The Hand of God (1978 Battlestar Galactica)

"The Hand of God" is an episode of the original Battlestar Galactica television series. This was the last episode of the original Battlestar Galactica TV series. The next episode is the first episode of the follow-up series, Galactica 1980.

Summary

On a night out in the Galactica, Apollo leads his friends to a forgotten observatory where they receive the mysterious transmissions. After discovering a wayward Cylon Basestar very close to the Fleet, Adama decides the Galactica has the element of surprise on their side, and they plan an attack. When Apollo and Starbuck propose infiltrating the basestar and destroying its scanners—virtually guaranteeing the Galactica a surprise first strike—Baltar provides essential information about the internal arrangement and configuration of the basestar to enable them to narrow the odds of failure. Baltar's price for his knowledge is his freedom—if the attack succeeds he will be marooned on some habitable planet with sufficient equipment and supplies to survive on his own.

Armed with Baltar's advice, Apollo and Starbuck successfully board the Basestar and set high detonation charges in the most carefully guarded and delicate location to paralyze and cripple its scanners—allowing the Galactica to sneak up in it. Boomer leads the Colonial Viper squadron on a risky attack of the Cylon Raider force—which outnumbers them 2-to-1. The Raiders are all destroyed. Baltar's Raider—which Apollo and Starbuck used to infiltrate the basestar—is about to be shot down on its way back, since a device designed to differentiate their ship from the Cylon attackers is lost, but Apollo "waddles" the ship in order to signal to the Galactica that he's friendly. In the last scene of the series finale, Apollo and Starbuck narrowly miss receiving Apollo 11 moon landing transmissions from Earth.

(Note: As part of the information-for-freedom deal, Adama reluctantly gives Baltar "short-range communications" so he has some hope of being "rescued"; this ultimately happens [off-screen], as the spin-off series Galactica 1980 reveals that Baltar is the Commandant of the Cylon Fleet which has followed the Galacticans to their objective, the planet Earth.)

Actors

• Dirk Benedict - Lieutenant Starbuck
• Terry Carter - Colonel Tigh
• John Colicos - Count Baltar
• Lorne Greene - Commander Adama
• Richard Hatch - Captain Apollo
• Herbert Jefferson, Jr. - Lieutenant Boomer
• Maren Jensen - Lieutenant Athena
• Anne Lockhart - Lieutenant Sheba
• Laurette Spang - Cassiopeia
• Tony Swartz - Sergeant Jolly

Re-Imagining

• This is the only episode of the original series to have the same title as its re-imagined counterpart in the new Battlestar Galactica. The plots of the two episodes are relatively similar. The two biggest differences in the remake are: the Galactica attacks a Cylon asteroid base as opposed to a Baseship and the absence of Starbuck and Apollo's sabotage mission. The episode title also has a different meaning.

External links

• The Hand of God at the Battlestar Wiki