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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr
enik1138 at popapostle dot com
Battlestar Galactica: Precipice

Battlestar Galactica

"Precipice"

TV episode

Written by Ronald D. Moore

Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

Original air date: October 6, 2006

 

The resistance finally gains contact with the Galactica and Adama makes a plan of attack against the Cylons in response.

 

Read the summary of the episode at the Battlestar Wiki site

 

Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode

 

Laura Roslin

President Baltar

Jammer

Number One

Galen Tyrol

Sam Anders

Colonel Tigh

Cally

Nicholas Tyrol

Helo

Dee

Kat

Admiral Adama

Apollo

Felix Gaeta

Starbuck

Number Two

Kacey Brynn

Lt. Hoshi

Caprica-Valerii

Boomer

Caprica Six

suicide bomber (unnamed)

Number Five

Number Eight

Number Three

Number Four

Number Six

Head Six

Ellen Tigh

Tom Zarek

Skulls

 

Didja Notice?

 

It's not stated, but it looks as if the masked prison guard who brings a chair in for Baltar to sit on during his brief interrogation of Laura Roslin may be Jammer. The eyes look like his and Jammer is seen leaving the prison immediately after Laura is released.

 

How did the New Caprica colony get so many trucks? I guess the fleet had a bunch of trucks aboard one of the ships!

 

Colonel Tigh is seen rolling a cigarette. Is the colony growing tobacco?

 

Number Two asks Starbuck if she remembers the breeding farm. She was held captive there (and had her ovaries involuntarily removed) by the Cylons in "The Farm".

 

Number Two introduces Starbuck to Kacey, claiming that the girl is their daughter from Starbuck's stolen ovaries. Presumably, this would make Kacey's last name "Conoy" after Number Two's preferred identity of Leoben Conoy. However, it is later revealed in "Exodus" Part 2 that Kacey is actually Kacey Brynn, daughter of Colonial survivor Julia Brynn, and not Starbuck's at all.

 

During his argument with his father, Apollo mentions there are 2000 human civilians surviving in the fleet-in-hiding who were not on New Caprica when the Cylons arrived.

 

Apparently, Caprica-Valerii has revealed to Adama that the Cylon Centurions have been programmed not to be able to distinguish between different Cylon models/individuals so that they wouldn't become self-aware and resist orders and cause a robotic rebellion.

 

While deciding how to deal with being left alone with Kacey, Starbuck fiddles with her own hair. Starbuck's hair has grown long in her time on New Caprica, allowing her fidgeting to grow pronounced here. After the human colonists escape back to the fleet in "Exodus" Part 2, Starbuck cuts her hair relatively short again. Does she generally keep it short in order to prevent herself from the nervous fidgeting in the first place, wanting to appear always strong and free from nervousness?

 

It seems too coincidental that Kacey just happened to severely injure herself on the stairs just as Starbuck sought refuge from her responsibility for her in the bathroom. Did Number Two somehow cause the accident to happen even though he wasn't physically present?

 

When the resurrected Boomer talks to Cally in the prison cell, Cally says, "Frak you, Sharon, you stupid frakked-up toaster! How many times do I have to shoot you anyway?" Cally shot the original Boomer in retribution for Boomer attempting to assassinate Adama and Tyrol's subsequent imprisonment under suspicion of being a Cylon himself in "Resistance".

 

At 29:05 on the Blu-ray, the books on the shelf of Colonial One behind Number Three appear to be additions of Encyclopedia Britannica!

Encyclopedia Britannica

 

Number Five holds a pistol to President Baltar's head to force him to sign an execution order. The pistol is a Vektor CP1, made by Denel SOC Ltd.

 

At 31:12 on the Blu-ray, the execution order is seen to be dated 3454-91. This does not correspond to any known Colonial calendar system. Possibly, it is representative of a Cylon calendar.

 

As she is sworn in as a Colonial officer aboard the Galactica, Caprica-Valerii is referred to by Admiral Adama as Sharon Agathon, implying she has married Helo (Karl Agathon). This is the first mention of their marriage; the ceremony was not seen. Did it occur shortly before her swearing in as an officer? Or did they marry at some point earlier in the fleet's stay in the New Caprica system? If they were married earlier, it seems that they probably did not get to spend a lot of time together, as she was still incarcerated in the brig up to now.

 

After the sex, Cavil remarks to Ellen that she didn't do "the twist" right at the end this time, but whatever she did was "really something" and she says she did "the swirl". Ron Moore admits in his audio commentary for this episode that "the swirl" is a reference to an episode of the TV series Seinfeld ("The Fusilli Jerry", in which Jerry is said to use "the move" during sex, which he prefers to end with a swirl; it's never explained exactly what "the move" is).

 

    This episode reveals that Vice President Zarek has been held in detention for the past four months because he refused to cooperate with the Cylon-controlled puppet government of New Caprica headed by Baltar. Does this basically mean there was no vice president for those four months?

    Zarek has some scars on the left side of his face, implying he was beaten to some degree during his incarceration.

 

The Colonial Marines sent to New Caprica from the fleet carry the standard Colonial semi-automatic rifles seen in past episodes (actually modified Beretta CX4 Storm rifles).

 

Caprica-Valerii and Anders use the pass phrases "Go, Panthers" and "C-Bucs rule" to identify themselves to each other at the rendezvous point. These are both pyramid teams, the Panthers from Picon and Buccaneers from Caprica. Anders used to be a star player for the Buccaneers.

 

When Caprica-Valerii and Anders meet, they hug each other affectionately (especially Valerii), though it doesn't seem they could have known each other well. The two met during the Starbuck-led rescue of Anders and his resistance crew from Caprica, but after returning to the fleet, Valerii is kept in the brig almost exclusively until now, so would have had little interaction with Anders.

 

Zarek asks Roslin if she tried to steal the election "last year" and she admits she did (as seen in "Lay Down Your Burdens" Part 2). But it's been more than a year since that election, at least in Earth terms (about 500 days), so it seems he should have said "year before last". Again, Colonial years may be measured a bit differently and, of course, a year on New Caprica may be very different as well; we don't know how long the orbital period of the planet around its sun is.

 

When the centurions ambush the rendezvous, Anders pulls out an FN FiveseveN pistol.

 

When the centurions produce their weapons and aim them at the gathering of prisoners, notice that Zarek tries to pull Laura Roslin out of harm's way to the extent that he can. Looks like Zarek is not all bad!

 

Memorable Dialog


men and women as human bombs.mp3

look me in the eye and tell me you approve.mp3
the dictates of your conscience.mp3
we're on the side of the demons.mp3
guys like Gaeta are gonna get strung up.mp3
this is Kara...your mother.mp3
she's a Cylon.mp3
slap!.mp3
I've got a war to fight.mp3
I wish I had a gun.mp3
how many times do I have to shoot you?.mp3
covering their existential asses.mp3
that's what trust is.mp3
C-Bucs rule.mp3
you tried to steal an election.mp3

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