Battlestar Galactica Blood and Chrome Story by David Eick & Bradley Thompson & Michael Taylor & David Weddle Teleplay by Michael Taylor Directed by Jonas Pate 2012

A young William Adama enters the Colonial military as a pilot assigned to the battlestar Galactica during the 10th year of the first Cylon War.

Read the summaries of the webisodes at Wikipedia

Notes from the BSG Chronology

This story takes place 10 years into the first Cylon War.

Didja Know?

The 94-minute TV movie Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome was the pilot for a proposed ongoing TV series for SyFy about the young William Adama's exploits during the first Cylon War. For some reason, SyFy chose to break the pilot into 10 webisodes in November 2012, before showing it as a movie on TV a few months later. No official announcement was ever made by SyFy, but the pilot was not picked up for series.

The original script was designed to be for a Battlestar Galactica video game about William Adama's service during the first Cylon War. Syfy executives liked the script so much, they asked if it could be turned into a pilot movie for a potential TV series instead.

Several actors from Caprica appear here, playing characters unrelated to those they played in the former series. Brian Markinson plays Galactica's commander, Silas Nash. Zak Santiago plays Captain Diaz. And John Pyper-Ferguson plays Sergeant Toth.

Didja Notice?

The planet seen in the opening shot is Caprica.

William's voiceover at the beginning is a letter to his father, Joseph Adama, one of the main characters of Caprica.

At 0:34 on the Blu-ray, a fleet of Intersun civilian starliners is seen docked at a spaceport on the bay. Possibly, one of these is the starliner that becomes Colonial One for President Laura Roslyn after the second Cylon War starts over 40 years later, as they look identical.

The scenes of Cylons being constructed by Graystone Industries and used for construction labor are borrowed from the coda of the Caprica episode "Apotheosis".

A civilian model servant or caretaker Cylon is seen at 0:47 on the Blu-ray.

The scene from 0:56-1:05 on the Blu-ray is from the Caprica episode "Pilot" Part 2.

At 1:06 on the Blu-ray, a classic-style Cylon basestar and Cylon Raiders (as designed for BSG70) are seen in the skies over Caprica.

At 1:09 on the Blu-ray, the destroyed building in the foreground is part of the Caprica City spaceport (seen in the Caprica episode "Retribution"), actually the real world traffic center of the Incheon International Airport in South Korea.

At 1:43 on the Blu-ray, there appears to be at least a couple of Cylon Centurions piloting the Raider, unlike the self-piloted U-shaped Raiders seen in the second Cylon War.

The Vipers seen in this movie must be Mark IIIs, as they have a different appearance to the old Mark IIs seen in episodes of BSG2000.

At 2:52 on the Blu-ray, the bird emblem on Adama's helmet is similar to the ones seen on the helmets used by Galactica pilots in BSG70.
BSG2000 helmet	Classic Galactica helmet

At 4:35 on the Blu-ray, notice that the reflection of Galactica's name plate is seen on the window pane before the battlestar itself is seen in the next shot.

As the Galactica is seen for the first time by Ensign Adama, a variation of the music from BSG70 is heard. 

As pointed out in the study of the BSG70 comic book story "Hell Hath No Fury", the Raptor multipurpose military craft looks slightly like the armed scout ship called the Centaurus aboard the Galactica in that story.
Centaurus	Raptor

At 5:12 on the Blu-ray, notice the rows of gun emplacements on top of the Galactica. These are mostly gone by the time of the main BSG2000 series, set 40 years after the first Cylon War.

At 5:31 on the Blu-ray, the new rookies aboard the Galactica are whisked through the ship on flat stand-on platforms similar to ones seen in episodes of BSG70.

The Raptor Adama is assigned to pilot is called the Wild Weasel.

At 8:00 on the Blu-ray, the stenciling of the name of the previous pilot of the Wild Weasel shows that his callsign was "Fanboy". This may be a call-out to the so-called "fanboy" arena of obsessed sci-fi fans, including those of either or both BSG TV series. The pilot's real name isn't spoken in the episode and is not legible on the raptor cockpit in the movie, but a deleted scene in the bonus features on the Blu-ray release shows it as Lt. Oliver Bear.

The commander of the Galactica at this time is Commander Silas Nash, played by actor Brian Markinson. He also played Caprican Global Defense Department agent Jordan Durham on Caprica.

