Flesh and Bone

"Flesh and Bone"; An episode of the Re-imagined Series
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	R&D Skit – [[R_and_D_TV (Season {{{season}}})#Flesh and Bone\|View]]
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Overview

When a copy of Leoben Conoy is captured aboard a civilian ship, President Roslin orders he is to be interrogated, and Lieutenant Thrace is assigned the job. She finds herself facing the possibility that Conoy may have planted a bomb somewhere in the fleet.

Summary

Laura Roslin has a Chamalla-induced dream in which she sees Leoben Conoy. She is awakened by Billy, who informs her a Cylon agent has been captured aboard the Gemenon Traveler.
The Cylon turns out to be Leoben Conoy, and while Adama wants him destroyed, Roslin insists he is interrogated.
Kara Thrace is assigned the interrogation task. Meeting with her, Adama warns her that Conoy cannot be trusted. Not that he lies, but rather he twists everything into half-truths and masks fiction with the veneer of truth.
They briefly discuss the Cylon Raider Starbuck is still working on (You Can’t Go Home Again, Six Degrees of Separation), and Starbuck informs him good progress is being made: the avionics are now understood, and they are focusing on the FTL systems.
Later, Sharon Valerii visits the Raider for a second time (the first being in Six Degrees of Separation), and appears to comfort it by humming.
Tyrol arrives, and she asks if her previous comments help. He confirms they did, and asks how she came up with the idea. She claims it’s because she’s a Cylon -- something Tyrol doesn’t find remotely funny.
Elsewhere, Thrace travels by Raptor to the Gemenon Traveler. Once there, she observes Conoy, noting that he is sweating, before she enters the room in which he is being held, wanting to know what he is doing with his head on the table.
Conoy claims to have been praying. Their religious differences are immediately outlined as she refers to “gods”, he to “God”.
When he starts playing games with her over names, she tries to walk out – and Conoy reveals he knows who she is, which stops her. He then claims to have hidden a nuclear warhead somewhere in the fleet, which will go off in just under nine hours.
Shaken by the fact he knows her name, Starbuck reports the news on the bomb to Adama and Roslin. Adama orders radiological searches to be made aboard all ships and tries to reassure Starbuck that Conoy could have learned her name from anywhere.
When she returns to the holding area, Conoy continues to question her about her beliefs, outlining the key difference between humans and their religion and Cylons. A meal arrives for Starbuck and she eats, allowing Conoy to finish what is left.
As he finishes the food, a systematic beating commences, Starbuck convinced that because he is programmed to act completely like a human, Conoy will be forced to react like a human, take the beating until the pain forces him to start talking.
As this starts, Boomer visits Gaius Baltar in his lab and demands he runs a test on her to determine whether or not she is human. Baltar is reluctant to do so, but Six prompts him into doing it.
Conoy’s beating fails to get him to talk about the bomb, only to talk more about God. As the subject of water has formed a lot of his analogies, Starbuck opts to up the torture by using it, and sends the guards from the room.
When they are gone, Conoy demonstrates his supernatural strength, breaking the chains that bind his wrists and pins Thrace to the wall. He could kill her, but he doesn’t – he has something to tell her, soon. A surprise.
On Galactica, Adama visits the cadaver of the Conoy he encountered at Ragnar Anchorage (Miniseries), his rage almost causing him to beat the body with a telephone handset.
On the Traveler, Starbuck commences sessions that involve holding Conoy’s head underwater for increasingly lengthy periods to try and get him to talk – convinced that he is too far from Cylon influence to transfer his consciousness to another body, should this one die.
Conoy talks – about Starbucks’s childhood and upbringing, demonstrating he somehow knows a lot about her. The duckings continue.
Baltar finishes a scan on a blood sample from Boomer – it confirms she is a Cylon. Terrified of what will happen if he tells her, he fakes the result to look human.
In her private quarters on Colonial One, Roslin has another vision of Conoy, prompting her to order a shuttle to take her to the Gemenon Traveler.
On the Traveler, Starbuck halts the water torture and Conoy reveals his surprise to her: the humans will find Kobol, and Kobol will lead them to Earth. What’s more, Starbuck’s specific role is to deliver his soul to God.
At that moment, Roslin arrives and puts a stop to the torture, as it has failed to reveal the location of the bomb.
When Conoy has been cleaned up and dried off, she tries to reason with him, and he confesses there is no bomb; grabbing her, he whispers that Adama is a Cylon.
Shocked by this, but her mind made up, Roslin has him ejected into space – fulfilling the sequence of events in her dream.
Later, on the Galactica, Starbuck prays for Conoy’s soul, while Roslin meets with Adama, Conoy's words clearly having cast doubts deep in her mind.

