Someone to Watch Over Me

"Someone To Watch Over Me" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 17
Writer(s)	Bradley Thompson David Weddle
Story by
Director	Michael Nankin
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	419
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	February 27, 2009
CAN airdate	February 27, 2009
UK airdate	March 3, 2009
DVD release
Population	39,556 survivors ()
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Deadlock	Someone To Watch Over Me	Islanded in a Stream of Stars
Related Information
Official Summary
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Listing of props for this episode
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Overview

Starbuck discovers a hidden musical ability that bears a mysterious significance to the final five Cylons, and her tune is found to have a connection with three-year-old human-Cylon hybrid Hera. The president authorizes Boomer's extradition from the brig so she can stand trial for treason on the Cylon baseship.

Summary

Teaser

• Kara Thrace gets out of her bunk and opens her locker. Looking in the mirror, she momentarily sees the image of her own corpse found on Earth in the reflection. Disturbed, Kara takes out the bloodstained dog tags recovered from the corpse and stares at them, silently brooding to herself.
• Kara goes through her daily routine - showering, dressing, giving the Cylon and Colonial pilots their assignments, doing paperwork, and drinking at the bar.
• The Fleet is still searching for a habitable planet. Galactica is now experiencing frequent power losses and plumbing disruptions due to the ongoing repair work.
• Tyrol informs Admiral Adama, Lee Adama, and President Roslin that the repairs and the Cylon organic substance will buy the ship a few more jumps, but not many. The admiral states that he isn't ready to give up just yet.
• Lee congratulates Sonja, a Number Six model, on her appointment as the Cylons' representative to the newly-formed Quorum of Ships' Captains.
• Sonja makes a formal request that Boomer be returned to the Cylons. When Adama starts to protest that Boomer tried to kill him, Sonja explains that they don't want Boomer set free. They want to try Boomer for treason, as she sided with Cavil in the Cylon Civil War.
• When Lee asks what will happen to Boomer if she's convicted, Sonja says that with the loss of their ability to resurrect, the Cylons can now implement capital punishment.
• Tyrol realizes what this means: They're going to kill Boomer.

Notes

• Gaius Baltar and Caprica-Six do not appear in this episode. As with the previous episode, Lee Adama appears in only a couple of scenes.
• "Someone To Watch Over Me" is the name of a song composed by George and Ira Gershwin, and featured in the musical Oh, Kay! A major theme of the song is the need to find love and acceptance, something Sharon Valerii, Galen Tyrol and Kara Thrace are all seeking in their own ways.
  • There was also an episode of Star Trek: Voyager named for the song, in which it is performed at the end by The Doctor.
• Weeks have passed since the end of the mutiny, as evidenced by Cottle's comment about how long Anders' EKG readings have remained steady, and Starbuck's comment about how long she has repeated the same mission briefing.
• Starbuck acknowledges her pilots that the mutiny has "thinned our numbers". This, combined with the apparent absence of pilots such as Margaret Edmonson and Diana Seelix, confirms their involvement in the mutiny did not go unpunished, although exactly what that punishment is remains unknown.
  • In the Podcast for "Deadlock" RDM states that all the mutineers were imprisoned on the Astral Queen.
• After her apparent death in "Maelstrom", Kara's personal belongings were auctioned off. Helo has managed to get them all back for her. However, the only thing Kara is interested in is her father's music tape.
• Some of the music played by the mysterious piano player is from the original series. Numian's 3rd Sonata, Second Movement, is in fact from the opening dialogue of the classic series ("There are those who believe that life here, began out there..."), and the original Cylon musical cue is derived from that tune as well. This is not the first time music from the original series has shown up (i.e. the Colonial Anthem), and lends to the idea that 'everything has happened before, and will happen again'.
• The brand of "Tauron toothpaste" offered as a prize to the pilots is called "Felgercarb," a word used in the original series to mean "shit." Tauron comes from Taurus the bull. In essence, Kara is offering the pilot who finds a new planet "bullshittoothpaste".
• The collection of named Number Six models expands with the addition of Sonja, who becomes the first Cylon to be elected to the Fleet's reconstituted Quorum.
• When Tyrol visits and talks to Boomer for the first time in the Brig, during the conversation Boomer calls Tyrol "Galen" for the first time, at least publicly and on screen. Previously she has only been known to call Tyrol "Chief", perhaps out of reflex action to keep their romance a secret, even though it was the worst kept secret in the fleet.

