Category: Battlestar Galactica (New Series)

Lt. Boomer goes to CPO Tyrol with an unusual problem – she recently found herself inexplicably drenched with water, and in possession of a case from munitions which carried several explosives and detonators. Galactica conducts a routine water tanking maneuver with one of the smaller Colonial ships during a visit by the President. But the transfer becomes less than routine when a massive explosion rocks Galactica’s water tanks, venting well over half of the fleet’s water supply into space. Adama and President Roslin launch an investigation, and the missing explosives from munitions quickly come to light. Tyrol is careful to avoid mentioning anything he knows that might implicate Boomer, but her own increasingly nervous behavior may give her away before the evidence does. Baltar also betrays his own nervousness while serving on the investigation panel, as the President orders him to look for a way to detect any Cylons disguised as members of the ship’s crew; despite that alarming possibility, Adama and the President opt to keep that information from the rest of the fleet for now. A desperate search for a new source of water begins, though Boomer’s participation in the survey may spell its doom. And on Caprica, now occupied by the Cylons, lone Galactica crewmember Helo – left behind in the evacuation of the planet’s civilians – discovers he’s not alone…because Lt. Boomer is there with him too.

written by Ronald D. Moore
directed by Marita Grabiak
music by Richard Gibbs

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), Alonso Ozaryun (Socinus), Nicki Clyne (Cally)

Original UK Airdate: October 26, 2004

LogBook entry by Earl Green

With a source of water located in the ice caps of a nearby moon, replenishing Galactica’s water supply will be a more daunting task than expected, requiring a crew of at least a thousand workers. Commander Adama proposes using men from the Colonial fleet’s prison ship as a labor force, but President Roslin balks at the thought of anything that could be construed as using slave labor. She sends Apollo to the prison ship Astral Queen to offer points toward amnesty for any prisoners willing to help, but only one man speaks out – Tom Zarek, a political prisoner with a controversial past. Some, such as Galactica bridge officer Dualla, consider him a terrorist, while others follow Zarek’s insistence that he is a prisoner of conscience. What everyone can agree on is that Zarek is a charismatic leader, and he already has control of the Astral Queen. A quick rebellion turns the visiting Galactica officers and what few prison wardens haven’t been swayed by Zarek into hostages. Zarek, insisting that President Roslin was not democratically elected and therefore has no constitutional claim to the office of President, demands that elections be held immediately. Roslin refuses to negotiate with Zarek, and Adama assigns a team of snipers led by Starbuck to retake the Astral Queen. But Apollo may be able to reach another solution, something that gives everyone – even Zarek – what they want to resolve the crisis.

written by Toni Graphia
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Richard Gibbs

Guest Cast: Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Paul Campbell (Billy Keikeya), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Connor Widdows (Boxey), Alonso Oyarzun (Socinus), Nicki Clyne (Cally), Pat Adrien Dorval (Wilkiens), Ron Selmour (Seaborne), Matthew Bennett (Aaron Doral), Brent Stait (Mason), Graham Young (Marine #1), Curtis Hicks (Marine #2), Colby Johansson (Flat Top)

Notes: Richard Hatch starred in the original Battlestar Galactica series as Apollo (and ironically shares most of his scenes in this episode with Jamie Bamber, the new Apollo). Brent Stait was one of the original cast members of Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, and played the role of Rev Bem for the first two seasons until allergic reactions to his character’s elaborate make-up forced him to leave the series.

Original UK Airdate: November 1, 2004

LogBook entry by Earl Green

An impromptu celebration ensues on the hangar deck when one of the pilots makes his 1,000th successful landing. During the celebration, though, a loose strap on a munitions rack leads to the tragic loss of several of Galactica’s most experienced pilots. After the dead are buried, Adama instructs Starbuck to begin training new pilots immediately. The usually uninhibited Starbuck doesn’t seem to be looking forward to the challenge, however – the very thin field of candidates has absolutely no combat flight experience, if they have any flight experience at all; when she asks if someone else could handle the training, Starbuck learns that the only other qualified flight instructors in the remaining Colonial fleet don’t have combat experience either. Adama makes it clear that despite the death of his son Zak – who died in an accident in a Viper fighter after Starbuck passed him for basic flight training – he trusts Starbuck to shape Galactica’s next group of fighter pilots. But Apollo forces a revelation to the surface that may cost Starbuck the trust she has earned from Adama.

written by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle
directed by Rod Hardy
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), Jill Teed (Sgt. Hadrian), Tobias Mehler (Zak Adama), Colby Johannson (Flat Top), Beill Meiler (Caprica Cleric), Bodie Olmos (Costanza / Hot Dog), Luciana Carro (Katraine / Kat), Terry Chen (Perry / Chuckles)

Notes: Actor Bodie Olmos is the son of series star Edward James Olmos. The writing team of Bradley Thompson and David Weddle worked with executive producer Ronald D. Moore on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Original UK Airdate: November 8, 2004

