Home, Part I

"Home, Part I" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
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Overview

The refugee fleet splits into two factions: one led by Roslin and Zarek, the other by William Adama. However, Apollo is less than enthusiastic to be working with Zarek.

Summary

On Galactica

• The events of this episode appear to begin immediately after The Farm. Adama appoints Birch as CAG at the end of that day or the morning of the next, and his foibles appear to consume at least a day, possibly two.
• With Lee Adama AWOL, Adama and Colonel Tigh are going over possible new CAGs. As Tigh reluctantly points out, none of them are Apollo.
• Unbeknownst to Tigh, Adama has already made his choice: Lieutenant George Birch, now promoted to Captain. Adama had only called in Tigh, hoping that he and his XO were "on the same page". During the whole discussion, he is crushing walnuts in his hands. During his speech to Birch, he states that everyone on the Galactica is family, including his sons.
• Meanwhile, Adama has another problem; the Press. He attempts to communicate to them about the segmentation in the Fleet. The attempt backfires, with questions from the press remaining unanswered.
• In the compartment over, Gaius Baltar is looking into the corridor from the hatch's threshold. Now having the knowledge that there are eight Cylon agents onboard, he is becoming increasing paranoid. Six attempts to soothe him, claiming that he does not share the other human's fate. She also goes on to say that humans are masters of self-destruction.
• As the new CAG, Birch is enthuiastic and attempts to grow into his new role. One of his new duties is to lead combat exercises. In an asteroid field, Hot Dog and Kat are to practice attack runs on an asteroid.
  • Hot Dog fires a missle at the primary target, only to wing it (and earn a scolding from Birch, who states that he knows Hot Dog can do better).
  • A communications glitch during the target exercise causes both Hot Dog and Kat to think they are each cleared for their attack runs. Birch fails to resolve the confusion, and a tragedy almost occurs: Hot Dog releases another missle while Kat begins strafing the primary asteroid target. The missle causes the asteroid to splinter, the debris from it almost killing Kat. While her Viper is winged, Kat manages to make it out alive.
• Another incident occurs, when two vessels (a fuel tanker and a civilian ship) are attempting a straight-forward refuel op. Birch has been supervising the op, which has been running for four hours. Tigh firmly notes that while Birch is Adama's man, he is green and inexperienced.
  • Adama orders the op be aborted, but not in time to prevent the ships from colliding. Fortunately, the resultant damage is non-critical.
• Adama talks to Dee in his cabin. Dee speaks her mind, saying that everyone is separated; parents and children, friends. After the emotional discussion, Adama attempts to dismiss her. She refuses, saying that it is time to heal the wounds.
• As Adama is walking through Galactica's empty corridors, he reflects. After his reflection, he returns to CIC, where he orders that the intel on Kobol be brought to his office. "It's time to put the Fleet back together," he states, matter-of-factly.

On Astral Queen

• Members of the Quorum of Twelve, Roslin, and Lee Adama are arguing over what their next move should be. Roslin attempts to persuade everyone to await Kara Thrace's (Starbuck's) return with the Arrow of Apollo; she is steadfast in her belief that the Arrow will open the Tomb of Athena, which holds the way to Earth.
• An unidentified ship is approaching Roslin's fleet. Zarek and Meier are preparing to have a nearby ship with missile batteries, the Adriatic, attack the unidentified ship. President Roslin joins the discussion and argues that they should wait; Meier argues that the unidentified vessel should be destroyed before leaving the weapons range of the nearby ship.
• Just in time, Starbuck's voice is heard over the wireless hailing them from the unidentified ship. Starbuck's appropriated troop carrier is permitted to dock.
• Apollo reunites with Starbuck, impulsively kissing her, to her surprise. Apollo is shocked to discover that Starbuck and Helo have brought Caprica-Boomer (Sharon Valerii) back with them. He goes berserk, grabbing Valerii and shoving his pistol in her face. Helo approaches from behind, placing a gun against Apollo's head.
• Roslin defuses the situation, with both men putting down their arms. She then turns about and orders "put that thing [Valerii] out the airlock!" to be executed. Valerii is dragged off, but claims to know how to find the Tomb of Athena. Roslin then spares the "young woman"'s life, if only temporarily.
• Apollo spends some time talking to Starbuck, trying to convince her to open up to him and assuring her he will be there for her. During this discussion he lets it slip that he loves her. Although he later insists he didn't say it, Starbuck doesn't let him get away with taking it back.
• Zarek and Meier have a private discussion: Zarek is looking to command the new fleet to freedom that he has "promised". Meier discusses the fact that they need Roslin, but find that Adama may be a problem. During this conversation, Meier brings up the point that Elosa made: according to the scriptures, there is a price for landing on Kobol, and it is paid in blood. It is insinuated that Lee Adama should be the one to pay the so-called price.

