BG-02: Lost Planet Of The Gods

[Flamingo Girl]

Apollo and Starbuck discover a magnetic void ahead of the fleet. Jolly and Boomer bring back a viral plague from their scouting mission to a Cylon asteroid which infects all of the Viper squadron pilots--and cripples their military capabilities. As Baltar and the Cylons threaten the fleet as the Colonials scramble to train new pilots to defend the fleet, while Dr. Salik searches desperately for a cure to the mysterious illness. The Galactica and her fleet are led by a lone star in the magnetic void to a dead planet which may contain the key to the Colonials' salvation. Starbuck is captured by the Cylons. Apollo and Serina "seal" as a lone star appears within the void. Adama believes the planet is Kobol, the world "where life began." The Colonials survey the dead world. Baltar appears to bargain with the Colonials; Adama finds proof of the exodus with insights into the Thirteenth Tribe's wherabouts. The Cylons betray Baltar's plans and attack the fleet and Kobol; the new pilots face destruction as they are outnumbered. The ill pilots recover, thanks to Dr. Salik's medical work, and bolster the Colonial defenses. Starbuck is returned, but Serina is killed.


Series stars; Richard Hatch as Apollo, Dirk Benedict as Starbuck, Herb Jefferson Jr. as Boomer, Lorne Greene as Adama, Terry Carter as Colonel Tigh, Maren Jensen as Athena, Tony Swartz as Jolly, Laurette Spang as Cassiopia, Noah Hathaway as Boxey, Sarah Rush as Rigel, David Greenan as Omega, and John Colicos as Baltar.



(Thanks to Michael Faries Battlestar Galactica.com)

[shiningstar]

I almost forgot about this episode .......it's been so long
since it's aired. But it was a great one.

[Belloby]

This episode has special meaning for me because it was the first time that girls were seen as warriors.( I know in the piolet that Athena was a warrior, but we actually never saw her in combat.)

Seeing the women shuttle piolets really made me feel good...almost special. I was a young, shy 13-year-old at the time who did little but read and study. By watching those young women do something cool and important, gave me the courage to strike out and do something on my own.

To this day, I still pop in that episode when I'm feeling down.

Thanks, BSG.

[Muffit]

I just watched this again tonight. Wow, what a moving episode. There is /so much/ going on. Apollo's wedding, Baltar's trickery, sickness among the pilots, female cadets trying to cope, the magnetic void, and something very, very interesting. (see below).

I just got my Indy DVD set too. I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark just before Lost Planet of the Gods. Let people say BSG copies from others. Even more shows copy from BSG. You've gotta get a chill watching the laser-like beam of light in the tomb bounce off the gems, and realize Indy's map room scene is almost identical! Thing is, it's not so unique -- the Egyptians incredibly built temples like Abu Simbel for just that purpose -- one day of the year the sun would pierce an aperture and light up something important way at the back of the temple/tomb. But BSG did it 3 years before Indy. Pretty cool!

Richard's mourning is a piece of incredible acting! Most series actors take 6 or seven eps to really fall into their character. Richard did it right off the mark. (Dirk too). The only other sci fi series actor I ever saw nail his part right off the bat was Bill Shatner in Star Trek TOS. Day 1 line 1 he /was/ the quintessential Kirk (to borrow a Klingon phrase).

The devastating damage to the wall frieze about the 13th tribe just as they found it was a great piece of writing. It actually sparked the same feeling of bitter dissapointment and irony in me. So close! My personal opinion is the BSG writers did an awesome job in the limited time allotted. Weaving all those plots together with an ongoing mysterious mythos took more talent than I think most folks give them credit for.

Great ep!!!

[Charybdis]

You know, watching the scenes of Serina's sickness on the DVD set made me really wish that they had left her scenes in the original movie. They were really something and very emotional. I thought that her regular death in Lost Planet was a tear-jerker (I still can't watch that episode without getting a bit teary-eyed) but if they had left her dying scenes in, that would have really put it over the top.

And I agree, Richard was a heck of an actor. I think I like him best when he disagrees with somethign and gets emotional. he shines when he acts. That deleted scene from the pilot when he confronts Adama is great!

[shiningstar]

I agree Charybdis. I haven't gotten my dvd's yet but I'm
really looking forward to seeing the scenes I keep hearing so
much about.

[Muffit]

Poor Shiningstar! Hope you get yours soon! You know what I'm watching tonight!!!

[LucianG]

Has anyone noticed that when Starbuck enters the void to find Apollo, stars are visible during portions of their 180 degree turn and part of their return flight? The darkness combined with the magnetic anomoly caused Apollo to get lost, and when Starbuck turns them around, he said he was following the tip of his nose. If the darkness and void was only ahead and behind, it would have been simple for Apollo to fly laterally out of the void, and then make his way back to the Galactica, or he could have used some of those stars to get a bearing to fly back out in approximately the direction from which he'd come. Of course, depending on how far he'd traveled, that might have been tough, but it sure didn't seem all that long, especially when Starbuck was counting on the return trip.

Actually, I believe this may have been due to lack of money to rework the background and refilm so they probably reused other footage as they did in so many other scenes. It's possible it was just overlooked by the production team, or maybe they didn't know there would eventually be really picky BG fans watching their DVDs....

