Lay Down Your Burdens, Part Ⅰ

Lay Down Your Burdens, Part Ⅰ is an episode of the TV series, Battlestar Galactica, and aired during the show's second season.
==Plot==
=== Teaser ===
Vice President Dr. Gaius Baltar sits in his laboratory on Galactica, surrounded by election posters. Rather than prepare for an upcoming live debate, he believes he will fail anyway. Messenger Six pleads with him to maintain his faith in God's plan, but with the death of their baby he has no trust in the plan. President Laura Roslin meanwhile stands in Admiral Adama's office, going through note after note. Both candidates head to the Ready Room, where the press anxiously await the debate. Both are able to hide their nerves for the press.
On Pegasus, Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace briefs Raptor pilots on their mission to Caprica to rescue the resistance fighters under Samuel T. Anders. Due to the extreme conditions in both the mission itself and simply reaching the planet, it has been designated "2-Alpha" and is volunteer-only. With the assistance of Caprica-Sharon and the captured Heavy Raider's navigation system, the trip will take ten jumps. Commander Leland "Apollo" Adama interrupts to inform them of the live debate. While Sharon his led out by Marine guards, she warns Lt. Karl "Helo" Agathon of a strange feeling she has that they are moving to a dark time, unrelated to their mission to Caprica.
On Galactica's hangar, Chief Galen Tyrol lies sleeping on the floor out of uniform. Noticing his absence, Specialist Calandra "Cally" Henderson heads out to check on him. When she wakes him up, he is delirious and begins beating her.
=== Act 1 ===
Tyrol seeks religious counselling from a priest named Brother Cavil. Cavil does not share Tyrol's more orthodox upbringing, and insists that he must solve his own problems in life rather than pray to the gods for an easy solution. While taken aback by being counselled by such a rebellious priest, he continues to confide in him.
On Pegasus, Starbuck reports in to Apollo's office during lunch. Owing to their shared history, Apollo has a hard time wishing her luck on her mission.
On Colonial One, Tory Foster goes through the media's response to the recent election debate. The Colonial Dispatch shares its view with others newspapers that Baltar's entire campaign has no actual substance, with his only real success being his attack on Roslin's claim of being a prophet which would not earn him support from the fleet's more devout refugees.
In Galactica's laboratory, Baltar holds a campaign strategy meeting with Tom Zarek. Zarek similarly has no ideas of how to win other than attacking Roslin's faith, something even Baltar has no interest in continuing. Both Zarek and Messenger Six can only offer him patience, that they will come across a good debate topic soon.
The SAR mission departs from Pegasus, led by Starbuck's Raptor which has been modified to include the Heavy Raider's computer. After an offer of fortune by Admiral William Adama, Caprica-Sharon hooks herself into the machine and they begin jumping. Racetruck's Raptor immediately gets lost, but due to the mission parameters the SAR team will not deviate to search for her.
===Act 2===
Continuing his counselling, Cavil moves on to talking about Tyrol's dreams, correctly guessing he is having recurring nightmares. Tyrol reluctantly explains that he has been having the same dream for a couple weeks where he climbs up the hanger deck catwalk and jumps headfirst to his death. Cavil believes the assault on Cally is linked to the dream, that Tyrol was subconsciously reacting to her intervening in his suicide attempt, even if only a dream.
Skulls has determined a glitch in the navigation system is the reason for them being in the wrong coordinates, putting them far off course from the SAR mission. Unable to catch up, Racetrack prepares to jump back to Galactica but is stopped when Skulls picks up a planet below them. A quick survey determines it has a Nitrogen-Oxygen atmosphere, liquid water and signs of organic molecules making the planet capable of supporting human life. Due to unusual electromagnetic interference in the planetary system, DRADIS and other equipment cannot properly function.
Returning to the fleet, Racetrack and Skulls report their discovery to Colonel Saul Tigh, with Gaeta having already checked over their findings and agreed. Apollo then coordinates a second Raptor survey mission which will fly over a river Delta photographed by Skulls; the survey comes back confirming the existence of vegetation. From there, rumour spreads across the fleet that the planet is a land of milk and honey, though Gaeta is more interested in the DRADIS interference that would prevent the Cylons finding it.
With the news spreading, Baltar and Zarek also begin to lake notice of the political benefits of the issue. Baltar believes the planet is a dud, being only barely able to support human life in a temperate band on the equator. Messenger Six insists this will be the new home of humanity, and after joking about it openly Zarek realises that colonisation is their ticket to winning the election. The fact it is barely habitable, in Zarek's eyes, is irrelevant as the majority of the refugee population has been living in cramped conditions for most of the past year. This would of course mean giving up on the search for Earth.
===Act 3===
On Colonial One, Roslin looks over the survey findings of the planet. To her it is clearly an unsuitable place to live and can only serve as a temporary stop for the fleet to re-supply, but Tory warns her of a sizable portion of the electorate who want at least the chance to visit and that by opposing it Roslin risks losing the election entirely over this one issue.
