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Cottle finally turns up and gets to work patching up Adama. Tigh starts hitting the bottle again and losing his mind. The kids on Kobol discover a group of Cylon Centurions building a missile launcher and a dradis dish. They figure that the Cylons are preparing to take out any rescue party sent by the Galactica. An increasingly unhinged Crashdown decides that they have to attack the Cylons, and forms a cunning plan that is partly based on some bad intel from Baltar. The Quorum of Twelve arrives on the Galactica, demanding to see the Prez. As it happens, the Prez is going through chamalla withdrawal, and spending her time muttering twitchily. Ellen Tigh pays the Prez a visit, and advises Tigh to let the Quorum see their loony leader. But then Venner recognizes the Prez's mutterings as bits of scripture, and Billy figures that a religious nutbar might be just the guy to score some drugs for the Prez. After the usual bickering with Tigh, Apollo leads a rescue team to Kobol. Team Kobol is just about to attack when they realize that there are more Cylons than they expected. Cally freaks out and refuses to act as bait. Then Crashdown threatens to shoot her if she doesn't follow orders. Then Tyrol draws on Crashdown. Then Baltar shoots Crashdown, killing him. Then the Cylons open fire. And then I have a heart attack. Selix and Tyrol are both wounded as they all flee toward the Cylon dradis. Tyrol manages to take out the dish, but it looks like he might join the body count until, just in the nick of time, the cavalry arrives in the form of Apollo. Back on the Galactica, Tigh lets the Quorum see the Prez. Naturally, by then she's lucid again, and calmly explains that she's trying to find Earth, and that she's the dying leader described in prophecy. The Quorum flips out. Finally, Tigh holds a press conference and says that it's up to Adama to release the Prez, but that in the meantime, he's dissolving the Quorum and declaring martial law. On the bright side, Baltar is totally Cally's hero now. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously: Targ and Socinus died. A lot of unidentified people died. Adama didn't.
Dogtags hang on a branch as we pan across the Galacticans performing a funeral service on Kobol. Crashdown recites a prayer about the "everlasting life" awaiting them all. Six tells Baltar that there's no eternal life for the dead: "Only oblivion." Baltar asks if that's because the crewmen didn't see the face of God. Six -- who, I'm amused to note, is dressed more conservatively than usual for the funeral, says the problem is that they died on Kobol. They're interrupted by Tyrol, who tells Baltar that they're moving out. Baltar jumps, and then objects to Tyrol's calling him "Doc." He snits that a dock is "a platform for loading and unloading materials." Baltar picks up his own bags as he adds that he should be addressed as "Doctor" or "Mister Vice-President." Tyrol tells Baltar, "You are loading, are you not?" That seems like something Tyrol would have muttered to himself. On the other hand, he's probably not feeling as diplomatic as usual. Crashdown stares at the dogtags as if hypnotized, and Tyrol is forced to nag him back to reality as well before they can all move out. Crashdown grabs the dogtags before leaving, because later he can redeem them for a free soda.
Now they're all up on a ridge, checking the horizon through binoculars. Tyrol spots some Cylon Centurions who have landed in a clearing nearby. After some more peering, they realize that the Cylons are building something. Tyrol quickly identifies the gadget as a missile battery. Crashdown says, "At least we know why they're not chasing us." After a beat, Baltar admits that he doesn't. I like it when Baltar is the audience's stand-in. Tyrol explains that the Cylons can "launch a missile barrage that'll wipe out every living thing in this valley." Which seems peculiar. I mean, if they're willing to do that, why not just nuke Kobol from orbit or something? Of course, later we find out that they're more interested in taking out the rescue party, but that's why Tyrol's conclusion seems a bit strange.
Galactica. Billy lurks in a corridor, and we pull back through the steps of a ladder just as Cottle descends it. Which is a nice fancy shot that isn't actually distracting. I cannot say the same about some of the stuff we see later. Anyway, Cottle is griping about how long it took for him to get through the air lock, and puffing a cigarette, and just being Cottle. Yay. As Cottle hurries past, Billy yammers that the Prez needs a doctor. Cottle's response is, "Move," and off he goes. Billy's a little slow.
