Benutzer Diskussion:Dvd-junkie

Frage an dich

Hallo. Du hast da unten ja schon viel Arbeit reingesteckt. Nur ist es schon ewig her, dass du weitergemacht hast. Wirst du deine Arbeit och beenden? MFG --Enabran 20:16, 14. Mär. 2010 (CET)

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Überblick

Im Mittelpunkt dieser Geschichte steht der Pegasus-Offizier Kendra Shaw. Geschildert wird ihre Karriere an Bord des Kampfsterns von ihrem ersten Tag unter dem Kommando von Admiral Cain an – der Tag, an dem die Zwölf Kolonien ausgelöscht worden sind – bis zu ihrer schicksalhaften Mission zur Befreiung enführter Kolonial-Offiziere aus Zylonen-Gefangenschaft.

Zusammenfassung

Die Handlung des Fernsehfilms besteht aus vier Episoden, die miteinander verwoben sind und parallel erzählt werden:

• William Adamas Mission am letzten Tag der ersten Zylonenkrieges.
• Helena Cains Verlust ihrer gesamten Familie zur selben Zeit.
• Die Ereignisse an Bord der Pegasus während und kurz nach dem Fall der Zwölf Kolonien.
• Die Ereignisse während der Schlacht um das Wächter-Basisschiff, die zeitlich zwischen den Episoden "Mensch und Maschine" und "Das neue Caprica, Teil I" stattfinden.

Die Erzählstruktur des Films ist komplex und springt zwischen den einzelnen Zeitperioden hin und her. Zum besseren Verständnis sind die Ereignisse nachfolgend stattdessen in chronologischer Reihenfolge aufgeführt.

Erster Zylonenkrieg

William Adama

siehe auch: Razor Flashbacks

• Langfassung: Am Himmel eines Eisplaneten, auf dessen Oberfläche eine zylonische Superwaffe vermutet wird, tobt eine erbitterte Schlacht zwischen kolonialen und zylonischen Streitkräften. Wütend über die Vernichtung des Kampfsterns Columbia, verfolgt Viper-Pilot William Adama zwei Jäger in die Atmosphäre. Es gelingt ihm, einen von ihnen abzuschießen, ehe er mit dem anderen kollidiert und den Schleudersitz betätigt.
• Langfassung: Einer der zylonischen Piloten hat allerdings ebenfalls überlebt. Es kommt im freien Fall zu einem Schußwechsel und schließlich zu einem Handgemenge. Als der Zenturio sein Schwert einzusetzen versucht, zieht Adama die Reißleine seines Fallschirms. Unversehrt im Inneren eines Gebäudes gelandet, trifft er wieder auf den abgestürzten Zylonen und erschlägt ihn mit einem Rohr.
• Adama betritt ein Labor, in dem er Hinweise auf Verstümmelungen und grausame Experimente an menschlichen Versuchsobjekten entdeckt. Mitten im Raum steht eine mit einer dickflüssigen Substanz gefüllte Wanne, den späteren Auferstehungs- bzw. Hybridentanks nicht unähnlich.
• Als er die Flüssigkeit näher untersucht, überkommen ihn Visionen von Menschen, die bei vollem Bewußtsein von Zenturios seziert werden. Eine Hand schnellt aus dem Tank hervor und packt Adamas Arm. Entsetzt weicht er zurück und hört eine Stimme Pythias Prophezeiung rezitieren: "All dies ist schon einmal geschehen. All dies wird wieder geschehen."
• Klopfgeräusche machen ihn auf eine kleine Gruppe Überlebender aufmerksam, die von den Zylonen für deren Experimente entführt worden sind. Erfolglos versucht Adama die Tür zu ihrem Gefängnis aufzustemmen. Als der Boden zu beben beginnt, drängt ihn einer der Unglückseligen, sich selbst zu retten und von ihrem Schicksal zu berichten.
• Angesichts der Aussichtslosigkeit der Lage, flieht Adama aus dem Labor und sieht ein Basisschiff abheben und in den Wolken entschwinden. Per Funkt erstattet er der Galactica Bericht, nur um zu erfahren, dass ein Waffenstillstand ausgehandelt worden ist – der Krieg ist vorüber.

Helena Cain

Diese Begebenheit ist lediglich in der Langfassung enthalten.

• Zur selben Zeit befindet sich Tauron unter Belagerung. Zylonische Bodentruppen metzeln die Zivilbevölkerung nieder. Das Gebäude, in dem sich die Familie der jungen Helena Cain aufhält, gerät unter schweren Beschuß. Auf der verzweifelten Flucht durch das Treppenhaus, wird der Vater von Mörsefeuer getroffen. Tödlich verwundet, bricht er zusammen und befiehlt Helena, ihre jüngere Schwester Lucy in einen Schutzbunker zu bringen.
• Die beiden Mädchen schaffen es bis auf die Straße, doch Lucy stolpert in den Trümmern und kann den Weg nicht fortsetzen. Beim Anblick eines Jägers über ihnen, gerät Helena in Panik, läßt Lucy zurück und versteckt sich in einem Container. Von Zylonen umzingelt, ruft Lucy nach ihrer Schwester und verstummt plötzlich.
• Als Helena von einem Zenturio entdeckt wird, nimmt sie ein am Boden liegendes Messer an sich, bereit, um ihr Leben zu kämpfen. Doch plötzlich verharrt er und läßt schließlich – anscheinend, nachdem er neue Instruktionen erhalten hat – von ihr ab.
• Draußen ist es still geworden. Helena verläßt ihr Versteck und sieht die zylonischen Truppen abziehen. Abgesehen von einer Puppe, gibt es von ihrer Schwester keine Spur.
• Die Erinnerungen an jenem Tag, an dem Helena Cain ihre gesamte Familie verloren hat, und die Konsequenzen ihres Handelns, sollen sie ein Leben lang verfolgen.