On Kobol

• A contingent, including Meier, Zarek, Valerii, Agathon, Thrace, Elosha, Roslin and Apollo, land on Kobol. Elosha (reading from the scriptures) and Valerii (reciting scripture from memory) state that the path to Athena's Tomb is along a stone ridge.

Roslin, et al. mourn the loss of Elosha on Kobol. (C. SciFi Channel)

• While following the ridge, Elosha comments that it should be littered with gravestones. She finds one; Valerii senses danger, but it is already too late. Elosha steps on a trigger which releases two "Bouncing Betty"-type antipersonnel mines; the shrapnel from the exploding mines strikes her and alerts the Cylon Centurions to their presence. Entrenched in a high position, the trio of Centurions attempts to wipe out the party -- Helo takes out one, Thrace and Lee Adama take out another, and Valerii runs off, only to use a grenade launcher to take out the remaining Centurion.
• Elosha is found dead and Roslin tearfully retrieves the blood-covered book of scriptures from her.

Questions

• As Lieutenant Valerii demonstrates, the Cylons have excellent knowledge of the Colonials' scriptures, sufficient to anticipate mining the path alongside the gravestones, for example. What other nasty surprises are in store for the party on Kobol? Will the Tomb of Athena which they expect to find even be the "real" tomb?
• Agathon is seemingly aghast at the treatment of Sharon upon boarding the Astral Queen. What did Karl Agathon expect when a glorified poster child for humanity's genocidists falls into the hands of the survivors? Did he hope to hide that she was a Cylon -- or hope that they would be merciful?
• Will Agathon be put up for charges for his attempted assault of Lee Adama? (Answer: Apparently not, but he will be charged with the murder of Lt. Thorne in the future.)
• What "fate" is Baltar's internal Six referring to? How will Baltar be "spared"?
• Given the press' reactionary ferocity regarding the martial law edict, has the press hounded Baltar regarding martial law and his now-powerless position as Vice President of the Colonies? If not, why?
• Will Thrace eventually heal from her emotional trauma experienced in the Cylon breeding farm? How will she deal with it, particularly as a previous victim of child abuse?
• How will Thrace and Lee Adama pursue their relationship, now that Adama has admitted his feelings for her?
• What is the exact nature of Dee and William Adama's relationship? It seems more personal on an emotional level for both of them; leaving this question to be asked: What has Dee done to deserve this level of Adama's trust?
• When will a rescue mission be mounted for the Caprican survivors?
• How will Zarek and Meier deal with dispatching Lee Adama?
• With Elosha dead, will there be another spiritual advisor filling that vacuum?
  • Since she died on Kobol, is it true that her soul is also gone? (Providing that the "soul" exists in the Battlestar universe, of course.)
• Why does Tigh suggest Perry as a choice for new CAG? He was killed in the Battle for the Tylium Asteroid in "The Hand of God", and was a nugget besides. Is there another pilot of the same name?

Analysis

• The Arrow of Apollo looks rather ornate for a functional arrow. It may instead have once served as a symbol of religious or temporal authority, not unlike the Britsh Crown Jewels.
• The 9,500 Gemenons in the Roslin faction alone represent 20% of the fleet population. If the populations of the 12 colonies were represented equally throughout the fleet, they should each represent approximately 8.3% of the total population. As a result of this figure, we must make two assumptions:
  • Through accident or design, the Gemenon population of the fleet is substantially larger than the other colonies.
  • All, or nearly all of the Gemenon population has allied with the Roslin faction. This makes sense, given what Cpl. Venner has said about Gemenon fundamentalism, and Roslin's use of the "religion card".
• Of the remaining 8,500 souls belonging to the Roslin faction, 6,250 are from Caprica. If we assume that the non-Gemenon population of the Roslin faction represents an even cross-section of the fleet's population, Caprica represents 74% of the remaining 11 colonies.
  • Assuming all the Gemenon population left with the Roslin faction, and the Caprican portion of the Roslin faction is a representative sample, the fleet's demographics break down as follows:
    • 60% from Caprica
    • 19.9% from Gemenon
    • 20.1% from elsewhere
    • This is not completely implausible, since both Galactica and Colonial One were likely serving the needs of the closest colony, Caprica, when the Cylon Attack occurred. On the other hand, it would make the Quorum of Twelve a rather poor representational system.
    • Alternatively, there may be some factor which earned the allegiance of the a greater-than-average portion of the Caprica population. Roslin is presumably a native of Caprica herself.
• A frequent question about "Resistance" was why didn't Baltar ask Galactica-Boomer the names of the 8 Cylons left in the fleet, and it was suspected of being a plot hole. Now here, Baltar himself is shown regretting not asking her the identiy of the other 8 Cylons. Perhaps he only had enough time to ask her one question and still save Chief Tyrol's life, and he was plannig on asking her more if "that idiot hadn't killed her".
• Birch is flying a Viper Mark VII in this episode, which was Apollo's preference prior to the damage he sustained during an atmospheric SAR in "You Can't Go Home Again". He, and his entire squadron, used Mark II Vipers in the Battle for the Tylium Asteroid (21 days later), although at least six Mark VIIs were deployed in "Scattered" (36 days later). Perhaps it just took the better part of three weeks to rehabilitate the Mark VIIs.
• Another hard to explain name appears in this episode. The name of the ship Adriatic, obviously derived from theAdriatic Sea, is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea that seprates Italy from the Balkan peninsula on Earth.

