The Hand of God (2004 Battlestar Galactica)
Encyclopedia
"The Hand of God" is the tenth episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica
television series. It shares its title with the last episode
of the original series
.
In the episode, the humans capture a fuel-rich asteroid
from the Cylons
using a plan devised by Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
. President Laura Roslin
begins seeing visions, and Gaius Baltar
comes to believe that his contribution to the raid on the asteroid was guided by God. On Caprica, Helo
and Caprica-Boomer keep running from the Cylons.
Galactica-Boomer and Crashdown discover an asteroid made of tylium, the substance used for fuel, being mined by Cylons. Commander William Adama
decides to take the asteroid by force and asks Starbuck to devise an unconventional assault plan. Starbuck describes the plan, which uses civilian freighters as bait, to Roslin, who approves it.
Colonel Saul Tigh
and Starbuck consult Baltar about where to bomb the asteroid to destroy the Cylon mining facility. Baltar is stumped and, in his mind, asks Head Six for advice. Six demurs and suggests he rely on God's guidance. Under pressure, Baltar picks a random spot on a reconnaissance photograph of the facility and tells them to bomb there.
Starbuck wants to fly in the raid but is waylaid by injuries from an earlier Viper
crash. She fears that her fellow Viper pilot Lee "Apollo" Adama
will bungle the mission, and she tells him so. Apollo's father, Commander Adama, gives him a lucky lighter his own father, Joseph Adama, owned, and expresses confidence in Apollo. Apollo promises to make it back with the lighter.
toward the freighters, as expected, but then more Raiders are sent toward Galactica. Several of Starbuck's piloting trainees engage these Raiders in Vipers launched from Galactica, but they are forced back. The Raiders moving toward the civilian ships then change course for Galactica. Just as all seems lost, the freighters unveil a squadron of 12 Vipers led by Apollo who now have a clear path to the asteroid. Adama admits to Roslin that he concealed this part of Starbuck's plan in her initial briefing.
Apollo's squadron takes heavy fire from the facility's defenses. The Cylons jam their missiles, so Apollo performs a Starbuck-like maneuver: he flies through the mine tunnels and emerges inside the facility. He bombs Baltar's target, and the facility is destroyed with several years' worth of tylium left for the humans. The Raiders retreat.
Celebration erupts aboard Galactica. Starbuck congratulates Apollo as he returns and offers him a cigar. Apollo lights it with his grandfather's lighter, which he then returns to his father, as promised.
In his fantasy world, Baltar reflects on the victory. Head Six reminds him of the prophecy, and Baltar realizes that the 12 serpents may have referred to Apollo's Viper squadron. Baltar, previously a militant atheist
, marvels at the fortune of picking the correct target and begins to accept Six's proposition that he is "an instrument of God."
copy.
" during production because they believed the action would make it a crowd pleaser. It was originally slated to be the ninth episode of the first season, with "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down" as episode 10. Executive producer Ronald D. Moore
realized that the end of the eighth episode, "Flesh and Bone
", in which Leoben Conoy
causes Roslin to fear that Adama is a Cylon, was an ideal segue to the paranoia of "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", so they were switched. The only major change that had to be made was to switch the action on Caprica between the episodes.
Roslin's conversation with Elosha in this episode begins the introduction of the Battlestar Galactica mythos in the re-imagined series. The show's creators wanted to retain the epic narrative of the original series but introduce it gradually, after fans had already committed to the show.
Roslin receives her briefing on Starbuck's plan on an illuminated table with large figurines representing ships; the plan is later tracked on it as the raid is underway. Moore explained that the decision to use the "big board" was a result of financial and narrative constraints. Using computer graphics to narrate space battles is often expensive, and the product often has to be simplified heavily so the viewer can understand it. The idea for a big board came from classic films about World War II
such as Sink the Bismarck!
, Tora! Tora! Tora!
, and Midway
. The idea for the models came from production designer Richard Hudolin.
In an homage to the original series, the appearance of the freighter that conceals the Vipers is based on the Colonial Movers freighter from the original series. Apollo's attack run through the mine shaft is an homage to Star Wars
.
Composer Bear McCreary
said "The Hand of God" was one of his favorite episodes to score of the first season and described it as "a lot of fun."
s pilot episode
.
