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Adama returns to command, to the crew's vast relief. He prepares to conduct a ship-to-ship search for Apollo and the Prez. When Apollo declines to condemn his father publicly, the Prez takes her message directly to the people. She explains her divine plan and asks those who believe in her to follow her back to Kobol when she gives the signal. Adama figures that anybody loony enough to follow the Prez is welcome to leave. But when her ship finally jumps, a third of the fleet follows. Adama's faith in human intelligence is being sorely tested. Back on Caprica, Starbuck hooks up with Anders, to nobody's surprise. It is a little surprising when she gets shot during a sudden Cylon attack, though. Starbuck wakes up in a hospital, where a kindly doctor tells her that Anders was killed. He less-kindly diagnoses her as a victim of child abuse, and then urges her to think about repopulating the species. Of course, he makes the oldest mistake in the book when he refers to Starbuck by her callsign. If there is a Cylon Commander, it and Adama could have long, bitter talks about how dumb some of their underlings are. Starbuck kills the doctor, bonks yet another Six on the head, and then finds a ward full of female prisoners who are being used as incubators. Creepy. Meanwhile, Boomer has joined up with Helo and an unfortunately still-living Anders, and gives them the scoop on Starbuck's location. Starbuck blows up the Cylon baby-factory and escapes just as Team Anders arrives to rescue her. Since Boomer's found a ship for them, Starbuck bids Anders a tearful farewell, and promises to send reinforcements. Or at least a nice wreath. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously: the Prez and Apollo ran, Starbuck played pyramid, and Cally got some target practice. So they're all keeping fit, at least.
Caprica. "Resistance Base Camp." Wow, that place is huge. Suddenly the Caprican educational system is frightening me.
Starbuck is in a room piled high with boxes of supplies and -- hey, a naked guy! Wow, the Resistance is stockpiling everything. Hang on, it's just Anders. Rats. Starbuck pads across the room in her underwear and starts getting dressed. Behind her, Anders looks at his watch and starts a light morning conversation by asking Starbuck what she'll do if she can't get back to the Galactica. Um, die in the cold vacuum of space? Starbuck insists that she'll get back. Anders points out that his team was able to surprise her, and Starbuck snaps, "Frack you." Anders sniffs at her potty-mouth, which makes me laugh. He sits up a little and points out that the Resistance could use some advice from a real soldier. He admits, "A lot of our tactics are stuff we just saw in the movies." Starbuck's suggestion: "Give it up before you all die." She advises that they hide out in the mountains, above the "ambient radiation," and wait for the rescue party she'll send when she's back with the fleet. Anders scoffs at the idea of rescue, and stretches out on the bed, waiting for his bare chest to work its magic. Starbuck says, "If I say I'm gonna do something, I do it." Anders asks if she's always a bitch in the morning. She glares, "Count on it." He responds, "My kind of woman," and then grabs Starbuck by the arm and yanks her over. Starbuck is all, "Not now, I have a mission," but Anders seems to think it can wait two and a half minutes. She shoves him away, and Anders grumps, "Fine, whatever." After a moment, Starbuck starts to apologize. "I didn't mean to --" Anders giggles, "Gotcha," and pulls her onto him. Banter, smooching, groinycakes. Caprica was a lot funnier before Starbuck got here.
They're wild rebels, crunchy fruity rebels. The Resistance drives into the middle of the woods and then begins to fan out on foot. Anders tells Sue-Shaun to watch the perimeter, and then he, Helo, and Starbuck have a little conference. They're planning to hit grab a Heavy Raider that stops nearby to refuel every day. Starbuck outlines a plan that involves waiting until the ship is hooked up to the tylium pumps and then blowing up the refueling station. Anders says, "I thought you wanted the Raider intact," and Starbuck explains, "They build 'em tough." Wow, I guess so. She adds that the explosion will give her time to get aboard and "blow the brain." Further planning is put on hold when there are gunshots from the trees. Er, not literally. I don't think. Starbuck runs back to take cover behind the Humvee. As everyone starts running around shooting, Starbuck blinks woozily and watches the battle. I liked this, because for the first few seconds, while Starbuck's looking around, I was thinking, "What's she doing? Is there something I'm supposed to notice here?" Then she drops her gun, and lifts her hand from over her belly to reveal a bloodstain. Starbuck falls down as the Resistance continues fighting and run off into the trees. They're still terribly unobservant soldiers, I have to say. I expected a little better of Helo.
