Someone to Watch Over Me

"Someone To Watch Over Me" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 17
Writer(s)
Story by
Director
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	419
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	February 27, 2009
CAN airdate	February 27, 2009
UK airdate	March 3, 2009
DVD release
Population	39,556 survivors ()
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Episode Chronology
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Deadlock	Someone To Watch Over Me	Islanded in a Stream of Stars
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Official Summary
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Overview

Starbuck discovers a hidden musical ability that bears a mysterious significance to the final five Cylons, and her tune is found to have a connection with three-year-old human-Cylon hybrid Hera. The president authorizes Boomer's extradition from the Brig so she can stand trial for treason on the Cylon Base Ship.

Summary

Notes

• Gaius Baltar and Caprica-Six do not appear in this episode. As with the previous episode, Lee Adama appears in only a couple of scenes.
• "Someone To Watch Over Me" is the name of a song composed by George and Ira Gershwin, and featured in the musical Oh, Kay! A major theme of the song is the need to find love and acceptance.
  • There was also an episode of Star Trek: Voyager named for the song, in which it is performed at the end by The Doctor.
• Weeks have passed since the end of the mutiny, as evidenced by Cottle's comment about how long Anders' EKG readings have remained steady, and Starbuck's comment about how long she has repeated the same mission briefing.
• Starbuck acknowledges her pilots that the mutiny has "thinned our numbers". This, combined with the apparent absence of pilots such as Margaret Edmonson and Diana Seelix, confirms their involvement in the mutiny did not go unpunished, although exactly what that punishment is remains unknown.
  • In the Podcast for "Deadlock" RDM states that all the mutineers were imprisoned on the Astral Queen.
• After her apparent death in "Maelstrom", Kara's personal belongings were auctioned off. Helo has managed to get them all back for her. However, the only thing Kara is interested in is her father's music tape.
• Some of the music played by the mysterious piano player is from the original series. Numian's 3rd Sonata, Second Movement, is in fact from the opening dialogue of the classic series ("There are those who believe that life here, began out there..."). This is not the first time music from the original series has shown up (i.e. the Colonial Anthem), and lends to the idea that 'everything has happened before, and will happen again'.
• The brand of toothpaste offered as a prize to the pilots is called "Felgercarb," a word used in the original series to mean "shit." In essence, Kara is offering the pilot who finds a new planet "shit toothpaste."
• The collection of named Number Six models expands with the addition of Sonja, who becomes the first Cylon to be elected to the Fleet's reconstituted Quorum.

