01x04 - Act of Contrition

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Previously on Battlestar Galactica.

Zak failed basic flight. But he didn't because I passed him.

I can't decode it, but it means there's someone.

Someone in the m*llitary is still somewhere alive and kicking here in Caprica.

Yes!

I have cancer.

And I fear that knowledge of my illness will erode hope.

So this has to stay between you and me.

Zak was my brother. What was he to me, nothing?

Same old Lee.

You haven't changed either.

Helmet!

You are so unprepared. Shut up!

You're the worst CAG in the history of CAGs actually.

Raptor pilot Lt. Dwight Flat-top Sanders... entering hangar deck 12 B. Deckhands, please report.

Repeat, deckhands, please report to 12 B.

There he is! Way to go, Lieutenant!

That's off at 1,000. Yeah.

Hero! Hero! Hero!

Raptor Pilots flying high!

Raptor Pilots flying high!

Red paint, incoming! Brush?

Brush? Brush.

You're the worst. The absolute worst!

Here.

Raptor Pilots flying by!

Raptor Pilots flying by!

What the hell is this?

Flat-top's 1,000th landing and nobody tells me. Now we look like idiots.

Find a wagon! Yes, sir!

Somebody get me a wagon!

One, zero, zero.

You're not ready yet?

Someone's going to have to pick that up.

Stop it! Let's go, come on.

This one is perfect. Here, take this. Give me a hand.

Unload this. Put it wherever.

You two, come here.

Take this wagon to the palace.

Did the commander tell you what happened on his 1,000th landing?

I don't remember telling you what I did. - Whatever.

He's landing on the Atlantia, and he's been having this ongoing fight with the LSO, and so he decides he'll stick it to him good.

This has all been overexaggerated.

Come on, people, watch them bake!

Three Little Cylons in the air!

Three Little Cylons in the air.

Watch their metal burn and flare!

So, he skids to a stop on the flight deck, and the LSO hears over the wireless this big, loud, long, obnoxious...

I was young. - STARBUCK: It was great. It was really funny.

Two Little Cylons jump in their cave!

PILOTs: Two Little Cylons jump in their cave!

Come on A-CARS make their grave!

The LSO is freaking out.

Your dad doesn't care because he hates the guy.

He figures he can get away with it 'cause it's his 1,000th landing.

"I can get away with anything today!"

Watch that tin can hit the spot!

Five Little Cylons in the grass!

Five Little Cylons in the grass!

Watch the Raptor light their ass!

Watch the Raptor light their ass!

Attention! Fire in the port hangar deck.

Away the fire and rescue team.

Let's go!

Fire in the port hangar deck.

Metal fatigue, old equipment.

Worn strap fails, drops a million cubic drone to the deck.

Kills 13 pilots and lands seven more in sick bay.

It's hard to hear this, but we got lucky.

If that had been a m*ssile instead of a cone drone, it could've taken out the side of the ship.

Never had a death in my hangar deck.

Accidents. Never a death.

Services for the dead.

Services will commence at 1100 hours on the forward hangar deck.

Midship's hangar deck remains closed... for investigation and clean up until further notice.

Uniforms for the services will be dress grays.

I wish I knew what to say, words to make this better.

Can anything make this better? I don't know.

Attention on deck!

As you were.

May I? Yes, sir.

Are you Lt. Thrace?

Give me your eyes.

I know this has been a hard day.

There's been plenty of them lately.

I can guarantee you there'll be more to come.

Remember your self-esteem. Your self-respect.

And your self-worth.

Hold strong to them, because people are watching.

You're the guardians of the fleet.

They need to know that they can count on you.

Even at a time like this.

Are you Lt. Thrace?

I'm Commander Adama. Zak's father.

I know, sir. I'm sorry, sir.

I was planning on coming to see you tomorrow before the funeral.

You don't need to explain anything.

Present arms!

Order arms!

Once again, we are charged with the solemn duty... to return the bodies of our own to the universe... from which the Lords of Kobol brought them to us.

The burdens of this life are with us but a short time.

For Lt. Zak Adama, son of William and Caroline Adama... brother of Lee, the time was too short.

