Pegasus (episode)

For information related the battlestar Pegasus itself, see Pegasus.

Information provided by GateWorld.net.

Overview

Tensions run high when the Pegasus, a battlestar more advanced than the Galactica, is found -- only to have Admiral Nelena Cain usurp command of the fleet and foist her demands on those under her new command.

Summary

• The Pegasus, a Mercury-class battlestar, has joined the fleet. She survived the attack by blind-jumping as the Cylons attacked the Scorpion Ship Yards.
• A Cylon fleet, comprised of two basestars, support ships and a large mothership of unknown purpose have been trailing the fleet -- and detected by Cain and the Pegasus.
• Upon assuming command of the fleet, Cain begins moving crew members around, transferring Lee Adama and Kara Thrace to the Pegasus.
• Tyrol welcomes his civilian counterpart on Pegasus. Laird is an aeronautical engineer-turned Deck Chief that designed the old engines in the Blackbird, and who's both appalled and impressed by Tyrol's new stealth fighter.
• Lee is essentially busted down to Raptor pilot in a recon mission to the Cylon fleet. But he shows his defiant side by asking Kara to commandeer the Blackbird to take some better recon photos of the fleet without being noticed by Colonial or Cylon forces.
• Helo and Galen Tyrol discover that Gina, the Cylon prisoner aboard the Pegasus, was raped by the crew as a form of torture. They rush to Galactica's brig, where a Pegasus lieutenant, Thorne, is about to rape Sharon. Tyrol throws Thorne against a bulkhead, killing him. The pair are arrested for courts-martial.
• Commander Adama is angered to hear that Admiral Cain is going to hold the court-martial on Pegasus, not Galactica where the offense occurred. Cain assures Adama that they will be tried by jury.
• Admiral Cain, however, does not give the pair a court martial hearing or trial by jury, instead rapidly deciding the verdict by herself and ordering Helo and Tyrol to be executed.
• Upon discovering what Admiral Cain has done, Commander Adama orders a Raptor to fly out with an armed Marine boarding party and launches Galactica's Vipers against Pegasus, demanding that Admiral Cain release Helo and Galen Tyrol.
• Admiral Cain refuses, and balks at the thought of an "independent tribunal" to settle the dispute because the last time Galactica held one Commander Adama dissolved the tribunal when he "didn't like the verdict". Adama refuses to back down and insists that he will get his men back.
• Admiral Cain launches Pegasus' Vipers against the incoming Vipers from Galactica. They close in on each other as the episode ends.

Questions

• Will Starbuck and her Blackbird stealth fighter play a role in the armed standoff between Pegasus and Galactica?
  • Although we won't know that until next episode, that seems initially unlikely, as the Blackbird is being used for the Recon mission against the Cylon "Unknown". The episode seemed to suggest that both were occurring at the same time.
• Where did the Pegasus crew get fresh fruit?
  • Dualla explains in "Final Cut" that their ships have very effective refrigeration units to keep food fresh for long duration duty tours, etc.
• In the absence of Apollo and Starbuck, who is leading Galactica's fighters against Pegasus? George Birch? Symes?

Analysis

• Cally's charged reaction to the drunken Pegasus crewmen bragging about raping Number Six/Gina repeatedly is probably due to herself being the survivor of an attempted rape, in "Bastille Day".

Notes

• Population count is 49,605, a dramatic increase of 1,752 since the 47,853 count in Flight of the Phoenix, undoubtedly to account for the addition of Battlestar Pegasus and her crew to the Colonial fleet.
  • Cain notes that Pegasus lost 700 crew in the openning attack, thus we may speculate that at the time of the attack her crew totalled to about 2,450.
  • During the episode, Admiral Cain mentioned that due to Gina's actions, 800 of her crew were lost. One possibility is that part of the 800 included the 700 lost during the initial attack. That being the case, the revised total number is 2,550. If the 800 crew lost was due to a separate incident, then the starting Pegasus numbers maybe be 3,250.
  • This is substantially smaller than Galactica's crew, possibly explained by many of Cain's crew being on leave at the time of the attack. Galactica, although soon to be decomissioned, was still fully operational. Also, Pegasus's systems are newer, and may be more automated.
• As the episode ends, it's interesting to see that the bulk of Galactica's Viper fleet consist of the Mark II's, while Pegasus had the Mark VII's. A classic picture of "old vs. new".
  • While Pegasus seems to have entirely Viper Mk. VII's, they would presumably have had to removed most of the automated systems from them (to prevent Cylon virus infiltration). Doing this makes them more difficult to fly (Galactica's few Mk. VII's are only used by the most capable pilots now). Pegasus' pilots might have more advanced fighers but they aren't as reliable now as the tried-and-true Mk. II's.
• Nelena Cain is the female version of Cain, who was portrayed by the late Lloyd Bridges in the original Battlestar Galactica.
• This episode is inspired by the two part episode, "The Living Legend".
• "Pegasus" apparently starts a multi-episode arc. The cliffhanger ending marks the mid-season finale. Season 2 will continue in January 2006 with Resurrection Ship.
• Ronald D. Moore also wrote another episode called The Pegasus, in the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Statistics

Guest Stars

• Michelle Forbes as Admiral Nelena Cain
• Unknown as Colonel Jack Fisk
• Unknown as Lieutenant Thorne
• Unknown as Petty Officer Hoshi
• Unknown as Petty Officer Laird
• Unknown as Captain "Stinger" Taylor
• Leah Cairns as Racetrack

Writing & Direction

• Written by
• Story by
• Teleplay by
• Directed by

Production Notes

• Series 2 (2005/2006)
• Production Number: 2.10
• Airdate Order: 10 (of 20)

First Run Air Dates & Releases

• UK Airdate:
• US Airdate: September 23rd, 2005
• DVD Release:

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