LogBook entry by Earl Green

After narrowly surviving a chaotic confrontation defending her pilot trainees from a Cylon surprise attack, Starbuck crash-lands on a moon with a poisonous atmosphere and gale-force winds. Adama launches an all-out search for Starbuck, who has been injured and has less than two days of oxygen. When civilian ships are called out of formation into the search, and even the combat patrol that protects the fleet’s defenseless vessels are called away to take part, President Roslin begins to wonder if Commander Adama’s judgement isn’t clouded by his personal feelings. A call to Apollo, who she relies on as her military liaison, doesn’t reassure her, and when the search continues even after the countdown runs out for Starbuck’s oxygen supply, the President makes her feelings known more forcefully. Meanwhile, on the moon, Starbuck finds a ship that’s in far better shape than her Viper – but it happens to be the Cylon ship that collided with her in the first place, and if its hull is intact, its occupant may be as well. And on Caprica, Helo finds that a shelter where he and Boomer have been hiding isn’t as secure as he thought.

written by Carla Robinson
directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
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), Donnelly Rhodes (Dr. Cottle), Alonso Oyarzun (Socinus), Bodie Olmos (Costanza/Hot Dog)

Notes: Starbuck’s unusual maneuvering may be an homage to the original series; Starbuck and Apollo had to fly a stolen Cylon raider back to Galactica in the original series episode The Hand Of God, and only by “waggling” the ship’s wings were they able to signal their fellow Viper pilots to let them land.

Original UK Airdate: November 15, 2004

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Among the latest group of visitors to board Galactica is a face all too familiar to Tigh and Adama – Galactica’s former public relations officer, a man who turned out to be a Cylon. When Adama catches up with him, the man turns around and reveals that he’s a walking bomb, hitting the detonator switch. Tigh is barely able to hustle Adama to safety, but others around them aren’t so lucky. Adama decides the time has come to go public with the news that the Cylons can take human form, against the advice of both Tigh and President Roslin. He assigns the ship’s Master at Arms to begin an inquiry, and she insists on having a free hand in the investigation. But she goes beyond that, accusing Tyrol, Boomer and a member of Tyrol’s deck crew of Cylon collaboration and even accusing Commander Adama of creating the conditions that made the attack possible.

written by Jeff Vlaming
directed by Rod Hardy
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Logan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Paul Campbell (Billy Keikeya), Sam Witwer (Lt. Crashdown), Donnelly Rhodes (Dr. Cottle), Jill Teed (Sgt. Hadrian), Dominic Zamprogna (Reporter #3), Alonso Oyarzun (Socinus), Nicki Clyne (Cally), Bodie Olmos (Costanza / Hot Dog), Matthew Bennett (Doral), Christina Schild (Playa Kohn), Raahul Singh (Kimmit), Shaw Madson (Marine Corporal), Nimet Kanji (Candace Myson-Tribunal), Biski Gugushe (Reporter #1), Morris Chapdelaine (Reporter #2)

Original UK Airdate: November 22, 2004

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Baltar is called to the CIC, where Commander Adama informs him that a Miss Godfrey has made some disturbing accusations regarding his tampering with Caprica’s defenses, and she appears to have some proof, though it’s far from conclusive. Baltar sees no one other than the command crew and Number Six, until he realizes that for the first time, the others can see her too. Even the President questions his honesty, and for the first time since the attacks on Caprica, Number Six no longer features in Baltar’s fantasies. He decides to take matters into his own hands to eliminate the evidence, Baltar only incriminates himself further. Boomer opens her locker on Galactica and finds the word “Cylon” scrawled inside. And on Caprica, after Helo finally confesses his feelings for the copy of Boomer he’s on the run with, a Cylon experiment reaches a climax.

written by Michael Angeli
directed by Robert Young
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), Donnelly Rhodes (Dr. Cottle), Nicki Clyne (Cally), Christina Schild (Journalist – Playa), Biski Gugushe (Journalist – Eick)

Original UK Airdate: November 29, 2004

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The captain of one of the Colonial ships reports that a copy of one of the known human Cylon variants has been sighted. While Commander Adama wants to desroy the Cylon immediately, President Roslin wants the man – a copy of the man who Adama encountered at the abandoned munitions depot – questioned. Adama assigns Starbuck to the task, and the Cylon tells her that he’s planted a nuclear bomb aboard one of the Colonial ships…but he won’t tell her which one, or where. Baltar gets an unexpected request from Boomer, who wants to be among the first members of the Galactica crew tested to see if she’s human or Cylon – and of course, the results on Baltar’s screen tell him that she’s Cylon. What Baltar doesn’t know is how to handle the news. As the clock counts down to the detonation of the bomb, Starbuck isn’t able to elicit any more than theological discussions from the Cylon, despite escalating her choice of coercion techniques. With mere minutes to go, President Roslin arrives with an unusual offer of amnesty, but what she gets in exchange is prehaps even more unsettling than a bomb.

