Battlestar Galactica

Episode #113 - "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II"

This document is ©2005, John Larocque. All rights reserved.

The Cylons were created by man. They evolved. They look human. Some are programmed to think they are human. There are many copies. And they have a plan.

Synopsis

Adama phones up the Laura and asks her about Kara's unscheduled jump with the stolen raider. She admits asking Kara to take the raider to Caprica. "You and I talked about this. We both decided this was a military decision." "My responsibility as President is, first and foremost, to protect and preserve this fleet and its future. In the end, that outweighs any other consideration. It has to." "By taking our raider, you've placed our people on the surfce of Kobol in direct danger." "I'm very aware of the danger our men and women are in on Kobol. I am also deeply aware of the danger this civilization will be in if I ignore the pursuit of this arrow." "I'm going to have to ask for your resignation, Madam President." "No." "Then I'm terminating your presidency, as of this moment." "Commander Adama, I will exercise the authority of this office until I'm unable to do so, so if you want to stage a coup, you're gonna have to come over here and arrest me." Neither of them wants bloodshed, and Laura reminds Adama the press is recording every minute of their conversation. The conversation ends, and Adama orders the CAP to isolate Colonial One. "Jam any transmissions in or out of Colonial One immediately. Prepare a strike team. As long as she's President, she's dangerous." Both Laura and Adama think the other party is bluffing. Lee says, "I know their security detail. They will defend that ship." Tigh replies, "We'll have to take her down department by department."

Adama asks Gaeta for the one functional transporter, says he needs a pilot, and then visits Sharon in sickbay. "I have a very special mission for you and I won't kid around. It's high risk, extremely high risk, understand? I need you to light-jump to Kobol and take care of this Basestar. We're placing a Cylon transponder aboard your Raptor. In theory, it should allow you to approach the Cylon Basestar without getting fired upon... Once you're inside the defence perimeter, I need you to make them think you wanna dock. You have to fire your nuke into the loading bay, and then jump back home immediately.

On Caprica, Sharon tells Helo she's nervous. "Like anything scares you." "Things scare me, Helo. I have feelings." "You have software." She tells him, "What we had between us was important. It was very important." "Why?" "Because it was the next step. Because it brings us closer to God... But beyond that, I just want you to know, I genuinely feel something for you." "I don't care. I don't love you. I loved what I thought was you." "I think there is something else you should know. I'm pregnant." Kara jumps into Caprica's orbit and lands near the museum. She injects herself with anti-radiation dosage. Laura still thinks Adama is bluffing and wants to avoid bloodshed. However, she asks her advisers to go into the cargo hold, which is already holding 176 civilians. Billy tells her, "We stand with our President." Meanwhile, Lee's team have soft seal on Colonial One and have started cutting through the hull.

On Kobol, Crashdown pulls a cover over one casualty. Cally inquires about one of the wounded, and he tells her, "He's a tough kid, he's going to pull through." Tyrol wonders why they're not moving out. "Do you have a plan for tactical deployment?" "Get to the high ground. It'll be our best chance of being seen by a search party." "High ground's also our best chance for being seen by the Cylons... Sir, if I may suggest that we take cover, on the ground. Maybe somewhere where we won't be seen from the air." Sharon and Racetrack jump to the Basestar near Kobol, however there's a problem, as the bomb release is jammed. "We can dock inside the ship. They think we're Cylons, they'll let us dock. We can release the bomb manually and drop the nuke inside the ship itself." On Kobol, Tyrol tells Cally to get a blanket on the unconscious Baltar to keep him warm. In Baltar's head, Number Six appears to Baltar and asks hom, "How are you?" "Alive. You saved my life." "Care to return the favor?" "You in need of saving?" "You wondered why you were chosen? Why God chose you, above all other humans, to survive and serve his purpose. Now's the time to find out why." They walk among the ruins.