On Caprica

After sleeping with Helo, Valerii meets with Doral and Six and informs them of developments.
Doral informs her that a little love nest is being set-up nearby. Six adds that she must lead Helo to it and keep him there – or kill him.
Reacting to the instructions, Valerii returns to Helo – and goes on the run with him, leading him away from her Cylon colleagues.

Summary from SciFi.com

A Cylon, who calls himself Leobon, is discovered on one of the ships in the fleet. Commander Adama sends Kara to interrogate him — or, rather, it. The Cylon tells Kara that he planted a nuclear device on one of the ships. Although she doesn't believe it, Kara passes on the warning.

As her colleagues search for the device, Kara engages Leobon in a battle of wills. Theological debates about souls and the humanity of Cylons lead to mind games, threats, and, ultimately, torture. Taking a personal interest in what Leobon has to say, President Roslin joins the interrogation.

On Galactica, Sharon asks Baltar to try out his new Cylon-detecting technology on her.

Meanwhile, on far-off Caprica, another Sharon conspires with her Cylon associates Doral and Number Six to convince Helo to remain on the planet and start a new life. -- This section ©2005, SCI FI. All rights reserved.

Questions

Is Conoy's comment to Starbuck concerning Kobol meant personally - that she will find Kobol - or at least recognise it for what it really is? (Apparently not)
How will Roslin react to Conoy's claim about Adama? She has already demonstrated a willingness to readily accept the worst about a person without proof (her reaction to Baltar's situation in Six Degrees of Separation). (Answer)
Why is love so vital to the Cylons? (Answer, plus Cylons believe that "God is love")
Was Troy destroyed in an genuine accident, making it a convenient "cover" for the Cylons to create Boomer's "history", or were they responsible for the destruction of the colony? (A moot question since Sharon Valerii was never an actual human)
Other than Silica Pathways and the substance discovered by Gaius Baltar in the cremation process of the genetic material of a Cylon agent, are there any other major differences between them and humans? (Answer: They have super-strength, as shown in the Miniseries and this episode, an ability to interface their bodies with electronic devices, and a different blood structure)
Why does Roslin run towards Leoben and away from the Marines in her dream? She already knows what he looks like from the press conference in Litmus.

Analysis

Turning to Conoy’s appearance in Roslin’s dreams: is this again an indication that he is in some way “psychic” - or are Roslin’s visions of him simply a side effect of the Chamalla extract she is taking? His appearances almost seem to manipulate events and bring about the results he desires / has foreseen: his appearance in her initial dream forestalls his simple destruction on capture; his later appearance brings Roslin to the Gemenon Traveler, where he can impart his lie concerning Adama to her.

(Viewers learn later that the Chamalla did play some role in Roslin's ability to confirm Kobol, the need for the Arrow of Apollo, and her role in the search in the multi-episode story arc, starting with "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I")

But assuming for a moment the dreams are a side-effect of Roslin's treatment, what does this mean for her? Precognition would seem to fit with the parallels the series has shown with Greek mythology. Could it be that the Kamala is "helping" Roslin to become a Sybil, a seer of future events? (In effect, viewers discovered that Roslin was able to comprehend the meanings of the Pythian prophesy through the Chamalla treatments, which foretold the events the Colonials would experience.)

However, there is a third explanation: that, as Conoy states, everything that happens in this episode – indeed, everything within the series as a whole – is preordained. That there is indeed a deity manipulating things, drawing both the Colonials and Cylons towards an ultimate goal.

Away from the central action, we begin to see the pieces fall into place around Helo on Caprica, with the motivating force behind the Cylon’s activities once more focusing on love.

“Love” is a theme that resonate throughout the episode – and indeed, has resonated through the series since Six’s first on-screen appearance with Baltar. As he is interviewed for a news broadcast, she enters his house, a look of adoration on her face. Then, after the interview, as they start to make out, she asks him in a child-like voice, in need of reassurance, “Did you miss me Gaius?” Still kissing and undressing her, he replies, “Can’t you tell?” and her tone grows more petulant, “Your body misses me. What about your heart…your soul?”

Intent on sating his lust, Baltar remains flippant, “Yeah, those too.” Six’s voice returns to one of need. “Do you love me Gaius?” When he does answer, she stops him from kissing her, making him look her in the eye. “Do you love me?” It is something he cannot answer except to ask her if she is serious. For a moment there is hurt in Six’s expression – which she covers and still proceeds to have sex with him.

Do you love me? The need is real. Could it be that, in carrying her primary mission of sabotage through Baltar, Six did actually come to love him – she actually, if accidentally came to experience that one emotion, that one driving force of life that the Cylons have equated to Godhood, (“God is love”)? If so, it would further reinforce the fact that whatever is in Baltar’s head is not a product of his own mind.