Analysis

Galactica's condition

• FTL jumps appear to create spatial distortions that can seriously strain a ships hull. Although bad hull damage does not necessarily prevent a ship from jumping (as has been seen many times before in the seasons, for example Pegasus - which jumped after being hit by three nuclear missiles in The Captain's Hand) the threat to Galactica has been compounded by the added riddling of the entire aged superstructure with microfractures. Tigh expresses concern that a jump within the flight pod will seriously strain the internal integrity of the ship. Boomer's FTL jump does eventually appear to cause a chain reaction of hull collapses along Galactica's port side, a side visibly weakened by Cylon attack, and suffering general aging in the 50+ year old ship's structure.
• The port side of Galactica which suffers damage in this episode has been seen specifically to suffer major stress before now- particularly during the Battle of New Caprica when it was mentioned that explosive decompressions were imminent in that section. That side of the ship also saw the port water tank blow out in Water-as well as damage from a nuclear explosion incurred during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies though these seemed to be repaired it no doubt contributed to the area's hull fatigue.
• Many individuals express fears of the damage an FTL jump can do to Galactica, impying FTL jumps place serious strains on a ships hull–or even the hull of a ship nearby and a degree of hull integrity is important to allow a ship to continue jumping for continued periods. This appears quite a new phenomenon in the canon of the show and was not mentioned in previous seasons, though it of course makes for a convenient plot conceit now. Before this ships have frequently been seen jumping and exiting a jump close to each other in the series with seemingly no ill effects- though it is possible Boomer's Raptor was much closer to Galactica's hull than has ever been seen before. In the episode A Disquiet Follows My Soul the tylium ship jumped whilst surrounded by Raptors and Vipers and no ship seemed to suffer damage, although they were knocked back and sent tumbling. It should be made clear that smaller objects are proportionally stronger and that smaller objects should feel much less shear. It is also possible the stress of by being caught in the FTL field of another vessel rather than that caused by a vessels own, properly configured FTL drive is more powerful and dangerous.
• Given that Galactica has jumped hundreds of times whilst damaged before now, it is not explained why no damage has occurred before given it is assumed damage will be guaranteed by an unplanned jump in this episode. In the miniseries Galactica suffered a nuke hit and yet jumped several times later. Also despite falling through the atmosphere of New Caprica Galatica was able to execute an FTL jump despite the severe strains on the hull. Fears of FTL stress were not mentioned.
  • Galactica has probably been taking damage over the years from multiple jumps and suffering combat damage. It's just that the extent of the damage has not become apparent until now.
  • It is in part because of those actions, the atomic strikes and it jumping and falling though into a planet's gravity well and its atmosphere is why Galactica is suffering from massive metal fatigue, in addition to normal wear and tea of a 50+ year old ship and the fact that she hasn't had a major or even minor overhaul in years even before the the attack on the Colonies has taken their toll. In addition as discovered by Chief Tyrol the builders of Galactica "cut corners" with the building specifications of the ship. Ironically, if the Galactica was able to retire on schedule these issues of "substandard" construction wouldn't had come up.
  • Further to the point above about small craft being subject to less 'shear', it stands to reason that the size of the disturbance created by a ship executing a jump might be proportional to the size of the ship itself. A large vessel such as the tylium ship may create a widespread but relatively smooth disturbance, so the nearby Raptors would have been like corks bobbing as a wave passed. Conversely, a small vessel such as a Raptor might create a localised but very sharp distortion that poses more risk of damage to a large ship close to it.
• The age of Galactica's FTL drive might explain why the ship's hull integrity is taxed so badly by her FTL drive - more modern drives might not cause so much stress, and might explain why other Fleet ships and the rebel basestar can continue to jump despite the damage their hulls have taken.
• Galactica is in very bad shape from the metal fatigue in the hull. It's so bad that Tyrol says that all the Cylon organic resin could do is buy a little more time, but not too much from the looks of it, and that the ship might only be capable of a few more FTL jumps, if that. The ship is dying of old age and abuse and there's nothing anyone can do save it completely. The damage Boomer created during her escape has no doubt worsened the ship's condition.