Credits. 47,857 survivors. And hey, drums! Bodies and clipboard-fu and gun barrels and oil drums! Yay! But we seem to have permanently lost the Galactica insignia they used to use at the very end. Ah well.
Commercials. Per the podcast, they originally intended to spend more time building a romance between Starbuck and Anders over several episodes, but that time constraints forced them to limit it to just the couple of scenes we've seen. You've got no idea how happy I am about that. Also, Moore's inability to turn off his phone amuses me.
CIC. Everyone's applauding before we even get inside. I was happy about having the opening montage back, too, but this seems a bit much. I wonder if maybe it's just really cold in CIC, so they like clapping to get their circulation going. Tigh leads Adama into CIC, and everyone whoops it up. It would mean so much more if they did this once a season instead of every other week. Baltar's there, coming perilously close to a slow clap. Adama finally quiets everyone down and makes a little speech about how much everyone there means to him. Aw, he's almost crying. Then he says, "Let's get back to work," and there's another round of applause. Now Baltar is clapping very, very enthusiastically while looking bored out of his mind. Maybe he's just thinking, "Let's go, let's go. After this scene, I get the week off!" With that out of the way, Adama tells Tigh, "I feel strange, like..." Like you've been shot several times at close range? "...Closer to the ground." Oh. That was my guess. Tigh advises Adama to check with the doctor about that, heh.
Adama and Tigh move over to confer with Gaeta. Gaeta starts to say, "The stolen Raptor with Captain Adama and the former President --" "The fugitives," Tigh interjects. Gaeta yeah-whatevers, "The fugitives docked at Cloud Nine last week." Last week? Wow. Adama grrs that the Prez "was dangerous enough as a symbol of resistance, but now with Lee helping..." He trails off, perhaps thinking, "Wait, what use is Apollo, really? Maybe I shouldn't be so concerned." Nonetheless, Adama lays out plans to search the entire fleet, quarantining ships that have been searched so that the fugitives can't get past the search parties. He concludes, "She can hide, but she can't run." When the war's over, Adama has a big future writing movie taglines.
Vipers whoosh prettily through the fleet, and we zoom in on a small ship. The Prez voice-overs, "How much longer are we meant to stay hidden in this meat locker?" Elosha doesn't know, but thanks the Prez for establishing their location.
Captions read, "Kimba Huta, Cold Storage," as Zarek joins the party. The Prez and Elosha are bundled up by some frost-covered windows. They should try clapping to warm up their hands. And to weird Zarek out. As Apollo wanders out from the aisles of supplies, Zarek says that the Quorum is still deliberating whether to support the Prez openly. The Prez says that she needs to appeal to the people directly. Zarek replies, "Make a strong enough argument, and the Astral Queen will be first ship in line." Apollo chuckles that the Astral Queen does whatever Zarek says. Zarek ignores that and says he has other news: "Zeus has returned to Olympus." Does Zarek think that he's a spy and has to speak in code all the time? Apollo stares at Zarek, who finally translates, "Adama's back in command." Apollo mumbles, "My father is, uh, back?" One side of his mouth twitches up in a smile for a second, which is cute. It fades immediately, as Apollo realizes that he's so grounded. In the background, the Prez happily calls Adama "a tough old bird." Zarek declares that they need something "heartfelt and personal that will galvanize the people." To do what, exactly? Maybe they should start with what they want to achieve, and then figure out how to get it done. I have so much more sympathy for revolutionaries with clear objectives. Or I would, if there were any. After a moment, Zarek suggests, "Like a son denouncing his father." Apollo stares back like, "Sure, but where are we going to find -- hey, wait a second!"
Close-up on Apollo's mouth as he introduces himself and explains that he felt unable to support his father in usurping the Prez. Zarek, Elosha, and the Prez watch as Apollo talks into a microphone. Apollo, I know you mean well and everything, but this is such a terrible idea. Oh dear. Apollo says, "I love my father, I respect him, but in this, he is wrong. He must be opposed." Then there's a close-up of a cassette recorder, as he says, "I call upon all free-thinking people in the fleet, I--" Apollo stops the recorder, ejects the tape, and takes it out while Zarek looks vexed. Thank heavens. Apollo calmly says that he can't do this, and apologizes. Good boy. Have a cookie. After everyone's done giving him a good stare, the Prez says, "I'm playing the religious card." Her hair looks better now. Being an outlaw suits her. The Prez says that she knows what to do, and Zarek pissily hands her another tape like, "That's an original Grateful Dead bootleg you're recording over, lady. Make it good." The Prez fumbles with the recorder for a moment and then snaps, "How does this thing work?" as we cut away. Heh.
