Season 2, Episode 08:
Final Cut
A sense of normalcy has returned to the Colonial Fleet, though not without some growing resentment towards the Colonial military. To that end, journalist D'Anna Biers of the Fleet News Service is preparing a report on the recent Gideon Massacre when she is approached by a group of Marines and asked to follow them to Colonial One.
When she arrives on the flagship, D'Anna is met by Bill and Roslin, and she tells the pair that her recent attempts to get interviews about the incident have been rebuffed. Roslin tells her that things are going to change, as she wants the journalist to shoot a film detailing civilian life throughout the fleet using whatever resources she wants.
Now with newfound freedom and unrestricted access, D'Anna and her cameraman are flown to Galactica, where Dualla gives them a tour around the ship. D'Anna later interviews several of the crew members and takes some candid footage of the pilots in their locker room.
Elsewhere, Tigh and Ellen meet in their quarters, where the latter has found a disturbing note—someone has scrawled a piece of poetry in red paint on their bedroom mirror. Tigh is unnerved, but resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery.
D'Anna continues getting interviews from various crew members, who seem to be frazzled from their recent experiences. She also interviews a Marine who tells her that he isn't surprised that someone would want to kill Tigh because of what happened on the Gideon, and also witnesses tension between the various pilots.
Later, Bill orders Tigh to attend a civilian leaders' meeting in order for them to work out their differences over what happened onboard the Gideon, but before Tigh leaves, the Raptor he is boarding malfunctions. Tyrol checks the aircraft and concludes that someone tried to sabotage it, which would have killed everyone onboard if left unchecked. Elsewhere, Helo goes to check on Sharon in her cell, and sees her crying as she pulls a blood-soaked hand from underneath the sheets. He calls Cottle immediately.
D'Anna continues interviewing some of the pilots, and hears that Kat is having a panic attack while trying to land her Viper. D'Anna follows Lee and Kara to the hangar deck, where Kat is revealed to have overdosed on stims. Kat is restrained and moved to sickbay while D'Anna follows her.
In Galactica's sickbay, D'Anna is watching Kat's condition when she overhears Cottle telling Sharon that he will may have to operate to prevent a miscarriage. Realizing that Sharon looks exactly like Boomer (a known Cylon), D'Anna films the argument just before pushed out of sickbay by Cottle.
Afterwards, Bill arrives and demands that D'Anna relinquish the videotape with the footage of Sharon, but D'Anna counters that the fleet is harboring a known Cylon. However, Bill successfully argues that Sharon's existence could threaten fleet morale more than the Gideon incident, causing D'Anna to surrender the tape. When Bill leaves, D'Anna reveals to her cameraman that she gave him a fake cassette, and was hiding the real tape under her shirt.
Later that day, after an unsuccessful attack by two Raiders, Tigh returns to his room to find Ellen tied up. He is confronted by Joe Palladino, the man who led the group of Marines onboard the Gideon, who is angered and distraught over Tigh's actions. Tigh talks Palladino down, while Biers (after reviewing her footage) sees evidence indicating that Palladino is the one trying to kill Tigh, and alerts the crew. The marines reach Tigh's quarters and apprehend Palladino before taking him away.
Some time later, the command staff and D'Anna review her finished film, and are greatly impressed by her work. Biers' film is broadcast throughout the fleet…
…and in a movie theater on Caprica, where a group of humanoid Cylons are watching. A Number Six copy asks about the status of Sharon's baby and D'Anna turns around, revealing that she's been a Cylon the whole time. D'Anna says that Sharon and the baby are both fine, while the others agree that they must protect her the baby at all costs…
Tropes
- Accent Relapse: D'Anna uses Lucy Lawless' native Kiwi accent. During the final scene Lawless uses an American accent for the Three watching the film with the other Cylons.
- Affectionate Nickname: Lee refers to Kat and Hot Dog as "Tweedledum and Tweedledee".
- Continuity Nod:
- D'Anna's reaction after Baltar leaves (calling him a "strange little man") is similar to what Roslin says about him in "33".
- The fanfare played at the end of the documentary is the Colonial anthem used in the Miniseries (also the theme song of the original series, making it a Mythology Gag as well).
- Day in the Life: The episode primarily focuses on many of the flagship crew's actions when they are not on duty, including many of the pilots, the man who oversees the flight pods (Captain Kelly) and some of the comm staff.
- Documentary Episode
- Fanservice: Apollo has some trouble keeping his Modesty Towel in place when D'Anna and her cameraman intrude on the pilots' quarters. Starbuck, who's standing behind him, apparently gets quite the view.
- Foreshadowing: Many of the crew appear to be suffering from stress and fatigue, even if they don't show it while on duty.
- Lower-Deck Episode: While the episode does feature sizable appearances by the main characters, a large portion of the episode focuses on D'Anna's interviews with lower-tier staff members like Racetrack, Kat, Dualla and Gaeta, whose full names we finally learn.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Dualla prefers to be called Dee, although her first name (Anastasia) is revealed in the text caption during her interview. The same thing occurs with "Racetrack" (Margaret Edmondson), "Kat" (Louanne Katraine) and Gaeta (Felix).
- Rank Up: Helo was promoted to full Lieutenant offscreen after he returned to Galactica, as his text caption while being interviewed by D'Anna confirms.
- Remember the New Guy?: D'Anna has supposedly been with the fleet's press corps the entire time, but never bothered to show for any media scrums or interviews prior to this point.
- Sensor Suspense: When the two Raiders try to make a kamikaze run against Galactica, the battle is only seen from the command crew's perspective as they watch the DRADIS screens.
- Suicide Attack: Two Raiders try this against Galactica, only to be shot down before they impact the Battlestar.
- Tragic Stillbirth: Sharon almost gets this after suffering a near-miscarriage, causing her to freak out when Cottle suggests they operate on her to save the baby.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: Where D'Anna hid the real tape when Adama demanded it be turned over.
- Wham Shot: A copy of D'Anna sitting in the theatre with the other Cylons watching the completed film.
