Revelations

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"Revelations" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 10
Writer(s)	Bradley Thompson David Weddle
Story by
Director	Michael Rymer
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	412
Nielsen Rating	1.8
US airdate	13 June 2008
CAN airdate	13 June 2008
UK airdate	17 June 2008
DVD release
Population	39,665 survivors ( 8)
Additional Info	Mid-Season Cliffhanger
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
The Hub	Revelations	Sometimes a Great Notion
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
IMDb entry
Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
			@ BW Media
Promotional Materials
Online Purchasing
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Overview

Led by Number Three, the band of rebel Cylons hold President Roslin and Galactica's pilots hostage while attempting to lure the "Watchtower Four" out of hiding. Meanwhile, Kara Thrace's Viper may hold a previously undiscovered clue to finding Earth.

Summary

Teaser

• Lee Adama is in William Adama's quarters, looking up an illustration of the Temple of Aurora on Earth, as described by Pythia. Kara Thrace walks in an greets him, and they briefly discuss the temple, and the absence of William Adama and Laura Roslin. Lee comments on how both he and Tigh are intimidated by Adama's chair. Thrace talks about how Leoben stated that, for children to reach their full potential, their parents have to die.
• In the basestar control room, Roslin, William Adama, D'Anna Biers and Leoben discuss the plans to return the Final Five. Biers mentions that there are only four in the Fleet and refuses to provide answers when Roslin questions her about the fifth's location. When Adama asks for their names, she expresses skepticism, suggesting that the Colonials may kill them. Roslin points out that the Colonials need them because they know the way to Earth, while Leoben recommends co-operation and D'Anna refutes him, citing the failure of co-operation on New Caprica.
• Biers announces that she will hold the Colonials on the ship hostage until the Final Four are safely aboard the basestar. When a standoff between the Colonials and the Centurions ensues, Roslin tells Adama to stand down and he repeats the order to the other pilots. Three tells Adama to accompany her to Galactica on a Raptor. He initially refuses, but Roslin tells him to go. She embraces him and whispers in his ear that if the Cylons get the four, they get Earth, and he can't allow that to happen, even if he has to destroy the basestar with them aboard.
• In CIC, Felix Gaeta - having returned to duty despite still having problems with his amputated leg - accidentally knocks over a bottle of pills. Dualla helps him by picking up the pill bottle. Colonel Tigh asks Gaeta if he wishes to be relieved, but he declines and takes a drink to numb the pain.
• Gaeta then announces the arrival of the rebel baseship and that a Raptor launched from it. On the hangar deck, Adama and Three step out of the Raptor. Galen Tyrol and Samuel Anders look on from the catwalk, wondering whether Three can or will identify them. While William Adama greets his son, Three steps off the Raptor and looks at each of the Final Four.
• William Adama and Biers explain the situation. Biers claims that she is already in contact with the four, that they would come to her willingly and that all the Fleet needs to do is not interfere with shuttle traffic. The Adamas agree to her terms. As Three is about to leave, Tory Foster steps forward, asking to bring Roslin her medication and see if she is alright. Knowing that she wants to defect, Tigh tries to prevent her from going by saying that they shouldn't give the Cylons more hostages, but he is overruled by the Adamas.
• In the Adama's quarters, William and Lee Adama, Tigh and Thrace discuss a plan to rescue the hostages. The admiral mentions Roslin's recommendation, but tells his son that it is his call. President Adama agrees.