Starbuck is lying in bed. Her jacket hangs on a chair to a desk in the mostly bare room. There's a cracked mirror on the foot of the bed, which will be important later. Someone tries to dab a cloth on her forehead without messing up the bruise makeup, and says, "Shh." Starbuck looks up to see Rick Worthy smiling at her. He tells her that she's in an aid hospital, and was brought in yesterday. He introduces himself as Simon. Starbuck says that her name is Kara Thrace, and Simon makes a note in a file before going to check on her IV. Starbuck grimaces in pain, and asks who brought her in. Simon says, "This big guy named Anders. Used to be a pyramid player, if you can believe that." Starbuck smiles and asks where Anders is. Simon hesitates for a moment before telling her that Anders is dead: "I thought he was only slightly wounded. Turns out a piece of shrapnel had nicked his aorta." He looks at her sympathetically, and then leaves. Starbuck's face crumples up as she cries.
Commercials. Moore says that he expected the audience to figure Simon for a Cylon. Basically, he just wanted to make you wonder a tiny bit. Which I think works reasonably well, but mainly because of the show's basic screwiness. I have no problem believing that they could do this same set-up except that just as Starbuck's about to attack her doctor, Helo pops in and says, "Stop, these are the good guys, for real!" The only problem is that they just used that idea last week, with Starbuck and Helo versus the Resistance. If not for that, I'd have been a lot more ready to believe that this episode was going to be about the Cylons making everyone crazy with paranoia.
Starbuck wakes up, bathed in sunlight. Simon enters, and while he fusses over her IV, Starbuck asks, "Are you a Cylon?" He replies, "What do you think?" Starbuck thinks that he didn't answer the question. Simon laughs and says he is definitely not a Cylon. He adds, "I don't know what you'd expect me to say. If I [were] a Cylon, I certainly wouldn't admit it." Starbuck asks if she can go, and Simon gestures at the door. Starbuck sits up about halfway, and then her face crumples up again. She falls back and sighs, "Frackin' doctors." Simon asks if she's conceding that he's a doctor. Starbuck says that the jury's still out, but that she'd expect the Cylons to have better digs. Simon expositions that they're in a mental institution north of Delphi. He peels down the bandage on her side, revealing some tidy stitches, and then replaces the bandage. Starbuck asks, "So, what, I'm supposed to believe there really is a Resistance out there?" Simon hushes her and jokes, "Don't tell anybody, we're trying to keep that quiet." Then he picks up a needle and says it's time for her pain meds. Starbuck watches as he injects something into the IV tubing, and then she drifts off.
Cally's in the brig. A guard slides some food into her cell.
Adama's quarters. Tyrol nervously explains that Cally was "distraught" after her experiences on Kobol. I wonder if it's occurred to Tyrol that the people he sticks up for tend to get killed. But so do a lot of other people, I guess. Adama doesn't even seem to be listening as he flips through some papers. Tyrol says, "I don't believe she was in her right mind when she shot Boomer." Without looking up, Adama asks, "Did you love her, Chief?" It's sort of predictable, but Tyrol's expression as he tries to figure out whom Adama's asking about is still funny. Adama clarifies that he 's talking about Boomer, and Tyrol finally says, "I thought I did." Adama tetchily says, "When you think you love somebody, you love them. That's what love is. Thoughts." Tyrol shifts uncomfortably as Adama hisses, "She was a Cylon. A machine. Is that what Boomer was, a machine?" Well, that's what you just said. I don't think Tyrol's quite ready for the existential dilemma Adama's concerned with. Tyrol says, "That's what she turned out to be." Adama stands up and insists that Boomer was more than that. Poor Tyrol. Adama adds, "She was a vital, living person aboard my ship for almost two years. She couldn't have just been a machine. Could you love a machine?" Tyrol says no. I think Tyrol is approaching this like, "She was a machine, therefore I couldn't have loved her." Whereas Adama is thinking, "Tyrol loved her, therefore she couldn't just be a machine." Adama finally realizes that Tyrol is way out of his depth here, and turns away as he says that Cally will stay in the brig for thirty days for discharging a firearm without permission. Wow, I guess that's it for her for the season, then. Tyrol thanks Adama and heads for the door. Adama lay back on his bead and says, "There are many copies. You'll see her again." What I like about that is, it's not clear if Adama is trying to warn Tyrol, or comfort him. Probably a bit of both.
