Someone to Watch Over Me

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"Someone To Watch Over Me" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
Episode No.	Season 4, Episode 17
Writer(s)	Bradley Thompson David Weddle
Story by
Director	Michael Nankin
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)	{{{guests}}}
Production No.	419
Nielsen Rating	1,657,000 viewers (Live+SD)
US airdate	February 27, 2009
CAN airdate	February 27, 2009
UK airdate	March 3, 2009
DVD release	28 July 2009
Population	39,556 survivors ()
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Deadlock	Someone To Watch Over Me	Islanded in a Stream of Stars
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
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Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
			@ BW Media
Promotional Materials
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Overview

Kara Thrace rediscovers a memory of a musical piece taught by her father, while Sharon "Boomer" Valerii awaits her fate at the hands of the Colonials and the rebel Cylons, who want to execute her for treason.

Summary

Teaser

• Kara Thrace gets out of her bunk and opens her locker. Looking in the mirror, she momentarily sees the image of her own corpse found on Earth in the reflection. Disturbed, Kara takes out the bloodstained dog tags recovered from the corpse and stares at them, silently brooding to herself.
• Kara goes through her daily routine - showering, dressing, giving the Cylon and Colonial pilots their assignments, doing paperwork, and drinking at the bar.
• The Fleet is still searching for a habitable planet. Galactica is now experiencing frequent power losses and plumbing disruptions due to the ongoing repair work.
• Tyrol informs Admiral Adama, Lee Adama, and President Roslin that the repairs and the Cylon organic substance will buy the ship a few more jumps, but not many. The admiral states that he isn't ready to give up just yet.
• Lee congratulates Sonja, a Number Six model, on her appointment as the Cylons' representative to the newly-formed Quorum of Ships' Captains.
• Sonja makes a formal request that Boomer be returned to the Cylons. When Adama starts to protest that Boomer tried to kill him, Sonja explains that they don't want Boomer set free. They want to try Boomer for treason, as she sided with Cavil in the Cylon Civil War.
• When Lee asks what will happen to Boomer if she's convicted, Sonja says that with the loss of their ability to resurrect, the Cylons can now implement capital punishment.
• Tyrol realizes what this means: the Cylons are going to kill Boomer.

Act 1

• Galactica continues to experience tremors and power fluctuations all across the ship.
• Kara, Doc Cottle, and the Cylons are observing Anders, who is still not conscious despite showing brain activity. Cottle has no explanation for any of this.
• When the Cylons theorize that Anders' brain is "rebooting," Cottle tells them that he does not want to hear their "quack" ideas. He also tells Kara that it is time to "move on" with her life.
• After Cottle leaves, Kara starts to cry.
• In Joe's Bar, Kara complains to the piano player about performing "the same lame-ass song" over and over. He counters, saying that he has been in the process of composing for four days, and that his music is meant to bring beauty to a terrible existence. Kara reacts angrily, asking him rhetorically whether his music stopped one bomb during the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies.
• Human and Cylon workers are struggling to repair Galactica. Tyrol looks up from his own work and stares at a Cylon Eight. He recalls moments spent with Boomer, good and bad. In his mind, he asks, "How many of us ended up with the people we really wanted to be with?"
• Kara visits Helo's quarters, who surprises her with a box of Kara's belongings, found and bought and stolen back over the past few months since her return. She takes only one item from the box, a cassette tape labeled "Dreilide Thrace Live at the Helice Opera House." Before Kara leaves, Hera hands her a crayon drawing of stars.
• Tyrol visits Boomer in the reinforced brig reserved for Cylons. The two look at each other tentatively for a moment before beginning to talk. Boomer explains New Caprica as a "way to set things right" with Tyrol after her shooting of William Adama. They both admit thinking about one another on a daily basis. Boomer puts her hand on the glass. Tyrol reaches out--and is instantly transported to the house they had planned to build on Picon after mustering out of the Colonial Fleet. Tyrol is confused and angered by the illusion, disconnects from Boomer, and runs away.

