| Islanded in a Stream of Stars | |
| Series: | Battlestar Galactica |
| Season: | 4 |
| Episode: | 20 |
| Airdate: | March 6, 2009 |
| Production: | 420 |
| Director: | Edward James Olmos |
| Guests: | Kate Vernon Donnelly Rhodes Rekha Sharma Dean Stockwell |
| Episode List: | Episode chronology |
| Prev: | Someone to Watch Over Me |
| Next: | Daybreak |
"Islanded in a Stream of Stars" is the twentieth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It aired on television in the United States and Canada on March 6, 2009.[1]
The plot of this episode revolves around the events of Hera's kidnapping at the hands of Boomer in the previous episode. As well as Adama and the crew coming to terms with the idea that they may soon have to abandon Galactica and scrap it in order to allow the fleet to survive. Kara seeks out the answers she has been searching for since she visited Earth.
Repairs on Galactica continue, but it seems little headway is being made. The ship's systems are fluctuating, and a major hull breach kills about 60 people.
Ellen Tigh states that if John's plan is to study Hera and learn what made her a successful human-cylon hybrid, he would take her to 'The Colony', which is a large biomechanical structure similar in composition to the Basestars (After the armistice, the final five and the Centurions retreated to this 'home'.). Under protest, Adama allows a heavy raider to be sent to The Colony, not wanting to risk the whole fleet. In their room "Helo" and "Athena" are distraught over the kidnapping of their daughter, to the point that Athena refuses to even look Helo in the eye. Helo asks Adama for a raptor to be able to go look for Hera, but Adama tells him that the cylons have already reported back that the colony has moved.
During a meeting between the council, which now consists of the Fleet's Captains, Sonia and acting President Lee Adama the idea of (Admiral) Adama abandoning Galactica and relocating his forces to the cylon baseship. The Fleet's Captains object to the idea of having the cylon baseship as their only means of defence. When Sonia (the Cylon representitive) stands up to speak, she re-informs the Fleet's Captains that the Cylons have agreed to accept Admiral Adama's authority in exchange for a seat on the council and they have every intention to honor that deal. When the Captain of the Hitei Kan brings up the air quality issue onboard his ship, the other Captains all state which parts of Galactica they want to cannibalise. When the idea of a lottery to determine who gets which pieces, Lee orders them to be silent and states that nobody will get so much as a single bolt until his father will allow it. A captain asks Lee what would Baltar think of it, Lee replies with a confused look at the mention of Gaius Baltar. In Baltar's quaters, he is finishing one of his broadcasts in which he is talking about Angels, as Kara is shown listening to the broadcast. Baltar signs off and sees Caprica six, he chases her down and offers his condolences on the loss of her child, Baltar offers her some more food and a place to stay if she needs it, Caprica six accepts the condolences but rejects the offer, stating that she has no intention of joining Batlar's harem. Baltar states that he [sic]We[sic] is simply trying to make a difference in the fleet, while Caprica six states that Baltar has not changed, that he is the same person he always was, but she is the one who has changed, to which Baltar becomes noticeably upset.
As Boomer is plotting several jumps to 'The Colony' in order to deliver Hera to Cavil, Hera begins to whine and cry for her mother. When Boomer can not stand the crying any longer, she reaches for a needle that will put Hera to sleep but she finds herself unable to sedate her. Saul and Ellen are in their quaters arguing over Hera's kidnapping, Ellen wants him to do more to help Hera. When Ellen states that Hera is the future of 'Our people' (referring to the Cylon race) Saul objects to the idea that the Cylons are in fact his people. He tells his wife that his people are the ones on Galactica, that they are his family. Ellen re-inforces that fact that Saul is a cylon and has been one for the last two thousand years, Saul declares that the two thousand years are only a number and that he barely remembers them, he says that his friendship with Bill Adama is more important then that. Ellen informs him that the only hope for their children is Hera, to which Saul informs her that he 'had a son once, but he died.' Ellen tells him that he is wrong, that he had millions, after which the two hug each other. Boomer offers Hera some food, but she does not take any. Boomer begins to tell Hera about her dream home with Tyrol on Picon, she tells her that whenever she is scared, she goes there. Hera reaches for Boomer's hand and connects with her, allowing herself to see the dreamhouse in Boomer's imagination, revealing that Hera, who is half cylon and half human, has the ability to 'project'.
