The Ties That Bind

"The Ties That Bind" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 3
Writer(s)	Michael Taylor
Story by
Director	Michael Nankin
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	405
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	18 April 2008
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate
DVD release
Population	39,676 survivors ()
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Six of One	The Ties That Bind	Escape Velocity
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
[[IMDB:tt{{{imdb}}}|IMDb entry]]
Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
			@ BW Media
Promotional Materials
Online Purchasing
Amazon: Standard Definition | High Definition
iTunes: [{{{itunes}}} USA]

Overview

Kara Thrace pilots a freighter in her search for Earth, while Galactica's crew members deal with political and marital issues. On the Cylon side, the Significant Seven's solidarity is challenged.

Summary

Teaser

• On a baseship, a Number One is resurrected. Another One tells his confused brother that he was shot by one of their own Cylon Centurions. Boomer is there with him.
• The first Number One wants to return to his baseship, but the second One tells him that he has been effectively kicked off from his own ship in a type of coup. Boomer apologizes that her swing vote to enforce the Raider "reconfiguration" failed, and kisses him deeply.
• On Galactica, Cally Tyrol, waking from her son's cries, has dreams recalling arguments with her husband, Galen, of apparently finding herself spending more time alone with her child and Galen avoiding her through work or other activity. In one scene she is taking medication, perhaps to help her sleep, or to fight depression.
• The dark room is unkempt, and medication and baby formula bottles are stacked on a table.
• When Cally Tyrol realizes that Nicky is actually crying, she comforts him and returns him to his crib. She calls Dualla, apparently to try to find her husband with no luck. She finds a napkin for Joe's bar in his clothing.
• At the bar, Galen Tyrol and Tory Foster are drinking ambrosia and other spirits. Galen laments that, before their revelation, he knew what he was: husband, crew chief, and father. Now, his identity is taking a beating.
• Foster flirts with Galen as Cally walks holding her son in a dreamy state (presumably drug related) to Joe's Bar. Cally's distorted vision believes she sees Foster touching Galen's arm seductively. Entering the bar, Cally angrily yells at Galen as he tries to explain. Angry and hurt, Cally takes her son and leaves the bar as Foster looks on, still drinking and not the least upset that she might have caused the Tyrol's strife.

Act 1

• In sickbay, Dr. Cottle administers to Laura Roslin another diloxin treatment, noting that the drug's nausea should go away in an hour.
• As Roslin tries to relax on the bed, William Adama sits by her bedside and begins to read from a book to her, Love and Bullets, by Nick Talo, apparently a detective mystery novel.
• The book's passages of a character's lost love appear to reflect through Adama as he gazes at Roslin while he completes the passage: "From the moment I open my eyes, she's in my blood, bittersweet, tinged with regret. I'll never be free of her, nor do I want to be. For she is what I am, all that is, should always be."
• The scene shifts to a press conference on Colonial One where where Lee Adama accepts appointment to the Caprican seat to the Quorum. Vice President Tom Zarek is also in attendance.
• The press asks about questions of loyality between Lee Adama and his role in the Gaius Baltar trial, which Roslin dismisses.
• Reporter Playa Palacios asks about the whereabouts of the 'Demetrius, missing now three weeks, Roslin defers the question to Admiral Adama, who cryptically explains that the ship is on a military mission. When Sekou Hamilton asks if Kara Thrace was made captain of that ship, Adama dismisses that as rumor.
• Roslin quickly ends the press conference. In her office, Roslin tells Adama she is surprised that the press took as long to ask about the Demetrius as they did. When Adama tells Roslin he think the issue will "blow over," Roslin disagrees. Not told of the mission, Roslin is angered that she may have to help Adama cover the true mission of the ship for a long time. Adama explains that he had to give Thrace a chance and himself a chance to believe in the believed-dead pilot, but Roslin only says, "Apparently." Adama leaves her office in silence.
• The scene shifts to a view of Demetrius, in its 22nd mission day. As many as four Viper Mark II fighters are parked on its top hull. Inside, Kara Thrace appears frustrated as she pours through star charts and other navigation data, trying to gain her fix on the direction of Earth. Felix Gaeta enters the room as Thrace tells him of a decision.
• In a mess hall on the dark, dirty ship, Diana Seelix asks in frustration what they are looking for in deep space. A pilot named Pike, looking at the centerfold of Nymph magazine, explains that they are searching for a gas giant with rings orbiting a trinary star cluster with a comet. Seelix angrily retorts that the search is more like a "cluster-frak" to her when Helo admonishes her.
• Sharon Agathon and Samuel Anders are also in the room.
• Some of the group complains that Thrace's repeated course corrections are pointless. When Pike says that he thinks Galactica is hounding them in secret, waiting for Thrace to show her "true colors" as a Cylon, Anders defends her. When the mood darkens more, Helo orders everyone to be quiet.
• Thrace is quietly approaching, listening to the conversation from above the mess hall deck, and soon yells for Helo to talk to him. Anders looks above him to Thrace (standing on steel mesh decking) and asks if there is more that she can tell them about their destination, but Thrace coldly admonishes him by rank for asking. Thrace gives Helo new FTL coordinates.

