Previously: Leisure Suit Larry went boom, Leoben Conroy went on and on, and Helo went after Boomer.
The Prez strolls through the woods in a glowy white dress. Quick shot of soldiers running. The Prez sees Leoben standing across a field, waving his arms about and apparently shouting, but all we hear is a whispered "Cylon." He points, and she looks behind her and sees the approaching soldiers. She starts running, and Leoben suddenly grabs her and pulls her behind a tree, covering her mouth. The soldiers run past without seeing them. Leoben steps back, lowers his head, then raises it again. A wind starts to blow and the light changes, and suddenly Leoben is blown tumbling through the air. The Prez turns, and suddenly Leoben's to her. He says, "Laura." I think he's sad about missing noir week on the Galactica.
The Prez wakes up in her own bed, gasping and sweaty. She goes to the bathroom and grabs a bottle of pills, examining the label twitchily. Billy knocks gently on the bulkhead and asks if she's okay. The Prez tries to pull herself together as she blames the chamalla's side effects. Billy says, "You have an urgent call from the captain of the Geminon Traveler." The Prez quaveringly asks if she can call him back. Billy explains, "He says he found a Cylon on board." The Prez stares into space, like, "Gods, I hate Mondays."
A bit later, the Prez is on speakerphone with Adama. She says, "They found him in the starboard storage compartment. Looks like he'd been camped there for days." Adama asks if they're sure it's a Cylon. The Prez explains that the Traveler's captain recognized him as another copy of the Leoben model. The Prez explains that the Cylon is currently locked in a guarded storeroom on the Traveler. She looks at a photo of Leoben and is hit with a tiny dreamvert. Apollo orders the CAP to escort the Traveler and keep away from the rest of the fleet. Adama tells the Prez that he'll send over a team to destroy the Cylon. I like that he says "destroy" and not "kill." She says, "I want this man interrogated first." Adama says that it's not a man, and that it can't be trusted. The Prez insists that she wants to hear what "this thing" has to say. They're really good about word choices. Adama insists, "It'll fill your head with double-talk and half-baked philosophy and confuse you." The Prez replies, "Then send someone who won't be easily confused." Where are they going to find someone like that? In space? At this hour? She gruffly makes it clear that this is an order. Adama out-gruffs her with a simple "Order understood."
Flight deck. Starbuck chats with Adama as they stand in the loving embrace of the Cylon Raider's wings. I just realized, the shape of the Raider's cockpit kinda reminds me of an alien. Er, an alien from Alien, I mean. Starbuck asks Adama whether he really thinks she'll get any information from the Cylon. Adama says no, not really, and asks how things are coming along with the Raider. Hey! He's totally changing the subject! I was kind of put off by the idea of Starbuck being some kind of interrogating whiz, but the conversation with the Prez does help: Adama thinks this is a waste of time anyway, so I think he's more concerned with finding someone who won't be as susceptable to Leoben's mind games. Anyway, Starbuck says they've figured out most of the basic operations and are "zeroing in on her FTL drive." Adama hands Starbuck an "after-action report" on Leoben. He does slip into using "he" instead of "it" to refer to Leoben here, but oh well. Adama says that Leoben is dangerous because "he mixes lies with truth." Man, that sounds familiar. Adama cautions her, "He's gonna try to get into your head." Starbuck chuckles, "Aw, mom always said there was nothing in there anyway." Adama says that Leoben has a goal, and that Starbuck has to keep him from achieving it, whatever it is. Starbuck takes Adama's report and looks at the photo of Leoben.
Credits, finally. That was a super-long teaser. I'll take this opportunity to introduce you to Special Correspondent Mugga. He's filling in for Johanna, who is pouting because people think she's imaginary. Mugga's British, which means he'll provide these recaps with some credibility and class. Just like Simon Cowell does on American Idol.
Flight deck. Boomer's paying a visit to the Raider, humming as she strokes its wings. She suddenly stops as she notices Tyrol approaching. Tyrol greets her casually, and Boomer ask if her advice was any help. Tryol admits that it was: "Treat this thing more like an animal than a machine, and it actually...works." He asks how she got the idea. Boomer wheels to face him and declares, "I'm a Cylon." Tyrol is unamused, but he also doesn't believe her. Or he's pretending not to. She asks, "If I could prove that I wasn't, would that make a difference? You know, between us?" Tyrol stares at her mildly without answering. Boomer huffs away.
