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Battlestar Galactica 3: Exodus 2Air Date: 10/20/2006

Written by: David Weddle, Bradley Thompson
Directed by: Felix Enriquez Alcala

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

Conclusion. Lee wrestles with his order to protect the civilian fleet as Adama launches his rescue mission. Meanwhile, on New Caprica, Col. Tigh confronts Ellen's betrayal. Lucy Lawless. Michael Trucco. Callum Keith Rennie.

Episode Recap

Standing watch over the civilian fleet, Lee Adama confides to his wife that his father and the Galactica cannot hope to survive their rescue mission to New Caprica. Dualla comforts him with the knowledge that the civilian fleet will live on to preserve the memory of such great heroes.

On New Caprica, the insurgents count down the final minutes until the uprising begins. Ellen Tigh and her husband share a tender moment before he poisons her. The insurgents can't allow her to live after the betrayals she has committed. She dies in his arms, and he weeps, heartbroken, over her body.

At the sound of the first explosions, the Cylon leaders rush to the windows of Colonial One and look out on a city that is bursting into flame. Outside, human civilians race for their designated evacuation points as Anders, Tyrol and Tigh lead the insurgents into battle. Anders assaults the detention center while Tyrol and Tigh fight toward the shipyard. For her part, Laura Roslin guides a small group to reclaim her old home, Colonial One.

Amid the confusion, the Galactica Jumps into low atmosphere and launches Vipers to cover the insurgents on the ground. When the Galactica returns to space, however, four powerful Cylon base ships quickly surround it. Utterly outmatched, Adama and his crew prepare to go down with their ship. Then Lee and the Pegasus arrive, weapons blazing. That surprise buys the Galactica's crew just enough time to repair their faster-than-light drive and escape. But the Pegasus, overwhelmed by the base ships, is doomed. Lee puts the Pegasus on a ramming trajectory with a base ship and gives his crew the order to abandon ship.

On the planet, liberated prisoners join the evacuation as Anders storms through the detention center. He finds Starbuck lying unconscious from an assault by Leoben. Anders carries her to safety, but she awakens and insists on returning to her prison for baby Kacey. There, she finds Leoben and Kacey waiting for her. Leoben will give up the child only if Starbuck meets one unnerving condition: she must tell Leoben that she loves him.

The Cylons know that they've lost control of the colony. They evacuate, but leave D'Anna behind to detonate a nuclear bomb in their wake. Thus, despite the selfless courage of the insurgents and the crews of Galactica and the Pegasus, the lives of all humans on the planet might unexpectedly depend upon the only man who can stop D'Anna: Gaius Baltar.