In the Galactica 'head' Kara and Gaius have a conversation (as Kara urinates with the door open, and Gaius shaves) where she questions whether or not he believes the things he was saying on his wireless transmission, about 'the angels bringing out our better nature.' As Baltar states that yes he does believe in them, and in fact he quite often sees them, he is shown looking into the mirror at his 'Number Six (Battlestar Galactica|Inner six]]'. When Baltar questions who Kara is (in a mocking tone of voice) Kara replies that she is simply a dead woman. Kara opens up for the first time about her discovery on Earth and tells him about finding her own dead body. She gives him the dog tags and asks him to run some scientific tests to determine the truth about her. Kara leaves Gaius and goes to where she knows Anders has been taken, when she enters the room, she finds that her comatose cylon husband has been transferred into a 'hybrid immersion tank' by a model eight ('In the hope that it might jump start his neural net'). Kara compares the process to trying to jump start a car, which she finds disgusting and repulsive. She orders the eight out of the room so she can have a heart to heart conversation with her husband. Kara mentions the events in He That Believeth in Me when she coldly stated that if she found out Sam was a Cylon she would put a bullet between his eyes, and now after he has been revealed as a cylon, and another person did indeed shoot him in the head all she can think about is how to get him back. Kara then states that 'Human, Cylon, it doesn't seem matter.' seemingly implying that the once cold hearted Kara Thrace, who had no love or pity for the Cylons, has changed her way of thinking. Kara begins to cry when she says that she wants him back, because he was 'her' Sam, then she pulls out her side arm in an attempt to assasinate her husband, to preserve his way of life, but she is stopped by the comatose Sam who graps the gun and begins to speak like the hybrid has previously done, he looks at her and says that she will lead them to their end and she is the harbinger of death. Then Anders begins to blink his eyes as the lights onboard Galactica flicker at the same time.
Tigh is brought to the room where Anders is being held (along with Kara, an Eight, and a six), he is informed that Anders has got into the ship's programming through the biopolymer fluid that has been injected into Galactica's hull in order to repair it. When the eight states that is it theoretically possible for Anders to gain control of Galactica's FTL drive and jump away, Tigh orders that he be taken offline, in order to prevent the ship from ripping itself apart through the pressures of an FTL jump.
Funerals are held for those who died in the explosion onboard Galactica. The three 'figureheads' all speak at the funeral, the first being Admiral Adama (seemingly for the military crew lost) A number six (for the cylons who died) and Baltar speaks during the closing moments. After the ceremony has concluded, Baltar draws everyone's attention, he tells them that 'Death is not the end, and I'm not just talking about Cylon ressurrection. I am talking about the gift of eternal life.' He tells the group that they can defeat death by not being scared of it, by being brave, just as one person in the group has already done, Kara Thrace. Baltar tested the dog tags given to him by Kara and it revealed the same DNA sample as Kara Thrace, therefore he concluded that Kara had died and been born again, that she conquered death. He reveals to the group the truth about what Kara herself found on Earth, the charred remains. He tells them that she isn't a cylon, that she is an angel. When Baltar continues his speech, Kara walks up to him and slaps him in the face, Adama dismisses the group. Lee and Kara meet together in the corridor that displays the pictures of everyone who has been killed in the series, he tells her that he doesn't care who or what she is, only that he is glad she is back and all that matters is that they are there. Lee leaves Kara as she hangs her own picture on the wall between Kat and Dee.
Boomer arrives at The Colony with Hera sleeping in her arms, she carries her into the ship and delivers her to Cavil. Cavil displays his sorrow that he couldn't be there to witness the expression on Ellen's face as she realized they tricked her. Cavil takes Hera from Boomer and he tells her that she did a good job and she should get some rest. As cavil takes Hera away (and behind a wall that only shows shadows) she awakens and is now crying out for Boomer's help. Cavil tells her 'There there now, you'll have all sorts of playmates soon enough.' as Boomer stands still, watching and begining to cry.
Onboard Galactica Admiral Adama is walking through his ship, he watches the work crews repairing the damaged ship, he removes his 'wings' and enters a room. Looking at the state that the wall is in, he grabs a paint brush and angrily paints over it, he begins to get frusterated and throws the tray of paint against the wall as he falls down in personal agony and begins to cry.
Kara visits Sam and says to him 'The old me is dead and gone, same as the old you is dead and gone.' She questions her existence and wonders why she is here, she believes that it might have something to do with the music sheet and she needs his help to determine a pattern she cannot see, she picks up the plug and 'Plugs Sam in'. As Sam comes online the lights flicker and the creaking noise is heard in Adama's quaters. Tigh arrives at Adama's request, questioning what he needed. Adama informs him that he has made a decision, he is stopping the repairs on the ship, he wants the crew to begin stripping down Galactica, start offloading civilians, and transferring the crew and weapons, he plans to abandon ship. When Tigh objects, Adama states that she is dying and wants to send her off in style. The episode ends with the two men sitting on a couch, drinking alcohol and toasting the ship, as scottish bag pipe music plays. Admiral William Adama: 'To Galactica, the best ship in the fleet.' Saul Tigh: 'To Galactica.'
A number of scenes were omitted for time. There was at least one scene of Galen Tyrol in the brig, having confessed to his actions in the previous episode. An extended cut of the episode will be available on the season 4.5 DVD.[2]