Version User Scope of changes
Apr 16 2008, 9:01 PM EDT (current) mykeymyke 796 words added, 1 photo added, 1 photo deleted
Mar 6 2008, 5:00 PM EST Green-Arrow

Changes

Key:  Additions   Deletions
Add what you know to this episode.
Click EasyEdit to build the ultimate Battlestar Galactica episode guide.

Survivors:

Battlestar Episode 319: Crossroads Part 1 Picture
Air Date: March 18, 2007

Written by: Michael Taylor
Directed by: Michael Rymer

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

Baltar's trial testimony threatens the very stability of the fleet. Lee assists Romo Lampkin in Baltar's defense.
Some in the fleet begin to feel that Baltar is divine. Though he dismisses such beliefs, Number Six suggests that the followers may know more about his true nature than Baltar does himself.
At Baltar's trial, Col. Tigh testifies about the death of his wife Ellen on New Caprica.

As the fleet Jumps toward the Ionian Nebula, a mysterious landmark on the way to Earth, a strange mood settles over its citizens. Roslin dreams vivid dreams, Tigh and Anders inexplicably struggle to hear a static-laced song on the radio, and a few lost souls turn to Gaius Baltar with a devotion that borders on religious worship.

Amidst all this, Baltar's trial for treason begins. William Adama sits on the judges' tribunal, while his son, Lee, assists attorney Romo Lampkin on Baltar's defense team.

Then Racetrack returns from a scouting mission with the chilling news that a Cylon force is secretly pursuing the human fleet. As Adama, Tigh, and Roslin confer about this crisis, Lee notices an apparent triviality: there's something peculiar about the special tea that Roslin is drinking.

Tigh interrogates the prisoner Caprica Six about the pursuing Cylons. She confesses that the human fleet's fuel ship emits a quirky radiation signature that the Cylons can track. Oddly, she then torments Tigh with questions about his dead wife, Ellen.

Rattled, Tigh shows up drunk for his testimony at the trial. On the witness stand, his inebriation is obvious. Sensing easy prey, Lampkin pounces, his lawyer's intuition leading him to ask how Tigh's wife died. Tigh admits that he himself killed Ellen. His credibility is destroyed.

By contrast, Laura Roslin's testimony against Baltar is so damning that Lampkin calls a recess to consult with Lee and his client. They must discredit Roslin. Lee admits that he knows something useful, but he hesitates to enter the moral gray area of exposing a good woman's secret to defend an accused traitor.

Then Adama accuses Lee of tipping off Lampkin to the truth about Ellen Tigh's death. Adama is wrong — Lee never even knew Tigh's murderous secret. But when Adama refuses to believe that, father and son explode into anger and Lee resigns his commission.

Now a civilian, Lee chooses to conduct Laura Roslin's cross-examination himself. Mercilessly, he extracts her secret: as he noticed earlier, her tea is laced with the herb chamalla, which can cause hallucinations. This casts suspicion on her testimony, and Lee's first dirty job as a defense attorney is done. Roslin, however, adds that she's taking the drug because her cancer has returned.

As the effects of this devastating revelation ripple outwards, the mood of the fleet darkens. Relationships fracture, tension builds, and all the while the Ionian Nebula grows closer...


Remarkable Scenes

- Romo Lampkin's opening statement.
- The Cylons ambushing Racetrack's raptor.
- Tigh's scene with Six.
- Tigh on the stand.
- Adama helping a drunken Tigh get back to his quarters.
- Apollo and Adama discussing the Cylon situation then spatting at each other concerning the trial leading to Apollo's resignation.
- Lee Adama cross examining Roslin.
- Roslin revealing that her cancer has returned.

Additional Notes

-Susan Hogan, who played the tribunal judge Captain Franks, is the real-life wife of series regular Michael Hogan (Saul Tigh).
- For the second episode in a row, Katee Sackhoff did not appear (although her picture was seen in the previous episode, "The Son Also Rises"). She was not listed in the opening credits either.
-This episode contained no traditional symphonic music at all, partly in order to emphasize the mysterious song fragments that Colonel Tigh heard throughout the episode.
-The usual opening title sequence was removed from this episode and the names of the main cast members appeared on screen during the teaser. The number of survivors in the fleet was also absent.
- Michael Hogan read the "Previously on Battlestar Galactica" line at the beginning of this episode.
-Before Lampkin questions Tigh, he discusses Tigh with Baltar and Lee at the table. Lampkin holds a glass of water that is about two-thirds full. As the camera view shifts, the glass is only one-third full. Lampkin did not have time to drink any water in that fraction of a second.
-At the beginning of Baltar's trial, President Roslin is seated next to Tory, behind the prosecutor's table, but after the camera focus moves around the courtroom and returns, Roslin is no longer there.