The opening titles show the fleet population at 41,401, down two
from the previous episode
"Taking a Break from All Your
Worries". That episode did not feature any deaths;
presumably a couple of people in the fleet died off-screen.
During this episode, five people die, leaving the population at
41,396 (assuming no other unseen deaths or births).
Dr. Michael Robert
Mr. Buckminster
(dies in this episode)
Mr. Buckminster's son
Dr. Cottle
Lt. Gaeta
Didja Notice?
The "Previously on Battlestar Galactica..." segment at
the beginning of the episode includes a previously unseen moment
that informs us Helo has been assigned to see to the refugees on
Galactica. It also tells us that the refugee camp is in
the starboard hangar of
Galactica, which is the hangar that had been converted into
a museum in anticipation of the battlestar's retirement from
service just before the fall of the Twelve Colonies. We also
learn that more refugees are about to arrive from the
overcrowded Thera Sita.
At 1:59 on the Blu-ray, the Agathons have a couple of what
appear to be stuffed dog toys in their quarters. Is one of them
a dog fanatic? Or have people been giving Helo the toys because
of his assignment to administer Dogsville?
At 3:00 on the Blu-ray, Starbuck calls Helo "the mayor of
Dogsville". Dogsville is the nickname that has been given to the
refugee camp of New Capricans in the starboard hangar of
Galactica. The name was first used (chronologically) in
"Visitation". Since then, Helo has
been placed in charge of managing the refugee population there.
Helo is seen to be serving as a sort of administrator of
the goings-on in
Dogsville, rather than performing his traditional
pilot and ECO duties. Possibly, his assignment to
Dogsville
is an
informal punishment for the various insubordinations he has
perpetrated when he
feels it is just, such as preventing the use of the Cylon
disease ("A Measure of
Salvation") and his and Athena's unsanctioned mission to rescue
their daughter Hera from the Cylon baseship ("Rapture").
It is made clear in this episode that Dr. Robert is a civilian
physician, not military like Dr. Cottle.
Some of the refugees are found to have Mellorak sickness, an
infection originating in the kidneys which, if not treated, can
lead to death in a manner of days. It is treated with a drug
called bittamucin. Since the series tends to use real world
medical terms, illnesses, and treatments (sometimes with an
altered name), it's possible
Mellorak
sickness and
bittamucin
are based on some real world
illness and treatment with different names here on Earth, but I
haven't been able to determine specific relationships.
Many of the Sagittaron refugees are said, and seen, to use burdock
root as a calmative for those afflicted with
Mellorak. Burdock is an actual type of plant (genus Arctium)
with roots that are used as a medicinal herb (though not
generally as a calmative from what I've been able to find).
Many of the
Sagittaron refugees wear what they refer to as a "soma braid"
bracelet on their wrist, believed by them to bring good health.
At 19:16 on the Blu-ray, President Roslin and Tory Foster
observe Caprica Six in her cell through a window and see her
talking to herself (Caprica Six is seeing and reacting to Head
Baltar). Roslin remarks to Tory that she's seen Caprica Six do
this before. It seems as if Roslin should start making a
connection to Six's behavior and the similar behavior Baltar has
exhibited numerous times in the past (when he is
seeing and reacting to Head Six), but she never does make the
connection.
At 19:24 on the Blu-ray, while Roslin and Tory observe Caprica
Six, the boom mic can be seen poking in and out in the upper
left corner.
At 19:31 on the Blu-ray, a young military man who appears to be
assisting with the refugees in Dogsville is holding a clipboard
and a typewritten page is visible on it. A zoom-in on a
screengrab of the page shows that it does not appear to have
anything to do with the refugee situation; it is a review of
tactical concerns when facing Cylons!
At 24:40 on the Blu-ray, an old style Colonial shuttle (from
BSG70) flies past the
Galactica.
At 29:08 on the Blu-ray, a mobile of Vipers and a Raptor is seen
hanging above Hera's crib.
A list of fatalities under medical care is seen at 31:12 on the
Blu-ray. The name Ian Radley appears on the list twice with two
different ages (64 and 46), reasons for fatality (Mellorak
sickness and heart infection), and colony of birth (Sagittaron
and Tauron)!
Many of the names on the list are of people associated
with visual effects on the show. Several more are known to have
places in the transportation crews of film and television
production and probably worked (uncredited) on the show.
The names are: Jim Thompson, Ian Radley, Bob Mcarther,
Duncan Calloney, Jack Marshall, Greg Behrens, Anthony Alvaro,
Kelly L Myer, Steve Woland, Justin Huang, and Erin (something).
Dr. Cottle finds that two of Dr. Robert's patients were killed
by injection with a toxic bisphosphonate.
Bisphosphonates are a type of drugs used on Earth to treat a
number of conditions, including bone diseases and cancer; though
they have some adverse side-effects, they do not normally
include a high risk of death. Cottle does specifically say "toxic
bisphosphonate", so it's possible Robert used a bisphosphonate
somehow bonded with another chemical capable of causing death.
When he is finally convinced of Dr. Robert's guilt in killing
some patients, Dr. Cottle angrily asks him, "What the hell
happened to 'do no harm,' doctor?" This would seem to be a
reference to
the ethics of the medical practice in the Western world here on
our Earth, the Latin phrase primum non nocere, "First,
do no harm."
Unanswered Questions
Zarek warns Roslin about what will happen if she puts Baltar on
trial: "Baltar will get his trial. And this is what you'll
get: a hurricane. The media will descend on you and watch and
question your every move. You will have sectarian violence,
assassination attempts. You will have civil unrest on a scale
we've never seen. Work, labor, everyday routine in this fleet
will come to a complete halt. This trial is going to bring this
entire fleet down...A hurricane, Laura. If I were you, I'd
declare martial law during the trial." Roslin doesn't back
down, but she does admit to Tory after Zarek leaves that she's
never seen him so truly frightened, implying she takes his
warning seriously. Yet, when the trial of Baltar does take place
in "Crossroads" Parts 1 and 2, there is no specific unrest in
the fleet to speak of and no indication that she has declared
martial law for the duration of the trial. The scene may be more
of a leftover of the abandoned plotline about the
Sagittarons on New Caprica and how it was to be a major factor
in Baltar's trial (see the notes on Ron Moore's audio commentary
for
"Taking a Break from All Your
Worries").
What is to be the fate of Dr. Robert? Evidence and his own
seeming admission indicate he has murdered a number of people in
the guise of treating them, mostly
Sagittarons, both on the
Galactica and on New Caprica previously. We don't hear
anything more on him after this episode, but he was presumably
tried for his crimes and either imprisoned or executed.