The Captain's Hand

"The Captain's Hand" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
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Overview

When two Raptors go missing after a training mission, new Pegasus commander Barry Garner challenges Admiral Adama's orders by sending his battlestar directly into the rescue zone--and a trap.

Summary

• Two Raptors begin a training mission outside Pegasus, which is near a binary star, causing DRADIS and communications interference. In the C.I.C., the Raptors disappear from DRADIS, the Comm officer believing that they may be in distress.

• On Galactica, Chief Tyrol and the deck crew are in the process of unloading containers, Tyrol finds a pregnant teenager who asks for Dr. Cottle.

• Lee Adama arrives on the battlestar Pegasus, where he runs into Kara Thrace. Lee has been promoted to Major, and both report to Commander Garner in the C.I.C. Garner is quick to chew out now-Captain Thrace over the disapperance of the Raptors.

• Commander Garner and Major Adama talk in private about the discipline on Pegasus. Garner thinks that Starbuck is a huge part of the problem, but Adama defends her, citing her excellent piloting skills. Garner thinks that the virtues learned in his experience as an engineer would do the ship some good.

• On Colonial One, President Roslin is being hounded by her new aide, Tory Foster about preparing for the coming election. Elsewhere, Tom Zarek discusses the idea of presidency, however concedes he's not able to garner support, but is willing to support someone more scientific; Dr. Baltar.

• Back on Galactica, Dr. Cottle & Admiral Adama discuss the fate of the young woman found in the container, Rya. Rya mentions the fact that she doesn't want to keep the baby, but Admiral Adama (upon request from the Gemenese delegate) is intent on sending her back to her family. Dr. Cottle suggests that she request asylum aboard Galactica.

• News of Rya's asylum request has raised a stir amongst the Fleet. President Roslin discusses the issue with Admiral Adama, Tory Foster, and Delegate Sarah Porter from Gemenon. Delegate Porter mentions that the abortion is a obscenity and demands that the girl be returned to her parents. Officially, President Roslin responds by saying the asylum request is under review. Afterwards, President Roslin mentions she's not willing to even consider the idea of abortion. She eventually announces to the fleet an Executive Order making abortion by mother or doctor subject to criminal arrest.

• While reviewing the last transmissions from the Raptors, Starbuck makes a startling discovery, in that the reason for the disappearance may be the result of answering a supposed distress call. She attempts to bring this up with Commander Garner, who flatly rejects the theory.

• At the last known position, the additional search parties learn of the distress call that lured the first Raptors away. Commander Garner decides to start preparing the Pegasus for jump.

• Over wireless, Commander Garner, Major Adama, and Admiral Adama discuss the missing raptor situation. Commander Garner feels that the Pegasus should jump to bring home the missing crews and ships. When the Admiral asks Lee if he concurs, Lee discusses Starbuck's theory that the raptor were drawn into a Cylon trap. Admiral Adama is inclined to agree with the Major and Starbuck, and orders a recon mission to ascertain the fate of the two raptors. Garner is furious over the decision, and orders Major Adama off the C.I.C.

• Garner decides to make the jump regardless of Adama's orders. Raptors are launched from Pegasus towards the now located raptors, only to find both Raptor crews dead. At that moment, three Basestar jump into view which begin attacking Pegasus with conventional and nuclear missile barrages seconds after their arrival.

• During the course of the assault, Pegasus's FTL drive is disabled. Garner attempts to determine the cause from C.I.C., but is unable to do so due to the confusion of the Engineering crew. Commander Garner decides to head down to the engine room to ascertain the damage, and transfers command of Pegasus to Major Adama. Adama, after a moment of hesitation, swings into action, ordering Pegasus into the fray, closing with one of the Basestars and engaging it with the forward batteries, severely damaging the Cylon ship.

• Through Garner's successful repair of their FTL system, Pegasus manages to jump away. Commander Garner, however, is killed in the process.