Spaceships! Er, I mean, "Starbuck hops onto a Raptor and flies to the Geminon Traveler." But the point of this scene is: Spaceships! Shiny! I wonder if they ever feel bad about spending money on CGI just for establishing shots.
Leoben is in the cell they've improvised for him, slumped down with his head pressed against the metal table. Starbuck and the Traveler's Captain stare at him through a window. No, I don't know why the storerooms, or whatever they are, are lined with windows. The Captain asks if Leoben's full of wires. Starbuck says, "Nah, you cut 'em open there's blood, guts, the whole thing." She points out that Leoben's sweating. The Captain is all amazed, and says, "Gods, they go through a lot of trouble to imitate people. Why do you think they do that?" Gee, so people don't know they're Cylons, maybe? What a peculiar question.
Starbuck enters the room, which we'll call "the box," because this is the police procedural episode. She slams her folder of papers down onto the table, and then sits down and asks the unmoving Leoben if he's sleeping. Leoben lifts his head and calmly says, "Praying." Starbuck doubts that the gods listen to toasters. Leoben smiles, "God answers everyone's prayers." Frequently the answer is "No," of course. Starbuck, all business, asks how many Cylons are in the fleet. Leoben says, "We haven't been properly introduced." He jerks his hands out from under the table, so that we can see his hands are cuffed and chained. He holds his hand out to shake and says, "I'm Leoben." Starbuck says, "I'm Umaoprah." No, that was me. She just repeats her question. We go through a few cycles of Starbuck asking Leoben questions while he keeps asking her name. Eventually, she asks why Leoben was hiding on the Traveler. He matter-of-factly says, "I had a mission to perform," and asks again for her name. Starbuck says, "Tell me about your mission and I'll think about it." Leoben says that his mission was to perform sabotage. When Starbuck asks for more detail, he suddenly complains that the room's a little stale, and that Starbuck stinks. Heh. Starbuck gets a little irritable as she tells Leoben that if he doesn't start talking, they're done. Leoben asks her name again, and Starbuck gets up and heads for the door. Just as she's leaving, Leoben asks, "Are you Lieutenant Starbuck?" Starbuck freezes, and Leoben starts giggling, " I was right. I saw it, I've seen it..." Starbuck turns wearily and asks if he's happy. Leoben insists that they can talk about stuff now. To prove it, he says, "I put a nuclear warhead aboard one of your ships. It's set to go off at 18:30 hours." He won't tell her where, "yet," and Starbuck sniffs that he's lying. Leoben says she can't take that chance: "Your military training dictates you take to your masters and let them decide." Starbuck heads for the door as she claims that she might not be that well trained: "Maybe I push you out the airlock and tell 'em you never said a word." As she walks out and down the corridor, Leoben chuckles that she's the one who's lying: "We have a lot to talk about! It's gonna be fun!"
CIC. Adama interrupts a conference call he's having with the Prez and Starbuck, and orders all ships to check for nukes. He tells Dualla to say that it's a precaution so as not to alarm anyone. That sounds interesting. "Hi, Steve, it's Dualla. How's it going? Oh, nothing much. Hey, I was just wondering -- do you have any nuclear bombs on your ship? Are you sure? Hey, I know this sounds crazy, but could you check anyway? C'mon, just humor me. Go look; I'll hang on." Adama returns to his phone call as the Prez says, "We'll know for sure [about the nuke] in 8 hours and 40 minutes." Cheery lass. The Prez asks if Leoben said anything else. Starbuck admits that Leoben guessed her callsign, and seemed delighted to know who she was. Adama says that Leoben could have heard of Starbuck while he was hiding in the fleet. He warns her, "Don't take any chances."
The box. Leoben asks if Starbuck believes in the gods. When she declines to answer, he guesses that she prays to Artemis and Aphrodite. Starbuck asks where the nuke is. Leoben laughs that they have similar beliefs, but that he only worships a single god. Starbuck doesn't care. Leoben insists, "To know the face of God is to know madness." He worships Cthulhu? Starbuck leans back in her chain and scrunches her face wearily as Leoben claims to see "the patterns" and "the foreshadowing that precedes every moment." I wish Baltar were there to ask, "As opposed to the foreshadowing that follows every moment?" Leoben claims that he wants to tell Starbuck something about the future. But not just yet, of course.
