Colonial Day

Overview

It is Colonial Day

Summary

On Caprica:

• Helo and Valerii have reached Delphi
• Helo considers the humano-Cylons to be human "replicants", created by the Cylons using human DNA.
• Valerii uses this idea as a means of testing his possible feelings towards her, should she reveal her true identity
• Later, as they try to enter the Cylon base at Delphi, Helo first off witnesses two more copies of Six in conversation. After they part, another copy of Valerii comes into view - and sees him
• As the "new" Valerii goes for her gun, Helo's Valerii shoot her, and suddenly the pieces fall into place for Helo and he takes off at the run, flashbacks of everything that has happened during his time on Caprica flashing through his mind - Valerii rescuing him; asking her why she never gets tired when running; his comments about the two of them never enountering other humans...
• Valerii chases him, calling for him to stop, but he ignores her, and she seems to give up the chase.

Review

THE CYLONS WERE CREATED BY MAN. THEY REBELLED. THEY EVOLVED. THEY LOOK AND FEEL HUMAN. SOME OF THEM ARE PROGRAMMED TO THINK THEY ARE HUMAN. THERE ARE MANY COPIES.

AND THEY HAVE A PLAN

Re-cap

• 33: Valerii shooting Six as she comes to Helo's "rescue"
• The Hand of God: Helo seeing Six leading a troop of Cylon warriors towards the famr he and Valerii are hiding in, and Valerii telling him they have to run
• Bastille Day: Shots of Tom Zarek over which Billy Keikeya and Dualla are heard arguing about his status as a prisoner of conscience or a terrorist / butcher
• Bastille Day: Zarek saying he thought Lee Adama said he respected him, Lee replying that was before he resorted to violence & hostage-taking, over clips of the take-over of the Astral Queen
• Bastille Day: Roslin listening to Zarek's broadcast to the fleet calling for her resignation, cutting to a shot of Zarek as he demands elections
• Lee Adama holding a gun to Zarek's head, telling him to let the hostages go in return for control of the Astral Queen

Teaser

Fade-in on a massive starliner, complete with huge domed biome moving with the fleet. As the camera closes on the ship, the caption CLOUD NINE LUXURY LINER appears. The camera closes on the huge, brightly-lit biome come as two Vipers fly by, then the camera is inside the dome, panning down from the white/blue "sky" to trees and a garden over which a sign reading WELCOME QUORUM DELEGATES hangs, and within which a trio of media pundits sit.

The pundits are hosting a new live broadcast show - The Colonial Gang - a show designed to bring the people all the news on the "movers and shakers" within the fleet. During the introduction to the show, it is revealed that the Cloud Nine was damaged during the Cylon Attack and has only just been repaired - and that President Laura Roslin has chosen it for the first meeting of the interim Quorum of Twelve, which has been set to coincide with Colonial Day. The three then discuss the upcoming meeting, and do what pundits do best - disagree with one another, with one of them claiming Roslin has rigged the Quorum with "yes men" selected by her advisor, Wallace Gray, while the remaining two pundits run a counter-argument praising both Roslin and Gray.

As the pundits get into their debate, the scene is intercut with a lone gunman checking and then packing an automatic pistol into a hidden compartment in an atache case, and with Roslin aboard Colonial One, listening to the broadcast with growing disgust, despite the spirited defence of her and Wallace by two of the pundits.

As Wallace is referred to as a "fatuous gasbag", Roslin turns off her radio in disgust - and Wallace himself arrives in her office, requesting 5 minutes. Then exchange small talk about the broadcast, but before they can get down to business, Billy Keikeya interrupts them, and turns on the radio again - in time for them to hear an announcement that the people of Saggittaron have selected Tom Zarek to be their representative on the Quorum of Twelve. As the pundit's debate moves to discuss Zarek's status, Roslin berates herself for not seeing the move coming, and the camera cuts away briefly to the mysterious gunman resuming his preparations before cutting back ot Roslin's office as Wallace notes, "He blew up a government building. Now he's going to sit on the Quorum."

