Act of Contrition

Overview[edit]

When several Viper pilots are killed in a freak accident, Adama turns to Starbuck for help - but her involvement in the aftermath of the accident and in training new pilots causes the truth surrounding Zak Adama's death to finally surface.

Summary[edit]

An accident on the Galactica’s hangar deck kills 7 of her pilots and puts 13 more in sickbay
As a result of the accident, [[Adama, William|Adama] asks Starbuck to oversee the training of any new pilots they can find in the fleet
Starbuck accepts the duty, but is uncompromisingly hard on the first batch of recruits, washing them all out after only a day's training
Confronting her on the wash-out, Adama learns the truth about the death of his youngest son, Zak, and Starbuck’s role therein
Forced to reinstate the trainee pilots, Starbuck leads a handful of them on a training flight, only to have a group of Cylon Raiders show up
In the ensuing dogfight, Starbuck takes care of the Raiders, but her Viper is damaged, forcing her to eject inside the atmosphere of a weather-wracked moon
At the same time all this is going on, Roslin's cancer is confirmed as inoperable by the Doctor Cottle. Roslin states she wants to try alternative therapy - Kamala extract

On Caprica:[edit]

Helo and Valerii are tracking the source of the signal they previously picked up out in the woods (Water)
The signal leads them to a restaurant in the city, which has a radiation shelter under it, stocked with everything they need to survive - water, food, blankets - even anti-radiation medication
Their arrival at the restaurant is observed by Six

Review[edit]

THE CYLONS WERE CREATED BY MAN. THEY REBELLED. THEY EVOLVED. THEY LOOK AND FEEL HUMAN. SOME OF THEM ARE PROGRAMMED TO THINK THEY ARE HUMAN. THERE ARE MANY COPIES

Re-cap[edit]

Mini Series: Starbuck seated in her Viper as Lee Adama turns to face her from the hanger deck: “Zak failed basic flight; but he didn’t – because I passed him.”
Water: Helo and Valerii picking up the coded message on their handset. Helo; “I can’t decode it, but it means there’s someone...” Valerii, excited: “Someone in the military…someone still alive and kicking here on Caprica!”
Bastille Day: Roslin sitting with Lee Adama; “I have cancer, and I fear that knowledge of my illness will erode hope; so this has to say between you and me.”
Mini Series: Lee facing Starbuck as she cools her heels in the brig: “Zak was my brother!” Starbuck, sneering: “What was he to me? Nothing? Same old Lee…you haven’t changed either.”

Teaser[edit]

Starbuck is in the cockpit of her Viper, the engine pitch rising as her visor reflects yellow flames. She struggles to reach the joystick as the camera cuts to an exterior view of the Viper breaking up as it hits an atmosphere belly-first and starts sliding into a flat spin. There is a flash, and the scene changes to that of a bunkroom aboard the Galactica.

Lee Adama tosses a helmet to Starbuck. “You are so unprepared!” she laughs as she catches it. “Shut it!” he retorts as she heads out of the room, “The worst in the history of CAGs, actually!” she adds, ducking out of the room.

On the hanger deck, Tyrol's crew are towing a Raptor into the hanger from the deck lift as the intercom announces, “Raptor pilot Dwight “Flat Top” Saunders entering hanger deck 12B, deck hands please report.” The Raptor’s side door swings open and Flat Top himself emerges, and starts to inspect his ship (possibly checking for any exterior damage, given the nature of his recent landings (Bastille Day). As he does so, a group of pilot approach him. “We’re talking about one thousand!” someone calls and fist are raised in salute, and Flat Top’s arms go up. “One thousand!” a female voice shouts even louder. A sash goes over Flat Top’s head and to calls of “hero!” he’s lifted up onto the shoulders of the other pilots, as a chant to a familiar tune starts up, “Raptor pilots flyin’ high…!”

Lee Adama enters another bunkroom, a tin of red paint in his hands. Starbuck looks at him. “Brushes?” But he’s forgotten the brushes. “Oh! You are the absolute worst!” Starbuck chides, but Lee holds up his forefinger, and then sticks it into the paint pot.

On the hanger deck, Tyrol appears, checking a manifest as the chanting reaches his ears, “Raptor pliots flyin’ high..” as Flat Top, still up on the shoulders of his peers is matched around the hanger bay. Aghast, Tyrol looks around. “What the hell’s this? Flat Top’s thousandth landing and nobody tells me?” He turns on one of his crew. “Now we look like idiots! Find a wagon!” She scoots off with a “Yessir!”