Act 1

• In the Situation Room, Sharon Agathon and Kara Thrace officially present their rescue plan. Tigh expresses skepticism at the expected high losses of boarding the basestar, saying there have to be other options. Thrace sarcastically comments that the four could just give themselves up.
• On the basestar, Foster is led to the control room. Three announces that one of the Final Five has arrived. Leoben expresses doubt, but Three attests that she saw her in her vision. Foster smiles as the Cylons gather around her in amazement.
• In another room, Roslin bandages Gaius Baltar, who thanks her for not killing him, but Roslin confesses that she told Adama to destroy the basestar should the Cylons get the four. Foster walks in with a Six, greeting them and bringing Roslin her medication. Roslin thanks her, and asks how she was able to do so, and Foster says that she came with Three to be with her people. Baltar attests that he subconsciously knew, that she was one of the Final Five. When asked if she had any idea, Roslin says no, and Foster tells her it might be worth pondering other things she has been wrong about, then starts to walk out. Roslin tells her to stop, and asks her to convince Three to release the hostages. Foster coldly replies that she's done taking orders from her.
• A body flies out of the baseship. In CIC, Lee Adama receives a transmission from Three, who announces that there has been a change of plans. She has executed the first hostage and will continue to execute hostages every quarter hour until they have the four. Adama tries to reason with her, telling her that she did not giving them a chance and that they are co-operating, but Dualla states that Three has terminated the transmission. As a result, Adama authorizes the rescue mission and to destroy the baseship should it fail
• On the hangar deck, as the pilots and deck crew prepare for the mission, Tyrol begins hearing the strange music again, heavily distorted by screeching and static. In a pilot ready room, as Starbuck and Athena brief the pilots, Anders likewise hears the music, as does Foster on the basestar.
• On Galactica Anders, Tigh and Tyrol are drawn to Starbuck's Viper. Tyrol suggests that something about the Viper has changed, and Anders suggests they get Starbuck. Tigh agrees, then walks out.
• Tigh walks into William Adama's office, telling him to scrub the mission. When asked if he has another option instead, Tigh confesses that he has known that he is a Cylon since the Ionian nebula. Adama expresses doubt and can't believe that his decade-long friend could by a Cylon. He suggests that Tigh could have been brainwashed on New Caprica and says they should see Doctor Cottle. Tigh says that he should have killed himself when he found out and suggests that Three will back down if he is used as a hostage.

Act 2

• As Marines escort Tigh through the hallways, William Adama suffers a nervous breakdown. He rampages through his office, smashes his fist into a mirror and drinks heavily. As Adama cries, his son finds him and tries to comfort him. Adama says that he can't kill Tigh and Lee tells him that he will handle it.
• In a launch tube, Lee Adama interrogates Tigh, demanding to know who the other Cylons are. From the control room, Dualla announces that D'Anna Biers is on the line. Adama threatens to kill Tigh if she harms one of the hostages, and says that she has ten minutes before he kills him. From Tigh he again demands the identities of the rest of the Final Four in order to save the Fleet.
• Around Starbuck's Viper, Thrace expresses doubt about Anders and Tyrol's suspicion regarding the Viper. Marines come in and arrest Anders and Tyrol. When Thrace asks what's going on, Sergeant Harder replies that they are Cylons. Shocked, Thrace questions Anders, who confirms that it is true. As he is dragged away, Anders insists that something is different about the Viper.
• On the basestar, an Eight and two Centurions force the captured pilots down a hallway. Hot Dog tells the pilots to fall back, and the Eight threatens to shoot them if they don't keep moving.
• Anders and Tyrol are brought into the launch tube to join Tigh. Lee Adama orders Dualla to get the baseship on the line again.
• On the hangar deck, Thrace climbs into her Viper's cockpit.
• On the baseship, Roslin and Baltar hear the hostages and Centurions. A Two walks in and Roslin asks what's going on. The Two says that Three is about to start executing more hostages. When Roslin requests that she be taken to Three, Baltar insists that she won't listen to her, and that he be taken instead, because he was with her when she had the vision in the Temple of Five. Roslin agrees.
• Lee Adama tells Three that he has Anders and Tyrol in the airlock, and demands that she stand down.
• Thrace begins activating her Viper's systems.
• Tory Foster tells Three that she knows Adama and that he will back down if pressure. Three orders to target nuclear weapons on the civilian fleet when Baltar walks in and begins begins talking to her.
• Thrace continues activating her electronics and suddenly detects a signal with one instrument.
• Baltar argues that coercion won't work with Lee Adama because he is too similar to his father, while Foster argues that he is bluffing.
• Dualla tells Adama that the baseship's nuclear missiles have gone hot. Both conclude that the Fleet couldn't spool up their jump drives quickly enough to escape before the Cylons fire. Adama orders that everyone except Tigh be removed from the tube.
• On the basestar, Baltar suggests that God may have brought Three back for a different purpose, to end the conflict peacefully. She argues that the Colonials will never forgive the Cylons for what they did to the Twelve Colonies, and gives the order to proceed.
• As the launch tube door closes, Thrace runs through the ship.
• Baltar argues to Three that brute force did not work for the Cylons on New Caprica or the algae planet, and that it will not work now.
• Adama asks Dualla for the key and begins the process of de-pressurizing the launch tube.
• An Eight announces that they have weapons lock on the Colonial ships.
• Tigh tells Adama to stop hesitating and flush the airlock. As Adama is about to push the button, Thrace runs in, telling Adama to stop. She says that the Cylons just gave them Earth.