Certainly, it is the question of love that appears foremost in this episode – both with Conoy, who returns to it time and again in his references to Cylon religion, and more particularly with Valerii on Caprica, where the first question she is asked after her revelation to Doral and Six that she had sex is “Does he love you?” The question is immediately followed by a dismissive “then you’re just guessing,” when she admits he had not actually said as much.

Following the interview with Doral and Six, two things are clear: Valerii has fallen for Helo. That much is evident from the flashbacks of her time with him. She also very much shares the memories of Boomer back on Galactica – at least up until the point where Boomer left Helo on Caprica, indicating the various incarnations of a specific humanoid Cylon share experiences throughout their existence – although this may be limited by the distance between one another.

Did the Cylons anticipate that any love expressed by a human might be reciprocated by one of their own? If they wish to experience love, then it is hard to see how they could avoid coming to this conclusion. Indeed, it might well explain Doral’s question to Valerii in “Litmus” when Helo sets out to “find” her: “Are you prepared for the next step?” A comment that at the time appeared to have implications well beyond the beating she then received at the hands of Six.

Again, putting these items together – the fact that different incarnations of a Cylon humanoid share experiences and the attempts to have Helo fall in love with Valerii on Caprica – goes a long way to explaining Six’s very apparent sarcasm and vindictiveness towards Valerii, as witnessed in “Litmus” (“He doesn’t love you,” and the unnecessarily-harsh beating she then gives Valerii), and her jealousy towards Valerii shown in this episode (“She acts like one of them, thinks like one of them. She is one of them”). Why? Because if Baltar’s Six did indeed fall in love with Baltar, then Six on Caprica may well have experienced some of it for herself – a vicarious thrill, the very thing the Cylons seek – but it is down to another to achieve the goal of having a human fall in love with her, not Six.

Layers in layers, clues and counter-clues, wheels within wheels. All are revealed and all light the path of the story while simultaneously obscuring the truth behind what is happening. Glimpses and shadows of what might be happening, and what might yet come to pass are shown; but like the insidious nature of Conoy’s half-truths and riddles, they serve to weave a story that even here, more than half-way through season one, inspires discussion, evokes enthusiasm and engages the imagination. Long may it continue!

All told, “Flesh and Bone” is the strongest story yet to come out of Battlestar Galactica – more than that, it is one of the most thought-provoking and evocative 42 minutes of television drama ever broadcast.

Notes

This episode takes place within 24 hours of those portrayed in "Six Degrees of Separation".
Doctor Cottle has apparently been successful in his quest for Chamalla – Roslin is now using it in her fight against cancer.
There are 47,954 survivors in the Fleet, presumably including Galactica’s crew, as the figure has fluctuated between 45,000 and 50,000 over the past few weeks in rounded figures. This represents a net loss of 18 since "33", with doubtlessly uncertain census counts throughout the interim.
Laura Roslin may have precognition, and / or Cylons may be psychic.
Boomer believes her family were all killed – together with almost her entire past in a “tragedy” that destroyed the colony of Troy.
Baltar’s Cylon detector works. It takes "a couple of minutes" to process Boomer's sample.
Baltar now knows Boomer is a Cylon.
Leoben Conroy's execution via ejection from an airlock is relatively "unspectacular" compared to similar sequences in many Science Fiction films. Whether the decision not to show his death in a more gruesome fashion may owe as much to Broadcast Standards & Practices as it does to scientific accuracy, it is at least more line with what is known about human physiology and hard vacuum.
The "R&D TV Animation" skit during the credits is a take-off of the infamous Superbowl XXXVIII half-time "wardrobe malfunction". Ron Moore starts singing and David Eick tears the left breast of his shirt off.

Noteworthy Dialogue

Conoy to Starbuck, towards the end of his interrogation, just before Roslin's arrival

Conoy: Each of us plays a role; each time a different role. Maybe the last time I was the interrogator and you were the prisoner. The players change, the story remains the same. And this time – this time – your role is to deliver my soul unto God. Do it for me. It’s your destiny. And mine. (PAUSE) And I told you I had a surprise for you. Are you ready? You are going to find Kobol, birthplace of us all. Kobol will lead you to Earth. This is my gift to you, Kara.

Official Statements

External Links

"Flesh and Bone" at scifi.com

"Flesh and Bone" An episode of the Re-imagined Series

Episode No.	Season , Movie {{{movie}}}
Writer(s)
Story by
Director
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	{{{guests}}}
Production No.	{{{production}}}
Nielsen Rating	{{{rating}}}
US airdate	{{{US airdate}}}
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate	{{{UK airdate}}}
DVD release	{{{dvd}}}
Population	{{{population}}} survivors
Additional Info
Episode Chronology

	{{{title}}}
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – [[R_and_D_TV (Season {{{season}}})#Flesh and Bone\|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]