Act 2

• On another night, Kara listens to Slick play again. She applauds his work, and offers him a mix of praise and criticism. She perceives the music as conveying a sense of loss, of trying to catch someone who is moving away too fast.
• Tyrol asks for help from the Five to save Boomer from execution. They refuse, with Ellen Tigh telling him that they will not set themselves up as gods for the rebel Cylons.
• Later, Tyrol visits Boomer again. She tells him that the house in her projection was a "secret retreat" that she built in her mind and visited on a daily basis after being shot by Cally. The two talk about the extensive plans they had made for building the house; Boomer calls the Chief's planning "obsessive," but he describes them as "thorough." He reaches through the wire mesh, and Boomer places her hand to the glass. Tyrol looks around the house, appreciates it and Boomer's company--and then finds signs of a child, their daughter. He goes into their child's room and sits with her. Outside the projection, he laughs and cries happily.
• Back in the bar, Slick announces that the first movement is finished. He starts the second, with Kara accusing him of stealing material from Numian's 3rd Sonata. She sits with Slick, talking about her father teaching her to play the piano and her pleasant memories of the experience, particularly a song that made her "happy and sad at the same time."

Act 3

• The flight deck is completely empty, except for Starbuck (wearing a flight suit) and a blond girl playing a piano. Starbuck slowly approaches the girl from behind, places a hand on her sholder, and turns her around. Instead of the girl's face, she sees her own burned remains--and bolts awake, covered in sweat.
• Holding her recovered dog tags, Starbuck tells Slick about the experience of finding her body on Earth. Slick claims to be unable to answer her questions. She goes on to say that the search for Earth gave her clarity and focus, but since discovering the planet and abandoning it, she feels lost again. Slick tells her that sometimes "lost is where you need to be."
• Tyrol pleads with Roslin for Boomer's life. Roslin abruptly tells him to stop, reminding him that Boomer preys on personal feelings, and that by asking for a personal favor from her, Tyrol is doing the same thing. She signs the order turning Boomer over to the rebel Cylons, and curtly dismisses him.
• At one of the repair sites, Tyrol stares at an Eight who is busy applying the Cylon resin. He grabs a wrench. The lights go out, and mixed in with the sounds of people yelling is a heavy thump.
• Slick hits a wall in his composing. Starbuck and Slick talk about him leaving his family because his wife wanted him to quit music. Starbuck scolds him for ditching his family just like her own father did.
• Tyrol helps the guards in the Cylon brig to reactivate the security cameras following the blackout. It appears that Boomer is sleeping, and remained asleep through the entire incident.
• Slick assures Starbuck that her father left her something valuable: the ability to play the piano. At first, Starbuck refuses to play, but she is coaxed by Slick to play a few hesitant notes. She tears up, stops playing, and asks him to play. He agrees to play if she does.
• In the locker room, Athena finishes washing up when an Eight walks in. She believes it is someone assigned to fixing the shower, but then she turns to face the Eight and instantly recognizes her: "Boomer." Before Athena can do anything else, Boomer punches her in the face. Athena's head hits the sink hard and she falls to the floor. Boomer continues to pummel her.
  • Apparently, Tyrol swapped the Eight that he had incapacitated at the repair site with Boomer.

Act 4

• Boomer finishes washing blood off her hands when Helo comes into the locker room. She tries to pull away when Helo suggests an intimate moment before she leaves on her recon mission, but she eventually gives in. Boomer and Helo continue having sex. In a stall, Athena, bound and gagged, slowly comes back to consciousness and sees the two through the slightly opened door.
• In Joe's, Saul Tigh tells Ellen Tigh and Tory Foster about the pain of seeing Liam after Caprica Six's miscarriage.
• Slick realizes where Starbuck's hesitant music is going and writes a few notes. Starbuck realizes that his notes line up perfectly with the stars in Hera' drawing. The two resume playing, and the music flows more confidently. Saul, Ellen, and Tory stop their conversation and listen to the music.
• Dressed in a flight suit, Boomer finds Hera in the day care center, and encourages her to drink something on the way out.
• Tyrol helps Boomer to lift a box onto a waiting raptor. She tries convincing him to come, but her turns her down, assuring her that they will meet again in the future.
• Slick and Starbuck play the music faster and stronger--until it becomes The Music. Once the piece is finished, the three who were listening to Starbuck appear next to her demand to know how she was able to play it. She tells them it was something she had learned as a child. Slick is nowhere to be seen.
• As Helo gives a briefing on combat tactics, Athena, bloddied and weak, crawls into the room. She tells Helo what happened. Helo orders the others to get medical help and to contact CIC. He tries to comfort Athena, but she yells in anguish and hits him.
• Boomer waits for departure clearance in the port flight pod. Suspecting that she has been caught, she starts the raptor's engines. Adama threatens to shoot her down, but she warns him that he will not be willing to fire on a raptor carrying Hera. As she spools up the raptor's FTL, Adama orders the flight pods retracted. She launches, racing toward the narrowing gap and clearing it, but clipping the raptor in the process. She jumps away close to Galactica's hull. The jump rips a hole in the battlestar, shakes the ship violently, and triggers power outages and explosions seemingly everywhere.
• In Adama's quarters, Roslin whispers, "Hera," and collapses.
• Tyrol spots Helo and Athena arguing with a guard. He is horrified to learn that Boomer has kidnapped Hera.
• In the day care center, Ellen tells Saul that her escape from Cavil had been a ploy, nothing more than a way of getting Boomer close enough to abduct Hera. They wonder aloud about how Hera and the music, and whether Sam can help.
• In sickbay, Starbuck plays a tape of her father's music for Sam, and lies next to him.
• The Chief runs frantically through Galactica. In the projected version of the house built by Boomer, he runs through all the rooms, and finds no one.

