Category: Season 4

Starbuck, after getting President Roslin’s attention by holding her at gunpoint, hands the president that gun and tells her to fire if she truly thinks that Starbuck is a Cylon. Roslin does indeed fire, but she misses; Starbuck is arrested and thrown in the brig, where Adama makes it clear that even his trust in her has now been broken. But Roslin can’t help but feel that Adama’s belief in her absolute certainty that she alone knows the way to Earth is eroding. Among the Cylons, concern is growing about the recent attack on the Colonial fleet, and the abrupt, unplanned end to it. Number Six theorizes that some of the final five Cylon models could be among the fleet, which would prompt the Cylon Raider vehicles to avoid firing on them. Dissention breaks out among the ranks of the Cylons, especially when one of the Boomer models votes against the rest of her type – a first in Cylon history. This proves to be too much for Six to bear, and she gives the signal to fire what may be the first shots in a Cylon civil war.

written by Michael Angeli
directed by Anthony Hemingway
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Rick Worthy (The Doctor), Matthew Bennett (Doral), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Sebastian Spence (Narcho), Dean Stockwell (Brother Cavel), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Having hung up his flight suit for a law career, Apollo finds himself appointed to one of Caprica’s seats on the Quorum by President Roslin. But at the press conference to announce his appointment, reporters are more interested in the sudden reassignment of the Colonial freighter Demetrius, and the rumors that Adama put Starbuck in charge of it to find the way to Earth. Aboard the Demetrius, Starbuck is struggling to remember the signposts that might lead her back to Earth, but she’s rapidly losing the patience and loyalty of her crew. Loyalty and patience also seem to be running out between Tyrol and Cally, who is convinced that Tyrol is having an affair – a theory that seems much more plausible when she spots him in a bar with Tory. Cally’s attempts to find out what’s going on only expose her to the truth: she’s married to a Cylon. That knowledge makes her a target, but even if Tyrol isn’t willing to take drastic measures to ensure that Cally can’t tell anyone else, the others are more than willing.

written by Michael Taylor
directed by Michael Nankin
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Nicki Clyne (Cally), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Dean Stockwell (Brother Cavel), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Matthew Bennett (Doral), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Jennifer Halley (Seelix), Christina Schild (Playa Palacios), Biski Gugushe (Sekou Hamilton), Finn R. Devitt (Baby Nicky), Donna Soares (Speaking Delegate #1), Andrew McIlroy (Jacob Cantrell), Judith Marie (Picon Delegate), Iris Paluly (Speaking Delegate #2), Marilyn Norry (Reza Chronides)

Notes: Given that Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore started his professional screenwriting career on Star Trek: The Next Generation, it’s surely just a coincidence that Tyrol, Tigh and Tory picked weapons locker 1701D for their latest clandestine meeting.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The crew mourns the death of Cally, even as the investigation is ongoing. But Tyrol’s grief is subdued, and he even argues with Admiral Adama when he comes to express his condolences – picking a fight to the point that Adama is left with no choice but to relieve him of duty and bust him down in rank. Tigh and Tory both urge Tyrol not to draw any more attention to himself, but he wants nothing to do with them or with being Cylon. Tory has been exploring her options more openly, shedding any pretenses of human morality along the way. But Tigh understands grief all too well – because he’s never gotten over his wife’s death at his own hands – and his own quest to understand the nature of being a Cylon leads to a fateful and violent encounter with the Six held in captivity. Meanwhile, Baltar attracts the wrong kind of attention from President Roslin when he declares that his religious sect is being oppressed with the tacit approval of the Colonial government – and he finds an unlikely champion for his cause in Apollo.

written by Jane Espenson
directed by Edward James Olmos
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Nicki Clyne (Cally), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Leela Savasta (Tracey Anne), Leah Cairns (Racetrack), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Colin Lawrence (Skulls), Don Thompson (Figurski), Heather Doerksen (Surveillance Marine), Lara Gilchrist (Paula Schaffer), Lee Jefferies (Redwing), Hector Johnson (Marine Lieutenant), Steve Lawlor (Marine), Judith Maxie (Picon Delegate), Andrew McIlroy (Jacob Cantrell), Marilyn Norry (Reza Chronides), Iris Paluly (Speaking Delegate #2), Laara Sadiq (Priestess), Donna Soares (Speaking Delegate #1), Finn R. Devitt (Baby Nicky)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Baltar’s monotheistic following continues to gain ground, and President Roslin pays him a personal visit to remind him that all has not been forgiven. Life is also troubled aboard the Demetrius, as Starbuck fights sinking crew morale and open discussion of mutiny. The ship strumbles across a heavily damaged Cylon ship containing a Leoben clone, who insists that Starbuck return with him to a Cylon base ship to meet its Hybrid controller. With her crew already on the verge of rebelling against her authority, this is a hard sell for Starbuck, especially when a member of the crew is killed during what should have been a routine look at Leoben’s Cylon ship. And Tyrol, still serving aboard Galactica at a reduced rank, finds himself drawn into Baltar’s orbit, but he uses the opportunity to vent his anger and grief on him rather than exploring more about his Cylon nature.