Cottle moves down the corridor and into sickbay, and there's some medspeak to establish that Adama is still bleeding internally. Tigh asks if Adama will survive, and Cottle snaps, "How should I know? I'm not a psychic. Now get the hell out of here." Hee. I love Cottle.
Credits. 47,862 survivors. I would have liked it if there were more casualties from last week. Not hundreds, but a few dozen wouldn't have been unreasonable.
Commercials. You know, I saw the original Tripping The Rift short a long time ago, and I was amused by it. The current ads for the show put me off terribly, though, because they make it look like it is the sort of show that it is (or was, at least) lampooning.
We return to more medspeak, and I worry that we're going to have to spend a lot of the episode watching Cottle perform surgery even though we know Adama will pull through. But we won't. So that's all right, and it means I don't have to describe all of this stuff. Moving on...
Tigh wanders out of sickbay and pauses for a gulp from his handy ankle-flask. Billy, still lurking, asks after Adama and then mentions that he needs some meds for the Prez. Tigh snaps that Cottle's busy, and Billy whines that the Prez is ill. She is? I know the first two episodes were kind of crammed, but I can't help feeling like there should have been one between last week's and this week's to better establish the ongoing meltdowns of the various leaders in this episode. Because it feels kind of sudden in all three storylines. Anyway, Tigh whirls on Billy and asks, "Why aren't you in the brig?" Billy hesitantly explains, "Because no one put me in there?" Heh. Tigh stares at Billy for a moment like, "All right, then! Just checking," and walks on.
Tigh arrives in CIC, and spots Apollo going over some plans there. Tigh asks, "Why aren't you in the brig?" I love how that's his recurring question. Apollo says that he's on duty, planning the search and rescue mission. Tigh cluelessly yells at the crew for not telling him they lost a plane. After a moment of awkward silence, Apollo reminds Tigh about the Raptor that was lost on Kobol. Tigh's eyes flicker like, "Oh. That." Tigh still doesn't want Apollo in charge, and they bicker about that a little before Tigh gives up. Apollo expositions that they'll have to look for the lost Raptor's disaster beacon. He proposes sending two Raptors out to make some low-level orbits of Kobol. He also refers to the lost ship as "Raptor 3," although in the captions it's always been "Raptor 1." Oops. Tigh wonders whether Boomer could have lied about destroying the Cylon Basestar. Not that I'm not completely biased about Tigh, but I do think that little line demonstrates that, even three sheets to the wind, he's still good at thinking critically about military operations. He's just not good at dealing with people. Which is probably why I like him. Apollo says that Racetrack confirmed that the Basestar was destroyed, and that he also reviewed the gun camera footage from Boomer's Raptor. Tigh casts about for someone else to yell at, and spies Gaeta. Gaeta ahems, "It's the press." Tigh does not say, "Why aren't they in the brig?," probably because they kind of are. At least, they're being held somewhere, and they're getting a bit cranky about it. Gaeta says, "They're demanding to know how much longer we plan on holding them, and when they can contact their home ships." Tigh says that they're in no position to make demands, and concludes, "We'll get to them in due time." Dualla says that a shuttle from the Zephyr is requesting permission to land. She adds, "The Quorum of Twelve is aboard. They're demanding to see you." Hearing his least-favorite word, Tigh repeats, "They 'demand'?" Apollo chirps, "Demanding job, commanding a Battlestar." Point for Apollo. Tigh shoots Apollo a dirty look and tells Dualla to put the Quorum in the Ward Room until he has time to deal with them.
Brig. The Prez is sleeping, then suddenly shrieks and sits up. Venner asks Billy what's wrong with her, and Billy non-explains that the Prez is sick. The Prez stands and stares at Billy until he helpfully greets her by asking, "Can I get you anything while you're in the brig?" The Prez pants weirdly and thanks Billy. She quietly says, "I'm finding it hard to think. It's withdrawal." Billy confirms that she's coming down from the chamalla, and says that he's trying to get her more. The Prez urges, "Go fast." Exit Billy, while a concerned Venner stares at the Prez.