On Colonial One, Elosha leads prayers to the Lords of Kobol. Billy and Dualla communicate via phone. "Come on, tell me he's not actually gonna do this." "Tell me she's not gonna make him do it." "What's going on, Billy?" "They're in." Tigh's team arrives and he tells Laura she's under arrest. Lee breaks ranks and disagrees with him. "No... No, we're not doing this... Colonel, this is wrong." He points a gun to Tigh's head and instructs the men to lay their weapons down. "Have you lost your frakking mind?" "Colonel, tell these Marines to fall back." "This is mutiny, you know." "Yes, I do. And you can tell my father that I'm listening to my instincts. And my instincts tell me we cannot sacrifice our democracy just because the President makes a bad decision." Laura orders everyone to put their guns down, including Lee. "I will not have blood shed, neither your men nor my people on Colonial One." She gives herself up into Tigh's custody.

On Caprica, Kara finds the arrow and holds it in her hand. Caprica Number Six greets her. "Pretty, isn't it?" She punches Starbuck. "Hello, Liuetenant. Something I can help you with?" She shoots in Number Six's direction and misses. "Welcome back to Caprica. Like what we've done to the place." She kicks Kara's gun loose and soon they are in hand to hand combat. She taunts, "Come on, Starbuck." Helo and Boomer arrive, and Kara rushes after Number Six. They fall through a hole to the floor below and Kara lands on top of her. Helo helps Kara get up off of the lifeless Number Six and tells her, "You are the last person I expected to see." "I could say the same thing about you." She looks behind Helo and sees version #2 of Sharon, pulls Helo's gun and starts shooting. "She's a Cylon!" Helo stops her, and tells her she's pregnant. Kara lets out a loud wail.

Sharon's Raptor lands inside the Baseship, and she gets ready to exit. She instructs Racetrack, "Open the hatch. I'll release the bomb. Keep the engines warm and ready for takeoff the second I get back... Close the hatch after me. If I'm not back in five minutes, just go." Sharon walks outside and releasese the bomb but she hears voices and hesitates before coming back to the ship. A number of naked Sharon models walk in her direction. She takes her helmet off and tells them, "I'm not a Cylon. I'm Sharon Valerii. I was born on Troy. My parents were Catherine and Abraham Valerii." "You can't fight destiny, Sharon. It catches up with you, no matter what you do. Don't worry about us. We'll see you again. We love you, Sharon. And we always will." Sharon races back to ship and Racetrack asks her about the missing helmet. "Close the hatch. Don't turn around!" Shortly thereafter, the Baseship explodes. In a phone call to Tigh, Commander Adama tells him to bring Lee to him, and to place Laura in the brig. Dualla informs Adama that Boomer has returned. The mission was a success and Adama orders them home.

On Caprica, Number Six and Baltar enter the opera house and go down the central aisle. "I don't understand." "Life has a melody, Gaius. A rhythm of notes that become your existence, once played in harmony with God's plan. It's time to do your part and realize your destiny." "Which is what, exactly?" "You are the guardian and protector of the new generation of God's children. The first member of our family will be with us soon, Gaius. It's time to make your choice." "But I don't understand what you're talking about." They mount the stage and look inside a white crib. "Come, see the face of the shape of things to come. Isn't she beautiful, Gaius?" They kiss. On Galactica, Adama leaves Laura behind in her cell. On the bridge, he looks at Lee who is in handcuffs, and walks on, accompanied by Tigh. He congratulates both Racetrack and Sharon. "You carried out a dangerous and difficult mission. And you did it despite any personal misgivings you may or may not have had. And for that I'm very proud. Thank you." Racetrack shakes his hand, but when he reaches to shake Sharon's hand, she responds, "Thank you, sir" and shoots him twice. Adama laid out and bleeding on top of a console. "Someone get a doctor. Get Doc Cottle! Oh, dad..."