• Back on Galactica Galen Tyrol tries to explain to Cally that he and Tory Foster aren't having an affair, but Cally all but ignores him, telling him to drop their son off to the day care area and to ask the caregivers not to feed Nicky any of the algae mash as she thinks Nicky is allergic. Frustrated by Cally's avoidance of the subject, he slams his fist down on the table, upsetting his son, and tries to comfort him.

• On the same baseship where the Centurions shot several humanoid Cylons for their part in the Raider reconfiguration, a Number One returns to the conference room where a Centurion is busily cleaning up the mess caused by their shootout.
• The Number One tries to understand why Natalie shifted power, suggesting to reunify the group. Natalie explains that the Raiders were only a symptom of a larger problem: Cavil's earlier pressure on the group to box all Number Threes. Natalie says that mere unification of the seven is not enough. She and the Eights at the table tell Number One that unification with the Final Five is the desired goal. Natalie wants all the Threes unboxed and work on unifying with the Five to begin.
• Cavil dislikes the idea of resuming the D'Anna's "messianic quest" that seemed to lead the remaining Cylons to this juncture, but agrees to bring Natalie's case to the other models. Natalie orders a Centurion to escort Cavil off the ship, but it hesitates until she says, "please." Cavil warns her that removing the inhibitors from the Centurions has caused a bigger problem than Natalie realizes.

Act 2

• On Colonial One, Lee Adama is in a conference room for the Quorum meeting. Spotting the nameplate for Caprica, he tentatively sits down. Tom Zarek arrives, his mood dark. When Adama tells Zarek that he wanted to see Roslin to discuss some projects that Cowan, his predecessor as Caprican delegate, had before she died, Zarek counters, explaining that, like himself, Roslin is keeping Adama on the sidelines. Zarek believes that Roslin does not forgive and forget easily. When Adama asks Zarek why he nominated him for the Quorum's side, Zarek tells him that it was because Adama stood up to defend Baltar and confront Roslin, he believed Adama would make an effective ally.
• Zarek feels that Roslin's increasingly secretive nature, by refusing to allow meeting to be recorded, is a sign of a larger issue, despite claiming to Adama that he remains loyal to Roslin. When Adama tells Zarek that he won't be giving a repeat of his work in Baltar's trial to undermine Roslin, saying that having a "benevolent tyrant" is better than the opposite, Zarek strongly disagrees. He asks Adama to trust him to aid in his fight to uncover the secrets that Roslin hides. He leaves a classified folder with Adama and leaves.
• In sickbay, Cally Tyrol asks for another sedative and for sleep, but Cottle objects, not wanting to turn his sickbay in an "opium den." He asks about her family life, which Cally tells all is not well since reaching the Ionian Nebula.
• Cottle does side with Cally about her husband's problems, asking her to bring him in for examination. Cally smiles at Cottle's "tough love" stance but Cottle warns that she might actually be imagining things as her fatigue and drug use could be influencing her thoughts. Cally counters that she might, indeed be crazy, considering she married a man who once broke her jaw. When Cottle asks if that was the last time that Galen had attacked Cally, she responds that she'd wished that he'd do so again (taking Cottle's cigarette from his hand and taking a drag), if only for her to gauge what Galen really felt about her. Cottle tells her to get some rest.
• On Demetrius, Anders meets with Thrace, as she paints what she has seen on a bulkhead. Anders complains that she needs to open up more about the mission with the rest of the crew, but Thrace disagrees. Reminding her that some of them volunteered for the mission, Thrace steers Anders's concerns to that of their failed marriage. Anders joins their marital arm tattoos., trying to remind her of what is real. Thrace angrily tells Anders that she married him only because he was a safe choice and he was naive enough to do so.
• The two exchange more words. Thrace explains to Anders that she's not the same woman he married. He pushes her into a bunk as their anger dissolves into sex.

