Battlestar Galactica "Resurrection Ship" Part 1 TV episode Story by Anne Cofell Saunders Teleplay by Michael Rymer Directed by Michael Rymer Original air date: January 6, 2006

Returning from her unofficial mission in the stealth viper, Starbuck finds the Galactica and Pegasus facing off against each other.

Read the summary of the episode at the Battlestar Wiki

Didja Know?

The opening titles show the fleet at a population of 49,604, down one from "Pegasus" Part 2 due to the death of Lt. Thorne in that episode.

A possible error in the timeline continuity occurs in this episode and is essentially accepted throughout the rest of the series, when Admiral Cain implies it has been about 6 months since the fall of the Twelve Colonies, whereas episodes before this strongly indicated it was only about three months. However, the discrepancy may be accounted for by the break in between the episodes "Home" Part 2 and "Final Cut" if we allow (as the PopApostle timeline does) for the events of the Dynamite Entertainment comic book series (beginning with "Bringing Back the Dead") which clearly take place sometime before the arrival of the Pegasus. At PopApostle, we have determined that the period between "Home" Part 2 and "Final Cut" allows for an indeterminate amount of time to have passed between the two episodes, involving at least a few weeks.

Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode

Kat

Narcho

Dee

Admiral Adama

Colonel Tigh

Lt. Gaeta

Starbuck

Hot Dog

Stinger

Apollo

Admiral Cain

Colonel Fisk

Lt. Mei Firelli

Hoshi

Dr. Cottle

Caprica-Valerii

Helo

Chief Tyrol

Baltar

Head Six

Gina Inviere

Chief Laird

Cally

Didja Notice?

    Notice that the Cylon Resurrection Ship has antenna-like projections towards the rear. These may actually be a type of "antenna" for receiving the uploaded memories/souls of the humanoid Cylons who die in "nearby" parts of the galaxy.

    A special effects error has the antenna changing position from the right to left a couple times during the scene!

At 6:19 on the Blu-ray, Apollo sits at a console on the Pegasus Raptor that features a joystick that looks like a real world Logitech video game joystick!
Raptor joystick	Logitech Attack 3 joystick

How is the DRADIS-invisible Blackbird Viper piloted by Starbuck able to be detected by both Galactica and Pegasus DRADIS?! Possibly, her encrypted transmission to Apollo is what allowed the detection.

Starbuck is promoted to captain and Pegasus CAG by Admiral Cain in this episode. She remains a captain even after Cain's death in "Resurrection Ship" Part 2.

This episode reveals that Pegasus had come across a civilian fleet of 15 ships on its own about a week after the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies. The ships were stripped for parts and supplies and knowledgable personnel, then the rest of the survivors were left to die.

When Roslin jokes to Adama about getting a new Cylon body for herself, he responds, "I can't see you as a blonde," and she says, "You'd be surprised." Perhaps she once had her hair dyed blonde? Adama's comment also suggests that the command crew has accepted that the woman known as Shelley Godfrey in "Six Degrees of Separation" was a Cylon.

At 35:04 on the Blu-ray, Adama appears to surreptitiously wipe away a tear from his left eye as he is about to leave the sick President Roslin and she calls him back momentarily.

Starbuck's plan for the attack against the Cylon fleet and the Resurrection Ship is similar that used in the raid on the Cylon tylium refinery in "The Hand of God". Presumably, she embraces aspects of that previous mission because it worked so well. However, military strategy would tend to suggest that the enemy may have learned from that earlier successful raid as well and would be prepared not to fall for the same tactic again.

Cain tells Fisk to assemble a squad of marines to be placed aboard Galactica for the operation against the Cylon fleet who should be "Completely reliable. Completely loyal. Razors." Cain's use of the term "razors" is explained later in "Razor" Part 2.

Cain tells Fisk she will use the code phrase "Case Orange" for him and the marines to remove Adama from command of the Galactica. The phrase "Case Orange" was also used in "Serve and Protect" as the Colonial protocol for determining which government official was next in line of succession for the office of Presidency.

Notes from the Deleted Scenes

A deleted scene from this episode confirms that Apollo has been demoted by Admiral Cain not only in flight status, but also in rank: he is now just a lieutenant. In contrast, Starbuck has been promoted to his former rank of captain.

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

"Resurrection Ship" was originally intended as a single episode, but it ran long. The production then had to shoot some extra scenes to make it fit two episodes.

Kat is set up as the new hotshot pilot after Starbuck. This also helps set the stage for the rivalry between the two in "Scar".