In the bunk room, Lee and Starbuck are finger-painting “1000” onto the flying helmet when Adama walks in. “You’re not ready yet?” he states. Distracted, Starbuck reaches for the paint pot and misses, sending it tumbling to the floor, spilling paint everywhere, and narrowly missing splashing Lee. She bursts out laughing, and Adama deadpans, “Someone’s going to have to pick that up.” Starbuck points immediately at Lee, while looking at Adama. He hand comes up and he points at her, also looking at Adama. Realising they are pointing at each other, they both snort with laughter and Starbuck playfully slaps Lee’s hand away.

Watching them, Adama feints impatience and waggles a hand. “Let’s go. Come on!” before turning and leaving the room.

In the hanger bay, Tyrol locates a trolley full of kit next to a rack of drones of some description. He starts off-loading the kit from it and gets others to help him, then directs one of his crew to take the trolley over to the pilots, who lower Flattop into the trolley.

Outside, Adama, Starbuck and Lee walk down a corridor and Starbuck starts telling the story of Adama’s 1,000th landing, despite Adama’s admonishment that, he doesn’t remeber telling her the story. Unabashed, Starbuck continues the tale, which involves the Battlestar Atlantia and a “running battle” between Adama and the ship’s LSO, and which Adama claims has “all been over-exaggerated.”

In the hanger bay, the rack of drones is manoeuvred by a lift truck as the pilots continue to parade, now turning Flat Top and his trolley in a small circle not too far away.

Back in the corridor, Starbuck continues her tale, which finishes with her impersonating Adama blowing a raspberry. Walking behind Lee and Starbuck, Adama wryly admits, “I was young.”

On the flight deck the pilots start turning the trolley faster and faster, while in the corridor, the tale continues…

In the hanger bay the trolley-turning becomes trolley-spinning and something jostles the rack off drones, causing a clip on one of the restraining straps to fail. A drone swings dangerously loose. The trolley-spinning gathers more pace, a small crowd now gathered around, either participating in the spinning, or watching. The strap securing the drone fails, and the drone falls to the deck, its motor igniting to send it flying across the deck – straight into Flat Top’s trolley.

Out in the corridor, Starbuck’s tale is interrupted by a sudden explosion, and the Galactica shudders. Alarms sound and a fire team is called to the hanger deck. “Let’s go!” Adama orders, running for the hanger bay, Lee and Starbuck with him as more crew run in that direction as well.

Acts[edit]

Following the opening titles, Starbuck is once again fighting for control of her Viper as it spins ever deeper into the atmosphere of a planetoid. An exterior shot shows the Viper breaking up as plasma streams away from it. In the cockpit, the altimeter begins unwinding at an alarming rate, and the red/black of space gives way to grey “sky” reflected in Starbuck’s helmet as the scene fades to white…

…Which becomes the floor of the hanger deck as Sergeant Hadrian, the Master-at-Arms, picks up the broken restraining buckle from the communications drone. She states the buckle is corroded, the strap worn through. “Old equipment, worn strap fails, drops a million-cubit drone to the deck. Kills thirteen pilots, lands seven more in sickbay.” She and Tyrol cross the hanger to a scene of destruction – wreckage and fire damage abound. “We got lucky,” she adds. “If that had been a missile instead of a comm drone, it would have taken out the side of the ship…”

In the Ready Room, Lee briefs the surviving pilots on the services for the dead. As he informs the shocked pilots the hanger deck will remain closed during the accident investigation, and gives details of uniforms to be worn at the services, Adama enters the room. As he does so, he passes the picture on the wall at the back of the room, and lays a hand on it, as is the tradition of Colonial pilots (33).

As he is seen by Crashdown, the call to attention is given, and Adama walks to the front of the room. “As you were,” he responds, and the pilots resume their seats. Adama steps up to Lee’s podium. “May I?” he asks. “Yessir,” Lee replies, as the camera angles on Starbuck. There is a white flash, and a brief image of people milling around in the open air. Another flash follows, revealing a planet-side military installation. Pilots and flight crew pass by, and through them William Adama strides towards a figure as the camera watches from over the shoulder. The camera moves behind the figure as she salutes, and Adama does likewise before asking, “Are you Lieutenant Thrace?”