Der Fall der Zwölf Kolonien

Der Fall der Scorpio-Flottenwerft

Hauptartikel: Fall der Scorpio Flottenwerft

• Langfassung: Während Lieutenant Kendra Shaw auf ihren Transport von Caprica zur Pegasus wartet, plaudert sie ein wenig mit Frank Bruno über ihre Mutter, die Ratsabgeordnete Marta Shaw, ihren neuen Posten und ihre Karriereziele.
• Die Pegasus befindet sich zu dreimonatigen Instandsetzungsarbeiten in der Scorpio-Flottenwerft. Während sich Raptor 179 dem Schiff nähert, bestaunt Shaw die enorme Größe dieses Mercury-Klasse-Kampfsterns.
• In ihrem Quartier trainiert Admiral Helena Cain auf einem Laufband und liest den neuesten Statusbericht, als Colonel Jurgen Belzen, ihr Erster Offizier, eintritt. Zwischen den beiden herrscht eine freundschaftliche Atmosphäre, und es entspinnt sich eine unbeschwerte Unterhaltung. Belzen erkundigt sich nach ihren Urlaubsplänen, lädt sie zu einem Besuch seiner Familie ein, sie aber beharrt darauf, die Pegasus momentan nicht im Stich lassen zu können. Gequält von Erinnerungen, intensiviert sie ihr Training.
• Unter Befehl, sich umgehend im CIC zu melden, erkundigt sich Shaw nach dem Weg dorthin, wird aber ignoriert. Schließlich trifft sie auf Gina Inviere – eine Sechs, getarnt als zivile Systemanalytikerin –, die ihr bereitwillig Auskunft erteilt. Shaw bemerkt, dass der Name "Inviere" Altgemenesisch für "Auferstehung" ist.
• Als Shaw endlich im CIC eintrifft, wird sie, während die Umstehenden wissende Blicke austauschen, von Cain erst einmal zurechtgestutzt. Ihre Verspätung, so der Admiral, ließe vermuten, dass sie entweder einen Umweg für einen Kaffee genommen oder aber sich an Bord verirrt habe; Ersteres wäre ihr lieber. Nachdem sie Shaw hat wegtreten lassen, brechen Cain und Belzen in Gelächter aus – anscheinend hat sich Cain einen Scherz auf Kosten des Lieutenants erlaubt.
• Louis Hoshi eskortiert Shaw zu ihrem Quartier und preist die Vorzüge des Computernetzwerks, das aufgründ der Umrüstung allerdings derzeit offline ist. Plötzlich wird das Deck von einer Explosion erschüttert. Als Shaw wieder zu sich kommt, beugt sich Admiral Cain über sie und spricht sie an, aber Shaw ist zu benommen, um zu antworten. Cain versetzt ihr eine Ohrfeige, und sofort ist sie hellwach; Hoshi hingegen reagiert nicht. Die beiden Frauen machen sich auf den Weg zum CIC.
• Das Backbord-Flugdeck der Pegasus steht in Flammen. Zylonen-Jäger schwärmen durch die Werftanlagen und nehmen die wehrlosen Schiffe unter heftigen Beschuss.
• Belzens Schadensbericht ist alles andere als ermutigend: Nach Einschlag mehrerer nuklearer Sprengköpfe sind DRADIS und Waffensysteme ausgefallen, immerhin funtioniert noch die Energieversorgung. Cain gibt Befehl, die Verankerungen zu lösen und den FTL-Antrieb hochzufahren.
• Die Werft hat sich inzwischen in ein Flammenmeer verwandelt. Als Belzen weitere Kernwaffen im Anflug auf die Pegasus ortet, bleibt für die notwendigen Berechnungen keine Zeit mehr, und so ordnet Cain, trotz Shaws Einwänden, einen sofortigen blinden Sprung an, der das Schiff zwar aus der Kampfzone hinaus, aber auch ins Ungewisse führt.