written by Mark Verheiden
directed by Michael Rymer
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (CPO Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog), Keegan Connor Tracy (Jeanne), Alisen Down (Jean Barclay), Eileen Pedde (Mathias), Jennifer Halley (Seelix), Finn R. Devitt (Nicky Tyrol), Leela Savasta (Tracey Anne), Lara Gilchrist (Paulla Schaffer), Ryan McDonell (Lt. ‘Gonzo’ Pike), Lori Triolo (Phoebe)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

With her crew relieving her of command, Starbuck decides to let them go back to the fleet – after a 15-hour wait while she, Anders and Athena, with Leoben in tow, visit the nearest Cylon base ship to learn what they can – if anything – about the way to Earth. The entire time, Leoben claims that the base ship’s Hybrid has something of vital importance to tell Starbuck, but to get to her, the Cylons will have to trust the Colonials as they never have before…and only if Starbuck can produce the goods will her own crew trust her. In the meantime, President Laura Roslin leaves Colonial One and moves into her new full-time quarters: the cancer ward in Doc Cottle’s hospital aboard Galactica.

written by Kevin Fahey
directed by Michael Nankin
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Gaeta), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog), Alisen Down (Barolay), Tiffany Lyndall-Knight (Hybrid), Jennifer Halley (Seelix), Nana Visitor (Emily Kowalski), Alana Husband (Nurse Sashon)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

With Starbuck having gained the tenuous trust of the rebel Cylons aboard their damaged base ship, a jump back to the fleet is ordered, but there’s just one problem – the Demetrius is late in joining the party, putting the already weakened Cylon ship in the line of Galactica’s fire…until Colonel Tigh mysteriously countermands Adama’s orders and calls off the attack just in time. The Cylons propose a trade: they offer Adama and Roslin the coordinates to their Resurrection Hub, the mobile central repository of Cylon consciousness that makes it possible for their Resurrection Ships to function. But in exchange, the Cylons want the fleet’s help in reviving the “boxed” model known to the fleet as D’anna Biers, believing that her knowledge of the final five models will be a key revelation on the road to Earth. Tigh, already facing the uncomfortable question of how he knew to call off the attack, suggests that Adama shouldn’t keep up the fleet’s end of the bargain. Among themselves, fearing human treachery, the Cylons have a similar conversation. And as both forces prepare to betray one another, President Roslin decides to visit the Hybrid for herself and decipher the mystery of her opera house visions.

written by Michael Angeli
directed by Wayne Rose
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Brad Drybrough (Hoshi), Tiffany Lyndall-Knight (Hybrid)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

In the wake of the Cylon base ship’s unexpected jump – with Baltar, President Roslin and almost all of Galactica’s fighters and pilots aboard – Tom Zarek, as Vice President, tries to step in and fill the vacuum of power. However, neither Admiral Adama nor Lee Adama is prepared to acknowledge Zarek as the new President; feeling that Zarek is trying to assume the presidency too quickly, Lee begins the search for a new candidate that the entire quorum will approve. After shooting the leader of the Cylon rebels at point-blank range, Athena is separated from Hera and confined to the brig. A lone raptor appears, the ship that Roslin and Baltar took to the Cylon ship, but it’s now adrift and empty aside from a dead pilot. Following the FTL coordinates from the raptor’s black box, Adama orders a jump and finds the debris of a destroyed Resurrection Ship, possibly the hub ship, but no evidence that Roslin is alive – or dead. After nearly everyone around him suggests that he’s lost his perspective, Adama decides to resign as Galactica’s commander and let the fleet jump to its next destination…while he stays behind alone in a raptor at the rendezvous coordinates arranged for the pilots sent to the base ship. Before he embarks on this solo mission, however, he does see a new President sworn in – Lee’s search having produced a viable candidate, just not the candidate that Lee expected.

written by Michael Taylor
directed by Rod Hardy
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Mark Sheppard (Romo Lampkin), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Leah Cairns (Racetrack), Colin Lawrence (Skulls), Alexandra Thomas (Hera), Donna Soares (Gemenon Delegate), Jacob Cantrell (Andrew McIlroy), Judith Marie (Picon Delegate), Iris Paluly (Speaking Delegate #2), Ryan McDonell (Lt. Cannon “Gonzo” Pike), Laara Sadiq (Priestess), Veena Sodd (Quorum Delegate)