At that moment the telephone buzzes - Adama is on the line from the Galactica. He is drect in his view: they cannot allow a terrorist to sit in government. Roslin replies that her hands are tied: Saggittaran law states that once a convict has served time, they regain their citizenship. Adama offers to place a ban on Zarek's ability to travel within the fleet - thus making it impossible for him to reach the Cloud Nine, but again Roslin refuses. While Adama has a valid point - Zarek represents a danger to the fleet - she can ill-afford to have the crew of the Galactica acting as her personal "goon squad". As the conversation ends, the radio cuts to a live transmission from Zarek himself, in which he claims to be humbled by the honour bestowed on him, accepts the position, and promises to be a "voice for those who have gone too long unheard by a government that serves only the privileged and the powerful, but turns a blind eye to the weak and the poor..." as he continues, the gunman completes his preparations, closes the attache case and walks away with it, with the opening titles replacing him.

Acts

Following the opening titles, Dr. Gaius Baltar is working in his lab, running tests on the blood samples supplied to him for "Cylon scanning". Kara "Starbuck" Thrace enters the lab to inform him when their shuttle will be departing for Cloud Nine. Baltar is mystified by this news, and Six somewhat put out as she hisses, "A surprise getaway? ust the two of you?" Starbuck breask the news to Baltar: he's been selected as the representative for Caprica on the Quorum - she'll be handling his security. After she has gone, Baltar is less than ecstatic, "Politics is the only thing more boring than blood samples. All those interminable speeches, all that really pomp-". He is interrupted by Six, "...Parties full of young women...drawn to men of power." This gives Baltar pause for thought. "Well when the people call, you must serve," he decides, looking at her.

Later, on the Cloud Nine, Lee Adama and Starbuck catch some sun - Lee enjoying the sensation, Thrace bemoaning the fact the horizon has been terribly well done - the frame of the biome is visible through it. She points out that security is going to ba a pain, with "thousands" of places for a sniper to hide, and Lee conferming they have around 500 people to protect, with each colony sending a delegation of leading citizens. They briefly discuss the machinations of politics - Starbuck pointing out the the move really is the first play in Roslin's game to be re-elected, and the conversation degenerates into water play as she takes a garden hose and starts spraying Lee with it.

Later still, as the delegates begin to arrive, the attache case walks by with the aid of a man in a suit. It passes through a security screen without being detected. Outside the biome's ballroom, delegates are being received - with Colonel Tigh and his wife Ellen on hand to represent the Galactica. Elsewhere, the man with the attache case meets with another and they shake hands without a word. Behind them Zarek arrives. As he passes a spectator, he is called a murderer, a claim that leads to a shoving match between the spectator and the man met by Mr. Attache Case. The confrontation is broken-up by Lee Adama.

Meanwhile Zarek arrives at the welcoming committee, and Tigh refuses to shake his hand. Ellen, on the other hand, not only shakes his hand, she makes sure the media take pictures. Afterwards, when challegned by her husband as to why she did this, she claims that Roslin is the past and Zarek is the future.

Down the line, Zarek arrives before Roslin and asks if she'll shake his hand. She not only does this, she also kisses him on the cheeks. Congratulating her on her "play", Zarek asks her to remember that he is not her enemy.

Once inside the ballroom, the Quroum gets down to business, with Roslin running through the heavy agenda. Most of the delegates are listening - Baltar is bored. That is until Six taps him on the shoulder and points out he is missing an "intriguing opportunity": Playa Palacios isn't wearing any underwear. This gets Baltar's attention as Six further points out that Playa has been eyeing him all afternoon. As Baltar stares at the report, she shifts in her seat suggestively - her move hinting that she is indeed without underwear. "She's only human," Baltar states, his ego coming to the fore. He then glances askance at Six, "You're not jealous?" she looks him in the eye, "Love isn't about sex, Gaius." The comment sets him nodding. "There's an enlightened point of view," he agrees. "I've ben thinking," she continues, "As far as I'm concerned, you can have any woman you want, but always remmeber: I have your heart," and she reaches for Baltar's chest, causing him to look down before he replies, "Yes, of course you do," as he looks back at her. Her look hards, and she appears to dig her fingers into Baltar's chest (although this is off-camera), as she concludes, "And I can always rip it out of your chest if I want to, " a comment which has himtrying to suppress a cough and reaching to his left breast with his right hand as a look of discomfort crosses his face.