The actions of Boomer

• Adama has still not forgiven Boomer for shooting him.
• Ellen's escape from Cavil seems to have been orchestrated between him and Boomer in order to get Boomer on Galactica so she could kidnap Hera.
• The clear liquid substance that Boomer, masquerading as Athena gave Hera in her sippy cup and urged her to drink up was likely a sedative to keep her quiet in the equipment box she hid her in.
• It would appear that while Cavil was willing to let Ellen go in order to obtain Hera, members of the Final Five are still of some value to him, as evidenced by Boomer's offer for Tyrol to go with her.
  • It is more likely that Boomer genuinely wanted him to come with her because she truly loves him. Bringing him back to John Cavil-if that is where she is headed-would be of no use to him because as Ellen stated he would need all Five of the Finals to recreate Resurrection. She has saw that it is possible for a Final Five Cylon to mate and have offspring with a "Standard Model" like herself even if Caprica-Six's pregnancy by Saul Tigh failed so the possibility of a family was open to her.
• Boomer has gone from being a conflicted sleeper agent to being a willing infiltrator and saboteur on Galactica. With her rekindled love for Tyrol, she maybe again conflicted.
• The Cylons want Boomer tried for treason, with execution being a possible outcome, because her actions are linked to the permanent deaths of thousands of Cylons. This parallels the Colonial Fleet's own desire to try Gaius Baltar.
• Boomer has sex with Helo by pretending to be Athena after he mistook her for his wife and he insisted after she tried to leave, but then enthusiastically let him believe she was Athena. This is ironic, as Athena originally seduced Helo on Caprica, by pretending to be Boomer.
  • Boomer's seduction of Helo - in the presence of Athena - may have been motivated by a desire to exact revenge on Athena for having effectively taken over her old life on Galactica.
    • She didn't actually seduce Helo. She did twice try to leave. After his insistence she did decide to gladly go along with it. It was a unplanned thing on her part so it is doubtful that she planned to have sex in front of Athena. Indeed, she most likely thought that Athena was still out cold. If she wasn't Athena could had warned Helo. Fortunately for Boomer, Athena was in still too much of a daze to do anything but watch.
• It is very possible-but not certain-that the Cylon ability to recognize individual Cylons despite them looking exactly like each other (most of the time, the Sixes seem to have the most variants in hair color and use of makeup, both voluntary actions) relies on actually looking at the individual. In the lavatory where Sharon "Boomer" Valerii severely beats Sharon "Athena" Agathon, Athena initially mistook Boomer as a generic Eight when she saw her in the reflection of a mirror. It was after she stood up, turned around and looked directly at Boomer did Athena recognize her as Boomer. Admittedly however, it is possible that she would had recognized Boomer if she still only watched her in the reflection. Still, she said a full sentence while she looked at her in the mirror-"Great, I hope you are here to fix the frakkin' shower!"-but instantly recognized Boomer the exact moment she saw her directly and not reflected. Perhaps they also need to look the other Cylon square in the eyes, which is what Tyrol does in "Deadlock" before identifying Boomer.

