Bastille Day (Battlestar Galactica)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battlestar Galactica episode | |
|---|---|
| “Bastille Day” | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 3 |
| Guest star(s) | Richard Hatch as Zarek |
| Writer(s) | Toni Graphia |
| Director | Alan Kroeker |
| Production no. | 103 |
| Original airdate | UK: November 1, 2004 US: January 21, 2005 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Water" | "Act of Contrition" |
"Bastille Day" is an episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series.
[edit] Plot
Survivor Count: 47,958
After a source of water is located on a nearby moon, Capt. Apollo suggests the use of the 1,500 prisoners aboard the Astral Queen to extract it, but President Roslin does not want to institute slave labor, and instead believes that the prisoners should have the choice to work in exchange for "points" towards early freedom. She assembles a delegation consisting of Apollo, her personal aide Billy Keikeya, Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla, and deckhand Specialist Cally.
Commander Adama is opposed to the idea, especially since he is at odds with Apollo's newly appointed role as Roslin's "special advisor". Regardless, the team heads to the Astral Queen and meets with the prisoners' de facto leader, the political radical and terrorist from Sagittaron named Tom Zarek.
Zarek refuses the offer. Instead, he and his men manage to escape confinement and capture the delegation as hostages. He then demands Roslin's immediate resignation as President, believing that her government does not represent the people. He calls for free elections among the human survivors and limited autonomy for the prisoners.
Refusing to give in to Zarek's demands, Adama sends Lt. Starbuck to lead a section of marines to infiltrate the Astral Queen and kill Zarek if he doesn't release the hostages. Apollo realizes that this is exactly what Zarek wants: a bloodbath that will lead to the collapse of Roslin's government. However, Apollo stops the assault and forces a compromise with Zarek. He proposes to hold elections within a year in return for the prisoners' cooperation in retrieving the water. Roslin and Adama object to the decision until Apollo points out that Roslin is just serving out the last few months of President Adar's term which will be up within a year anyway.
Later, Adama asks Dr. Baltar for a progress report on the development of the Cylon Detector. In his head, Number Six intimidates Baltar into asking for a nuclear warhead, claiming he needs materials from it to build the detector. While speaking, Baltar realises that this is in fact a valid route to building a detector. Adama reluctantly allows it.
Meanwhile, on Caprica, Karl "Helo" Agathon and Caprica-Boomer continue their trek through a ruined city as they are observed and analysed from a rooftop by a pair of human Cylon models; Number Six, and Number Five. The two of them comment approvingly on the acting skill of Caprica-Boomer.
[edit] Trivia
- The plot of having prisoners help the fleet echoes events in the original series episode "Gun on Ice Planet Zero" where Starbuck and Apollo recruit inmates from the fleet's Prison Barge to help destroy a Cylon outpost.
- Tom Zarek is played by Richard Hatch, who was Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica series,
- When Caprica-Boomer and Helo are walking through Cylon controlled Caprica and stumble upon the corpse being eaten by rats, they are actually walking in front of the Vancouver Public Library.
- The character of Cally was supposed to be killed off in the original drafts of this script, but David Eick decided he wanted her to fight back during the rape scene rather than be killed off.
- In the miniseries, the President's advisor states that the Astral Queen only holds "nearly 500" prisoners - and not the 1500 mentioned in this episode.
- The episode's title is a reference to the French holiday of Bastille Day, a day that is often associated with the Storming of the Bastille.
