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Season 1, Episode 1
Battlestar Galactica: 33
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Synopsis
The Battlestar Galactica is shepherding a fleet of survivors - all that’s left of the human race after a devastating Cylon attack. They’re pursued by a fleet of Cylons which appear every 33 minutes. Outnumbered each time, they are forced to “jump” to a new location.
Baltar, on the President Roslin’s ship, reminisces about life back on Caprica, with Six appearing only in his mind. To everyone else, it appears that he’s talking to himself. They contemplate God - Baltar doesn’t believe, while Six is devout and believes there is a higher plan for Baltar. At one point she demands that he repent, and also mentions that she wants to have a child with him.
President Roslyn and assistant Billy keep a tally of the number of human survivors on a white board which marches persistently downward after each Cylon attack.
On the Galactica, the crew is overtired and worn down, hopped up on stimulants, and fearful of mistakes. After each jump they might get ten minutes of sleep if lucky.
After one jump, the ship “Olympic Carrier” is inadvertently left behind. After 33 minutes, the Cylons do not attack. Then the carrier reappears. After an initial elation, suspicion kicks in. A difficult decision is made that stems directly from the war situation at hand.
Meanwhile, back on Caprica, Helo is a lone survivor, running from Cylon centurions. After fighting off a few of them, he encounters a Six model dressed in white. She is killed by Boomer (a Cylon). Helo has no way of knowing Boomer is still aboard Galactica, and so believes that she has returned to save him. They run off into the rainy woods together, as another Six watches.
At episode’s end, the head count is updated to +1 because a baby boy was born on one of the ships. The tally is 47,973.
Thoughts
Starbuck jokingly accuses Boomer of being a Cylon, which is actually true (revealed in the miniseries) but none of the characters (not even Boomer herself) knows this yet.
There is a choice made to sacrifice some civilians so the rest can survive. The responsibility falls directly on Bill Adama and Roslin who give the order and Lee, who pulls the trigger. We see a distribution of power as Adama confers with Roslin before the crucial decision. This check and balance is absent on the Battlestar Pegasus in Razor.
But Baltar influences the decision in his distasteful, Baltar way. He allowed the Cylons access to the Caprican defenses and therefore is partly to blame for its destruction. A Dr. Amorak, aboard the Olympic carrier, knows this and wants to speak to Roslyn. Therefore, Baltar would personally benefit from the carrier being destroyed. So Baltar has an outburst in front of Roslyn, which undeniably influences her final decision.
So while the leaders believe the carrier was destroyed to save the fleet, Baltar only wanted it destroyed in order to save himself. Batlar’s despicable, self-centered, self-preservation appears repeatedly throughout the series.
The DVD’s episode commentary reveals some amusing tidbits regarding the ever-present conflict between the show’s creators and the network:
- The network worried that everything going on in spaceships would be too dull, so we have many trips into Baltar’s head and Helo on Caprica - basically different environments with blue sky and rainy woods outdoors.
- The network didn’t like how all the characters looked like hell (unshaven, bags under their eyes, groggy from drugs) for this premiere episode. But the ugliness makes total sense for the story and I think it was a cool idea to start the episode in the middle of a tense situation without any explanation.
- Lastly, the commentary reveals that the original shooting script definitively showed helpless civilians still aboard the Olympic Carrier, visible through the windows. There was much conflict as to if this was too dark, or necessary to show the gravity of the decision to destroy the ship. My personal preference would have been the former, which is my only complaint about 33. Otherwise, it’s an excellent episode.
Next Episode: Water
Previous Episode: 2003 Miniseries
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"Heh... yeah now that I think about it, was that theater as empty as youremember? So many plot holes - of which you list several. I think Hubbardwrote himself into a corner with the premise - the humans are enslaved by anall powerful alien race, so how exactly do you get the humans to a levelwhere they can overthrow their masters? It seems half the solution wasmaking the Psychlos complete morons... anyhow, it's definitely good forlaughs." - 
This is definitely one of my favorite episodes of the whole series (if not my absolute favorite). I just love how relentless and menacing the Cylons are in this episode. You really get a sense for how dire the fleet’s situation is in this episode. And you feel genuine stress as an observer. A real gem.
Yeah this one is pretty slick. The series definitely started off on a high point.
That episode made me a fan of the show. I can’t remember when was the last time I saw something like that. They described and put the atmosphere of the show in you room like never before. I remember it was happening “on the edge” for the entire episode.
A real series, where people are really people, with all their internal motives and fears taken into account.
[...] 33 [...]
[...] A Cylon / human hybrid baby was hinted at in 33, when Six shares with Baltar a desire to have a child. Now that Sharon is pregnant, this will definitely come true. This seems to be part of the Cylon plan to bring Sharon and Helo together to fall in love. [...]
[...] to Shelly Godfrey - who looks exactly like Six. She claims to be an associate of the dead Dr. Amorack, and has told Commander Adama that Baltar is a traitor. As evidence, she presents security camera [...]
[...] Next Episode: 33 [...]
[...] Next Episode: Bastille Day Previous Episode: 33 [...]
[...] bandages up Baltar, who near death and drugged with painkiller, confesses that he gave the Cylons the access codes which allowed the initial attack on Caprica. Shocked, Roslin tears off Batlar’s wrappings, intending him to bleed to [...]