Downloaded (Battlestar Galactica)

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“Downloaded”
Battlestar Galactica episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 18
Written by	Bradley Thompson and David Weddle
Directed by	Jeff Woolnough
Production no.	218
Original airdate	February 24, 2006
Episode chronology
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"The Captain's Hand"	"Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1"
Episode chronology

"Downloaded" is an episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series.

[edit] Plot

Survivor Count: 49,579

On Caprica, the humanoid Cylons are rebuilding and settling the ruins of Delphi. It is a strange sight with multiple models of the same Cylon walking through parks and cafes, socialising. Among them are the resurrected Caprica Six and Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (whom the Cylons refer to as "Number Eight"). The two are considered heroes of the Cylon for the key roles they played in the strike against the humans, however Sharon harbors bitter resentment for what she has done to the people who loved her. Six also has sympathy for the humans that is further strengthened by her love of one, Gaius Baltar, who appears to her as a vision, keeping her company.

Meanwhile on Galactica, Caprica-Sharon has a baby girl, but the infant has underdeveloped lungs and is placed in an incubator to be cared for in sick bay. Sharon and Helo name their daughter Hera.

Back on Caprica, the Cylon reporter D'Anna Biers (referred to as "Number Three") believes that Sharon's emotional problems and attachment to the humans is a threat to their agenda and she tells Number Six that unless Six can help Boomer, her persona will be "boxed"; her mind removed from her body and her memories placed "in cold storage", effectively a permanent death. Six agrees to help the Number Three by talking to Boomer. If she can get Boomer to move on enough to leave her old human apartment, that would be progress. Six gets to know Sharon better, deciding instead to support her after learning from her that Baltar is still alive on the Galactica. It seems that the two of them are individuals who have realised something dangerous to the conformity of the Cylon: the slaughter of humanity was a sin in the eyes of God.

Nearby, human resistance fighters led by Samuel Anders plant explosives to destroy the building that Sharon's apartment is in. Although they know that the humanoid cylons cannot truly die, they are convinced that the pain of death and rebirth will eventually persuade the cylons to leave Caprica for good. When the bombs go off, Three, Six, and Sharon become trapped in the rubble of a parking garage, finding Anders who couldn't escape the blasts in time. Three baits Anders, waiting for any excuse to kill him.

Six's "internal" Baltar reveals a startling insight to Six: Three intends to have her boxed as well, and was hoping that her discovery of Baltar's survival was going to tip her mind over the edge into insanity. Although injured, Six kills Three and allows Anders to escape. His confusion at the actions of these benevelont "cylons" is evident. Sharon and Six form a rebellious pact, agreeing to use their status as heroes of the Cylons to "change things for the better" before Three can resurrect and inform the other Cylons of their betrayal.

Back at the fleet, President Laura Roslin and Admiral Adama discuss the fate of the half-Cylon child, Hera, with Gaius Baltar. They fear that Cylons hidden in the fleet will try to kidnap her. Baltar's "internal" Number Six tells Baltar that they themselves will need to take the child. Later, President Roslin orders Dr. Cottle to fake the infant's death, and Roslin's aide Tory Foster provides him with a list of potential adoptive parents. When Caprica-Sharon believes that her baby has died, she lashes out at Dr. Cottle and accuses him of murdering her child under orders. She loses faith in the people in the fleet. Later, Dr. Cottle and Roslin secretly give the baby to a foster mother named Maya. Roslin's aide Tory Foster emphasizes the importance of secrecy, informing Maya that the baby was given birth by an officer on the Pegasus who cannot raise her. Elsewhere, Helo and Chief Tyrol scatter the ashes they believe are Hera's into space.

[edit] Trivia

• This is the first episode where the "numbers" of Cylon models other than Number Six are revealed. In conversation with Six, D'Anna Biers refers to herself as a "Three", and identifies Aaron Doral models as "Fives" and Sharon Valerii models as "Eights".
• One of the cars in the parking garage on Caprica is a Citroën DS, a French car made in the fifties, sixties and seventies of the twentieth century.
• Anders, the leader of the resistance, calls [during the stake-out] the human-looking Cylons "skin-jobs". This derogatory term for an artificial human was also used by Captain Bryant in the movie Blade Runner. Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) played Gaff in that film.
• The episode has been nominated for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. [1]
• The Cylon Centurion which investigates the bomb in the garage has been nominated for the 2007 VES Award for "Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial or Music Video". [2]