Battlestar Wiki:Official Communiques/Archive5

Episode titles

Your mention of "Exodus" brings up another point: BattlestarWiki has a news policy where we don't trust any news that cannot be sourced back to a cast or crewmember...the result being we don't trust some news even from TVGuide or the respectable www.gateworld.net because we think they're just repeating unsourced information which might be wrong. As you can see on our list of Season 3 episodes, we've resorted to calling certain episodes "Episode 3.1" in order to err on the side of caution. As a result, we've currently listed:

Episode 3.1 -- written by Ronald D Moore, Dir by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Episode 3.2 -- written by Ronald D Moore, Dir by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Episode 3.3 -- two parts, written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson, Dir by Felix Acala (Part 1) Part 2 is technically unassigned right now.
Episode 3.4 -- written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.5 -- written by Anne Cofell Saunders, Dir by Jean de Segoznac
Episode 3.6 -- written by Michael Angeli, Dir by Bill Eagles
Hero - name confirmed (and written by) David Eick, Dir by Michael Rymer
Unfinished Business -name confirmed by Grace Park - written by Michael Taylor, Dir by Bob Young
The Passage -name confirmed by Jane Espenson, Dir by Michael Nankin
Episode 3.10 - written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.11 - written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.12 - written by Michael Taylor, Dir by Edward James Olmos
Episode 3.13 - written by Michael Angeli, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.14 - written by Mark Verheiden
Episode 3.15 - written by Anne Cofell Saunders

Please keep in mind that these credits have not yet been confirmed by the WGA or the DGA. Episodes 3.12 is about to go into preproduction. Eps 3.13-3.15 are in various stages of the pipeline. The directors have been assigned but - this is TV - anything can change. Eps 3.1 & 3.2 were merged to form a two-hour premiere episode, and 3.3 broken was into two episodes, which I guess technically makes them 3.2 & 3.3 -- but numbering is something I'll leave to you. - Ngarenn 20:32, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

Like I said, many reputable websites have listed the names of the first 5 episodes (though they didn't confirm their source, so we didn't list them) as "Occupation", "Precipice", "Exodus", "Collaborators", and "Torn".

I can confirm that those are the titles on the scripts. None of them are final. - Ngarenn 20:32, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

Chances of a change? --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 20:35, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

always. "Crossroads" became "The Resistance." It can blow at any seam. - Ngarenn 20:37, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Without asking for any information that is an actual spoiler (if something is a spoiler and cannot be revealed, please just say so) what are the names of the Season 3 episodes? (btw, do you know who wrote and directed some of these?) --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 14:48, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

It's wise to avoid nailing titles down because the titles can (and do) change up to the date they air. I'll get back to you on the rest of this. - Ngarenn 15:47, 26 July 2006 (CDT)

BTW, Ron Moore just cleared up that "Exodus is a two parter" thing in the blog:

"In another of our patented feats of editorial derring-do, we've taken what was to be episode 3, "Exodus" and crafted two episodes from it, thereby obviating the need to shoot one more show. As it currently stands, we will be opening Season Three with a two-hour premiere of what were originally two stand-alone episodes, "Occupation" and "Precipice" ("Occuprice," as it were) then resume airing normal one hours with "Exodus Part One." Confused? Good, that's the way we like it. Gotta keep the audience guessing." I'm still sorting through this...--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 22:01, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

How could "Exodus, Part II" not have a director assigned yet?

I'm reading this from the in-house script status report - "Unassigned" just means his deal hadn't been struck at the time the report was generated. Directing credit is turf of the DGA. I believe the contractual obligation is that Felix must shoot the additional material needed for the two eps, unless he chooses to do otherwise. We're hoping his schedule will permit it, because he did a great job on the initial shoot. But this still leaves the official credit for the ep blank at the moment. - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Haven't the first half of the episodes already been filmed?

There are about eight minutes of material we still need to shoot to make both of them work. - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Thank you for this...incredible boon of information. Excellent that you and David got to write Exodus. I can only imagine that it can be best described by the phrase "Stuff's gonna 'splode"; looks like lots of fighting. Remember, the enemy's gate is down...

