Flight of the Phoenix

Overview

Faced with a Viper shortage, Tyrol tackles the difficult task of building them from scratch. Meanwhile, Helo is dealing with the repercussions of his relationship with Sharon Valerii, a known Humano-Cylon.

Summary

• Laura Roslin's illness has reached a critical level. While she is still well enough to walk, Dr. Cottle gives her approximately one month to live.
• Helo has become persona non grata to many of the crew who distrust him due to his romance with the Caprica copy of Humano-Cylon Sharon Valerii.
• Many of the crew, even the generally level-headed and reliable Lieutenant Gaeta, are showing the strain of the apparent futility and fatigue of running from the Cylons.
• Chief Tyrol, with also little else to do with scrapped Vipers, begins a project to craft a new fighter. Initially many crew are very skeptical, but soon many others help Tyrol.
• Helo suggests carbon composite material for the skin in lieu of the rare plate metal for the fighter. Like the American F/A-22 Raptor Air-Dominance Fighter, Tyrol's new ship is nearly invisible to DRADIS.
• A Cylon Logic Bomb has attacked ship's systems and will fully control Galactica once an expected Cylon force arrives to activate it by infiltration. Gaeta and Baltar work together to figure a way to rid the ship of it by erasing the hard drives of all computers. Doing this, however, would leave the ship a sitting duck for an attack while time is needed to restore function and data to the computers.
• Adama, after asking the advice of the President, allows the Caprica Valerii to connect herself to the ship's mainframe and communication systems while Gaeta and Baltar erase the hard drives of all computers.
• A Cylon fighter armada consisting of hundreds of Raiders and Heavy Raiders attempts to activate the bomb. However, Valerii responds by transmitting a version of the same bomb to the Cylon fleet, disabling it as the Cylons did the Colonial fleet during the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. The Viper squadrons annihilate the helpless Cylon fleet in a joyous moment of payback.
• Kara Thrace takes the new fighter, dubbed the Blackbird, for a initially ungainly test spin. This fighter was designed for speed, and delivers it. Wingman Lee Adama is horrified when the Blackbird disappears, but Kara rises above to face his ship quietly, proving the new fighter's stealth ability.
• In a ceremony similar to the one given to Commander Adama in the Mini-Series, President Roslin inspects and christens the new fighter. Many sign the ship. Tyrol reveals the name of this first fighter: Laura.
• The mere work on the new fighter renewed the creativity and hope of the crew--a reason why Adama allowed its construction to continue, despite the logic bomb crisis.

Questions

• This episode was rare in that Baltar's Number Six was completely absent in this episode, despite the Cylon-rich plot. What would she had to say about Valerii's aid or the logic bomb?

Analysis

• While Humano-Cylons appear human to the cellular level, they can control computers from a fiber-optic connection. This suggests that the humanoid Cylon design uses light-sensitive cells designed as regular cells in their forearms as data access. Based on Valerii's discomfort while connected this way, it could be presumed that this is not a typical practice.

Notes

• Population count is 47,853. This is the first time this season that there has been no net change in the count from the previous episode (Final Cut).
• Literary/Film Reference: Flight of the Phoenix is the title of a 1964 novel where survivors from a plane crash in the middle of a desert attempt to rebuild the plane from the wreckage. Two movies, one made in 1965 and the other in 2004, were also made following a similar story line inspired by the book.
• The phoenix is a character from Egypt mythology where, at the end of its lifespan, the bird turns to ash -- only to have another phoenix arise.
• The name of new fighter, Blackbird, is also shared with the worlds's fastest supersonic aircraft, the American SR-71, which also has some stealth ability.

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Apollo: Nobody's expecting a miracle.
• Tyrol: Maybe that's the problem.

Statistics

Writing & Direction

• Written by
• Directed by

Production Notes

• Series: 2 (2005 / 2006)
• Production Number: 2.??
• Airdate Order: 9 (of 20)

First Run Air Dates & Releases

• UK Airdate:
• US Airdate: September 16th, 2005
• DVD Release: (UK)

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