On the floor, Roslin concludes her run-through of the agenda and the reasons why it has been set. She then asks for a moment for the agenda to be accepted - but Zarek raises an objection. While he acknowledges that all the points on the agenda are valid, one important one is missing: the appointment of a Vice President, pointing out that "Gods fobid, if anything happens to you, Madam President, we have no designated successor." As he continues, the attache case move through the back of the auditorium, as Zarek suggests that without a successor to Roslin, the door would be "wide open for a military dictatorship". He therefore moves that the first item on the agenda should be nominations for Vice President. As the motion is made, Six tells Baltar to second it. When he fails to do so, she barks at him to second the motion, and appears to hold up his left arm, prompting him to call "Second!" - shocking the room and Roslin.

With the movement made and seconded, Roslin has no cjoice but to put it to the vote - which passes, as is immediately followed by Virgon nominating Tom Zarek; a nomination that is immediately seconded by Gemenon. Clearly stunned by the turn of events, Roslin confirms Zarek's nomination - Zarek himself doing a good turn at looking humbly surprised - and then stating the chair will remain open a further 72 hours for further nominations for VP.

--Colonial Archivist 20:41, 6 Jan 2005 (EST)

Analysis

This is the most poorly-conceived and executed episode in BSG's first season. While it does make valid points about the nature and structure of Colonial society within the fleet (or at least Tom Zarek does very briefly), outside of the Helo/Valerii situation on Caprica, the storyline here is ultimately transparent and weak.

Specifically:

• There has been no real sight nor sound of the Cloud Nine (admittedly a wonderfully-ironic name) in the fleet until now - and this is being passed off as being because she has been "under repair".

• "Wallace Gray" is allegedly the power behind Roslin's throne, setting her agenda and policies, overseeing the distribution of food and medical supplies - essentially performing the role of her Chief of Staff / right-hand-man yet never once has he been previously mentioned or seen!

• Further, Wallace Gray is so clearly a plot tool - and a badly-handled one at that: first he doesn't want the VP nomination, but accepts because Roslin needs him; then when asked to step down, he comes off in an embittered huff (presumably never to be seen again).

• Zarek's challenge for the position of Veep is an obvious construction to lay the path for Gaius Baltar to become the Vice President.

• It is surprising that, after her somewhat vicious words to him in Six Degrees of Separation, Roslin can face off with Baltar without so much as an apology for past actions - it has already been established (Secrets and Lies) that since that event she has barely spoken to him - and it hardly seems likely she'd use their time together in the Galactica'sSituation Room to make her apologies / overtures of friendship (The Hand of God).

• It is equally surprising that Baltar's ego doesn't offer greater resistance. True, she is to a degree panderin to his desire to be back in the limelight - but given his nature, such an open "forgive and forget" doesn't entirely sit with his nature.

• Baltar's ascendency to the position of Vice President is badly telegraphed almost as soon as Starbuck visits Baltar in has lab at the top of the show (following the opening titles) to inform him he has been selected as Caprica's representative in the Quorum.

• The intrigue around Valance and his gun, etc., is heavy-handed and comes across ostensibly as padding for a storyline otherwise short on action.

There is still some excellent acting in the episode - especially where Baltar is concerned (his interview with the press and particularly his "Exclusive Interview") in the toilets), but this still doesn't compensate for the rest of the time spent on Cloud Nine.

Not even the supposed "intrigue" surrounding Valance's death - and Ellen Tigh's possible role in it - fails to fire on all cylinders.

