14: Baltar's Escape
 

This thread will be for discussion on changes etc. on adapting episode #14 "Baltar's Escape" and conforming the story to a continuous season arc storyline.

Why not open fire on the Alliance Destroyer once it clears the landing bay, since there are no hostages aboard? Baltar is going down, and so the shuttle is safe. I have to admit it is a point that I wonder about.

Well the reason they didn't take the Destroyer out was explained in the epilogue of the episode, and the reason I have to agree was weak. This whole obsession with wanting to track things to the Luna 7 base never made much sense in GFE or BE, and in EIT it became irrelevant altogether.

The real problem with the whole Terra trilogy is that it seems like Apollo, Adama etc. are never asking the most obvious questions during GFE and BE to help clue them in on Terra's possible relationship to the Colonies (if there is any) and as a result the whole story arc seems hopelessly bloated and padded. This is one story arc that requires a major overhaul.

My take was that tracking the Destroyer to it's base was an afterthought. True, knowing where potential enemies (or friends) might be coming from when moving into a new region of space would be helpful, but I still think firing to at least disable the Destroyer would have been the more prudent move, in view of Lieter's comments about engaging the Fleet.

After watching Fire in Space, It occured to me that something which wasn't in the episode (for understandable reasons of time and focus) was the political consequences of Adama's predicament. You didn't have the IFB which I imagine was up and running by then reporting to the Fleet n the Galactica (and its Commander's) cndition. Though admittedly there could have been a news blackout. But more importantly there was no coniving politicians contacting the Galactica every five centons asking after Adama and drawing up plans. It seems to me that Adama as the last surviving pre-holocaust Quorum member was the defacto President of the Colonies and if anything happened to him what happens to the political power structure in the Fleet?
The relevance of this in Baltar's Escape is that the subplot revolved around Adama being effectively retired. It might be good if one of the reasons behind the Quorum of 12's decision was to address the separation of powers concentrated on one man. They could refer back to Fire in Space as an example of why the current situation is bad for the Fleet. It would give the Quorum and (some) of its members a little more depth and realism than they're usually portrayed of ambitious incompetents. Just my two penneth.

The Council definitely needs more realism and believability to their actions, because the way the episode unfolds, all you can say is that they are just plain DUMB! (as Cleavon Little in "Blazing Saddles" would say).

I think ultimately, they have a desire to get back at Adama for the snubbing they got in GFE, where I think Adama treated them disrespectfully and gave them reason to be hostile toward anything new that might emanate from Adama regarding how to handle the Alliance "representatives."

I do think for better believability there should be a Council member or two who opposes the Council's decision to strip Adama of power, and as such are not among those being held hostage because they're protesting the meetings by not showing up. That way there's more diversity on the Council and that some members in fact are willing to stand by Adama (when you get down to it, since the rest of the Council was killed in Saga, then this Council has to be comprised of members Adama had a hand in selecting. SOME of them should be up to the job of giving him support when he needs it).

I see the Council here, with maybe two exceptions, as a bunch of pettifogging little time-servers, who with no more Colonies to govern, feel the loss of real political power. Although Adama saved them all, their hostility at the military for their defeat, caused in actuality by politicians like themselves and NOT Warriors, bubbles up in stupid, idiotic measures like this. They are more suited to govern, Cylon pursuit or not. That they were not even MORE stupid is in itself a miracle!
Maybe they should have let the Alliance keep them?

I know that Sire Anton would've supported Adama the whole time. Maybe even Montrose.

What would this young Sire Antipas do and think about this situation and of Adama?

Ah, glad you asked! :) Introducing the Sire Antipas character is my sneaky way of reconciling these adaptations to my subsequent post-HOG fanfic stories (including the Second Season project) where Sire Antipas is this younger Councilman (think Timothy Dalton) who emerges ultimately as Adama's most formidable rival for power in large part because he played things effectively at this point in time by not aligning himself with the scheme to humiliate Adama and openly trust the Alliance, which is the kind of thing that has to permanently damage the ability of those like Domra and Geller to seriously challenge Adama in the future. By playing it smart on this occasion, Antipas thus has the credibility to be Adama's rival in the post-HOG universe because no one can hang the Alliance incident as an albatross over his shoulders.

Well after a year's delay getting started I am now writing my adaptation of this episode. Most of the changes I talked about before I have implemented, concerning some more plausibility for the Council's bizarre behavior in willy-nilly trusting the Alliance "representatives." It's hard to make it come off but at least you can change them from being totally stupid to plausibly stupid, that is, making an argument that at least makes more superficial sense than what we got presented with.

Another change I'm making is bringing Charybdis into this. I have felt that as a result of saving (reluctantly) Apollo's life at the end of MOTRS, this would have gotten Baltar some new benefit of say, being transferred from Solitary to the regular prison population. But with that, would come the danger of realizing a lot of prisoners would want to kill him, in particular Charybdis. So as this is being written, Baltar ends up tripping Charybdis into being part of the escape, so he can ultimately set him up for his potential demise later in the episode.

One other conclusion I'm coming to in terms of transitioning this episode to the beginning of EIT. I think that ultimately, the days of the three Nomen are numbered rather quickly because there is just no place for them to fit into Alliance culture. In fact, I'm strongly considering having Leiter kill them during the trip back from the Galactica to their base.

Not if the Nomen kill them first.

The Nomen would not, I think, be so dumb. After all, they don't know how to fly the Destroyer, and killing the crew won't help them get home.
Of course, with their arrogance, they just might anyway...

Re: 14: Baltar's Escape
 

C'mon! No response? Anyone?

Re: 14: Baltar's Escape
 

All depends where one wants to take the plot line.

I can't see the Borellian Nomen wanting to fit into Alliance Culture. More likely they'd want to figure out a way to extract more of their society from the Fleet. Could be that Destroyer never made it back to the Alliance.

Not particularly a plot line I ever wanted to explore, but maybe a potential comeback for the Nomen further down the line . . .

Re: 14: Baltar's Escape
 

It was always a point I would have liked to have seen explored. And while he writes well, I didn't care for EP's solution; having the Alliance just dump them into space.
Too anti-climactic.