Act 3

• After sex, Thrace questions that she and Anders's marriage was real. She questions how her feelings, her perceptions of her past, as if she were watching it from another "alien" body far away. Ander's face suggests comprehension about feeling unsure of identity.
• Back on a basestar, two Number Ones tells the result of the vote: The consensus is to unbox the Threes, although Cavil/One remains against the idea.
• An Eight tries to solicit the Ones' support since his side was outvoted, but Natalie agrees with the Ones that the vote does not give Natalie's side the right to change the feelings of the Ones and create more discord.
• Cavil/One tells Natalie that the Threes' consciousness is being downloaded in a central resurrection hub six jumps away. Still harboring bad feelings about the decision, the two sides agree to stay on different baseships as they make their way back to hear of the Threes' discovery on the algae planet.

• On Colonial One, the Quorum meeting continues. Sagittarian Quorum delegate Jacob Cantrell strongly questions Roslin about the Demetrius mission, which she defers to answer out of matters of security. Others are visibly upset with Roslin's answer and of each other when Roslin tries to steer the meeting back to other matters of the floor while Zarek, acting as the chair of the meeting, tries to establish order.
• Lee Adama speaks out, trying to calm the others through inferring, based on his own military experience, that the president and Admiral Adama are exploring all possible routes to Earth. The Quorum audibly relaxes at Adama's words, but Roslin sees Adama as trying to be her "spokesperson" and chastises him. She directs Cantrell to continue with his discussion on medical supplies.
• Lee Adama calls a point of order, which Zarek uses to compels Contrell to yield the floor for Adama to speak. Adama brings up Executive Order 112, which would concentrate more executive power. The Quorum angrily erupts when Roslin tries to bury the issue.

• The Cylon baseship fleet arrive at their destination, but their Resurrection Ship is not with them. Suddenly the baseships controlled by Cavil break formation, attacking Natalie's baseship.
• On Cavil's baseship, Boomer worries that murder, permanent killing of their own kind without chance of resurrection is wrong. Cavil says coldly that God will watch over the dying Cylon's immortal souls. When Boomer questions who will watch over their souls, Cavil says, "We're machines, dear. We don't have souls."

• On Galactica, Cally Tyrol sadly recalls her good times with her husband. She kisses her son and goes to close a door when she sees a note stuck in the door that tells her to meet at Weapons Locker 1701D.
• When Cally arrives, she finds her husband, Saul Tigh and Tory Foster entering. She opens a maintenance panel, tiny and dangerous, and enters to listen in on the conversation.
• What Cally hears shocks her more than the suggestion that her husband is having an affair. Tigh had left the note to meet at the weapons locker for Galen, and suddenly realizes that Cally could have intercepted the note. Tigh warns of the complications if Cally discovered that her husband was a Cylon.
• Cally's shock knocks a metal plate, which tumbles noisily down the ship's interior, a series of pipes and conduits that run dangerously deep from where Cally is standing. The others in the room halt their discussion for a moment before leaving. Cally escapes the tunnel and runs back to her quarters, but Foster leaves and notices that the maintenance panel was ajar.

