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Occupation (Battlestar Galactica)
Encyclopedia
"Occupation" is the third season
premiere and 34th episode of the re-imagined American science fiction
drama
television series
Battlestar Galactica
. The episode was written by re-imagined creator Ronald D. Moore
, and directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
. It first aired on October 6, 2006 on the Sci-Fi Channel
along with the following episode "Precipice
". In the episode, the Cylons
are in their fourth month of a military occupation
on New Caprica, where the majority of the human population are residing. A resistance movement is trying to deter the Cylons away. Meanwhile, Admiral William Adama
continues his plan to rescue everybody there. Unlike most episodes, it does not include a survivor count.
The story behind the episode was inspired by several wars and occupations in the past, including the Quartering Acts and the Iraq occupation. Several parts of the episode changed from the script, more predominantly the scenes involving a suicide bombing. The producers were worried that the Sci Fi Channel would not allow the inclusion of the scene. The episode was seen by 2.2 million viewers and attracted generally positive reactions from critics. In addition, Moore's writing of the episode was nominated for an Emmy
and a Writers Guild of America
award.
found the majority of the human population on a planet known as New Caprica, which had supposedly been hidden from DRADIS, and commenced their occupation
. A few thousand humans had escaped in the remaining spaceships following Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus. Admiral William Adama
(Edward James Olmos
) is continuing to work on a plan to free those trapped on New Caprica. His son and commander of Pegasus Lee "Apollo" Adama
(Jamie Bamber
) confronts his father on pushing his Viper pilots beyond the breaking point, to which Adama says Apollo is becoming "soft." Apollo's wife, Anastasia Dualla
(Kandyse McClure
) surprises him by supporting the Admiral.
On New Caprica, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
(Katee Sackhoff
) is placed in an elaborate prison cell made to look like her old apartment on Caprica by Leoben Conoy
(Callum Keith Rennie
), who is attempting to force her to fall in love with him. Starbuck kills him several times, though Leoben always downloads into another body. Saul Tigh
(Michael Hogan) is in a Cylon detention facility, where his right eye was forcibly removed. He is released when his wife Ellen Tigh
(Kate Vernon
) performs sexual favors for the Cylon Brother Cavil (Dean Stockwell
). Tigh returns to Samuel Anders
(Michael Trucco
) and Galen Tyrol
(Aaron Douglas
), who have been leading a resistance movement against the Cylons, having detonated a bomb in a Cylon docking facility before Tigh's release. Now free, Tigh resorts to escalating their efforts, by planning suicide bombings
against the Cylons and any human collaborators.
The resistance is given intelligence by an unidentified informant from the Cylon command structure, by use of a secret dead drop
; flipping a dog bowl and hiding some documents inside the tent next to it. One piece of intelligence given is information on a Cylon communications blocker; the resistance makes use of that information to contact a Raptor
orbiting the planet. The Raptor returns to Galactica with news they have made contact with the resistance on the planet.
Next, the resistance plans to kill the President of the Colonies, Gaius Baltar
(James Callis
), who is unwillingly collaborating with the Cylons. They learn he is to attend a graduation ceremony for the New Caprica Police, an unpopular masked police force set up by the Cylons to allow the humans to police the city and do the Cylons' bidding. Tucker "Duck" Clellan
(Christian Tessier
), who has access to the ceremony and whose wife had been killed by the Cylons, agrees to suicide bomb the ceremony. Towards the end of the episode it is revealed that Baltar's aide, Felix Gaeta
(Alessandro Juliani
) is the informant. He learns that Baltar will not be attending the ceremony, but cannot alert the resistance in time. Duck attends the ceremony, and when Number Three (Lucy Lawless
) comes to shake his hand, Duck detonates the bomb, killing everybody in the room.
"Occupation", and following episode "Precipice
" were written by series creator Ronald D. Moore
. The Cylon occupation of New Caprica, and the human resistance fighting them, was inspired by wars and military occupations from history, more notably the Quartering Acts, World War II
, and the more recent occupation in Iraq. In the original writing, Moore did not originally consider including Tigh with an eye removed until the final drafts were written. Portraying actor Michael Hogan was initially hesitant with the idea. He recalled that when the producers called him to talk about how his character would be maimed, they suggested having an eye removed. Hogan responded by laughing, and the producers assumed he agreed.