But we take comfort in knowing his life was willingly given... in service to all of us.

We honor them for that.

And, thus, it falls upon us to repent our sins... and with the help of the Lords of Kobol... make our own lives worthy of that gift.

And now, we commit his body to the ground from which we were all made.

Secure in the knowledge... that we will be reunited with them... in a better world to come.

So say we all.

So say we all.

Present arms!

Pilots we've known.

I have to start training new pilots.

There it is.

I kind of thought this was about that.

I don't know if I'm the right person for this.

Do you know someone better? No. No.

But there's almost 50,000 people out there.

Trying to tell me there's not one flight instructor?

There's two. Civilians. Both.

But I need someone to teach combat tactics.

You know, I don't know if I'd be of any use to you.

I wasn't the most patient. Let's get down to it.

This is about Zak.

It was not your fault.

You had nothing to do with what happened.

It was an accident.

Lee? Zak failed basic flight.

What? - Or at least he should have, but he didn't... because I passed him.

His technique was sloppy and he had no feel for flying, but I passed him.

Because he and I...

Because I felt something and I let it get in the way of doing my job.

And I couldn't fail him.

Zak passed basic flight.

He was trained and ready to sit in that cockpit.

What happened to him could've happened to any qualified pilot.

You know that's true. Right.

You did your job to the best of your ability. That's all I can ask.

I need new pilots. And I want you to train them.

I can do that.

Just give them the attention and the professionalism that you gave my son.

And they'll be one hell of a squadron.

Ten cubits says she takes him this time.

You're on.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Ten to stay.

So, Gaeta, how are you and the Doc here doing on your silent detector?

What silent detector?

Rumor has it that Cylons looks like people, and you guys are working on a way to weed them out, right?

I want you to tell me the truth about something.

You passed.

By the skin of your teeth, but you passed.

I don't want any special treatment. Not from my father, and certainly not from you.

If there were such a program, it would be classified, and I wouldn't be able to talk about it.

Something smells horrible in here. Is that you, Crashdown?

Yeah, that's me. Your card.

Your card.

Zak, I'm a flight instructor.

I'm not going to send you to Vipers if I don't think you got the chops. Okay?

Hello? Are you all right?

Look...

Maybe you'd like to take a break?

I'm out of here.

Whoa. Whoa. Starbuck?

Okay, she can't do that. She can and she did.

This is it.

Restaurant.

I'm almost on top of the signal.

I don't get it.

How does a m*llitary coded signal end up coming from in here?

Let's find out.

Nothing. Is that thing working?

I checked it three times.

This thing says we're right on top of it.

Of what?

What?

Helo. You're frakking kidding me.

Food. Medical supplies.

Wait a minute, the signal.

Oh.

Disaster beacon.

It's been set to go off if there was an att*ck.

Some poor slob goes to all the trouble of building a fallout shelter, stocks it... has a beacon, the whole planet...

Then what? What happens to him?

Let's just call ourselves lucky and leave it at that.

Madame President. Would you close that curtain, please?

Thank you.

You are obviously an intelligent, well-educated young woman.

Would you mind explaining to me why you waited five years... in between breast exams?

Yes, I would mind. It's none of your business.

I was busy.

And now, here you are. Yes. Here we are.

Would you mind? I do, actually.

Your doctor back on Capricawas right.

It's too damn late to operate. The cancer is too far advanced.

We can try to shrink the tumor with gamma treatments... and follow that up with IV cis-Doloxan.

Did he explain to you the side effects of Doloxan?

Hair loss, nausea, muscle degeneration.

I watched my mother endure two years of Doloxan before she d*ed.

I would like to explore alternate treatment.

Prayer? Witty.

Have you ever heard of Chamalla extract?

Gods. You're one of those. What if it works?

All the evidence on Chamalla is anecdotal.

It's nothing but a bunch of loose talk and false hope.

I'll take that as a yes.

All right.

I'll put out a med request to the civilian fleet.

Maybe there's some other wide-eyed dreamer out there... with a secret horde of Chamalla extract in their luggage.