Remarkable Scenes

- Lee having trouble with his orders. Lee: "He's taking on too much for one half strength battlestar to handle. That's not opinion, that's military fact. He's not coming back from this. None of them are." Dee: "All we can do is make plans for the future. We have to survive. We have to find Earth. If we don't, there'll be no one to remember a man named William Adama or a battlestar named Galactica."
- Tigh killing Ellen.
- D'Anna after listening to Baltar lecture the Cylons on the failure of the occupation: "What would you have us do, Gaius?" Baltar: "Leave. Pack up your centurions, and go. Please. Go." D'Anna: "And then what? What would you do if we really just left you here? You'd live out your lives in peace and never trouble yourselves with thoughts of us again? Or would you raise your children with stories of the Cylon, the mechanical slaves who once did your bidding, only to turn against you? Killers who committed genocide against your race, the occupiers of this city until we just ran away? Would you tell them to tell the story to their children, and to their childrens' children, and nurse a dream of vengeance down through the years so that one day they could just go out into the stars and hunt the Cylon once more?" Baltar: Blood for blood. Has to stop one day."
- Explosions going off all over the city.
- Anders leading his resistance fighters to liberate the detention center.
- Galactica launching its decoy.
- The Cylons on Colonial One scrambling to find out what's going on.
- The decoy squadron performing its mission.
- Zarek, regarding Roslin coming with him and his ship to escape: "You're coming, right?" Roslin, motioning toward Colonial One: "My ship's up there."
Zarek: "You sure have a sense of the dramatic."
- Galactica jumping into the atmosphere in plain view of the resistance fighters of New Caprica and "falling like a rock."
- Galactica launching its vipers intra-atmosphere and jumping away.
- One of Galactica's pilots, just before being launched intra-atmosphere: "Well, this ought to be different."
- Vipers dogfighting with Cylon raiders above New Caprica, assisting the resistance.
- The resistance force charging the airstrip after receiving assistance from the vipers.
- Galactica attempting to hold off four Cylon Basestars as civilian ships flee New Caprica.
- Adama, as he realizes the end is near: "Then that's it." He looks around at his crew and says, "It's been an honor."
- The camera panning away facing Galactica giving the impression that Galactica is about to be destroyed when in reality the camera is panning toward the approaching Pegasus.
- The Pegasus pummeling the basestars.
- Adama regarding the Pegasus' arrival: "Damn you Lee." He turns to his crew and orders the following: "Keep working on those FTLs, get'em online! Cylons'll redeploy as soon as they recover!" Then says under his breath: "Thank you Lee."
- Kara going back for Kasey.
- D'Anna, while discussing the escape plans with the other Cylons looks to Baltar and says: "And you. I don't think you'll want to be here after we've gone. There's a place for you too." Baltar: "For me?" D'Anna: "Well, you were right and we were wrong. There should be some reward for that."
- Civilian ships attempting to free New Caprica amidst Cylon raiders and Colonial vipers dogfighting.
- The Galactica fleeing with her vipers leaving a devastated Pegasus behind.
- Caprica Six: "Gaius, we should go." Baltar: "I just wanna sit here and die." Gaeta confronts Baltar: "You're gonna get your wish Gaius. I believed in you. I believed in the dream of New Caprica." Caprica Six: "Gaeta, we all did." Gaeta: "No! No. Not him. He believed in the dream of Gaius Baltar. The good life. Booze, pills, hot and cold, running in turns. He led us to the apocalypse. And I... and I turned out to be..." Baltar: "An idealist. There's no sin in that."
- Lee ordering the evacuation of the Pegasus.
- Lee just before stepping off his CIC: "Thank you."
- 4 raptors fleeing a devastated Pegasus.
- The Pegasus ramming a basestar.
- Debris from the Pegasus destroying another basestar.
- Leoben confronting Starbuck. I love how she capitulates to Leoben's wishes for Kasey's sake.
- Starbuck murdering Leoben one last time right in front of Kasey.
- Baltar finding a baby among the bodies and the Six in his head returning to tell him that it's Hera, "the first of God's new generation." Then D'Anna finding them and realizing the same thing; asking to hold her.
- Roslin boarding Colonial One.
- The real mother of Kasey noticing her.
- Adama: "Guess you didn't understand my orders." Lee: "Never could read your handwriting." Tigh: "Permission to come aboard, sir?" Adama: "Permission granted." They salute. Adama: "You did it. You brought'em home, Saul." Tigh: "Not all of'em." Adama: "I'm sorry."
- The crowd cheering Adama's name, holding him high.
- Adama shaving the mustache.
- Adama walking the cooridors of a repopulated Battlestar Galactica


Additional Notes

- The destruction of the Pegasus in this episode was motivated primarily by budgetary reasons. The sets aboard ship were too expensive to maintain because they were needed to build sets for future episodes.
- Prior to this episode's shooting, some people at the Universal lot from the visual effects derpartment of BSG hung a giant banner outside the building facing RDM's office directly which read "Save the Pegasus!" Nobody on the lot understood what it meant, except for RDM, at whom it was directed as an inside joke.
- Destroyed Cylon capital ships, running total: 5 confirmed, 2 probable. (+2 confirmed, +1 probable)
-The Futon Critic website named this episode the best episode on television for 2006, stating that "this is what TV should be."
- The visual effects team won a 2007 Creative Arts Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Special Visual Effects For a Series for their work on this episode.

Director Felix Alcala received a 2007 Emmy Award nomination in the category of "Outstanding Directing For a Drama Series."

The episode was also recognized with an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Sound Editing For a Series."

- Edward James Olmos read the "Previously on Battlestar Galactica" line at the beginning of this episode.

- The visual effects team won a 2007 VES Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series for this episode. The team members included Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Alec McClymont, and Brenda Campbell. The award was given at the Visual Effects Society's 5th annual VES Awards gala on February 11, 2007, at the Kodak Grand Ballroom in Los Angeles.

-Marvel Comics released a "Battlestar Galactica" comic book titled "Exodus!" in the spring of 1979. The story was based on "Saga of a Star World, Part 2," the 2nd part of the opening story from the original "Battlestar Galactica" TV series.