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

Tease

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.

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--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")}