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The Ties That Bind (Battlestar Galactica)
Encyclopedia
"The Ties That Bind" is the fifth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined science fiction
television series Battlestar Galactica. The episode originally aired on SCI FI
and Space in the United States
and Canada
respectively on April 18, 2008, and on Sky1 in the United Kingdom
on April 22. The episode's title is a reference to a Christian
hymn, "Blessed Be the Tie that Binds
".
The episode mainly focuses on the four of the final five Cylons
, particularly Galen Tyrol
, as his relationship with his wife, Cally becomes even more strained. Meanwhile, Kara Thrace
and her team on the Demetrius starts their search for Earth
. The episode also deals with the significant six Cylons after three of the models decide to force the other three not to lobotomize the Raiders, which leads the two factions to a civil war
. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,676.
model resurrects from the dead after one of the Sixes (Natalie) starts a rebellion to unbox the Three models to learn the identity of the final five. Surprisingly, Cavil agrees to this. They decide to send a fleet of basestars and a resurrection ship to the location where the Threes were boxed. However, when they get there, the resurrection ship does not follow. Instead, Cavil's baseships circle the rebels and proceed to destroy them. Meanwhile on the Demetrius, Kara Thrace
and her crew have been searching for Earth
by Starbuck's vision for 22 days without any success. The patience of the crew starts to wear thin.
In the ragtag fleet, Lee Adama
becomes the Caprican delegate for the Quorum of Twelve
, though the media's real attention is on the missing Demetrius, and its "classified military assignment". Lee is then paid a visit by Tom Zarek
, who tells him that Roslin and Adama have continued to suppress information and believes the Demetrius affair will create more tension if Roslin doesn't come clean about its mission. He ends saying that he hopes, as a Quorum member, Lee will not ignore the truth, which he doesn't as he brings up another issue; Executive Order 112, which deals with the method by which the President establishes a tribunal and he believes it gives the President too much power. Roslin responds that she intended to discuss the order at the next Quorum meeting.
On Galactica, Crew Chief Galen Tyrol
and Cally's relationship becomes even more strained. Cally soon attempts to spy on him, believing he is having an affair. She catches him talking to Tory Foster
at Joe's bar. Afterward, she finds a note from Saul Tigh
. She follows Tyrol again, where she eavesdrops on the meeting between Tyrol, Tory and Tigh. To her horror, she soon learns that they are Cylons. When the group breaks apart, Tory is the last one out of the compartment and notices an out of place tile, leading her to believe that someone listened in on their conversation. Cally rushes to her quarters to beat Chief Tyrol back and when his guard is lowered, knocks him out with a wrench. Cally proceeds to grab her son Nicky, and attempts to commit murder-suicide
by having her and her child vent into space
in a launch tube. Tory follows and attempts to talk Cally into not doing it, since they had no idea they were Cylons until the Ionian Nebula, and that they are not evil. Eventually, Tory takes the baby and knocks Cally out. After she regains consciousness, Tory, holding the baby in another room, presses the launch button, venting Cally into space. Later, Admiral Adama
gives Galen the bad news that Cally is dead.
, because the Nielsen rating estimates for DVR watching (calculated over the seven days following the episode's initial airing) do not count shows with fewer than 500,000 viewers.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Battlestar Galactica. The episode originally aired on SCI FI
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
and Space in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
respectively on April 18, 2008, and on Sky1 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on April 22. The episode's title is a reference to a Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
hymn, "Blessed Be the Tie that Binds
Blessed Be the Tie that Binds
"Blessed Be the Tie that Binds" is a Christian hymn text written by John Fawcett. It is often sung to a tune composed by Hans Georg Nägeli.The hymn is featured in all three acts of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town.-Lyric:...
".
The episode mainly focuses on the four of the final five Cylons
Cylon (reimagining)
Cylons are a race which appear in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series and its prequel Caprica. They have several forms, some of which resemble and even mimic the behavior of humans, while others are mechanical in appearance and function.In the first DVD, one of the show's creators...
, particularly Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol is a character on the television series Battlestar Galactica. Tyrol is responsible for the maintenance of the Vipers and Raptors aboard Battlestar Galactica...
, as his relationship with his wife, Cally becomes even more strained. Meanwhile, Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica franchise. Played by Katee Sackhoff, she is a revised version of Lieutenant Starbuck from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
and her team on the Demetrius starts their search for Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. The episode also deals with the significant six Cylons after three of the models decide to force the other three not to lobotomize the Raiders, which leads the two factions to a civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,676.