Das hoffen wir alle

• Zwei Tage nach dem Angriff auf die Scorpio-Flottenwerft, ist die Pegasus vier oder fünf Sprünge von den Kolonien entfernt. Viele Vipers und Raptors sind zerstört oder irreparabel beschädigt, mehr als ein Viertel der Crew ist tot.
• Shaw hat ohne Unterbrechung an der Reparatur der Navigations- und Waffensysteme gearbeitet. Dabei ist sie auf eine Hintertür in der neuen CNP-Software gestoßen, die den Zylonen Zugriff auf das gesamte Computernetzwerk des Kampfsterns gestattet hätte. Shaw empfiehlt, das Programm zu löschen.
• Cain beschließt, sich in einer Durchsage an die Crew zu wenden: Die Heimatwelten sind zerstört, die Städte radioaktiv verseucht, die Flotte vernichtet. Darauf könne es nur eine Antwort geben: Vergeltung. Cains Worte treffen auf Zustimmung und werden schiffsweit mit dem wiederholten Ruf "Das hoffen wir alle!" bestätigt.
• Im Quartier des Admirals gehen Cain, Shaw, Fisk und Belzen jüngst gesammelte Informationen über ein zylonisches Kommunikationsrelais – ihr erstes Angriffsziel – durch. Gina, die Shaw bei der Auswertung der Daten geholfen hat, tritt ein, wird von Cain sehr herzlich begrüßt, und die fünf setzen sich zum Dinner zusammen.
• Cain betont, dass sie, wenngleich sie einen Guerillakrieg gegen die Zylonen zu führen beabsichtigt, Schiff und Besatzung auf keinen Fall einem unnötigen Risiko aussetzen wird.
• In Vorbereitung des Angriffs, arbeiten Shaw und Inviere an den Firewalls des Computernetzwerks. Inviere stellt fest, dass die Beschränkung ihrer eigenen Zugriffsrechte diese Aufgabe behindert. Shaw deutet an, Inviere könne ihr Verhältnis zum Admiral zur Erweiterung dieser Rechte nutzen, und wirft ihr einen vielsagenden Blick zu, überläßt ihr aber schließlich ihren Zugangscode.
• Ertappt, erzählt Gina noch ein wenig darüber, wie sie und Cain einander nähergekommen sind und dass selbst diese, trotz ihrer Unabhängigkeit, Bedürfnisse habe – letztlich seien sie doch alle nur Menschen...

Die Schlacht um das Kommunikationsrelais

Hauptartikel: Schlacht um das Kommunikationsrelais

• Im Anflug auf die Station, erfaßt das DRADIS der Pegasus zwölf feindliche Kontakte – mehr als erwartet. Dennoch befiehlt Admiral Cain den Start der Blauen Staffel.
• Kaum, dass die Vipers die Startröhren verlassen haben, springen 15 Jägerstaffeln in Reichweite. Cain schlußfolgert, dass es sich bei der Station nicht um ein Kommunikationsrelais, sondern um einen Stützpunkt der Zylonen handelt. Als auch noch das Computernetzwerk den Zugriff auf die Abwehrbatterien verweigert, wird es offensichtlich, dass man ihnen eine Falle gestellt hat.
• Trotz der feindlichen Übermacht, befiehlt Cain den Start der restlichen Vipers. Belzen empfiehlt den Rückzug und erinnert sie an ihr Versprechen, sie jedoch insistiert. Als Belzen sich offen weigert, ihren Befehl auszuführen, läßt sich Cain dessen Waffe aushändigen und schießt ihm vor versammelter Brückencrew in den Kopf. Sie ernennt den schockierten Fisk zum Ersten Offizier, der ihren Befehl nur allzu bereitwillig ausführt.
• Nach der Sabotage des Waffensystems, ist es den Zylonen ein Leichtes, die Verteidigungslinie der Pegasus zu durchbrechen und das Schiff zu entern. Cain mobilisiert die Abwehrteams und schickt Shaw zur Sekundären Schadenskontrolle, um zu verhindern, dass die Zylonen von dort aus das Schiff entlüften.
• Auf ihrem Weg begegnet Shaw Gina Inviere, die vor den Zylonen zu fliehen scheint, und fordert sie auf, sich ins CIC zu begeben. Als sie weiter vordringt, sieht sie im Gefolge der Zenturios eine Frau, die Inviere zum verwechseln ähnlich sieht. Zunächst verunsichert, erkennt Shaw schließlich, dass die Zylonen mittlerweile scheinbar die menschliche Gestalt immitieren können und dass auch Inviere ein Android sein muß. Sie erschießt die Sechs und eilt weiter.
• Die Waffe im Anschlag, stürmt Shaw ins CIC und fordert zwei Marines dazu auf, die Zylonenagentin festzunehmen. Cain mag Shaws Anschuldigungen nicht so recht glauben, bis diese ihr Überwachungsbilder der getöteten Sechs zeigt. Angewidert befiehlt sie, ihre Geliebte abzuführen.
• Ein Raketeneinschlag erschüttert das Deck. Blitzschnell überwältigt und tötet Inviere die beiden Marines und richtet die von ihr eroberte Waffe auf Cain. Doch sie zögert abzudrücken, und diesen Augenblick der Unentschlossenheit nutzt Shaw, um sich an die Zylonin heranzuschleichen und sie niederzuschlagen.

Das Scylla-Massaker

• Während sie Gina Inviere in ihrer Zelle beobachtet, lauscht Cain dem Schadensbericht Shaws: Beinahe die Hälfte der Crew ist tot, mehr als 90 Vipers sind zerstört oder funktionsuntüchtig, und der Deckmannschaft fehlen die Mittel, die verbleibenden zu reparieren.
• Shaw gibt sich selbst die Schuld an den hohen Verlusten, hat sie doch durch Preisgabe ihres Sicherheitscodes der Zylonin die Sabotage erst ermöglicht. Cain hingegen beschwichtigt sie, sie alle seien von "diesem Ding" manipuliert worden.
• Lieutenant Alastair Thorne betritt die Brigg. Cain gibt ihm den Auftrag, beim Verhör der Gefangenen "kreativ" zu sein und deren Schwächen wie Angst, Schmerz und Scham auszuloten.
• Als Cain das CIC betritt, berichtet ihr Erster Offizier erfreut, man habe einen Konvoi 15 ziviler Schiffe entdeckt. Zur Überraschung Fisks und Shaws plant Cain jedoch, benötigte Ressourcen – Ersatzteile und Personal – abzuziehen und die Schiffe ohne FTL-Antrieb wehrlos zurückzulassen. . .