Ron Moore's Commentary

10/2004 -- We talked about it once. I thought that maybe there was a role for [Dirk] to play, but we decided not to go down that road. But you should never say never, and we're still open to the possibility of Dirk or any of the other original cast members appearing on out show. (source: DreamWatch)

1/20/2005 -- Question: My question is are you going to have a story arc that follows clues to the fable lost thirteenth Colony?

Yes, and by the end of the first season, you'll have an idea of how that will play out.

4/1/2005 -- I always saw initially that the arch of the two characters, of Laura and Adama, was going to be you think at first she's the dove and he's a hawk. But in truth... each of them has elements of both hawk and dove, that they're driven by character things, they're not just archetypes that you push around. He's not always going to do the military thing, and she's not always going to do the soft and touchy-feely thing. And that the arch for the season initially was that Laura was going to go too far. Laura was going to get caught up in the need to maintain security in a situation such as this, and that would force her to crack down harder and harder on dissent. And she would winnow away basic freedoms one by one. Adama was going to be the one asked to carry out those orders and become more and more uncomfortable with it as the season went on. And ultimately she would go too far, and he would step in, and he would institute a coup, and that by the end of season one she was going to be in jail. He would have taken over as military commander and declare martial law, which is exactly what neither of them wanted in the beginning.

That's still where we wind up, but the journey along the way changed. Laura didn't really crack down, so much as she did was show teeth, show an ability to be pragmatic, show a willingness to stab a friend in the back, to shove a Cylon out of an airlock. You start to realize she's capable of taking strong measures. But we didn't have to paint her so starkly as I was thinking... It also didn't fit with Mary's portrayal of Laura. So what did happen is that you start to see that she's perfectly capable of doing what she thinks needs to be done. If she thinks she's right, she's going to do it. The fundamental agreement of the civilian and military leaderhship in the fleet seemed like the right place to play the conflict. If she breaks the vow she made in the miniseries, the vow to let him maintain control over military decisions, that that would be the point where he would step in. You don't break your word to Adama. (source: Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II podcast)

4/1/2005 -- There was really no way to get the temple on Caprica and the temple on Kobol to work. They were too expensive. We could not believably create temples on the stage and then we were going to do digital extensions of both sets to sell it in both locations. And it just became cost prohibitive. And likewise, the surrounding of the temple, the big firefight we were going to do with a lot of centurions and hovercraft and raiders and all that, about to lay siege to the temple on Kobol was another element that we just could not afford. Compromises have to be made and you're forced to think in other directions. And so this arrow not being in a temple on Caprica, but actually being in a museum, also seemed a little bit more real, more believable... By and large a lot of "religious items and artifacts" would have found their way into museums. So that became an easier justification for the museum on Caprica. (source: Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II podcast)

4/1/2005 -- Sharon is pregnant, by Helo, and that's an important thing to the Cylons... The entire storyline, all the things that have happened on Caprica, were done and manipulated for a reason. And that reason was to see if Sharon could become impregnated with Helo's child. And why is that so important to the Cylons? Why would they concoct this elaborate scheme, to maneuver those two into that kind of situation. That's a question we'll answer next season. (source: Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II podcast)

4/1/2005 -- In the first draft of Kobol's Last Gleaming, he went into the temple, and Six took him towards some subterranean passage, it was very dark, and she said "It's about as far as I can go." And he goes "What?," and she makes him go further. And he finds himself walking in a black void and doesn't know where it's leading. And at the end of that, he comes into a room, and he hears music, and it's a recognizable Earth tune to the audience and to him. Jimi Hendrix was playing, actually. A voice says "Do you recognize that?" And he says yes, and he turns and it's Dirk Benedict. And Dirk Benedict said, "Hi, I'm God," and they shake hands, and we were going to cut and that was going to be the end of that whole storyline in the episode. I liked it. I thought it was wacky. I didn't quite know what it meant. I was looking for a surprise, something interesting that fed into the mythos of the show and also to the audience, and something that would be really unexpected and different... It threw a lot of puzzle pieces up in the air in an unexpected way, which to me was a reason to try and do it and see if it worked... Ultimately, in a discussion with the network, I think it was [production executive] Mark Stern [that] said, "You really don't need to go this far. It's winking at the audience for the first time and you really haven't done that." And I said, "you know what, you're right." He was right, it was a mis-step. (source: Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II podcast)