written by Toni Graphia
directed by Brad Turner
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Paul Campbell (Billy Keikeya), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Matthew Bennett (Doral), Christina Schild (Playa Kohn), Eric Breker (Gemenon Captain), Biski Gugushe (Hamilton)

Original UK Airdate: December 5, 2004

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Baltar announces that his Cylon detector is functional, and President Roslin and Commander Adama discuss who should be the first to submit to testing. They both agree that those in sensitive positions should be first, but Roslin – after the Cylon clone interrogated by Starbuck planted the seed of suspicion – is keen to test Adama first. Roslin’s chief of staff, who has been flirting with Galactica bridge officer Dualla for weeks, gets Dualla to admit that Adama has recently made several untraceable calls. And when a single Cylon ship appears near Galactica, attacking and evading erratically, Adama isn’t on the bridge – in fact, he isn’t on the ship at all, having taken a Raptor to another Colonial ship without filing a flight plan. Adama returns during the attack, with a passenger aboard – Ellen Tigh, Colonel Tigh’s wife, who was assumed dead in the attack on Caprica. But the story of how she survived raises suspicions that she, too, may be a Cylon – and for once, Adama hopes that’s the case.

written by Jeff Vlaming
directed by Edward James Olmos
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), Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh), Matthew Bennett (Doral), Alex Green (Deckhand)

Original UK Airdate: December 12, 2004

Original title: Secrets And Lies

LogBook entry by Earl Green

A crtical shortage of tylium ore, needed to fuel every ship in the Colonial fleet, could end humanity’s flight from the Cylons prematurely. A mission to find planets or asteroids rich in tylium finds a very promising candidate – but it’s an asteroid that’s crawling with Cylons, complete with a well-defended base. For lack of any better options that wouldn’t leave the fleet in more dire danger of exhausting its fuel, Commander Adama decides that the time has come for an all-or-nothing strike on the Cylon base. It’s not a risk-free plan, and it won’t come without casualties, but when the plan of attack begins to unravel it falls to Apollo to risk everything to complete the mission – by himself if necessary, and regardless of the risk.

written by David Weddle and Bradley Thompson
directed by Jeff Woolnough
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), Nicki Clyne (Cally), Cailin Stadnyk (Ensign Davis), Bodie Olmos (Costanza / Hot Dog), Luciana Carro (Katraine), Terry Chen (Perry / Chuckles), Christina Schild (Playa Kohn), Biski Gugushe (Hamilton), Paul Cummings (Pilot / Fireball), Camille Sullivan (Pilot / Stepchild)

Notes: The original Battlestar Galactica series’ first (and, arguably, only) season ended with an episode titled The Hand Of God, which also involved a risky attack on a Cylon base, though in a far different context than what is seen in this story.

Original UK Airdate: January 3, 2005

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Representatives from all twelve human colonies gather aboard the Cloud Nine to attempt to piece together a new, workable government for the surviving human race. Baltar winds up representing Caprica, and finds himself relieved to get out of the lab aboard Galactica. But Tom Zarek is also in attendance, and he has an agenda of his own, couched in a reasonable proposal to establish a clear line of succession by appointing a Vice President to take over should anything happen to President Roslin. Roslin’s aides, and Apollo, fear that the President’s days could be numbered even more than they already are if Zarek wins the vice presidency. Roslin appoints her own candidate, and a vote is to be held among the twelve colonies’ representatives. But Apollo and Starbuck find that Zarek, despite an attempt to create a new respectable image for himself, isn’t above using dirty – or deadly – tricks to secure his position of power. Determined to choose a successor she can trust, the President decides to engage in some political manipulation of her own, withdrawing her original choice and nominating Baltar for the job.

written by Carla Robinson
directed by Jonas Pate
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh), Robert Wisden (Wallace Gray), David Kaye (McManus), Alex Zahara (Valance), Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Paul Campbell (Billy Keikeya), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Nicki Clyne (Cally), Cailin Stadnyk (Ensign Davis), Christina Schild (Playa Kohn), Biski Gugushe (Hamilton), James Ashcroft (Spectator #1), Patricia Idlette (Sarah Porter), Mario Battista (Gardner)

Notes: This episode’s cast was heavy with veterans of another SF series shot in Vancouver, Jeremiah; Robert Wisden played Jeremiah’s father (as well as frequently recurring as Lt. Col. Samuels on Stargate SG-1, also shot in Vancouver), while Alex Zahara played Jeremiah’s adopted brother and series regular Kandyse McClure was the ill-fated love interest of Kurdy (Malcolm Jamal-Warner). The design of the domed Cloud Nine vessel was another throwback to a model from the original series, a model which itself had previously served – in a slightly different form – as the main setting of the 70s cult SF film Silent Running.

Original UK Airdate: January 10, 2005

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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