Back in the Ready Room, Adama faces his pilots. “Give me your eyes,” he orders softly. The pilots look up slowly. “I know this has been a hard day. There’s been plenty of them lately. I can guarantee you there will be more to come,” he pauses briefly, and Starbuck sits with her eyes downcast. “Remember your self-esteem, your self-respect and your self-worth,” he continues, causing her to look up in discomfort – but is it purely the discomfort from the loss of her fellow pilots? “Hold strong to them, because people are watching. You’re the guardians of the fleet. They need to know that they can count on you.” Again, the camera angles on Starbuck, again with her eyes downcast as she swallows. She looks up at Adama as he adds, “Even at a time like this.”

The white flash repeats, and a younger Starbuck is in conversation at the military installation. She turns and walks forward, as Adama’s voice asks, “Are you Lieutenant Thrace?” and she salutes. Adama introduces himself. “I’m sorry sir,” she replies. “I was planning on coming to see you tomorrow after the funeral.” “You don’t need to explain anything,” Adama responds, the scene returning to the Ready Room as Starubck once again looks up at Adama, her look bordering on guilt.

Later, at the service for Galactica’s dead Elosha the priestess steps up to give the address. As she speaks, the camera pans to Starbuck and Lee, and a new voice echoes the words Elosha is speaking, and the scene merges with that of Zak Adama’s funeral as a priest gives the same address. As the priest speaks, Lee comforts Caroline, his mother, her face veiled, but framed by blonde hair. Then he steps forward and places a Viper pin on his brother’s coffin. On the Galactica, as CAG, he performs the same ritual for the dead pilots, placing the pins on their flag-shrouded forms.

As Lee does this, his father looks across at Starbuck, and the scene return’s to Zak’s funeral as they stand side-by-side, across the coffin from Lee and his mother, and Adama takes Starbuck’s hand in his own.

Suddenly, it is a flashback-within-a-flashback as Starbuck recalls spending time in bed with Zak, causing her to tense and close her eyes at the funeral; then things jump forward once more as Lee completes his duty and returns to the ranks, taking up a position next to Starbuck.

The service for the Galatica’s dead and the burial of Zak Adama continue to intertwine, with images of both serving to convey the past and the present through the mixed emotions of Adama, Lee and Starbuck. The emotionally-charged interplay ends as Zak’s coffin descends into his grave, and pressure doors close on the bodies of the fallen.

Following the service Adama and Starbuck share a drink of water in Adama's quarters, and Adama states they must start training new pilots. Taking the hint, Starbuck says she’s not sure she is the right person for the job. Adama challenges her: “You know someone better?” She admits she doesn’t, but within almost 50,000 people in the fleet, there must be some flight instructors among them. Adama confirms there are two – but they are civilian flight instructors, “I need someone to teach combat tactics.” Starbuck continues to try to make excuses as to why she isn’t the person for the job, but Adama cuts her off.

“Let’s get down to it,” he states. “This is about Zak. It’s not your fault. You had nothing to do with what happened,” – a comment that causes her to look away. “It was an accident,” he adds, as the scene briefly flashbacks to Starbuck’s admission to Lee that she passed Zak through basic flight school when she should have failed him (mini-series). “His technique was sloppy and he had no feel for flying, but I passed him, because he and I…because I felt something, and I let it get in the way of doing my job, and I couldn’t fail him…”

In the present, Starbuck stops the memories by sipping her water as Adama repeats what he believes to be true: Zak passed basic flight, and as such, what happened to him could have happened to any pilot. “You did your job to the best of your ability. That’s all I can ask….I need new pilots, and I want you to train them.” Confronted with this plea from the heart, Starbuck agrees. She finishes her drink and stands, uncomfortable in Adama’s presence. Seeing this, he steps up to her, “Just give them the attention and professionalism that you gave my son,” he says, trying to reassure her, “and they’ll be one hell of a squadron.” He then gives her a fatherly hug.

As they do so, Starbuck’s discomfiture is complete, she hugs back, but her face is drawn as she stares over Adama’s shoulder – and a cutaway reveals her back in her Viper as it continues to flat-spin, the altimeter unwinding wildly. She starts to panic as smoke curls up past the cockpit canopy...

