Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009): Season 3, Episode 8 - Hero - full transcript

Previously on
Battlestar Galactica.

You cannot play God then wash your hands
of the things that you've created.

Sooner or later, the day comes

when you can't hide from the
things that you've done anymore.

"Attention all colonial units.

"Cylon attack underway."

"This is no drill."

I'll be right there.

How? Why?

It doesn't really matter now.

What does matter is that,
as of this moment,



we are at war.

You're full of bile, hatred,

poison.

And I'm sorry for what
happened to you down there,

but I gotta run a ship.

The last thing I need

is a one-eyed drunk sowing
discontent and disobedience.

So you can get your ass back
into your quarters and not leave

until you're ready to act like the man
that I've known for the past 30 years.

That man doesn't
exist anymore, Bill.

You won't be seeing me again.

Is there really any place
left in the universe

deserving of such a rare
and distinguished item?

I was thinking put it in the
bathroom, right over the toilet.



Excellent choice.

Oh, my Gods.

Tory, come look at this.
This is the dossier

that Billy prepared for me
my first day aboard Galactica.

I can't believe I was about to
throw this out in the trash.

The Valkyrie.

This was Adama's command
before Galactica? Mmm-hmm.

Look at that.

This year marks Admiral Adama's

45th anniversary
in the Colonial Fleet.

In fact, his commissioning
date's only a few days from now.

Here.

I think I want
to have a ceremony.

Let's give the Admiral a medal

for 45 years
of devoted service.

Couldn't have come
at a better time.

Give the people something to
feel good about for a change.

This is the XO. Set
Condition 1 throughout the ship.

I repeat, set condition one
throughout the ship.

This is not a drill.

What's the problem?
Three Raiders.

CBDR, bearing 145, carom 33.

But this isn't their
standard wedge formation.

Where's the CAP?

Starbuck and Kat will
intercept in 98 seconds, sir.

It looks like a pursuit and there's
been weapons exchange between them.

A pursuit? Yes, sir.

We've got two Raiders
chasing a third.

Have they fired
on any of ours yet?

No, sir.

What the hell are they doing?

All right, let's see if we can climb up
their asses without drawing any fire.

These two seem pretty
preoccupied with the other one.

Got any idea why Cylons
would be chasing Cylons?

Don't know, don't care.

But wait till we close the gap.

I don't wanna chase these frakking
things any longer than I have to.

Yeah, roger that.

- Two down! One to go!
- Kat, check six.

Damn, Kat, flank right. This guy's
headed right for Galactica.

I'm on it, Starbuck.

Krypter! Krypter! Krypter!

This is Bulldog.

Get me the hell
out of here. I'm wounded!

- What the frak is that?
- Target in range, closing in.

Krypter! Krypter!
Krypter! This is Bulldog...

Audio lock-on enabled.

Where is that coming from?

It's the Raider, sir.

Krypter...
Take the frakking shot, Kat.

Gimme one sec,
I almost got him lined up.

Krypter! Krypter! Krypter!

This is Bulldog.

Kat, take the frakking shot.

Order the Vipers to hold
their fire immediately.

Have them escort the Raider in.

Prisoner drill.

I want the alert guard in the
hangar deck in five minutes.

Yes, sir.

All right, park that bird!
Let's grab this Raider!

Let's go, people,
move with a purpose!

Make some room for the Marines.

Is it really you, sir?

Yeah,

it's me.

Welcome home, Bulldog.

We may never have
this opportunity again.

I'm assuming you appreciate
the consequences

if you're discovered.

And you understand, Commander,

that this conversation
did not happen.

Are you prepared for this?

Of course, sir.

On one condition.

I need my men.

Especially for
the stealth ship.

There's only one pilot I trust.

Who?

Well,

the conspiracy theorists
are gonna be disappointed.

We've checked your DNA signature
against your military records,

and it's conclusive.

You're not a Cylon.

Smoke?

That's right.

He's one of mine.

Disappeared about
three years ago.

We think that he was captured.

I'd like to meet him.

Of course. I'll arrange it.

He checks out fine.

Whatever they did
to him out there,

they kept him fed
and relatively healthy.

Physically, anyway.

I know you've been
through a lot.

I realize that.

But you've gotta
talk to me, Danny.

How the hell did you escape

off a Cylon baseship?

Well, sir,

it's like this.

The enemy had me locked in
a cell for three years.

The accommodations were lousy,

the service was slow,

and after a while I felt the institution
no longer had anything to offer me.