Commander Nash comments on Ensign Adama's family's connections to the Ha'la'tha on Tauron. The Ha'la'tha is a crime syndicate on Tauron with tendrils throughout the Colonies, formerly a resistance movement against oppression on Tauron. The Adama family's connections to the Ha'la'tha were seen throughout the Caprica series.

At 12:08 on the Blu-ray, Adama has what appears to be a stylized version of the flag symbol of planet Tauron as a tattoo on his back.

On his right shoulder, Captain Tornvald has a tattoo of the words "So Say We All". The phrase is similar to "Amen" in the BSG universe.

Military men and women are seen to share community showers communally aboard the Galactica. The idea may have been borrowed from a similar scene in the 1997 film Starship Troopers.

Boasting in the showers about the supply milk run he gets to make for four days, Coker says he definitely intends to layover at the pick-up point because they have real booze over there, "...none of this watered-down pruno." Pruno is a term used for "prison wine", generally made clandestinely by prison inmates (or military personnel) out of whatever fruit, sugar, etc. is available for the fermentation process, to make an illicit, usually weak and bad-tasting, liquor.

When Adama goes off about being there to "destroy the frakkin' machines before they destroy us," Coker walks away, mockingly mumbling, "Oorah..." In the real world, this is a battle cry used by the U.S. Marines as an expression of enthusiasm.

Having learned that Ensign Adama's family has Ha'la'tha connections, Coker asks him about it and Adama responds that his father is a lawyer and Coker asks, "Mob lawyer?" Adama retorts, "Defense attorney." But Joseph Adama did mob lawyer work, at least before William (the second) was born, as seen in episodes of Caprica.

The BSG2000 universe uses DRADIS as something similar to radar and sonar, but more advanced and encompassing. DRADIS stands for "Direction, RAnge, DIStance".

After the Wild Weasel is out of DRADIS range of Galactica, Dr. Becca Kelly gives Coker and Adama new sealed orders from the admiralty that they are to rendezvous with the battlestar Archeron, which they soon find in pieces.

Dr. Kelly reveals to Adama that she used to work for Graystone Industries and designed an upgrade to the Cylon MCP chip.

At 23:07 on the Blu-ray, a landram is seen floating among the debris of the Archeron on the right-hand side of the screen! Since it appears to be white in color, it may even be the snowram that was intended for use by our heroes on the snow-covered planet Djerba.

A standard ABC (dry chemical) fire extinguisher is seen hanging on the bulkhead of the Weasel at 28:10 on the Blu-ray.

    Adama and Coker are amazed to find the battlestar Valkyrie among the hidden fleet in the asteroid belt in Cylon space, Coker exclaiming it was destroyed at Canceron Prime. Adama will become commander of the Valkyrie decades after, before later being transferred to command of Galactica. On Earth, "Valkyrie" is Old Norse for "chooser of the slain" and, in Norse mythology, was a female figure sent by the gods to choose who would die in battle. Presumably, the reference to "Canceron Prime" is to the Colony of Canceron. Does the "Prime" indicate that Canceron is made up of more than one world?
   The heavy cruiser Loki and warship Osiris are also found here. Loki is the Norse god of evil or mischief. Osiris was the Egyptian god of the afterlife.

At 31:39 and 31:43 on the Blu-ray, a ship similar to the Celestra on BSG70 can be seen.
Celestra-type ship	Celestra from BSG70

The unwelcome welcome the crew of the Weasel get from the ghost fleet makes Coker remark, "Reminds me of Colonial Day at my mother-in-law's." Colonial Day is seen to be a day of voting in the BSG2000 episode of the same name.

Adama, Coker, and Kelly's mission takes them from the ghost fleet to the Cylon-held ice planet Djerba, formerly a Colonial ski-resort world. There are some minor similarities here to the two-part BSG70 episode "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero", though there the planet was called Arcta.

At 35:16 on the Blu-ray, Lt. Kirby's Viper shows his callsign as Sunshine. 

The basestar that attacks the Osiris at Djerba is a hybrid cross between the classic and new basestar designs.
Classic basestar	BSG2000 basestar	Hybrid basestar

At 44:34 on the Blu-ray, notice that the gun turret that lowers from the underside of the Weasel has the words "TOASTER SLAYER" painted on the bottom of it.

After blowing apart a Raider with the toaster slayer, Coker shouts, "I got one! I frakkin' got one!" This may be a bit of an homage to Star Wars: A New Hope, when Luke blasts a TIE fighter away in the gun turret of the Millennium Falcon, gleefully shouting, "Got him! I got him!"