• Ob der vermeintlichen Rettung, werden . . .

• As Cain enters the CIC, Fisk is elated to inform the admiral that a convoy of 15 civilian ships has been detected. Fisk and Shaw are thrilled at the discovery, but the mood quickly turns sour when they realize Cain has other things on her mind. Cain orders Fisk to prepare teams of Marines and engineers to board each ship. They will take what they need, including spare parts and people, and leave the ships without FTL drives to fend for themselves.
• Fisk and Shaw come aboard the Scylla, where they find a relieved welcoming party. Peter Laird is the first to welcome them aboard. Excitement quickly turns to confusion however, when they hand Laird a list of Admiral Cain’s orders. Laird is shocked to learn that Cain wants to take their FTL drives. Laird informs the welcoming party, and they suddenly become an angry mob. Shaw informs them that they will use force if necessary, but Laird persistently refuses.
• As the mob inches closer to the boarding party, Fisk reports to Cain of the escalating situation. In an act that surprises even him, she orders him to shoot the families of any selectee that doesn’t comply with the orders.
• Fisk and the Marines are wary of the order, but they line up a couple of the families despite their reservations, hoping that showing the mob their resolve will force them to comply. The angry mob suddenly becomes violent – they throw whatever they can at the boarding party.
• At that very moment, Shaw pulls out her sidearm, and shoots a woman in the front in the head. The Marines follow suit, and before very long, the deck of the Scylla is painted with the blood of the dead. Shaw’s gaze drifts to her sidearm, still smoking from the shot, and then up to Laird, who is too stunned to move.
• In the aftermath, Shaw cannot bring her eyes to look upon the dead. Fisk comforts her by telling her that the entire fleet heard about what happened and there should be no more resistance. As her party leaves the Scylla, she can’t help but look back.
• For her actions aboard the Scylla, Cain promotes Shaw to captain. It is small comfort to Shaw, who is still anguished by what she has done. Seeing her vulnerability, Cain tells Shaw that the war is forcing them all to do things that they may not like, even hate, because if they don’t, then they may not live to simply become human again. By putting aside her fear, her reservations, even her revulsion to complete the mission, Shaw has become Cain’s "razor".

