Scattered (Battlestar Galactica)
Encyclopedia
"Scattered" is the first episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica
television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel
on July 15, 2005.
In the episode, Commander William Adama
is in critical condition following his shooting in the cliffhanger
ending of the first season. Galactica
is separated from the fleet during a Cylon
attack, and Colonel Saul Tigh
, now in command, must reunite them. He does this by ordering the ships computers networked in defiance of Adama's standing orders
. Cylon Centurions board Galactica. On Kobol
, Gaius Baltar
continues to receive visions, and Cylons kill one of the survivors of the Raptor
crash.
The episode received favorable critical reception, with one critic saying, "By the Lords of Kobol
, this is good TV".
that served as the series's backdoor pilot, Adama said there would be no networked computer systems aboard Galactica while he was in command. In the previous episode, "Kobol's Last Gleaming", Adama's son Lee "Apollo" Adama
was arrested for mutiny
during his father's military coup
. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
traveled in a stolen Cylon Raider
to Caprica, where she encountered Helo
and Caprica-Boomer. A Raptor containing a survey team crashed on Kobol with Cylons in pursuit. Galactica-Boomer discovered she is a Cylon and shot Adama twice in the torso in Galacticas CIC
.
arrives and threatens the human fleet. Tigh orders the fleet to undertake an emergency faster-than-light jump to escape, despite the stranded survey team and the fact that Doctor Sherman Cottle is aboard another ship; the jump will delay his return to Galactica to treat Adama. Galactica is the last ship to jump; when they arrive, the rest of the fleet is not there.
Tigh interrogates Boomer in the brig. Boomer urges him to kill her, but Tigh decides against it.
To find the fleet, Galactica must first jump back to its original position, where the Cylons are likely waiting for them. The computations necessary for the next jump would take too long for Galactica to hold off a likely Cylon attack. Lieutenant Felix Gaeta
proposes networking the ship's computers to speed up the computations. Tigh agrees despite his earlier declaration that Adama is still in command. Tigh paroles Apollo to command the Vipers
in the coming battle. As the battle rages, the Cylons attempt to hack Galacticas network, but Gaeta's software firewall
appears to hold. A Cylon Heavy Raider
crashes into Galactica shortly before Galactica jumps and meets the fleet.
A medic is forced to operate on Adama in Cottle's absence. In a sequence of flashbacks
, Tigh recalls how Adama got Tigh back into the Colonial Fleet following the First Cylon War. Tigh laments to the unconscious Adama that he never wanted a command and wants Adama back.
A group of Cylon Centurions emerges from the Heavy Raider.
, and Cally
to retrieve the supplies. Tyrol carries Tarn from the site of the shooting, but Tarn dies in Tyrol's arms.
In another deleted scene, Tigh has another flashback just before sparing Boomer's life. In it, Tigh is beating a man who he says owes him money. Adama stops him and warns him that he won't be able to get Tigh back in the fleet if Tigh keeps nursing grudges and drinking so much. He worries Tigh will eventually kill someone.
commentary on "Scattered", executive producer Ronald D. Moore
discussed his views of what the episode's events reveal about several of the characters.
and Michael Hogan appear decades younger. The final version has fewer, shorter flashbacks intended to focus mostly on Tigh's character. Several of the abandoned flashbacks are included as deleted scenes on the DVD. The flashback in which military police find a drunken Tigh in his hotel room and tell him Adama has gotten him reinstated is an homage to the film Apocalypse Now
.
"Scattered" was the first episode of Battlestar Galactica broadcast in North America that used music over the main credits that had previously been used only in the UK broadcasts. According to Moore, everyone involved in the show preferred the UK version. "Scattered" omits the montage of upcoming scenes that followed the credits in first season episodes, both because of time considerations and in response to criticism of the montages.
The idea of Galactica and the fleet being separated after a jump was one of the original log lines Moore submitted to the Sci Fi
network before the networked picked up Battlestar Galactica.
Several shots of Tigh walking the corridors of Galactica appearing in "Scattered" were actually filmed for the second season's fourth episode, "Resistance
". The production team needed the shots in "Scattered" to intercut with one of Tigh's flashbacks. Several shots in the space battle scene appeared first in the miniseries.
