Flight of the Phoenix (Battlestar Galactica)
Encyclopedia
"Flight of the Phoenix" is the ninth episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica
television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel
on September 16, 2005.
In the episode, the Number Eight copy being held on Galactica
(Sharon) helps delete a computer virus
created by the Cylons
, and Chief Galen Tyrol
builds a stealth fighter
from spare parts.
Critics reviewed "Flight of the Phoenix" favorably.
seemingly purged it. In "The Farm
", Commander William Adama
sentenced Specialist Cally
to 30 days in Galacticas brig
for killing the Number Eight copy who shot Adama (Boomer).
Gaeta determines that the Cylon virus is still active, is responsible for a series of malfunctions aboard Galactica, and threatens to take full control of the ship. Adama enlists Sharon's help. She confirms Gaeta's diagnosis and warns that a Cylon attack is imminent. Hundreds of Cylon Raiders and Heavy Raiders
appear and hold formation, preparing to activate the virus. Forced to trust Sharon, Adama allows her to interface directly with Galacticas systems by inserting a fiber optic cable into her hand. Sharon helps delete the virus and broadcasts a virus of her own to the Cylon ships, rendering them helpless and easy pickings for the Vipers. Sharon is summarily returned to her cell.
Helo
is ostracized by his crewmates for his relationship with Sharon. Haunted by memories of Boomer, Tyrol does not join the celebration of Cally's release. Tyrol and Helo argue about their respective relationships with Number Eight; the argument comes to blows. Inspired by Lee "Apollo" Adama
's comment that "no one's expecting any miracles", Tyrol begins to build a new starfighter
from salvaged parts. Despite initial skepticism, crew members from throughout the ship join the project. At Helo's suggestion, Tyrol uses carbon composites for the exterior, making it stealth
capable. The completed fighter, known as the Blackbird
, makes a successful maiden flight with Starbuck
as test pilot
.
At the Blackbird's dedication ceremony, President Laura Roslin
, who has just learned she has weeks to live, praises the fighter's construction as "an act of faith." Tyrol reveals that the fighter is named Laura in her honor. Helo reconciles with his crewmates, and Tyrol visits Sharon in her cell.
commentary on "Flight of the Phoenix", executive producer Ronald D. Moore
discussed his views of what the episode's events reveal about several of the characters.
Jen Segrest of TV Squad speculates that Sharon only helps the humans to protect her unborn child.
Jacob Clifton of Television Without Pity expands on the human-machine dichotomy:
Moore compares the Vipers' destruction of the Cylon ships to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot in World War II
.
Moore came up with the plot device of Sharon infecting the incoming Cylon ships because he wanted to try something other than an ordinary space battle. The specific mechanic of her inserting a cable into her arm began as a joke in the writers' room.
Early drafts went into detail about the consequences of wiping
Galacticas computers, as Gaeta does following Sharon's instruction. This was to be not just navigational software but also all records of Colonial
civilization. The idea was abandoned as too geeky to impart an emotional impact on the audience.
During the test flight, Starbuck and the Blackbird disappear briefly. Moore decided to elongate her absence after seeing footage of actor Aaron Douglas
playing Tyrol nervously awaiting Starbuck's return. The test flight came after the dedication in the script, but they were switched in editing because the dedication was seen as the episode's "emotional climax".
Tyrol and Sharon were scripted to exchange a few lines of dialogue during Tyrol's visit at the end of the episode, but director Michael Nankin
and film editor Jacques Gravett cut them. Moore approved of the change, saying, "it doesn't really matter what they say to each other". One version of the dialogue is included as a deleted scene
on the DVD version of the episode.
One of the system malfunctions shown on Galactica in "Flight of the Phoenix" is the ship's firing range losing oxygen
as Apollo, Starbuck, and Hotdog practice shooting. According to Moore, the scene was scripted to give the audience a slowly building sense of discomfort. The three characters' differing reactions are based on observations of pilots under induced hypoxia
. They save themselves by shooting out the range's window. Actors Jamie Bamber
(Apollo) and Katee Sackhoff
(Starbuck) came up with the idea that their characters should aim the weapon together.
Kelly Woo of TV Squad ranked "Flight of the Phoenix" as the 10th best episode of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. John Kubicek of BuddyTV
ranked it 21st best and called the episode "inspirational". Alan Sepinwall listed it among his favorite episodes of the series.
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
on September 16, 2005.
In the episode, the Number Eight copy being held on Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (ship)
The Battlestar Galactica is a space battleship in the original and re-imagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica.The Twelve Colonies of Man in the original television series built a number of Battlestars during their thousand-year war with the Cylons, whose battleships are...