So I left.

You had me worried there
for a moment.

Thought maybe the Cylons had beaten
the bullshit attitude out of you.

How'd you get out?

I thought I was gonna
die in there, Bill.

But a while ago, they all
started getting sick.

I mean really sick.

You mean a virus?

Yeah.

We've seen that, too.

I heard them say it was
spreading, getting worse,

but eventually I realize,

I'm not catching it.

I'm immune.

So what did you do?

I was smart,

patient.

I waited.

Well, Well.

You're looking good.

Strong.

Me, I've felt better.

I don't know why you guys
do all that exercise.

What, are you trying to
stave off getting old?

Doesn't seem such
a tragedy to me,

given the alternatives.

You know what I'm saying?

Do I look that bad?

You know what I think?

I think you're afraid.

Let me try and understand
exactly what happened to you.

I'm just gonna
go back a little,

all right?

About a year prior to the
Cylon attack on the Colonies,

you were on a mission with Admiral Adama.
Is that correct?

It was a black ops mission.

Hmm.

You remember the Tauron
colonists were such outlaws,

always pushing their luck with the
Admiralty every chance they got?

Right.

The Taurons were
drilling for tylium ore

on a moon that was too close
to the Cylon armistice line.

We knew that they had
to get out of there

or risk provoking the Cylons.

I'm sorry, but how did this result
in his ship being shot down?

He was my recon pilot.

He was there
to gather evidence.

The Taurons must have seen us
coming, because they ambushed him.

Lieutenant Novacek
was shot down

by the Taurons in cold blood.

Krypter! Krypter! Krypter!
I've got damage to the port engine.

Bird is down. Repeat,

bird is down. Request rescue.

- Stealth star transmission acquired.
- This is Bulldog

bird is down. Repeat,

bird is down. Request rescue.

So what did you do?

I made a bad call.

His ship was gone.

No ejection on dradis.

No distress call.

He was dead,

so I left.

But the lieutenant did eject,
obviously, and somehow survived

in his ejection seat
long enough

for the Cylons to find him.

Wow.

Could you both give us
a moment, please?

Thank you, Tory, and thank
you very much, Lieutenant,

I appreciate it.
Madam President.

Why don't we check
the fleet registry,

see if any of your family
might have survived?

So, are you gonna tell me
what really happened?

You're gonna have to trust me
on this one, okay?

It's my mess.

I'll fix it.

Okay, this is the last one.
Yeah.

Fire.

I see it.

I see it.

I see it.

I see it.

Daniel Novacek

just escaped from a POW cell
on a Cylon baseship,

stole a Raider, flew it here.

I just finished debriefing him.

Bulldog's alive?

Yeah.

My Gods.

How could he be alive?

That tough son of a bitch, he
actually made it, didn't he?

Yeah, I guess he did.

So, are you here to talk
to your friend or to your XO?

And last time I checked,
I was neither.

Oh... I get it.

Oh, yeah.

This is gonna be a little complicated
for you, isn't it, Admiral?

You gonna tell him
what you did?

I did what I had to do.

So tell him.

It's not gonna make any difference.
The past is the past.

You're equivocating.

I don't know why the frak I came here.
Tell him!

He's gonna find out

sooner or later.

I see it.

Go away.

Gods damn son of a bitch.

I can't believe it.

It's really you.

Danny Novacek.

I heard you'd made it.

Good for you, Bulldog.

Oh, Gods.

Saul.

A drink?

You have no idea.

Yes, I do.

Dad?

Hey, I just got your message.

Thank you for coming.

Sit down.

It's time for us to talk.

Let me ask you something.

How often you get out of here?

Why? All the time.

I've been a little under
the weather, that's all.

And how'd you wind up
on this old bucket anyway?

What happened to the Valkyrie?

Well, let's just say

that last mission wasn't exactly
a boon to the old man's career.

Galactica was his
graceful retirement.

Heard you and the old man
haven't spoken in a while.

What's wrong?

He won't cover your ass
day and night like he used to?

Oh, no, he still does
his share of ass-covering.

Problem is,
it's his main function now.

Of course,

considering how you wound up getting
captured in the first place,

I guess you found that out the
hard way yourself, didn't you?

What's that supposed to mean?

My Gods.

He didn't tell you, did he?

Did he?

Tell me what?

That son of a bitch.

I shot him down.

Well, if you shot him down,
you had your reasons.