[Domiano]

@LucianG The effects suffered due to lack of a budget. I saw several scenes that I could nitpick to death.

Anyone remember Colonel Tigh and Adama talking in Adama's Quarters? There is a little window behind Tigh and you can clearly see stars in the background when Tigh and Adama are talking. I thought a void meant total darkness too. They could have atleast put a black cloth over the window if they could not have changed the background set. Serina's death was a shock and I cried. Even today it touches me. Anyways, this being one of the longer episodes it was well done.

[Muffit]

Welcome to Colonial FLeets, Domiano!

[Domiano]

Thank you Muffit. I feel like I have a new home. I am so glad to see so many people still love BSG.

[shiningstar]

Welcome to the family Domiano

This was actually the first BG episode I ever saw. I missed the Movie orginailly. My friends were ranting and raving about this new show on TV, so I decided to watch the next week.

The first half of this episode is awesome.
I love Jane Seymour. She's so beautiful and her scenes with Hatch are great in this episode. Great banter!
The women warrior's are great and I love the scene when Rigel exclaims "Blue Squadron has launched!" followed by huge cheers on the bridge after the women-piloted Vipers launch. The action is fantastic and Adama's confrontation with Baltar is dramatic.

Starbuck's using the Centurion for a light of his Cigar while on Baltar's Basestar is hilarious.

I hate watching Serina die, so I don't like to watch this one over and over like some of others. Every time Boxey loses it in that final scene, I lose it, too. I was about Noah's age when the show was first run. Tough ending.

[shiningstar]

I know that scene was a real tear jerker. Very well
acted.

And this is why BSG is like family to me

[shiningstar]

Me too original sinner me too

***

It has it's strong moments and weaker moments...

[shiningstar]

I really liked this episode ...............

[launchcruiser7]

in saga the cylon says that over 200 warriors are on carilon way then to peaple think there is only 75 vipers on battlestar you could fit 100 vipersw on alphav bay alone with the pegasus airwing on bourd there are 400 vipers in fleet in hand of god tigh says they have 150 vipers the rest?? cadets and lower class fighters assiened to fleet defense in experiment adama says they are leaving 2 sqrds to defend the fleet 150 planes 2 per shudle bay per ship in fleet esnien class or lower pilots long live battlestar hawkeye out :confused:

I don't know if they ever defined the word "warrior" in TOS. At a minimum I believe the word warrior implied not just viper pilots but other officers (Adama, Tigh, Omega, and Athena on the bridge are good examples). In addition it may be a generic military term like our use of soldier, sailor, or marine that could mean that every military person on the Galactica is a "warrior". Since Tigh was handing out uniforms to non-viper pilots in Saga of A Star World anything the cylons said relative to the number of warriors on Carillon is probably meaningless in trying to figure out how many pilots the Galactica had. Personally I thought "warrior" meant either specifically officers (most likely) or was a generic term for all colonial military people.

Originally Posted by launchcruiser7

in Saga the cylon says that over 200 warriors are on Carilon why then do people think there is only 75 Vipers on a battlestar? You could fit 100 vipers on alpha bay alone. With the Pegasus airwing on board there are 400 Vipers in the fleet. In Hand of God Tigh says they have 150 Vipers. Where are the rest??
:confused:

Others have pointed out that there were some technical details that were just sort of "thrown out there" that may not have been carefully thought through, and which probably weren't intended to be pushed on.

I think I recall that after the Cylon ambush was over, the Galactica recovered a total of only 67 Vipers. But we can assume that they have been able to build new ones. So how many Vipers can the Galactica hold at maximum? I keep hearing the number 150. 75 in each bay. But hold on a minute. Let's do just a rough and dirty calculation.

Assume that the Galactica is about a mile long (for a really detailed discussion of this, see the thread regarding the size of the Galactica). That makes the landing bays about 2000 feet long. That about twice the length of a modern navy aircraft carier. And there are two landing bays.

A Viper is about the size of a large fighter jet. A carrier holds between 80 and 100 jets. Therefore two landing bays, each twice the length of a carrier, should be able to hold between 320 and 400 Vipers. And that's without considering any increase in width or depth. So a stated capacity of 150 Vipers is just a wee bit on the small side.

The issue may have nothing to do with the run way space but with launcher and storage capacity. In addition no matter how many vipers the Galactica started with, assuming it had a full complement at the start of Saga of A Star World who knows how many actually have survived the various battles and returned to the Galactica. The same can be said for the Pegasus. Her entire fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Molachy so I highly doubt they have anywhere near a full complement either.

Originally Posted by antelope526

The issue may have nothing to do with the run way space but with launcher and storage capacity. In addition no matter how many vipers the Galactica started with, assuming it had a full complement at the start of Saga of A Star World who knows how many actually have survived the various battles and returned to the Galactica. The same can be said for the Pegasus. Her entire fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Molachy so I highly doubt they have anywhere near a full complement either.

Good observation. But I think we can assume that they are building new Vipers, even though I don't think that has ever been specifically stated. And you're right, hangar deck space is more critical than runway space. But I still think that the landing bays are large enough to service 400 or more Vipers. The writers just never stopped to work it out carefully.