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, something Sharon Valerii, Galen Tyrol and Kara Thrace are all seeking in their own ways.
  • 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, in her address to the other 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 the tape of her father's music.
• 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..."), and the original Cylon musical cue is derived from that tune as well. 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 "Tauron toothpaste" offered as a prize to the pilots is called "Felgercarb," a word used in the Original Series to mean "shit." Tauron comes from Taurus the bull. In essence, Kara is offering the pilot who finds a new planet "bullshittoothpaste".
• 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.
• When Tyrol visits and talks to Boomer for the first time in the Brig, during the conversation Boomer calls Tyrol "Galen" for the first time, at least publicly and on screen. In past episodes, both Boomer and Athena usually referred to their significant others with their callsigns/titles. For Athena, it was always referring to Agathon as Helo. For Boomer, it was always referring to Tyrol as Chief. Athena was the first of the two to break that tradition, noticeable after the two married. Boomer's shared projection with Tyrol and their imaginary marriage may be the reason why she ceased calling him solely "Chief."

Analysis

Galactica's condition

• FTL jumps appear to create spatial distortions that can seriously strain a ships hull. Although bad hull damage does not necessarily prevent a ship from jumping (as has been seen many times before in the seasons, for example Pegasus - which jumped after being hit by three nuclear missiles in The Captain's Hand) the threat to Galactica has been compounded by the added riddling of the entire aged superstructure with microfractures. Tigh expresses concern that a jump within the flight pod will seriously strain the internal integrity of the ship. Boomer's FTL jump does eventually appear to cause a chain reaction of hull collapses along Galactica's port side, a side visibly weakened by Cylon attack, and suffering general aging 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-as well as damage from a nuclear explosion incurred during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies though these seemed to be repaired it no doubt contributed to the area's hull fatigue.
• Many individuals express fears of the damage an FTL jump can do to Galactica, implying FTL jumps place serious strains on a ships hull–or even the hull of a ship nearby and a degree of hull integrity is important to allow a ship to continue jumping for continued periods. 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 concept 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- though it is possible Boomer's Raptor was much closer to Galactica's hull than has ever been seen before. In the episode A Disquiet Follows My Soul the tylium ship jumped whilst surrounded by Raptors and Vipers and no ship seemed to suffer damage, although they were knocked back and sent tumbling. It should be made clear that smaller objects are proportionally stronger and that smaller objects should feel much less shear in the wash of another nearby ship jumping. It is also possible the stress of by being caught in the FTL field of another vessel rather than that caused by a vessels own, properly configured FTL drive is more powerful and dangerous.
• 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 later. Also despite falling through the atmosphere of New Caprica Galactica was able to execute an FTL jump despite the severe strains on the hull. Fears of FTL stress were not mentioned.
  • Galactica has probably been taking damage over the years from multiple jumps and suffering combat damage. That's how the microfractures developed. It's just that the extent of the damage has not become apparent until now.
  • It is in part because of those actions, the atomic strikes and it jumping and falling though into a planet's gravity well and its atmosphere is why Galactica is suffering from massive metal fatigue, in addition to normal wear and tear of a 50+ year old ship and the fact that she hasn't had a major or even minor overhaul in years even before the the attack on the Colonies has taken their toll. In addition as discovered by Chief Tyrol the builders of Galactica "cut corners" with the building specifications of the ship. If the Galactica was able to retire on schedule these issues of "substandard" construction wouldn't have come up.
  • Further to the point above about small craft being subject to less 'shear', it stands to reason that the size of the disturbance created by a ship executing a jump might be proportional to the size of the ship itself. A large vessel such as the tylium ship may create a widespread but relatively smooth disturbance, so the nearby Raptors would have been like corks bobbing as a wave passed. Conversely, a small vessel such as a Raptor might create a localised but very sharp distortion that poses more risk of damage to a large ship close to it.
• The age of Galactica's FTL drive might explain why the ship's hull integrity is taxed so badly by her FTL drive - more modern drives might not cause so much stress, and might explain why other Fleet ships and the rebel basestar can continue to jump despite the damage their hulls have taken.
• 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 a few more FTL jumps, 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.