You were following orders,

preventing something worse,
right?

No.

I shot him down to avoid

detection.

Protect the mission,

so it wouldn't be
discovered by the Cylons.

It was a black ops mission

whose sole purpose

was to ascertain the
likelihood of a Cylon strike.

"Cylon strike"?

So, you're saying that...

That we knew
they were out there?

That they could launch an
attack on the Colonies?

We didn't know
anything for sure.

There were theories
in some circles

that the reason that the Cylons
had stayed dormant for so long

was because they were
building a war machine,

preparing a strike.

But I thought...

I thought that no one had seen or heard
from the Cylons in over 40 years.

That's true, partially.

The Admiralty had grown restless
with the Adar administration.

They thought we were
resting on our laurels,

unprepared to protect
against an attack.

My mission was to escort
a stealth recon ship

just beyond the armistice line.

Stick our nose over,
gather evidence,

see if there was
any suspicious activities.

And if the Cylons discovered
you had crossed the line,

breaching the armistice,
then they would see that as...

An act of war.

Stealthstar, Valkyrie.
We register you on dradis,

just past the armistice line.

You're on full alert.
Proceed with caution.

Valkyrie, Bulldog.

I'm exactly two clicks
past the line.

Repeat, two clicks and I've got

negative dradis contacts.

Sir, there's nothing here, sir.

Which is fine by me.

Company wants to pay me for a joyride,
they came to the right driver.

Hell of a moon.

Dradis contact.
Unknown vessel just jumped in.

Frak!

Krypter! Krypter! Krypter! I've
got damage to the port engine.

Bird is down.
Repeat, bird is down.

Request rescue.

Krypter! Krypter! Krypter!
This is Bulldog.

Vessel just jumped out, sir.

Bird is down. Request rescue.

Krypter! Krypter! Krypter!
This is Bulldog.

Bird is down! Repeat.

Two more dradis contacts.
Sir, please instruct.

What are your orders, sir?

Sir, what are your orders?

Don't do this.

Think about it, Bill.
You don't want to do this.

Do you want his ship
discovered?

Do you know where we are?

Do you have any idea
what this could mean?

Bogies on intercept course.

Will merge with Stealthstar
in 20 seconds.

Sir?

Weapons,

launch ship-to-ship
missile, now.

No!

There is no way...
Oh, it's true.

And you know it's true.

You've known it every second of
every day since it happened.

And the sooner you admit it,

the sooner you might get that
haunted look out of your eyes.

Listen to me.

Sometimes surviving can be
its own death sentence.

I know that.

So the attack
on Novacek's ship,

the one that winged him

and the two dradis contacts
that were following him,

they weren't Taurons.
Those were the Cylons.

For all those years,
I told myself

that I didn't know
what they were.

But I was just lying to myself.

Pretending that it
couldn't be true.

It is true.

I started it.

Initiated it.

Wait a minute.

You started what?

Started what?

The attacks on the Colonies.

By crossing the line,

I showed them that

we were the warmongers

they figured us to be.

And I...

I left them but one choice.

To attack us

before we attacked them.

No. No.

Because it wasn't just you.

They put you there.

They put you there, across the line.
You had no choice.

That was the Admiralty. That was the...
That was the military.

You were one mission.

You were one man.

One man.

It only takes one.

You're all right?

Yeah, of course.

More nightmares?

Dreams.

Something different
this time, though.

I think God's trying
to tell me something.

It's about Gaius, isn't it? No.

It's not.

It's about something
much bigger than that.

After you execute this command,

you'll delete the order
from your logs

then overwrite the corresponding
memory locations.

Execute.

It's okay. It's okay.

Relax,
try to breathe through it.

Breathe.

This is something beautiful.

Miraculous,
between life and death.

Hmm.

That's weird.

Why the hell
do they keep missing?

Frak.

Adama.

Admiral, you have
a call from Lieutenant Novacek.

- Put him through.
- Bill?

Yes? This is Danny.

We need to talk. Hold on.

I need to see you right now.

Hold on. I'll be right there.

The Cylons are
saddled up on him.

They've got a perfect
point-blank, no-deflection shot.

They had him dead to rights.

I'd say so.

Look, Novacek was hit and smoking,
flying straight and level.

Any nugget could
make that kill.

The Cylons could've wasted him any
number of times, and they didn't.

They didn't.
They let him escape.

The Cylons don't do
anything by accident.

Yeah, that's what
I was thinking, too.