Kobol. The Galacticans continue spying on the Cylons. Meanwhile, Baltar is gradually turning into Marcus Cole. How unexpected. At least his hair doesn't look as greasy as it did last week. He mutters, "It's all so pointless," and walks into the Fortress of Crazytude (née Domicylon). Except it's unclear that he's done that at first, so it really just looks like someone made all the trees go away. Then there's a disorienting pull back to reveal the Fortress, and I think I see what they were trying to do, but it just didn't work. Baltar grumbles, "We kill them. And they kill us. So we kill more of them. They kill more of us. What's the point anymore?" No point, it's just fun. Six says, "You and your race invented murder. Invented killing for sport, greed, envy. It's man's one true art form." Well, I don't think that's entirely accurate, but: aha! See, the Cylons are trying to figure out what makes us human. Religion, birth, murder...Eventually they'll get to voyeurism, and invent reality television. Oh, or maybe they already have, and the iSpies are just cameras! Where were we? Right: murder. Baltar asks why God wants them to bring a child into this world. Maybe there weren't any other worlds handy? Six, of course, claims that the child will offer Baltar salvation: "But only if you accept your role as her father. And her guardian." Baltar jiggles his head like a chicken and finally protests that he's not really cut out for the job. Man, these super-close-ups are distracting. He says, "I'm not a moral leader capable of leading anyone, let alone a baby." Six snaps, "Be a man, Gaius!" Heh. She adds, "The time is coming when you'll have to act like one."
Cut to Baltar leaning against a tree while Tyrol points something out to Crashdown. A little distance away from the missile launcher, there's a dradis dish. Tyrol figures, "They're building an anti-aircraft battery." Cally points out that there aren't any aircraft around, and Tyrol explains that the Galactica is going to be sending ships out to find them. Everyone looks fretful, but maybe not fretful enough to justify the sudden dramatic flourish on the soundtrack.
Hangar deck. Apollo strolls past and throws some exposition at Tigh, who's unable to pass it on before being tagged by Dualla. She gives Tigh a stack of paperwork and explains that the priority messages are on top. Tigh takes them while asking Apollo when the rescue team will head out. Then he asides, "Come on, Dee, these are all marked priority." Heh. Dualla apologizes that they came in that way, and Apollo says that they should be ready to go in ninety minutes. Tigh screams, "We've got men down on that fracking planet!" Crickets chirp as everyone stares at Tigh, and he tries to collect himself by resorting to yet another mention of the brig. Eventually, Tigh continues his pedeconference with Dualla, and confirms that the Quorum is in the Ward Room. Which almost rhymes. Almost. He asks, "Don't suppose you wanna do this for me?" Dualla calmly say that she's not much for public speaking. Heh.
Ward Room. Oh! It's the all-purpose room they use for meetings and formal dinners! Thank heavens I know what to call it now. So the Quorum are all yammering, and Tigh yammers back, and I take a moment to admire the sashes of the Quorumites. I guess the sashes are somehow representative of each colony, because they're all very different. Tigh tells them, "Laura Roslin suborned mutiny and sedition aboard this ship. She caused a key military asset to be lost at a critical moment!" The Quorum is unmoved. One member gets up in Tigh's face and gets as far as saying, "[Adama] had absolutely no authority --" before Zarek interrupts to proclaim that Adama is preparing to create a military dictatorship. He asks Tigh to confirm that, and Tigh says he can't speak for Adama. Hm. I didn't catch that the first time, but that's a weird moment for Tigh to say that he can't say what Adama intended. Zarek asks if Tigh is declaring martial law, and Tigh quickly says no, because Adama "hated the very idea of martial law. He believed in freedom and democracy and all that good stuff." That was odd. I mean, the conversation goes: "Was Adama going to declare martial law?" "I can't say." "Are you going to?" "No, because Adama hated martial law." It's hard to tell if it's Tigh or the writing that's confused. Anyway, Zarek says that since it's still a democracy, "and all that good stuff," heh, he moves that the Quorum demand access to the Prez. The motion carries. And Tigh reacts by dropping his pen into a glass of water and sniffing, "I will take your demand under advisement." Out he goes.