Present events

• Newly-promoted Commander Lee Adama is formally appointed commander of Pegasus by Laura Roslin in front of the ship's crew. In his speech he promises to change things on the battlestar and announces Kara Thrace's appointment as acting CAG.
• Shaw follows the speech on the wireless set, but eventually switches it off. She walks to a jar, takes out a syringe and injects herself with a drug. She is still troubled about what happened on the Scylla.
• Next, she is summoned to Adama's office, who reads her service file and points out that she received glowing reports from Cain, but increasingly negatives ones from Fisk and Garner, who eventually assigned her to kitchen duty because of "persistent insubordinate behavior". After listening to Shaw's candid opinions about him and his predecessors, Adama offers her the job of executive officer; he intends to give the crew back its pride, and as an outsider he needs someone to uphold Cain's legacy.
• During a firearms drill, she shows competence but also how hard she is on the crew. William Adama comments that his son found an XO meaner than Saul Tigh.
• The Admiral gives Commander Adama his first mission: a search and rescue for two pilots and a civilian science team in an overdue Raptor.
• At their destination, Starbuck and Showboat conduct a Viper patrol and suddenly encounter enemy fighters of an unfamiliar configuration. Although able to identify them as Cylons, Starbuck doesn't realize that they are in fact Raiders like the ones used in the first Cylon War.
• Pegasus establishes a defensive perimeter and orders the Vipers to return prior to an FTL jump. When the navigational computer malfunctions and the Raiders close, Shaw orders to the vessel's offensive flight pod batteries turned on the incoming targets, placing Starbuck and Showboat inside the battlestar's close-in firing solution. Struggling their way through the barrage, a Raider follows them into the flight pod, which Starbuck shoots down once inside the landing bay. On the hangar deck, she angrily confronts Shaw over her decision to open fire, but Adama defends his XO.
• Pegasus returns to the Fleet, and Admiral Adama, Roslin and Tigh inspect the downed Raider on the hangar deck. Sharon Valerii recalls the "Guardians", a group of original Centurion models that escaped being scrapped by the humanoid Cylons. The Guardians guard the first Hybrid, created by the Cylons as a first attempt at an organic model and eventually abandoned as an evolutionary dead end. This causes Adama to remember the events on the ice planet on the last day of the Cylon War, finally realizing the significance of what he saw over 40 years ago.
• After examining the Raider's navigational data, Admiral Adama believes that the Raptor crew was captured by the Guardians and orders his son to jump to a possible base of theirs. For the duration of the operation, he transfers his flag to Pegasus, but assures Lee that it will be his mission.
• Shaw drafts an attack plan for Pegasus to draw Cylon forces away while a Raptor, piloted by Thrace and carrying a strike team, jumps to the Cylon base. Before signing off on the plan, Lee Adama confronts Shaw over the incident on the Scylla. She just replies that she is Cain's legacy - a razor - and that Cain wouldn't have hesitated to execute the plan.
• Before the battle Shaw is about to take another shot of the drug and when she is caught by Thrace, who is looking for a bottle of ambrosia. The two stalemate and agree to keep each other's secrets, and realize that they are more alike than they thought.
• Vorlage:RazorDVD
• The mission doesn't go as planned when the strike team's Raptor is pursued by two Raiders. They simulate an engine malfunction, emergency blow the side hatch and sling themselves out of the flat-spinning Raptor before it is destroyed by the Cylons, escaping undetected. Using EVA thrusters, they make their way to the Guardian basestar.
• Thrace, Shaw, Mathias, Dasilva and Hudson find the missing Raptor crew, whom the Cylons mutilate in a manner similar to what William Adama saw in the first Cylon War. As they free the survivors, two Centurions attack, wound Dasilva and begin to drag him away. Unwilling to let him suffer same treatment as the Raptor crew, Shaw shoots Dasilva, but in turn is shot in the abdomen.
• While under cover from the firefight, Mathias reports to Pegasus that the detonator for the nuclear warhead, which they plan to use to destroy the basestar, is damaged.
• Pegasus loses wireless contact with the boarding team and Lee Adama orders a nuclear ship to ship missile to be armed and readied. Thrace herself considers the "mission outcome doubtful". Assuming that the team is dead, Commander Adama orders the launch of the missile, but is overridden by his father, who wants to give the team a chance.
• After reestablishing contact and learning that an evacuation Raptor is on the way, Shaw orders Mathias to rig a manual detonator for the nuke, determined to complete the mission. While Lee is reluctant to sacrifice someone to detonate the warhead, his father believes that the Cylons would easily shoot down a missile, but leaves the final decision to Lee. He orders Thrace to get the team to safety, but to stay behind and detonate the nuke manually.
• The team prepares to suit up and leave, when Shaw forces Thrace to hand over the warhead at gunpoint and remains on the baseship. Walking through the hallways, she finds the Cylon Hybrid, who knows her name, saying that he has been waiting for her for a long time. He tells her that the Centurions worship him as god, and observes Shaw's desire to be forgiven for what she has become. The Hybrid also delivers a warning about Thrace: she will lead the human race to its end, she is the herald of the apocalypse and the harbinger of death, and she must not be followed.
• Shaw tries to relay this to Pegasus, but her transmission is blocked by Cylon jamming shortly after the start, and the warning is not heard. She then detonates the nuke, killing herself and destroying the basestar.
• Later, the Adamas discuss the battle and its outcome, the admiral noting Thrace's recommendation of Shaw for a posthumous commendation. Reviewing the logs, Admiral Adama doesn't find fault in either Cain's or Shaw's decisions, but Commander Adama vehemently disagrees, citing the Scylla. The admiral replies that he never had to face similar circumstances, and that he had people like Lee, Roslin and Tigh to counsel and challenge him and keep him from making extreme and questionable decisions. He comforts Lee, telling him that his decision to launch the nuclear missile and sacrifice the strike team wasn't wrong, just necessary from Lee's perspective at the time.
• Outside Adama's quarters, Lee meets Thrace, who now has Cain's knife given to her by Shaw. She is unsure if Shaw sacrificed herself as atonement or if she just "had it coming." Thrace tells him that she requested reassignment back to Galactica because she thinks Lee would keep trying to get her killed. When asked if she might deserve that, she jokingly replies that she has a destiny and plans to live to keep it.

Notes

General

• The episode was nominated for a Hugo and a Saturn award.
• One of the ships in Pegasus's civilian fleet was clearly inspired by the Original Series's Rising Star.
• Despite being credited, Aaron Douglas (Galen Tyrol), Tahmoh Penikett (Karl Agathon), Alessandro Juliani (Felix Gaeta), Michael Trucco (Samuel Anders), Kandyse McClure (Anastasia Dualla) and Matthew Bennett (Number Five/Aaron Doral) do not appear in either the aired version of "Razor" or the one on DVD.
  • Bennett appears briefly in the Razor Flashback web-episodes as Aaron Doral, in a flashback two days before the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
  • Tyrol is mentioned by Admiral Adama as having helped Gaius Baltar remove navigational information from the Cylon Raider, but is never seen otherwise.
• A four-part podcast of the original story meeting for "Razor" is available on the SciFi website.

