Battlestar Wiki:Official Communiques/Archive1

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Other concerns about interview text in "Final Cut"

Another question for Mr. Thompson: Is Racetrack a Lieutenant or a Lieutenant Junior Grade? The (already proven to have flaws) interview text in "Final Cut" said "Lieutenant, CF". But in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I" Racetrack and Boomer go on a mission into a Basestar: Boomer was definately a Lieutenant Junior Grade, but she was giving orders to Racetrack as if she outranked her. While I'm on the subject of the confusion involving the interview text in "Final Cut", Kat's interview says she is a full lieutenant. She started out as just a nugget trainee pilot two months before: did she get promoted all the way from Ensign to Lieutenant in that time? It seems plausible to me, given that A) it's been established that she's a good pilot (enough to rival Starbuck) and B) in wartime promotions can come pretty fast. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 10:56, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

At the time of the Sneak the Nuke Aboard the Base Ship Mission, Boomer did outrank Racetrack (if only by date of commission). Even if that weren't the case, as Adama's designated mission commander, Boomer was in charge of the operation. And yes, promotions come fast in wartime... Ngarenn 21:36, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

Makes sense. So are Racetrack and Kat currently full lieutenants? (in which case, we don't have to change their rank listing in their current bio articles). --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:45, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

They were for a while. As we said, promotions come fast, and tracking them will be kinda hairy. It's hairy for us and we work here...Ngarenn 22:06, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

Raptor pilot names

During Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I, when 20 Raptors are Jumping to Caprica, Starbuck has all of the Raptor teams sound off: the only two names I was able to make out were "Tough Guy" and "Carousel", but while Helo and Sharon are talking over a dozen other pilot names are listed off, and they're so muffled I've never been able to make them out. Do you know what they are?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 10:56, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

I'm not sure if they made it onto the actual soundtracks, but the scripted pilot names are Headcase, Swordsman, Anvil, and Tackle Ngarenn 21:42, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

Thanks. The most we were able to make out of our (extremely innacurate) except at GalacticaStation.com was "Headcase, Swordman, Shoestrap gumball, Milko, Skylar, Ronin, Brake, Boulion, Steaker, Hamster, Bo, Chaser, Godama, Charlieman, Starcloud"....this needs work, I know what I'll be doing tonight...--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:50, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

Many times these things are made up by the editors for the looping sessions and the writers never see them. Ngarenn 22:06, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

I see...oh great, now it might turn out that such fan favorites as Wedge and Beehive will never be seen (haha). Thanks. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 22:19, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

Tie-in Material

There are currently at least two licensed productions putting forth content set in the RDM universe - the Tor Books series, and the Dynamite comics series. How much input does the BSG writing staff have on these works? Can we expect to see them referred to in the series at any point, or should they be considered non-canon? --Peter Farago 01:58, 10 June 2006 (CDT)

The comics group runs their proposed stories by some of the series writing staff to make sure they are not stepping on the toes of upcoming episodes. Apart from that, the series writers currently have no input to the comic or novel tie-ins. Ngarenn 17:58, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

Helo Rank

At the end of Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II, did Helo take over Gaeta's job as tactical officer, or is he the XO taking over from Tigh, or is it perhaps a little of each as they're on a skeleton crew? Or is this a spoiler for season 3 you are unable to divulge just yet?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 22:19, 9 June 2006 (CDT)

Nevermind: In a recent interview with IGN, Tahmoh said that he himself thought he was just filling in for Gaeta, and a few scripts into season three was surprised to learn that he is in fact the XO. So that answers that question. I was also confused about the caption on his interview in "Final Cut": it just says "Lieutenant" and I didn't know of it was just a clipped way of saying "Lieutenant Junior Grade", or if he got promoted for his heroism in surviving on Caprica for two months: turns out that in the same IGN interview Tahmoh confirmed that Helo was promoted to full Lieutenant by that episode. Excellent. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 23:22, 13 June 2006 (CDT)