Mr. Acala's dailies were awesome and the cut I've seen is... pretty cool. - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT) updated when I realized the question wasn't about Ep 11 (which we were shooting when I first answered, but about "Exodus" - Ngarenn 20:41, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Anyway, I want to make sure I got this correct:

Occupation - Episode 1 - written byRon Moore, directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Precipice - Episode 1.5 (aired the same night, same writer/director team)
Exodus, Part I - Episode 2 - written by Thompson & Weddle, director Felix Acala
Exodus, Part II - Episode 3 - written Thompson & Weddle, director Felix Acala
Collaborators - Episode 4 - written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Michael Rymer
Torn - Episode 5 -written by Anne Cofell Saunders, Dir by Jean de Segoznac
A Measure of Salvation - Episode 6 - written by Michael Angeli, Dir by Bill Eagles? RDM keeps calling Hero episode 7, but more than 6 episodes were listed before it above.

That's because you're counting Occupation and Precipice as two eps. Which they used to be, but they will air as one massive season premiere. - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Hero - Episode 7 (Ron and David keep referring to this as "Episode 7", so I think this one is in sync) written by David Eick, Dir by Michael Rymer
Unfinished Business - Episode 8 - written by Michael Taylor, Dir by Bob Young
The Passage - Episode 9 (confirmed at the moment) writer Jane Espenson, Dir by Michael Nankin
The Eye of Jupiter - Episode 10 - Christmas break cliffhanger two part episode. written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Michael Rymer
Rapture - Episode 11 - written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson, Dir by Michael Rymer (This is the second half of the cliffhanger)
Taking a Break From All Your Worries - Episode 3.12 - written by Michael Taylor, Dir by Edward James Olmos
Episode 3.13 - written by Michael Angeli, Dir by Michael Rymer
Episode 3.14 - written by Mark Verheiden, Dir by Hardy
Episode 3.15 - written by Anne Cofell Saunders, Dir Wayne Rose (changed - Ngarenn 18:14, 20 September 2006 (CDT))
Episode 3.16 - written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson, Dir Nankin
Episode 3.17 - written by Michael Angeli, Dir Mimica-Gizzan
Episode 3.18 - written by Michael Taylor, Dir Michael Rymer
Episode 3.19 - Dir Michael Rymer, written by Mark Verheiden & possibly Ron Moore.

directors added for eps 14-19 - Ngarenn 13:28, 23 August 2006 (CDT)

Correct as noted, to the best of my knowledge today - Ngarenn 16:08, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

3.16 & 3.17 added - Ngarenn 21:08, 9 August 2006 (CDT)

It now looks as if Michael Angeli is flying solo for episode 17. Added Mark & maybe Ron to Ep 3.19 - Ngarenn 17:34, 12 September 2006 (CDT)

Thank you for all the delightfully authoritative information. I don't mean to be a bother, but it's in my nature to nitpick. Is "Taking A Break from All Your Worries" intentionally cased like that, or should it be "Taking a Break from All Your Worries" like the normal convention (assuming that's a the article)? --CalculatinAvatar^(C-T) 00:47, 10 August 2006 (CDT)

The actual casing (from the title page on the Full Yellow Production Draft) is Taking a Break From All Your Worries. I have no idea what Michael Taylor has in mind with that. But assume that he has a plan... - Ngarenn 15:51, 7 September 2006 (CDT)

Thanks. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 23:07, 27 July 2006 (CDT)

Thank you, sir. This entire concept of having "19" episodes, with the first being a super-episode which audaciously defies to be categorized as a mere "two part episode".....seems entirely fitting with RDM's essay on "Naturalistic science fiction", which set out that the show would break the old habits in all respects. Thanks. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 18:09, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