Simon enters Starbuck's room. He looks at her IV and sits down heavily on the edge of the bed to make notes as Starbuck stares at him. She asks how many patients there are, and notes how strange it is that she hasn't seen anyone besides Simon. Simon says that there are 223 patients, two doctors, "and five teachers masquerading as nurses." Starbuck mumbles that she knows a teacher who masquerades as a president. Then she continues to interrogate Simon, wondering why she doesn't even hear other patients moaning, or calling for a doctor. Simon testily explains that most of the patients are victims of radiation poisoning. He describes how patients are tired and nauseated, and then feel better for a few days: "After that, cell death in the gastric and intestinal tissue causes massive diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, and loss of water." Starbuck stares as Simon cheerfully concludes, "It's not pretty, but it is quiet." He goes on to explain that Starbuck is quarantined because they're concerned about infection and don't know what kind of cooties she might have. He says that they'll have her test results that afternoon. Starbuck looks boggled.
And then Simon's doing a gynecological exam on Starbuck. Gack. This scene's kind of short on things I feel comfortable making jokes about, honestly. As Simon finishes up, he says that she may have an ovarian cyst, but insists, "It should be fine; we'll keep an eye on it." He adds that Starbuck's reproductive system is her most valuable asset now, and Starbuck looks aghast as Simon lectures her about the importance of repopulating the species. Starbuck pulls herself back into the bed and insists, "I am not a commodity; I am a Viper pilot." As he prepares a needle, Simon says that she's one of the few women on the planet capable of bearing children. Starbuck says, "Well, I don't want a child, so just drop it, okay?" Simon somehow determines that I got rid of my ironic foreshadowing alarm and then says, "Well, no one's forcing you." There is certainly some nagging, though, as Simon lectures, "Potential mothers are more valuable than a whole squadron of Viper pilots." Off Starbuck's stony expression, Simon apologizes: "I should have known you'd be sensitive. A lot of women with your history forego bearing children of their own." At that, Starbuck freezes for a moment and then repeats, "My history?" Simon says that he noticed a lot of old fractures in her x-rays. Starbuck doesn't respond, and so Simon presses the issue by mentioning how all of her fingers were broken "between the first and the second knuckle." Starbuck stares at him with an expression of horror. Simon sits on the bed and gently asks, "Did someone break your fingers, Kara?" Starbuck clutches her hands together and gasps, "Get out." Simon says that people with abusive parents often worry that they'll repeat the behavior. Starbuck lurches upright as much as she can and screams, "Get out!" Simon gives a "my work is done" Ed Crane nod, and exits. Starbuck presses her hands to her head for a moment, and then slides her hands under the blanket. I really liked that little moment when she hid her hands.
CIC. Adama is reading something and then asks, "Is she kidding with this?" Tigh says that the message has turned up throughout the fleet. Adama rasps, "It's religious crap." He reads the Prez's statement about being chosen to lead the fleet to Earth. Apparently, the Prez is going to give a signal at some point: "All those wishing to honor the gods and walk the path of destiny will follow me back to Kobol." I would like to know how they got the jump coordinates for Kobol. I suppose Apollo could get them without much trouble. The message also says that, at Kobol, they'll meet "the gods' servant with the Arrow of Apollo." Adama finishes reading and slams the clipboard down so hard that it bounces out the frame and nearly takes Tigh's head off. Tigh calmly says that they're ready to begin searching the Astral Queen. Adama says, "No one's going to follow her. No one's gonna believe this crap. No one's this stupid." Oh, poor Adama. He adds that anyone who wants to go to Kobol can go: "Please, let them."
Commercials. Speaking of paranoia, at some point I want to see human characters get so freaked out by Boomer that they start wondering if maybe they're Cylons and don't know it.