Starbuck's role

• The mysterious piano player is Kara's father, which can be concluded by his sudden disappearance and by the flashbacks with both Kara and her father playing the piano when she was little. These flashbacks mirror the exact same movements done by Captain Thrace and the piano player.
• The title of the tape Kara receives back from Helo is "Dreilide Thrace Live at the Helice Opera House."
  • Helice, also spelled Helike, was an ancient Greek city which sank into the Corinthian Gulf in 373 B.C. It may have formed the basis of the myth of the lost city Atlantis.
  • Helice was the ancient Greek name for the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). Helice in Greek means "to spin" or "to turn"; it is the root of the modern word helix. Ursa Major revolves around Polaris, the Pole Star, hence the name. This may be a reference to the spinning of the maelstrom Kara flew into before her ship was destroyed, and it could also refer to the mandala found on the wall of her apartment and the Temple of Five.
  • Helice/Helike was also the name of a nymph in Greek mythology who nursed the infant Zeus, along with another nymph, Melissa (which name itself means "honey" or "honey bee").
  • Helike is also a newly-discovered moon of Jupiter.
  • However, the appearance of the word Helice in the show may simply be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Bear McCreary's heavy involvement with this episode -- Ursa Major, and McCreary, both being "The Great Bear."
• It is possible that Starbuck also has the ability of Projection and she projected the Piano Player beside her when she played a section of "All Along the Watchtower" from the drawing Hera made, which turned out to be musical notation. She, from her POV, was playing a long side of him but when Saul Tigh, Ellen Tigh, and Tory Foster confronted her about where she learned to play that music he was gone. Perhaps it was just standard human daydreaming, or a Virtual being, but it could had been projection.

Tyrol and the other Finals

• The Final Five have the same projection ability as the Cylons they created. Cylons can share projections.
• Projections can include not just imaginary environments but also imaginary people, such as Boomer and Tyrol's "daughter" Dionne.
• It also appears that projections might be a form of persistent environment -- similar to real-life virtual worlds such as Second Life, as Tyrol re-enters Boomer's projection after she escapes with Hera, as if expecting to find her and Dionne still in there.
• The Final Five, Hera Agathon, and Kara Thrace are all somehow connected to each other by The Music. Also possibly connected via the song is Kara's mysterious father.

The status of Cylons in the Fleet

• The Cylons seem to have officially joined the Fleet as they now have the representation they wanted on the new Quorum in the form of a Six named Sonja. It is also confirmed that Cylon and Colonial pilots are performing joint CAPs.
  • This is most clearly seen when Athena staggers into the briefing room and Helo orders one of the Sixes to go get the medics, the Six unhesitatingly responds "Yes, Sir". Several Sixes are also seen attending Starbuck's "toothpaste briefing."
  • The rebel Cylon pilots do not appear to have been commissioned into the Colonial military, as they wear Cylon flight suits and none is addressed by rank.
  • The Sixes and Eights appear to use their model numbers as surnames, and are referred to and addressed as "Six" or "Eight". They do not yet appear to have been given individual call-signs.

Miscellaneous

• It has been unclear whether Karl Agathon is still the Commander Air Group (CAG) of Galactica or Kara Thrace officially takes over the CAG as Agathon used to join important staff meetings with Adama & Tigh in previous episodes. However, this episode clearly shows that Thrace is now serving as the CAG of Galactica.