Act 3

• Lee Adama sits in Starbuck's Viper, recognizing a Colonial emergency locator signal, and notes that no other wireless in the Fleet is picking it up. Thrace argues to a skeptical Adama that it must be a signal from Earth, insisting that some higher power is orchestrating events for a purpose and wants the Colonials to find Earth with the Cylons.
• Thrace, Lee Adama, the Final Four, Number Three, Marines and Centurions stand around the Viper and an Eight sits inside. They discuss the signal. Adama says that he decided to share the information with the Cylons rather than jump away, because it would only lead to another confrontation down the road. He argues that peace is possible and says that he has granted the Final Four an amnesty. Three agrees to release the hostages.
• Adama shows his father the location of Earth, asking for orders. Roslin walks in and says she wants to see him pick up the first fistful of earth. He walks away saying that he'll be back. Lee Adama talks to Roslin about stepping down, and she praises him on resolving the crisis, saying the Fleet will need that kind of leadership in the years to come.
• Admiral Adama returns in uniform, saying they should find Earth. His son says that he has been working on a recon mission with Thrace. Admiral Adama replies that everyone should go together, that they don't have anywhere else to go, and that the alliance will fall apart if they hesitate too long. In his view, they need to roll the hard six.

Act 4

• In the CIC, Dualla announces that the Fleet is ready to jump. Admiral Adama tells Roslin that they wouldn't have made it without her and asks her to give the order. She does so. Dualla counts down and the Fleet jumps.
• The entire Fleet - now including the rebel basestar - successfully jumps. Adama tells Gaeta to take his time with confirming their location. After some seconds, Gaeta announces that the constellations match. The Fleet has jumped into orbit of a blue/white planet - Earth.
• Adama makes a speech to the whole Fleet, announcing that they have arrived at Earth. All over Galactica and throughout the Fleet people rejoice ecstatically.
• A detachment of Vipers, Raptors, Heavy Raiders, Cylon freighters, as well as several civilian ships fly towards the surface.
• On Earth, Adama lifts up a handful of soil. Someone next to him reads the dirt with a Geiger counter. The soil is irradiated. Laura Roslin stands next to Adama, disappointed. Number Three is stunned.
• Many others, including Karl and Sharon Agathon, Gaius Baltar, Lee Adama, Kara Thrace, the Final Four, and the Cylons are on the surface as well, walking and standing around on a riverbank near the ruins of a city, which was apparently destroyed. The mood is dismal, with everyone probably wondering what happened to Earth and what they will do next.

Notes

• This episode is the mid-season cliffhanger for the first ten episodes of Season 4. The conclusion to the cliffhanger, "Sometimes a Great Notion", will not air until 2009.
• The episode was given an advance screening in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 11th, in order to draw attention for the upcoming Emmy Award nominations.
• As D'Anna Biers executes one prisoner during the course of the episode, the population of the Fleet when it arrives at Earth is 39,664, not counting the four Significant Seven Cylons who have now joined them.
• The page from the Book of Pythia depicting the Temple of Aurora is the same two page spread used to represent the City of the Gods on Kobol from "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I".

Analysis

General

• When Thrace says to Lee Adama (while he is looking at the drawing of the Temple of Aurora) "We'll get there, and walk those halls together", Adama says "Yeah, pretty to think so." This could be a reference to the last line of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises when Jake Barnes says "Yeah, isn't it pretty to think so?" about the idea that he and Brett Ashley could have been in love.
• There is one flaw in Three's hostage plan: It is not explained how she believes the Final Four would be able to make it onto her basestar without being detained first by the Colonials. One of them could always be taken as a hostage by the Colonials as a counter-move.