Brig. A woman says "Madam President?" as we see the Prez muttering into her pillow. The woman, who is of course Ellen Tigh, calls, "Laura!" and the Prez wakes up. She sits up shakily and stares at her visitor. Ellen asks if she can get the Prez anything. The Prez wobbles toward the bars and carefully says that she'd like to see her attorney. Ellen snickers, and then realizes that the Prez is serious. Ellen asks the Prez if she knows where she is. The Prez answers, "I'm in jail." Ellen asks if the Prez knows who Ellen is. The Prez apologetically says, "Have we met?," and then winces and clutches her head. She moves back to her bed and says that there's a ringing sound. She rocks back and forth on the bed, holding her ears. Ellen's like, "Oooookay," and leaves. Venner watches as the Prez moans in pain. Is he the only guard? Shouldn't there be shifts? Suddenly, the Prez seems to recover, and then gasps, "Oh my gods! Ellen Tigh!" At his desk, Venner starts fiddling with a rosary or worry beads or whatever.
Kobol. Baltar climbs along a fallen tree trunk, which we for some reason are viewing from below and at a ninety-degree angle. Dude, knock it off. He spies on the Cylons. Brief montage of everyone else peering through binoculars while Crashdown describes what they've learned. The missile launcher has no built-in guidance stem. Cally reports that one Cylon walks the perimeter. Baltar says that the dradis dish is guarded by two Cylons, "I think." Wah-wah. Crashdown asks if the Cylons are guarding the dish continuously. Baltar says, "I saw two Centurions through the field glasses continuously, for five minutes. In that time, they didn't leave their post." Back to the flashback of incomprehensible camera angles. While spying, Baltar sees one of the Cylons turn and seem to look right at him. He jumps, and drops the binoculars. As he sweatily retreats, the Cylons walk away from the dish. Aw, look at their flat little feet. I wonder if this whole war is actually a quest for better arch support. The problem for me here is that Baltar does say he only watched for five minutes. Even if that were true, that seems like really shitty data to go on. And nobody mentions that, not even god-among-men Tyrol.
Anyway, Crashdown sums things up: three Cylons by the missile launcher, and two by the dish. He asks whether Baltar has ever used a weapon. It takes Baltar a minute to realize he's being addressed, and then he notes with some exasperation that he's not a soldier. Crashdown hrms that he's going to need every man. Tyrol asks if Crashdown is really planning to attack the Cylons. Crashdown calmly claims that they owe it to Socinus and Targ. He adds that they have equal numbers, and the element of surprise. Except that the Cylons do know they're out there. So it'll be a surprise, but the kind of surprise that the Cylons probably expect. If you know what I mean. Tyrol pulls Crashdown aside for a chat. As they move behind some soundproof bushes, Baltar tells Selix, "He's crazy." Heh. He adds, "I've never fired a gun in my life." Selix says she hasn't used a gun since Basic. Baltar looks at Cally, who smirks, "I just joined to pay for dental school."
A few trees over, Tyrol tells Crashdown that these aren't experienced troops. Crashdown argues, "We don't have any choice. Galactica will definitely be sending a search and rescue party." See, that argument makes some sense. It's his "We owe it to our fallen comrades" that's loony. Tyrol snorts, " They'll wipe us out in the first two minutes!" Crashdown shouts, "That's enough!" Then he glances back to see if the others heard him, and, entertainingly, tells Tyrol to keep his cool. Tyrol blinks at him and calmly says, "I don't believe I've lost my cool." Crashdown disagrees, and goes back to his first argument: "It's our duty. We owe it to the rescue party, and we owe it to Socinus and Targ." Tyrol, who's becoming more Socratic by the moment, says, "I fail to see what this has to do with Socinus and Targ." Crashdown gives up, and says, "Maybe that's why I'm an officer, and you're not." Tyrol nods vigorously the way you do when you're choking back what you really want to say.