The dialogue among Tyrol, Cally, and Tarn before they are ambushed by Cylons was improvised by the actors. Moore saw Tarn's death as commentary of the ugliness of war. Asked in a December 2005 interview what was the most difficult scene in the series to shoot, actor Aaron Douglas
(Tyrol) said, "The scenes where someone dies in the Chief's arms are difficult to do because they take a really long time to shoot and you are constantly in a state of loss and sadness. They are very draining."
of USA Today
gave "Scattered" three and a half stars out of four. Susan Tankersley of Television Without Pity gave the episode an A, finding the jumping dilemma contrived but saying the space battle "look[ed] fantastic." Kevin McDonough of the Intelligencer Journal
praised the episode's incorporation of scenes from multiple genres, including "a hospital operating-room drama, terrestrial combat action, political intrigue and your standard space dogfight conducted at warp speed." Jason Davis of Mania gave it a B+, praising Hogan's acting and the flashbacks. Simon Brew of Den of Geek appreciated the visual device used to show the Cylons trying to penetrate Gaeta's firewall.
Eric Goldman of IGN
ranked Tigh taking command in "Scattered" and the following three episodes at #11 on his list of the top 20 storylines and moments in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica.
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 July 15, 2005.
In the episode, 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...
is in critical condition following his shooting in the cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
ending of the first season. 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...
is separated from the fleet during a Cylon
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...
attack, and Colonel Saul Tigh
Saul Tigh
Saul Tigh is a fictional character on Battlestar Galactica played by Michael Hogan. The character was named Paul Tigh in early scripts, and was renamed due to legal issues, according to producer Ronald D. Moore. He is one of the main characters of the show.-Overview and personality:Saul Tigh is a...
, now in command, must reunite them. He does this by ordering the ships computers networked in defiance of Adama's standing orders
General order
In militaries, a general order is a published directive, originated by a commander, and binding upon all personnel under his command, the purpose of which is to enforce a policy or procedure unique to his unit's situation which is not otherwise addressed in applicable service regulations, military...
. Cylon Centurions board Galactica. On Kobol
Kobol
Kobol is the name of a planet in the fictional Battlestar Galactica universe.Within the context of both Battlestar Galactica stories, Kobol is the birthplace and original home of humanity, from which the civilization departed and formed the Twelve Colonies on other worlds...
, Gaius Baltar
Gaius Baltar
Gaius Baltar is a fictional character in the TV series Battlestar Galactica played by James Callis, a reimagining of Count Baltar from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
continues to receive visions, and Cylons kill one of the survivors of the Raptor
Colonial Raptor
The Raptor is a multipurpose military spacecraft featured in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. According to producer Ronald D. Moore, the Raptor is analogous to the U.S. Navy's EA-6B Prowler.-Description:...
crash.
The episode received favorable critical reception, with one critic saying, "By the Lords of Kobol
Lords of Kobol
The Lords of Kobol are deities featured in the fictional universe of Battlestar Galactica. The Lords of Kobol are worshiped by the humans of the Twelve Colonies...
, this is good TV".
Plot
In the miniseriesBattlestar Galactica (TV miniseries)
Battlestar Galactica is a three-hour miniseries written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica reimagining based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series...
that served as the series's backdoor pilot, Adama said there would be no networked computer systems aboard Galactica while he was in command. In the previous episode, "Kobol's Last Gleaming", Adama's son 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:...
was arrested for mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
during his father's military coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
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...
traveled in a stolen Cylon Raider
Cylon Raider
The Cylon Raider is the standard starfighter used by the Cylons, in the various Battlestar Galactica movies and television series. Cylon raiders are used as the main line of defense for Cylon Basestars.- Original series :...
to Caprica, where she encountered Helo
Karl Agathon
Karl C. Agathon is a fictional character on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series, portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett.-Background:...
and Caprica-Boomer. A Raptor containing a survey team crashed on Kobol with Cylons in pursuit. Galactica-Boomer discovered she is a Cylon and shot Adama twice in the torso in Galacticas CIC
Combat Information Center
The Operations Room is the tactical center of a warship or AWAC aircraft providing processed information for command and control of the near battle space or 'area of operations'...
.
Galactica
The episode begins where "Kobol's Last Gleaming" left off, with Adama bleeding in the CIC. Tigh, forced to take command, sends Adama to the sickbay and imprisons Galactica-Boomer and Apollo. Apollo protests his detention, and Boomer reacts to Adama's condition with surprise and horror. A Cylon BasestarCylon Basestar
The Basestar is the capital ship of the Cylons in the 1978 science fiction television series and movie Battlestar Galactica along with its re-imagining in the 2003 miniseries and 2004 television series.- Battlestar Galactica :...
arrives and threatens the human fleet. Tigh orders the fleet to undertake an emergency faster-than-light jump to escape, despite the stranded survey team and the fact that Doctor Sherman Cottle is aboard another ship; the jump will delay his return to Galactica to treat Adama. Galactica is the last ship to jump; when they arrive, the rest of the fleet is not there.
