Occupation

"Occupation" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 3, Episode 1
Writer(s)	Ronald D. Moore
Story by
Director	Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	Lucy Lawless as Number Three
Production No.	301
Nielsen Rating	1.8
US airdate	2006-10-06
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate
DVD release	{{{dvd}}}
Population	survivors
Additional Info	Season 3.0 Premiere
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II	Occupation	Precipice
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
Podcast Transcript – View
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Listing of props for this episode
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Overview

It's been four months since the Cylons occupied the human settlement of New Caprica, and Galactica, Pegasus, and a handful of ships jumped to safety. On New Caprica, a resistance has begun to challenge the Cylons. Aboard Galactica, Admiral Adama struggles with plans for a rescue, having only a handful of untested pilots at his command, understaffed ships, and facing a nearly impossible task.

Summary

• The episode begins with a series of cut scenes. Light flashes over Saul Tigh's face. He is in a prison cell, his missing eye patched over with a gauze bandage, and has scratched notches into a calendar on the wall. His wife, Ellen Tigh, is having sex with one of the Cavils. Laura Roslin lights a candle and prays to the gods. Galen Tyrol and Samuel Anders are planting a bomb using G-4 and an A-type detonator within a building space.
• Kara Thrace is inside a neatly decorated room, setting a table.
• Admiral William Adama tries to strategize a rescue plan with a series of various models of fighters, support vehicles and other civilian ships in the Situation Room's plot table, but becomes frustrated and hurls a model across the table.
• Another Cavil walks into Tigh's cell and taunts him as he attempts to hide the calendar that he has scratched in the wall. A copy of Leoben Conoy walks into the room where Thrace sits at table, carrying her dinner. He sits and prays to "The Heavenly Father."
• Thrace coyly asks the Conoy copy for a knife for her steak, but Conoy takes his knife and cuts her steak himself.
• Tyrol and Anders scatter away as a Heavy Raider lands near their bomb.
• After Ellen Tigh's liaison with her Cavil copy, she asks when will she gets what she asked for, suggesting a previous deal. The Cylon informs her that it should be happening right at that moment. At same time, the Cavil in the cell with Colonel Tigh releases him from prison in a very taunting way. Tigh exits the prison and his wife meets him at the gate.
• A group of 'skinjobs' including at least 3 Eights, 3 Sixes, and 2 Fives approach the Heavy Raider as several 'chromejobs' exit it. Tyrol and Anders set off the bomb. A great explosion ensues that is witnessed by the Conoy copy with Thrace from their apartment. He returns to the table, pushes his knife away from Thrace.
• As he comments on how beautiful she is, Thrace stabs him in the neck with metal chopsticks. As he dies (while Thrace repeatedly stabs his chest for good measure), he tells Thrace that he will see her soon. She tells him to take his time. Then, after wiping her hand on the carpet, she returns to the table and calmly resumes eating dinner.
• Colonel Tigh is running the resistance effort, with Tyrol and Anders acting as his second in command officers.
• Every day a Raptor jumps in and listens for a wireless broadcast. With the list of jamming frequencies provided by Gaeta, Tyrol manages to contact the Colonial Fleet.
• Now having made contact with the Galatica and feeling that rescue may be near Tyrol has second thoughts that a suicide bombing may not be the best course of action, but Tigh disagrees and says to only call off the attack if Baltar will not be attending.
• Baltar decides not to attend the graduation ceremony. Gaeta is unable to signal Tyrol in time of this last-minute change.
• With little left to lose, Duck prays to the gods. He has placed several packs of explosives around his waist, wiring himself as a living bomb. He dons his NCP uniform to attend their graduation ceremony, intending to kill Gaius Baltar and as many traitors and Cylons as he can.
• As a Number Three presents Duck with his graduation certificate he detonates the explosives attached to his body, his last words being "I'll see you soon Nora."

Questions

• How did Anders manage to recover from his pneumonia without the medical supplies Thrace was seeking in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II"?
• Have Helo and Kat been given the promotions in rank that their new posts would warrant?
• How did Saul Tigh lose his eye?
• When did #3 "come out" as a Cylon?