Colonial One and One

Mr. Thompson - Being a policial major and all I love the politics that happens in the show, but I got a question about the Colonial One ship itself. I know nothing is shown on screen, but I was wondering if the ship's interior is "designed" or modeled after the U.S. White House West Wing. Also, whoever is president, if he/she was on board lets say a Raptor, would that call sign be officialy known as Raptor One? Thanks a million! --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 11:17, 13 June 2006 (CDT)

Thanks. I can't really answer your question because Colonial One was designed during the miniseries, before my time. If you have an in with the art department, that's who'll give you the best reply. Regarding Raptor One, we're borrowing heavily from US presidential protocol, and if that's the way they do it -- Marine One, the Presidential Helicopter springs to mind -- we'll probably do it that way, too. But since it has not yet occurred in an episode, this question as yet has no definitive answer. How's that for keeping our options open? Ngarenn 18:05, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

Great. :) I know a few times that Laura Roslin traveled in a Raptor (i.e. Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II) after she was under arrest, but that was about the only time I can remember. From my field of studies, (U.S. Presidential Forigen Policy), there has only been "three" aircraft desinated with One. Air Force One, Marine One, and Navy One (Fighter on the USS Abraham Lincon). That's about it. :) --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 18:13, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

Note that several craft have been designated Raptor One, including one which carried Vice President Gaius Baltar (which, if we were following the US system, should therefore have been "Raptor Two") --Peter Farago 19:51, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

This intance it might have been a fluke, but then "One" would have no meaning if other times Raptor One would be used in missions. "One" and "Two" is only (in U.S. Protocall) when a member of the President or Vice-President is on board. This would be a canon mistake. The Raptors should have then been Raptor Two, Raptor XXX, and Raptor XXX. --Shane ^{(T - C - E)} 23:06, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

Rather than chalk this up as an error, it would be sensible to conclude that BSG simply doesn't follow U.S. Protocol with regard to call signs of ships bearing executive branch officers. --Peter Farago 23:55, 17 June 2006 (CDT)

Hadrian in "Valley of Darkness"

In "Valley of Darkness", while discussing in CIC how various teams of Marines are engaging the Cylon boarding party, they mention that Sgt. Hadrian was leading one squad. When last we actually saw her in "Litmus", Adama had her confined to quarters. Was she eventually released, just offscreen? I don't think Adama would permenantly keep someone confined to quarters when they have frequent manpower shortages. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 22:17, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

Once again, your suppositions are correct. Hadrian just won't be heading any more tribunals. Ngarenn 21:34, 17 June 2006 (CDT)

Scar

Is the Cylon Raider known as "Scar" supposed to be the reincarnated version of the Cylon Raider that Starbuck shot down, and then cut the brain out of and flew back to Galactica in "You Can't Go Home Again"? The "previously on Battlestar Galactica" segment reshowed parts of "You Can't Go Home Again" and this coupled with Caprica-Sharon's comments in her cell to Starbuck seemed to hint that it was. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 23:22, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

Sharon is speculating. She doesn't know, but it could have happened that way. Ngarenn 21:29, 17 June 2006 (CDT)

Rebirth Room

Was the Resurrection room seen in "Downloaded" inside the Resurrection Ship, a basestar, or their homeworld? There's been some debate as to whether the Resurrection Ship solely sent it to a Basestar to download into a body, or whether the room itself is supposed to be in the Resurrection Ship. Another option is that the room was located in their homeworld if this was close enough to the colonies. I thought it was meant to be inside the Resurrection Ship, but all options are viable. --Sauron18 23:20, 17 June 2006 (CDT)

This is part of why I asked that earlier question; linked to the debate over where exactly this room is. --The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 23:39, 17 June 2006 (CDT)

Does it matter? I'm very grateful to Bradley for taking the time to answer our questions, but I can't help but wonder how this sort of question furthers our understanding of the episode and series. --Peter Farago 00:00, 18 June 2006 (CDT)