(Sharon) helps delete a computer virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
created by the Cylons
Cylon (reimagining)
Cylons are a race which appear in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series and its prequel Caprica. They have several forms, some of which resemble and even mimic the behavior of humans, while others are mechanical in appearance and function.In the first DVD, one of the show's creators...
, and Chief Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol is a character on the television series Battlestar Galactica. Tyrol is responsible for the maintenance of the Vipers and Raptors aboard Battlestar Galactica...
builds a stealth fighter
Stealth Fighter
Stealth Fighter is an action film released in 1999. The film stars Ice-T, Costas Mandylor, Erika Eleniak, Sarah Dampf, William Sadler, Ernie Hudson, and Andrew Divoff.-Film synopsis:...
from spare parts.
Critics reviewed "Flight of the Phoenix" favorably.
Plot
In "Valley of Darkness", a computer virus created by the Cylons shut down Galacticas power, but Lieutenant Felix GaetaFelix Gaeta
Lieutenant Junior Grade Felix Gaeta is a fictional character on Battlestar Galactica played by Alessandro Juliani.- Character overview in his early career :...
seemingly purged it. In "The Farm
The Farm (Battlestar Galactica)
"The Farm" is the fifth episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel on August 12, 2005...
", Commander William Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
sentenced Specialist Cally
Specialist Cally
Callandra "Cally" Tyrol is a fictional character from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series...
to 30 days in Galacticas brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
for killing the Number Eight copy who shot Adama (Boomer).
Gaeta determines that the Cylon virus is still active, is responsible for a series of malfunctions aboard Galactica, and threatens to take full control of the ship. Adama enlists Sharon's help. She confirms Gaeta's diagnosis and warns that a Cylon attack is imminent. Hundreds of Cylon Raiders and Heavy Raiders
Cylon Heavy Raider
The Cylon Heavy Raider is a heavy fighter used by the Cylons, in the television series Battlestar Galactica.- History :The first Heavy Raider encountered by the Fleet crash landed into Galacticas non-operational starboard hangar bay, and a boarding party of Cylon Centurions exited the wreck to...
appear and hold formation, preparing to activate the virus. Forced to trust Sharon, Adama allows her to interface directly with Galacticas systems by inserting a fiber optic cable into her hand. Sharon helps delete the virus and broadcasts a virus of her own to the Cylon ships, rendering them helpless and easy pickings for the Vipers. Sharon is summarily returned to her cell.
Helo
Karl Agathon
Karl C. Agathon is a fictional character on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series, portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett.-Background:...
is ostracized by his crewmates for his relationship with Sharon. Haunted by memories of Boomer, Tyrol does not join the celebration of Cally's release. Tyrol and Helo argue about their respective relationships with Number Eight; the argument comes to blows. Inspired by Lee "Apollo" Adama
Lee Adama
Leland Joseph "Lee" Adama is a fictional character in the television series Battlestar Galactica. He is portrayed by actor Jamie Bamber. He is one of the main characters in the series.-Early life:...
's comment that "no one's expecting any miracles", Tyrol begins to build a new starfighter
Starfighter
"Starfighter" is a science fiction term used to describe small, fast, usually one-manned craft designed for armed combat .The appearance and use of fictional starfighters is often modeled on fighter aircraft, with little regard for the actual physics of spaceflight...
from salvaged parts. Despite initial skepticism, crew members from throughout the ship join the project. At Helo's suggestion, Tyrol uses carbon composites for the exterior, making it stealth
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
capable. The completed fighter, known as the Blackbird
Colonial Blackbird
The Blackbird is a custom-built stealth-capable fighter from the fictional universe of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series...
, makes a successful maiden flight with Starbuck
Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica franchise. Played by Katee Sackhoff, she is a revised version of Lieutenant Starbuck from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
as test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
.
At the Blackbird's dedication ceremony, President Laura Roslin
Laura Roslin
Her first actions include organizing all FTL-capable ships together and convincing Commander William Adama to abandon a retaliatory attack on the Cylons. President Roslin and Billy Keikeya, her aide/press secretary/chief of staff, establish a working office space aboard her transport, renamed...
, who has just learned she has weeks to live, praises the fighter's construction as "an act of faith." Tyrol reveals that the fighter is named Laura in her honor. Helo reconciles with his crewmates, and Tyrol visits Sharon in her cell.
Characterization
In his podcastPodcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
commentary on "Flight of the Phoenix", executive producer Ronald D. Moore
Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...
discussed his views of what the episode's events reveal about several of the characters.
- Adama is a father figure who is trying to get his family, the crew of Galactica, to safety.
- Tyrol and Helo both harbor "a lot of rage... frustration... self-hatred and ambiguity" because of how they love Cylons. Each of them sees himself in the other, and this is why they fight.
- Tyrol begins the episode by disassembling an unserviceable Viper and brawling. He then turns that energy to build the Blackbird and ultimately "face[s] his demon" by talking to Sharon.