Commercials. I must mention that I watched The Crow IV: Wicked Prayer last weekend, because I need to publicly thank Wing Chun and Sars for the fact that I don't have to recap it. Here's why: David Boreanaz wearing tighty-whities while humping Tara Reid. I covered my eyes, but not quickly enough.
When we return, we're looking at a map scratched into the dirt, and Crashdown says, "This briefing will outline a plan of attack in five graphs." Oh dear. As Crashdown summarizes the situation, Baltar scoots over to ask Tyrol, "What's all this 'graph' business?" Tyrol explains that the briefing format is taught at officer candidate school, adding, "It's just not usually used this literally in the field." I appreciate the exposition, but it does seem like Crashdown might get grumpy about people having private conversations instead of listening to the briefing on which, presumably, their lives depend. By the time Baltar turns back, Crashdown is saying, "Graph four: execution." I wait for Baltar to ask, "Theirs or ours?" But he doesn't. Crashdown starts to detail his plan to attack the Cylons. And that's when Baltar freaks out and asks if Crashdown has lost his mind. Crashdown tries to cut him off, but Baltar calls for a show of hands from those who think the plan is crazy. Tyrol immediately shouts, "No! Absolutely not! This is not a democracy!" Hey, get it? Tyrol says that Crashdown is in charge, and they'll all do what he says. Ah, that's why I like Tyrol. Baltar screeches that they've already lost two men, and Tyrol glares at him and then does a passable Clint Eastwood impression when he says, "You need to sit down and shut up right now." Baltar protests that he's the Vice-President. Tyrol repeats his instruction, and advances on Baltar. Baltar sits. Crashdown resumes the briefing. His genius plan is to sneak up toward the Cylons, and then Cally will draw their fire until Selix and Crashdown can explode the controls from the missile launcher. At the phrase "drawing their fire," Cally gives Crashdown a rather surly look. Not that I blame her.
Brig. Oh, another upside-down shot. Excellent. The Prez waggles her knee in the lens and mutters. I wonder if the director is more of an action-scene guy. Because he was good at those. And that might explain why he keeps trying to jazz up the non-action scenes, thinking they need to be exciting visually when really, they don't. According to the captions, the Prez is muttering, "I have been given the opportunity to perceive the scriptures more clearly. Anything that impedes that, I have to view as contrary to the survival of the human species." Venner moves over to the cell to eavesdrop, and Billy declares that the Prez needs her meds. Venner thinks that the Prez is talking about the scrolls of Pythia, and notes that Pythia predicted the rise of a leader "who would lead all humanity to salvation." Billy prompts Venner to explain, "I'm from Gemenon. We believe in the literal truth of the scriptures." Oh, damn. That's high on my list of most-hated sci-fi tropes: everyone from this place shares certain intellectual attitudes. It's particularly notable on Star Trek, but that's not the only offender. It's just so clumsy. I mean, come on, there's a whole planet where everyone's a religious nutbar? Feh. Anyway, this gives Billy an idea, and he brings up the subject of chamalla.
Tigh's quarters. Tigh and Ellen are boozing it up, 'cause that's what they do. Tigh grumps that Adama's still in surgery and the Quorum and press are both demanding to see the Prez. Ellen suggests, "Let 'em." She says that the Prez is nuts, and Tigh says, "I know." Heh. Ellen explains that she dropped by the brig, and that the Prez was extremely disoriented. And you've got to figure that after living with Tigh, Ellen's standard for "disoriented" is pretty high. Ellen repeats that the Prez is nuts, and adds that the Vice-President is missing: "That leaves you in unchallenged command of this ship. And this fleet." Tigh cautions that it's only till Adama's recovered, and Ellen chirps, "Of course."
Two Raptors head out for Kobol.
Kobol. Cally is practicing using her rifle. Everyone else is sitting, toying with bits of foliage.