Analysis

• Prior to the Cylon occupation, the population of New Caprica City was 39,192. Since that time, there have been at least 43 deaths and 1 birth:
  • Nicholas Tyrol was born sometime between "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" and "Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance".
  • There were 10 deaths in "Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance" due to the temple raid, including Nora.
  • There were at least 33 deaths in this episode due to the suicide bombing at the NCP graduation ceremony. The figure was supplied by the Cylon leadership, and it is unknown whether they included attacker Tucker Clellan among the casualties.
• However, establishing a current population statistic is impossible due to the long period of time (134 days) elapsed since that figure. There have almost certainly been additional births and deaths for which we are not able to account. Additionally, the status of Kacey remains an open question.
• Several New Capricans appear to have sores or lesions on their faces.
• Near the end of the episode, as Gaeta races to inform the resistance that Baltar won't be attending the graduation, a P.A. system can be heard advertising the New Caprica Medical Center, staffed by "a crack team of human and cylon physicians".
  • This may explain Anders's recovery from his pneumonia, seen in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II".
• During the episode, Conoy mentions that Kara Thrace has succeeded in killing Conoy five times (including the killing that was shown).
• Conoy is obsessed with a future he has "seen" in which Kara falls in love with him. He repeatedly tells Kara that she only needs more time.
• A civilian government appears to be absent in the spaceborne fleet.
• The Cylons have either built a resurrection facility on New Caprica or positioned a Resurrection Ship near enough to the planet for downloads to take place.
  • No resurrection ship was seen in orbit when the basestars were shown.
• Only two basestars are seen on screen, yet five are reported back to the Fleet.
  • The others could be behind the planet or in another part of sky not shown.
• Number Three allows herself to be seen openly among the Colonials. Presumably the cover of infiltrator D'anna Biers was compromised with the return of Samuel Anders the previous year.
• Although Jammer has been widely speculated to be a Cylon agent due to his pessimistic attitude and unlikely survival during the events of "Valley of Darkness", the events of this episode and comments by Ronald D. Moore seem to preclude the possibility.
  • In Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance, a copy of Number Five refers to Jammer as a human.
  • In this episode, it is seen that Jammer has joined the New Caprica Police, an exclusively human organization.
  • While Jammer's survival of the suicide bombing may seem suspect to some viewers, Moore states that an unfilmed scene was to show him waking up, under bodies, and having to move body parts out of the way ("Precipice", podcast).

Notes

• The episode started off with a warning indicating "Mature Subject Matter" during its initial Sci-Fi Channel United States debut. The following episode, "Precipice", also reiterates this warning.
• "Occupation/Precipice" was awarded the IGN.com Editor's choice award, following a review in which it received a rating of 10/10.
• "Occupation" and "Precipice" is edited as one 2-hr episode with only one intro. However, in the podcast, Ronald D. Moore indicates the "beginning" of "Precipice".
• Ronald D. Moore says in the podcast that alternate scripts included members of the resistance kidnapping humanoid Cylons and keeping them alive in a dungeon. The remaining Cylons would become more apprehensive with each mysterious disappearance.
• Unlike episodes of Season 2, the intro to this episode does not give the survivor count. The population whiteboard present in season 1 & 2 has been replaced by Baltar's presidential portrait.
• The episode opens on the 134th day since the Cylon occupation.
• In her Diary/Journal Roslin notes that it is "Marsday", which is the Roman name for Ares. This is at least the second time that the Roman names for the Greek pantheon have been used.
• Crew changes in the year after settlement glimpsed in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II" are confirmed here: Helo is serving as XO on Galactica, with Kat as CAG. Dualla, shown for the first time with Lieutenant rank insignia, is serving as XO on Pegasus.
• Lee Adama has gained roughly 40 pounds since the the fleet found New Caprica. The Admiral states that he is soft, both physically and mentally.
• Caprica-Six seems to keep Gaius Baltar company on Colonial One in an unofficial capacity.
• Eight cylons are visible at the graduation ceremony:
  • To the right of the podium: an Eight, a Five, a Six, and a Cavil.
  • To the left of the podium: A Six, an Eight, and another Six.
  • Speaking: a Three.
• Duck's rank in the NCP is Captain.
• According to RDM's podcast for Collaborators, Jammer was originally going to be the suicide bomber.

Noteworthy Dialogue

• After hearing that contact had been established with New Caprica:
  

Admiral Adama: It's gonna be okay. It's really gonna be okay.

• During a meeting about the insurgency:

Number Eight: We're here to find a new way to live in peace, as God wants us to live!

Cavil: And it's been a fun ride, so far. But I want to clarify our objectives. If we're bringing the word of "God," then it follows we should employ any means necessary to so, any means.

Another Cavil: Yes. Fear is a key article of faith, as I understand it. So, perhaps it's time to instill a little more fear into the people's hearts and minds. Let's, uh, let's execute Baltar.

Gaius Baltar: Wha... WHAT?

Guest Stars

• Michael Hogan as Saul Tigh
• Aaron Douglas as Galen Tyrol
• Tahmoh Penikett as Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon
• Nicki Clyne as Cally Tyrol
• Alessandro Juliani as Felix Gaeta
• Kandyse McClure as Anastasia Dualla
• Michael Trucco as Samuel Anders
• Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek
• Rick Worthy as Simon
• Callum Keith Rennie as Leoben Conoy
• Kate Vernon as Ellen Tigh
• Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. Cottle
• Matthew Bennett as Number Five
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Dean Stockwell as Cavil
• Erica Cerra as Maya
• Luciana Carro as Lt. Louanne "Kat" Katraine
• Christian Tessier as Tucker "Duck" Clellan
• Brad Dryborough as Lt. Hoshi
• Leah Cairns as Lt. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson
• Madeleine Parker as Kacey
• Dominic Zamprogna as James "Jammer" Lyman
• Mylène Dinh-Robic as Officer #1
• Ryan McDonell as Pilot #3
• Byron Lawson as Pilot #4
• Colin Lawrence as Hamish "Skulls" McCall
• Larissa Stadnichuk as Suicide bomber