The door opens as a soldier brings in a tray of food and sets it down in front of Starbuck before taking position behind Leoben. What's nice is, most of this scene is a series of close-ups, so it's easy to forget that the solider is there after a minute. Starbuck takes off her jacket and thirstily gulps down the water. Leoben says that the most basic article of faith is, "This is not all that we are." He says he knows that he's not just his body, and Starbuck doesn't. Oh, it's like Sheckley's Immortality, Inc.. Sort of. Starbuck stuffs her face with salad and watches Leoben natter on in the blank way you do when you can't find the remote and wind up watching some sitcom for half an hour until a good show comes on. Leoben says, "A part of me swims in the stream, but in truth, I'm standing on the shore. The current never takes me downstream." Starbuck, still chewing, mumbles, "This is worse than Galactica, and I didn't think that was possible." She slides the tray to one side and apologetically asks Leoben what he was saying. Heh. Leoben asks, "You mind?" and reaches out for the tray, but his cuffs keep him from getting it. Starbuck gulps down the rest of her water and moves the tray toward Leoben with a smirk. He thanks her and digs into the salad, explaining that he hasn't eaten in days. Starbuck asks why he's programmed to feel hunger. He says, "Part of being human." Starbuck grumps, "You're not human." Leoben inhales the salad, and Starbuck, looking past him, asks how it is. Leoben says, "When you're starving, anything tastes good." Starbuck nods curtly, and not to Leoben. Leoben looks confused for a second, until the soldier clocks him with the butt of his gun. Leoben gasps and then reaches back experimentally to feel the blood on the back of his head. Starbuck sounds amused if she asks if that hurt. Leoben says that it did. She says that machines shouldn't feel pain, and adds, "A smart Cylon would turn off the ol' pain software about now." She doesn't think he will, though. Leoben says he might do it without her knowing. Starbuck smirks, and nods to the solider. Leoben gets clobbered. Starbuck explains that turning off the pain would prove that Leoben is a machine. "Human beings have to suffer and cry and scream and endure because they have no choice." She says the only way Leoben can avoid pain is to answer her questions. Leoben says that he won't talk. Starbuck confusingly insists that if he doesn't talk, she wins. I think she means that if Leoben can resist pain that a human being can't, that also proves that he's not human. Leoben smiles slightly and says, "Let the games begin." Starbuck nods at the soldier. Whammo.
Galactica's lab. Baltar stares into a microscope while Six rubs his shoulders. Then she grumps, "Look what the cat dragged in," as Boomer enters. Baltar greets Boomer, and smarms that she looks wonderful. Six gives Baltar a dirty look. Boomer closes the door and says that she needs Baltar's help. Six asks, "Wonder why they call her 'Boomer'?" Boomer mentions hearing that Baltar's working on a Cylon detector. Baltar is his usual suave self as he says that if he were, he couldn't talk about it. He quickly changes the subject, and asks if Boomer would "settle a bet" by explaining her callsign. Personally, it always reminds me of Here's Boomer. Boomer ignores these weighty issues and asks if she could be in the first batch of people Baltar tests. Six hisses, "What's her rush?" Baltar parrots Six's question, and adds that if he had a Cylon detector, it wouldn't be appropriate of him to "play favorites" when testing people. Boomer gets about as riled up as she's capable of, pointing out that she brought Baltar back from Caprica, and that he owes her. Six does a slow clap at that, losing twenty coolness points and invalidating her warranty. If the Cylons were truly superior, they would rather self-destruct that do a slow clap. Baltar admits that Boomer has a point, and paces a bit. Six calmly encourages Baltar to run the test: "Results will be quite intriguing." Baltar tells Boomer that the detector isn't ready for "full-scale implementation." Six shoots him a look, and a cowed Baltar admits that he could use Boomer as a test subject. Ooo, we're going to neutron the little bastard!
Caprica. Helo is sleeping. Boomer puts her fingers gently over his throat.