Baltar segues to the Fortress of Crazytude as Six declares, "One of you will turn against the others." Baltar confirms that this will happen during the attack on the Cylons, and asks what happens if the attack fails. From the other end of the room, Six says, "You'll die." Baltar smugs that he's God's instrument. Six says that God turned His back on Kobol, and adds, "What happens on Kobol stays on Kobol." Er, I mean: "Is not His will."
Crashdown gives Baltar his sidearm and announces that it's time to move out. As everyone gets up, Crashdown drapes Socinus and Targ's dogtags around his neck.
During the commercials, Crashdown starts asking who ate the strawberries, what happened to his palm tree, and whether anybody's seen a white whale.
Tigh's quarters. Tigh rolls a nearly empty bottle over a collection of photographs of Adama. He seems to have spread the photos all over his desk, perhaps in preparation for a lovely scrapbook he's working on. Hey, Tigh should have hobbies, too. I mean, Adama makes model ships, Starbuck paints, and the Prez likes mysteries. Tigh could take up scrapbooking. And Apollo could knit. The phone buzzes, and Dualla announces that the Quorum isn't getting any less cranky. Tigh tells her, "Maybe we should tell them to shove their demand up their collective asses, how about that?" Ellen chuckles in the background, and I have to give props to Kate Vernon for finding such a wonderfully annoying way to chuckle. She sounds like an engine that won't start. Unless of course that's how Vernon always laughs, in which case: I'm just kidding, ha ha! Up in CIC, Dualla makes a "chug-a-lug" gesture to a watching Gaeta. Or else she's a headbanger. Now that would be an awesome hobby for Dualla. Dualla tells Tigh that the sentries need some instructions for dealing with the Quorum. Tigh says that the Quorum will get to see "what has become of their precious president."
Venner, the loneliest guard in the fleet, walks down a heavily guarded corridor. In his hand is a little bottle of pills. He hands it off to a stealthy Billy, who heads for the brig.
The Raptors arrive in orbit around Kobol. They detect a Colonial signal coming from a valley, and move down to investigate.
Down on the planet, the Galacticans are within sight of the Cylon missile launch. Crashdown tells Cally to move out for her role as decoy. Tyrol interrupts, and says that there are five Cylons at the missile launcher, not the three they expected. Baltar moans that there's something wrong with the plan. Crashdown asks if Baltar is totally sure about seeing two Cylons at the dish. Baltar ums, "I know what I saw." Tyrol says that the two from the dish could have joined the others, in which case there's nobody defending the dish right now. Crashdown moans, "That dish is, like, almost a click away." Tyrol, reasonably, asks, "So what?" His argument is cut off when there's a roaring noise, which Tyrol identifies as spacecraft entering the atmosphere. Crashdown figures that there's no time to argue; they have to take out the Cylons now, before the rescue party comes within range.
Everyone grabs their weapons and gets ready to move. Except Cally, who gets about two feet before she's almost hyperventilating. Crashdown tells her to get going. She whispers, "I can't." Tyrol takes this opportunity to argue in favor of going for the dish again. Crashdown tries to urge Cally on. Then all of that happens again. Selix moans that there are five Cylons instead of three. Baltar just looks like a frightened rabbit. Crashdown tries a more personal approach with Cally, saying, "Frack orders, frack court martial. Our people are up there. We have to save them. We don't have any time. Move!" Cally repeats that she can't, and screeches, "Nooo!" And then Crashdown points his sidearm at her. Tyrol turns, sees what's going on, and tries to calm Crashdown. Crashdown insists, "You're going out there or I'm gonna blow your brains out." He does the "I'm gonna count to three" thing as Cally sobs. Selix accurately notes, "This is crazy." Crashdown says, "One..." and then Tyrol draws his own gun on Crashdown and tells him to drop his weapon. Crashdown says, "Two..." Cally, you know, you could run the other way. Not that I really blame her if she's not thinking clearly at this point, but I'm just saying. Crashdown tearfully sniffs, "Three," and there's a gunshot. Crashdown collapses against a tree, revealing Baltar holding a gun behind him. The smoke wafting up from Baltar's barrel is a particularly nice touch, I think. Tyrol's expression says, "Fuck." Cally sobs. Baltar looks around like, "What'd I do?" And just as the tension eases, the Cylons open fire. Eek! The camera swings around to show them moving toward the Galacticans, and Tyrol screams, "Fall back!" Well, yeah. They scramble over the ground, and as he passes, Tyrol snatches the three sets of dogtags around Crashdown's neck. Baltar, being of a more practical mindset, stretches out to pick up Crashdown's rifle. Then he looks up at Crashdown's body, and then Six is standing above him. Six says, "Now you're a man." Baltar grabs the rifle and runs.