4/1/2005 -- Midseason, when we first started talking about the finale, [David Eick] was very excited about the idea of seeing Starbuck and Six really go at it, really do a fight between the two of them no holds barred, and that stayed through all the drafts. .. Trish is someone who before the series never threw a punch. I don't think Trish had any training in fights, or martial arts, or anything like that. She went into training specifically because we started to call for scenes where her character would have to first beat up Sharon and do things like this. She took it really seriously and really developed a style of fighting which feels very believable on camera. And that is tricky. It's not as easy as it sounds. (source: Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II podcast)

4/1/2005 -- This beat is something the director and Katee came up with. Not the shooting, which was scripted, but her emotional reaction and breakdown here. It's like, on top of it all, on top of everything, the fight, the stealing of the raider, and coming here and learning that one of her best friends is a Cylon and now she's pregnant. It's just like, "Enough already." Kara is only human, there is a breaking point. There's a point where it becomes just too much. (source: Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II podcast)

4/11/2005 -- Question: How does the Six avatar on Caprica know Starbuck is Starbuck (during the fight in the museum in KLG part 2)? Obviously she could get her rank from the uniform insignia, but how would she know her name? I didn't see a name patch on her fatigues or anything. Am I missing something?

You're not missing anything. The methods by which the Cylons communicate with one another, the way they disseminate information and who has access to that information is something we haven't spelled out yet. There are answers, however, and as Season Two progresses, you'll learn more.

4/11/2005 -- Question: Is Baltar screwed now that it's somewhat obvious that his Cylon test either, one, did not work on Sharon or, two, he withheld the info that she was a Cylon?

Baltar will have to deal with this the moment he returns to Galactica -- which won't happen right away.

4/11/2005 -- Question: [In] your podcast of ep. 113 ... you said Lee is "a more capable, more competent, leader . . .". He's also struck me as a fairly honorable character. If he had doubts about this mission I think he would have at least voiced them and then not gone along with the strike team so he would not have been put in the position he was. I hope you won't use Adama's near death experience at the end of season one/start of season two to "write off" these betrayals, esp. Apollo's. His was much more unforgivable considering his relationship with Adama, his leadership role in the fleet, and the battle between the President and Adama. I find it hard to see Lee continuing as CAG after this.

You bring up valid points and we are planning to play out the consequences of Lee's decision as it impacts both him and his father over the course of the season.

4/11/2005 -- We chose to go with the dramatic needs rather than the "real" choices. The stand-off aboad Colonial One would've probably never occured with real Marines and Secret Service agents, and indeed, early drafts of the script had the final beats playing out on either side of a barricaded hatch that separated the two sides. However, the feeling was that separating Laura et al from Tigh et al dissipated the drama and felt less suspenseful, so we decided to go for the stand-off. It's a judgement call, frankly. We're always striving to keep things as "real" as we can make them, but we are still producing a television series and we're telling a story, so sometimes we bend the rules to make the show more compelling or to avoid awkward scenes that actually slow it down and dissipate the momentum.

9/2005 -- It's such a key component of the show. We will definitely be parcelling out more of that as this year goes on. It will unfold over a period of time. Whose baby is it? Where is the baby? What is the baby? It's one of the threads running through all of the second year. (source: Dreamwatch)

7/27/2006 -- First and foremost, the naked Boomers were just a neat idea and that's really why we wanted to do them. But beyond that, the idea was that on the Baseships, the Cylons live closer to their true nature as machines and that certain concepts and social conventions of human society would be less relevant to them than when they were interacting in an inherently human setting like on Caprica.

Commentary

Now that Sharon is carrying Helo's baby, he no longer serves a useful purpose to the Cylon plan. But Sharon has feelings for him, and that's the reason he's still alive.