Questions

Galactica's condition

• If jumping in very close proximity to a ship is a very dangerous thing to do then why then in A Disquiet Follows My Soul when the tylium ship Hitei Kan jumped away form the intercepting and boarding Vipers nothing happened to them other than being upended?
  • It was dangerous for Galactica because of its failing structure.
  • Also, as noted above, the spatial distortion caused by the Raptor's jump, only reaching part of Galactica, would cause much more shearing force and therefore much more stress on the structure. Since the Raptors in "A Disquiet Follows My Soul" are much smaller than the tylium ship, they were pretty much 'bounced' off the spatial rift
• With the Galactica in the shape she is in now, how are the civilian ships holding up? Are they in a similar condition? Could this explain why there is only 35 ships mentioned remaining in the fleet?
  • Very likely much better since they don't take battle damage and generally don't maneuver wildly to attack or evade. However, yes they have been in space constantly for four years likely past several mandatory maintenance checks and overhauls, both minor and major. Still, most of the civilian ships would be in much better shape than Galactica because they run and don't stand and fight and take hits and many of them are newer than Galactica.
  • If 35 is indeed the correct number of ships in the Fleet, then nearly half the Fleet's ships have been lost. Given that few have been seen to be lost on screen, the majority of these losses probably occurred during the rapid evacuation of the settlement of New Caprica. Many ships would have either have been destroyed trying to flee, or left on the planet's surface. Outside of that, several ships might have been abandoned off screen due to deteriorating conditions- presumably after being stripped for parts with the civilians moved to other ships or Galactica herself.

The actions of Boomer

• Is Boomer taking Hera to Cavil, and if so, is she of value to him in and of herself or will he ransom her for the Final Five to rebuild resurrection? Or is Boomer working alone or for a third party? (Answer)
• What was the note Boomer was writing down in her cell when she first sensed Tyrol watching her?
• Did Boomer sleep with Helo merely to maintain her pretense, because she was attracted to him, or to intentionally hurt Athena? (Answer)
• Did Boomer intentionally jump so close to Galactica in order to further damage the already weakened ship? Is this a prelude to an attack on the Fleet by Cavil's forces?
• Since Boomer was able to find the fleet, why doesn't Cavil just jump in and attack the Fleet? Surely he has superior numbers. Is it merely because of fear of death, since they can no longer resurrect?
  • Cavil seems to want Hera- this would only be possible by using Boomer as an infiltrator rather than attacking Galactica outright. Attacking the Fleet would only result in them jumping away anyway.
    • Also, Cavil probably doesn't want to risk accidentally killing the Final Five, who he needs to regain the ability to resurrect.

Starbuck's role

• What is the source of the "Slick" image Starbuck has been seeing? Is he a variation of Kara's Inner Leoben from "Maelstrom"?
• How did Starbuck and Hera arrive at a piano version of the same melody originally played by Anders on a guitar on Earth?
• Could Kara's father have been Daniel, the "artistic" Number Seven model?
• Could Kara be a reincarnation of the woman that Anders originally played the song for?
• Where did the piano in Joe's Bar come from?
• Will the Helice Opera House have any connection to the visions of the Opera House shared by Roslin, Caprica-Six, and Athena?

Tyrol and the other Finals

• Is the Eight switched with Boomer by Tyrol dead, or merely injured?
  • Probably merely injured. It is doubtful Tyrol would have gone so far as to actually kill another Eight to save Boomer. Furthermore, if the Eight had been dead, Tyrol's trickery would have been discovered more quickly.
• Will Tyrol's involvement in Boomer's escape be figured out? Will he confess?
  • It will be difficult for him to deny involvement considering the presence of the unconscious Eight he substituted for Boomer in the brig.
    • That assumes the Eight can identify him as the one that attacked her in the work area. It was coal pitch black dark when he knocked her out. Still, the circumstance of him being the one to restore power to the Cell Area and knowing how hard he pleaded for Boomer's life makes him a natural suspect. What could convict him beyond doubt is if people on the hanger deck remember him helping "Athena" - as everyone thought at the time - with that large very heavy equipment box. It is known that Cylons can tell each other apart on sight despite them being indistinguishable to humans. If someone recalls Tyrol helping so-called "Athena" that will be used as proof positive that Tyrol was complicit in her escape, Tyrol cannot plead truthful ignorance like Helo can when he thought Boomer was his wife and had sex with her.
• If Tyrol's treachery does come to light, how will others react? What would Athena do to him? Helo?
• If Tyrol had gone with Boomer, would Cavil have opened his brain as he threatened to do with Ellen?
• Is Anders' head being kept shaved and if so why? If, as Cottle suggests, it has been weeks since his operation, his hair should presumably be growing back. Perhaps it is to make it easier to monitor his unusual EEG traces.