The Prez and Zarek pedeconference, Apollo trailing behind. Zarek says that they're going to jump in two minutes. The Prez asks, "Have any other ships declared themselves for us?" Zarek says, "Not yet." But there are still two whole minutes, so anything could happen.
The Prez and her posse enter a large dining hall-ish room, where Elosha is waiting by the door. Lining the long tables are a lot of scruffy folk, mostly in red coveralls. I think this might be the ship that carried all the wrestlers. Some of them just have that vibe. As the Prez enters, they get up from their benches, and the Prez starts to smile in greeting. The smile fades as the people all kneel and bow their heads. Whoopsie. The Prez protests, "Please, this isn't necessary." Elosha sidles up to the Prez and says, "Give them your blessing." The Prez looks faintly horrified, and refuses. Elosha says that this is the path the Prez chose. I do not trust Elosha at all. The Prez starts to walk among the people and touch their foreheads gently.
Resistance fighters scurry through the trees, back to the spot where they were attacked. Helo tells Anders that they've already searched this path repeatedly. For lo, Anders is not dead, and Simon is a Cylon. That first thing is kind of a disappointment. Anders says that Starbuck must have gotten shot, and Helo directs the rebels to search the area again in case Starbuck crawled off to hide out of line of fire. For a couple of days. Anders grumbles that he thought Starbuck was with them when they pulled back. Helo says that they got separated, and that "Kara, of all people, would understand." Hm. Maybe. Somehow, they manage to hear a twig snap over their loud conversation, and all aim their guns toward the noise. Boomer says, "I know where Starbuck is," and steps out from behind a tree with her hands raised. Helo asks where she's been, and Boomer says, "Tracking you." Okay, that's creepy. Anders snaps, "Who is she?" Helo tries to figure out how to answer that, and finally just pushes Anders's rifle down and says, "She's with us." Kind of. Boomer says, "You're the father of my child, Helo. I'm not gonna lose you." Helo's like, "Thanks for announcing that in front of my cool new friends." Anders looks at Helo a little nervously, and Helo, resigned, asks where Starbuck is.
Astral Queen. The Prez says, "Send the signal and jump." A flare is launched from the ship and glows above the fleet.
CIC. Gaeta says that the Astral Queen has jumped. Adama says, "Now, see how many follow." Tigh figures there'll be two or three at most. Adama stares into space.
Starbuck wakes up blearily. She pushes the blankets down and gingerly prods the two bandages on her side. Simon strolls in, and she asks why she has a new scar. Simon says that she went into surgery last night because she was bleeding internally. He says, "Just about done with you, Starbuck," and she blinks a little before saying that's a nice way to put it. Simon cheerfully continues that after a couple more tests she can go back to the fight. He aims a needle at the IV tube, and Starbuck protests, "I just woke up!" Simon replies, "Now you're going back to sleep." Starbuck fades out, and Simon leaves. Once he's gone, Starbuck pulls her right hand out from under her blanket, where she'd folded the IV tube over to stop the drip. She pulls the IV out, and winces.
Starbuck quietly exits her room and pads down the hallway. She looks so small and vulnerable in bare feet and wearing a thin shift. She doesn't look particularly stealthy, though, as she comes to an intersection with a nurse's station. Simon is visible at the station, talking to a blonde we can't see clearly, but we don't really need to see her to feel sure it's Six. Simon says, "Pending lab test results on sample ovaries, complete removal will proceed tomorrow." Wow, how many ovaries does Starbuck have? Maybe that's why they think she's special. He adds that the subject "will be moved to processing facility for final disposition." Six asks, "Is that regret I hear in your voice, Simon?" Simon replies, "If it is, it certainly is none of your concern." He moves out of view, and Six steps forward so that Starbuck can see her. Starbuck hurries back down the hall.
Back in her room, Starbuck stares around, terrified. She finally sits on the bed and whispers, "Lords of Kobol, please help me." We see her reflection in the cracked mirror as she turns to look at the door.
Commercials. Simon addressing Starbuck by her callsign kind of bugged me because it's such an overused reveal. However, I was really happy that they didn't announce it. Starbuck didn't call him on it immediately, and she didn't have a little private monologue where she suddenly gasped, "Wait, I never told him my nickname!" So I took some comfort in the fact that they respected the audience enough to get it without explaining.