With hope of surviving the mission dwindling after the loss of Elias and his Viper, Kirby decides to cut out and "go home". Presumably, he decided he wanted to see the son he learned about from Coker aboard the Osiris and plans to go AWOL to see him. But it seems unlikely he would be able to make it back to a Colonial outpost unless his Viper has FTL (faster-than-light) capability.

After the Weasel crash-lands on Djerba, Adama comments that the Osiris had been an Orion-class ship, with a standard crew of 150, not counting pilots. Orion was a hunter in Greek mythology.

Notice that the giant snake-like creature that attacks the team in the ice cave has glowing red eyes, indicating it is partially Cylon. In the "Blood and Chrome: Visual Effects" bonus feature on the Blu-ray, producer David Eick refers to the creature as a Cython...half-Cylon, half-python!

Sergeant Toth is played by John Pyper-Ferguson, who also played Tomas Vergis on Caprica.

At 58:20 on the Blu-ray, notice that a flickering electronic sign inside the abandoned ski lodge is still working, advertising a visit to Tauron.

During mealtime with Toth, Coker reveals he's from Aerilon. 

This movie features a different type of Cylon Centurion than seen elsewhere. It seems to be bulkier and perhaps a bit taller than those seen before or after and they have a different head shape. It may be an early prototype of the centurions seen in BSG2000. Additionally, there is some similarity to the early pre-production Cylon concept paintings by Ralph McQuarrie for BSG70. It also looks similar to the Cylon Centurion concept art developed for the unrealized Tom DeSanto/Bryan Singer revival of BSG in 2001.    The "grill" on the face of this Cylon ripples a couple of times in its scenes. What is that all about? Is this a partially organic Cylon that needs to breathe? Notice that the lower portion of the face even looks a bit like a filter or gas mask. And we did already see the Cython creature earlier in the movie, proving some cyborg technology already in use.
Blood and Chrome Centurion	BSG2000 Centurion
McQuarrie Centurion	DeSanto/Singer Cylon concept

As Dr. Kelly discovers the human body parts in the walk-in freezer at 1:09:05 on the Blu-ray, notice that there is a full, skinned human body hanging in the background in the top left corner of the screen. Other bodies, in various states of dissection or decomposition, can be seen as Kelly's encounter with the centurion progresses in the freezer.

The central chamber of the Cylon transmissions facility has somewhat of a Gigeresque look to it.

As they wait in the snow for rescue after activating their beacon, Coker tells Adama he has a wife named Katie.

Tricia Helfer (Number 6 on BSG2000) provided the voice of the hybrid Cylon who kills Dr. Kelly near the end of the movie, in an uncredited role.

One of the mottos of the Colonial military pilots is "Service before self", as seen at 1:29:40 on the Blu-ray. This is also one of the mottos that appears on the Airman's coin awarded to airmen of the U.S. Air Force upon completion of basic training; the complete text on the Air Force symbol side of the coin is Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence In All We Do.

Notice that the pilot's designation plaque below the canopy of a Viper is in the octagonal shape of many of the physical forms of Colonial media such as paper, books, and photo frames.

The emblems of various fighter squadrons are seen on the hangar deck of the Galactica at 1:29:44 on the Blu-ray. Legible are the 8th's Red Aces, the 6th's Vampires, the 4th's Demons, and 1st Squadron Primus (which Adama is seen to be a member of later in "The Lab"). Photos of pilots are also seen hanging above the row of emblems; possibly these are Galactica pilots who have been lost in the war.

Notes from the Deleted Scenes in the Bonus Features on the Blu-ray release

In the movie itself, we never learn what Coker's use of "husker" as a derogatory term applied to Adama means. In one of the deleted scenes, he explains that, on his homeworld of Aerilon, in the farming districts, a husker is a hayseed who can't drive his tractor straight. As we know, Adama winds up adopting the term as his callsign.

In one of the deleted scenes, Adama is adding Cylon Raider silhouettes to the Wild Weasel's hull to indicate the number he's shot down. But the silhouettes are the new style Raiders seen in episodes of BSG2000, not the Raider types seen in this movie! 

Unanswered Questions

What happened to Kirby? After he decides to "go home" we don't hear anything else about him. Perhaps we'd have learned if Blood and Chrome had gone to series.

Which Viper squadron did Adama get assigned to? At the end of the movie, we see Adama launch from the Galactica in his first assigned Viper, but we don't learn what squadron he was assigned to. We can only presume he was assigned from the start as a member of 1st Squadron Primus as he is depicted later in "The Lab".