...To become the smoke from her cigar as she plays Baltar at poker some time later. At the same time, a second game is underway at the same table, as Boomer and Crashdown wager on the outcome of the card game. Oblivious to them, Starbuck is lost in more memories of her time in bed with Zak Adama. With Crashdown betting on Starbuck, Baltar thanks him for his vote of confidence and throws money into the pot to stay in the game, and is matched wordlessly by Starbuck dropping cubits into the pot as she continues to remember her time with Zak. To break the growing silence, Crashdown asks Gaeta – another observer of the game – how he and Baltar are getting on with the Cylon detector.

“What Cylon detector?” Gaeta asks feigning innocence. Crashdown repeats the rumour concerning human-looking Cylons and Boomer casts a nervous look around the table. Starbuck is still lost in her sensual memories, fingering her lips as she remembers telling Zak that he’s passed flight training. “By the skin of your teeth – but you passed.” We hear him telling her he doesn’t want any special treatment from his father – and certainly not from her. Back in the present, Gaeta still refuses to be drawn on whether there is or isn’t a Cylon detector, claiming that even if there were, it would be classified, and he wouldn’t be able to talk about it.

"Something smells horrible in here,” Baltar states suddenly, breaking through the discussion about the detector, “Is that you, Crashdown?" Crashdown sniffs. "Uh, yeah. It’s me." Having achieved his goal, Baltar nods to Starbuck, "Your card." Starbuck stares blankly at him. "Your card," he repeats firmly, but she is still in the past, trying to reassure Zak that no favours have been given, “I’m your flight instructor. I’m not going to send you to Vipers if I don’t think you’ve got the chops, OK?”

Past and present suddenly merge from Starbuck’s perspective: the card game, making love to Zak, his funeral, the service for the Galactica’s dead pilots, finally returning to the card game. “Maybe you’d like to take a break?” Baltar offers. Her look is withering. Putting down her cards, she states, “I’m out of here,” and leaves the table – and losing Crashdown his bet. “Okay, she can’t do that,” he states as she leaves. Across the table, Boomer takes her winnings from the table, “She can and she did.” She kisses the coins and leaves the table herself.

On CYLON-OCCUPIED CAPRICA, Karl "Helo" Agathon and Valerii have apparently found the source of the "military signal" they detected (Water). Breaking into a building, they find it is a restaurant - but no sign of the source of the signal. As Helo searches the kitchen area, Valerii searches the seating area and "happens" to find a door hidden display a set of shelves. The door leads down a staircase to…a radiation shelter. The door is unlocked and inside they find bottled water and other supplies by the rack full, all of it seemingly untouched. On one side of the room is a rack of large batteries hooked up to a disaster beacon. “Set to go off if there’s an attack,” Valerii announces after giving it a cursory glance in the light of their torches.

Helo looks at her, “Some poor slob goes to all the trouble of building a fallout shelter, stocks it, has a beacon, the whole plan – and then what? What happens to him?” Valerii looks around the darkened room. “Let’s just call ourselves lucky and leave it at that,” she replies quietly, a slight edge to her voice. Opening one of the food packs, Helo removes a cracker and holds it for Valerii to take a bite out of it, which she does – and the camera cuts to the restaurant upstairs as a hand appears at the rain-soaked window, reaching to touch it cautiously before running along it, as Six walks to the door of the restaurant. She pauses a moment, looking inside, then walks on, her hand still brushing the glass.

Back on Galactica, Roslin is in sickbay, having undergone an examination. Doctor Cottle, the ship’s medical officer pulls back the curtain and enters. “Madame President,” he says gruffly, before Roslin requests he closes the curtain. When he has done so, he lays into her for waiting five years between scans for breast cancer. He confirms the original diagnosis was correct: her cancer is too advanced to be operable, all they can hope to do now is try and, “shrink the tumour with gamma treatments and follow that up with IVCIS and Dilloxin – did he explain to you the side effects of Dilloxin?”

“Hair loss, nausea and muscle degeneration,” Roslin replies. “I watched my mother endure two years of Dilloxin before she died.” She then announces she would like to explore alternative treatments, which earn her a dry, “Prayer?” from the doctor. “Witty,” she replies, without any amusement. “Have you ever heard of Kamala extract?” This earns her an outright, “Oh gods. You’re one of those.” The doctor then goes on to state all the stories about Kamala are anecdotal, “nothing but a lot of loose talk and false hope.”