• In Admiral Adama's quarters, the Admiral and Major Adama review the reports from the incident on Pegasus. After pointing out that Lee was more forgiving of the late Commander than Starbuck was, Admiral Adama asks what Garner's fatal flaw was. Lee responds that Garner was accustomed to working with machines, but that command is about people. The Admiral asks Lee to keep that in mind, as he offers Lee the job of commanding Pegasus, along with a promotion to Commander.

• Gaius Baltar proclaims his candidacy for President of the Colonies in the Presidential election in the midst of a press conference called by President Roslin regarding abortion in the Fleet.

Questions

• Was Baltar's report real, or was it just invented to produce the opportunity to drive his wedge?

• Who will replace Baltar as Roslin's Vice President?
  • Can Roslin actually pick another Vice President, under Colonial law, if Baltar refuses to resign? One of the reporters at the end actually directly asked if Baltar would remain as Vice President. Perhaps Roslin cannot forcibly remove Baltar from his office just because he's running aginst her.
• How will Zarek position himself in the Baltar campaign?
  • • Does Zarek plan to have Baltar killed, as per his plan in "Colonial Day"?
• Will Tigh accept the fact that Lee Adama now outranks him and has command of a ship? Or does Saul have no interest in command and already told Admiral Adama that before the posting was offered to Lee?
• What will happen to Rya, now that she had been granted asylum on Galactica?
• Why was Lee promoted straight from Major to Commander? Can a Colonel not be placed in command of a battlestar for long-term purposes?
• Had Garner been serving as XO to Pegasus's' previous commander, the late Jack Fisk?
• Does the fact that the Cylons had such a large force waiting to ambush Pegasus indicate that they have a new Resurrection Ship in place?
• How could the pro-abortion law be established throughout the colonies against the religious views of at least one planet? Was it introduced only recently?

Analysis

• When Baltar announces his candidacy for the Presidency, Number Six applauds with a slow clap. This action runs in parallel to how then-Commander William Adama led the entire crew in a long, drawn-out slow clap in respect of President Roslin when she was re-instated to her office in "Home, Part II".
• Survivor count is decremented by six from "Sacrifice", but seven people died in that episode - terrorists Sesha Abinell, Vinson, Page and Chu, two unnamed marines, and civilian Billy Keikeya. At least one birth must have taken place to offset the population count between the two episodes.
• Based on the Colonial One whiteboard seen toward the end of the episode, only five people died as a result of the ambush on Pegasus: Richard "Buster" Bayer, Lyla "Shark" Ellway, the unnamed crew of Raptor 314, and Commander Barry Garner.
  • This casualty figure is conspicuously low, considering that Galactica lost 85 crewmen as the result of a hit by a single nuclear missile in the miniseries, while Pegasus is hit with no less than three in this episode.
  • On the other hand, it is at least consistent with the surprisingly low number of casualties incurred in the Battle of the Resurrection Ship, and may indicate that the hull armor on Pegasus is significantly stronger than on Galactica, which has many conspicuously bare structural ribs.
  • There may be two further explanations for this (1) that the board hadn't been updated to reflect the damage on the Pegasus , only the pilots lost. (2) A large number of the Galactica casualties occurred during the venting of the fire and was largely due to the conflicting damage control orders given by Kelly, Tyrol and Tigh rather than the actual impact of the missile.
• In the course of this episode's timeline, Lee Adama rises from the rank of Captain (CAG of Galactica) to Major (No details are given on that posting except Adama was assigned to Pegasus), to Commander and CO of Pegasus in the wake of Commander Barry Garner's death saving his ship.
  • Major Adama's duty was intended as a temporary stint as Pegasus acting XO, to familiarize himself with the duties of a senior officer. In the opening scene, he tells Anastasia Dualla that he expects to return to Galactica "in a couple of weeks".
• Garner's decision to mount a rescue operation in contravention of his commanding officer's orders is an explicit parallel to "Pegasus", down to the choice of words:

Adama: "I'm getting my men."

Garner: "I'm going to get our men."