Act 4

• Cally is back in her quarters, visibly upset, when her husband returns.
• He tries to apologize, tell Cally that the affair never happened, and that his commitment to his family is paramount. But Cally strikes Galen with a wrench, knocking him unconscious. She takes her son and leaves but not before taking a key from Galen's pocket.
• Walking through the corridors to the hangar deck, Cally (still holding Nicky) enters a launch tube. She looks at the stars through a window, then opens a maintenance door. Inserting the key she took from Galen, Cally activates the tube's closing when Tory Foster arrives, trying to explain herself and Galen's identity.
• Cally seals Foster inside. Foster tries to discourage Cally from activating the airlock and appears to succeed. Foster takes Nicky in her arms, then suddenly strikes Cally, knocking her down the tube.
• Foster opens and recloses the launch tube, Nicky in her arms, then enters the launch control booth and vents the airlock, ejecting Cally Tyrol to her death in space.
• Admiral Adama silent sits with Galen Tyrol as he tries to understand what has happened.

Notes

• This episode sees no net loss of life in the Fleet, with the exception of Cally Tyrol's death later in this episode, reducing the overall survivor count to 39,675.
• The number and alphabetical designation of the weapons locker, 1701D, is a Star Trek: The Next Generation reference. 1701-D is the registry number for the USS Enterprise from that series, which Michael Taylor and Ronald D. Moore formerly worked on.
• Like "He That Believeth In Me" and "Valley of Darkness", this episode's title is derived from Christian traditions; Blessed Be the Tie that Binds is a Protestant hymn celebrating the unity that comes from love.
• Prior to the episode airing, Michael Taylor stated: "we say goodbye to another longtime character, though who that is and the manner of his or her departure should come as a surprise."
• The script was being written while "Razor" was still in pre-production.
• For the first time since the second season, the journalists Playa Palacios and Sekou Hamilton make an appearance.

Analysis

Orion's belt. View Highlighted Version.

• The constellation Orion is clearly visible in the background of the basestars shortly before Cavil's ships begin to attack. This would indicate that the Cylon fleet is in close proximity to Earth.
• The ringed gas giant Starbuck claims to have seen is shown in this episode, bearing a striking resemblance to Jupiter.
• While not an official confirmation, the force with which Tory hits Cally seems to indicate that the Final Five do possess Cylon strength and if they possess this trait it is likely that the have other, physical, Cylon traits as well.
  • Not only did Tory seem to display Cylon strength, she seems to be calmer, cooler, and more calculating then in the recent past. She seems now to be more accepting of her Cylon nature than the others.
• Cavil and Boomer, apparently have some sort of relationship. This was hinted at in the previous episode, but unclear.
• Although Laura Roslin claims to have forgiven Lee Adama in public, and even to admire his convictions, she apparently still holds a grudge for how he treated her during Baltar's trial. Later, she snubs him in a Quorum session and ribs on his inexperience.

Questions

• Are all baseships of the "renegade" Cylon faction around Natalie destroyed?

• Has Hera been left in foster care by her parents? If so, who have they found to look after her?

• Does the vague warning given by Cavil to Natalie about removing the inhibitors hint towards a Centurion rebellion against the humanoid Cylons?

• Will Boomer abandon Cavil's side now that he has resorted to lethal measures against Natalie's faction?

• What is Foster's motivation for killing Cally Tyrol?

Guest Stars

• Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh
• Aaron Douglas as CPO Galen Tyrol
• Tahmoh Penikett as Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon
• Michael Trucco as Ensign Samuel Anders
• Nicki Clyne as Cally Henderson Tyrol
• Alessandro Juliani as Lieutenant Felix Gaeta
• Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek
• Donnelly Rhodes as Doctor Cottle
• Matthew Bennett as Number Five
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Dean Stockwell as Number One
• Jen Halley as Ensign Diana "Hardball" Seelix
• Christina Schild as Playa Palacios
• Biski Gugushe as Sekou Hamilton
• Ryan McDonell as Lieutenant Eammon "Gonzo" Pike