Final Cut (9 Sep. 2005)

Journalist D'Anna Biers is making an item on the Gideon incident, when she's asked by Adama and Roslin to film daily life on Galactica.

Director:

Robert M. Young

Writers:

Ronald D. Moore (developed by), Mark Verheiden,

Stars:

Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Edward James Olmos	...	Commander William Adama
Mary McDonnell	...	President Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff	...	Lt. Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
Jamie Bamber	...	Cpt. Lee 'Apollo' Adama
James Callis	...	Dr. Gaius Baltar
Tricia Helfer	...	Number Six
Grace Park	...	Lt. Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii
Michael Hogan	...	Colonel Saul Tigh
Aaron Douglas	...	Chief Galen Tyrol
Tahmoh Penikett	...	Lt. Karl 'Helo' Agathon
Paul Campbell	...	Billy Keikeya
Alessandro Juliani	...	Lt. Felix Gaeta
Kandyse McClure	...	Officer Anastasia Dualla
Kate Vernon	...	Ellen Tigh
Donnelly Rhodes	...	Dr. Cottle

Storyline

D'Anna Biers, a nosy journalist from the Fleet News Service, is preparing an item on the Gideon incident, complaining that no marines or officers were charged for shooting the civilians. Suddenly she's asked by commander Adama and president Roslin to follow daily life on Galactica. She's given full access and is not required to create a positive story. D'Anna agrees with the offer. While some of the crew like Lee Adama dislike what she's doing, Dr. Baltar tries desperately to draw her attention. Biers is more interested in the Gideon story, especially after Tigh is getting a death threat. Meanwhile the air group is still having a shortage of pilots, forcing them to be on duty for 15 hours continuously. Louanne Katraine, one of the pilots, seems to be unable to cope with the stress.

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Plot Keywords:

heroine | terminal illness | starfighter | space opera | faster than light | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 September 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver Film Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

R&D TV, NBC Universal Television, David Eick Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The documentary crew's camera is actually a cosmetically altered Panasonic DVX-100 (or possibly the 100A). Also, the video tape that Biers conceals is a regular MiniDV cassette.

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Quotes

D'anna Biers: [after the Galactica gets attacked] Does this ever get any easier?
Petty Officer 2nd Dualla: No, ma'am. It gets harder.

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Soundtracks

"Main Title Theme"
Written by Richard Gibbs

User Reviews

A reporter visits Galactica

This episode is different from most other episodes as it follows a character we haven't seen before; D'Anna Biers is a reporter who after broadcasting a piece about the 'Gideon Massacre' is invited to produce a piece about life on Galactica, to show the fleet the human side of the military. At first it looks as if this was a big mistake; while investigating her story she learns of death threats against Col. Tigh, witnesses officers almost coming to blows, sees a pilot break down because she has been taking far to many stimulants and possibly the worst of all she sees Sharon Valarii and learns of her pregnancy. Although she had been promised full access she agrees to Adama's demand that Sharon must be kept a secret.

This episode could have been overly cliché, in fact when we saw the final broadcast of her story I thought it was… until the twist in the final scene that I won't spoil here. Lucy Lawless, best known for playing Xena: Warrior Princess, did a good job as D'Anna; I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her character. Even though there was some action this was a purely character driven episode, so much so that when the fleet was attacked by a pair of Cylon raiders we stayed and watched the reactions of the bridge crew rather than seeing the action. The only real weakness was the subplot involving Col. Tigh and his death threats; it was wrapped up far to easily although the scene where his potential killer confronted him was good; Michael Hogan is great in the role.