Still Caprica. Leisure Suit Larry and Six stroll about in the woods. Six complains, "Sharon's late." Larry asks why he's calling her "Sharon" now. Six says, "Because it's really freaking confusing having two characters called 'Boomer' running around, and I'm trying to make this a little easier to talk about." Not really. Six toys with a swing set -- oh, I guess it's more of a park than "woods," technically. Anyway, Six sneers, "Yeah, well, I choose to think of her as one of them." Larry asks if Six dislikes Boomer, and Six sits on the swing and says, "In the scheme of things, we are as we do. She acts like one of them, thinks like them...she is one of them." Larry sniffs, "But she's one of us. It would be best to remember that." On cue, Boomer arrives, and Six hops of the swing and goes over to her. Boomer reports, "We had sex." Larry says, "Congratulations." Heh. He's growing on me. Six asks Boomer if Helo loves her. Boomer thinks so, but has to admit that he hasn't said it explicitly. Six scornfully says, "Then you're just guessing." Larry tells Boomer that she and Helo should stay where they are: "We're setting up a cabin for you nearby -- food, water, electricity, all the comforts." Six says that Boomer should be able to convince Helo that they should "start a life together." She adds that if Helo's not into shacking up, Boomer should kill him. Six asks, "Can you handle that?" Larry and Six stare at Boomer. Without answering, Boomer finally turns and walks away through the woods. Park. Whatever.
After a few steps, Boomer starts to run, and then there's a blipverty montage of Helo and goodbyes and rainy hugs and day-for-night sex and robots and beatings. It's like a Burt Bacharach song. Boomer runs and runs, and finally calls for Helo as she gets back to their makeshift camp. Helo has awakened, and asks what's going on. Boomer gasps that she saw Cylons headed this way: "We gotta travel fast, even faster than before." Helo grabs her arms and asks what's changed. Boomer says, "Everything. Just trust me." Helo nods and says that he does, and off they go.
In the box, Leoben doesn't seem to having a good time. His lips are bloody and there are few wounds on his face. Starbuck tells him that if he were human, he'd probably start offering false information about now, just to get a break for a few minutes. Leoben stares up at her and gasps, "I am more than you could ever imagine. I am God." Starbuck forces out some giggles and pretends to be impressed, saying that they'll give him a few minutes off for being so entertaining. Leoben explains that everyone is God: "I see the love that binds all living things together." Starbuck gets all, "Love? You don't know the meaning of the word!" which is one of my favorite soap-opera lines, along with "Carlton, you insufferable bastard!" Leoben says that mankind repaid God's love "with sin, with hate, corruption, evil." Well, yeah, but we're good at that. We gave God our best stuff! That's respectful! Leoben concludes, "So then he decided to create the Cylons." Starbuck angrily says, "We created you. Us. It was a stupid, fracked-up decision, and we have paid for it!" She argues that slaughtering her people was a sin, and evil, and that Leoben's evil, too. Nyah. Leoben wipes some blood off his jaw and smears it on the table as he asks, "Am I?" He says, "I see the truths that float past you in the stream." This guy's probably a big Norman Maclean fan, with all the religion and fishing stuff. Starbuck says that she can indulge Leoben's obsession with bodies of water, and does another one of her enigmatic nods. The soldier in charge of beatings leaves, along with the guard standing inside the door. Starbuck sits down at the table and stares at Leoben. Leoben says that he could kill her right now. "I could get to my feet, rip your skull from your spinal column, crash through that door, [and] kill the guard in less time than it's taking me to describe it to you." Starbuck asks why he doesn't, then. Leoben leans back and says it's not time yet. Starbuck smirks skeptically. Leoben suddenly yanks his hands apart, snapping the cuffs chains easily. He tosses the metal table out of the way and, before Starbuck can react, he grabs her by the neck and shoves her up against the doorframe. Neat! He holds Starbuck pinned there with one hand, and holds the door shut with the other as the guards try to get back inside. Leoben stares at a choking Starbuck and calmly says, "I have a surprise for you." Behind him, the soldiers race in from the door at the other end of the room. Leoben doesn't resist as the soldiers pull him away. Starbuck collects herself and tells Leoben, "Now the gloves come off."
Commercials. Mugga says, "Why interview Leoben in a nice big well-lit room? How about something that generates a bit of tension and pushes atmosphere and close-ups? Felt less like he was gouging into Starbuck's soul and more like a bitchy job interview." I can see where they don't want to change their visual style from episode to episode, but I do wish they'd changed the lighting a little for this stuff.
