Battlestar Galactica "A Day in the Life" TV episode Written by Mark Verheiden Directed by Rod Hardy Original air date: February 18, 2007

A routine repair becomes a disaster when Tyrol and Cally get trapped in an airlock while their air leaks away; Admiral Adama reflects on the life he’s lost.

Read the summary of the episode at the Battlestar Wiki site

Notes from the BSG chronology

In the pilots' ready room, it is remarked that it has been 49 days since the last sighting of Cylons by the fleet. As far as we know, the last sighting was in "Rapture", so this episode would take place 49 days after that.

Didja Know?

The opening titles show the fleet population at 41,398, up two from the end of the previous episode "The Woman King". Presumably, two births took place between episodes. 

Admiral Adama

Carolanne Adama (in Adama's visions only, deceased)

Colonel Tigh

Chief Tyrol

Cally

Nicholas Tyrol

Laskin (mentioned only)

Perry (mentioned only)

Private Stewart Jaffee

Anthony Figurski

Specialist Seelix

Leeson (mentioned only)

Kinsey (mentioned only)

President Roslin

Tory Foster (mentioned only)

Baltar (mentioned only)

Caprica Six (mentioned only)

Apollo

Narcho

Hot Dog

Starbuck

Athena

Helo

Space Katt

Thin Man

Rocket

Sharky

Hyper

Dee

Susan Seklir (mentioned only)

Susan Seklir's daughter (unnamed, mentioned only)

Dr. Cottle

Joseph Adama (mentioned only, deceased)

Didja Notice?

Cally refers to her and Tyrol's baby son Nicholas by the nickname Nicky.

Tyrol remarks to Cally that this was the first day their baby didn't cry when he dropped him off at daycare. This may be an indication that the baby is getting more used to being with the daycare providers than with his own parents, due to their workload.

In the crew head at 6:57 on the Blu-ray, a number of crew lockers are seen with names on them. Among the names are Dutch, Duke, Turbo, and Anthony Figurski.

At 8:28 on the Blu-ray, a metal box in Airlock 12 has a Stack-On logo on it. Stack-On is a manufacturer of durable metal storage products.

Admiral Adama practices a memory exercise to remember the names of his subordinates. Here, he recites:

Leeson takes first watch.

Leeson takes first watch.

Kinsey checks the roster.

Kinsey checks the roster.

Jaffee brings me coffee.

Jaffee brings me coffee.

In his imagination, at 10:59 on the Blu-ray, Adama is walking around his and Carolanne's old home on Caprica. He examines an unusual little bicycle; it must have been Lee's (Apollo) and/or Zak's when the boys were children.

At 11:04 on the Blu-ray, Adama handles a pyramid ball (actually a repainted miniature 5-inch soccer ball).

When President Roslin admits to Adama that she could have done her current day's work entirely on Colonial One but came to Galactica because she was feeling stir crazy, Adama responds that deep-space pilots used to call it OBE...Overcome By Events. OBE is an actual term of military origin.

During her discussion about the planned trial of Baltar with Adama, Roslin refers to Caprica Six as "the Caprica Six". Technically, she should just call her "Caprica Six" as the only Number Six model with that appellation (as far as we know). Or she could use "the Number Six".

At 15:11 on the Blu-ray, what appears to be a toy or model battleship of the sea is seen on a coffee table in the Adama home on Caprica.

Apparently, Helo has been relieved from his administration duties in Dogsville and reinstated to pilot duty, as he is present for the pilots' briefing and is dressed in his pilot suit. It may be that his reinstatement to normal duty is a sign of forgiveness by Adama after Helo's having been proved right in his suspicions about Dr. Robert in the previous episode, "The Woman King".

At 16:30 on the Blu-ray, the status board in the pilots' ready room lists a few new names: Space Katt, Thin Man, Rocket, and Sharky.

Apollo tells his pilots they will be doing touch-and-gos until every one of them hits an OK-three. "OK-three" seems to be an original term for the series; I haven't been able to find a similar reference in Earth military terms. "Touch-and-go", however, is a term used in piloting of fixed-wing aircraft; it refers to landing on a runway and taking off again without coming to a stop.

Throughout the scene of Apollo talking to his father in the ready room, the Admiral's uniform collar goes back-and-forth in being open or fastened.

Apollo indicates to his father that he did briefly consider a career as a lawyer, inspired by his grandfather, before joining the service instead. This is something his father had never been aware of. In BSG70, Apollo is also said to have studied the law codes at the Academy in "Murder on the Rising Star".

When the leak in Airlock 12 gets worse, Tyrol tells Adama, "I seem to have turned this into a full-blown FUBAR." FUBAR is military slang standing for "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition". Of course, in Colonial parlance, that would be "Frakked Up Beyond All Recognition."

At 22:08 on the Blu-ray, the command table in CIC seems to indicate the fleet is in the Prolatar Sector.

    As Tyrol and Cally face the prospect of death in the airlock, Cally worries what will happen to their baby son if they die, saying, "...we both know what happens to kids in the fleet when their parents aren't there for them." What does happen? Is there no working adoption service in the fleet to find qualified, caring homes? Do kids wind up at an orphanage? Do they fall in with gangs?

    Tyrol assures Cally that Apollo and Dee will take care of little Nicky, but Cally emphatically states she does not want any pilots, "He's not going through this twice." She asks Adama to ensure Nicky is given to Susan Seklir, a civilian who has a little girl. The last name, Seklir, is a nod to series editor, and later associate producer, Andrew Seklir. 

At 29:48 on the Blu-ray, what appears to be a mechanical daggit (circa BSG70) appears to be among the debris that rushes out of Airlock 12 when the outer hatch is blown! I assume this is just an in-joke made by the CGI effects team. But, who knows, maybe the Colonial military actually uses mechanical dogs (daggits) in some combat operations and had one stored in that bay!

At 30:05 on the Blu-ray, what appears to be a Colonial landram is seen parked in the middle of the port hangar bay. But why would it be there? Landrams are for use on, well, land! And the Galactica has not been around a planet in the entire episode. It should be parked in an out of the way area.

Adama gives Apollo a box full of Joseph Adama's old law books, a series titled Caprican Criminal Codes of at least 20 volumes.

    The book Roslin gives Adama is Blood Runs at Midnight, a Tim Spencer Mystery, by Ivana Vasak. This is a prop book made for the episode. Ivana Vasak was an assistant art director on the series. Tim Spencer was a camera operator on the series.

    Roslin says the book is not a loan, it's a gift. This refers back to "Water", when Adama gave Roslin one of his books, saying it's a gift because he never lends books.

Notes from the audio commentary by Ron Moore on the Blu-ray release

Moore notes that this episode was originally supposed to be an actual "day in the life" style episode, a trope often used in a television series to give the audience insight to a character or group of characters, i.e. what do they do on a normal day, not the more dramatic days a typical episode might focus on. This episode starts to move away from the "day in the life" of Adama idea when the Tyrol/Cally story comes in and the production wound up leaning into it because they felt the chemistry between Adama and Carolanne just wasn't strong enough to keep that plotline enticing. 

Unanswered Questions

If the breach in Airlock 12 could not be sealed from the inside where Tyrol and Cally were trapped, couldn't someone in a spacesuit seal it from outside?

If Helo is no longer the administrator of Dogsville, who is?