Tigh interrogates Boomer in the brig. Boomer urges him to kill her, but Tigh decides against it.
To find the fleet, Galactica must first jump back to its original position, where the Cylons are likely waiting for them. The computations necessary for the next jump would take too long for Galactica to hold off a likely Cylon attack. Lieutenant Felix Gaeta
Felix Gaeta
Lieutenant Junior Grade Felix Gaeta is a fictional character on Battlestar Galactica played by Alessandro Juliani.- Character overview in his early career :...
proposes networking the ship's computers to speed up the computations. Tigh agrees despite his earlier declaration that Adama is still in command. Tigh paroles Apollo to command the Vipers
Colonial Viper
The Colonial Viper is the primary fighter spacecraft type used by the human protagonists in the Battlestar Galactica fictional universe. Appearing in both the 1978 original series and the 2003 reimagined series, as well as various derivative works, the single-pilot spacecraft are carried aboard...
in the coming battle. As the battle rages, the Cylons attempt to hack Galacticas network, but Gaeta's software firewall
Firewall (computing)
A firewall is a device or set of devices designed to permit or deny network transmissions based upon a set of rules and is frequently used to protect networks from unauthorized access while permitting legitimate communications to pass....
appears to hold. A Cylon Heavy Raider
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...
crashes into Galactica shortly before Galactica jumps and meets the fleet.
A medic is forced to operate on Adama in Cottle's absence. In a sequence of flashbacks
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
, Tigh recalls how Adama got Tigh back into the Colonial Fleet following the First Cylon War. Tigh laments to the unconscious Adama that he never wanted a command and wants Adama back.
A group of Cylon Centurions emerges from the Heavy Raider.
Kobol
On Kobol, Head Six shows Baltar a vision of Kobol's lost Opera House. There he sees a baby girl, whom Six identifies as their child. Crashdown orders the survivors to take cover in a nearby forest, but in their haste they leave behind needed medical supplies. Cylons shoot another survivor, Tarn, after Crashdown orders him, Chief Galen TyrolGalen 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...
, and Cally
Specialist Cally
Callandra "Cally" Tyrol is a fictional character from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series...
to retrieve the supplies. Tyrol carries Tarn from the site of the shooting, but Tarn dies in Tyrol's arms.
Caprica
On Caprica, Starbuck wants to kill Caprica-Boomer, while Helo insists she is different from the other Cylons. As they argue, Boomer steals Starbuck's Raider, stranding her and Helo.Deleted scenes
In a deleted flashback, Tigh is called a war hero by shipmates and proves his savvy in hand-to-hand combat in a bar fight. Adama saves his life in the fight, and this is how the two meet.In another deleted scene, Tigh has another flashback just before sparing Boomer's life. In it, Tigh is beating a man who he says owes him money. Adama stops him and warns him that he won't be able to get Tigh back in the fleet if Tigh keeps nursing grudges and drinking so much. He worries Tigh will eventually kill someone.
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 "Scattered", 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.
- Tigh's success leading Galactica back to the fleet in "Scattered" and dealing with the Centurion threat in the following episode, "Valley of Darkness", validates Adama's faith in him. After the military crises pass, Tigh's leadership is hampered by his lack of political skill, his alcoholism, and Ellen TighEllen TighAfter she is killed for treason against the resistance on New Caprica, Ellen resurrects aboard a Cylon ship, where John Cavil holds her prisoner. However, by downloading into a new body, she regains the memories that Cavil had blocked decades earlier...
's manipulation. - The writers created Crashdown in the first season to replace Helo as Galactica-Boomer's electronic countermeasuresElectronic countermeasuresAn electronic countermeasure is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar or other detection systems, like infrared or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy...
officer. He was conceived as a jokester, and he demonstrates in this episode that he may not have the skills necessary to lead an infantry unit. - During the space battle, the Marine guarding Laura RoslinLaura RoslinHer 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...