Analysis

• The Cylons seem to have officially joined the Fleet as they now have the representation they wanted on the new Quorum in the form of a Six named Sonja. It is also confirmed that Cylon and Colonial pilots are performing joint CAPs.
  • This is most clearly seen when Athena staggers into the briefing room and Helo orders one of the Six's to go get the medics, the Six unhesitatingly responds "Yes, Sir". Several Sixes are also seen attending Starbuck's "toothpaste briefing".
  • The rebel Cylon pilots do not appear to have been commissioned into the Colonial military, as they wear Cylon flight suits and none is addressed by rank.
  • The Sixes and Eights appear to use their model numbers as surnames, and are referred to and addressed as "Six" or "Eight". They do not yet appear to have been given individual call-signs.
• It is very possible-but not certain-that the Cylon ability to recognize individual Cylons despite them looking exactly like each other (most of the time, the Sixes seem to have the most variants in hair color and use of makeup, both voluntary actions) relies on actually looking at the individual. In the lavatory where Sharon "Boomer" Valerii severely beats Sharon "Athena" Agathon, Athena initially mistook Boomer as a generic Eight when she saw her in the reflection of a mirror. It was after she stood up, turned around and looked directly at Boomer did Athena recognize her as Boomer. Admittedly however, it is possible that she would had recognized Boomer if she still only watched her in the reflection. Still, she said a full sentence while she looked at her in the mirror-"Great, I hope you are here to fix the fraken shower!"-but instantly recognized Boomer the exact moment she saw her directly and not reflected. Perhaps they also need to look the other Cylon square in the eyes, which is what Tyrol does in "Deadlock" before identifying Boomer.
• It has been unclear whether Karl Agathon is still the Commander Air Group (CAG) of Galactica or Kara Thrace officially takes over the CAG as Agathon used to join important staff meetings with Adama & Tigh in previous episodes. However, this episode clearly shows that Thrace is now serving as the CAG of Galactica.
• Ellen's escape from Cavil seems to have been orchestrated between him and Boomer in order to get Boomer on Galactica so she could kidnap Hera.
• It would appear that while Cavil was willing to let Ellen go in order to obtain Hera, members of the Final Five are still of some value to him, as evidenced by Boomer's offer for Tyrol to go with her. (Although it remains possible that Boomer's feelings for Tyrol are geniune and she might have been trying to get Tyrol to leave Galactica to save him from a possible later attack. This is evidenced by her telling Tyrol her feelings are genuine, after he declines to go with her.)
• The Final Five have the same projection ability as the Cylons they created, as previously shown on Earth in "[[Sometimes a Great Notion]". Tyrol is the first to be shown voluntarilly receiving a projection.
• It is possible that Starbuck also has this ability and she projected the Piano Player beside her when she played a section of "All Along the Watchtower" from the drawing Hera made, which turned out to be musical notation. She, from her POV, was playing a long side of him but when Saul Tigh, Ellen Tigh, and Tory Foster confronted her about where she learned to play that music he was gone. Perhaps it was just standard human daydreaming, but it could had been projection.
• Projections can include not just imaginary environments but also imaginary people, such as Boomer and Tyrol's "daughter" Dionne.
• It also appears that projections might be a form of persistent environment -- similar to real-life virtual worlds such as Second Life, as Tyrol re-enters Boomer's projection after she escapes with Hera, as if expecting to find her and Dionne still in there.
• Galactica is in very bad shape from the metal fatigue in the hull. It's so bad that Tyrol says that all the Cylon organic resin could do is buy a little more time, but not too much from the looks of it, and that the ship might only be capable of one more FTL jump, if that. The ship is dying of old age and abuse and there's nothing anyone can do save it completely. The damage Boomer created during her escape has no doubt worsened the ship's condition.
• FTL jumps appear to create spatial distortion that can seriously strain a ships hull. Tigh expresses concern that a jump within the flight pod will seriously strain the internal integrity of the ship. Boomer's FTL jump eventually appears to cause a chain reaction of hull collapses along Galactica's port side, a side visibly weakened by Cylon attack, and suffering general ageing in the 50+ year old ship's structure.
• The port side of Galactica which suffers damage in this episode has been seen specifically to suffer major stress before now- particularly during the Battle of New Caprica when it was mentioned that explosive decompressions were imminent in that section. That side of the ship also saw the port water tank blow out in Water-and though this seemed to be repaired it no doubt contributed to the area's hull stress.
• Many individuals express fears of the damage an FTL jump can do to Galactica, impying FTL jumps place serious strains on a ships hull–or even the hull of a ship nearby. This appears quite a new phenomenon in the canon of the show and was not mentioned in previous seasons, though it of course makes for a convenient plot conceit now. Before this ships have frequently been seen jumping and exiting a jump close to each other in the series with seemingly no ill effects. In the episode A Disquiet Follows My Soul the Hitei Kahn tylium ship jumped whilst surrounded by Raptors and Vipers and no ship seemed to suffer damage, although they were knocked back. Also some Fleet ships such as the Space Park have been seen to suffer serious hull damage but have continued to jump with the Fleet seemingly without incident.
• Given that Galactica has jumped hundreds of times whilst damaged before now, it is not explained why no damage has occurred before given it is assumed damage will be guaranteed by an unplanned jump in this episode. In the miniseries Galactica suffered a nuke hit and yet jumped several times afterwards. Also despite falling through the atmosphere of New Caprica Galatica was able to execute an FTL jump despite the severe strains on the hull. Fears of FTL stress were not mentioned.
  • Galactica probably has been taking damage from multiple jumps over the years. It's just that the extent of that damage has not become apparent until now.
• Adama has still not forgiven Boomer for shooting him.
• Boomer has gone from being a conflicted sleeper agent to being a willing infiltrator and saboteur on Galactica.
• The Cylons want Boomer tried for treason, with execution being a possible outcome, because her actions are linked to the permanent deaths of thousands of Cylons. This parallels the Colonial Fleet's own desire to try Gaius Baltar.
• Boomer seduces Helo by pretending to be Athena. This is ironic, as Athena originally seduced Helo on Caprica, by pretending to be Boomer.
• Boomer's seduction of Helo - in the presence of Athena - may have been motivated by a desire to exact revenge on Athena for having effectively taken over her old life on Galactica.
• The Final Five, Hera Agathon, and Kara Thrace are all somehow connected to each other by The Music. Also possibly connected via the song is Kara's mysterious father.
• The mysterious piano player is Kara's father, which can be concluded by his sudden disappearance and by the flashbacks with both Kara and her father playing the piano when she was little. These flashbacks mirror the exact same movements done by Captain Thrace and the piano player.
• The title of the tape Kara receives back from Helo is "Dreilide Thrace Live at the Helice Opera House." Helice was the ancient Greek name for the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). Helice in Greek means "to spin" or "to turn", and Ursa Major revolves around Polaris, the Pole Star.
• Helice was also the name of a nymph in Greek mythology who nursed the infant Zeus, along with another nymph, Melissa (which itself means "honey" or "honey bee". What, if any, reference this has to the series remains to be seen.