Characters

• D'Anna Biers holding the Colonial personnel hostage isn't aimed so much as to President Adama and the government, as it is to the remaining three of the Final Four who choose to remain behind. When Foster moves to defect under the guise of giving Roslin her medicine, Colonel Tigh speaks up to prevent her from going. This earns Tigh and the other two who refuse to come forward Biers's enmity and she begins killing their crew mates until they join the Cylons.
• Roslin's plan to hold Number Three and her knowledge to herself is shown to have already failed at the start of this episode. Three has already made it clear she will not co-operate and is walking freely around the basestar. The plan was never likely to succeed given that the Colonials on the rebel basestar are totally outnumbered and cut off from the Fleet. In fact, Roslin and Adama's decision to double cross the Cylons (Guess What's Coming To Dinner?) may well have precipitated the entire hostage crisis, as the rebels decided to return to their original plan only after learning that the Colonials have no intention of turning over the Final Five.
• Tory Foster actively advises Number Three in her test of wills with Lee Adama, pressing for more aggressive tactics. She appears to be combining embracing her Cylon nature with misanthropy.
• Sharon Agathon appears to have been released from the brig despite her shooting of Natalie, although there is no explicit onscreen explanation given for this. Her involvement in planning the rescue mission could be part of her parole, or it is possible Roslin confirmed to Admiral Adama that they have been experiencing and sharing powerful visions that have affected their behavior. Curiously, this is not the first time that the Agathons have escaped severe punishment for potentially mutinous actions.
• The Six walking up to Saul Tigh on Earth appears to be Caprica-Six. This indicates that Adama's general amnesty extends to her as well and that she is free to join the Cylon rebels on their baseship; a fact that is confirmed by Mark Verheiden in this interview.

Earth

• One of the first visual cues that Earth lacks a widespread, technologically advanced civilization comes in the establishing shots of the planet when the Fleet arrives in orbit. The night side of the planet is steeped in total darkness, whereas the city lights of an inhabited planet with an industrialized civilization would be clearly visible on its night side, as seen in this composite satellite photograph of the Earth at night.
• How Earth came to the state which the Fleet finds it in is uncertain. Given that the landing party tests the soil with a Geiger counter, and the ruins they come across appear to be from a nuclear blast, it is likely that some nuclear event occurred on Earth. Together with the clear remnants of a modern civilization, this means that the series is set in the future and not the past (barring that is is set in an alternate universe).
• Assuming that a nuclear event was responsible for the current condition of Earth, it appears that it happened a considerable number of years, if not decades or hundreds of years, ago. Less than a week after the Cylon bombardment, the planet Caprica had turned yellowish-brown from dust blasted into the atmosphere, creating a nuclear winter (33). Nine months later, someone on Caprica would have still seen yellow skies (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II). Although the soil of Earth at the landing site is radioactive, the skies are a natural foggy/cloudy gray, and the view from orbit is of a blue-white world.
• The area the landing party arrives at appears to be the Brooklyn side of New York City. The landing party is next to a broad river and across that river to the left is a wide bay. The other shore appears to be the edge of Lower Manhattan with a destroyed skyline of buildings. The camera pans to the right over what is ostensibly the East River until the last two seconds of the episode, where at the far right edge of the screen stands a wrecked structure with which appears to be a heavily abbreviated roadway. It appears to be the East Tower (Brooklyn side) of the Brooklyn Bridge. However, it should be noted that the information on this is incomplete. For instance, many speculations as to the gas giant that Kara Thrace sees in her journey from Earth (as first explained in "He That Believeth In Me") claimed that the giant was Jupiter, when this was later disproved.
  • In what may be a coincidence, not far from the Eastern approaches to the real-life Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn, New York and close to the northern shore of the borough, there is a building owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses. It is called "The Watchtower". The relevance is that the song that the Final Four heard is actually All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan. Further, the building is situated very near if not the exact place the landing party stands at.
• The landing area actually appears to be the Temple of Aurora, thus bookending the episode. When the episode begins, Lee Adama is looking up an illustration of the Temple in Pythia's book. It shows a dome structure near a body of water. As the episode closes on Earth, the landing party appears to be at the ruins of a domed structure by a body of water, as described by the illustration.
• Throughout this episode, Earth when seen from orbit is largely obscured by cloud masses and shadows. Unlike the view of the North American continent presented at the end of "Crossroads, Part II", none of the landmasses in view can be easily identified.

Questions

• Which pilot did Number Three airlock?
• Is Number Three honest in her claim that there are only four of the Final Five in the Fleet? If so, where is the fifth and last Cylon? If she's lying, is it because she still harbors distrust for her compatriots and the humans?
• What happened to Earth?
• What condition is the rest of Earth in?
• Will the other Cylons find the Fleet and the rebels, as well as Earth? If so, will they finish what they started?
• Does the Thirteenth Tribe still exist? If so, where are they now?
• Is Pythia's book literally accurate history or metaphors for real historical events places and things or totally false?
• Will the Colonials and their Cylon allies settle on Earth, or will they move on in hopes of finding a more suitable planet?
• Will Tigh, Anders, and Tyrol continue their duties on Galactica despite having been exposed as Cylons?
• Now that his brief presidency has come to an end, will Lee Adama resume his duties on the Quorum? If not, what will his new role be?