Susan Tankersley of Television Without Pity gave "The Hand of God" an A-, calling the action sequences "pretty awesome". Simon Brew of Den of Geek reviewed the episode favorably, singling out for praise the use of the big board and "the increasing complexity of Roslin".
John Kubicek of BuddyTV
ranked "The Hand of God" as the 11th best episode of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica and called the episode "brilliant".
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...
television series. It shares its title with the last episode
The Hand of God (1978 Battlestar Galactica)
"The Hand of God" is an episode of the original Battlestar Galactica television series. This was the last episode of the original Battlestar Galactica TV series...
of the original series
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
.
In the episode, the humans capture a fuel-rich asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
from the Cylons
Cylon (reimagining)
Cylons are a race which appear in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series and its prequel Caprica. They have several forms, some of which resemble and even mimic the behavior of humans, while others are mechanical in appearance and function.In the first DVD, one of the show's creators...
using a plan devised by Lieutenant 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...
. President 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...
begins seeing visions, and 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...
comes to believe that his contribution to the raid on the asteroid was guided by God. On Caprica, Helo
Karl Agathon
Karl C. Agathon is a fictional character on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series, portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett.-Background:...
and Caprica-Boomer keep running from the Cylons.
The human fleet
As Roslin gives a press conference regarding a critical fleet-wide fuel shortage, she experiences a hallucination of snakes produced by the herbs she is taking to fight her breast cancer. Later, Priestess Elosha tells her about a prophecy of a leader of the human race in exile: the leader receives a vision of 12 serpents and later dies of "a wasting disease".Galactica-Boomer and Crashdown discover an asteroid made of tylium, the substance used for fuel, being mined by Cylons. Commander William Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
decides to take the asteroid by force and asks Starbuck to devise an unconventional assault plan. Starbuck describes the plan, which uses civilian freighters as bait, to Roslin, who approves it.
Colonel 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...
and Starbuck consult Baltar about where to bomb the asteroid to destroy the Cylon mining facility. Baltar is stumped and, in his mind, asks Head Six for advice. Six demurs and suggests he rely on God's guidance. Under pressure, Baltar picks a random spot on a reconnaissance photograph of the facility and tells them to bomb there.
Starbuck wants to fly in the raid but is waylaid by injuries from an earlier Viper
Colonial Viper
The Colonial Viper is the primary fighter spacecraft type used by the human protagonists in the Battlestar Galactica fictional universe. Appearing in both the 1978 original series and the 2003 reimagined series, as well as various derivative works, the single-pilot spacecraft are carried aboard...
crash. She fears that her fellow Viper pilot 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:...
will bungle the mission, and she tells him so. Apollo's father, Commander Adama, gives him a lucky lighter his own father, Joseph Adama, owned, and expresses confidence in Apollo. Apollo promises to make it back with the lighter.
The raid
As the raid begins, the Cylons deploy RaidersCylon Raider
The Cylon Raider is the standard starfighter used by the Cylons, in the various Battlestar Galactica movies and television series. Cylon raiders are used as the main line of defense for Cylon Basestars.- Original series :...
toward the freighters, as expected, but then more Raiders are sent toward Galactica. Several of Starbuck's piloting trainees engage these Raiders in Vipers launched from Galactica, but they are forced back. The Raiders moving toward the civilian ships then change course for Galactica. Just as all seems lost, the freighters unveil a squadron of 12 Vipers led by Apollo who now have a clear path to the asteroid. Adama admits to Roslin that he concealed this part of Starbuck's plan in her initial briefing.
Apollo's squadron takes heavy fire from the facility's defenses. The Cylons jam their missiles, so Apollo performs a Starbuck-like maneuver: he flies through the mine tunnels and emerges inside the facility. He bombs Baltar's target, and the facility is destroyed with several years' worth of tylium left for the humans. The Raiders retreat.
Celebration erupts aboard Galactica. Starbuck congratulates Apollo as he returns and offers him a cigar. Apollo lights it with his grandfather's lighter, which he then returns to his father, as promised.
In his fantasy world, Baltar reflects on the victory. Head Six reminds him of the prophecy, and Baltar realizes that the 12 serpents may have referred to Apollo's Viper squadron. Baltar, previously a militant atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, marvels at the fortune of picking the correct target and begins to accept Six's proposition that he is "an instrument of God."