“I take that as a yes,” Roslin interrupts. Realising he’s beaten on this one, the doctor agrees to put out a “med request” to the civilian fleet. As he leaves the examination area, he pauses and turns to her. “And for what it’s worth,” he says quietly, “I would seriously….consider prayer…”

Elsewhere on the ship, Starbuck reviews a file of potential pilots Lee Adama has just given her. She’s less than impressed with what she’s reading. “Diamonds in the rough,” Lee responds to her critique. “They’re the best pilots in the fleet.”

“Great,” Starbuck responds, as she heads into the Ready Room, still reading the file. “Attention on deck!” she orders as she walks to the front of the room. The eight people in the room continue to chatter, leading her to order them onto their feet before reminding them they are joining the Colonial fleet, “not some afternoon club.” Ordering them back into their seats, she takes up her position at the podium and introduces herself. “Pilots call me Starbuck. You may refer to me as God.” She then goes on to inform the “nuggets” that while they’ve all flown before, they’re now into something new, but as Galactica doesn’t have any flight simulators, they are going to be put right into the cockpit – today.

She then gives them a (very) quick overview of the Viper Mk II, stating that they’ll all be practicing launch, approach and landing manoeuvres, adding – as she spots the cocky one in the group – that anyone not playing attention is “liable to end up as a puddle of something to be hosed out of the cockpit by the Chief of the Deck.” She then pounces on Mr. Cocky as he passes a lewd comment. “Mr. Constanza, right?” “Uh, yes – God…sir….” he replies. “Not any more,” she states flatly. “From now on your name is ‘Hot Dog’. And when God speaks, Hot Dog, you listen.” She then adds more quietly as she leans over him, “Maybe if you’d learned that on your first day at the academy, you wouldn’t have washed out.”

Following the briefing, we join the new pilots out in Vipers as they attempt to make combat landings on Galactica. Starbuck follows Katraine as she attempts a landing – and comes close to putting her Viper through the landing deck, earning her a wave-off from the LSO. Back in the Ready Room, Starbuck washes-out the entire group of eight.

In the rec room, she is confronted by Lee. “What're you doing here Kara? You can’t wash them out on their first day.” Pouring herself a drink of water, Starbuck replies, “I just did,” leading Lee to point out that he has “40 Vipers and 21 pilots and that’s it. We’re sitting ducks until we finish water ops. We can’t even maintain a CAP. Gods forbid the Cylons show up.”

Starbuck wants to move on to the next group of pilots – but Lee points out none of them have flown, and that as far as she’s concerned, the first group is done. She then starts to walk away, to be stopped be Lee, “Lieutenant Thrace! This is not a request!” She cuts him off dismissively, returning to stand toe-to-toe with him and tell him she is the flight instructor, and her word is scripture, and as such she will not pass another student who isn’t ready.

“So that’s what this is about,” Lee replies softly. “It’s not about them. It’s about Zak.” Her face hardening, Starbuck steps closer to him, “Careful,” she warns, fury bubbling in the word. Lee faces her without moving. “Step back,” he orders. For a moment she continues to stare at him, then turns and leave the room, then she is back in the cockpit of her Viper as she fights to reach the ejection handle, the altimeter still unwinding wildly. Reaching the handle, she pulls it and the Viper’s canopy is blown away before the ejection motor on her seat kicks-in, firing her from the doomed fighter.

As she disappears into the clouded sky, the scene shifts to Adama’s quarters, and he is backing Starbuck’s decision, “If Starbuck says they can’t cut it, they can’t cut it.” He adds she is one of the finest pilots he’s known, and it would only take her a day to judge people’s ability in the cockpit.

Lee responds that he’s not gainsaying that; rather that she is allowing personal feelings cloud her judgement. “What are those feelings?” Adama asks. “About Zak,” Lee replies after a pause. “We’ve talked about Zak,” Adama states, a comment that confuses Lee. Adama goes on to say he and Starbuck talk about a lot of things. “We’ve been aboard this ship for over two years. We know each other very well. When I asked her to be the instructor, I knew it was going to release a lot of loose baggage. She acknowledged it. She’s a professional. She’ll do her job.”

Still confused, and looking not a little angry, Lee agrees, but suggests Adama talk to her anyway. When he agrees, Lee pauses. “Personally, I think she’s trying to work out her guilt over what she did for Zak. I think she’s trying to make up for it by beating up on these guys.”