Boomer's actions

• Adama has still not forgiven Boomer for shooting him.
• 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 according to Ellen's speculation to her husband Saul Tigh.
• 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.
  • It is more likely that Boomer genuinely wanted him to come with her because she truly loves him. Bringing him back to John Cavil-if that is where she is headed-would be of no use to him because as Ellen stated he would need all Five of the Finals to recreate Resurrection. In addition to her rekindled love, she has seen-or at least heard about-that it is possible for a Final Five Cylon to mate and have offspring with a "Standard Model" like herself even if Caprica-Six's pregnancy by Saul Tigh failed, so the possibility of a family which she shared with Tyrol in her projection, was open to her.
• Boomer has gone from being a conflicted sleeper agent to being a willing infiltrator and saboteur on Galactica. With her rekindled love for Tyrol, she may be again conflicted.
• 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 when she sided against her model in the Cylon Civil War. This parallels the Colonial Fleet's own desire to try Gaius Baltar for siding against humanity and collaborating with the Cylons on New Caprica.

• 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 frakkin' 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.
  • Helo did notice that Boomer did smell different. Boomer covered for this saying she found some soap.
    • Helo said she smell good not different an she was washing her hands at the time. However there is a relevance to Helo mentioning her smell. In a scene from Litmus Tyrol and Boomer were in bed together shortly after engaging in intercourse. He said to her: "Sometimes at work I try to conjure up what your face looks like...Curve of your lips.....The way your hair falls. How you smell." Helo as just noted told Boomer she smelled good just before they had sex.
• Boomer has sex with Helo by pretending to be Athena after he mistook her for his wife and he insisted after she tried to leave, but then enthusiastically let him believe she was Athena and willingly had sex with him. This is ironic, as Athena originally seduced Helo on Caprica, by pretending to be Boomer.
  • Boomer's willingness to have sex with Agathon - in the presence of Athena - was motivated by a desire to exact revenge on Athena for having effectively taken over her old life on Galactica according to the show writers.
    • Though she initially hesitated, a knowing glance to the corner where Athena was hidden, is the clue to her decision to defile Athena's relationship with Helo.

Starbuck's role

• 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, also spelled Helike, was an ancient Greek city which sank into the Corinthian Gulf in 373 B.C.
  • Helice was the ancient Greek name for the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). Helice in Greek means "to spin" or "to turn"; it is the root of the modern word helix. Ursa Major revolves around Polaris, the Pole Star, hence the name. This may be a reference to the spinning of the maelstrom Kara flew into before her ship was destroyed, and it could also refer to the mandala found on the wall of her apartment and the Temple of Five.
  • Helice/Helike was also the name of a nymph in Greek mythology who nursed the infant Zeus, along with another nymph, Melissa (which name itself means "honey" or "honey bee").
  • Helike is also a newly-discovered moon of Jupiter.
  • However, the appearance of the word Helice in the show may simply be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Bear McCreary's heavy involvement with this episode -- Ursa Major, and McCreary, both being "The Great Bear."
• It is possible that Starbuck also has the ability of Projection 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, or a Virtual being, but it could had been projection.

