![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
"Blood on the Scales" | |
---|---|
Battlestar Galactica episode | |
![]() Felix Gaeta is appalled after realizing Tom Zarek had all members of the Quorum killed | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 14 |
Directed by | Wayne Rose |
Written by | Michael Angeli |
Original air date | February 6, 2009 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Blood on the Scales" is the fourteenth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica . It aired on television in the United States and Canada on February 6, 2009. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,603.
Felix Gaeta and Tom Zarek move to consolidate their insurrection in the fleet, while Cpt. Kara Thrace and Lee Adama organize resistance on board the Galactica and try to retake control of the ship. Zarek brings in Romo Lampkin to serve as Admiral Adama's defense counsel, against both Lampkin's and Adama's will. After a brief trial, Zarek, acting as judge, condemns Adama to death by firing squad. Zarek travels to Colonial One to attempt to solidify his position with the support of the Quorum of Twelve (absent Lee Adama). When they reject his coup and ask him to leave, he has two marines execute the entire group. Meanwhile, Kara and Lee rescue the high-profile prisoners taken in "The Oath" (Samuel Anders, Colonel Tigh, Sharon Agathon, as well as Helo, Hera and Caprica-Six), and with the help of Aaron Kelly rescue Admiral Adama from execution. Laura Roslin and her allies on the Cylon basestar, now under threat of attack from Gaeta and the Galactica, position the ship among the fleet to temporarily shield themselves. With Adama certain to be killed, the Cylons vote to jump away, but Roslin convinces them to stay with the fleet.
Adama and his allies, including some former mutineers, march to retake the CIC. During a skirmish, Anders is shot in the neck, and Kara convinces Romo Lampkin to help her carry him to Dr. Cottle. In the CIC, Gaeta and Zarek are in the middle of a standoff with President Roslin. Zarek, presuming that Adama has already been executed, tells Roslin that Adama is dead, and Roslin vows to take vengeance. Gaeta orders the ship to jump away, but Tyrol has sabotaged the FTL drive, and Gaeta realizes the mutiny is failing. Rather than attacking as Zarek presses him to do, Gaeta orders his men to stand down. Moments later, Adama and his men storm the CIC, and the mutineers give up without a fight. After the CIC is reclaimed, Tyrol, who is still in the engine room, notices and inspects a heavily damaged section of wall. Long linear grooves appear to have been gouged into the steel. It is unclear what caused this damage.
Later, Gaeta has a conversation with Gaius Baltar where he expands upon his former hopes and dreams and his wish for people to know who he really was and why he did what he did. Baltar and Gaeta make peace with each other over their past differences with Baltar acknowledging an understanding of who Gaeta is. As a result of their actions, Admiral Adama has Gaeta and Zarek executed by a firing squad that he commands personally. Moments before being executed, Gaeta's phantom limb pain stops, indicating that he is finally at peace with himself.
Same-day total viewership ratings for "Blood on the Scales" rose to 1.767 from 1.560 million the previous week, a rise of about 13.2 percent. [1] This was roughly equal to total viewership for the second episode of Season 4.5 ("A Disquiet Follows My Soul") but left viewership still down nearly 20 percent from the Season 4.5 premiere episode ("Sometimes a Great Notion"). [2]
Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger felt that the episode was "brilliant", "even more moving and shocking and bad-ass than last week's The Oath" and praised the performances in particular Mary McDonnell and Alessandro Juliani who "did a masterful job of making you understand, if not agree with, Felix's point of view." [3] Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune felt that the episode was "a particularly dense episode of the show: There wasn't a wasted moment, action or word. It was absolutely jammed with incidents and developments, yet it was really also just one story: The tragedy of Felix Gaeta." [4]
Dr. Gaius Baltar is a fictional character in the TV series Battlestar Galactica played by James Callis, a reimagining of Lord Baltar from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series. He is one of the show's primary characters.
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series produced and aired by the SyFy cable network. He is one of the main characters in the series, and is portrayed by Edward James Olmos. The character is a reimagining of Commander Adama from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series, originally played by Lorne Greene.
Leland Joseph "Lee" Adama is a fictional character in the television series Battlestar Galactica. He is portrayed by actor Jamie Bamber, and is one of the main characters in the series. His first appearance was in the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries.
"Bastille Day" is the third episode of the first season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series.
"Six Degrees of Separation" is the seventh episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series.
"Colonial Day" is the eleventh episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series.
"Lay Down Your Burdens" is the two-part second-season finale of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. Part 1 aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel on March 3, 2006; Part 2 aired on March 10, 2006, as a 90-minute special.
"Collaborators" is the fifth episode of the third season from the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica.
The music of the 2004 TV series Battlestar Galactica is a body of work largely credited to the composers Bear McCreary and Richard Gibbs. The music of Battlestar Galactica displays a variety of ethnic influences and generally does not conform to the "orchestral" style of many science fiction scores.
"The Son Also Rises" is the eighteenth episode of the third season from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. Its title is a play on the title of the famous Ernest Hemingway novel, The Sun Also Rises.
"Crossroads" are the nineteenth and twentieth episodes of the third season and season finale from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. Neither episode begins with a survivor count.
"Six of One" is the second episode of the fourth season of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. The episode first aired on SCI FI and Space in the United States and Canada respectively on April 11, 2008, and aired on Sky 1 in the United Kingdom on April 15, along with "He That Believeth in Me". The episode's name appears to be a play off the idiom "six of one, half a dozen of the other" meaning two presented choices are equal and it does not matter which is chosen. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award.
"Revelations" is the tenth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It first aired on television in the United States on June 13, 2008. The episode serves as the mid-season finale of the fourth season, with the concluding episodes of the series airing after a hiatus. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,665.
"Sine Qua Non" is the eighth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It first aired on television on May 27, 2008. The episode name is a Latin term referring to something essential that cannot be done without. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,674.
"A Disquiet Follows My Soul" is the twelfth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It aired on television in the United States and Canada on January 23, 2009, in Australia on January 31, 2009, and on Sky One in the UK on January 27, 2009. According to the director, this episode takes place immediately after the webisode series "The Face of the Enemy". The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,644. The Region 1 DVD release of Season 4.5 includes an extended version of this episode.
"The Oath" is the thirteenth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It aired on television in the United States and Canada on January 30, 2009 and in the UK on Sky One on February 3, 2009.
"Deadlock" is the sixteenth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It aired on television in the United States and Canada. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,556.
"Islanded in a Stream of Stars" is the eighteenth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It aired on television in the United States and Canada on March 6, 2009. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,521. The Region 1 DVD release of Season 4.5 includes an extended version of this episode.
"Daybreak" is the three-part series finale of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica, and are the 74th and 75th episodes overall. The episodes aired on the U.S. Sci Fi Channel and SPACE in Canada respectively on March 13 and March 20, 2009. The second part is double-length. The episodes were written by Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Michael Rymer. The Season 4.5 DVD and Blu-ray releases for Region 1 feature an extended version of the finale, which not only combines all three parts as a single episode, but also integrates it with new scenes not seen in the aired versions of either part. The survivor count shown in the title sequence for Part 1 is 39,516. The survivor count shown in the title sequence for Part 2 is 39,406. At the end of Part 2, Admiral Adama announces the survivor population at approximately 38,000.