| "Valley of Darkness" | |||
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| Battlestar Galactica episode | |||
Apollo (Jamie Bamber) faces down a Cylon Centurion. |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 2 |
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| Directed by | Michael Rymer | ||
| Written by | David Weddle Bradley Thompson |
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| Original air date | July 22, 2005 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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Sam Witwer as Crashdown |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
"Valley of Darkness" is the second episode of the second season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series. It aired originally on the Sci Fi Channel on July 22, 2005.
In the episode, Cylon Centurions board Galactica; the crew, led by Lee "Apollo" Adama, beat them back but suffer heavy casualties. On Kobol, Gaius Baltar's visions continue, and Chief Galen Tyrol euthanizes a dying comrade. On Caprica, Starbuck and Helo relax in Starbuck's apartment and then take her truck out of the city.
According to executive producer Ronald D. Moore, production and post-production for "Valley of Darkness" was contentious. Nonetheless, critics reviewed it favorably. The episode received a nomination at the 2005 VES awards for the (animated) Centurions.
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In "Kobol's Last Gleaming", Commander William Adama staged a military coup and confined President Laura Roslin to Galactica's brig.[2] In "Scattered", Tigh assumed command of Galactica following an assassination attempt on Adama. The Cylons tried but seemingly failed to infiltrate Galactica's computer network with a virus. Unbeknownst to the crew, Cylon Centurions boarded Galactica. On Kobol, Head Six told Baltar that they would have a child. Cylons killed Tarn, one of Tyrol's subordinates, after Crashdown ordered them to retrieve a medical kit for the wounded Specialist Socinus.[3]
Galactica loses power; Lieutenant Felix Gaeta attributes it to the Cylon virus. Emergency power comes online, and Captain Aaron Kelly receives a report of Centurions aboard. Tigh determines the Centurions' objective is to vent the ship's air and crew into space and then turn the guns on the civilian ships.
A Centurion attacks Apollo and his fellow Viper pilots; a Marine destroys the Centurion by firing an explosive round at its head. Apollo releases Roslin from the brig so she can flee the Centurions. He goes in search of more explosive rounds but finds only a few in a small arms locker full of corpses. A deckhand fixes an intercom and patches Apollo into the CIC. Realizing Apollo's party is all that stands between a group of Centurions and the aft damage control, from which the Centurions could vent the air, Tigh orders Apollo to intercept them.
At Apollo's suggestion, Roslin makes her way through the dimly lit ship toward sickbay with Billy Keikeya and two Marines. Along the way they pass several corpses but pick up a traumatized Dee, who blew off Billy earlier but is now happy to see him. The group is forced to detour toward the aft damage control, realizing too late that Centurions are close. Two Centurions open fire on them, but Apollo's party destroys them with explosive rounds, saving Roslin's group and the ship.
In sickbay following the crisis, Dee and Billy kiss. Roslin and Apollo stand by the still unconscious Commander Adama. Tigh announces Doctor Cottle is on his way, orders Roslin back to the brig, and exchanges reprimands with Apollo.
Baltar has a dream in which Adama drowns his and Six's baby. Six reflects on the barbarity of humanity and tells him of the human sacrifice that was performed on Kobol. She warns him to stop Adama from trying to kill their baby.
Cally consoles Tyrol over Tarn's death. They arrive too late with the medical kit; Diana Seelix tells them Socinus's death is inevitable and suggests euthanasia. Tyrol is horrified at first but ultimately agrees. As he administers the lethal dosage to his subordinate, Tyrol smiles and tells Socinus a rescue party has arrived, and they are "going home."
Starbuck and Helo continue to argue about Caprica-Boomer. They stop at Starbuck's old apartment, where they listen to a recording of Starbuck's father playing the piano as Starbuck reflects on her life. They retrieve the keys to Starbuck's truck and escape the city in it.
In a deleted flashback of Tigh's set decades before the events of the series, at the same time as his flashbacks in "Scattered", Adama relates how Cylons boarded Galactica during the First Cylon War and tried to vent the air.[4] This was to be how Tigh recognized the strategy.[5]
In another deleted scene, when Apollo calls the CIC, Tigh tries to relieve Apollo of his command of the Marines and tells him, "You've been a disappointment your entire life."[4] Only after Apollo refuses multiple times does Tigh order him to intercept the Centurions.[4] This would have been paired with additional dialogue between Tigh and Apollo in sickbay. Apollo would have asked whether his father called him a disappointment. Tigh would have replied that the elder Adama thought the world of Lee and that Tigh didn't understand why Apollo had sided with Roslin over his father during the coup.[5]
In a third deleted scene, Head Six tells Baltar that of the humans in the fleet only he will live to see Earth.[4][6]
In his podcast commentary on "Valley of Darkness", Moore discusses his views of the symbolism appearing in the episode.
Much of the action in "Valley of Darkness" set on Kobol and Caprica was originally written as part of "Scattered". This produced a script that was too long for one episode but too short for two. The Cylon boarding party plot was conceived to fill enough time for a full second episode.[5]
According to Moore, the production and post-production for "Valley of Darkness" was unusually contentious; it and "The Farm" were the most contentious episodes of the second season.[7]
The piano piece Starbuck and Helo listen to is Philip Glass's "Metamorphisis Five". It is reprised at the end of the episode. Glass's music was often used for temp tracks during production of the series. The microcassette format she uses is an homage to the film A Clockwork Orange.[9]
When Tyrol and Cally rejoin the others, they use a kind of challenge-response authentication in which one party says "flash" and the other "thunder". These were the challenge and password, respectively, used by Allied soldiers on D-Day during World War II.[10]
Actress Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) played a large role in planning the look and feel of Starbuck's apartment. She and actor Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) did much of the painting on the walls and the canvases strewn about the room.[5]
"Valley of Darkness" received a nomination at the 2005 Visual Effects Society Awards for the Centurions, in the category "Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial, or Music Video". It lost to the following episode, "Fragged", which won for the Centurions in that episode.[11]
"Valley of Darkness" received favorable critical review. Jen Segrest of AOL's TV Squad commended the scenes between Starbuck and Helo and said the final confrontation with the Centurions was "a [scene] you'll want to rewatch a few times in slow mo."[12] Susan Tankersley of Television Without Pity gave "Valley of Darkness" a B+.[13] Simon Brew of Den of Geek praised Tyrol's scene with Socinus, calling it "moving".[14]
Eric Goldman of IGN ranked Tigh taking command at #11 on his list of the top 20 storylines and moments in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica.[15]
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