Notes: This episode’s title is a Latin phrase translating to an indispensible action or condition. Romo Lampkin’s family died aboard the Olympic Carrier, which Lee destroyed in the first hourly episode of the series, 33.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

President Roslin, Baltar, Starbuck, Helo and the majority of Galactica’s fighter pilots and their craft are aboard the damaged rebel Cylon ship when it jumps, apparently in response to the reconnected Hybrid sensing danger. The ship makes its way toward the Resurrection Hub, but en route, President Roslin issues new orders to Helo: she is altering the agreement with the Cylons, and wants D’anna Biers brought to her immediately rather than allowing her to be debriefed by her fellow Cylons. Aboard the Hub ship, D’anna is revived by Brother Cavel, who hopes that a few token words from her will bring a swift end to the civil war among the Cylons. She refuses to cooperate, and is surprised when a joint Cylon-human attack leaves her in the hands of the rebels and the Colonial fleet. The Resurrection Hub is destroyed, putting an end to the Cylons’ ability to download into a new body and leveling the playing field by making the human model Cylons helplessly mortal. Mortality is also on Roslin’s mind after she hears an injured Baltar’s confession that he helped bring an end to civilization as she once knew it – and feels little remorse for that act.

written by Jane Espenson
directed by Paul Edwards
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Lucy Lawless (D’anna Biers), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Lorena Gale (Priestess Elosha), Dean Stockwell (Brother Cavel)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

With both President Roslin and the newly-arrived Admiral Adama aboard the base ship, D’anna tips the balance in the Cylons’ favor: she takes Roslin hostage and demands that Adama escort her back to Galactica, where she announces that the final five must be allowed to come to the base ship of their own accord to rejoin their own kind. Shuttle traffic is not to be slowed down, examined closely or stopped. Lee Adama, in one of his first acts as the new president of the colonies, is forced to acceed to D’anna’s demands – and then orders his father to undertake a risky rescue mission which, if success looks impossible, will end in the destruction of the base ship and the hostages aboard. One by one, the Cylons in the fleet reveal themselves: Tory goes to the base ship supposedly to bring Roslin’s medication to her, and admit her true nature at the same time. Tigh admits to Adama that he’s a Cylon, and goes to await his fate as Adama turns the final corner into a nervous breakdown. As they try to figure out why a new signal has brought them to Starbuck’s viper, Tyrol and Sam Anders are arrested before Starbuck’s eyes for being Cylons, after Tigh reveals them to Lee. Lee threatens to airlock Tigh, Anders and Tyrol unless D’anna calls off the hostage situation; instead she locks all of the base ship’s nukes on the civilian vehicles in the fleet. Starbuck finds the source of the signal that drew the newly-revealed Cylons to her ship: it’s the ship itself, its instruments somehow pointing the way to Earth. Lee opts to share this information with the Cylons, which ends the hostage crisis, and Cylons and Colonials set a course for Earth.

But the next crisis to strike the fleet is the fact that they actually get there.

written by Bradley Thompson & David Weddle
directed by Michael Rymer
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Lucy Lawless (D’anna Biers), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Bodie Olmos (Hotdog), Keegan Connor Tracy (Jeanne), Brad Drybrough (Hoshi), Vincent Gale (Lt. Peter Laird), Don Thompson (SP3 Anthony Figurski), Alexandra Thomas (Hera), Lara Gilchrist (Paulla Schatter), Heather Doerksen (Sgt. Brandy Harder), Finn R. Devitt (baby Nicky), Sonja Bennett (SP3 Margie Brasko), Barry Norling (Adama’s Corporal)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The Colonial Fleet arrives at Earth – the constellations match, the planet and its sun are where Starbuck’s signal said it would be. And the planet itself is a charred cinder, a haven of life laid to waste by nuclear weapons over 2,000 years ago.

For many in the fleet, including President Roslin, all hope is lost – this is the last straw. Many shirk their duties and others, like Dualla, simply commit suicide. As morale plummets, even Admiral Adama finds his resolve, and his will to live, faltering. President Roslin stops seeking treatment for her cancer and can face neither the Quorum nor the press. Lee finds himself having to step up to the plate to address everyone’s fears in their darkest hour…but even he can’t imagine how he, or anyone else, can hold the fleet together now. On Earth, Starbuck makes a very disturbing discovery: the wreckage of her old Viper, complete with a charred skeleton in the cockpit, wearing her dogtags.