Adama opens one of those filing cabinets for corpses. Yeah, but you knew exactly what I meant, right? He pulls the sheet aside to reveal Leoben's body. The Leoben from the mini-series, that is. It's the Boomer problem all over again. Should I start numbering all the duplicates? But then I'll have to keep track, and plus, what do I do with the Sixes? Anyway, Adama looks at the body and then picks up a phone and calls Tigh. Tigh reports that, with two hours left, nobody's found the nuke. Adama stares at Leoben briefly, and then orders the fleet to spread out, so that if one of the ships goes boom, it won't take out its neighbors. Then Adama holds the phone receiver like he's thinking about clubbing Leoben's body with it for a while. He finally leans in and says, "No," to Leoben. I think Adama might need a nap. But you know what would be funny? If all this time, Adama's had a chatty little Leoben in his head.
The box. Leoben's on his knees, supported by two of the soldiers. Starbuck sits in a chair facing him as two more soldiers enter and set a tall bucket of water down in front of Leoben. Starbuck smirks, and says, "Do it." The soldiers dunk Leoben's head into the bucket and hold him down. He blows some bubbles and struggles a little. The soldiers seem ready to pull him up, but Starbuck has them wait a little longer. She finally lifts her hand upwards, and they haul Leoben out. Starbuck says that Leoben will drown in the bucket if he won't tell her where the nuke is. Leoben gasps, "I can't drown; I can't die." Starbuck reminds us that the Cylons transfer their consciousness to a new body when the current one dies. But she guesses that, if Leoben were sure about that, he wouldn't have talked at all. She flicks one finger down, and Leoben goes back into the bucket. When he's yanked out again, Leoben sputteringly insists that this isn't Starbuck's destiny. Starbuck grumps, "Don't interrupt me." She figures that the fleet is a long way from home, and that Leoben isn't sure that his consciousness will make it back: "What if, when you die here, you really die? It's your chance to find out if you're really God or just a bunch of circuits with a bad haircut." Leoben insists that he's not scared of dying, but he looks a little worried. Starbuck chuckles that, deep down, Leoben is thinking, "I don't have a soul; I have software. If I die, I'm gone."
Starbuck nods, and Leoben's dunked. When he's hauled out this time, the soldiers let him flop onto the floor, and he kind of reminds me of that fish at the end of the "Epic" video. Leoben gasps, "I have a soul. I see patterns." He says that Starbuck is damaged: "You were born to a woman who believes that suffering was good for the soul, so you suffered." Starbuck stares down as the Cylon tells her that "life is a testament to pain, injuries, accidents." He stares up at her from the floor and says that's what her mother taught her: "You wanna believe it because it means that you're bad luck. Like a cancer that needs to be removed. Because you hear her voice every day and you want her to be right." Starbuck listens intently, and then looks up at the soldiers and quietly says, "Start again." Leoben's hauled up and dunked, and this time we get a bucket-cam shot of his face underwater. He struggles and makes faces for a few seconds, and then stops moving and smiles into the camera. Okay, this time I'm cool with actors staring into the camera, because it's meant to be disconcerting. I think.
The lab. Baltar puts a slide into a doohicky and tells Boomer that now they just have to wait for the results. He says that if the readout on the monitor will turn green or red to indicate whether she's a human or a Cylon. I bet he'd have finished the detector a week ago if he hadn't decided to program the thing to flash colors instead of giving him a simple text readout. Baltar says that the results will take a few minutes, and makes another attempt to chat Boomer up by asking where she's from. Boomer says she's from Troy, which Baltar thinks sounds vaguely familiar. Boomer reminds him that it was a mining settlement, and references "the accident." Baltar nods, "The explosion, right." He tells her, "That was tragic," with wonderfully false sympathy, and confirms that her family was killed in the unspecified disaster. Cue Six, who wraps her arms around Baltar's shoulder and says, "It's a lie." She directs Baltar's attention to the monitor and congratulates him on finding his very first Cylon. Baltar stares at the red flashing light and hits some keys as Six observes that this is an interesting moment for him. Boomer can't see the monitor, but she does notice Baltar's sudden change in mood, so she asks if everything's okay. Baltar stammers that he's "interpolating the results." A concerned Boomer says, "I thought it was just green or red." Baltar nervously replies that it's more complicated than that, and continues typing. While Baltar pauses to gnaw on his fingers, Six wonders how Boomer will react to the news: "I'm guessing [that] her Cylon side will take over and break your neck before you can give away her secret. Let's find out!" Boomer hits a few more keys, and the red lights suddenly turn green. Baltar spreads his arms out and congratulates Boomer on her humanity. "It's very bright green," he assures her. Heh. Boomer grins and admits that she was a little bit worried for second. Baltar chuckles, "Were you?" like he's hosting a game show. He says that Boomer "couldn't be more human," and escorts her to the door. Boomer thanks him happily, and exits.