Production

• Michael Taylor noted that the original opening for "Razor" was inspired by Apocalypse Now, but this was later cut .
• A scene with Alastair Thorne torturing Gina while Cain looks on was filmed but removed as "it played a little too much like an outtake from Spartacus." Part of it can still be seen in the recap at the beginning of the movie.
• According to composer Bear McCreary, no specific soundtrack release for "Razor" is currently planned. However, the best tracks will be included on the Season 4 soundtrack .
• According to Gary Hutzel, the Fall of the Scorpion Fleet Shipyards was written so that "we would see it in bits and pieces. For the most part, it centered on the fact that they had to jump out of there before two nuclear missiles hit them." As for the blind jump, the impetus for it was to be filmed only from the point-of-view of the CIC personnel, who saw the two incoming warheads on DRADIS, which prompted the jump. However, Felix Alcala wanted the scene to be something out of Pearl Harbor, thus the shots showing the destruction of the shipyards were added in.
• Universal Home Entertainment financed part of "Razor" for DVD-only effects and other material for the show which is proprietary, which is why such effects sequences are on the DVD or used in promotional material.
• Furthermore, the special effects shots were done in house without using a third-party source: over 184 shots were done, 120 of them being full CGI. Many new ships had to be developed specifically for "Razor", in addition to the Original Series-inspired Centurions.

Story

• As Kendra Shaw scrubs through the wireless bands, she happens upon a Talk Wireless broadcast where the wireless personality notes Laura Roslin's cancer remission, going on to infer that there was speculation on how the remission was brought about. Another snippet mentions Roslin's "recent" ban of abortion.
• The Guardian basestar appears to be an evolutionary gap in between the older Cylon War-era basestar and the newer starfish type basestar.
• The flashback of a young William Adama finding a Cylon lab during the war is part of the fifth, sixth, and seventh episodes of the "Razor" web-episodes.
• According to Caprica-Valerii, the Hybrids were created as a means to grow out of their mechanical roots and into biological ones. The Cylons considered the hybrids a failure and, after creating enough of them to control their baseships, the project was abandoned.
• At the end of "The Captain's Hand" Apollo jokes that he's glad Starbuck will not be his CAG, and Starbuck confirms that she has to be Galactica's CAG. Something must have changed by the time Apollo took command because "Razor" begins with him announcing Starbuck as his acting CAG. At the end of "Razor" Thrace asks to be re-assigned to Galactica.
• Despite being a major, Kendra Shaw wears a colonel's uniform with white/red trim when she becomes the XO of Pegasus. As shown on Doctor Cottle earlier, a major's uniform only has a grey trim.
• When Pegasus jumps away from the Scorpion Fleet Yards, the vacuum created from the jump appears to suck in the surrounding flames and smoke of battle. This effect has been seen before in "Exodus, Part II" following Galactica's intra-atmosphere jump.
• The events on the Scylla do not play out exactly as Colonel Fisk describes them to Colonel Tigh in "Resurrection Ship, Part I". In the earlier episode, he mentions two families being lined up against the wall and shot, which does not happen.

Unrated DVD

• In the DVD version, Virtual Six appears and reveals why the Cylons achieved human form, claiming that since their God created humanity in his image, the Cylons wanted to do the same, regardless of how much they themselves loathed humanity.
• Young William Adama says the word "cocksucker" in reference to the Cylon he pursues as he breaks away from Columbia (e.g. "This cocksucker's mine."). The dialogue is re-dubbed in the Razor Flashbacks to "This frakker's mine."
• Shootings are more graphically violent than Battlestar Galactica normally shows on television. When Cain shoots Belzen in the head, a large amount of blood splatters on the glass wall behind him. Usually only the entry wound is shown and the camera avoids the area behind the head, such as when Number Six is shot in "Precipice" and Three in "Hero". A similarly graphic scene where a Marine is wounded by Centurions on the guardian basestar is missing from the television version but included in the unrated DVD.
• The DVD version includes an additional monologue by the first Hybrid when the strike team arrives at the basestar. It is intercut with footage of the team making its way through the ship. This is a reference to the revelation of four of the Final Five Cylons during "Crossroads, Part II". The Hybrid also talks about the seven other Cylon models and demonstrates knowledge of Number Three's boxing, an event over a year in the future at the time of his speech. See Noteworthy Dialogue
• The main feature does not include all of the Razor Flashbacks, namely Episodes 1, 2 and and the Galactica scenes of Episode 7. However, all seven flashbacks are included as separate special features on the DVD.
• Two deleted scenes are contained on the DVD. One with Lee Adama at the Caprica Transfer Station waiting for a flight to Galactica's decommissioning, in which he talks about his dissatisfaction with his father's expectations of him. The other is a flashback to the aftermath of the episode "33". Starbuck and Apollo review their Vipers' gun camera footage. While Adama is convinced that he sees someone in the windows of the Olympic Carrier, Starbuck tells him that sometimes people might need to be left behind to save others.

Analysis

Story

• According to Admiral Cain, a razor is someone who can set aside all fear, hesitation, revulsion and natural inhibition in battle (see noteworthy dialogue).
  • When Cain recruits Jack Fisk to assassinate Commander Adama, she tells him that he needs to pick Marines who are "completely reliable. Completely loyal. Razors." (Resurrection Ship, Part I).
  • This bears a passing semblance to a poem by Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto: "I am still the sword/Of my Emperor/I will not be sheathed/Until I die." Admiral Yamamoto knew about America, Americans and their potential from his time as a student at Harvard and as a naval attaché in Washington, DC. Despite misgivings about declaring war on America, he served his Emperor and planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.
  • A razor is a physically present symbol throughout the episode in the form of a folding knife, which Cain found as child when her home colony was attacked by the Cylons. She used it to overcome her fear of a Centurion and kept it over the decades. After Cain's death, the blade passes to Kendra Shaw and eventually to Kara Thrace. It appears several times in the episode, and is used by Cain to explain the concept of becoming a razor to Shaw.
• The woman shot by Shaw could have been Peter Laird's wife, given the pan shot from his expression as he looks at the bodies, to the dead woman's face. His evasiveness when asked about the rumors circulating about the Scylla in the episode "Pegasus" would support this. His reaction to the woman's execution, however, can be taken one of two ways. He was either a man in complete shock of witnessing his wife's death or a man who was horrified from what he didn't believe was possible of Colonial military. Laird never mentions a wife explicitly, but Fisk implies he had family aboard the Scylla (Pegasus).

