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Battlestar Galactica
"Unfinished Business"
TV episode
Written by Michael Taylor
Directed by Richard Young
Original air date: December 1, 2006
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A rank-free boxing tournament on the Galactica
brings some grudges out into the open.
Read the summary of the episode at the Battlestar Wiki site
Didja Know?
The study of this episode is based on the extended version that
can be found on the
on the Season Three Blu-ray set. This extended version runs
about 1 hour and ten minutes, having many
additional scenes and with some previously-existing scenes
rearranged. In Ron Moore's audio commentary for the extended
episode, he indicates it was put on the disc for the fans to see
an example of how all-or-most of the footage shot for an
episode might initially come together in editing and what the
editor works with as they pare it down to broadcast episode
length (around 43:00 per episode). Moore states that this
extended version is meant to suggest that the producers were
dissatisfied with the aired episode.
The opening titles show the fleet population at 41,422, up one
from "Hero". The reason for this uptick
is not revealed; presumably, a new birth occurred in the fleet.
In this extended version of the episode, Anders is said to
reside on the Salpica in the fleet (later transferred
to the Galactica to be with his wife).
Composer Bear McCreary composed a new score for this extended
version of the episode on video.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this episode
Apollo
Starbuck
Dee
Admiral Adama
Sam Anders
Callie
Colonel Tigh
Helo
Doctor Cottle
Chief Tyrol
Athena
Coran Dix (Spank)
Sgt. Omar Fischer (Tiny)
Hot Dog
Kat
President Roslin
Baltar
(in flashback only)
Lt. Gaeta
Duck (in flashback only, deceased)
Jammer
(in flashback only, deceased)
Ellen Tigh
(in flashback only, deceased)
Racetrack
Zak
(mentioned only, deceased)
Specialist Anthony Figurski
Juan Calvin (mentioned only, presumably
deceased)
Didja Notice?
The boxing tournament is referred to as "the dance" by the Galactica's personnel, possibly a thin way of avoiding military
rules about fighting between officers and subordinates.
On the blackboard of fighters at the boxing tournament are seen the
names Coran Dix (Spank) and Sgt. Omar Fischer (Tiny). Fischer
previously appeared in "Scattered".
Dix's name shows up on the pilot board in the following episode,
"The Passage", but with the callsign "Chopper" instead.
Hot Dog's and Kat's names are also on the
board.
In the flashback at 12:21 on the Blu-ray, Dee calls Apollo
"Commander"; at the time of the flashback, Apollo was commander
of Pegasus. In the "current" time of this episode, he
is a major again after the destruction of that battlestar.
The day of official groundbreaking on New Caprica was called
Founders' Day. It is indicated that it takes place 8 months
before the Cylon occupation of the new colony. This makes the
timeline a bit odd, as Callie would have to have been pregnant
for 10 months or more to account for the time she learned she was
pregnant in the fleet to when she gave birth on New Caprica
during the Cylon occupation.
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At 19:49 on the Blu-ray, picture boards behind Baltar at
the groundbreaking ceremony seem to show a street and
building plan for the new city and a picture of the
proposed city hall building. |
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| New Caprica city plan |
New Caprica city hall |
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| New Caprica city hall |
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At 25:30 on the Blu-ray, Admiral Adama and
President Roslin appear to be smoking something similar to
marijuana joints at the Founder's Day celebration! Notice they
both hide their joints behind their backs while Gaeta is talking
to them and bring them out after he leaves. I'm not sure why
they should hide it though...the prequel series
Caprica shows that drug use is generally legal on
Caprica and perhaps throughout the Twelve Colonies.
Roslin tells
Adama that the stuff grows up in the mountains north of New
Caprica City, near a stream that runs into a lake.
President Roslin remarks that she's thinking of building
a cabin in the mountains by the lake. Adama will later plan a
cabin for the two of them on New Earth in "Daylight" Part 2.
Adama sings part of a song he learned during the first Cylon War to
Roslin, "Ever seen a little light before the dawn of
the
light. Got a woman by a stream. Gonna show her all my dreams."
Admiral Adama challenges Chief Tyrol in the ring, seemingly to
show him he needs to buckle down and get back to a military way
of life, as opposed to the life he and Callie had on New
Caprica. But I have to wonder if part of Adama's challenge was
to impress Laura Roslin after she revealed that her father was
an avid fight fan and she adored her father, making her a fight
fan, too.
When Tyrol gets into the ring, he is still wearing his dog tags.
But after Adama hits him and he falls, the tags are suddenly
gone!
At 49:08 on the Blu-ray, as Admiral Adama is in his corner of
the ring during a break between rounds in his fight with Tyrol,
Roslin says, "Coagulant for the swelling, ice for the bleeding,"
but it should be the other way around!
Starbuck is seen to have a ziggurat-type tattoo on her left
shoulder from this episode onwards. The new character tattoo
covers up a new tattoo that actress Katee Sackhoff received of a
crucifix, which would not fit in well with the BSG universe.
Memorable Dialog
