Six of One (Battlestar Galactica)

Infobox Television episode
Title =Six of One


Caption =No image yet available
Series =Battlestar Galactica
Season =4
Episode =4
Airdate =April 11, 2008
Production =404
Writer =Michael Angeli
Director =Anthony Hemingway
Guests =
Episode list =Episode chronology
Prev =He That Believeth in Me
Next =The Ties That Bind

Six of One is the Emmy nominated fourth episode of the fourth season of the science fiction television series "Battlestar Galactica". It first aired on April 11th, 2008.

The name appears to be a play off the idiom " [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/six_of_one,_half_a_dozen_of_the_other six of one, half a dozen of the other] " meaning two presented choices are equal and it does not matter which is chosen.

Plot

Survivor Count: 39,676

The episode begins with Starbuck holding President Laura Roslin at gunpoint. Starbuck reminds Roslin that she went back to Caprica to retrieve the Arrow of Apollo based solely on Roslin's wild vision. Now that Starbuck has returned with her own vision of Earth, Roslin believes her to be a Cylon trick. Feeling betrayed, Starbuck tells Roslin to take the gun and shoot her if she can't trust her. Roslin does pick up the gun and fires just as security arrives. The round misses Starbuck however, and hits a picture of Roslin and Admiral Adama. Starbuck is restrained and as she is dragged away, she tries again to urge the others to change course fearing she will lose the direction to Earth after one more jump.

Aboard a Cylon Basestar, a Number Six model, (called Natalie), a Number Eight model, and Leoben Conoy, (now identified as model Number Two), talk to Brother Cavil, (now identified as model Number One), about the final five Cylons being among the human fleet. The three believe a hybrid has been explaining this to them and this is the reason why the Cylon Raiders disengaged their attack against the human fleet at the Ionian Nebula. Cavil reminds them that open discussion of the final five is forbidden by their original programmers. He also says the Raiders are tools, and their programming has been corrupted. They disobeyed orders and so they should be lobotomized to fix the problem. Natalie says the final five are calling to them and the Raiders understand that as well. Cavil calls a vote saying he is certain the Number Four (Simon) and Number Five (Aaron Doral) models will agree with him.

Elsewhere, the four of the final five Cylons, Colonel Tigh, Tory Foster, Samuel Anders, and Galen Tyrol, discuss the as yet unidentified fifth and final Cylon among them and can only wonder who it could be. They know Starbuck has been acting crazy since she returned, but since she hasn't sought them out yet they rule out the possibility that she is the fifth Cylon. Tyrol believes that Gaius Baltar might know since he spent time with the Cylons, but to get close to him, Colonel Tigh suggests Tory seduce him much to her objection.

Down in the brig, Adama confronts Starbuck believing she has gone mad. She swears that she has been to Earth and is trying the best she can to prove it, but admits she screwed up. Adama tells her she just lost all hope of anyone helping her now. Starbuck accuses him of knowing she is right, but that he is catering to the President's emotions and doesn't have the guts to follow his instincts. Adama furiously slams her to the deck then leaves in disgust. From the floor, Starbuck laments that they're going the wrong way.

Back on the Basestar, Cavil, Simon, and Doral models have voted in favor to "reconfigure" the Raiders, but Natalie, the Number Eights and Leoben have voted against, leaving it a tie. When Boomer goes against her line and votes against the other Eights, Cavil declares it a tie breaker. Natalie believes it absurd that Boomer would vote against the other Number Eights, saying that such dissent within a model's ranks has never happened before; she accuses Cavil of manipulating Boomer. Natalie tries to press upon them that the Raiders are as sentient as they are and that there is a divine plan in their design. Butchering the Raiders violates that plan and they should not play God.