Questions

• Is Boomer taking Hera to Cavil, and if so, is she of value to him in and of herself or will he ransom her for the Final Five to rebuild resurrection? Or is Boomer working alone or for a third party? (Answer)
• What was the note Boomer was writing down in her cell when she first sensed Tyrol watching her?
• Is the Eight switched with Boomer by Tyrol dead, or merely injured?
  • Probably merely injured. It is doubtful Tyrol would have gone so far as to actually kill another Eight to save Boomer. Furthermore, if the Eight had been dead, Tyrol's trickery would have been discovered more quickly.
• What is Roslin's physical status?
• What connection is there between Roslin's collapse and Hera's kidnapping?
• If Tyrol had gone with Boomer, would Cavil have opened his brain as he threatened to do with Ellen?
• Did Boomer sleep with Helo merely to maintain her pretense, because she was attracted to him, or to intentionally hurt Athena? (Answer)
• What is the source of the "Slick" image Starbuck has been seeing? Is he a variation of Kara's Inner Leoben from "Maelstrom"?
• How did Starbuck and Hera arrive at a piano version of the same melody originally played by Anders on a guitar on Earth?
• Will Eight's idea of plugging Anders into the datastream lead anywhere?
• Will Tyrol's involvement in Boomer's escape be figured out? Will he confess?
  • It will be difficult for him to deny involvement considering the presence of the unconscious Eight he substituted for Boomer in the brig.
    • That assumes the Eight can identify him as the one that attacked her in the work area. It was coal pitch black dark when he knocked her out. Still, the circumstance of him being the one to restore power to the Cell Area and knowing how hard he pleaded for Boomer's life makes him a natural suspect. What could convict him beyond doubt is if people on the hanger deck remember him helping "Athena"-as everyone thought at the time-with that large very heavy equipment box. It is known that Cylons can tell each other apart on sight despite them being indistinguishable to humans. If someone recalls that it could be used as proof positive that Tyrol was complicit in her escape, that he cannot plead truthful ignorance like Helo can when he thought Boomer was his wife and had sex with her.
• If Tyrol's treachery does come to light, how will others react?
• Do all the ships in the Fleet - regardless of their relative crew and passenger size - get to send representatives to the new Quorum? (This is similar to the situation the Framers of the United States Constitution faced when trying to decide if state representation in Congress should be based on individual state population or restricted to the same number of representatives per state).
• If Jumping in very close proximity to a ship is a very dangerous thing to do then why then in A Disquiet Follows My Soul when the Tylium ship Hitei Kan jumped away form the intercepting and boarding Vipers nothing happened to them other than being upended?
  • It was dangerous for Galactica because of its failing structure.
• Why was Sonja elected to represent the Cylons?
  • The Eights appear to be the most influencial leaders within the rebel Cylon society, and posess the most individuality. Caprica Six sowed the seeds of the Cylon Civil War, Natalie led the revolt, and Eights generally were in senior positions in the occupation governement of New Caprica.
• Did Boomer intentionally jump so close to Galactica in order to further damage the already weakened ship? Is this a prelude to an attack on the Fleet by Cavil's forces?
• Since Boomer was able to find the fleet, why doesn't Cavil just jump in and attack the fleet? Surely he has superior numbers. Is it merely because of fear of death, since they can no longer resurrect?
• What is the current status of Caprica-Six?
• Where did the piano in Joe's Bar come from?
• Will the Helice Opera House have any connection to the visions of the Opera House shared by Roslin, Caprica-Six, and Athena?
• Was a Daniel model Kara Thrace's father? Making her a half-cylon and giving her abilities like resurrection and projection?
• To what extent are the semi-sentient Raiders and Centurians integrated into the Colonial or allied military force?

Official Statements

• Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune interviews David Weddle and Bradley Thompson:
  • Boomer had a sick desire to strike out at Athena.
  • Boomer's escape with Ellen was staged so that she could kidnap Hera. She intended to just use the Chief, but their interactions did awaken feelings she thought were dead.

Guest Stars

• Kate Vernon as Ellen Tigh
• Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. S. Cottle
• Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
• Roark Critchlow as Slick
• Iliana Gomez-Martinez as Hera Agathon
• Brad Dryborough as Lieutenant Louis Hoshi
• Torrance Coombs as Lance Corporal C. Sellers
• Ivan Cermak as Corporal D. Wallace
• Curtis Caravaggio as Nathanson
• Cherilynn Fulbright as Dionne
• Patrick Gilmore as Rafferty
• Samantha Caine as Off-duty Crew Person
• Erika-Shaye Gair as Young Kara Thrace
• Darcy Laurie as Dealino
• Sonja Bennett as Specialist Marcie Brasko
• Nicki Clyne as Cally Henderson (archive footage)