This time it is Adama’s turn to look confused. “Guilt? Over what? What did she do for Zak?”

Suddenly, it is clear to Lee that once again he and his father have been talking at cross-purposes; that far from knowing the truth about Zak’s situation, as the comment about them having "talked about Zak” lead him to believe, his father actually knows nothing about Kara’s role in passing Zak for Viper duties when he was clearly unsuited to the role. Refusing to comment further, Lee closes the conversation by telling his father he’ll have to ask Starbuck, before apologising and turning to leave. When Adama tries to stop him, Lee breaks through the gulf imposed on them by their respective ranks, “Dad, you have to ask her.”

In the locker room, Starbuck looks at the photo of her with Zak and Lee, recalling once again the moment she told Zak he had passed, replaying the words in her mind before the intercom calls her to Adama’s quarters.

As she arrives, Adama informs her Lee was just with him, and that he thinks she has washed-out the nuggets without giving them a chance. “They didn’t cut it. That’s it,” she replies with a shrug. Adama presses her, stating Lee believes she’s letting personal feelings interfere with her judgement – her feelings about Zak. When she denies this, Adama nods and steps around his desk to stand in front of her saying the Lee believes she is feeling guilty over something she did for Zak, “What did you do for him?”

She tries to evade the question, but Adama stops her, “Don’t dance with me Kara. I love you like a daughter; I don’t deserve that,” his face settles into a look of sorrow, as she struggles to find the words, finally admitting. “Zak failed basic flight.”

The sorrow slowly fades from Adama’s expression, as she continues, “He wasn’t a bad pilot, he just had no feel for flying.” As Adama’s face becomes a mask, she admits that Zak failed three manoeuvres during his final flight exam. Lowering her head, she states, “The bottom line is your…son…didn’t have the chops to fly a Viper….and it killed him.” She looks up to meet Adama’s look, the pain reflected in his eyes, and once more there is a flashback to their first meeting after Zak’s death: the two of them walking together. “He told me that he thought you were an amazing instructor,” Adama is saying, “And that he was involved with you, and that it was serious. He asked me to come to his graduation from flight school and watch him get his wings.” Starbuck admits she read the letter Zak wrote, and Adama asks her if she could tell him what his son was hinting at, a “surprise…about you?” She tries to answer, but can’t bring herself to say the words. Adams says them instead, “You were engaged, right?”

And in the present, Adama finally speaks, his voice a whisper, “You did it because you were engaged.” The words finally break Starbuck. Fighting back tears, she admits her love for Zak and that it got in the way of her judgement because he wanted his wings so much, and she didn’t want to be the one who crushed his dream. She looks to Adama for any sign of understanding, but his mask remains fixed, “Reinstate the trainees to flight status,” he growls in suppressed anger. “Do your job….and walk out of this cabin while you still can…” She faces him fr a moment longer, then turns and walks out of the cabin, the tears flowing. Watching her go, Adama’s mask finally slips, and we hear him catch his breath as he tries to maintain control.

The scene shifts Starbuck’s Viper as she once again ejects. This time her seat is blasted clear of the stricken craft, which tumbles away. Separated from her ejector seat, which is tumbling behind her, Starbuck falls through the sky, struggling to get into a free-fall position.

Back on the Galactica, Starbuck arrives in the locker room where her nuggets are packing. A little time has passed, as she is now in her flight suit. She gives them the news that they are all reinstated, and that they’re going to try it again. She then selects three of them – Kat, Chuckles and Hot Dog to fly the first round with her.

A little later, Starbuck is putting her recruits through simulated combat, with Hot Dog living up to his name as he breaks formation with his patrol leader – Chuckles – to attempt a “kill” on Starbuck. While he’s successful, his victory is short-lived: Kat then “kills” him – leading to the lesson for the moment: never leave your leader.

In CIC Saul Tigh listens to the radio chatter between Starbuck and her recruits and gives a grudging “Well I’ll be damned!” He demands to know what has got into Starbuck, as she actually sounds like a real instructor for a change. The comment earns him a hard look from Adama as he enters CIC. Moving to the plot table, Adama unrolls a chart as Tigh adds that Starbuck may actually make pilots out of some of the nuggets. Again Adama doesn’t respond, but beside him, Lee gives him a careful look.

The mood is suddenly broken by an announcement from Starbuck: “Holy frak! We’ve got incoming!”