The Seven and the Five

• The Final Five have the same projection ability as the Cylons they created. Cylons can share projections.
• 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.
• 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.
• Both the Agathons and Tyrol suffer the lost of a daughter: Hera and Tyrol's imaginary daughter from his and Boomer's shared projection; both taken by Boomer. Hera actually, Tyrol's symbolically in Tyrol's solo projection. Both Athena and Tyrol suffer great grief and display it: Athena's primal howls and beating her arm against Helo's back in rage/despair; Tyrol's sinking to his knees and burying his head in his arms in his child's empty room in his projection. Helo initially took the situation stoically but in the previews for the next episode "Islanded In a Stream of Stars," it appears the emotional toll over the loss of his daughter is telling on Helo when Adama, presumably taking about Hera, says-uncharacteristically-"get over it" to a disheveled Helo.
• Ellen Tigh has the same reaction to hearing The Music as her husband and Tory Foster. She, of course, remembers hearing Sam Anders play the song on Earth.

The status of Cylons in the Fleet

• 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 Sixes to go get the medics, the Six unhesitatingly responds "Yes, Sir". Several Sixes and Eights are also seen attending Starbuck's "toothpaste briefing." At the toothpaste briefing, Starbuck states that "Six has the color assignments and recognition codes," (not, for instance, "This Six..." or "The Six in the front row..."), and the Six in question casually raises her hand for the pilots behind her to see.
  • 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.
• Despite integrating allied flight command (at least among manned Heavy Raiders), being represented in the Quorum, and subordinating their Basestar weapons control to President Roslin ("Blood on the Scales"), the Rebel Cylons have retained some sovereignty and are thus entitled to extradite Sharon "Boomer" Valerii and try her for treason under Cylon law.
• Cylon law does not prohibit punishments to be enacted ex post facto. Sonja Six explains that a death penalty provision would have been meaningless prior to the destruction of the hub, yet they intend to execute Boomer if she is found guilty for the treason she is accused of committing prior to the hub's destruction.

Miscellaneous

• 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.

Questions

• Will Boomer take Hera to Cavil? (Answer)
• Why does Cavil want Hera? (Answer)
• What was Boomer writing in her cell when she first sensed Tyrol watching her?
• Why did Boomer sleep with Helo? (Answer)
• What is the source of Starbuck's visions of her father? (Partial Answer)
• How did Starbuck and Hera arrive at a piano version of the same melody originally played by Anders on a guitar on Earth? (Partial Answer)
• Will Tyrol's involvement in Boomer's escape be discovered? How will Athena and Helo react? (Answer)
• Do all the ships in the Fleet - regardless of their relative crew and passenger size - get to send representatives to the new Quorum?
• What is Roslin's physical status after collapsing at the end of the episode? (Answer)
• How does Roslin know of Hera's abduction without being informed? (Partial Answer)
• Why did nobody say anything about Kara talking to herself before Saul, Ellen, Galen, and Tory realised what she was playing?
• If FTL drives cause spacial distortions with the potential to significantly damage ships, then why hasn't the FTL drive been weaponized by either side?

Official Statements

• Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune interviews David Weddle and Bradley Thompson:
  • Boomer had a sick desire to strike out at Athena, based on a perverse envy.
  • 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.

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Ellen Tigh, Saul Tigh, and Tory Foster are in Joe's bar. Saul is remarking at the state of someone they cared about:

Saul: Cottle was right, I should've never insisted on seeing him. His eyes were open! I wasn't ready for that. The little guy was looking right at me!

Saul was not talking about Anders (in a coma with his eyes open) but the body of his dead son Liam that was delivered stillborn after he died in utero but whose corpse he insisted on seeing.

• Cottle gives a response to the Cylons' observations about Anders' condition:

Cottle: The last thing we need is you jerking our chains with a lot of quack ideas. So why don't you take them someplace else?

• Slick (to Starbuck): Listen. It may feel like hell, but sometimes lost is where you need to be. Just because you don't know your direction doesn't mean you don't have one.

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 Kaine as Off-duty Crew Person
• Erika-Shaye Gair as Young Kara Thrace
• Darcy Laurie as Dealino
• Sonja Bennett as Specialist Marcie Brasko
• David Weddle as Smoking man in Joe's bar (uncredited)