Act of Contrition (Battlestar Galactica)

"Act of Contrition" is the fourth episode of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series.

Plot

After a fatal accident on the hangar deck in which thirteen pilots are killed by an accidentally launched recon drone, Starbuck is assigned to quickly train replacements (who are referred to as "nuggets"). The senseless losses are a blow to the morale of the remaining Galactica pilots.

Elsewhere, President Laura Roslin has a checkup with the ship's medical officer, Dr. Cottle. Cottle tells Roslin her cancer is inoperable and gives her a few months to live. He recommends a powerful medication that can help her, but having watched her mother suffer from using it, she knows it is not without its side effects. Roslin wishes to explore alternate treatment with an unproven plant extract, a request that Cottle receives skeptically. In a rare moment of emotional openness, he suggests she try prayer as an alternative.

Meanwhile, Starbuck's training assignment brings back painful memories of the unfortunate death of her fiancé, Zak Adama. Starbuck feels responsible for Zak's death since she had passed him for Basic Flight despite knowing he wasn't good enough to be a Viper pilot. She temporarily escapes the feelings with a card game between Lt. Crashdown, Lt. Felix Gaeta and Dr. Baltar, during which Galactica-Boomer catches word about Baltar's "Cylon Detector".

Starbuck takes control of her class of nuggets, which includes Louanne "Kat" Katraine and Brendan "Hot Dog" Constanza. Because of the lack of flight simulators, these nuggets are thrown into the cockpit of actual Vipers on their first day. Though all of them manage to survive, Starbuck flunks them all. After a misunderstanding,Starbuck confesses what she did for Zak. As a result, Adama and Starbuck's relationship is seriously strained. Hurt and angered by her actions, he orders her to return ("while you still can..."-Adama) the nuggets to flight status and complete their training.

During a training exercise, a Cylon Raider patrol shows up and attacks. Starbuck orders the trainees back to Galactica, at best speed while she holds off the entire patrol. However, Hot Dog disobeys and stays to help her. The last surviving raider is damaged by Starbuck at the last moment, leaving her with a heavily damaged Viper. Both craft hurtle out of control towards a nearby planet and enter the atmosphere. Starbuck goes into a flat spin and she punches out, free-falling along with the Viper.

Meanwhile, on Caprica, Helo and Sharon Valerii track the signal they picked up to its source; a restaurant with a bomb shelter filled with food, water and anti-radiation medication.

External links

• "Act of Contrition" at the Battlestar Wiki
• "Act of Contrition" at Syfy
• "Act of Contrition" at TV.com
• "Act of Contrition" at the Internet Movie Database