• Kara Thrace's posting is finally clarified in this episode: she is now serving as CAG on Galactica.
  • She was transferred to Pegasus in "Pegasus" and then promoted to that ship's CAG over Cole "Stinger" Taylor in "Resurrection Ship, Part I". In "Epiphanies", it is made clear that Lee Adama regained his posting as Galactica's CAG. In "Epiphanies", Thrace is seen piloting one of Galactica's Mk. II Vipers with Kat; in "Scar" she is serving on Galactica, and appears to have assumed the majority of Adama's responsibilities as CAG, although she still takes orders from him.
  • During this episode it's mentioned that she's only been on board Pegasus for four days before getting thrown in the brig, so clearly she isn't Pegasus's CAG any longer. Thus, despite the great esteem Cain held her in (she was the second speaker at Cain's funeral, after Jack Fisk), it seems clear that she was removed from her position on Pegasus sometime after Cain's death.

Notes

• Timeline-wise, Baltar says that he made an initial projection of the fleet's population "over seven months ago". This would have been before the arrival of Pegasus, since he said he factored in the arrival of her crew subsequently.
• It has been "almost a month" since Apollo was shot in "Sacrifice".
• The recap at the beginning of this episode includes two scenes that did not actually appear in any previous episode, but were constructed by redubbing existing footage.
  • There scene where Colonel Tigh and Admiral Adama discuss Garner's promotion is constructed from the scene in "Black Market" when Adama and Tigh are telling Apollo to go to Pegasus on the hangar deck. The scene has been cleverly redubbed, so that Adama is saying entirely new lines when the camera is pointed at Tigh (not at Adama's face), and then Tigh says new lines when the camera is pointed at Adama.
  • The same technique is used when Baltar is talking to Gina: when the camera is pointed at Baltar, we hear Gina saying "You must betray Roslin and run for President in the upcoming election", but this was never heard in the aired version of "Epiphanies".
• Capt. Cole "Stinger" Taylor is still onboard Pegasus, mentioned by Capt. Thrace as being in the brig for insubordination.
• The adjectival form of "Gemenon" is "Gemenese".
• Under Gemenese law, minors are the "property" of their parents.
• Mercury class battlestars do not need to retract their flight pods prior to a jump, unlike the Galactica type.
• The coolant pressure gauges on Pegasus measure in PSI, presumably Pound-force per square inch. This is consistant with the use of customary units on the Viper Mk. II's Altimeter, seen in "Act of Contrition".
• This is the fourth episode of the season in which Grace Park has not appeared as Sharon Valerii.
• Writer Jeff Vlaming references Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" when he has Laura Roslin tell Quorum of Twelve delegate Sarah Porter, "you have your pound of flesh".

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Following the Cylon ambush of Pegasus and the death of Commander Garner

Admiral Adama: In your opinion, off the record, what was Garner's flaw?

Major Lee Adama: He was used to working with machines. Command is about people.

Admiral Adama: Remember that, as you take command of "The Beast" (Pegasus). Garner was my decision; His failures, my responsibility. Don't let me fail a second time. Congratulations, Commander.

Guest Stars

• John Heard as Commander Barry Garner
• Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek
• Aaron Douglas as Chief Galen Tyrol
• Nicki Clyne as Specialist Cally
• Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. Cottle
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Brad Dryborough as Lieutenant Hoshi
• Christian Tessier as Tucker "Duck" Clellan
• Amber Rothwell as Rya Kibby
• Kavan Smith as Lt. Richard "Buster" Bayer
• Stephanie von Pfetten as Cpt. Marcia "Showboat" Case
• Particia Idlette as Sarah Porter
• Aaron Pearl as Ensign Abel Thornton
• Christina Schild as Playa Palacios
• Tammy Hui as ECO Lyla "Shark" Ellway
• James Bell as Lt. Steve "Red Devil" Fleer
• Kurt Max Runte as Ensign Charles Bellamy
• Kimani Ray Smith as Pegasus Sergeant

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