The Road Less Traveled

"The Road Less Traveled" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 5
Writer(s)	Mark Verheiden
Story by
Director	Michael Rymer
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	407
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	2 May 2008
CAN airdate	{{{CAN airdate}}}
UK airdate
DVD release
Population	39,676 survivors
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Escape Velocity	The Road Less Traveled	Faith
Related Information
Official Summary
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Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
			@ BW Media
Promotional Materials
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Overview

The prospect of a truce between the remnants of humanity and the Cylons encourages Kara Thrace to trust an old enemy.

Summary

On Galactica

Please note that this is a roughed-in version of the summary. It's a bit facetious, obviously, and possibly inaccurate. Feel free to edit this and the following section mercilessly.

• Gaius Baltar listens to the whiny laments of Phoebe: she lost her two kids on Picon, as well as her husband, during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. She is angered by the fact that all this happened and that the Gods did nothing to spite the people who were responsible for the attack: the politicians, the programmers, the corporations... basically anyone and everyone. Baltar, surrounded by his cultist groupies, makes a speech (which is both recorded and broadcast over the wireless) about how the Gods didn't come to their aid not because they didn't want to, but because the Lords of Kobol don't exist.
• Sometime in the episode, Baltar gets some sugar from Tory Foster.
• During another one of Baltar's sermons, a shaved-head Galen Tyrol is listening to Baltar's broadcasts. He turns it off. Nicholas Tyrol begins crying, and so he turns on the drivel. The baby stops crying. Good parenting!
• Tyrol visits the launch tube, where Foster finds him. Tyrol doesn't believe that the shriek would abandon Nicholas, particularly since she was on some serious anti-depressants. Foster tries to convince Tyrol otherwise.
• Later, Tyrol hears another of Baltar's crappy podcasts and heads down to the commune. There he listens, but he is pulled aside by Colonel Tigh, who scowls and scoffs Tyrol for not getting over Cally's death quickly. Given the one-eyed stare of scowling, Tyrol is told that he needs to get over Cally's death before they are outed as skinjobs. Tyrol retorts that Tigh's been shacking up with Caprica-Six, which places the smack-down that ECW would be in envy of.
• Baltar calls out Tyrol, saying that he's sorry for his loss. Tyrol goes batshit, saying that Baltar's a scumbag and that, for some reason, Cally liked him and his crappy book. But all Baltar cares about is giving Tyrol a handshake.
• Baltar tries to gives Tyrol a handshake. Tyrol instead grabs his throat, until the groupies manage to break that manly bond.
• Tyrol runs back to his quarters and tries to pull a Boomer on himself. He begins cradling his head, possibly feeling the smoothness of it. However, possibly distracted by the stubble on his head, doesn't pull a Boomer and merely lays on his bunk until Baltar, hidden in a shawl or some other piece of blanket-like clothing, comes to his quarters. During this, Baltar makes a speech and Tyrol forgives him.

On the Demetrius

This is a roughed-in summary. Participants are encouraged to edit away.

• On day 58 of their mission, Kara Thrace decides to join the Combat Air Patrol. With Brendan "Hot Dog" Costanza as her wingman, Thrace (in Diana Seelix's Viper Mark II) encounters a heavily damaged Heavy Raider that just appeared on their DRADIS. Both are unsure of what course of action to take, until Leoben Conoy hails them over the wireless, telling them that he can help them find the way to Earth.
• After allowing the Heavy Raider to dock, Thrace has Conoy escorted to her quarters, where he aims to help her until Samuel Anders hears of what's happening and goes batshit. Anders begins wailing on Conoy himself, until the Marines drag Conoy away to lock him up in a closet.
• On the bridge, Sharon "Athena" Agathon and others express their concern that Thrace cannot be trusted, and they have to meet up with the Fleet to refuel. Also, Admiral Adama made it clear that if the ship didn't return by then, they would be considered lost.
• Out of concern of being tracked, Karl Agathon orders the ship to be searched for tracking devices and other potential issues. Erin Mathias does so, but is blown away after the reactor on the ship goes critical.
• After her death, Thrace makes a speech to the ship's crew in the mess hall, saying that she's responsible for Mathias' death and grandstanding about their mission.
• Later, on the bridge, she orders the crew to spin the FTL drives and prepare to jump to the Cylon rebel's basestar. Captain Agathon refuses, which leads her to promote Lieutenant Felix Gaeta to be her new XO. He too refuses. Uh, oh... mutiny.

Notes

• The title is derived from the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The common interpretation is that one may be rewarded greatly by choosing a more difficult path than the one used by the crowd. The phrase may also have had a religious meaning for Frost, alluding to Matthew 7,12-14, which mentions a broad gate leading to destruction and a narrow gate leading to salvation.

• The survivor count increases by one, meaning that at least one child has been born in the Fleet.
• It has been 58 days since the end of "Six of One", when Kara Thrace is given the command of the Demetrius.
• Gunnery Sergeant Mathias's first name, Erin, is spoken for the first time on screen.
• Neither William Adama nor Laura Roslin appear in this episode. In both cases, this is unprecendented.

Analysis

• Instead of using his demotion as a wakeup call, Tyrol has slipped further into despair and even contemplates to kill himself. That he has completely shaven his head might also be an indicator of his state of mind.
• Earlier resenting Baltar's presumption of believing what Tyrol's dead wife Cally would want, Tyrol strangles Baltar after ignoring his hand to shake. After Tyrol's suicide effort Baltar visits him in his quarters to apologize and Tyrol accepts Baltar's handshake. In light of Tyrol's resentment, and even hatred, towards Baltar displayed in other episodes, it seems more likely that Tyrol forgives Baltar for offending him in this one instance, but not for all his sins as Baltar may intend.

Questions

• Does Conoy sense that Anders is a fellow Cylon?
• How will the situation on the Demetrius be resolved?
• Will Galen Tyrol begin to associate with Baltar?
• If yes, will Baltar have a positive influence on Tyrol and help him to overcome his grief or uncertainty about being a Cylon?
• What have Tigh and Caprica-Six been doing recently?
• Why does Baltar's broadcast appear to soothe Nicholas Tyrol?

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Gaius Baltar to Galen Tyrol about his conversion to a believer:

"I know it's hard to...make sense of things sometimes. In my own life, I...in my own life I've joined the fleet as a scientist, as a skeptic, as a...supposedly a man of reason. Only to have fate turn that all on its head. But I understand now that there is a purpose to it. We change. We evolve. Maybe we even learn something along the way. (pauses) I have committed...unconscionable crimes. And I have been offered one last chance at redemption, because I chose to accept my fate and not fight it anymore."

Guest Stars

• Aaron Douglas as Specialist Galen Tyrol
• Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Michael Trucco as Ensign Samuel Anders
• Alessandro Juliani as Lieutenant Felix Gaeta
• Bodie Olmos as Lieutenant Brendan "Hotdog" Costanza
• Tahmoh Penikett as Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon
• Callum Keith Rennie as Number Two
• Eileen Pedde as Gunnery Sergeant Erin Mathias
• Jennifer Halley as Ensign Diana "Hardball" Seelix
• Keegan Connor Tracy as Jeanne
• Lara Gilchrist as Paulla Schaffer
• Leela Savasta as Tracey Anne
• Finn R. Devitt as Nicholas Tyrol (credited as "Baby Nicky")
• Ryan McDonell as Lieutenant Eammon "Gonzo" Pike
• Alisen Down as Jean Barolay
• Lori Triolo as Phoebe

External Links

• Composer Bear McCreary on the episode's score: http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=306