- The scene in which Apollo's sparring with DeeAnastasia DuallaAnastasia "Dee" Dualla, portrayed by Kandyse McClure, is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.-Character history:...
is interrupted by Billy KeikeyaBilly KeikeyaBilly Keikeya is a fictional character in the miniseries and television remake of Battlestar Galactica. He is portrayed by Paul Campbell. Billy appeared until late in the second season, at which point he was killed by terrorists. Paul Campbell has said that his character was killed because he had...
is intended to suggest a love triangleLove triangleA love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
among the three.
Jen Segrest of TV Squad speculates that Sharon only helps the humans to protect her unborn child.
Analysis
In Moore's view, Sharon inserting a cable into her arm and taking control of Galactica illustrates a difference in the Battlestar Galactica universe between humans and Cylons. Though Cylons choose to appear human out of respect for the form they believe to have been created by God, they are essentially mechanical beings.Jacob Clifton of Television Without Pity expands on the human-machine dichotomy:
Moore compares the Vipers' destruction of the Cylon ships to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Production
The writers considered showing spreading the construction of the Blackbird over several episodes as a running subplot. Moore admitted that, realistically, building a starfighter would likely take weeks. However, they decided to tell the whole story in one episode as part of the theme of the fleet's morale, introduced by a comment from Commander Adama early in "Flight of the Phoenix". They also considered it unrealistic that Tyrol would be able to build a Viper, so they came up with another craft, the Blackbird stealth fighter.Moore came up with the plot device of Sharon infecting the incoming Cylon ships because he wanted to try something other than an ordinary space battle. The specific mechanic of her inserting a cable into her arm began as a joke in the writers' room.
Early drafts went into detail about the consequences of wiping
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
Galacticas computers, as Gaeta does following Sharon's instruction. This was to be not just navigational software but also all records of Colonial
Twelve Colonies
The Twelve Colonies of Man are fictional locations that constitute the principal human civilization in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, the "reimagined" series of the same name in 2004, and in the prequel series, Caprica...
civilization. The idea was abandoned as too geeky to impart an emotional impact on the audience.
During the test flight, Starbuck and the Blackbird disappear briefly. Moore decided to elongate her absence after seeing footage of actor Aaron Douglas
Aaron Douglas
Aaron Douglas was an African American painter and a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance.-Early life:...
playing Tyrol nervously awaiting Starbuck's return. The test flight came after the dedication in the script, but they were switched in editing because the dedication was seen as the episode's "emotional climax".
Tyrol and Sharon were scripted to exchange a few lines of dialogue during Tyrol's visit at the end of the episode, but director Michael Nankin
Michael Nankin
Michael Nankin is an American film and television writer, director and producer. He has been nominated for the Humanitas Prize for his writing.-Career:...
and film editor Jacques Gravett cut them. Moore approved of the change, saying, "it doesn't really matter what they say to each other". One version of the dialogue is included as a deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
on the DVD version of the episode.
One of the system malfunctions shown on Galactica in "Flight of the Phoenix" is the ship's firing range losing oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
as Apollo, Starbuck, and Hotdog practice shooting. According to Moore, the scene was scripted to give the audience a slowly building sense of discomfort. The three characters' differing reactions are based on observations of pilots under induced hypoxia
Hypoxia (medical)
Hypoxia, or hypoxiation, is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise...
. They save themselves by shooting out the range's window. Actors Jamie Bamber
Jamie Bamber
Jamie Bamber is the stage name of Jamie St. John Bamber Griffith , a British actor known most widely for his roles as Lee Adama on Battlestar Galactica and Detective Sergeant Matt Devlin on the ITV series Law & Order: UK...
(Apollo) and Katee Sackhoff
Katee Sackhoff
Kathryn Ann "Katee" Sackhoff is an American actress known mainly for playing Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica. In 2004 she was nominated for a Saturn Award in the "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series" category for her work in...
(Starbuck) came up with the idea that their characters should aim the weapon together.
Reception
Critics reviewed "Flight of the Phoenix" favorably. Clifton gave it an A- and was particularly moved by the dedication scene. Simon Brew of Den of Geek called this scene "touching". Segrest reviewed the episode favorably, reacting emotionally to Tyrol's struggle to build the Blackbird. Amanda Keith of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group acknowledged several flaws in the plotting but said, nonetheless, "I love this episode."Kelly Woo of TV Squad ranked "Flight of the Phoenix" as the 10th best episode of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. John Kubicek of BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
ranked it 21st best and called the episode "inspirational". Alan Sepinwall listed it among his favorite episodes of the series.
External links
- "Flight of the Phoenix" at the Battlestar Wiki
- "Flight of the Phoenix" at SyfySyfySyfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...