When Anders and Tyrol detonate the bomb at the beginning of the episode, one of the Number Three (D'anna) models was to film a propaganda film in front of Laura Roslin
's (Mary McDonnell
) school at the time, but that was cut. Also, James "Jammer" Lyman
(Dominic Zamprogna
) was originally considered the suicide bomber at the end, but was changed to Duck because he had less to live for after his wife's death. In the original drafts, the resistance was not planning suicide bombings, but "freaking the Cylons out" by imprisoning many of them in a secret underground prison, torture them for information, and leave them alive instead of killing them, as they would resurrect otherwise. This would make the Cylons worry about their missing comrades. However, Moore later realized that suicide bombings would be "really potent and really powerful." When writing the scenes involving Duck leading to the suicide bombing, Moore got "emotionally caught up in it," adding "as I was writing these scenes of him standing in the police ranks, we know he's got the belt on. What's he gonna do? And then, oh my God, he actually does it. I mean, it's really horrifying stuff. But it's true. That's why I want to do it. It really happens. People do this." The producers were initially worried that the Sci Fi Channel would not allow the inclusion of the bombing scene, but to Moore's surprise, Sci Fi executive Mark Stern did not object to it.
There was some debate among the writers on when Galactica and the fleet would be brought into the story. Moore decided to reintroduce the space-bound fleet in the beginning of the third act, in order to establish the story on New Caprica, and make the audience happy and more excited to see Galactica. Moore also decided to evolve one of the Number Eight Cylon models, Sharon Agathon (Grace Park
) imprisoned on board the ship, where a year would allow Sharon and Admiral Adama to form a special relationship, eventually leading to Adama releasing her and allowing her to become a Colonial officer by the next episode. Moore felt "Occupation" was the best season premiere of Battlestar since "33
", the first season premiere, believing the writers "never quite matched" the performance on "33" in the following episodes. He also felt it was a better premiere than "Scattered
" from the second season, as it contained disparate story lines where the characters were not fully reunited with each other until a few episodes in.
The crew had to film different versions of the prayer scene before Duck commits the suicide attack. In making the photograph of him and his late wife, the actress who played Nora in the webisode series The Resistance
was not available, so the producers digitally inserted her face onto the photograph. The episode includes a voiceover of Roslin detailing the occupation and resistance. This was not originally added in the final script, but was instead considered during post-production of the episode. The ending for the episode was originally Leoben presenting Starbuck with Kacey Brynn, her "daughter," but for unspecified reasons, the scene was instead used for "Precipice".
", which became too long and split to a two part episode, and the producers did not wish to stretch the New Caprica storyline to several weeks. The first 13 minutes of the episode were leaked on the Sci Fi Channel website days prior the broadcast. The two-hour season three premiere was first broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel
in the United States
on Friday, October 6, 2006 between 9 pm and 11 pm. After its original broadcast, the two hour episode attracted a household rating of 1.8, equalling a total of 2.2 million viewers. Ratings were an increase of 2 per cent in total viewing from the average ratings from the second half of the second season.
rated "Occupation" a "masterful" 10 out of 10, stating "watching the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica is a great reminder that this is truly still the best show on television." Ian Berriman of SFX called the episode a "stunning season opener," citing the similarities of the occupation of Iraq as its greatest strength, but also thought it was the episode's weakness. Berriman also liked Tigh's transformation to a "ruthless terrorist" and Starback's part of the episode. "Occupation" was rated five stars out of five.
Patrick Sauriol of UGO started the review stating "After the events of season two's cliffhanger, there were a hundred questions on the minds of the show's fans, but the biggest one gets answered with the Season Three double-header premiere: was the start of Season Three worth the wait or has the show jumped the shark? Answer: You better frakkin' believe that Battlestar Galactica hasn't jumped the shark." Sauriol commented that the time leap of a year was a "gutsy move," but felt it has "always been the case" for the series. However, he also felt that all doubts the audience might have to harbor "that this show won't live up to the first two seasons should be wiped away." Callis' performance was praised, with Sauriol stating "again Callis proves that he owns this role and again he proves tonight why Gaius Baltar is the best character on this show." Sauriol graded "Occupation" and the following "Precipice" A-. Television Without Pity gave the episode a B.
for "Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series", but lost to HBO's The Sopranos
series finale "Made in America
". It was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award
for best Episodic Drama. However, the episode lost out to the pilot episode of Big Love
.