Characters

• In stark contrast to her demeanor by the time of the rendezvous with Galactica, Helena Cain is visibly more relaxed with her crew: She is stern when necessary, but also enjoys several moments of levity with subordinates and cultivates personable relations with her staff. She regards Jurgen Belzen as a personal friend (as described later by Fisk to Tigh); she initiates Shaw to Pegasus by chewing her out in the CIC and shares a humored look with her XO afterwards; the atmosphere at the dinner is very informal. She briefly talks to and comforts crewmen in the corridors, and expresses strong emotions and sheds tears as she surveys the ship's casualties. All these point to the war and especially Gina's betrayal as reasons for her push over the edge to become a "razor" and the narrowing of her perspective to pure vengeance.
• Although she may have sacrificed herself in atonement, Kendra Shaw ended her life as a razor, casting aside fear and self-preservation to stay behind and die to complete her mission, echoing Admiral Cain's observation that "sometimes we have to leave people behind so that we can go on, so that we can continue to fight. Sometimes you have do things that we never thought we were capable of ..." When she arrives on Pegasus, she is regarded as an opportunist, but in the end she is quite the opposite.
• Kendra Shaw's death marks the final transition from Cain's legacy to Admiral Adama's. Shaw was the last of Cain's inner circle. She was one of the officers who had Cain's utmost respect and trust. Her death signifies the complete replacement of Pegasus's original leadership and opens up the merging of the two battlestar crews.
• Admiral Cain suggests that Kendra Shaw used her mother's connections to secure an upwardly-mobile assignment on Pegasus — an ironic criticism, since then-Commander William Adama mentions to President Roslin how well-connected Cain is, helping her jump over half the commanders list for promotion to admiral (Pegasus).
• Both Shaw and Thrace have been noticed and mentored by Admiral Cain. In this respect, the friction between the two takes on aspects of sibling rivalry.
• Based on the restored scenes on the "Razor" DVD, Admiral Cain's past plays a huge role in how she approached the second Cylon War. As a child, Cain abandoned her little sister in order to hide from Centurions. Though this scene of a young Cain is mixed in Cain's speech of the need to leave some behind in order to go on fighting, it implies a sense of guilt on Cain's part for having abandoned her sister to the Cylons. Her entire rationale in actively fighting the Cylons and not running portrays a need for her to take a stand and fight. She had a need to stop running.
• Also in the DVD version, the knife that Cain carries is revealed to have a deeper meaning to Cain than simply a weapon. The knife was an impromptu weapon Cain discovered while she was attempting to hide from the Centurions. When she is finally discovered, she makes her last stand with this same knife. In the end, it becomes the only object that she still carried, and what she eventually became, a last resort weapon.
• The actions of the younger Cain and Adama during the final events of the first Cylon War both contrast and parallel. Adama continued to pursue and attack the Cylons; Cain was told to run and hide from the Cylons, but when she was cornered by a Centurion, she picked up the knife and made as best a last stand as she could. Adama witnessed the escape of the First Hybrid's ship, feeling the responsibility of the lost lives that he could not save; Cain witnessed the withdrawal of Centurion forces, anguished by her responsibility for leaving her little sister behind.

Miscellaneous

• Given the overall survivor count and the tally of 49,579 during the credits, "Razor" takes place between "The Captain's Hand" and "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I". Captions also place the flashback portions 10 months prior to the present events. However this timespan is closer to 9 months.
  • This is also the only time during Lee Adama's command of Pegasus that the episode can fit, since Starbuck leaves for Caprica in "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I". See also Timeline - Season 2 (RDM)
  • Adama's selection of Shaw as his XO likely takes place very shortly after him taking command of Pegasus, but other parts of the episode might take place slightly later.
  • Sharon Agathon's appearance may indicate that this episode takes place before "Downloaded", however this cannot be confirmed by any visual evidence as her appearance is brief and all camera shots are seemingly aimed to avoid shooting her belly. However, it can be reasonably surmised that because she is still cooperating with the Colonials that Hera's birth and her subsequent faked death haven't occurred yet.
  • The survivor count of 49,579 is the same as the episodes "Downloaded" and the beginning of "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part I," which means the death of Shaw, the Raptor crew and the SAR marine are never counted.
  • "Razor" establishes the destruction of the colonies happening 10 months earlier, although "Downloaded," which presumably takes place shortly after, places the destruction at 9 months prior. "The Plan" establishes the beginning of "Lay Down Your Burdens" as 280 days after the fall.
• Regarding the casualties suffered by Pegasus during the Battle of the Communications Relay, Shaw's report that Pegasus suffered over 800 dead likely refers to the total casualty rate since the Cylon attack. Since Pegasus already suffered over 700 losses fleeing the Scorpion shipyards, adding 800 to this figure would mean that almost half the crew were killed. Considering that Pegasus's crew is approximately 1,750 when she encounters Galactica, such a high death rate seems unlikely.
  • The numbers are consistent, however, with casualty figures reported during "Pegasus," which established that 700 were killed during the attack on the shipyard, and 800 were killed during the attempt to board the ship.
• Given that an evac Raptor successfully retrieves the assault team by docking or at least flying close to the Guardian basestar without incident, it seems that the Guardian basestar itself appears to be unarmed and totally reliant on its Raiders for defense, unlike the standard Cylon basestar.
• A curious technical gaffe appears to occur as the smoke from the various fires in the shipyard travel upward. Unless the flames (which would appear as a globular "blossom" shape without gravity) jet upward, the smoke, with the lack of convection (heat rising upward as lighter gases against gravity), would expand in all directions opposite the flames or venting, not "up" relative to the battlestar or flames.
• The Galactica-type battlestar at the shipyard appears to be the same size, if not larger than Pegasus. This is a contradiction of Admiral Cain's statement, that Pegasus is twice the size of Galactica. While she does not refer to the ship's length, this seems to be a scaling error in the visual effects.