"What we had between us was important... because it was the next step. Because it brings us closer to God." This is Sharon's description of her baby to Helo.

Adama asks for Laura's resignation. Just as Billy predicted in part one, Laura's actions regarding the stolen raider and the Arrow of Apollo had the power to take down her government. Laura tells Adama that he would have to stage a military coup to force her resignation, something she first raised in the miniseries when she first asserted her authority.

With the stolen raider out of the picture, Adama changes plans and asks Sharon (who is still recovering in sickbay) to take over the mission with her Raptor.

On Kobol, Crashdown (the senior officer) comes off as less competent than Tyrol (the senior enlisted man.) Tyrol's main concern is to take cover so the Cylons won't spot them.

Lee makes a critical choice and has once again chosen Laura Roslin over his father. He prevents bloodshed from happening by stopping Tigh from arresting Laura. Similar to "Bastille Day," Lee's actions are something Laura does not envision, but which in effect serves her interests.

"My instincts tell me we cannot sacrifice our democracy just because the President makes a bad decision." This is Lee's reason why Laura shouldn't be forced to resign.

How is it that Number Six on Caprica knows who Starbuck is?

Kara breaks down and cries when she learns Sharon is a Cylon. She wants to shoot her but Helo stops her.

"I'm Sharon Valerii. I was born on Troy. My parents were Catherine and Abraham Valerii." Sharon previously told Baltar she was from Troy in "Six Degrees of Separation."

"You can't fight destiny, Sharon. It catches up with you, no matter what you do." The other Sharon models are echoing Number Six who previously said that in the end, Sharon would carry out her mission for the Cylons.

Number Six finally tells Baltar why God chose him above all humans to be spared. "You are the guardian and protector of the new generation of God's children."

Number Six indicates, "The first member of our family will be with us soon." The baby in the crib is also a girl. She is most probably referring to Sharon's baby on Caprica.

"You carried out a dangerous and difficult mission. And you did it despite any personal misgivings you may or may not have had." This is Adama's second-handed reproach to his son over his mutiny, by praising Sharon for following orders.

Laura's whiteboard is now 47,887, which is 10 less than Part I, and accounts for the ten souls lost aboard Raptor 3.

"In one of the scripts that I got... one of the characters was called Dirk. And I think in parentheses it said Dirk Benedict." -- Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol), in February 2005 at LVRocks

"My character is learning to take responsibility for what she does, and that's a big thing for her. By the end of this [first] season, we're going to find out what she's truly made of. Starbuck is put in a situation where she falls to pieces, and she's going to have to dig deep within herself to find the strength to survive. That's something she's never had to do before." -- Katee Sackhoff (Starbcuk) on 4/10/2005 (source: Starburst)

"They had Tricia [Helfer] train in martial arts, while I took boxing and street fighting lessons... As for the actual fight, our stunt doubles did it once but what you saw on TV was all Tricia and I, except for the fall at the end... Tricia and I proudly wore our bumps and bruises for weeks after that." -- Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) on 6/27/2005 (source: TV Zone)

"It was so hard to film. We got our asses kicked in that because we decided to do all our own stunts, which I kind of regret a little bit now. I had bumps and bruises and cuts all over my body -- Tricia is vicious when she wants to be! We really got into it when we were shooting, which was cool." -- Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) in October 2005 (source: Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine)

"I really liked the finale. You start to get an idea of the Cylons' master plan -- and it's different from what people are going to expect, which I think is really cool. There's also a bit of a cliffhanger." -- Tricia Helfer (Number Six) in December 2004 (source: Dreamwatch)

"In one episode, Katee and I have this huge fight. I trained for a month for this thing with a sensei, because we wanted it to be a real fight." -- Tricia Helfer (Number Six) on 3/8/2005 (source: Stuff Magazine)

"It's an exciting ending. I love it! I think what the Sharon on Galactica does at the end of the episode will come as a surprise to people, and it's definitely going to be interesting to see where we'll go from there in season two." -- Grace Park (Boomer) in January 2005