Moving to his console, Gaeta confirms: multiple contacts – Cylons! As Tigh demands to know why they didn’t see them coming, Lee orders the alert fighters launched while Tigh orders the fleet to Condition One. Outside, Starbuck requests the cavalry, and then orders her trainees to punch it for home, eight Raiders in pursuit.

In CIC, Adama wants to know where the base ship is, but Gaeta confirms they only have 8 Raiders. Tigh states it was only a matter of time before the Cylons found them. The alert fighters are launched with an ETA of two minutes, as Starbuck tries to shepherd her nuggets home – but the Cylons have the edge in velocity. This forces Starbuck to take action – instructing her trainees to continue heading for the Galactica, she flips her ship and goes head-on at the Cylons. “Starbuck’s going to take on all eight,” Tigh states in answer to Adama’s demand to know what she’s doing, “And is going to get herself killed.”

Among the nuggets, Hot Dog reverses course and takes off after Starbuck, who has closed the range. The Radiers open on up her – using guns, not missiles – and she starts manoeuvring as Hot Dog turns up, opening fire alongside of her and taking out a Raider. Seconds later he is hit, forcing him to break off as Starbuck further disperses the Cylon force, hitting, but not destroying one of them, while taking out another. Heading away from the fight, Hot Dog can do little as his main engines burn out.

Suddenly, all that is left is just one Raider and Starbuck...and the Raider has the upper hand. Listening in CIC, Adama and his crew hear her state the Cylon is right on her tail, but she’s got it covered – and then her ident vanishes from the screens, causing Lee to turn away, and Dualla to report Starbuck’s wireless and transponder just went out. A second later, the Alert One Viper reports they’ve spotted Hot Dog, but have no visual ident on Starbuck.

Meanwhile, over a moon of a nearby gas giant, Starbuck goes head-to-head with the last Cylon Raider and cripples it – but before she can get out of the way, it strikes her Viper a “glancing” blow, killing all her flight systems, and both craft start tumbling towards the atmosphere of the moon. Then the pieces fall into place, as all the “flash” scenes of Starbuck fighting to control a doomed Viper come together in a single scene, culminating in her ejection and free-fall planet-wards before the screen blanks to those immortal words...

To be continued

--Colonial Archivist 18:13, 6 Jan 2005 (EST)

Questions[edit]

Analysis[edit]

An interesting episode that reveals a lot of the back story around the late Zak Adama, hampered by a weak start.

The bon homme between Starbuck, Lee and Adama as seen in the teaser doesn’t entrely work. Coming on top of the clear division between Adama and Lee following the latter’s activities on the Astral Queen just 48 hours before, it is hard to accept the cameraderie that they share here.

Also, while hi-jinx are to be expected, even in the most dire situations – the crew are going to have to let off steam at times – the whole “1,000th” landing idea smacked too much of a contrivance to get Galactica’s pilots together so that a bunch of them can be knocked off.

Moving on, there is Adama's cosy tête-à-tête with Starbuck regarding the role of instructor, the cosy little cuddle at the end just doesn't sit right. Until now, Adama has been portrayed as approachable but aloof. Personnel of all ranks have been comfortable in talking to him openly, and have clearly regarded him with respect. However, there has always been a degree of separation between him and those around him. So it's a little hard to accept Adama as a man given to heartfelt hugs with junior officers - no matter what their past.

The hug serves a single purpose: a (transparent) means to give Adama's relationship with Starbuck a little extra depth ready for his fall when her revelation concerning Zak is finally made.

However, once the story gets past these little wobbles, it turns into a finely-crafted piece, weaving the past, present and - in Starbuck's case - the future into a picture of love, guilt, betrayal, need, and hurt. The acting throughout is outstanding, and the framing superb throughout. The interweaving of Starbuck's and Adama's recollections of Zak's funeral with the Service for the Dead on Galatica is particularly potent, while Starbuck's flashbacks in particular serve to reveal her angst far more effectively than any amount of dialogue. To quote an old cliché: a picture is worth a thousand words.

Alongside the main story arc, other elements are moved forward, either directly, or through dialogue. It is through the latter that we learn that the water situation in the fleet is still not resolved, and that operations are continuing on the ice moon discovered by Boomer and Crashdown in Water; we also learn – via the card game – that secrets on Galactica are proving hard to keep: rumours are already spreading that Gaeta is assisting Baltar in the development of his Cylon detector.

