Unnamed cities of Caprica

While they are stranded on the devastated colony world of Caprica after the Cylon attack, Helo and Sharon Valerii run through two as-of-yet unnamed cities in their quest to get to the Delphi military installation and commandeer a craft there to escape the occupied planet and find the Fleet. Their explorations of the two cities brought them to many deserted neighborhoods and locales, all while the two were trying to escape from the invading Cylons.

First Unnamed City

Outside Caprica City is a region where two cities spared by the Cylons are found. When Helo and Valerii locate this first city in the episode "Bastille Day," several differences distinguished this city from others on the planet. Unlike Caprica City, this new city did not have the futuristic metallic skyscrapers and glittering office towers (although a few such buildings can be seen behind a tall green office building in the background). Instead, the buildings looked much like they do in present-day North America. Also, this city had paved roads. This is in contrast to Caprica City, whose roads (if there ever had been any) had been torn up to make way for pleasant gardens and walkways. Also, the city was remarkably well preserved. Not even a single window was cracked from the shockwaves.

Plaza

In "Bastille Day," Helo and Valerii search the city for a possible survivor, given away by a broadcast distress signal. The pair are first seen wandering in a terraced plaza in front of a large cylindrical public structure. As they meander between the cast-iron lamposts, Helo calls out "HELLO!" in a loud voice, commenting that he hates cities because "no one ever stops to help you."

Tiled Pathway

After leaving the plaza, the two are seen walking down a paved path leading between two towering office complexes. Here, Valerii asks where the citizens were when the bombs fell. Helo responds, "In their beds, at their desks, anywhere." This comment is followed by Valerii seeing a rat-gnawed corpse propped up against the glass entryway to one of the towers. All the while, the two are being watched by copies of Number Six and Number Five, who are perched on the rooftop of a civilian transfer bridge connecting the two office towers.

Restaurant

The distress signal leads Helo and Valerii to a restaurant on a side street. Here, they found a fully stocked fallout shelter, but no survivors. The signal came from a military-band braodcast signal sent out by a radio. Valerii and Helo set up camp here, but the Cylons soon raid the establishment while Helo cooks breakfast. Valerii is "kidnapped" and the shelter was ravaged, and there was extensive collateral damage to the restaurant from the attack.

Downtown

In the episode "Litmus," Helo squats on the garbage-strewn rooftop of a low-rise building in what appears to be the central city (evidenced by large numbers of skyscrapers and office towers). Across the street on a higher structure with an antenna, copies of Six, Five and the "kidnapped" Valerii watch Helo in secret. Surrounding both groups are lower, older stone buildings, more modern apartment blocks and large cubical or geometrical commercial buildings.

Warehouse

This abandoned establishment is located on the ground floor of the building occupied by Six, Five and Valerii. The interior is dingy and bereft of any kind of cargo, with only greasy steel beams and missing floor panels to provide variety. Helo enters this bat- and Cylon-infested building to rescue Valerii. Outside the warehouse are two alleys, one a paved garbage-strewn wreck with several power transformers and telephone lines. The other is a dirt alley that leads between a building and fenced lot towards a skyscraper topped with a flag pole.

Second Unnamed City

Not much of this city was seen in the episode "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down," except for a few peeks through manhole covers and the ending sequence.

Sewers

Helo and the "rescued" Valerii spend their time in this unnamed city dashing through the leaky sewer tunnels and catacombs, desperatley trying to escape a Cylon detachment searching for them. Occasionally, the two peek through manhole covers in an attempt to decipher the situation on the surface. Each time, they found Cylon Centurions marching through the tree-lined plazas and streets and Cylon Raiders flying low, skimming the tops of cubical buildings. The sewers Helo and Valerii use as a means of escape are dimly lit, almost completely dark, with arched passageways and sole- to knee-deep water on the floors.

Bridge Interchange

At the very end of "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down," Six and Five are seen in what appears to be the city's riverfront downtown. They walk out of the forest of modern glass and cinderblock towers and onto a bridge, talking about how their troops searched every room of every building despite Helo and Valerii managing to escape. The bridge is actually a three-lane highway. The left and right lanes remained level, but the middle lane sunk towards a subterranean intersection with a tunnel, where several Centurions awaited the arrival of the two Cylon agents. The street lights in this scene provided a good indication of the city's history. In the midst of the buildings, the bulbs hung down from elaborate 19th-century style cast-iron poles. On the bridge, tall cast-iron lamp posts rise up from the stone-carved balustrade.

Notes

• The scenes of the first unnamed city in "Bastille Day" were filmed in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver in Canada.
• In "Litmus," filming of the first unnamed city was moved to downtown Vancouver itself.
• The second unnamed city was filmed entirely in Vancouver.
• In the background of the rooftop scenes in Litmus, a church steeple can be seen poking up between two modern office blocks. This is interesting, considering that the Colonial faith closely parallels Greek mythology. There haven't been any elements of Christianity in the series, short of the Cylon's own monotheism, and is likely a filming gaffe.
• The cylindrical building facing the plaza in "Bastille Day" is actually the Vancouver Public Library.
• In the rooftop scenes of "Litmus," one of the buildings filmed is the Harbour Center Tower in Vancouver, given away by its distinctive revolving rooftop restaurant.