The Captain's Hand

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

• The episode begins as two Raptors begin a training mission outside Pegasus, which is near a binary star, causing DRADIS and communications interference. The raptors pass through a cloud, when they pick up a transmission. In the Pegasus 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, when Cally mentions she heard movement from inside a fallen container. Against waiting for the Marines, Tyrol decides to investigate by entering the container. Inside, Tyrol finds a pregnant woman who asks for Dr. Cottle

• Lee Adama travels to the battlestar Pegasus, where he meets up with Kara Thrace. Lee has been promoted to Major, and Kara to Captain. The two encounter Commander Barry Garner, now in command of Pegasus, who orders Kara to the flight deck while he and Lee proceed to C.I.C.

• 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.

• Meanwhile, President Roslin's relationship with Vice President Baltar is growing increasingly strained.

• 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.

• Over wireless, Commander Garner, Major Adama, and Admiral Adama discuss the situation. Commander Garner feels they should jump to the missing location of the Raptors to bring them home. The Admiral asks Lee if he concurrs, in which Lee discusses Starbuck's theory that they were drawn to 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, causing a heated discussion in C.I.C. between him and Lee. By the end of the discussion, Garner asks the Sergant-at-arms to have Major Adama removed from the C.I.C., while the Major asks the same for Garner, relieving him of command. Drawing his weapon, the Sergeant asks for the Major to leave.

• Fighters are launched from Pegasus towards the now located raptors. One of the pilots is able to look inside their cockpits, only to find both Raptor crews dead. At that moment, a Basestar jumps into view of the pilots. DRADIS from Pegasus then shows two additional Basestars, which begin attacking Pegasus with conventional and nuclear arnaments.

• During the course of the assault, Pegasus' FTL drive is disabled. Garner attempts to determine the cause from C.I.C. but is confused. Major Adama, still being held by the Sergeant-at-arms, attends to other duties, and confronts Commander Garner. Commander Garner decides to head down to the engine room, and gives Major Adama command.

• Pegasus manages to jump away, with Garner sacrificing himself in the process.

• In Admiral Adama's quarters, he and Major Adama review the reports from the incident on Pegasus, pointing out that Lee was more forgiving of the late Commander than Starbuck was. Admiral Adama then asks what Garner's fatal flaw was, and Lee responds by mentioning that Garner was good with machines, and not 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. Lee takes a moment, then shakes his father's hand, accepting the promotion.

Questions

• Would Adama allow Dr. Cottle to be arrested? From the episode, he is of the opinion that he would do what is necessary.

• Was Baltar's report real, or was it just invented to produce the opportunity to drive his wedge?
  • Posibly, but either way, it is fairly obvious that with the constant Cylon attacks the Fleet's population (baring the unexpected return of Pegasus) is almost always declining, as noted by Admiral Adama.
• Who will replace Baltar as Roslin's Vice President?
  • Can Roslin actually pick another Vice President 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?
  • It is likely that Zarek hopes to become Vice President himself.
• 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?
  • As mentioned in Scattered, Col. Tigh was never really interested in commanding a battlestar.
    • Fleet protocols, as in the real-world US Navy and other naval services around the globe, would require Tigh, as the senior officer to take command, as he did when Adama was incapacitated.
      • This is true for an intra-ship command structure, but if other qualified officers were available, Col. Tigh probably had the privilege to pass up the command of Pegasus, citing XO's prerogative (or something similar).
• 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?

Analysis

• When Baltar announces his candidacy for the Presidency, Number Six applauds with a slow clap. This reflects 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.
• In the course of this episode's timeline, Lee Adama rises from the rank of Captian (CAG of Galactica) to Major (No details on posting except assigned to Pegasus) to the rank of Commander and CO of Pegasus in the wake of Commander Barry Garner's death saving his ship.
  • Though not stated, MAJ Adama's duty was likely a temporary stint as Pegasus acting XO, to familiarize himself with the duties of a senior officer.

Notes

• The recap at the beginning of this episode shows a scene we have not yet seen in the series. It is the scene where Admiral Adama says that he is choosing Garner as the new Pegasus Commander, possibly a scene that was cut from "Black Market" and will most likely appear on the next DVD set.
  • Actually, this scene is really use of existing footage from "Black Market" when Adama and Tigh are telling Apollo to go to Pegasus on the hangar deck: the scene has been ingeniously 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 etc. The following exchange never happened in that episode:

Adama: "I'm putting Garnder in command"

Tigh: "He's an engineer, not a command officer"

Adama: "He's the best they've got"

• • There is also another case of this redubbing when Baltar is talking to Gina during the "previously" montage: when the camera is pointed at Baltar, we hear Number Six saying "You must betray Roslin and run for President in the upcoming election", but this was never heard in the aired version of "Epiphanies".
• Roslin refernces Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice when she asks Councillor Sarah Porter if she wants her "pound of flesh". It's unclear if analogues of his work exist in the Colonies.
• Col. Tigh does actually appear in this episode, seen very briefly in the Galactica CIC with no dialog.

Statistics

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 van 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

Production Notes

• Series 2 (2005 / 2006)
• Production Number: 2.17
• Airdate Order: 17 (of 20)

First Run Air Dates & Releases

• UK Airdate: Date
• US Airdate: 17 February 2006
• DVD Release (UK): Date
• DVD Release (US): Date
• Nielsen Rating: X.X million households, XXX share

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