Later, Tory sits in a mess hall observing Baltar and he notices her watching him. He approaches her and accuses her of spying on him for Roslin. Baltar then becomes alarmed when he suddenly sees an image of himself sitting next to Tory, similar to the inner image of Number Six that he has seen in the past. Tory says she is only interested in Baltar's recent "miracle" and notes how everything happening in his life seems to be as a series of miracles. Baltar replies that it seems he has been called to sing "God's song", describing it as a strange cacophony, like a symphony tuning up, and then slowing taking the form a melody. This song-reference has a particularly potent effect on Tory, who becomes anxious and decides to leave. Gaius then questions his "Inner Baltar," asking if it could be Six in disguise. The image tells him that he should handle Tory with care, and that she is both special and fragile.

In Adama's quarters, the Admiral and President Roslin discuss what to do about Starbuck. Adama admits that he can't explain how Starbuck returned, but can't help but wonder if she could be a miracle, and they are doing the wrong thing by ignoring her. He reminds Roslin she missed shooting Starbuck at point blank range. Roslin says she will not trust Starbuck with the fate of the fleet and tells Adama that he'd rather face his own demise than risk losing Starbuck again.

Lee Adama visits Starbuck in the brig where he tells her that he will be filling the vacant Quorum seat. He starts walking away, but she pulls him back for an emotional kiss and he tells her that he believes her. After a visit alone to the pilot briefing room, Lee enters the hangar to depart "Galactica" and he is given a surprise, honorary send-off from the rest of the crew who applaud him. Before he boards a Raptor, Dualla hands him a plaque with his pilot wings mounted on them. Lee notes that she "got the house", alluding to the idea of a divorce and indicating that their relationship is at an end.

Back on the Basestar, Natalie once again demands that Cavil stop the Raider lobotomies. When Cavil refuses, she calls in two Cylon Centurions which then engage their weapons.

Elsewhere, despite having voiced her earlier objections to Tigh, Tory and Baltar have sex, after which she weeps. Afterward Tory says she could be a Cylon, but Baltar tells her not to be afraid and that he has learned from his time among them that Cylons have feelings. He says that humans may have made the Cylons, but it was the one true God that gave them souls.

On the Basestar, Cavil orders the Centurions to leave but they refuse the order. Natalie withdraws a device saying she has removed the Centurion's higher brain inhibitors and they are now able to reason. She told them what is happening to the Raiders and they have come to stop it. The Centurions then gun down Cavil and the other humanoid Cylons in the room.

On the "Galactica", Helo leads Starbuck from her cell down to the hangar where she expects to face the airlock. Adama says he can't take a chance that she could be right and not do anything about it. To her surprise, he tells her she will be given the "Demetrius" — a sewage recycling ship — and using the cover story that it's going on a scouting mission, he tells her to go find a way back to Earth.

Reception

Total viewership for "Six of One" dropped 16 percent from the season premiere, falling to 1.8 million viewers from 2.1 million the week before, according to the Nielsen ratings. [http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/04/15/more-battlestar-galactica-nielsen-ratings-and-they-arent-great/3355 Seidman, Robert. "More Battlestar Galactica Nielsen Ratings: They Aren't Great." "TV By The Numbers." April 15, 2008.] ] The show received a 1.1 household rating and 2 percent share. In the critical 18-to-49-year-old demographic, viewership fell by even more—19 percent—to just 900,000 viewers (a 0.9 household rating and 3 percent share). It was estimated that fewer than 500,000 additional viewers watch the show on DVRs, because the Nielsen rating estimates for DVR watching (calculated over the seven days following the episode's initial airing) do not count shows with fewer than 500,000 viewers. [ [http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/04/21/what-youre-watching-on-your-dvrs-weekly-dvr-nielsen-ratings/3440 Seidman, Robert. "What You're Watching on Your DVRS: Weekly DVR Nielsen Ratings." "TV By The Numbers." April 21, 2008.] ]

Regardless, The SciFi Network selected "Six of One" as its' official 2008 Emmy Awards submission for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and the episode was nominated in the category. [ [http://cdn.emmys.tv/awards/2008pte/60thpte_noms.php Academy of Television Arts & Sciences ] ] "Six of One" was also chosen as the official entry screening for Katee Sackoff (who plays Kara/Starbuck) as best supporting actress in a dramatic series.

Notes

External links

* at the Battlestar Wiki