Cavil continues to break down Tyrol over his suicide dreams. Tyrol himself is unable to properly explain it, but finally admits that Cavil is right that this is all about Boomer and his own fears he is a Cylon. When Tyrol asks how Cavil can be so certain he is actually human, Cavil sarcastically reassures him that he is not a Cylon "because I'm a Cylon and I've never seen you at any of the meetings" and that Tyrol should return to his duties without worry, as the deck crew are all he has left.
The SAR team makes its final jump to Caprica. The manoeuvre of jumping into low planetary orbit is a dangerous one, and they soon find Toughguy and Carousel jumped into a nearby mountain and were killed immediately. The remaining seventeen Raptors continue on their course.
A second debate is held in the Ready Room. Roslin is put on the defencive of the issue, and pleads with the electorate to trust in the real-world significance of scripture as a means of finding Earth rather than trusting in the newly discovered planet. When asked if colonisation was a policy conceived of out of desperation, Baltar answers in the form of a speech both respecting the religious belief in Earth's existence while pleading for their own chance to hide from the Cylons where they are safe. Roslin urges the people to consider that the Cylons may already know about the planet, which Baltar cuts off to plead for an end to scaremongering. The debate ends with this, leaving Roslin furious she was cut off. 
=== Act 4 ===
Back on Caprica, the SAR team depart from their Raptors and comb through the woodland in search of Anders' camp. They are still 1km away when they find the resistance headed to their own position. They are down to only a dozen or so fighters, having lost their base camp to a Centurion raiding party merely hours earlier. Still perused by Centurions, the gathering is hit by mortar fire and they are cut off from the Raptors.
==Cast==
*Edward James Olmos as Rear Admiral William Adama
*Mary McDonnell as President of the Twelve Colonies Laura Roslin
*Katee Sackhoff as Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
*Jamie Bamber as Commander Lee "Apollo" Adama
*James Callis as Doctor Gaius Baltar
*Tricia Helfer as Messenger Six
*Grace Park as Sharon Agathon
*Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh
*Aaron Douglas as Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol
*Tahmoh Penikett as Lieutenant Karl "Helo" Agathon
*Nicki Clyne as Specialist Calandra Henderson
*Alessandro Juliani as Lieutenant Felix Gaeta
*Kandyse McClure as Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla
*Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek
*Michael Trucco as Samuel T. Anders
*Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster
*Dean Stockwell as Galactica Cavil
*Alisen Down as Jean Barolay
*Leah Cairns as Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson
*David Kaye as James McManus
*Colin Lawrence as Lieutenant Hamish "Skulls" McCall
==Appearances==
===Characters===
*Lee "Apollo" Adama
*William Adama
*Karl "Helo" Agathon
*Anvil
*Gaius Baltar
*Anastasia Dualla
*Felix Gaeta
*Calandra Henderson
*Number Eight
**Sharon "Boomer" Valerii
**Sharon Agathon
*Number Six
**Messenger Six
*Laura Roslin
*Saul Tigh
*Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
*Galen Tyrol
===Locations===
*Cyrannus Star System
**Caprica
*The Fleet
===Species===
*Cylon
**Centurion
**Humanoid Cylon
**Raider
*Human
===Technology===
*FTL
*Wireless
===Vehicles and vessels===
*Basestar
*Colonial One
*Galactica
*Pegasus
*Raider
*Raptor
*Viper
===Organizations===
*Colonial Fleet
*Colonial Government
*Colonial Marine Corps
==Production==
===Writing===
The episode was planned out mid-way through writing for Season 2.5, and was intended as the nexus of several ongoing subplots. The first draft was published in October 2005. The first of these subplots is that of the Presidential Election. Though first teased in Bastille Day, the writers failed to come up with any interesting way for the election to work out, and they had no plan of replacing Laura Roslin as President. This changed when New Caprica and Gaius Baltar's rival bid were added as ideas for the season's end.Ron D. Moore Podcast.
The second major plot line was that of Samuel T. Anders and the refugees on Caprica. Though not originally planned, positive reception of Anders persuaded the writers to make it clear Starbuck would indeed return, and her depression over abandoning Anders became a recurring theme in Season 2.5. Until the final draft, it was actually planned that the Heavy Raider stolen by Athena would be used, but due to budget problems it was instead decided it had been taken apart and a Raptor modified to have advanced jump capabilities.
The third plot line in the episode was a continuation of Flight of the Phoenix, with Tyrol still grieving the loss of Boomer. The idea of him needing counselling was David Eick's idea. Rather than imply something had happened during the counselling scene, Moore decided in later drafts he assault Cally in the teaser. On the suggestion of Rymer, who found the suicide desires unconvincing, the script was altered to reveal Tyrol believes he is a Cylon.
===Directing===
Moore and Rymer were not happy with the scene of Roslin having uncontrollable giggles, but changed their mind when they re-evaluated it as a humanising moment.
==Notes==
*Ronald D. Moore recorded a podcast, which can be found here.
==Sources==
==External links==
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