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Survivors:
Air Date: 10/06/2006
Written by: Ronald D. Moore
Directed by: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Cast
Tricia Helfer (Number Six)
Mary McDonell (Laura Roslin)
Katee Sackhoff (Kara "Starbuck" Thrace)
James Callis (Gaius Baltar)
Grace Park (Sharon "Boomer" Valerii)
Edward James Olmos (William Adama)
Jamie Bamber (Lee "Apollo" Adama)
Plot Summary
Season 3 kicks off with Col. Tigh and Starbuck weathering hellish conditions as a resistance cell strikes back against the Cylon occupation of New Caprica. Brother Cavil: Dean Stockwell. D'Anna Biers: Lucy Lawless. Kate Vernon. Nicki Clyne. Michael Trucco. Episode Recap
Four months into the Cylon occupation of New Caprica, the human settlement is a bleak and paranoid place. President Baltar and a newly created human police force are mere tools of the all-powerful Cylon Occupation Authority. But the planet's oppressed residents cling to two frail hopes: that their resistance movement will weaken the Cylons, and that Admiral Adama and his fleet will return to rescue them all. Kara Thrace has been a prisoner of the Cylon named Leoben since the occupation began. He has confined her to an apartment and treated her with unusual civility. Although she resists him violently, he calmly downloads to a new body whenever she kills him. Her surreally domestic surroundings and his maddening immortality drive her to desperation. For his part, Leoben confidently believes that, with the help of his God, he can win over his prisoner's mind — and heart. Col. Tigh, by contrast, languishes in a barren cell until his wife, Ellen, secures his release by sleeping with the Cylon leader Cavil. Now missing an eye because of Cylon torture, Tigh swiftly reunites with the insurgency's leaders, Tyrol and Anders. Tyrol has obtained security plans for a police graduation ceremony, and a disillusioned police trainee, Duck, volunteers to blow himself up at the event. Horrified, Tyrol argues that this act crosses a moral line. Tigh, however, insists that it's just a military tactic, like sending a soldier out to die on a traditional battlefield. He approves the plan, and Duck begins preparations for his suicide mission. Far out in space, Admiral Adama presides over a diminished and dispirited fleet. His son, Lee, commander of the Pegasus and new husband of Lt. Dualla, resents his father's obsession with rigorous training for a rescue mission to New Caprica. Lee refuses to believe the mission can succeed; his father doesn't dare believe that it can't. At odds with his son, the Admiral's closest confidant has become the Cylon prisoner Sharon, who has slowly earned his respect and trust. Then, in a major breakthrough for their cause, the insurgents successfully radio a hidden Raptor that Adama has ordered to observe New Caprica. Through this tenuous contact, Adama and Tigh reaffirm their determination to rescue the planet's human population. But this glimmer of hope is overshadowed as Tigh's grimly determined suicide bomber takes his place among the police graduates — and ignites a tragedy. Remarkable Scenes:
- The opening scene (which effectively begins after the credits) is quite moving. A soft lyrical song hums along in the foreground while fragments of events surrounding the lives of the New Capricans flash before us. - Cavil coming to meet Tigh. I love the quirky way in which he greets him, especially the bit with the sunglasses. The little psychological games he plays with Tigh are also marvelous to watch. Especially Cavil's little comment about how the "bureaucracy must be served." The whole set of scenes are all quite subtle and most effective. - Tyrol and Anders blowing up the Cylon heavy raider. - Starbuck murdering Leoben. Leoben: "I'll see you soon, Kara." Starbuck: "Take your time." She then creepily goes back to her meal, ignoring (perhaps celebrating?) the blood on her hands. The scene is nicely buttoned by being scored to the ending of "Passacaglia." - Roslin: "It is simply not enough to kill Cylons because they don't die. They resurrect themselves and continue to walk among us. It is horrifying." - The scene where the Cavils frustratingly lecture the other Cylons in the midst of Baltar's apathetic presence about the ineffectiveness of their occupation. - Tigh describing how he lost his eye. - Tigh expressing his contempt for Baltar. I like how he always using his full name. - Leoben: "Hi, honey, I'm home... You kill me, I download, I come back, we start over. Five times now." I like how Kara tries to kill him again right after the speech he gives her. - Leoben: "To know the face of god is know madness." - Helo, regarding the repeated training missions: "Sixteen times now, sir." Adama: "The next one will be seventeen then won't it?" Helo: "Yes, sir." - Adama and Apollo arguing about the training missions. I love how pissed off Adama is. - Tyrol and Tigh debating whether or not to send Duck on a suicide mission. - Adama meeting with Boomer. - Dee to Lee: "You're a soldier who needs a war." - The raptor making contact with the ground. - Adama: "It's gonna be okay. It's really gonna be okay." - Duck's suicide bombing. Additional Notes
- A parental advisory was displayed prior to this episode airing on the Sci Fi channel. - This episode features revised opening sequence visuals. - This episode did not feature a teaser. - The survivor count is notably absent from the opening theme. - This episode and the next one were collectively awarded the IGN.com Editor's choice award and a quite favorable review in which they both scored a 10 out of 10 points. - Kat is now Galactica's CAG. - Helo is now Galactica's XO. - Dee is now Pegasus' XO. - Quoth Bear McCreary regarding the vocal piece at the beginning of Occupation: "After the Main Title, the first new piece of music is an original vocal piece. Ironically, this music is based on a song that I wrote for the Season 2 premiere that ultimately got thrown out. I later borrowed the lyrics from that first song and used them to create "Lords of Kobol" for the episode "Pegasus." However, the original song remained unused, collecting dust on a shelf for 20 episodes, and now returns with a fresh orchestration, new lyrics and a haunting performance by Raya Yarbrough. The editors created this opening montage using the original version of this song, so this piece of music helped influence this scene from the very beginning."-Ronald Moore was nominated for a 2007 Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Writing For a Drama Series" for the script of this episode. The nomination treated "Occupation" and "Precipice" as one double-length episode.- Katee Sackhoff read the "Previously on Battlestar Galactica" line at the beginning of this episode.- This episode premiered on Space in Canada on October 7th, 2006. One day after it was shown in the US.- The episode begins on the 134th day of the Cylon occupation of New Caprica.- Kandyse McClure is credited as Candice McClure for the first time. -In this episode, it is confirmed that Helo is the Galactica XO and Kat is Galactica CAG. Also, Dualla is serving as the Pegasus XO