The Prez is in her bedroom, staring into a mirror. She reaches over for a hairbrush, and when she looks up, Leoben is behind her in the mirror. He says, "I have something to tell you." And then, of course, she wakes up.
The Prez dramatically marches up to Billy and asks, "How long till this supposed bomb goes off?" Billy turns to check a clock and says, "Less than an hour." The Prez says that she wants to go to the Geminon Traveler and see the Cylon. Billy starts to argue, but the Prez isn't having any, so he calmly says he'll get her a security detail.
"Splish splash," says Leoben. "Glug," he adds. Starbuck paces around in the box and finally snaps, "For frack's sake, let him breathe." Leoben is flopped onto the floor. We also get to see that his hands are now fastened behind his back, and linked to his leg-irons with what looks like a heavy steel cable. After a minute,the soldiers pick Leoben up and set him in a chair, where he gurgles and coughs. Starbuck nods to the soldiers, who move away. How do they distinguish all the orders her nods convey? It's like magic. Starbuck tells Leoben, "You're not a person, you're a machine that's enjoying its own pain." Leoben replies, "All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again." Starbuck tells him that he's not entitled to quote scripture. Hmm. Leoben says that her destiny is already written, and that they all have roles to play: "Maybe last time, I was the interrogator and you were the prisoner. The players change, the story remains the same." Starbuck stares down at Leoben sadly as he says, "This time your role is to deliver my soul unto God. Do it for me. It's your destiny, and mine." He says that he's finally ready to share his surprise: "You're gonna find Kobol, birthplace of us all. Kobol will lead you to Earth. This is my gift to you, Kara." Starbuck looks almost hypnotized as we hear the door open, and the Prez barks, "What the hell is going on here?"
Commercials. The thing I particularly like about this episode is that nobody ever gets into a debate whether or not it's ethical to torture Leoben. Based on her reaction, the Prez feels that it isn't, but she never starts lecturing people about why so that we learn an important lesson.
When we return, the Prez has stepped out into the corridor with Starbuck to repeat her question. Starbuck rather numbly says, "It's a machine, sir. There's no limit to the tactics I can use." See, this is where I was scared we were going to get lectured, but instead the Prez sternly points out that, after torturing Leoben for eight hours, Starbuck hasn't actually learned anything. Eep. I think an angry Prez is almost scarier than an angry Adama, because normally she looks so sympathetic. Starbuck tries to save face by mentioning Leoben's prognostications. The Prez gives that the look it deserves, and orders, "Clean him up. There's not much time."
