Battlestar Galactica S4 E6, "The Ties That Bind" *SPOILERS*

  Tori: One of the "Dylan Cylons" ~

                  Episode Name: The Ties That Bind  Battlestar Wiki
                  Episode Number: 403
                  Written by: Michael Taylor
                  Directed by: Michael Nankin
                  Original Air Date: 4/18/08, Survivors: 39,676 

Battlestar Galactica S4 E3 was a pretty shocking episode.

"The Ties That Bind," had frakking, madness, murder, and mayhem and for balance, a sweet scene in which  Admiral Adama sat next to President Laura Roslin's infirmary bed (after a short scene with Doc Cottle in which he informed the Prez that she should be nauseous for about an hour after she's taken the equivalent of chemotherapy) and read Love and Bullets, by Nick Talo, apparently a detective mystery novel.

The last spoken scene with Tori and Cally and baby Nicky was pretty awesome. As one BSG watcher commented, ' It was better than anything on Bionic Woman." And now that I type that I realize it was probably a reference to last year's remake of the original Bionic Woman and now I'm feeling really fossil-like. However... "Where's Hera?"

Poor Chief

Bear McCreary the composer of the musical soundtrack for BSG, explains how he interprets the stories in order to score them. It's pretty complicated but he breaks it down in explaining some of the more funky-cool sounding instrumental parts. He seems to take great joy in it and he does a helluva job but if you watch the series, you somewhat know that already. Essentially, he tells each episode--as we already watch/ed it--but through the music. Unique way to enjoy it. And he treats the story and the characters with great respect.

Check it out: Bear McCreary's Battlestar Blog. I truly enjoy it and it especially enhances the second watching of the episode(s)..

An excerpt:

Episodes where a major character is killed off generally require a complex and almost Operatic approach to scoring. Not only are these death scenes important in the larger story arcs, but I also feel compelled to provide an appropriate send-off for the actor or actress who is leaving the series. I want to make sure that their (presumably) last moments on the series are good ones. The Ties That Bind was the first such episode in Season Four, though I have since discovered that it is certainly not the last. Cally’s storyline filled 20 minutes of the episode, and literally every second of it was plastered with layered, evolving music. I knew immediately that I’d need a new theme for her. Though she and Tyrol have had a love theme since Season 1..., it didn’t have the emotional range to capture her frustration, anger, disorientation, confusion and ultimate madness

 And...

A solo duduk enters, playing a lush arrangement of the original Cally / Tyrol  love theme.

This familiar tune, tracing all the way back to Season 1, washes away the sour, dissonant and melancholy Cally Theme that has reverberated throughout the entire episode.

Cally falls to her knees, and Tory comforts her.  I scored this touching scene as if the episode were about to fade to black on a warm, resolved ending. And for a fleeting moment, it appears as if all is well. Of course, we soon discover Tory is up to no good…

Around the Internet it seems a few people are concerned about Sharon and "Helo" Agathon's little cybrid, Hera.

It never really crossed my mind to wonder.

I'm assuming that they found someone to care for her as a military family would have to do today if they were both called up to serve and they had children. Someone else has to watch the kid.

Since my spouse brought up the question as well, I came up with some not-so-serious suggestions for who should watch Hera while her mom and dad are away on the mission to find Earth.

The Six that's been held captive since assisting Sharon/Athena in rescuing Hera off the Cylon Basestar.

Six loves that baby--plus she's locked up--she's got nothing else to do all day (or night for that matter).

If not Six, how 'bout Baltar? He too knows of the importance of Hera. Plus his harem would be glad to lend a hand.

Or even more probably, some random care-taking person who will probably also be watching Little Motherless Cybrid Nicky (below with Pops):

 

...while daddy has a complete meltdown. It's not hard to think through and did you really want to watch a mushy goodbye scene with the Agathons and their baby? Didn't think so.

Cally seals her fate~

Nikky Cline and "Nicky, her cybrid baby~

Cally loses it completely only to sort of get it back and...

....be airlocked by Tory.

(From screen cap with green tone desaturated.)

"The force with which Tory hits Cally indicates that the Final Five possess the Cylons' superhuman strength and if they possess this trait it is likely that the have other, physical Cylon traits as well." `Battlestar Wiki

There was a flash of green light the colour of the ambrosia that Tory has earlier been getting a good buzz from at "Joe's Bar." This probably means nothing but as Tory was throwing back the ambrosia, she remarked that she'd not like it before--which I took to mean she didn't drink it. Maybe ambrosia and the green light obstructing only Tory and Cally have a connection. Also, note above how Nikki Cline's stunt person has her face covered by poor little Nicky's blanket.

 

Something you may not have noticed prior to the "airlocking":

Cally walks into the empty hangar deck, opens up the airlock for one of the Viper tubes and walks in with Nicky. She walks over to a window and looks out into space for a moment and this is what she sees:

The Orion Nebula! (not the Cylon Basestar in the still though it too was pictured with the Orion Nebula/Belt as a backdrop).

Battlestar Wiki

Important stuff we now know: 

• The constellation Orion appears twice in this episode. It is clearly visible in the background of the basestars shortly before Cavil's ships begin to attack, and again when Cally looks out the window in the launch tube shortly before she is confronted by Foster. This would indicate that both fleets are relatively close to Earth.

• The ringed gas giant Starbuck claims to have seen is shown in this episode, bearing a striking resemblance to Jupiter.

 

Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul      Tigh

Aaron Douglas as CPO Galen      Tyrol

Tahmoh Penikett as Captain Karl      "Helo" Agathon

Michael Trucco as Ensign Samuel Anders

Nicki Clyne as Cally Henderson Tyrol

Alessandro Juliani as Lieutenant Felix      Gaeta

Richard Hatch as Tom      Zarek

Donnelly Rhodes as Doctor Cottle

Matthew Bennett as Number      Five

Rekha Sharma as Tory      Foster

Dean Stockwell as Number      One

 

 

Comments

[Cyn]

Thank you for that explanation, Tonio!

[Tonio Loewald]

In "The Killing Machine" (a 60s SF novel) the hero performs interstellar navigation by dead reckoning. If you're in the rough vicinity of a star system and you know the night sky of the world you're trying to get to, look for a familiar constellation -- only constellations on the FAR side of the star system you're aiming for will be correctly shaped, so if they can see Orion, that's the way to Earth, and you don't need to be on Earth or even in the Solar System, just within tens of light years (Betelgeuse and Rigel are the two brightest stars in the constellation and are roughly 400 and 800 LY from Sol respectively)