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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr
enik1138-at-popapostle dot com
Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock

Battlestar Galactica

"Deadlock"

TV episode

Written by Jane Espenson

Directed by Robert Young

Original air date: February 20, 2009

 

Ellen is faced with a decision that could have repercussions for humans and the future of the entire Cylon race.

 

Read the summary of the episode at the Battlestar Wiki

 

Didja Know?

 

The opening titles show the fleet at a population of 39,556, no change from the previous episode "No Exit".

 

Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode

 

Number Six

Chief Tyrol

Admiral Adama

Caprica Six

Dr. Cottle

Colonel Tigh

Liam Tigh (Caprica Six's unborn baby, dies in this episode)

Lt. Hoshi

Starbuck

Boomer

Apollo

President Roslin

Ellen Tigh

Hot Dog

Tory Foster

Sam Anders

Paulla Schaffer
Jeanne

Baltar

Head Six

Number Eight

Naia

Gaius (Naia's son)

Rafferty (bartender at Joe's)

Slick (Dreilide Thrace, Starbuck's father; in vision only)

Enzo

Head Six

Zak (mentioned only, deceased)

 

 

 

Didja Notice?

 

Ellen Tigh's return to the Galactica aboard a Raptor here is in homage to her first appearance in "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down".

 

Ironically, when Ellen Tigh steps out of Boomer's raptor and Hot Dog remarks, "How many dead chicks are out there?", Starbuck is standing right next to him.

 

At 11;17 on the Blu-ray, boxes of hardtack are seen piled in the lair of the cult of Baltar. Hardtack is a simple hard cracker or biscuit food usually made from flour, water, and salt.

 

At 21:05 on the Blu-ray, notice at Joe's Bar that a man in the background is playing the piano recently acquired by the bar behind Starbuck. We only see him in the distance, but it is clearly the man called Slick in the following episode "Someone to Watch Over Me" who turns out to be a vision of Starbuck's father, Dreilide Thrace. In this episode, he is credited only as "piano player" in the closing credits.

 

Chief Tyrol orders gin at the bar.

 

In the bar, Starbuck is seen playing with a spent bullet. This is the bullet that Doctors Cottle and Gerard removed from Sam's head in "No Exit".

 

At 21:41 on the Blu-ray, the bearded bar patron sitting in the background behind Starbuck is the series' music composer, Bear McCreary.

 

The Sons of Ares leader who takes the food supplies Baltar is trying to hand out to the refugees in Dogsville is Enzo, who appeared previously as a drug dealer in "The Passage".

 

The rifles Adama's marines hand out to Baltar's followers to help keep security in Dogsville appear to be mostly the modified Beretta CX4 Storms often seen in use by the Colonial marines.

 

After his baby dies only 4 months in the womb, Colonel Tigh tells Adama the baby's name was Liam, short for William (as in his best friend, William Adama). 

 

When Adama and Roslin discover that the on boarded Cylon workers are already making use of the memorial wall on Galactica to post pictures of their own dead, notice that a couple of the pictures are security and identification badges and they feature what appears to be a melded emblem of the Galactica emblem and a Cylon emblem. Galactica/Cylon emblem

 

Notes from the audio commentary by Ron Moore on the Blu-ray release

 

It is stated in the episode itself by Adama that Cylon pilots flying Heavy Raiders have joined the fleet CAP (combat air patrol). In the audio commentary, Ron Moore says that there is a shortage of Colonial pilots due to those who participated in the recent mutiny now being imprisoned on the Astral Queen.

 

Early drafts of the script were titled "Drowning Woman", meant to describe the condition of Galactica herself before scriptwriter Jane Espenson changed it. Moore doesn't reveal why Espenson changed it. Purely speculation on my part, but the original title could come across as somewhat mocking of the women-centric subplots of this episode, i.e. Ellen's troubled reintegration with Saul and the fleet, Caprica Six's problems with the pregnancy, and Paula's conflict with Baltar for control of his followers.

 

Unanswered Questions

 

How was Boomer able to find the fleet? Does this mean Cavil knows where the fleet is as well?

 

Memorable Dialog

how many dead chicks are out there?.mp3
this is Boomer.mp3
imagine how close you'd be.mp3
mental porn.mp3
you just can't stop poisoning me.mp3
very flattered.mp3
you've probably called me some names.mp3
great grandpa was a power sander.mp3
I'm gone for three minutes.mp3
apparently we invented majority rule.mp3
do you see, little girl?.mp3
no wonder we had to invent some compassionate God.mp3
I shouldn't need to spout the words.mp3
a little project I've been working on.mp3
that's beautiful.mp3

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