six: Say something, Gaius. Tell her you won't have racial epithets used in your presence!

• Mechanics are building a new brig cell to imprison suspected Cylons:

Cally: They're putting the Chief in there, you know.

Jammer: I don't care if they put a giant parakeet in here. Colonel says build a cell, we build a cell.

Cally: This isn't right. He's one of us!

Jammer: No, he's one of them. He always was. We just never saw it.

Cally: No, he's innocent! She tricked him!

Jammer: Wow, such loyalty. Were you fracking him too? (Cally slams Jammer into a wall, then punches him in the face. Hard) You want to get pissed at someone, you get pissed at Boomer! She's the one who put the Chief in the cell here, not us!

• After Lee Adama and President Roslin arrive on Cloud 9:

Lee Adama: Well, we're home free for now.

Tom Zarek: (standing in the hangar bay) Good to see you, Madam President.

Laura Roslin: Captain Apollo, what is Mr. Zarek doing here?

Lee Adama: Once Tigh gets over his initial shock, he'll send troops out to search for us, and if we're going to make it, we have to keep on the move. I figured Mr. Zarek here is the only one in the fleet with enough shady friends around to hide us.

Tom Zarek: (to Laura) I love the way he puts that.

Laura Roslin: Well, Mr. Zarek, it would seem that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Tom Zarek: Call me Tom.

• Galactica-Sharon's dying words:

Sharon Valerii: I love you, Chief...

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
• Michael Trucco as Samuel Anders
• Kate Vernon as Ellen Tigh
• Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. Cottle
• Lorena Gale as Elosha
• Chris Shields as Corporal Venner
• Bodie Olmos as Lt. Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza
• Leah Cairns as Lt. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson
• Dominic Zamprogna as James "Jammer" Lyman
• Tamara Lashley as Sue-Shaun
• Jeremy Guilbaut as Lt. Joe "Hammerhead" Palladino
• Heather Doerksen as Sergeant Brandy Harder (credited as "Marine With A Sandwich")
• Curtis Lee Hicks as "Marine Sergeant"