Get out your trivia notebook: Starbuck is in room 254. Simon enters, and finds Starbuck sitting up slightly in bed, reading a magazine. I'm going to pretend that the real flaw in their brilliant plan was that, when Starbuck asked for reading material, all they had for her was old issues of Popular Mechanics. Simon greets her, and she smiles back smugly. He walks to the foot of the bed and looks at her curiously, and Starbuck snickers a little and goes back to her magazine or whatever it is. He examines the IV and asks if she feels okay. Starbuck makes a frowny face and admits that something is bothering her. Simon doesn't respond, and walks around the bed, still staring at the IV. As he passes the foot of the bed, we see that several bits of the mirror are missing. Simon finishes his tour and stands to Starbuck, who immediately lunges up and stabs the mirror shard into the side of Simon's neck. As Simon yells in pain, Starbuck says, "I never told you my callsign was Starbuck." Crap, now I have to take back the one thing I liked about that. But, ooh, I do like it when Starbuck yanks her makeshift knife back and gets sprayed with blood. Cool. Simon gasps, "You can't kill me," and Starbuck falls backward, screaming, "Just die!" She shoves a twitching Simon off of her and pulls his keys out of his pocket. Grabbing her jacket, she heads for the door.
Starbuck hobbles down a hallway and then ducks into a room. She stares, and the camera finally spins around to show a half-dozen women in beds. With lots of tubing snaking between their propped-up legs, and wires and meters attached to their heads. Well. Ick. Starbuck stares about and then realizes that one of the "patients" is Sue-Shaun. Starbuck rushes over and says, "I'm gonna get you out of here." I don't know if she's planning to leave the rest of the women there, or what. It doesn't matter really, since Sue-Shaun stirs and says, "No time. Cut the power." Starbuck says that'll kill Sue-Shaun, but Sue-Shaun says, "I can't live like this. The baby machines." Or so the captions claim. I can't make any sense out of the second part because she's whispering a little too dramatically. Starbuck finally leans down and says something to Sue-Shaun -- possibly, "What was that last thing you said? I didn't catch it." Then she steps away from the bed and looks at what appears to be the hub for the electrical equipment in the room. She picks up a piece of medial equipment and squeals a little as she starts smashing things up. There's whirring and exploding and lights start to go out in the building. As the equipment sizzles and explodes, Starbuck exits.
Starbuck tries to hurry down the hallway, clutching her side and holding a rail for support. As she passes a fire extinguisher on the wall, a door nearby opens, and Six comes out. Six fusses over locking the door while Starbuck reaches for the fire extinguisher. Apparently, Six has really shitty peripheral vision. Starbuck rushes over and slams Six's head with the fire extinguisher. Down she goes, and Starbuck runs on.
Starbuck makes it outside, and gingerly descends a huge stone staircase. At the bottom, Simon steps out to greet her. Bummer. Starbuck turns, I guess to try to run, and then Simon is shot several times. Starbuck drops and covers her head with her heads, whimpering. Which almost makes up for the callsign thing. Because she could have just quipped, "What kept you?," and been heroic and boring. The fact that having her enemy shot in front of her just adds to her terror makes it a lot more interesting. After a moment Starbuck nervously peers up over the staircase railing and sees the Resistance fighters rushing toward the building. Helo impatiently shouts, "Warriors, come out and pla-ay!" Or maybe that was me. She runs through some conveniently opened gates toward them.
And that's when four Centurions step out onto the second-floor landing and open fire. Heh. Anders shouts for Starbuck to get down, before ducking behind some rocks. Starbuck runs a few steps and falls, and bullets hit the dirt around her. Cylon eyesight in general seems unimpressive. One of the humans gets shot as they fire back at the Cylons. Starbuck rolls over in the dirt and sees a Heavy Raider loom up over the trees. It pivots and fires at the Cylons, who are probably wishing they had mouths so they could say, "Not us, you idiot!" As the Raider takes out the Cylons, Helo and Anders run forward to grab Starbuck.
The Resistance rushes toward the now-landed Raider. Boomer greets them from the hatch and waves them in, shouting, "Move! Like you have a purpose, people." Ha!
Cut to the fleet. A bunch of ships suddenly wink out.
CIC. Adama stares at the dradis screen. Gaeta reports that twenty-four ships have gone. Tigh gasps, "That's almost a third of the fleet." Adama takes off his glasses and thinks about how much he hates people. The thing that bothers me is, does that mean every single person on those ships wanted to follow the Prez? Or only their captains?