Battlestar Galactica (season 3)
The third season of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States on October 6, 2006, and concluded on March 25, 2007. Unlike the previous season, it was not split into two parts and did not have an extended hiatus during...
premiere and 34th episode of the re-imagined American science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
. The episode was written by re-imagined creator Ronald D. Moore
Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...
, and directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Sergio Mimica-Gezzan is an American film and television director and son of famous Croatian film director Vatroslav Mimica. He has received three Directors Guild of America awards for his work as an assistant director and is now a regular lead director in episodic television. He has often worked...
. It first aired on October 6, 2006 on the Sci-Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
along with the following episode "Precipice
Precipice (Battlestar Galactica)
"Precipice" is the second part of the third season premiere and 35th episode of the re-imagined American science fiction drama television series Battlestar Galactica. The episode was written by re-imagined creator Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. It first aired on October 6,...
". In the episode, the Cylons
Cylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...
are in their fourth month of a military occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
on New Caprica, where the majority of the human population are residing. A resistance movement is trying to deter the Cylons away. Meanwhile, Admiral William Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
continues his plan to rescue everybody there. Unlike most episodes, it does not include a survivor count.
The story behind the episode was inspired by several wars and occupations in the past, including the Quartering Acts and the Iraq occupation. Several parts of the episode changed from the script, more predominantly the scenes involving a suicide bombing. The producers were worried that the Sci Fi Channel would not allow the inclusion of the scene. The episode was seen by 2.2 million viewers and attracted generally positive reactions from critics. In addition, Moore's writing of the episode was nominated for an Emmy
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
and a Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America Awards 2006
The 59th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film and television writers of 2006.-Best Adapted Screenplay:The Departed - William Monahan...
award.
Plot
Four months have passed since the end of "Lay Down Your Burdens", where CylonsCylon (Battlestar Galactica)
The Cylons are a cybernetic civilization at war with the Twelve Colonies of humanity in the Battlestar Galactica science fiction franchise, in the original 1978 and 1980 series, the 2004 reimagining, as well as the spin-off prequel series, Caprica...
found the majority of the human population on a planet known as New Caprica, which had supposedly been hidden from DRADIS, and commenced their occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
. A few thousand humans had escaped in the remaining spaceships following Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus. Admiral William Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
(Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
) is continuing to work on a plan to free those trapped on New Caprica. His son and commander of Pegasus Lee "Apollo" Adama
Lee Adama
Leland Joseph "Lee" Adama is a fictional character in the television series Battlestar Galactica. He is portrayed by actor Jamie Bamber. He is one of the main characters in the series.-Early life:...
(Jamie Bamber
Jamie Bamber
Jamie Bamber is the stage name of Jamie St. John Bamber Griffith , a British actor known most widely for his roles as Lee Adama on Battlestar Galactica and Detective Sergeant Matt Devlin on the ITV series Law & Order: UK...
) confronts his father on pushing his Viper pilots beyond the breaking point, to which Adama says Apollo is becoming "soft." Apollo's wife, Anastasia Dualla
Anastasia Dualla
Anastasia "Dee" Dualla, portrayed by Kandyse McClure, is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.-Character history:...
(Kandyse McClure
Kandyse McClure
Kandyse McClure is an actress, best known for playing Anastasia Dualla on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica.- Biography :...
) surprises him by supporting the Admiral.
On New Caprica, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica franchise. Played by Katee Sackhoff, she is a revised version of Lieutenant Starbuck from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
(Katee Sackhoff
Katee Sackhoff
Kathryn Ann "Katee" Sackhoff is an American actress known mainly for playing Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica. In 2004 she was nominated for a Saturn Award in the "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series" category for her work in...
) is placed in an elaborate prison cell made to look like her old apartment on Caprica by Leoben Conoy
Leoben Conoy
Leoben Conoy is a fictional character portrayed by Callum Keith Rennie appearing in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series....
(Callum Keith Rennie
Callum Keith Rennie
Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...