Put your clothes back on now. - Thank you.

And for what it's worth, I would seriously consider prayer.

Boonie jumpers. Shuttle jockies.

And a Fleet Academy washout. This is the best that you could come up with?

Diamonds in the rough. Yeah, right.

They're the most qualified pilots in the fleet.

Great!

Attention on deck.

That means get on your feet, nuggets!

You are joining the Colonial Fleet, boys and girls, not some after-school club.

Seats.

Pilots call me Starbuck. You may refer to me as God.

You've all flown before, but you're about to enter a whole new world... so pay attention.

We don't have any flight simulators on board, so we're putting you in the cockpit, today.

This is the Viper Mark II.

It's as maneuverable as a jackrabbit, and can flip end for end... in .35 seconds.

You've never flown anything remotely like it, so don't think that you have.

Today we'll do basic launch, approach, and landing maneuvers, and anyone not paying attention is liable to end up... as a puddle or something to be hosed out of the cockpit by the chief of the deck.

She's laying it on a little thick.

Costanza, right? Yes, God, sir.

Not anymore. From now on, your name is "Hot Dog."

And when God speaks, Hot Dog, you listen.

Maybe if you had learned that at the academy, you wouldn't have washed out.

Sit up!

Viper 791 Galactica, you are cleared for approach.

Speed 175 port bay, hands on approach... checkers green. Call the ball.

I have the ball.

Easy on the throttle, Kat.

Are you listening to me? Don't chase the lights, okay?

Roger, Starbuck. Kat, don't chase the lights!

Set it by the numbers and correct with thrusters.

Wave-off!

Punch it, Kat!

Worse than awful. Wretched beyond belief, actually.

You call yourselves pilots.

It'll take the knuckle draggers a week to pound your divots out of the flight deck.

With due respect, sir, that's unfair.

Yes, sir. This was only our first day.

No. It's your last.

It would be criminal to let any of you near a Viper again.

So pack your gear, get the hell off my ship. You're done.

What are you doing here, Kara?

You can't wash them out on their first day. - I just did.

Look, I got 40 Vipers, and 21 pilots. That's it.

We are sitting ducks until we finish water ops.

We can't even maintain a CAP. And gods forbid the Cylons show up.

Gods forbid. Let's bring in the next group of candidates.

The next group has never even been in a cockpit.

They're starting basic flight. Then they start basic flight.

Because that group is done. It says so right there.

Maybe you should read it again.

Lt. Thrace, this is not a request. - Well, Capt. Adama.

I am the flight instructor, sir. My word is scripture, sir.

I will not, repeat, not pass another student who isn't ready.

So, that's what this is about.

It's not them.

It's Zak.

Careful.

Step back.

Starbuck says they can't cut it, they can't cut it.

She's not giving them a chance. It's day one.

She's one of the finest pilots I've ever seen in my life.

One day in the cockpit is all she needs to know if they can hack it or not.

She got that. I'm not arguing that, sir.

I'm just saying that I think she's letting her personal feelings cloud her judgment.

Please sit down, Captain.

What are those feelings?

About Zak.

We've talked about, Zak. You did?

We've talked about a lot of things.

We've been aboard this ship for over two years. We know each other very well.

When I asked her to be the instructor, I knew it was going to release a lot of loose baggage.

She acknowledged it. She's a professional. She'll do her job.

Okay.

I'm just saying that you should talk to her.

She's walking around with a lot of emotion.

She almost decked me in the rec room.

Right. You wouldn't smile if you were there.

I'll talk to her. Thank you.

Personally...

I think she's trying to work out her guilt over what she did for Zak.

I think she's making up for it by b*ating up on these guys.

Guilt? Over what?

What did she do for Zak?

I thought you just said... What did she do?

It's not my place to say and I've already said more than I should have.

You'll have to ask her. I'm sorry. Captain, just...

Dad, you'll have to ask her.

I don't want any special treatment.

Not from my father, and certainly not from you.

You passed.

By the skin of your teeth, but you passed.

Zak.

Attention. Pass the word to Lt. Thrace.

Lt. Thrace, please report to the CO's quarters.