Given a more direct reference is Roslin's illness. In a nice follow-on from Bastille Day she meets the Galactica's medical officer. Something of a cliché himself - a healer killing himself through smoking - but even so, he is a useful foil for opening a new mini-arc to Roslin's character: her determination to fight the cancer through orthodox and possibly unorthodox means.

Finally, on Caprica, it is now clear that the Cylons want Helo to remain with Valerii. The receipt of the "military signal" and the discovery of the cosy little "radiation shelter" are together too much of a coincidence. The shelter is a honey-trap, and Valerii is the bait.

An essential element to any story is the performance of the actors, and "Acts" presents some of the strongest performances just seen in BSG. In this, Edward James Olmos clearly silences any critics of his acting abilities. With barely a turn of the lips, an opening or narrowing of the eyes, he conveys everything we need to know about Adama's reaction to Thrace's admission in his cabin: confusion, hurt, betrayal, loss, anger and finally – fury. It's been a while since such a range of emotional reactions have been so powerfully portrayed, and full kudos to Mr. Olmos and to the episode's director and director of photography for the manner in which the scene is crafted.

Equally deserving of praise is Katee Sackhoff for her handling of Thrace's memories and dilemma. Here, for the first time, we get to see what goes on behind the “Starbuck” mask; and the flashback scenes to her time with Zak are handled with extraordinary poise, and add the required depth needed to reinforce her guilt at his loss, and her fear of what might happen should she ever be put in a similar position again – or that Adama should ever discover the truth.

Overall, a vastly different episode from all that has gone before and one that is, as stated before, saved from mediocrity only in the interweaving of the various story elements – future, present and past – and the outstanding performances from both Sackhoff and Olmos, well-supported by Jamie Bamber and James Callas.

--Colonial Archivist 00:14, 15 Jan 2005 (EST)

Notes[edit]

It is 48 hours since the prisoner uprising on the Astral Queen
Water replenishment ops are still underway
The Galactica has a remaining contingent of 40 Vipers on top of her 5 Raptors (revealed in Water), but now only has 21 combat-ready pilots and a further 8 newbie “nuggets”
Cylon Raiders have guns of an apparently similar nature to those mounted on Vipers
Zak and Starbuck were engaged, and that lead to her passing him for flight duty
Adama's relationship with Starbuck is not as long-standing as the mini appeared to suggest: they have only served together for 2 years
Word is leaking out about Baltar's “Cylon detector”
Helo and Valerii still appear to be the only “people” left alive on Caprica. Neither seem in any hurry to get off the planet.
The Colonial military use HumVees and Deuce-and-a-half trucks!

Noteworthy Dialogue[edit]

In Adama's Cabin, with Thrace and Adama, discussing comments made earlier by Lee Adama:

Adama: He said something else. That you might have been feeling guilty about something you did for Zak. What did you do for him? Thrace: I don't know. You'd have to ask Lee. Adama: I'm asking you. Thrace: Well I don't kn- I, ah...I don't really know what he was talking about, so... Adama: Don't fence with me, Kara. I love you like a daughter. I don't deserve that. Thrace: Ummm...Zak...failed...basic flight. He wasn't a bad pilot, he just had no feel for flying...and, um, when it came to his final check ride he...busted...three of the test manoeuvres, and I should have flunked him, but I didn't. The bottom line is your...son...didin't have the chops to fly a Viper...and it killed him. Adama: (following a flashback): You did it because you were engaged. Thrace (breaking down): Because I made a mistake...because I was just...I was so in love with him...and I let that get in the way of doing my job...and um, and he um, he just wanted it so much, and I...I didn't want to be the one who crushed him... Adama: Reinstate the trainees to flight status Thrace: I will...but I just want you to understand...that I... Adama: Do your job Thrace: Yes sir... Adama: And walk out of this cabin...while you still can...

Official Statements[edit]

Statistics[edit]

Guest Stars[edit]

Writing & Direction[edit]

Written by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle
Directed by Rod Hardy

Production Details[edit]

Series: 1 (2004 / 2005)
Production Number: 1.04
Airdate Order: 4 (of 13)

First Run Air Dates & Releases[edit]

UK Airdate: 8 November 2004 (Sky One)
US Airdate: (Sci-Fi Channel)
DVD Release: N/A