Official Statements

• Jane Espenson about the writing and her reaction to it:

"Holy cow, I love this episode beyond the saying of it, and 'thank you' to the fans who have been going out of their way to tell all of us that, too. Adama's reaction to the reveal was stunning -- my gods -- and Starbuck-- her face said it all. A thunderclap. Simply beautiful. You wouldn't want more and you can't imagine less. I'm stating the obvious when I say that a more labored reaction would've attenuated the emotions, given the characters a chance to gather themselves before the big blow that was to come, which certainly would be a mistake. [...] I think the *real* reactions are yet to come, just like in life. The beauty of this episode is in its urgency, in the tumbling breathless slide that lands us on that grim gray unfamiliar beach"

"And -- oh -- that haunting devastated city there, with the massive ruined temple and our people trying to find their footing in a strange dead city I did not recognize... that image just kills me. Every time I watch this episode, I well up with hope, and it lasts right up through that handful of soil, and then the radiation counter breaks my heart all over again."

"David and Bradley (David Weddle and Bradley Thompson, our writers) did an excellent job throughout this rocketsled of an episode - the writing had to be so delicate, precise and emotional... and they also did such a good job doing little things like dealing with the fallout from my episode the previous week. Baltar saying he loves living is such a gem of a moment among a cascade of gems -- thanks for that, David and Brad! And then, of course, the big stuff starts happening and never ever lets up."

Noteworthy Dialogue

• William Adama has a nervous breakdown after learning that his best friend of 30 years, Saul Tigh, is a Cylon, and having him arrested to be executed. His son finds him and drags his father's sobbing form to a bulkhead where he cradles his father from behind.

William Adama: [Crying, sobbing, despair...]

Lee Adama: [voice quavering]: Dad, listen... No one suspected, no one! Not with his record. Not what he did on New Caprica. His eye... What happened to his wife... Come on, let's get up.

William: What have I done? [breathlessly] All of the people I've sent to die? For what? For what?!

Lee: [quietly] For Earth...

William: [angrily]: There is no Earth. [sobs] It is a frakkin' joke! There is no Earth! [sobs]

Lee: Okay dad, listen to me... [firmer and takes his father face between his hands] Listen to me!! Pull it together!!

William: I can't...

Lee [frustrated]: Yes, you can! Come on!

William: I can't...

Lee: [frustrated] Yes, you ca...

William: I can't... I can't kill him... I can't kill the bastard! I can't...

Lee: Okay, okay, dad. [he cradles his father's face]

William: I can't...

Lee: It's... It's gonna be okay... It's gonna be okay... I'll... I'll take care of it. I'll take care of it [kisses his father's forehead].

• Tory Foster to Laura Roslin after confessing that she is a Cylon:

Foster: You had no idea, did you?

Roslin: No.

Foster: Might be worth pondering what else you've been wrong about.

• Upon confirmation of their position in orbit of Earth, Admiral Adama makes an announcement to the Fleet:

"Crew of Galactica. People of the fleet. This is Admiral Adama. Three years ago I promised to lead you to a new home. We've endured a difficult journey, we've all lost, we've all suffered, and the truth is I questioned whether this day would ever come. But today our journey is at an end. We have arrived, at Earth."

• Laura Roslin observes the vacant ruins on Earth:

"Earth..."

Guest Stars

• Michael Hogan as Saul Tigh
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Aaron Douglas as Galen Tyrol
• Michael Trucco as Samuel Anders
• Lucy Lawless as Number Three
• Callum Keith Rennie as Number Two / Leoben Conoy
• Tahmoh Penikett as Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon
• Kandyse McClure as Lieutenant Anastasia Dualla
• Alessandro Juliani as Lieutenant Felix Gaeta
• Bodie Olmos as Lieutenant Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza
• Keegan Connor Tracy as Jeanne
• Lara Gilchrist as Paulla Schaffer
• Finn R. Devitt as Nicholas Tyrol (credited as "Baby Nicky")
• Brad Dryborough as Lieutenant Hoshi
• Alexandra Thomas as Hera
• Heather Doerksen as Sergeant Brandy Harder
• Leo Li Chiang as Tattooed pilot (uncredited)
• Vincent Gale as Peter Laird
• Don Thompson as Specialist Anthony Figurski
• Sonja Bennett as Specialist Marcie Brasko
• Barry Nerling as Adama's Corporal

External Links

• Composer Bear McCreary on the episode's score: [1]