Battlestar Galactica Sine Qua Non S04E08 (Scifi)

Battlestar Galactica is an Emmy Award winning science fiction television program created by Ronald D. Moore that first aired on October 18, 2004 in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky One, and January 14, 2005 in the United States on SCI FI. Repeats of episodes have been shown in the United States on SCI FI, NBC, Bravo, and in high definition on Universal HD.

Battlestar Galactica continues from the 2003 mini-series to chronicle the journey of the last surviving humans from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol after their nuclear annihilation by the Cylons. The survivors are led by President Laura Roslin and Commander William Adama in a ragtag fleet of ships with the Battlestar Galactica, a powerful but old warship, as its command ship. Pursued by Cylons intent on wiping out the remnants of the human race, the survivors travel across the galaxy looking for the fabled and long-lost thirteenth colony: Earth.

From the Wikipedia entry for Battlestar Galactica.

Because of the WGA strike, we will only be seeing 10 episode season this year. The other episodes will air in 2009.

That being said, the end of the last season was spectacular. It was revealed that Colonel Tigh, Sam Anders, the Chief and Tory Foster were four of the five final Cylon models. On top of that, Kara Thrace returned to the fleet with a message from Earth.

I used to think that Thrace was the final Cylon model. I’m no longer sure of this, although her disappearance and reappearance is hard to swallow without thinking about Cylons, I believe that Thrace is the key to Earth. She believes that too. No one else believes this, except Apollo naturally and maybe the Admiral. He’s known her for too long to think that she’s just gone bonkers.

In this episode, the Admiral makes a decision to look for Roslin by himself without putting the fleet at risk. At the same time, Lampkin is recruited by Lee to search for the perfect presidential candidate, since Zerrick isn’t cutting it.

Romo finds out that Lee Adama is the perfect candidate and he gets sworn in at the end of the episode.

A lot happened in this episode. With the Admiral relinquishing command, what will happen to the fleet? Saul is one of the last five models of Cylons. Now he is in charge of the Galactica. The Admiral did say that he wasn’t gone for good. The President and Baltar are still missing.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

* * * * *

Six isn’t dead, yet. She was shot by Athena at the end of last episode.

The quorum is going crazy about the kidnapping of the President.

Saul tells the Admiral that they are out of a lot of viper pilots. They will have to reconfigure the CAG.

The Vice-President informs the quorum what exactly happened. The President was on board the Cylon baseship with Baltar and a lot of their pilots when it jumped. Six was shot.

The Vice-President takes over as President.

Six is seeing visions. She sees a forest and dies.

Lee tries to talk with his father, but he won’t meet Zerick. He’s busy talking with Athena. He wants to know why she shot Six. She says that they were going to take Hera. She saw it in a vision. The Admiral is pissed. He tells her that she put everyone’s lives at risk, including her husband’s, the President’s and everyone else’s. She betrayed a promise to him. She disobeyed a direct order from the Admiral. She will spend her time at the brig. Her child will be taken away.

Lee tells the quorum, when he is asked by a delegate, that the Admiral is unlikely to hand over power to them, with the President missing.

The resurrection hub is gone. The Admiral wants to find it again. Starbuck recommends flying the Fleet closer together in order that the viper pilots are able to defend it adequately.

Lee thinks that Zerrick isn’t the right man. Lee consults with his old legal advisor Romo Lampkin. They need to find an interim president, someone Adama will accept. He thinks that Lampkin is the perfect candidate to help him find the right candidate.

The Admiral wants Saul to question Six about the Hub. He asks her about it and she can’t pinpoint it. Six sees that he is angry. She asks him why. Saul says that he is angry because they took the President, and that’s important to the old man, the Admiral.

Six takes the guise of Saul’s dead wife and asks him if he loves her. He is snapped out of the illusion and grabs her by the neck. He throws her against her bunk and leaves. She feels it and is surprised at how strong he is.

Dradus picks up a raptor from the Cylon baseship. They send in another raptor to investigate. They find Pike in there dead.

The Galactica jumps to the location where the raptor came from. They found Sandman’s viper. It looks like they found the Hub and destroyed it. Saul tries to reason with Adama. The Admiral wants to drop off a few raptors to search for Roslin.

Adama asks the Doc about Roslin’s condition. The Doc says that the faster she gets back, the better her chances are. However, he’s found something interesting when he examined the Six. She’s pregnant. The culprit? Saul, who has been visiting her alone and turning off the surveillance cameras.

The Admiral has some whiskey and confronts Saul about this. They come to blows. They fight it out in a game of fisticuffs. Two old men hitting the hell out of themselves. It turned sour when Saul said that the Admiral was doing the same thing with Laura. He’s involving the whole fleet to find his mate. Afterwards, they are both alright.

Adama orders more raptors to look for the President, against Starbuck’s recommendations.

Lampkin comes to see the Admiral. He’s brought writs of forfeiture for the ships. No one wants responsibility. Lampkin talks about Sine Qua Non. His words make the Admiral pensive about what he is about to do.

Adama tells Lee that he is relinquishing command immediately. He sees that he has lost his objectivity.

Lampkin has found his man. He’s talking about it with his cat. He takes his things and leaves. He has found his candidate, it’s Lee. He tells Lee. He pulls a gun on Lee. They have a discussion. Lee is sworn in as President of the Twelve Colonies. The Admiral is putting Saul in charge until the Roslin situation is resolved. He wants Saul to push on to Earth. Adama wants Hera given back to Athena.

Lee gives Romo a dog. He’s keeping Zerrick as Vice-President. Adama is getting on a raptor and waiting for Roslin. He can’t live without Roslin. He gets on a Raptor while the Fleet jumps away.

Athena is cradling her daughter.

* * * * *

Relevant Posts

• Battlestar Galactica S03E01-07
• Battlestar Galactica S03E08-13
• Battlestar Galactica S03E14-19
• Battlestar Galactica S03E20
• Battlestar Galactica Razor
• Battlestar Galactica S04E01
• Battlestar Galactica S04E02
• Battlestar Galactica S04E03
• Battlestar Galactica S04E04
• Battlestar Galactica S04E05
• Battlestar Galactica S04E06
• Battlestar Galactica S04E07