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Survivors: 41400

Air Date: February 25, 2007
Written by: Jane Espenson, Anne Cofell Saunders
Directed by: Wayne Rose
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
Amid a heated labor dispute, Tyrol asks the imprisoned Baltar for advice. Seelix becomes involved after she is turned down for flight training.
Mid-flight, a Raptor catches fire and crashes into Colonial One. No one is killed, but when impurities in the craft's tylium fuel are discovered, Roslin and Adama demand answers from Zeno Fenner, the foreman on the tylium refinery ship Hitei Kan. Fenner has shut down his ship's production, insisting that broken machinery, unsafe conditions, and sheer exhaustion make it impossible for his workers to do their jobs well.
Although the fleet's fuel supply is now dangerously low, Fenner threatens to disrupt production further if these problems aren't solved. Then he quotes from a subversive new manifesto about class conflict that Gaius Baltar has written and had smuggled out of his cell. In response, Roslin orders Fenner arrested. Adama sends Galen Tyrol to the Hitei Kan to replace Fenner and get the tylium flowing.
Tyrol can't help but empathize with the disgruntled refinery workers. One of his working-class deckhands, Seelix, was recently denied elite pilot training for suspiciously arbitrary reasons; his wife, Cally, even agrees with Baltar's declaration that a new aristocracy of privileged Capricans is systematically oppressing the fleet's working poor. But Tyrol also understands that someone has to do the dirty jobs for the fleet to survive at all.
Tyrol can't help but empathize with the disgruntled refinery workers. One of his working-class deckhands, Seelix, was recently denied elite pilot training for suspiciously arbitrary reasons; his wife, Cally, even agrees with Baltar's declaration that a new aristocracy of privileged Capricans is systematically oppressing the fleet's working poor. But Tyrol also understands that someone has to do the dirty jobs for the fleet to survive at all.
Seeking better answers, Tyrol reads Baltar's book and visits the imprisoned ex-President. Despite himself, he ends up considering Baltar's subversive ideas. Soon afterward, aboard the Hitei Kan, the rickety gears of a conveyor belt jam, nearly causing a deadly disaster. Danny saves the day, worming his body into the machine to fix the jam. But as the gears clank into motion, Danny is snagged and seriously injured.
Seeing this young man — who once dreamed of a college education — bleeding on the floor of the refinery jolts Tyrol into action. He shuts down the Hitei Kan and declares a strike. His workers cheer, but Adama immediately arrests Tyrol for mutiny — and declares that all mutineers will be shot. This time, Tyrol must negotiate not just for his workers' rights, but also for their lives.
Remarkable Scenes
- Seelix' lamenting about the reasons she was rejected for promotion.
- Racetrack's raptor colliding with Colonial One.
- Adama to Roslin: "If your quarters become cramped, you're always welcome in one of my beds... in a manner of speaking."
- Roslin having Xeno Fenner arrested for quoting Baltar's book "My Triumphs My Mistakes."
- Roslin regarding Baltar's book: "I'm thinking of having a good old fashioned book burning."
- Tyrol regarding Xeno Fenner: "What'd he do?" Adama: "He pissed off the President."
- Roslin confronting Baltar about his book.
- Milo asking to throw the switch.
- Tyrol talking to Baltar.
- The conveyor belt crushing the new kid's arm.
- Tyrol striking.
- Adama confronting Tyrol about the strike.
- Roslin talking with Tyrol about union issues.
- Starbuck promoting Seelix to officer's rank in order to train her to fly vipers.
Additional Notes
-The Colonial Workers Alliance, the union that Chief Tyrol headed on New Caprica, is reborn in this episode. Tyrol resumes his role as the leader of that union.
- With the exception of the "imaginary" Number Six, no known Cylons appear in this episode.
- Although credited, Jamie Bamber and Grace Park did not appear in this episode.
-Baltar reveals in this episode that he was raised on a farm on the agricultural colony of Aerelon. He also reveals his original Aerelon accent for the first time. The accent resembles a working-class British accent. Baltar left Aerelon after his 18th birthday and rejected his Aerelon heritage. He eventually learned to speak with a Caprican accent.
-According to Ronald Moore, this episode was originally going to focus on Lt. Dualla ("Dee") and the continuation of the Sagittaron story from
The Woman King episode.
-When Baltar takes the book notes from his underwear, he's still wearing his pants. But a moment later, he is seen wearing only his underwear.
- Aerelon seems to have an accent that very closely resembles the dialect of the people of Yorkshire (northern England).
-Caprica, Tauron and Picon are described as being affluent and desirable colonies before the initial Cylon attack. Aerelon, Sagittaron and Gemenon were considered to be somewhat backward. Their members faced disdain and discrimination from members of other colonies.