), who is attempting to force her to fall in love with him. Starbuck kills him several times, though Leoben always downloads into another body. Saul Tigh
Saul Tigh
Saul Tigh is a fictional character on Battlestar Galactica played by Michael Hogan. The character was named Paul Tigh in early scripts, and was renamed due to legal issues, according to producer Ronald D. Moore. He is one of the main characters of the show.-Overview and personality:Saul Tigh is a...
(Michael Hogan) is in a Cylon detention facility, where his right eye was forcibly removed. He is released when his wife Ellen Tigh
Ellen Tigh
After she is killed for treason against the resistance on New Caprica, Ellen resurrects aboard a Cylon ship, where John Cavil holds her prisoner. However, by downloading into a new body, she regains the memories that Cavil had blocked decades earlier...
(Kate Vernon
Kate Vernon
Kate Vernon is a Canadian-born film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Lorraine Prescott on the CBS soap opera Falcon Crest from , the stuck-up and popular Benny Hanson in the comedy film Pretty in Pink , Mary-John Lovejoy in The Lost Colony Feature of Lovejoy and...
) performs sexual favors for the Cylon Brother Cavil (Dean Stockwell
Dean Stockwell
Dean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
). Tigh returns to Samuel Anders
Samuel Anders
Samuel T. Anders is a fictional character from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series, played by Michael Trucco...
(Michael Trucco
Michael Trucco
Edward Michael Trucco is an American actor with Italian roots. He is best known for his role as Samuel T. Anders on the reimagined Battlestar Galactica and currently appears as a series regular on the USA Network television series Fairly Legal.-Biography:A native of San Mateo, California, he...
) and Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol is a character on the television series Battlestar Galactica. Tyrol is responsible for the maintenance of the Vipers and Raptors aboard Battlestar Galactica...
(Aaron Douglas
Aaron Douglas (actor)
Aaron Douglas is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Galen Tyrol on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica....
), who have been leading a resistance movement against the Cylons, having detonated a bomb in a Cylon docking facility before Tigh's release. Now free, Tigh resorts to escalating their efforts, by planning suicide bombings
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
against the Cylons and any human collaborators.
The resistance is given intelligence by an unidentified informant from the Cylon command structure, by use of a secret dead drop
Dead drop
A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items between two individuals by using a secret location and thus does not require them to meet directly. Using a dead drop permits a Case Officer and his Agent to exchange objects and information while maintaining...
; flipping a dog bowl and hiding some documents inside the tent next to it. One piece of intelligence given is information on a Cylon communications blocker; the resistance makes use of that information to contact a Raptor
Colonial Raptor
The Raptor is a multipurpose military spacecraft featured in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. According to producer Ronald D. Moore, the Raptor is analogous to the U.S. Navy's EA-6B Prowler.-Description:...
orbiting the planet. The Raptor returns to Galactica with news they have made contact with the resistance on the planet.
Next, the resistance plans to kill the President of the Colonies, Gaius Baltar
Gaius Baltar
Gaius Baltar is a fictional character in the TV series Battlestar Galactica played by James Callis, a reimagining of Count Baltar from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
(James Callis
James Callis
James Callis is a British actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, and Bridget Jones' best friend in Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason...
), who is unwillingly collaborating with the Cylons. They learn he is to attend a graduation ceremony for the New Caprica Police, an unpopular masked police force set up by the Cylons to allow the humans to police the city and do the Cylons' bidding. Tucker "Duck" Clellan
Tucker Clellan
Tucker "Duck" Clellan is a fictional character from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series.-Background:Duck served as a Colonial Viper pilot aboard the Battlestar Galactica and was a central character in the webisode series "Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance".In the episode "Scar", Duck's...
(Christian Tessier
Christian Tessier
Christian Tessier is a Canadian actor.Tessier first came to television in 1989 on the Canadian children's show You Can't Do That On Television and notably appeared in the 1990s remake of The Tomorrow People, and the motion picture adaptation of Battlefield Earth...
), who has access to the ceremony and whose wife had been killed by the Cylons, agrees to suicide bomb the ceremony. Towards the end of the episode it is revealed that Baltar's aide, Felix Gaeta
Felix Gaeta
Lieutenant Junior Grade Felix Gaeta is a fictional character on Battlestar Galactica played by Alessandro Juliani.- Character overview in his early career :...
