Greetings from Earth NEW

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"Greetings from Earth NEW" An episode of the Re-imagined Series
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Overview

A human sleeper ship found drifting in space is brought aboard Galactica, leading to argument and debate on whether to awaken its occupants. Their ship is eventually escorted by Apollo, Starbuck, and Cassiopeia to the planet Paradeen—embroiled in a bitter war with the Eastern Alliance.

Summary

• Adama indicates that the Fleet is following the heading given by the Beings of Light (at the end of "War of the Gods, Part II"), hoping to find Earth.

• Apollo and Starbuck encounter a sublight spacecraft while on deep patrol. There are six life forms detected, but life support on the craft appears to be minimal.

• Rampant speculation that the craft may be from Earth forces Adama to make an announcement attempting to stop the rumors, and ask for the people of the Fleet to wait as the ship is towed aboard Galactica and quarantined.

• Once the spacecraft is aboard, Apollo worries about how safe it is for them to mess with it. Dr. Wilker, eager to board the ship, assures them that it isn't a bomb. Adama fears contaminating the spacecraft with their presence, but on Dr. Salik's reccomendation they board the ship.

• Inside they find a man, a woman, and four children in some sort of stasis tubes. Dr. Salik is reluctant to remove the people from the equipment, as they lack the knowledge to operate it. Dr. Wilker suggests choosing one to experiment with, but is overruled by Adama and Apollo. The doctors are left alone in the spacecraft, but with strict orders from Adama not to risk the lives of the unconcious crew.

• Members of the Quorum arrive on the scene. Sire Geller demands that the Council has access to the "Earthlings" immediately. Jolly manages to keep them at bay.

• Inside the shuttle, Dr. Wilker accidentally shorts out a component causing Dr. Salik to demand that they stop tampering with the equipment before they cause any harm. Apollo observes a loss in power, and commands them to stop immediately.

• Dr. Wilker explains that they have determined that the passengers of the craft come from a planet with 1/6th the gravity of Caprica. He also mentions references to a planet called Terra, which Adama recognizes as the Gemonese word for Earth.

• Apollo is upset that the people have been seized, and suggests releasing their ship and putting it back on course.

• Sire Geller arrives, demanding that the passengers be released. Adama worries about the consequences of interfering with the people, but Geller offers to relieve him of the responsibility by having the Council vote on it. Adama agrees to let the council convene, buying some time.

• Athena is teaching a classroom of children, who ask questions about the "Earthlings".

• A mob has assembled outside the ship, curious about the occupants. Reese and his Council Security compatriots claim jurisdiction over the situation, but Starbuck and Boomer refuse to yield.

• Inside the ship the male adult passenger is revived, and exits the tube. He awakens the other adult.

• Sarah is disoriented, and wonders if they have arrived. Michael indicates that they have not, but will investigate the matter.

• Sire Geller proposes removing the eldest member of the unconcious crew, believing that age will help that person acclimate to the situation. Dr. Salik refuses to participate, but the orders are issued anyway.

• Thanks to the order, Reese and his crew are officially in charge of the scene. He has little time to enjoy it, as shortly after assuming command Michael exits the shuttle holding a weapon. Reese fails miserably at diffusing the situation, managing to get himself shot in the process.

• Chaos erupts, and Michael is overcome by the pressue of Galactica's atmosphere and collapses. Dr. Salik orders him to the life sciences center to be placed in a chamber with reduced atmosphere. Adama rescues Sarah from the shuttle, and both adults are stabilized. Reese turns out to be merely stunned.

• Removing them from the support chambers will kill them, so the warriors decide the best option is to return them to their vessel and get them back on course. Dr. Wilker observes that their life support is nearly depleted, allowing them to hope that the ship may be near its destination.

• Michael's use of a weapon on Reese is suggested as a pretext to handle the situation as a military matter, so it is decided to escort the ship to its destination try to resolve the situation quickly.

• Apollo and Starbuck recruit Cassiopeia to board the shuttle for the duration of the flight in order to provide medical assistance if necessary.

• The warriors wheel in the support chambers, claiming that they are going to be used to remove the children from the ship. Reese is up and about, and makes little effort to hide the satisfaction that his men are in charge of the situation. Reese allows them to board the ship, believing them to be carrying out the Council's orders.

• Michael awakens aboard the ship, asking the warriors if they are with the Eastern Alliance. The Colonials have no idea what he is talking about. Michael reveals that his people are from Terra, but that he and his companions are from Lunar Seven. They fled the Eastern Alliance forces there.

• Michael will not assist them in locating Lunar Seven, fearing that the arrival of Galactica might tip off Eastern Alliance destroyers to the location of his destination.

• Boomer and Jolly remove the chambers from the shuttle. The engines fire on the shuttle, prompting Reese to panic. Boomer explains that the shuttle is being jettisoned to prevent possible contamination of Galactica.

• Reese pulls the covers off of the chambers, revealing them to be empty. Boomer admonishes Jolly for having forgotten to remove the children. Reese attempts to stop the shuttle from launching, but his attempts are futile.

• The shuttle launches, followed shortly by Apollo and Starbuck in Vipers. Sire Geller arrives, wanting to know the situation. Reese claims the shuttle is being jettisoned (to prevent further contamination), and Geller is furious.

• Sire Geller orders Vipers to be launched, providing Apollo and Starbuck a pretext for their mission. Geller is further enraged when he sees the empty support chambers, but Reese isn't able to offer an explanation.

• Apollo and Starbuck put their Vipers on auto-pilot, and Cassie is sleeping aboard the shuttle when she is awakened by radio transmissions from their destination, Paradeen.

• As they near the planet, Michael finally reveals that they are making their way to the home prepared for them by Sarah's father. After arriving they will destroy their homing beacon in order to prevent Eastern Alliance forces from tracking them.

• Onboard an Eastern Alliance destroyer, Commandant Leiter is informed by one of his crew that they have detected the shuttle that had escaped Lunar Seven a month ago, and it is being escorted by two small craft of unknown configuration. The Vipers pique Leiter's interest, so he instructs the pilot to divert course from Lunar Nine to investigate the unknown ships.

• The expedition safely lands on Paradeen, and they are greeted by the androids Hector and Vector. They are taken to the home that was prepared for them, but Sarah's father is nowhere to be seen. The androids reveal that he is dead, and show her his tombstone.

• Sarah forbids Hector and Vector from telling the children about Terra. She rails against technology, as the governments engineered the colonists for thinner atmospheres but by doing so prevented them or their descendents from ever returning to their home planet.

• Sarah and Michael reveal that they are not married (as everybody had assumed). Sarah is a widow, and the three youngest children are hers. She claims she wouldn't marry a technocrat like Michael if he were the last person on the planet.

• The mood is lightened when Hector and Vector perform a traditional song and dance number from Terra.

Sarah wants Apollo to stay on Paradeen.

Questions

• Why do the doors in Michael and Sarah's home on Paradeen make the same door chime as Galactica's doors?

Notes

• Originally aired as a special two hour presentation. Broken into two parts for syndication.

• The destroyed city on Paradeen was filmed in Montréal. The prefab buildings left over from Expo '67 fell apart in the harsh Canadian winters. What remained made perfect futuristic ruins.

Guest Stars

Ray Bolger (Vector)
Lloyd Bochner (Leiter)
Randy Mantooth (Michael)
Kelly Harmon (Sarah)
Bobby Van (Hector)

Original Series definition: a title of nobility akin to "Sir," typically ascribed to a civilian of the male gender (e.g. Sire Uri, Sire Solon)