Opposing this is the Helo/Caprica storyline which beautifully encapsulates all we need to know and feel:

• Valerii's attempt to probe Helo about his feelings, using his "replicant" theory
• Valerii is showing more symptoms of being pregnant
• They reach Delphi and the chance of a ship off the planet
• Helo is suddenly - and quite unexpectedly - confronted with Valerii's true nature.

This is excellent stuff, but amount to less than 10 minutes of screen time, and again, isn't enough to lift this episode.

Still, every show tends to misfire once or twice through the course of a season - some managing to do so a lot more frequently. We're fortunate that this is the first - and hopefully only - hiccup in what has otherwise been a highly-successful first season.

Notes

• Nine days have passed since the events of Secrets and Lies
• Tylium ore is use to power FTL systems, but probably not through any fissionable reaction
• Cylon technology is clearly a Colonial off-shoot, as one would expect: from the use of tylium down to the shape of doorways
• William Adama’s father was Joseph Adama
• Sharon Valerii on Capica may well be pregnant
• There is an ancient text some 3,600 years old foretelling humanity’s flight – and apparently, Roslin’s leadership
• Mark II Vipers can carry both missiles and munitions pods (bombs)
• The Mark VII Vipers all appear to be out of commission - even Apollo is now regularly flying a Mk II
• The religious overtones to the human / Cylon struggle are becoming more pronounced, with a now-promised confrontation due at the “home of the Gods”
• The Colonial fleet has a tylium refinery ship among its number
• With the capture of the tylium mining facilities on the asteroid, the Colonials should be able to gather enough tylium to keep them going for about 2 years – assuming they can shift that much tylium to their refinery ship before the Cylons return

Noteworthy Dialogue

Lee Adama sits with a battered Viper before the mission. He is joined by his father, who after a short conversation, Adama hands lee a lighter

Adama: It belonged to you grandfather. My mom bought it for him when he was in law school. See the engraving on it? Lee: (reading the name "Joseph Adama") Yes I, um, can barely make it out... Adama: He was a better father than I was. Dad used to carry that into court cases; claimed he never lost unless he left it behind. Lee So you’re worried too.” Adama: “About what?” Lee: Sometimes it feels like the whole ship thinks...Starbuck...would do better. Adama: I don’t. Lee: How can you be so sure? Adama: Because you’re my son.

Statistics

Guest Stars

• Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek
• Kate Vernon as Ellen Tigh
• Robert Wisden as Wallace Gray
• Alex Zahara as Valance
• Malcolm Stewart as ?
• David Kaye as James Macmanus
• Nicki Cylne as Cally
• Cailin Stadnyk as Ensign Davis
• Christina Schild as Playa Palacios
• Biski Gugushe as Sekou Hamilton
• James Ashcroft as Spectator #1
• Particia Idlette as Sarah Parker
• Mario Battista as Gardner

Writing & Direction

• Written by Carla Robinson
• Directed by Joans Pate

Production Notes

• Series 1 (2004 / 2005)
• Production Number: 1.11
• Airdate Order: 11 (of 13)

First Run Air Dates & Releases

• UK Airdate: 10 January 2005 (Sky One)
• US Airdate: (Sci-Fi Channel)
• DVD Release: N/A

Galactica 1980 definition: Dillon is called both a terrorist and a chauvinist by Jamie Hamilton during their phone call from the police station; he asks Troy "what's a terrorist chauvinist?" ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I")}

These are terms directly relating to Galactica 1980, some of which are based from the Original Series. For terms from that series, please refer to List of terms (TOS).

Re-imagined Series definition: Battlestar Group ^{(TRS: "Water")}. It also doubles as an acronym for the television series itself.

Re-imagined Series definition: in military parlance, directive to continue the attack; otherwise used to refer to journalists ^{(TRS: "Maelstrom")}

Re-imagined Series definition: technology enabling travel across distances faster than the speed of light would permit, see: FTL

Re-imagined Series definition: mineral that can be refined to a powerful fuel, see: tylium

Original Series definition: a highly combustible fuel (see: tylium) ^{(TOS: "Fire in Space")}

Original Series definition: a Cylon outpost ^{(TOS: "Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I")}