Battlestar Galactica "A Measure of Salvation" TV episode Written by Michael Angeli Directed by Bill Eagles Original air date: November 10, 2006

The command staff debates the morality of deploying the virus as a weapon against the Cylons; D’Anna tortures Baltar for information.

Read the summary of the episode at the Battlestar Wiki site

Didja Know?

The opening titles show the fleet population at 41,420, down two from the previous episode "Torn". No human deaths were depicted in that episode, but it's certainly possible that a couple members of the fleet died of natural or other causes off camera.

Apollo

Athena

Admiral Adama

Helo

Lt. Gaeta

Number Six

Number Three

Number Eight

Number Five

Number Four

Sgt. Erin Mathias

Hot Dog

Racetrack

Dee

Dr. Cottle

Baltar

Caprica Six

Hera (mentioned only)

President Roslin

Chief Tyrol

Didja Notice?

Dr. Cottle identifies the disease infecting the Cylons of the derelict basestar as lymphocytic encephalitis. This is an actual condition on our world caused by the disease lymphocytic choriomeningitis. The condition is a swelling of the brain.

According to Athena, when the Cylons on the derelict baseship thought the disease was going to kill them with no hope of downloading to a new body, they spoke a prayer to "the cloud of unknowing."

When Helo argues to President Roslin that the Cylons do not deserve to be completely eradicated because they tried to live with humans on New Caprica, Roslin indignantly responds that she doesn't remember him ever setting foot there. But we do later see him on the planet in a flashback sequence to a festival in "Unfinished Business", though that was before the Cylon occupation (and we do not know if she saw him there; it's also possible she forgot about his presence at the festival since she and Adama seem to have been stoned on something similar to cannabis at the time!).

Athena is found to be immune to the lymphocytic encephalitis due to having carried a half-human child.

It seems odd that Galactica's XO (Helo) is not in CIC when the ship jumps into Cylon-occupied space to perform the plan to use the biological weapon against the Cylons. Wouldn't Admiral Adama expect him there? Shouldn't his absence be a red flag that he was missing when the sabotage occurred? Is it possible that Adama actually put Helo up to it?

Adama indicates that the 13th Tribe left Kobol for Earth somewhere around 3,000 years ago.

Notes from the audio commentary by Ron Moore on the Blu-ray release

Moore points out an error in that when the Colonial Marines board the infected basestar, there are fewer bodies in the corridor leading to the command center than there were previously in "Torn". 

Unanswered Questions

Have the Colonial authorities of the fleet now concluded that the members of the fleet's boarding party to the infected baseship can not be Cylons since they were not infected? Have the authorities also considered using the virus as a test to see who in the fleet may be a Cylon?