Caprica
On Caprica, Helo and Caprica-Sharon hide from the pursuing Cylons in an abandoned stable. Helo expresses surprise that they have not encountered other people, but Sharon brushes this off. Sharon vomits and attributes it to food they ate earlier. They flee after spotting a nearby group of Cylon Centurions led by a Number SixNumber Six (Battlestar Galactica)
Number Six is a family of fictional characters from the reimagined science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. She is portrayed by Canadian actress and model Tricia Helfer. Of the twelve known Cylon models, she is the sixth of the "Significant Seven"...
copy.
Production
The writing staff referred to this episode as "the Big MacBig Mac
The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by McDonald's, an international fast food restaurant chain. It is one of the company's signature products...
" during production because they believed the action would make it a crowd pleaser. It was originally slated to be the ninth episode of the first season, with "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down" as episode 10. Executive producer 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...
realized that the end of the eighth episode, "Flesh and Bone
Flesh and Bone (Battlestar Galactica)
"Flesh and Bone" is the eighth episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series.-Plot:President Roslin sees a copy of Leoben Conoy, a duplicate of the Cylon that Commander Adama encountered on Ragnar Anchorage, in a dream. Soon afterwards, a copy of this Cylon is caught aboard the...
", in which Leoben Conoy
Leoben Conoy
Leoben Conoy is a fictional character portrayed by Callum Keith Rennie appearing in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series....
causes Roslin to fear that Adama is a Cylon, was an ideal segue to the paranoia of "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down", so they were switched. The only major change that had to be made was to switch the action on Caprica between the episodes.
Roslin's conversation with Elosha in this episode begins the introduction of the Battlestar Galactica mythos in the re-imagined series. The show's creators wanted to retain the epic narrative of the original series but introduce it gradually, after fans had already committed to the show.
Roslin receives her briefing on Starbuck's plan on an illuminated table with large figurines representing ships; the plan is later tracked on it as the raid is underway. Moore explained that the decision to use the "big board" was a result of financial and narrative constraints. Using computer graphics to narrate space battles is often expensive, and the product often has to be simplified heavily so the viewer can understand it. The idea for a big board came from classic films about 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...
such as Sink the Bismarck!
Sink the Bismarck!
Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white British war film based on the book, the "Last Nine Days of the Bismarck" by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. To date, it is the only movie made that deals directly with the operations, chase, and...
, Tora! Tora! Tora!
Tora! Tora! Tora!
is a 1970 American-Japanese war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to the extent these facts were known at the time of production. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and stars an all-star cast, including So Yamamura, E.G...
, and Midway
Midway (film)
Midway is a 1976 war film directed by Jack Smight and produced byWalter Mirisch from a screenplay by Donald S. Sanford. The music score was by John Williams and the cinematography by Harry Stradling, Jr...
. The idea for the models came from production designer Richard Hudolin.
In an homage to the original series, the appearance of the freighter that conceals the Vipers is based on the Colonial Movers freighter from the original series. Apollo's attack run through the mine shaft is an homage to Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
.
Composer Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary is an American composer and musician living in Los Angeles, California. He is known for his work on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series.-Biography:...
said "The Hand of God" was one of his favorite episodes to score of the first season and described it as "a lot of fun."
Reception
"The Hand of God" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Series in 2005. It lost to LostLost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
s pilot episode
Pilot (Lost)
"Pilot" constitutes the first and second episodes of the first season of ABC television series Lost, with "Part 1" premiering on September 22, 2004 and Part 2 on September 29, 2004. The episodes were directed by J.J. Abrams, and written by him along with Damon Lindelof, based on a story by them and...
.
Susan Tankersley of Television Without Pity gave "The Hand of God" an A-, calling the action sequences "pretty awesome". Simon Brew of Den of Geek reviewed the episode favorably, singling out for praise the use of the big board and "the increasing complexity of Roslin".
John Kubicek of BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
ranked "The Hand of God" as the 11th best episode of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica and called the episode "brilliant".
External links
- "The Hand of God" at the Battlestar Wiki
- "The Hand of God" at SyfySyfySyfy , 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...