I want to add my thanks too. --FrankieG 18:23, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Bouns. Thanks for the tips and clarifiing some data. --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 18:38, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

de nada. Y'all are doing a good thing here. BTW, just found out that Felix is doing the additional shooting for Ep 3. - Ngarenn 20:35, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Just make sure you get the word.. that we want at least 10 seasons. That's about 50k pages. :D --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 23:16, 29 July 2006 (CDT)

Well okay, but personally I would wish the production team to "make the best stories possible", rather than just for a long time; I'd rather have one season of BSG, then not even get season two, than have a guarantee of 7 years and thus a repeat of Star Trek where they just kept it going until they bled it white. No, I'd rather see 5 trailblazing years of episodes which are practically small movies (like Hand of God).--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 00:30, 30 July 2006 (CDT)

Will "Occupation / Precipice" really be one two-hour episode, or two episodes shown together? As in having two intros. And will there be an episode 3.20, or is 3.19 the finale? --Serenity 09:21, 7 September 2006 (CDT)

I have not seen the transition yet, but I believe it will be one episode. Which is why Episode 19 is the season 3 finale. - Ngarenn 17:34, 12 September 2006 (CDT)

Rank Insignia

This is a minor question but one that I've had in the back of my mind for awhile, especially while working on the uniform and rank pages here. In the Miniseries, Boomer's Raptor is labeled "JRLIEUTENANT" for her rank. Assuming this is the Lieutenant Junior Grade rank, that would corespond with the rank insignia she had on, a diamond with a chevron in it that did not extend past the lower edge of the diamond. Later, in "33", Helo gives his rank as Lieutenant Junior Grade when he is captured. His insignia has the chevron extended so it goes beyond the edge of the diamond. The insignia is identical to the one that Starbuck, a definate Lieutenant wears (except for most of Hand of God, a gaffe, I assume). Gaeta has been seen wearing both. The reason I ask this is that in the new promotional shots for Season 3, Dualla wears this rank insignia on her blue uniform. I basically want to know, which insignia corresponds to which rank? Thank you in advance for the answer and keep up the good work on the show. --Talos 22:37, 31 August 2006 (CDT)

From a picture Glenne Campbell showed me -

Jr Lt - one short chevron

Sr Lt - one long cheveron

Captain - two long chevrons

Major - three long chevrons

Lt Colonel - gold star, white background

Colonel - gold star with some gizmo I can't recognize on gold BG, gold lower triangle

Commander - gold star with the same gizmo on gold BG, gold upper & lower triangles and some white thing behind the whole shebang.

Senior pilot-officer wings are outspread. Junior pilot officer wings are swept back. - Ngarenn 20:34, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Thanks a whole lot, one question though, what is the insignia for Ensign? We've seen some in Scar but they had LTJG rank on IIRC. --Talos 20:37, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

We're a bit behind in the documentation of this -- the sketches I've seen don't yet carry the ensign rank designator. Or that of Admiral. - Ngarenn 20:44, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Okay, that makes sense, since Mr Moore's blog entry on ranks didn't mention a Lt. Col. --Talos 20:46, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Thanks. And that gizmo you're speaking off is the Colonial Phoenix. The bird symbol that's on the Colonial seal.

As for the wings. I assume Lee is wearing junior wings in Season 3 because he dones't have that much flight experience yet. A lot of people think, that everyone just gets senior wings when becoming Colonel, but that's somewhat silly IMO. --Serenity 23:39, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Heh. I just wanted to make a comment about this. By intuition one would probably say "longer chevron = higher rank". But I think there is enough evidence to reverse that case here. I think Helo started as jay-gee and Sharon as a full Lieutenant. Helo calls her "sir" once or twice. That makes her Raptor markings an error. Later Helo got promoted and is wearing the "short chevron" insignia. The same one worn by most other Lieutenants like Starbuck and Gaeta. Now and then especially Starbuck can be seen with the "long chevron" insignia. Those are costuming errors. Often they :happen when characters switch between the green and blue uniforms.

Dualla also wears a completely new insignia in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2" but is called Lieutenant. Is there any meaning behind that? Maybe a brevet rank?