(Alessandro Juliani
Alessandro Juliani
Alessandro Juliani is a Canadian actor, singer, and voice actor. He is notable for playing Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta on the Sci Fi Channel television program Battlestar Galactica, and Emil Hamilton in Smallville...
) is the informant. He learns that Baltar will not be attending the ceremony, but cannot alert the resistance in time. Duck attends the ceremony, and when Number Three (Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless, MNZM is a New Zealander actress and singer best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess....
) comes to shake his hand, Duck detonates the bomb, killing everybody in the room.
Writing
Precipice (Battlestar Galactica)
"Precipice" is the second part of the third season premiere and 35th episode of the re-imagined American science fiction drama television series Battlestar Galactica. The episode was written by re-imagined creator Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. It first aired on October 6,...
" were written by series creator Ronald D. Moore
Ronald D. Moore
Ronald Dowl Moore is an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his work on Star Trek and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica miniseries and television series, for which he won a Peabody Award for creative excellence in 2005 and an Emmy Award in 2008.-Early life and...
. The Cylon occupation of New Caprica, and the human resistance fighting them, was inspired by wars and military occupations from history, more notably the Quartering Acts, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and the more recent occupation in Iraq. In the original writing, Moore did not originally consider including Tigh with an eye removed until the final drafts were written. Portraying actor Michael Hogan was initially hesitant with the idea. He recalled that when the producers called him to talk about how his character would be maimed, they suggested having an eye removed. Hogan responded by laughing, and the producers assumed he agreed.
When Anders and Tyrol detonate the bomb at the beginning of the episode, one of the Number Three (D'anna) models was to film a propaganda film in front of Laura Roslin
Laura Roslin
Her first actions include organizing all FTL-capable ships together and convincing Commander William Adama to abandon a retaliatory attack on the Cylons. President Roslin and Billy Keikeya, her aide/press secretary/chief of staff, establish a working office space aboard her transport, renamed...
's (Mary McDonnell
Mary McDonnell
Mary Eileen McDonnell is an American film, stage, and television actress. She received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Stands With A Fist in Dances with Wolves, and she is also very well known for her performance as President Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica, the President's wife...
) school at the time, but that was cut. Also, James "Jammer" Lyman
James Lyman
James "Jammer" Lyman is a fictional character from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. His character was centrally featured in the webisodic Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance. In television series he appeared in 10 episodes, including a post-death flashback...
(Dominic Zamprogna
Dominic Zamprogna
Dominic Zamprogna is a Canadian actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles on television series Edgemont and General Hospital.-Early life:...
) was originally considered the suicide bomber at the end, but was changed to Duck because he had less to live for after his wife's death. In the original drafts, the resistance was not planning suicide bombings, but "freaking the Cylons out" by imprisoning many of them in a secret underground prison, torture them for information, and leave them alive instead of killing them, as they would resurrect otherwise. This would make the Cylons worry about their missing comrades. However, Moore later realized that suicide bombings would be "really potent and really powerful." When writing the scenes involving Duck leading to the suicide bombing, Moore got "emotionally caught up in it," adding "as I was writing these scenes of him standing in the police ranks, we know he's got the belt on. What's he gonna do? And then, oh my God, he actually does it. I mean, it's really horrifying stuff. But it's true. That's why I want to do it. It really happens. People do this." The producers were initially worried that the Sci Fi Channel would not allow the inclusion of the bombing scene, but to Moore's surprise, Sci Fi executive Mark Stern did not object to it.
There was some debate among the writers on when Galactica and the fleet would be brought into the story. Moore decided to reintroduce the space-bound fleet in the beginning of the third act, in order to establish the story on New Caprica, and make the audience happy and more excited to see Galactica. Moore also decided to evolve one of the Number Eight Cylon models, Sharon Agathon (Grace Park
Grace Park (actress)
Grace Park is an American-born Canadian actress. She gained recognition as Sharon Valerii on Battlestar Galactica, as well as Shannon Ng in the Canadian television series teen soap Edgemont...
) imprisoned on board the ship, where a year would allow Sharon and Admiral Adama to form a special relationship, eventually leading to Adama releasing her and allowing her to become a Colonial officer by the next episode. Moore felt "Occupation" was the best season premiere of Battlestar since "33
33 (Battlestar Galactica)
"33" is the first episode of the reimagined military science fiction television program Battlestar Galactica, immediately following the events of the 2003 miniseries. It was written by series creator Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Michael Rymer...