Plot
A Brother CavilBrother Cavil
John Cavil is a fictional character and the main antagonist from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series. In the fourth season episode "Six of One", Cavil's model number was revealed as Number One.- Background :...
model resurrects from the dead after one of the Sixes (Natalie) starts a rebellion to unbox the Three models to learn the identity of the final five. Surprisingly, Cavil agrees to this. They decide to send a fleet of basestars and a resurrection ship to the location where the Threes were boxed. However, when they get there, the resurrection ship does not follow. Instead, Cavil's baseships circle the rebels and proceed to destroy them. Meanwhile on the Demetrius, Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace
Kara Thrace is a fictional character in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica franchise. Played by Katee Sackhoff, she is a revised version of Lieutenant Starbuck from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series...
and her crew have been searching for Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
by Starbuck's vision for 22 days without any success. The patience of the crew starts to wear thin.
In the ragtag fleet, Lee Adama
Lee Adama
Leland Joseph "Lee" Adama is a fictional character in the television series Battlestar Galactica. He is portrayed by actor Jamie Bamber. He is one of the main characters in the series.-Early life:...
becomes the Caprican delegate for the Quorum of Twelve
Quorum of Twelve
The Quorum of Twelve is a fictional governing body of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol on the two Battlestar Galactica television series. In both series, it was composed of one representative from each colony.Series creator Glen A...
, though the media's real attention is on the missing Demetrius, and its "classified military assignment". Lee is then paid a visit by Tom Zarek
Tom Zarek
Thomas "Tom" Zarek is the name of a fictional character on the Syfy series Battlestar Galactica. He is played by Richard Hatch, who had previously portrayed Captain Apollo, a character on the original Battlestar Galactica series of the late 1970s....
, who tells him that Roslin and Adama have continued to suppress information and believes the Demetrius affair will create more tension if Roslin doesn't come clean about its mission. He ends saying that he hopes, as a Quorum member, Lee will not ignore the truth, which he doesn't as he brings up another issue; Executive Order 112, which deals with the method by which the President establishes a tribunal and he believes it gives the President too much power. Roslin responds that she intended to discuss the order at the next Quorum meeting.
On Galactica, Crew Chief Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol
Galen Tyrol is a character on the television series Battlestar Galactica. Tyrol is responsible for the maintenance of the Vipers and Raptors aboard Battlestar Galactica...
and Cally's relationship becomes even more strained. Cally soon attempts to spy on him, believing he is having an affair. She catches him talking to Tory Foster
Tory Foster
Tory Foster is a fictional character from the 2004 TV series Battlestar Galactica, portrayed by Rekha Sharma.-Character biography:Tory, like the other members of the Final Five, was originally from a planet called Earth...
at Joe's bar. Afterward, she finds a note from Saul Tigh
Saul Tigh
Saul Tigh is a fictional character on Battlestar Galactica played by Michael Hogan. The character was named Paul Tigh in early scripts, and was renamed due to legal issues, according to producer Ronald D. Moore. He is one of the main characters of the show.-Overview and personality:Saul Tigh is a...
. She follows Tyrol again, where she eavesdrops on the meeting between Tyrol, Tory and Tigh. To her horror, she soon learns that they are Cylons. When the group breaks apart, Tory is the last one out of the compartment and notices an out of place tile, leading her to believe that someone listened in on their conversation. Cally rushes to her quarters to beat Chief Tyrol back and when his guard is lowered, knocks him out with a wrench. Cally proceeds to grab her son Nicky, and attempts to commit murder-suicide
Murder-suicide
A murder–suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more other persons before or at the same time as killing himself or herself. The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms, including:...
by having her and her child vent into space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
in a launch tube. Tory follows and attempts to talk Cally into not doing it, since they had no idea they were Cylons until the Ionian Nebula, and that they are not evil. Eventually, Tory takes the baby and knocks Cally out. After she regains consciousness, Tory, holding the baby in another room, presses the launch button, venting Cally into space. Later, Admiral Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
gives Galen the bad news that Cally is dead.
Cultural references
- The weapons locker where the final four members secretly meet is marked "1701D", which is the registry number of the Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
era Starship EnterpriseUSS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
.
- When Six's fleet is ambushed by Cavil's, the Orion constellationOrion (constellation)Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
(as seen from Earth) can be seen in the background stars (approximately at 28:22 minutes into the episode). Whether this was intentional and signifies something is unknown. It may also indicate that the Galactica crew, as well as the Cylons, are getting closer to the Sol systemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. The Orion, as well as other familiar constellations would be seen more frequently in the episodes that follow.
Reception
Total viewership for "The Ties That Bind" mostly held steady from the previous week's new episode, "Six of One". The episode garnered 1.741 million viewers for a 1.1 household rating and 2 percent share, down just 60,000 viewers from the week before. In the important 18-to-49-year-old demographic, viewership fell by 12 percent to just 800,000 viewers (a 0.8 household rating and 3 percent share of this demographic). One source estimated that fewer than 500,000 additional viewers watch the show on DVRsDigital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
, because the Nielsen rating estimates for DVR watching (calculated over the seven days following the episode's initial airing) do not count shows with fewer than 500,000 viewers.
External links
- "The Ties That Bind" at the Battlestar Wiki
- "The Ties That Bind" at SyfySyfySyfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...