I don't want to be presumptous, but maybe the actors could check their rank pins when they receive a new uniform. That shouldn't take too long. The errors are no big deal, but interesting --Serenity 22:15 CET, September 1st 2006

The reason I bring this up is that I'm a military history buff, an ROTC cadet, and a DA Civilian so this is very interesting to me. From watching the show, this is what I've been able to gather.

Sharon's Raptor is still marked like that all the way through Season 1.
Dee had an unusual insignia in LDYB PII but is refered to as a Lieutenant and in the promotional shots for Season 3, wears a short-chevron insignia as seen in this pic.(Warning-big pic)
Starbuck consistantly wears the long-chevron rank, except for the majority of Hand of God (she wore the long rank in the celebration scene in the hanger.
Helo is now a full Lieutenant according to some things Penikett has said. In the promo shots for Season 3, he still wears the long insignia, as seen here. (Big pic again)
Gaeta goes back and forth between the two.

--Talos 19:19, 1 September 2006 (CDT)

Going through screencaps I think you're right and Starbuck usually has "long chevron". Especially in the first season. I checked "Act of Contrition", "Flesh and Bone" and "Kobol's Last Gleaming" for example. I didn't notice any inconsistences with Sharon yet

About Helo: I thought he had "short chevron" in Season 2...However I just checked my DVDs and he's still wearing "long chevron" in 'Flight of the Phoenix', 'Epiphanies' and probably 'Scar'! I couldn't see it very clearly in the latter one. So that promotion thing might not be true. Or at least it wasn't reflected in the costuming yet

What that argument gone, I guess one could just as easily say that Helo stating his rank was a gaffe and thus conclude that "long chevron = Lt. SG" and "short chevron = Lt. JG" which also makes Sharon's Raptor right. Very confusing... --Serenity 10:17, 2 September 2006 (CDT)

My point exactly, and the reason for me asking. He also has long chevrons rank in Season 1, especially visible in the restaurant scenes in, I think, Hand of God. His promotion and postition on Galactica circa LDYB PII was from an interview. It said that he was promoted to full Lieutenant sometime after returning to the ship. Also, even if he outranked her (which can be implied in the Miniseries {First you're flying with rooks and now you're betting against Starbuck} or something like that), he sould still call her sir since she would be in command of the Raptor. --Talos 10:25, 2 September 2006 (CDT)

Yeah, I already thought that maybe she outranked him because of position and not rank.

I probably made some wrong conclusions, because I had a false memory of Starbuck's rank pins. Sorry.

In Season 2, hers are harder to track because she's often out of uniform until she returns from Caprica. But in "Pegasus" and "RS, I" it's "long chevron". And then she's promoted to Captain by Admiral Cain.

And if Helo is already a Lt. SG, then Tahmoh's story about a promotion would be false--Serenity 10:43, 2 September 2006 (CDT)

Thus the dilemma. My thoughts are as follows: Boomer is a junior LTJG, still a rookie. Helo is a LTJG also, but with much more experience and more tours of duty. Except for the insignia problems, as well as Boomer's bag in "Water" that was marked "Lieutenant Sharon Valerii," this fits with what we have seen. --Talos 10:58, 2 September 2006 (CDT)

Sharon's rankpin is always LT.JG (short chevron). I didn't notice an error there yet. Maybe they just leave the SG/JG stuff from clothing. And Helo's is very consistently LT.SG (long chevron). So how about Helo is indeed a LT.SG - and considering his comment to Six a writing error - but Sharon is still in charge of missions because she's the pilot and he's just the ECO?

I'd prefer to go with one error in dialogue over considering his rankpin in ALL episodes an error.