Knowing the location of the room tells us, indirectly, a lot about the Resurrection Ship, the homeworld, and the downloading range. For example, if the answer is "It's in the Resurrectio Ship", then it would mean the colonies are outside of downloading range, that the resurrection ship was already built, and an intimation of the internal architecture of Cylon Vessels. --Sauron18 00:40, 17 June 2006 (CDT)

Downloading technology is and will continue to be a mystery to the Colonials for some time to come. We suspect that the Cylons wouldn't bother to build Resurrection ships if a downloading system could be incorporated into their baseships. Ngarenn 19:37, 19 June 2006 (CDT)

A very subtle way of answering my question :) Thank you, Mr. Thompson. --Sauron18 22:00, 19 June 2006 (CDT)

Restraints on Galactica-Sharon in "Downloaded"

If you go to the page for "Downloaded" and see the pic of Sharon in the episode box, Galactica-Sharon can be seen restrained with handcuffs while she's in the Cylon rebirthing chamber, but previously when Caprica-Six was so reborn, she was not restrained like that. Why? We assumed it was because while Caprica-Six is a fully aware Cylon, they knew that Galactica-Sharon was a sleeper-agent that thought she was a human and thus would probably freak out when she was reborn (which she did). Is this accurate?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:14, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

Exactly. The part where the Cylons explained that was cut because we felt the audience would get it without explanation, and you just proved us right. Ngarenn 21:26, 17 June 2006 (CDT)

"Radar" gaffe in "The Hand of God"?

Excuse me Mr. Thompson, but we've been debating something here for a long time and I'm really hoping you can help us with it: in The Hand of God, while they'e planning out the mission Starbuck says they're jumping in at "extreme (radar) range". Most think she said "radar", which would be a mistake because the Colonials use DRADIS. However, I think she says "Raider range", which would make sense in context. Does it really say "Raider" in the script, and Katee says "raider" she just slurred her pronounciation a little?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:00, 8 June 2006 (CDT)

At the Peabody awards, the soundtrack sounded like "Raider." Must be, since there's no radar in Galactica's world (and dradis was completely cluttered by all the asteroid returns). I believe the line was looped in during post production by people with higher security clearances than mine. The scripted line was: "...extreme Viper range..." to give the audience an "oh, yeah" when Lee's raiding force appears. Maybe it was too much of a giveaway. Ngarenn 20:16, 19 June 2006 (CDT)

Resurrection Ship

When was the Resurrection Ship built? Was it built only *after* Galactica fled into deep space (which the Cylons did not predict), or was it a pre-existing part of their Fleet? In "Resurrection Ship, Part I" Baltar says:

"At the moment, we are too far away from the Cylon home for the normal downloading process to work, which is why they built this ship."

This line has led me to believe that the Resurrection Ship was built only after Galactica managed to escape the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. Meanwhile, Caprica-Six was able to download at the very start of the Cylon Attack because the Twelve Colonies are in normal downloading range of the Twelve Colonies. Is this accurate?--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:41, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

The Cylons haven't told us much about their fleet. They keep secrets from us humans pretty well.Ngarenn 21:28, 17 June 2006 (CDT)

"Skin Jobs"

To ask the most fannish of fan questions (not so much a "question" shouting "wow!"), how was the decision made for Cylons to be referred to as "Skin Jobs" a la Blade Runner in "Downloaded"? What did everyone in the writer's room think?  :) :) :) (My personal wish list includes that one day someone will refer to killing a Cylon as "retiring" them...hey, that might not work on the current series, but on the Caprica prequel when the Cylons worked for humans that kind of makes sense. Plus I hope "Number One" turns out to be Rutger Hauer...or Avery Brooks. Both good actors...)--The Merovingian ^{(C - E)} 21:08, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

There was no real "decision" as such. We were writing Downloaded. Barolay and Anders were on the roof and we needed a quick way to categorize. We remembered the term from blade runner and put it in. The drafts went through the usual pathways of approval and nobody shot it down. So now there are skin jobs along with metal jobs, clankers, and bulletheads (that last is credited to Gary Hutzel). Ngarenn 21:24, 17 June 2006 (CDT)