The basic premise of this episode is deceptively simple:
that the Cylons attack every 33 minutes. We join the fleet after five days
of no sleep, with almost 237 FTL jumps under their belts. Everyone’s tired
and cranky. This is emphasized by constant ticking clocks and repeated
information on how long the fleet’s been awake.
Gaius Baltar is still “seeing” Number Six in his head, and she informs him
that the Cylon God has a plan for Gaius. Believing that he’s going crazy,
he’s dismissive of everything she says.
Just before their latest jump, a Dr. Amarak contacts president Roslin and
asks to speak to the president. Gaius fears that he’s going to be revealed
as a traitor to the colonies, since he unwittingly helping the Cylons break
through Caprica’s defences in the pilot episode. Roslin asks for Dr. Amarak
to be transferred aboard after their next FTL jump.
In a brief sequence, we learn that Helo is still alive after being stranded
on Caprica, and he has a run-in with a version of Number Six.
After FTL jump number 238, the Olympic carrier is reported missing, with
1,300 people on board, including a certain Dr. Amarak. Gaius is extremely
relieved, but then Number Six claims that this is because God “cares” for
him, However, Gaius fends this off as a random occurrence.
On what should have been jump number 239, the Cylons don’t attack.
Understandably, everyone gets a bit scared, but both Roslin and Adama make
the connection between the lack of attack and the loss of the Olympic
carrier.
After a brief few moments of rest, the Olympic carrier appears on the radar.
Baltar wonders – and panics – about why the Cylons haven’t destroyed the
carrier, and Number Six chocks it up to his lack of faith, and also a form
of punishment. She plants the idea in Gaius’s brain that it’s infiltrated by
Cylon agents, which is why it hasn’t been destroyed.
The carrier makes contact and claims they got lost, and they seem shocked
that the Cylons didn’t attacked. Soon enough, though, Amarak is back,
claiming that there’s a traitor in the fleet. Baltar makes a snap decision
and tells Roslin to cut off all communication with the fleet on the grounds
that the Cylons must have allowed the carrier to survive intact for a
reason. Roslin and Adama both see the sense in this and jam transmission
from the Olympic carrier.
They discuss the possibility of the Cylons bugging the carrier or the
passengers. They order the carrier to halt in place, but this is
ignored.
The Cylons soon make an appearance, and the Galactica discovers that the
carrier serves as a real threat, due to the presence of nuclear weapons on
board.
Six claims again that this serves as some form of punishment, and she orders
Gaius to repent. He does, and Roslin makes the decision to destroy the
carrier, killing Amarak, and also stopping Baltar from being revealed as a
traitor.
Lee, as CAG, feels that he must take final responsibility for the carrier’s
destruction. Starbuck argues that he just follows his orders – and
inevitability, so does she. The ship is destroyed, with 1,300 people on
board.
Meanwhile, back on Caprica, Helo has been taken prisoner by Six, who claims
to be a “friend”. That Six is shot while trying to free him, by a version of
Sharon. Of course, Helo does not realize that Sharon is a Cylon.
Adama and Lee have a heart-to-heart chat, with each trying to take
responsibility for the destruction of the Olympic carrier. Back on Colonial
One, Roslin questions the morality of it all, but her assistant cheers up by
telling her that a child has been born in the fleet, which leaves the
episode ending on an upbeat note.
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