In the Raptor, Apollo gets an ETA of five minutes.
Everyone runs through the woods. It's like The Blair Witch Project, except you can actually tell what's going on. As Selix leaps over a tree trunk, she's hit in the leg, although the camera seems to be focused on her ass. I can't imagine why. She falls, wailing, and Cally turns and helps Selix to get up.
The Raptors fly over the ruins.
More running, more bullets flying. There's enough of this to make it seem reasonable that they've run about a kilometer. Tyrol scrambles up a hillside and takes cover behind a tree. He looks up at the dradis dish that's looming nearby. Baltar turns up, and fires back at the Cylons while Tyrol takes aim at the dish with what I guess is a rocket launcher. Before Tyrol can fire, he's hit in the right arm, and drops his weapon. The dradis dish swings around toward the Raptors flying above them. Tyrol calls for Baltar to hand him the launcher. Hey, how'd it get way over there? I guess maybe it slid down the hill. Baltar scrambles up, passes the launcher to Tyrol, and then resumes firing back at the Cylons.
At least one Cylon is still back at their missile launcher, and has started firing at the Raptors.
Tyrol fires, and the dradis dish goes kablooey. And then it topples over and crashes down on top of Tyrol and Baltar, killing them both. Not really, but on this show, it wouldn't have surprised me.
The Raptors detect the missiles and swing to one side. The missiles zip past, and Racetrack reports that the Cylons aren't locking on to them.
Baltar and Tyrol gaze hopefully upward. And then there are bullets hitting the ground all around them, as the three Cylons reach the bottom of the hillside they're on. Baltar scrambles away and resumes firing from behind a tree, and Cally and Selix tumble down to join him. Baltar's too busy to say, "Thanks for leading the Cylons right to us!" Tyrol is too far away to join them, even if there was that much room behind this one tree. Instead, he starts pulling himself further uphill. Bullets send up clods of dirt all around. Baltar looks over at Tyrol, who screams, "Stay there!" Yeah, I don't think they were planning to come and get you, Tyrol. According to the captions, Baltar shouts, "Dave!" several times. I'm pretty sure he's saying, "Chief!" Tyrol pulls out his sidearm, grimaces, then stands up and fires at the Cylons. He also says, "Aaaaah!" Baltar and Cally watch him sadly. Selix is busy with her own stuff. Tyrol keeps firing, and screaming, and then the Cylons blow up. Tyrol stops shooting, stares at the balls of fire, and gives his gun a dubious glance. Then he looks up, and sees a Raptor hovering overhead, with smoke trails still hanging in the air from whatever it fires. Apparently, this is reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan. All I know about that movie is that there's another scene in it that's reminiscent of Full Metal Jacket. And that there's an adorable moppet at some point, because it's fucking Spielberg.
Inside the Raptor, Apollo says, "You're welcome." Well, at least they all didn't start cheering and clapping.
Down on the ground, Selix puts her hand on top of Baltar's. Which is on top of her thigh. Baltar never misses an opportunity.
Galactica. Tigh escorts the Quorum down a corridor and announces, "Viewing time at the zoo." Zarek sniffs at Tigh's lack of respect. Tigh points at Zarek and says, "Your day's gonna come, laughing boy." Hee! He might be lousy, drunken, short-sighted, petty commander, but damn that man is funny.