"At the end of the first season he's on his own again. I mean, he's always been an isolated figure in the first place because he doesn't really belong on the Galactica. He doesn't even intend to be there but then the end of the world sort of catches him on the hop and that's where he has to make a start. He cuts a role out for himself as the CAG, something he perhaps wasn't intending to do. And I think he comes into his own gradually. He surprises himself. But then again, at the end of the first season he disobeys an order, so that's basically burned all his bridges that he had with the crew of the Galactica. So he's a lone thinker in many respects, but I think more and more you'll see him start to come out with true leadership qualities." -- Jamie Bamber (Apollo) on 4/30/2005 (source: Gateworld)

"It was a little disappointing, there was a little more on the cutting room floor that colored the process [of Lee making that decision], but the gut, snap decision to not go through with the military coup, the way it turned out in the second season -- it was a great moment. It's defined [Apollo] in a new way. He isn't the son of the commanding officer anymore. He's completely alone in the fleet. His dad has been shot, he's an orphan, he's not defined by being the heir to a military tradition. He doesn't regret his decision for a second. For the first time, he can truly be an individual, rather than [someone] trapped in this military world... When I said orphan, I didn't literally mean Lee's an orphan. But Dad's out of the equation. Dad's not there to tell him what to do. [Apollo is] looked to in his own right as a person of influence and resources, even though he's in prison and has committed a mutinous act." -- Jamie Bamber (Apollo) on 6/19/2005 (source: Chicago Tribune)

"There are certain things you can and can't do as a military officer and, yes, you're supposed to obey orders. However, when those orders ask you to remove the democratic representative, then those orders are unlawful, so in a way my character has no choice but to step up to the plate and do something. Whether or not you agree with the way he goes about it is another matter. I think what Lee ends up doing, though, is great for the character. It really gives him a sense of his own role in the scheme of things and makes him and the viewer realize that he doesn't just listen to orders. It's at this point that Lee defines himself as his own person and not just a uniform or advisor to the President. Not even as Adama's son." -- Jamie Bamber (Apollo) on 8/14/2005 (source: Starburst)

"I think he's had it with [Roslin]. You know, because of her belief in the readings of the mythological books that have been written and which she takes to heart. She makes decisions whilst she's taking a type medicine that is organic in itself but still mind altering. She is in an altered state, making decisions that have a profound effect on the entire population of the Human race which he just cannot reconcile. So he would love to throw her out the window and let her float into space for a while... I would like to say that my son is the character I would like to bond closely with, but it's not going to happen. He joins forces against Adama so right now I want to send him and Roslin out the vacuum lock." -- Edward James Olmos (Adama) on 6/2005 (source: Cult Times Special #34)

"There were some sound design elements for the last 30 or 45 seconds, for the shot of the ruins and the mountains, tastefully and wonderfully done by [sound designer] Daniel Colman. Michael Rymer said 'Get rid of the sound effects!' and they stripped away everything but the score. That made my day... With that string orchestra piece, I said, 'Look, there's only one way to do a string orchestra, and that's with a string orchestra,' and they gave me the budget for it. In the beginning, they wanted to deviate as far as possible from orchestral music, so it was very daring of them to let me go back to an orchestra. For me, that scene shows that orchestral music in science fiction isn't limited to the traditional bombastic leitmotif approach. I was very grateful for the opportunity." -- Bear McCreary (composer) on 5/20/2005 (source: TheLogBook)

"I was thrilled to use real strings, but I was nervous that the producers would freak out. From the beginning, they veered away from orchestral music so I knew I was on thin ice. So, even though its an orchestra, the music plays against the stereotypes of science fiction scoring. It's very intimate, personal and internal. And having the orchestra only for these key emotional moments makes it all the more powerful... Michael [Rymer] said, 'Turn off the picture, write your own piece of music.' It ended up having a lot more of my own musical touch to it. Tying [the opera house scene with the opening from part 1] together musically was a slick idea [of Michael's]." -- Bear McCreary (composer) on 8/3/2005 (source: SyFy Portal)