By the way, the same consideration holds true for number of crew (and passengers). If the Galactica is roughly five times the length of a Nimitz class carrier, five time the average width (I think it's more, but let's use five), and five times the height, then it ought to be able to accommodate 125 times the human complement. A Nimitz carrier has about 5000 souls on board. So the Galactica ought to be able to comfortably accommodate 625,000 people. Even if you trim that a lot, you can still fit the entire population of survivors (50,000 according to the mini) on board the Galactica alone, with lots of leftover space for making echos.

I think somebody just thought that 50,000 was a lot of people, and didn't really do the math.

[skippercollecto]

Thanks to the DVD, which shows some deleted scenes and also allows me easily pause and replay, I have begun to match up the names with the faces off the female warriors listed in the closing credits. If you go to the deleted scenes segment of "Lost Planet of the Gods," there is a different wedding scene from what was actually shown in the episode. Serina walks down the steps of the council chambers, past all her bridesmaids.
Starting at the top left, and going clockwise down the steps, you see:
1. A black woman with short black curly hair--Gay Thomas, the third girl warrior in the first half.
2. A woman with long medium brown hair, whom I haven't identified yet.
3. Leann Hunley, with her long blonde hair, is easily recognizable. She's listed as the first girl warrior in the closing credits and is named Carrie in the novelization "The Tombs of Kobol," and several other Galactica novels.
4. Sheila DeWindt/Lt. Dietra
5. Sarah Rush/Rigel
6. Janet Louise Johnson/Sgt. Brie
7. Laurette Spang/Cassiopeia
8. Maren Jensen/Athena
9. A woman with long straight almost-black hair. This is Jennifer Joseph, and in one of the deleted scenes she is referred to as Gemi/Jamie.
10. A woman with long ash-brown hair.
11. A woman with a brown pageboy.
There are two woman listed in the closing credits that I have yet to figure out what she looks like. One of them is Janet Lynn Curtis. In the closing credits of both the first and second episodes, she's listed as Sorell; however, no one ever addresses anyone by that name in any scene, and there is no character by that name in the novelization. I looked up Curtis on imdb.com, and learned she had a regular role as Margaret Ellen in another Glen Larson series, "The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo." So perhaps if any of you remember this character (or will admit to having watched Lobo!), you could tell us what she looked like, and hence, which character she was on Galactica.
In the second episode, there is a different "third girl warrior" listed. Her name is Millicent Crisp. I don't have any information on her at all.

Can any of you help?

Mary

[skippercollecto]

The whole story of the medical shuttle going back to the asteroid to look for virus samples is ignored in the episode. I can't help but wonder if there originally had been a storyline planned regarding the shuttle, Apollo and Starbuck, and the new women warriors once they landed on the asteroid, but was discarded because it would have made the episode too long. I've always assumed that Dr. Salik, Cassiopeia and some of the other medical staff and maybe a scientist (Dr. Wilker?) were on that shuttle.
Of course, this is an idea for fan fiction for any of you!

Mary

[Eric Paddon]

The one drawback of the deleted scenes supplement on the DVD for this episode is that it leaves out a scene that was included the syndicated "telemovie" version of the episode. In this scene on Kobol as Adama, Apollo and Serina go through the ruins, Adama talks about how Kobol died through their contamination of the planet's resources, and he also mentions that those who settled the Colonies destroyed their technology as a sign of repentance. To my knowledge this is the only "telemovie" scene from the two part episodes not included in any of the supplements.

[Senmut]

Bummer. If it was shot, it should be included.

[Eric Paddon]

It's the only blemish as far as the deleted scenes supplements go in the DVD set. Fortunately those who have the telemovie can see it edited back into the episode itself, and it really works well there.

[Senmut]

I have often wondered about the void that Kobol's solar system is in. It cannot always have been there. Did it have something to do with Kobol dying, and the damping of its sun?

Originally Posted by Eric Paddon

In this scene on Kobol as Adama, Apollo and Serina go through the ruins, Adama talks about how Kobol died through their contamination of the planet's resources, and he also mentions that those who settled the Colonies destroyed their technology as a sign of repentance. To my knowledge this is the only "telemovie" scene from the two part episodes not included in any of the supplements.

That's interesting. I don't think I'd ever come across that bit of dialogue before.

One thing I wondered about while viewing this episode was why it was that Kobol didn't seem to have any modern cities. I suppose that such cities could have been destroyed in some cataclysm, leaving only the more ancient dwellings; although it still seems odd that Adama would believe that the answer to the location of the 13th tribe would be found in an ancient pyramid. It would seem more logical to look for that information in the ruins of an old spaceport or a command-and-control facility.

Then again...

If I remember correctly, the 12 worlds were colonized first, and the the 13th tribe didn't migrate until much later. It could be that Kobol had repented its technology, dismantled most of it, and returned to its more primitive ways by the time the 13th tribe set off. Maybe the 13th tribe was composed of the last technological hold-outs who were finally forced to flee.

I may be forgetting some canon here, but it's fun to speculate.