A shackled Leoben is escorted into the corridor by the soldiers to face the Prez. Okay, slightly clumsy, since I can't think why this is easier than having Roslin go into the box, but it's a minor thing. Starbuck stands in the background, among more soldiers, as the Prez steps forward to face Leoben. She confirms that he knows who she is, and then says, "I apologize for what you've been through." He nods slightly in acknowledgment. The Prez orders the soldiers to remove Leoben's restraints. They hesitate a moment, and the Prez snaps, "Do it." The soldiers, no fools, start removing the cuffs. Starbuck edges forward, ready to conk Leoben with her walking stick if need be. Leoben politely thanks the Prez. The Prez says that she can order his release, too. She explains that there are only four minutes until the nuke goes off. Boy, they love last-minute saves on this show. The Prez steps right up to Leoben and says, "I've come here to tell you that this conflict between our peoples does not have to continue." She says that he can trust her, and that if he tells her what she wants to know, he'll live. Leoben eyes the Prez briefly and then tells her that there is no nuke. Starbuck makes a face, and Leoben adds, "The lieutenant was right. I was too far out. I didn't wanna die, so when I got caught, I made up a story to buy some time." The Prez says, "I see," very calmly. She's so cute. She thanks Leoben for being honest. And then the ship explodes! No, but that would have been funny. Starbuck eases out of the corridor into the box -- I assume she's gone to call Adama and let him know that nothing's about to explode. As she exits, Leoben politely says, "Thank you, Madam President." He asks her to go easy on Starbuck and explains, "The military -- they teach you to dehumanize people." Heh. The Prez almost recoils at that, and looking like she's swallowing something foul, says she'll bear that in mind. Then Leoben suddenly lunges forward and gives her a great big hug to celebrate how much they've all learned from this experience. Oh, or maybe he's just grabbing her in a scary way. The soldiers freak out, not surprisingly, and every gun in the place is aimed at Leoben. The Prez shouts, "No," and tells them to stand down. Leoben clasps her tightly and very quietly says, "Laura, I have something to tell you." He turns his head so he can whisper into her ear: "Adama is a Cylon." Leoben's a funny guy. I like that about him. He puts the Prez down, and she stumbles back as the soldiers grab his arms. The Prez flops her arms a bit and looks dazed, and then she and Leoben share a long look. Not a particularly nice one.
Having returned from wherever she went, Starbuck walks over to the Prez and asks if she's okay. The Prez continues staring at Leoben as she says, "I'm fine," and asks about the bomb. Starbuck says that nothing went kerblooey. After a moment, the Prez loudly says, "Put him out the airlock," and then turns her back on them all. Leoben looks genuinely surprised as he's dragged away. Starbuck protests, "You can't do that! Not after he told you the truth." The Prez assures Starbuck that she can. Leoben is thrown into the airlock, which is yet another window-lined cubicle. The Prez tells Starbuck, "During the time I've allowed him to remain alive and captive on this ship, he has caused our entire fleet to spread out, defenseless." On the other side of the glass, Leoben lowers his head like, "Aw, c'mon, I was just playin'." The Prez says that Leoben creates fear by planting insidious ideas in their minds. She tells Starbuck, "But you're right. He is a machine, and you don't keep a deadly machine around when it kills your people and threatens your future. You get rid of it." Leoben presses his hand against the window like he wants to say something about the needs of the many. Starbuck quickly tells the Prez that Leoben's not scared of death, he's just scared his soul won't get to God. The Prez has no response to that. Leoben waits, his hand against the glass. Starbuck steps forward as the soldiers and the Prez watch, and puts her hand up against Leoben's. The Prez watches sadly. Leoben lowers his head, and the Prez casually points at the solider manning the controls. He punches a button, and sirens blare. Leoben lifts his head and stares into the camera (again) as the light shifts and the airlock opens behind him. As the air whooshes out, the Prez gets a blipvert of her dream, and then Leoben is sucked out and tumbles away. It doesn't look quite right, but it does look cool, which is sometimes more important. Mugga opines that this bit was "marvelous," which is British for "awesome."
Galactica. Apparently the locker room is also the mess hall. Huh. Oh, and those are bunks! Seriously, am I blind, or have we not seen the room from this angle before? I'm blind, right? Oh well. As the room clears, Starbuck hangs up her jacket and then picks up a discreetly wrapped bundle from the bottom of the locker. She unwraps the bundle and pulls out a couple of bronze-ish looking sculptures of Artemis and Aphrodite. Starbuck tells her tchotchkes, "Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer. I don't know if he had a soul or not but, if he did, take care of it."
Adama's quarters. The Prez is having dinner with Adama. He tells the Prez that she took a big risk. It is left up to you to decide which risk in particular she's talking about. The Prez replies that she had to do it. Adama asks why, and the Prez non-answers, "President Adar once said that the interesting thing about being a president is that you don't have to explain yourself to anyone." Adama chuckles and sips his water. The Prez looks down and makes a little "mm" noise. Adama asks if anything's wrong. The Prez smiles, "No. Nothing at all." Adama looks at her.
time: Tigh!
Production card: Disco lights start up and Moore sings, "I've got an idea..." Then Eick angrily tears part of Moore's shirt off and Moore looks horrified. I really feel like I should understand that one, but I do not.