Battlestar Galactica "Scar" TV episode Written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson Directed by Michael Nankin Original air date: February 3, 2006

Seeking vengeance, the resurrected Cylon Raider killed by Starbuck on the desert planet begins picking off her new viper pilots one-by-one.

Read the summary of the episode at the Battlestar Wiki

Didja Know?

It's possible that the Cylon Raider called Scar in this episode is the same one (in resurrected form) that Starbuck killed and repurposed in "You Can't Go Home Again". In fact, I believe this is the case, especially considering the "Previously on Battlestar Galactica" recap at the beginning of this episode shows footage of Starbuck killing that Raider in that earlier episode, when there would otherwise be no particular reason to show it here.

This episode opens on what is described as the 29th day of mining operations in the asteroid belt. Since no mention of the mining or asteroid belt occurred in the most recent previous installments (the episode "Black Market" and the novel Sagittarius Is Bleeding), this episode must take place at least 29 days, likely more, after that. This adds a month + to the timeline.

The opening titles show the fleet at a population of 49,593, down four from the last count at the beginning of "Black Market". This accounts for the deaths of Phelan, Fisk, and Fisk's killer in "Black Market"...and we might add the death (though a sham) of Boxey in Sagittarius Is Bleeding.

Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode

Starbuck

Kat

Scar

Ensign Brent "BB" Baxton (in flashback only, deceased)

Ensign Joseph "Jo-Jo" Clark (in flashback only, deceased)

Kassie (seen in photo only, presumed deceased)

Reilly (mentioned only, deceased)

Hot Dog

Beano (mentioned only, deceased)

Cally (mentioned only)

Duck

Helo

Colonel Tigh

Apollo

Sam Anders (in Starbuck's memories only)

President Roslin

Admiral Adama

Colonel Tigh

Lt. Gaeta

Caprica-Valerii

Rebel (mentioned only)

Nuke (mentioned only)

Spooky (mentioned only)

Bubba (mentioned only)

Crash

Dee

Chief Tyrol

Flattop (mentioned only, deceased)

Chuckles (mentioned only, deceased)

Snake

Dipper, Jolly, Crashdown, Sheppard, Dash, Flyboy, Stepchild, Puppet, Fireball (mentioned only, deceased)

Didja Notice?

At the beginning of the episode we see a Colonial landram in use on the surface of the asteroid.

The mining ship seen in this episode is called Majahual. It looks very similar to the mining ship seen in episodes of BSG70, particularly in "Exodus", though that ship was never named.

At 2:00 on the Blu-ray, there appears to be a small pilot cockpit on the front of the Majahual.

While guarding the Majahual in their Vipers, Starbuck tells Kat to keep her eyes open, as this is where BB and Jo-Jo bought it. This is the first and only mention of two pilots by those names. Another deceased pilot named Reilly is also mentioned.

In a flashback scene, the pilots are seen packing up Reilly's stuff and Starbuck is seen holding a copy of Nymph magazine, an adult publication. Hot Dog is seen reading the magazine in the pilots' lounge later at 5:37 on the Blu-ray; an ad for the real world rock guitarist Big John Bates is seen on the back cover in this shot. The magazine here was a prop created for the episode, though there have been various magazines in the real world with the title Nymph.

President Roslin tells Adama and Tigh that the mining ship has just discovered an incredibly rich vein of ore, enough to build two new Viper squadrons. She also remarks that a production team on the Pegasus is now producing combat-ready Vipers.

At 19:44 on the Blu-ray, lockers for pilots called Rebel and Nuke can be seen in the background. At 20:22, lockers for Spooky, Bubba, and Crash are seen. At 20:59, Flash's locker is seen. This appears to be the first mention of these pilots.

During the flashback sequence of BB's death under Scar's guns, Apollo, listening to the encounter on the Galactica says to the air, "You're bingo fuel. Don't attack, you idiot!" "Bingo fuel" is an American multiservice tactical brevity code for minimum fuel state needed for aircraft to return to base.

When Starbuck asks Duck his position in the dogfight, he responds, "Behind the big spud." Later, Apollo teams Starbuck and Kat to fly "out by the big spud." "Spud" seems to be a nickname the Galactica is using for a large asteroid in the field.

After his death, Kat refers to BB as an FNG while berating Starbuck for the way she treated him. FNG is an abbreviation for Fucking New Guy in the U.S. military.

During the (aborted) sex scene between Starbuck and Apollo, the location of the bandages on Starbuck's back keeps changing!

Throughout the episode, Kat is trying to remember the name of Reilly's old girlfriend. Just before the final confrontation with Scar, she thinks that maybe the girl's name was Kassie. This may be a callback to Cassiopeia (nickname Cassie), Starbuck's girlfriend in BSG70.

When Scar is hit by Kat's guns at 38:28 on the Blu-ray, notice that blood appears to pour out into space from the Raider.

When Kat is crowned as Galactica's new top gun, Starbuck fills her cup from a bottle of Leonis Estates Sparkling Wine, previously used to christen the Blackbird in "Flight of the Phoenix".

Starbuck raises a toast to all the fallen Viper pilots since the war began, naming each of their callsigns until Apollo stops her. This is in contrast to her claim while drinking with Apollo earlier that not only does she not remember their faces, she can't remember their names.

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

Ron Moore states that Starbuck's use of her thumb to block out the sun to see Scar approaching out of its light was inspired by the character of Pappy Boyington (an actual WWII fighter ace) in the 1976-1978 TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep.

The dogfight diagrams that are seen hanging on the wall in the pilots briefing room are from an actual book.

The music that plays over the final scene of the episode, with Starbuck and Helo practicing boxing moves in the gym is from the 1978 film The Deer Hunter (a 1970 classical guitar piece called "Cavatina" by Stanley Myers).