's cell asks to pray with her and calls her a prophet of the gods. According to Moore, this marks the beginning of some people in the fleet viewing Roslin as a religious figure and Roslin's reluctant embrace of that role. - The scenes between Roslin and Apollo in the brig are tense because of Apollo's disappointment that Roslin failed to back him up when he defied the coup in "Kobol's Last Gleaming". Apollo expresses this disappointment in a scene deleted from "The FarmThe 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...
".
Production
The second season premiere was initially going to be set in the distant past, leaving unaddressed the cliffhanger that ended the previous season. "Scattered" would have been the second season's second episode and would have included the action on Kobol and Caprica shown in "Valley of Darkness". After this idea was abandoned, the writers considered opening the episode with the deleted flashback in which Adama and Tigh first met. Several flashbacks providing background on Adama and Tigh's relationship were filmed, but the production team felt that the flashbacks fit poorly into the series's tone. Also, they did not want to recast younger actors to play Adama and Tigh but were unsatisfied by the efforts to make actors Edward James OlmosEdward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
and Michael Hogan appear decades younger. The final version has fewer, shorter flashbacks intended to focus mostly on Tigh's character. Several of the abandoned flashbacks are included as deleted scenes on the DVD. The flashback in which military police find a drunken Tigh in his hotel room and tell him Adama has gotten him reinstated is an homage to the film Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
.
"Scattered" was the first episode of Battlestar Galactica broadcast in North America that used music over the main credits that had previously been used only in the UK broadcasts. According to Moore, everyone involved in the show preferred the UK version. "Scattered" omits the montage of upcoming scenes that followed the credits in first season episodes, both because of time considerations and in response to criticism of the montages.
The idea of Galactica and the fleet being separated after a jump was one of the original log lines Moore submitted to the Sci Fi
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...
network before the networked picked up Battlestar Galactica.
Several shots of Tigh walking the corridors of Galactica appearing in "Scattered" were actually filmed for the second season's fourth episode, "Resistance
Resistance (Battlestar Galactica)
"Resistance" is the fourth episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel on August 5, 2005....
". The production team needed the shots in "Scattered" to intercut with one of Tigh's flashbacks. Several shots in the space battle scene appeared first in the miniseries.
The dialogue among Tyrol, Cally, and Tarn before they are ambushed by Cylons was improvised by the actors. Moore saw Tarn's death as commentary of the ugliness of war. Asked in a December 2005 interview what was the most difficult scene in the series to shoot, actor Aaron Douglas
Aaron Douglas
Aaron Douglas was an African American painter and a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance.-Early life:...
(Tyrol) said, "The scenes where someone dies in the Chief's arms are difficult to do because they take a really long time to shoot and you are constantly in a state of loss and sadness. They are very draining."
Reception
"Scattered" was reviewed favorably by critics. Robert BiancoRobert Bianco
Robert Bianco is an American television critic. He currently works for USA Today and has an online column. He began his career as a restaurant critic in Pittsburgh and eventually became a television critic at the Pittsburgh Press.-References:...
of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave "Scattered" three and a half stars out of four. Susan Tankersley of Television Without Pity gave the episode an A, finding the jumping dilemma contrived but saying the space battle "look[ed] fantastic." Kevin McDonough of the Intelligencer Journal
Intelligencer Journal
The Intelligencer Journal, known locally as the Intell, is the daily, morning newspaper published by Lancaster Newspapers, Inc in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is the 7th oldest newspaper in the United States and one of the oldest newspapers to be continually published under the same name...
praised the episode's incorporation of scenes from multiple genres, including "a hospital operating-room drama, terrestrial combat action, political intrigue and your standard space dogfight conducted at warp speed." Jason Davis of Mania gave it a B+, praising Hogan's acting and the flashbacks. Simon Brew of Den of Geek appreciated the visual device used to show the Cylons trying to penetrate Gaeta's firewall.
Eric Goldman of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
ranked Tigh taking command in "Scattered" and the following three episodes at #11 on his list of the top 20 storylines and moments in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica.
Connections to other series elements
- The crew of Galactica discover and battle the intruding Cylon Centurions in the following episode, "Valley of Darkness".
- Also in "Valley of Darkness", the medical supplies arrive too late, and Socinus dies.
- In the episode "Flight of the PhoenixFlight of the Phoenix (Battlestar Galactica)"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....
", it is revealed that a Cylon virus penetrated Galacticas computers despite Gaeta's firewall.
External links
- "Scattered" at the Battlestar Wiki
- "Scattered" 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...