The status of Cylons in the Fleet

• Why was Sonja elected to represent the Cylons?
  • The Sixes appear to be the most influential leaders within the rebel Cylon society, and posess the most individuality. Caprica Six sowed the seeds of the Cylon Civil War, Natalie led the revolt, and Sixes generally were in senior positions in the occupation government of New Caprica.
• Do all the ships in the Fleet - regardless of their relative crew and passenger size - get to send representatives to the new Quorum? (This is similar to the situation the Framers of the United States Constitution faced when trying to decide if state representation in Congress should be based on individual state population or restricted to the same number of representatives per state).
• To what extent are the semi-sentient Raiders and Centurions integrated into the Colonial or allied military force?
  • Likely none in terms of an integrated force; that is they are still under the Humanoid Cylon's control in the Baseship. Only Cylon Heavy Raiders are holding joint operations with Colonial forces and they require a Cylon Humanoid pilot.

Miscellaneous

• What is Roslin's physical status?
• What connection is there between Roslin's collapse and Hera's kidnapping?
  • Yes, there is one, that was made clear by the intrcutting betwen Boomer's escape, CIC and her trance like state, culminating in her saying "Hera" right after Boomer jumped from Galactica. The exact nature of is still unclear.
• Despite being rudely put down by Dr. Cottle, was the Eight at Anders's bedside giving a correct assessment on what Anders's brain was doing when she speculated "Well, maybe his brain is rebooting, reorganizing as it heals?"?
• Will the Eight's idea of plugging Anders into the datastream lead anywhere?
  • In the previews for the next episode "Islanded In a Stream of Stars", Anders's is depicted in either a Resurrection tank or a Hybrid's pool with his wife Kara Thrace by his side. He reaches up and grabs her wrist. Assuming this isn't a dream or some other false image, it looks like they will try out the Eight's suggestion.
• When Starbuck follows up her offer of Tauron toothpaste with the comment "Gods know most of you need it," is it merely a joke, or an indicator that supplies all toothpaste--and hence dental hygiene, a basic indicator of physical health standards--are running out?

Official Statements

• Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune interviews David Weddle and Bradley Thompson:
  • Boomer had a sick desire to strike out at Athena.
  • Boomer's escape with Ellen was staged so that she could kidnap Hera. She intended to just use the Chief, but their interactions did awaken feelings she thought were dead.

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Ellen Tigh, Saul Tigh, and Tory Foster are in Joe's bar. Saul is remarking at the state of someone they cared about:

Saul: Cottle was right, I should've never insisted on seeing him. His eyes were open! I wasn't ready for that. The little guy was looking right at me!

Saul was not talking about Anders (in a coma with his eyes open) but the body of his dead son Liam that was delivered stillborn after he died in utero but whose corpse he insisted on seeing.

Guest Stars

• Kate Vernon as Ellen Tigh
• Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. S. Cottle
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Roark Critchlow as Slick
• Iliana Gomez-Martinez as Hera Agathon
• Brad Dryborough as Lieutenant Louis Hoshi
• Torrance Coombs as Lance Corporal C. Sellers
• Ivan Cermak as Corporal D. Wallace
• Curtis Caravaggio as Nathanson
• Cherilynn Fulbright as Dionne
• Patrick Gilmore as Rafferty
• Samantha Caine as Off-duty Crew Person
• Erika-Shaye Gair as Young Kara Thrace
• Darcy Laurie as Dealino
• Sonja Bennett as Specialist Marcie Brasko
• David Weddle as Smoking man in Joe's bar (uncredited)