Questions

• How does the Hybrid know Kendra Shaw?
• Is the Hybrid's warning that Kara Thrace is the harbinger of death true? (Possible answer) Does it say this to ensure that the eternal cycle continues per Pythian prophecy? (Possible answer)
• What does the First Hybrid mean when he says that Kara Thrace will lead the human race to their end (Answer)
• Who becomes Pegasus's CAG after Thrace steps down?
• Whose decision was it to scrap the old Centurions? (Answer) Did they resist?
• When the first Hybrid says "My children believe I am a god", to whom is he referring? The old model Cylons? The organic models?
• What does the first Hybrid mean when he says his existence will "begin again in ways uncertain"?
  • Does this statement imply that the first Hybrid is capable of downloading, or does it refer to an unending cycle or the afterlife?
• Are all of the Guardians on the basestar when it is destroyed, or did they build other bases in the decades before?
• Is the first Hybrid one of the humans captured on the Diana?
• Is the first Hybrid as it originally appeared, or has it physically aged? Was it created in that stage of adult maturity?
• If the Hybrid experiment was abandoned after others were created to control the basestars, do the Cylons only have a limited number of them?
• Did the Cylons abduct humans, such as Lucy Cain on Tauron, for further experimentation after abandoning their facilities on the ice planet?
• If Saul Tigh fought in the first Cylon War, how was he created, since the Cylons had yet to create humanoid Cylons by the time of the armistice? (Answer)
• Were the captives from the ice planet rescued? How much did the Colonials know about the experiments which took place there?
• If Adama's Viper was destroyed during the last day of the Cylon War, how was Galen Tyrol able to present it to the Admiral in the Miniseries?
• Why did the Centurions withdraw from the First War? (Answer)

Official Statements

See: Razor/Official Statements

Noteworthy Dialogue

See: Razor/Noteworthy Dialogue

Guest Stars

• Michael Hogan as Saul Tigh
• Aaron Douglas as Galen Tyrol (credit only)
• Tahmoh Penikett as Karl "Helo" Agathon (credit only)
• Alessandro Juliani as Lieutenant Felix Gaeta (credit only)
• Michael Trucco as Samuel Anders (credit only)
• Kandyse McClure as Anastasia Dualla (credit only)
• Michelle Forbes as Admiral Helena Cain
• Graham Beckel as Colonel Jack Fisk
• Stephanie Jacobsen as Lieutenant/Captain/Major Kendra Shaw
• Nico Cortez as Young William Adama
• Matthew Bennett as Number Five
• Steve Bacic as Colonel Jurgen Belzen
• Brad Dryborough as Lieutenant Louis Hoshi
• Eileen Pedde as Sergeant Erin Mathias
• Fulvio Cecere as Lieutenant Alastair Thorne
• Vincent Gale as Peter Laird
• Campbell Lane as Hybrid
• Kyra Scott as Young Helena Cain
• Chandra Berg as Little Lucy Cain
• Peter Flemming as Helena's Father
• Shaker Paleja as Medic Hudson
• Andrew Dunbar as Marine Dasilva
• Jacob Blair as Squad Leader Banzai
• Peter Bryant as Frank Bruno
• Chris Bradford as Ops Officer
• Tyson Stanley as Young Marine
• Trevor Roberts as Scylla Protestor #1
• Cameron Macleod as Scylla Protestor #2
• Ingrid Tesch as Mother
• Joey Pierce as Marine Riggs
• Matt Drake as Son #1
• Dustin Eriksen as Son #2
• John Hainsworth as Man in Cage #1
• Victor Ayala as Man in Cage #2
• Deni Dolory as Woman in Cage
• Emily Hirst as Child in Cage
• Ben Cotton as Terrified Man
• Stefanie von Pfetten as Captain Marcia "Showboat" Case
• Alyssa Minniss as Flower Girl
• Allison Warnyca as Lt. Jaycie McGavin (credited only on the DVD's Flashback credits)
• Uncredited as Gus

External Links

• Composer Bear McCreary on the score for "Razor"
• "Razor" concept art: [1], [2], [3]