The Quorum crowds into the brig, and stares at the Prez who, in turn, stares into space. The Quorum members mutter to each other worriedly. After a moment, Tigh says, "The show's over. Let's give her some privacy." He says that they can discuss what to do in the Ward Room. And then the Prez stands up and thanks everyone for coming. She says she has a statement to make: "The attempted military coup against the lawful government of the colonies is illegal, ill-advised and clearly doomed to failure." She says that she has not resigned. Tigh harrumphs that the Prez thinks that she's a prophet, and snickers about her plan to use the Arrow of Apollo to open "the Tomb of Artemis, or some such nonsense." The Prez says that her actions have been consistent and logical: "We have found Kobol, we have found the city of the gods, and when we retrieve the arrow, we will open the tomb of Athena and find the road to Earth." Tigh affects amusement, but one of the Quorum members asks if the Prez has read the Scrolls of Pythia. The Prez says that she has, and that she thinks she is "fulfilling the role of the leader." Zarek asks the Gemenon representative if she can verify what the Prez is talking about. The Quorumite brings up the part about a dying leader, and the Prez announces, "I am dying. I have terminal breast cancer." She says that Cottle confirm that she only has a few months to live, and that her sole purpose is to lead the people to salvation. The Gemenon Quorumite gasps, "Praise be to the gods," and she and several others kneel and stretch their hands out toward the Prez. Ew. Tigh watches, baffled, while the Prez shakes people's hands like a rock star. Tigh orders the guards to clear the Quorum out and take them to their shuttle. Once everyone is gone, the Prez and Billy look at each other. Billy looks a little bit pissed, frankly. Venner strolls over, and the Prez thanks him. Venner replies, "Thank the gods."
Kobol. Tyrol, his arm in a sling, hands Apollo the dogtags he's collected. Apollo asks how Crashdown died. Which, honestly, is a weird question. I mean, the options are: that he died in the crash, that he was killed by the Cylons, or that he, like, tripped over a rock. So, does it matter? But really he's just asking so that Baltar can say, "He gave his life in the...in the finest tradition of the service." Cally stares over as Tyrol nods and agrees, "He was a hero to the end." Cally decides not to say "Screw that -- the bastard was going to shoot me!" Baltar walks away from the Raptor so that he can have another chat with Six. She says that she's proud of him. Baltar asks, "Why? 'Cause I've taken a life?" Six says that makes him human. Baltar huffs, "Not conscious thought? Not poetry or art or music, literature? Murder. Murder is my heritage." He asks if he's supposed to pass that on to their child. Six insists that it'll be all right, and strokes his hair. Then Apollo shouts that they're ready to go. As Baltar dreamily backs away from Six, she reassures him, "I'll be your conscience!" Yeah, but for Baltar that's still an improvement.
Sickbay. Cottle puffs on a cigarette and tells Tigh that Adama will live. Tigh asks when Adama will wake up, and Cottle says, "Knowing him, when he damn well wants to, probably." Tigh looks down at Adama and quietly says, "I really fracked things up for you, Bill." Then he exits, before Adama can wake up and ask, "What else is new?"
Ready Room. The reporters listen as Tigh repeats his charges that the Prez suborned mutiny, and that she'll stay in the brig until Adama decides otherwise. The reporters murmur in a disapproving way. Tigh goes on to say, "As it appears obvious that the government cannot function under the current circumstances, I have decided to dissolve the Quorum of Twelve." What was the government doing that it can't do now? Because it doesn't seem to really do much, so why can't Tigh can go on ignoring them the same way he has been? Tigh concludes, "As of this moment, I have declared martial law." The murmuring breaks into full-fledged clamoring. Okay, it sounds bad, but remember that Baltar's on his way back to the Galactica, so maybe this is for the best. Tigh folds up the blank sheet of octagonal paper he was pretending to read from, and then marches out of the room in dramatic slo-mo. Once outside, he hands the paper to a soldier and says, "Get those people the hell off my ship." Once he's a little further away, he has a gulp from his flask.
time: the fleet starts to rebel in support of the Prez.
Production card: a landshark eats Moore, who wails, "Make it stop!" I think we saw that one before, but it's one that I missed recapping, so yay.