", the first season premiere, believing the writers "never quite matched" the performance on "33" in the following episodes. He also felt it was a better premiere than "Scattered
Scattered (Battlestar Galactica)
"Scattered" is the first episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel on July 15, 2005....
" from the second season, as it contained disparate story lines where the characters were not fully reunited with each other until a few episodes in.
Filming and post-production
The episode began with one of the most extended recaps in the series, as the producers wanted to bring the audience up to date from the events from "Lay Down Your Burdens", which covered "quite a bit of ground" because of the large story development behind the finale. The scene where the Cylons meet in Colonial One became very tedious for the crew because several versions of the same Cylon model were used in the same shot, and the crew disliked filming on the set. Moore elaborated;The crew had to film different versions of the prayer scene before Duck commits the suicide attack. In making the photograph of him and his late wife, the actress who played Nora in the webisode series The Resistance
Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance
Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance is the collective title of 10 two- to five-minute "webisodes" released exclusively on the world wide web through the Sci Fi Channel's website...
was not available, so the producers digitally inserted her face onto the photograph. The episode includes a voiceover of Roslin detailing the occupation and resistance. This was not originally added in the final script, but was instead considered during post-production of the episode. The ending for the episode was originally Leoben presenting Starbuck with Kacey Brynn, her "daughter," but for unspecified reasons, the scene was instead used for "Precipice".
Broadcast and ratings
"Occupation" and "Precipice" was originally meant to be released as two separate episodes, however the producers decided to merge them together to be released as a two-hour broadcast. The reasoning was partly due to the third episode "ExodusExodus (Battlestar Galactica)
"Exodus" are the third and fourth episodes of the third season from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. The episodes originally aired on the Sci Fi Channel on October 16 and 23, 2006....
", which became too long and split to a two part episode, and the producers did not wish to stretch the New Caprica storyline to several weeks. The first 13 minutes of the episode were leaked on the Sci Fi Channel website days prior the broadcast. The two-hour season three premiere was first broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on Friday, October 6, 2006 between 9 pm and 11 pm. After its original broadcast, the two hour episode attracted a household rating of 1.8, equalling a total of 2.2 million viewers. Ratings were an increase of 2 per cent in total viewing from the average ratings from the second half of the second season.
Reviews
"Occupation" received generally positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
rated "Occupation" a "masterful" 10 out of 10, stating "watching the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica is a great reminder that this is truly still the best show on television." Ian Berriman of SFX called the episode a "stunning season opener," citing the similarities of the occupation of Iraq as its greatest strength, but also thought it was the episode's weakness. Berriman also liked Tigh's transformation to a "ruthless terrorist" and Starback's part of the episode. "Occupation" was rated five stars out of five.
Patrick Sauriol of UGO started the review stating "After the events of season two's cliffhanger, there were a hundred questions on the minds of the show's fans, but the biggest one gets answered with the Season Three double-header premiere: was the start of Season Three worth the wait or has the show jumped the shark? Answer: You better frakkin' believe that Battlestar Galactica hasn't jumped the shark." Sauriol commented that the time leap of a year was a "gutsy move," but felt it has "always been the case" for the series. However, he also felt that all doubts the audience might have to harbor "that this show won't live up to the first two seasons should be wiped away." Callis' performance was praised, with Sauriol stating "again Callis proves that he owns this role and again he proves tonight why Gaius Baltar is the best character on this show." Sauriol graded "Occupation" and the following "Precipice" A-. Television Without Pity gave the episode a B.
Awards and nominations
In 2007, the episode was nominated for a 59th Primetime Emmy Awards59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
for "Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series", but lost to HBO's The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
series finale "Made in America
Made in America (The Sopranos)
"Made in America" is the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and the series finale. It is the eighty-sixth overall episode of the series and the ninth episode of the second part of the sixth season, which was broadcast in two batches with a break...
". It was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Awards 2006
The 59th Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film and television writers of 2006.-Best Adapted Screenplay:The Departed - William Monahan...
for best Episodic Drama. However, the episode lost out to the pilot episode of Big Love
Big Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
.
External links
- "Occupation" at the Battlestar Wiki
- "Occupation" at Syfy.comSyfySyfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...