Did Novacek say

how he was able to overcome the Cylons
that were holding him prisoner?

They were sick? Had a virus?

I mean, how many viruses
do the Cylons have, sir?

Who knows?
Maybe it was the same virus

those Cylons we found
were suffering from.

Yeah, or maybe they just
told us a story that we'd buy.

Something that was
credible, familiar.

Novacek was held prisoner
on a baseship for three years,

escapes, and then conveniently
finds our fleet

with no agenda
and no reason to be here.

Hey, Dan.

It's funny how all
the training comes back.

Huh?

Why did you lie to me, Bill?

All those years,

you know what I kept
telling myself?

What stupid, frakked-up
dream I held onto?

I kept thinking,

"Just hang in there, Bulldog.

"Bill Adama's coming.

"He won't leave you to rot in here, not him.
He won't leave a man behind.

"Just hold on."
But you weren't coming.

You didn't think I was alive. You
weren't even hoping I was alive!

And if I hadn't
figured a way to escape,

if I didn't make my move when I saw
they left that door wide open for me,

I'd be as good as dead
right now!

Is that what they did?

Did they leave the door
standing open?

Did they let you escape?

That's not what I meant.

I know the truth.

I beat them. Do you understand?

I beat them at their own game.

I frakking killed her,
and I escaped.

You trying to take that
away from me?

Bulldog!

Stay down!

Are you all right, Bill?

Yeah, I'm okay.

You don't wanna believe it, do you?
I know.

The truth hurts, Bulldog,

but it's better to know the
truth than to live a lie.

We're all soldiers, Danny.

We're all expendable.

And we did what we had to do
to protect the mission.

It's ugly, but there it is.
The Cylons let you go.

The question is, why?
Ask yourself that, Danny.

Because up until a minute ago,

you were doing exactly
what they wanted you to do.

Come here and learn the truth
and seek revenge.

And that's exactly
what you did.

You almost gave them
what they wanted.

Tell you a dirty little secret.

The toughest part
of getting played

is losing your dignity.

Feeling like you are not worth
the oxygen you are sucking down.

You get used to it.

You start to believe it.

You start to love it.

It's like a bottle
that never runs dry.

You can keep reaching for it
over and over and over again.

So, how do you put
that bottle away, Saul?

I don't know.

One day, you just decide to

get up and walk
out of your room.

ROSLIN.' What is this?

Your resignation? You
have gotta be kidding me.

I've said before,

we can't hide from the things
that we've done.

I see no other way
around this situation.

Maybe it's time, Laura.

Sit down, Bill.

I think you're being naive.

"Naive"?

Did it ever occur to you
that the Admiralty

may have set you up
to provoke a war they wanted?

It's naive to think that horrible
things that we can't understand

have simple explanations.

Because simple explanations make us feel
like we have control when we don't.

We know why the Cylons
attacked us,

and it wasn't any one thing.
Oh, my Gods!

We did a thousand things,

good and bad,

every day for 40 years to pave
the way for those attacks.

Something has to be done.

You know what that is?

Medal of distinction.

This was before I heard about
this resignation of yours.

So...

I'd like to propose this.

You seem hell-bent on
paying some kind of penance

for whatever it is
you think you've done.

So instead of resigning, why don't
you get up and walk out of here,

meet me on the port hangar deck
tomorrow evening for this ceremony,

and let me pin a frakking
medal to your chest?

I can't.

It's not for you.

It's for them.

Stand up there,
acknowledge your fleet,

and give them what they need.

A hero.

That'll be your penance,

even if it kills you.

On behalf of everyone in this
room, it is my pleasure to present you,

Admiral Adama,

with the medal of distinction

for your 45 years of courageous
service to the Colonial Fleet.

Congratulations.

Have Dr. Stoffa call me
as soon as you arrive.

And, Bulldog,
you're gonna be fine.

Just remember it'll take some time.
All right.

Lieutenant,

you forgot something.

I can't. Bill, I... Take it.

You're not getting off
that easy.

Once a pilot,
always a pilot, Bulldog.

Yes, sir.

Come in.

I heard you won a medal.

Yeah.

They give them out
for anything these days.

Good behavior,

attendance,
playing well with others.

I need you back in the CIC.

It just ain't the same without you
in there intimidating the inmates.

No.

That's not what I came here
to talk to you about.

Okay.

So, why are you here?

I don't know. Nothing.

You wanna tell me
what happened to Ellen?

I could use a drink.

Me, too.