Yes. Come in.

Lee was just here before. I knew it.

He thinks you washed out... the nuggets without giving them a chance.

They didn't cut it. That's it.

He thought you were letting personal feelings cloud your judgment.

Really? Your feelings about Zak.

That's not the case.

Okay.

He said something else.

He said something that I would like to ask you directly.

He said that you might be feeling guilty about something that you did for Zak.

What did you do for him?

I don't know. Ask Lee. I'm asking you.

I don't know...

I don't really know what he was talking about, so...

Don't fence with me, Kara.

I love you like a daughter. I don't deserve that.

Um...

Zak failed basic flight.

He wasn't a bad pilot. He just had no feel for flying.

And, um...

And when it came to his final check-ride, he busted... three of the test maneuvers.

And I should have flunked him, but I didn't.

The bottom line is that your son...

didn't have the chops to fly a Viper.

And it k*lled him.

He told me that you were an amazing instructor.

And that he was involved with you, and that it was serious.

He asked me to come to his graduation from flight school... to watch him get his wings. I know. I read the letter.

I see.

Then, maybe you can tell me what he was hinting at.

Surprise, about you.

We were going to...

You know what, it's not important.

I don't want that to... You were engaged, right?

You did it because you were engaged.

Because I made a mistake.

And because I was just...

I was so in love with him.

And I let that get in the way of doing my job.

And, um... he, um...

He just wanted it so much and I didn't want to be the one who crushed him.

Reinstate the trainees to flight status.

I will.

I just want you to understand that I...

Do your job.

Yes, sir.

And walk out of this cabin while you still can.

Unpack your gear. You are all returned to flight status.

We're going to try this again.

Those of you who can be trained to safely fly the Viper Mark II will pass.

Those of you who cannot, will be cut.

It is my job to figure out which is which, without personal feeling either way.

And I'm going to do my job.

Kat, Chuckles, Hot Dog, you're up first.

Preflight briefing in 20 minutes.

Where the hell are you going, Hot Dog? Stay on me.

Target acquired and destroyed.

Not bad, Hot Dog, but you left your leader behind.

Looks like you're having a bad day, Hot Dog.

And the moral of this story is? Never leave your leader.

Thank you. That is correct.

You never want to be out here alone.

Okay, Chuckles, take Kat's wing. Hot Dog, you're on me.

We'll try a little maneuver called "Thorch Weave."

I'll be damned. What's got into Starbuck?

She actually sounds like a real instructor for a change.

She may actually make Viper pilots out of some of those nuggets after all.

Holy crap, we've got incoming.

Where the hell did they come from?

Dradis. Multiple contacts.

It's the Cylons. Why didn't we see them coming?

Launch the alert fighters.

Attention! Set Condition 1 throughout the fleet.

Galactica, send the calvary. Nuggets, punch it for home.

Where's the base ship? No base ships detected, sir.

Eight raiders, bearing 047 carom 118. Range 22,000.

They found us. It was only a matter of time.

Galactica, Starbuck. Where the hell are the alert fighters?

Starbuck, Alert One. Be there in two minutes.

The Cylons are gaining!

All right, listen up, nuggets.

Stay together and keep your throttles firewalled until you hit the deck.

Now, go.

What's she doing? - TIGH: Starbuck's gonna take on all eight.

Get herself k*lled.

Hot Dog, where are you going?

Hot Dog, what are you doing?

Got one! Hot Dog! Get out of here!

Hot Dog, I told you to get your ass home!

You said never to leave your leader.

I also said never to disobey an order.

I'm hit! I got you, Hot Dog!

We're going to make it through this. Break right. Now! Now! Now!

She'll make it.

Frak!

I've just lost all three mains.

It's all right, Hot Dog. You did good. You're gonna be okay, I promise you.

At least one of us will.

That about does it. I think there's only one left.

Frak!

He's right on my tail, but I got it covered.

Starbuck's wireless and transponder just cut out.

Alert One, we spotted Hot Dog. No ID or visual on Starbuck.

Oh, frak me!

I think we should bla ba bla blee blob...