On Caprica, Helo has discovered that Boomer is a Cylon clone and shoots her, but doesn’t kill her, instead taking her prisoner. On Galactica, Boomer is called up to go on a survey mission – moments before she was about to commit suicide. The mission takes her to a planet that, though it appears to have suffered some form of disaster, is still habitable by human life – and according to President Roslin’s spiritual advisor, the planet can only be Kobol, the birthplace of humanity. While Commander Adama focuses on a survey to determine if Kobol is suitable for colonization, the President is more concerned with exploring prophecy, and with the predicition that Kobol would lead the Colonial fleet to Earth. As Starbuck tries to adapt weapons from a Viper for her captured Cylon raider, Apollo confronts her about her burgeoning relationship with Baltar, and the two come to blows. After a warning from Number Six that he isn’t safe on Galactica – and an attempt to manipulate Boomer into carrying out her death wish – Baltar volunteers for the next survey mission to Kobol, but when a small group of Raptors arrives there, they’re ambushed by a massive Cylon fleet; a base ship lies in wait in orbit of Kobol. One Raptor manages to return to Galactica to sound the alarm, while the ship carrying Baltar is forced into a crash landing on Kobol. Starbuck devises a plan to take out the base ship by turning her Cylon ship into a remote-controlled bomb, but she and Adama are stunned when Roslin instead wants to use the raider to leap back to Caprica to recover an artifact that could help the fleet locate Earth. Roslin plays on Starbuck’s loyalties, and during a pre-mission flight test of the raider, Starbuck makes the jump back to Caprica, throwing the entire plan into uncertainty.
teleplay by Ronald D. Moore
story by David Eick
directed by Michael Rymer
music by Bear McCreary
Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Paul Campbell (Billy Keikeya), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Sam Witwer (Lt. Crashdown), Lorena Gale (Priest Elosha), Donnelly Rhodes (Dr. Cottle), Alonso Oyarzun (Socinus), Bodie Olmos (Costanza / Hot Dog), Stephen Spender (Pilot), James Bell (Eco)
Original UK Airdate: January 17, 2005
LogBook entry by Earl Green