I would, too. But a mission commander is not necessarily the senior officer present. And, "The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for and is the final authority as to the operation of that aircraft." Unless mission requirements supercede that requirement. - Ngarenn 20:34, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

My main question remaining now is Dualla's rankpin in LDYB. Though in one released S3 pic she's wearing a regular Lt. pin I think. Maybe Mr. Thompson can shed some light on that --Serenity 11:21, 2 September 2006 (CDT)

The problem is that we don't know if the which pin belongs to which rank, thus my question. In the promo shot of Dualla I linked to above, she wears the short chevron insignia. --Talos 12:25, 2 September 2006 (CDT)

We're a bit behind in the documentation of this -- the sketches I've seen don't yet carry the ensign rank designator - but Dualla has moved beyond that to a Junior Lt by the time Season Two closes, which is consistent with the short chevron insignia. (Long Chevron is Sr. Lt) Also consider that promotions (and demotions) do happen on Galactica that we don't get to see. - Ngarenn 20:34, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

The thing with Dualla is that she is wearing previously unknown insignia in LDYB II as seen here but Apollo calls her Lieutenant. Is there any deeper meaning behind this? --Serenity 15:47, 15 September 2006 (CDT)

Blackbird: Efficient Construction Crew?

Hey, I would like to refer you to this article[[1]]. Just looking for clarification, I suppose- was this just a VFX gaff, or is there something you lot haven't told us yet? :P --Madbrood 11:55, 8 September 2006 (CDT)

The Blackbird shouldn't be mixing it up out there. Looks as if the VFX guys are trying to keep us on our toes. Even if it were in service at that time, the Blackbird has no guns and doesn't turn well enough to be a survivable dogfighter. - Ngarenn 17:57, 12 September 2006 (CDT)

Yeah, that's what we thought. Damn those artists, huh? ;) Thanks for the reply --Madbrood 14:11, 19 September 2006 (CDT)

The international webisode question

Hi Bradley - I haven't been able to find any rationale for why the webisodes aren't available outside the US, as mentioned above. Can you shed any light on the thinking behind this decision? Thanks! - Mr. Random 10:00, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

I asked SciFi.com. Their answer: "We'd like to make them available to viewers outside the US but for various legal reasons we're unable to." International broadcast agreements are complicated and these decisions/reasons are way above my pay grade. You may remember that Sky One got to air the first season in the UK before it showed up in the US. I'd bet that something similar is going on here. - Ngarenn 20:06, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

I don't even understand how they can make them unavailable to some people (technically, not legally). I thought URLs take everyone to the same place, no matter where they are located. battlestarwiki.org is still battlestarwiki.org in Korea, right? Or is it a porn site there? ;) --Mateo 20:40, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

That's a question better answered by a web designer. Got one handy? - Ngarenn 20:47, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

(/me waves hand) Checking out the "code" and watching my internet packets be sent out to the internet, it does it a werid way. For simpleicy reasons what it does is downloads the whole movie first, then checks your "GEO" area (as explained by CA below). If your GEO is not correctthen it unloads the movie is shows the error. There is a twist. They embed proxy checking. So if you are running behind a proxy, it disables it all together. This is just a quick overview. Going to be doing a more through look later. --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 22:54, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

I think it has to do with SAG and other guild laws than it has to do with the technical aspect of it. -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate} 20:59, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

I believe the technicalities involve the allocation of IP address ranges. It's public information which blocks (starting numbers) correspond to which countries (or other entities, down to reasonably small chunks). See http://www.ip2location.com/free.asp for a demonstration. Then one simply makes the server return different responses to requests from different ranges. --CalculatinAvatar^(C-T) 22:22, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Yes, that too. ;-) -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate} 22:32, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Ohh, by the way, just go to youtube and they are there. --Mateo 20:41, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

FYI, NBC-Universal has been proactively pulling down anything on youtube that pertains to the webisodes. -- Joe Beaudoin ^{So say we all - Donate} 20:59, 13 September 2006 (CDT)

Mercifully, there's a lag between the time a clip goes up, the time NBC finds it, and the time YouTube actually gets around to it. It's usually enough of a gap to get 2.5 minutes of webisode viewing in. Thanks for asking into it, Bradley! - Mr. Random 23:40, 13 September 2006 (CDT)