Notes

• This episode apparently begins immediately after the events of The Farm.
• Population count is 47,858, a gain of one since The Farm, probably to account for the return of Helo. This means that Starbuck was never written off as "presumed dead", and if Sharon was ever included in the count before her outing as a Cylon, her copy isn't being added back after her defection.
  • With the death of Elosha and an unnamed escort on Kobol, the count at the episode end is now 47,856.
• The 24 ships which joined the Laura Roslin faction, while comprising somewhat less than a third of the fleet (The Farm), carried 18,000 survivors - over a third of the fleet's population.
  • Of these, 9,500 (more than half) were from Gemenon, and 6,250 were from Caprica.
• Of the 24 ships, Saul Tigh gives a breakdown as follows:
  • 12 transports
  • 7 freighters
  • 3 construction platforms
  • 1 private cruiser
  • 1 mining ship - the Monarch.
• One of the Roslin faction vessels, the Adriatic, is equipped with ship-to-ship missiles.
• The Striker is a ship that remains with the Galactica, damaged in a collision with an unnamed tanker.
• Mueller, one of Galactica's Viper pilots, completed a tour as a squadron XO, but Commander Adama views him as a malcontent.
• Lee Adama had blonde hair as a child, like his mother.
• Baltar does not know the identities of the Cylons hidden in the fleet, and regrets not asking Sharon before Cally shot her.
• Roslin misidentifies Helo as a Raptor pilot. In the miniseries, he was Galactica-Boomer's ECO.
• According to Caprica Boomer, she is not in constant, involuntary contact with whatever network the Cylons have access to. She claims: "I'm not wired in. It doesn't work like that."
• This is the first of a two-part episode. This episode is officially titled "Home, Part I."
• Apollo and Starbuck finally kiss in this episode, albeit briefly.
• When Commander Adama is crushing walnuts in his hand, it is remeniscent of the nervous habit of Captain Queeg in the classic film The Caine Mutiny. Captain Queeg would roll a pair of ball bearings in one hand during times of stress. Commander Adama's comments about loyalty and a ship being "like a family" also echo Captain Queeg.
• The Cylons have continued to operate troops on the surface of Kobol, but without orbital support from a basestar, or sufficient numbers to be more than a nuisance to the Colonials.
• Roslin's fleet may have held onto the Heavy Raider that Starbuck, Helo, and Sharon returned in. If they did that makes for possibly the third captured Cylon spacecraft, after Starbuck's captured Raider in "You Can't Go Home Again" and the Heavy Raider that crashed into Galactica's starboard pod in "Scattered."
• This is the first (and so far only) episode without an appearance by Chief Galen Tyrol.

Noteworthy Dialogue

Baltar: There was an off-road bridge, over the Euclid river. I used to go there, when I was a boy. Watch the fish try and swim upstream. They were mesmerizing. I envied them, unaware as they were of the wider complexities, challenges of life.

Six: You're beginning to see human beings as we see them.

Baltar: What I am beginning to see are Cylon faces, everywhere I look. Sharon told me there were eight Cylons left in the fleet. Why didn't I ask her who they were? If that idiot hadn't shot her- and why is that when things go wrong, they go wrong so well?

Six: Gaius. You get yourself far, far too worked up about these things. They do have it easy, don't they?

Baltar: They? Why are you talking to me like I'm not one of them?

Six: In some ways you never were. You have a path. You will be spared their fate. For once, Gaius, you can stop manipulating the world and let destiny take its course. If there's one thing we know about human beings with certainty, they are masters of self destruction.

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