"Battlestar Galactica" Dirty Hands (2007)

Director:

Wayne Rose

Writers:

Ronald D. Moore (developer)
Anne Cofell Saunders (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Battlestar Galactica" (2004)

Original Air Date:

25 February 2007 (Season 3, Episode 16)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

When the head of the fuel production plant holds the fleet hostage by providing unsafe fuel, he's arrested for treason, which results in the Chief sent to the ship and held responsible for getting the plant back up and running. |

Plot Keywords:

Cylon | Space | Guilt | Robot | Refugee

Cast

Edward James Olmos	...	Admiral William Adama
Mary McDonnell	...	President Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff	...	Captain Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace
Jamie Bamber	...	Major Lee 'Apollo' Adama (credit only)
James Callis	...	Dr. Gaius Baltar
Tricia Helfer	...	Number Six
Grace Park	...	Lt. Sharon 'Athena' Agathon (credit only)
Aaron Douglas	...	Chief Galen Tyrol
Nicki Clyne	...	Crewman Specialist Cally Tyrol
Rekha Sharma	...	Tory Foster
David Patrick Green	...	Xeno Fenner
Jen Halley	...	Crewman Specialist Diana Seelix (as Jennifer Halley)
Don Thompson	...	Specialist 3rd Class Anthony Figurski
Leah Cairns	...	Lt. Margaret 'Racetrack' Edmonson
Colin Lawrence	...	Lt. Hamish 'Skulls' McCall

Company:

David Eick Productions

Trivia:

Scenes aboard the tillium refinery ship were actually filmed at a sugar mill. The tillium shown in the episode - including what's in the vast blimp-hangar-like room that's nearly empty, and the stuff dumped onto the conveyor belt - is actually raw, coarse, unrefined sugar.

Things are becoming a little too parochial!

Although initially sceptical about the new series of Battlestar Galactica, I have become a firm fan, and wait with considerable anticipation for new episodes. I cannot rate the cast, and production values more highly, and even "bad" episodes are enjoyable.

One of the strengths of the production is it's ability, particularly in Seasons One and Two to deal with many difficult and challenging issues, which to my mind are relevant to a present day world audience, and human struggle in general. This, alongside the exciting, swash- buckling space saga has given the show a truly international and humanistic quality. Recently however, I have become unusually disappointed by the story lines. In "Dirty Hands", "The Woman King", and to some extent "A Day in the Life", the plots seem to have more to do with the internal politics of modern day America, than issues relating to the struggle of humanity at large - Labour disputes, the religious intolerance of a very American "Christian Science" like subgroup of society, seem provincial, small-town issues compared to the previously tackled questions of War, Torture, Genocide, Betrayal etc

Truly great Science Fiction, is able to see beyond the troubles of the time and place in which it is written, and this series does have the potential to be great, so long as it can veer away from falling into the trap of addressing parochial issues. Perhaps the writers need to look beyond the shores of their homeland, to prevent this great series becoming just another American Morality Tale.