Adama pulls Boomer's body out of their little Cylon corpse repository. She does make a pretty corpse. We can see the top of a Y-incision on her chest, so I guess Baltar's keeping himself busy. Adama stares at her, and there's a flashback of Boomer shooting him. Adama says, "Why?" He puts his hand on her forehead and starts crying. Aw, poor Adama. He hunches over and sobs loudly into the corpse's torso. That's a little bit gross, Sir.
Back on Caprica, it's the kind of scene I haven't had to since Angel, where everyone trades exposition for a while. Boomer starts things off by explaining that the Cylons are researching "breeding programs." Starbuck's gotten a new outfit and is sitting in the Humvee passenger seat while Helo checks out her injuries. Helo chimes in, "They call them 'farms.'" Starbuck asks Boomer, "What were they gonna do, knock me up with some Cylon kid?" Boomer says, yup, pretty much, and adds, "We haven't been very successful so far." Anders joins the party, and explains that Cylons aren't able to reproduce biologically. Starbuck asks why they want to, and Boomer says, "That's one of God's commandments. 'Be fruitful.'" She looks at Helo as she explains that they haven't been able to do it on their own. Boomer hilariously tells Starbuck, "If you agreed to bear children, it'd be voluntary. Maybe even set you up with someone you like!" Starbuck makes a duck face and asks, "Like you two kids?" Boomer says that she and Helo are different. Starbuck asks what that means, and poor Helo is saddled with one of the dopiest lines in a while when he says, "They have this theory...maybe the one thing they were missing was love." Oof, that stings. Moore kinda-sorta explains this by noting that the Cylons believe that God is love, so they figure they have to experience love before God will bless them. The Cylons are getting way too New-Agey for me. Anyway, Helo concludes that he and Boomer were manipulated to fall in love. Starbuck rants that Sue-Shaun wasn't asked if she wanted to fall in love. Boomer looks a little exasperated and says, "They know who you are, Kara. You're special. Leoben told you that. You have a destiny." Well, Leoben did say she had a destiny. He didn't say she was special. And the only way Boomer could know that is if Leoben did get to be "reborn," right? Good for him, I guess. Helo decides this a good time to ask what the second scar on Starbuck's belly is from. Starbuck sniffs that she doesn't know, and doesn't want to after what she's heard. She zips up her jacket while Anders asked how many other women are at the Cylon farms. Boomer says there may be thousands, but adds, "I haven't accessed that data." Starbuck follows Anders a few steps away and proposes that they use the Heavy Raider to go on a search and rescue mission for more farms. Anders reminds her, "That's not why you came to Caprica."
Anders leads Starbuck away from the Humvee, where Helo and Boomer are hugging. Anders moves aside an oil drum and reveals a string quartet. Oh, that's the soundtrack, sorry. Actually, there's a tidy square well hidden underneath. He reaches in, pulls out a waterproof tube, and opens it to pull out the arrow and hand it to Starbuck. Starbuck looks amused by the hidey hole, and Anders says, "Go find Earth." She reminds him that he was asking her for professional advice before. Anders thinks, "That was before I found out that you get seriously injured every few episodes. Now I think your advice isn't worth much." But he just says, "We'll muddle through," because he's polite. Starbuck says that the Cylons will kill him. Anders says that he'll take out all the farms first. I'm skeptical. Starbuck sniffs, "I'm not gonna leave you here." Anders looks down and reminds her that she promised to come back. I thought she just promised to send reinforcements back. Just saying. Starbuck yanks off a dogtag and, as Anders shakes his head, she puts it in his hand. He kisses her hand, which I'm kind of a sucker for even though I think he's a lug. Starbuck says that she will come back, and they nod at each other, and then Starbuck briskly turns away before she starts crying again. Anders grabs her hand and stops her long enough to say, "Be safe." Starbuck flashes a grin that becomes another crying jag, and walks back to Helo and Boomer. Someone says, "Let's go home," and I assume that it was Starbuck but it totally didn't sound like her.
Anders walks into the frame as the Raider takes off in the background. Bye, Anders.
time: the Prez wants to put Boomer out an airlock, and it's time for another visit to Kobol. Oh, and Adama's still cranky.
Production card: No bones.