The Cylons make startling finds of their own; the entire planet is littered with the skeletal remains of the race that once lived there – the 13th tribe of the Colonies – but the skeletons aren’t Colonials: they’re Cylon. Tyrol, Anders and Tory discover that they have memories of lives on Earth, thousands of years ago. Tigh discovers repressed memories too – and with them, he discovers the identity of the last of the final five.

written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson
directed by Michael Nankin
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Kandyse McClure (Dualla), Lucy Lawless (D’anna Biers), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben Conoy), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh), Brad Drybrough (Hoshi), Jennifer Halley (Seelix), Don Thompson (SP3 Anthony Figurski), Alexandra Thomas (Hera), Sonja Bennett (SP3 Margie Brasko)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The fleet tries to recover from the blow of both the discovery of a barren Earth and the heavy emotional toll, with the hunt beginning anew for a habitable planet for both Colonials and Cylons. The rebel Cylons demand full citizenship in the fleet, offering their technology – namely much more powerful FTL drives – in exchange. But some aren’t keen on the idea of the Cylons gaining citizenship and a seat on the quorum, and Tom Zarek is among them. Since President Roslin has gone into hiding following the Earth debacle, Zarek is effectively running the government, and sees no reason to grant the Cylons’ wish. When the tyllium mining ship – which carries the fuel supply for every ship in the fleet – tries to break off from the rest of the fleet, Admiral Adama orders his crew to board the ship and force the Cylon tech upgrades, while Zarek tells the ship’s crew to run for it. Adama, unconcerned that his actions might look like a military coup of the government, has Zarek arrested; the tyllium ship is found and boarded. Even below decks, the peace is tenuous – Baltar’s sermons have become rambles, demanding that God explain what has happened, while Tyrol makes a discovery about his son that rocks him to his core.

written by Ronald D. Moore
directed by Ronald D. Moore
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Donnelly Rhodes (Doc Cottle), Brad Drybrough (Hoshi)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Having thrown his lot in with Tom Zarek, Gaeta assembles a team of Galactica crew members whose discontent with what Zarek calls the “Roslin/Adama administration” has reached a boiling point; they smuggle Zarek out of Galactica’s brig and off the ship. Gaeta’s position in CIC allows him to cover for Zarek’s departure until the vice president is once again safely ensconced aboard Colonial One. But as the hub of communications between CIC and the rest of the fleet, Gaeta is also able to squash Lee’s demands to know how Zarek returned to power, and Starbuck’s warning that the armory has been broken into. Marines loyal to Zarek and Gaeta take over CIC, escorting Adama and Tigh away and putting Gaeta in command of Galactica. Lee returns to Galactica and is promptly abducted by Gaeta’s forces, but only Starbuck – and her utter lack of remorse on the issue of putting rounds through people she has served with for years – saves him. Their first task after that is to find Roslin and rush her to safety – namely, Baltar’s religious enclave, where she hopes to use his radio in the absence of Galactica’s own communications systems. Tigh and Adama prove to be quite adept at getting themselves out of trouble, and they’re already armed and free by the time Lee and Starbuck find them. Roslin’s message to the fleet is enough to confuse the issue of who’s in charge and buy time for her escape. But a few other members of the crew stay behind to cover Roslin’s (and Baltar’s) escape, and retake the ship – and Adama and Tigh are among those who refuse to give up without a fight.

written by Mark Verheiden
directed by John Dahl
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Sebastian Spence (Narcho), Brad Drybrough (Hoshi), Jennifer Halley (Seelix)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

With Tigh and Adama captured, Zarek arrives on Galactica and finds himself at odds with Gaeta, who insists on a token trial for Adama before putting the admiral in front of a firing squad. Zarek just wants Adama executed, and when he sees the quorum squabbling over the trial, he has his loyalists walk into their chambers on Colonial One and kill them all. Lee and Starbuck, having remained on Galactica, break into the brig and release the Cylon prisoners, but Lee is alarmed to find that his father isn’t among them. During the escape, Anders is shot in the back of the head, but barely survives. Roslin broadcasts to the fleet again from aboard the Cylon baseship, trying to reassure everyone that Galactica’s new “commander” has seized control illegally – just as Tom Zarek has done with the presidency. It’s enough to sow more confusion – and disagreement with the new order. But in response, Zarek lies that Tigh and Adama have already been executed, and that’s enough for Roslin to declare all-out war on Galactica.

written by Michael Angeli
directed by Wayne Rose
music by Bear McCreary

Guest Cast: Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Michael Trucco (Anders), Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Callum Keith Rennie (Leoben), Mark Sheppard (Romo Lampkin), Rekha Sharma (Tory Foster), Sebastian Spence (Narcho), Brad Drybrough (Hoshi)

LogBook entry by Earl Green