Deleted Scenes

This is a longer version of the scene with the senior command staff in Adama's quaters in part 1.
Laura: "How many people did we lose?"
Lee: "About 10 souls aboard Raptor 3. Raptor 1, last visual contact was seen under powered flight heading toward the surface."
Adama: "We need a way to take out the Baseship before we can attempt a rescue."
Tigh: "Starbuck's already working on a plan using the captured raider to get a nuke into the Baseship."
Lee: "Wha? Wha? When did this happen?"
Tigh: "About ten minutes ago. She says she's working on the details and will have a report by 1400."
Laura: "Why is it necesary to use the raider?"
Tigh: "I don't know the details, but I think the idea is to slip inside their defences and set off the warhead."
Laura: "... destroying the raider in the process."
Tigh: "I would imagine."
Adama: "The raider is a military asset. This is a military operation."
Laura: "I see. Captain, I'd like a briefing. Would you have more detail?"
Lee: "Of course."
Laura: "Thank you."

Billy protests Roslin's decision (#1 on the SciFi site) --
Billy: "Madam President, the most fundamental agreement you have with Commander Adama is the separation of civilian and military authority."
Laura: "I am well aware of that. But it would seem the gods have a diferent plan."
Billy: "To hell with the gods, Madam President. I'm sorry..."
Laura: "Don't apologize for your opinion, ever. Speak your mind."
Billy: "The gods didn't prevent the holocaust. They didn't stop the Cylons. They let billions of people die. So I don't really care about their plan. If you do this, it could threaten everything we've accomplished. It will proably bring down the goverment. And you don't have a right to risk that for a..."
Laura: "Go on..."
Billy: "... for a drug induced vision of prophecy.
Lee opens the door.
Lee: "I'm sorry, Madam President... I have the briefing here. Is this a bad time."
Laura: "No, actually it's a perfect time. Come on in, Captain. If you'll excuse us, Billy."
As Billy leaves the room, Laura tells him, "Billy, thank you for your honest."

President Roslin defends her decision to Lee (#2 on the SciFi site) -- This is a continuation of the previous scene.
Laura: "You're not looking at this rationally, Captain."
Lee: "Ratonally? Rationally? What you are proposing is so far from rational."
Laura: "I am making a logical, reasoned, factual proposal. Fact -- The scriptures say we've come from Kobol. Fact -- We have found Kobol. Fact -- The scriptures say that on Kobol there is an opera house and a forum. Fact -- We've found the ruins of both. Fact -- The scriptures say the dying leader will show us the way. Fact -- I'm dying."
Lee: "Fact? I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet, sworn to obey the orders of the fleet commander. It's not even about your argument. Even if it does hold water -- which maybe it does -- I have a duty not to dishonor the oath I took, the uniform I wear, by an act of disloyalty."
Laura: "You are your father's son."
Lee: "In this case. I hope that wasn't an insult."
Laura: "It is not. Thank you Captain, I do appreciate your time."
Lee: "For what it's worth, there is something powerful in what you're saying, but it isn't me you have to persuade. Good luck with my father."
Laura: "Thank you... ugh" (rests her head on desk)
Lee exits, Billy returns.
Billy: "How did it go?"
Laura: "Oh... da..."
Billy: "Shall I send for a shuttle?"
Laura: "No. Would you please ask for Lieutenant Thrace to come in."

"I don't think he sees things the way she does. There's a cutting-room floor scene at the end of the first season between Lee and the President where he clarifies where he stands. It didn't make the final cut, but basically he say, 'I'm not really sure what you're doing but I believe in the office you hold and I believe in your judgement. I can't share the conclusions you are drawing but I believe that you are the rightful president and that you are rightfully in command." -- Jamie Bamber (Apollo) in October 2005 (source: Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine)