The Gun on Ice Planet Zero (Part 1) Analysis
By Walt Atwood

STORY SYNOPSIS

Starbuck and Boomer are leading three cadets on a probe mission out ahead of the Galactica, when they come upon a frigid, though habitable, planetoid known to the Cylons as Arcta. Brilliant flashes from the surface draw in one cadet, whose ship is destroyed from long range by a powerful laser-like blast; the Cylons are manning a huge, long-range weapon built into a mountain. This valuable information comes at a cost: interceptors from the Cylons' Arcta garrison force Cadet Cree (Alan Stock) to land. Starbuck is guilt-ridden at having to leave Cree behind. Adama now sees a pattern in the Cylons' strategy. It seems the Galactica is being shepherded by the Cylons in the direction of Arcta; apparently, this weapon could destroy a battlestar with one direct hit.

Adama orders a search found for qualified commandos for an expedition to attack the mountain garrison on the ground and destroy the super-weapon. The search turns up a list of convicted violent criminals, including Croft (Roy Thinnes). On the surface, Cadet Cree is captured by a Cylon foot patrol and taken to a golden-outfitted command centurion, Vulpa.

Adama recruits the unruly band of cut-throats to serve under Apollo's command. Before leaving for the mission, Apollo stops to check on his stepson Boxey. Boxey wants to see "what snow is like." Apollo takes one last look at Boxey and his pet robot-daggit (dog) Muffet, and leaves. The expedition launches in a shuttle with a single-viper escort. Cylon interceptors shoot down the shuttle, which crash-lands some distance from the mission's objective. The viper is destroyed. As the Cylons swoop over the shuttle, Apollo readies a "snow ram" personnel carrier. He discovers Boxey and Muffett secreted inside. The expedition boards the snow ram, and Starbuck uses the ram's top-mounted blaster turret to shoot down a menacing Cylon fighter. As the ram nears the mountain, a fight between the criminals ensues and results in the ram being disabled. The expedition sits tight inside as they await a deadly storm to pass. Muffet gets loose and runs off into the blizzard.

The team awakens in a warm, well furnished cave inhabited by a race of humanoid clones (Denny Miller, Britt Eckland) who tend to the newcomers' wounds and needs. Muffet brought the clones to rescue the expedition. When Apollo asks how these clones came to be here, they give credit to the "Father-Creator", the mysterious Dr. Ravashol. The clones offer to escort the humans to a village near the mountain. On the way through a frozen crevasse, the clones hide the humans from a Cylon infantry platoon. Muffet's growling leaves the last centurion in the column to look around for the noise, not realizing the clones and the expedition are hiding close by.

On a Cylon Basestar in deep space, Lucifer comes to the throne room to report on fighter sightings from the garrison on Arcta. Baltar surprises Lucifer by having already anticipated the Galactica's movement in that direction. He reveals the Cylon shepherding operation to be his idea. He wants to call for reinforcements to he can push the Galactica from behind and let the Arcta gun destroy the last battlestar once it is forced to move ahead. As Lucifer goes to summon more basestars, a fuming Baltar hisses to himself, "Soon, Adama. Soon..."

A Second Look

This show put sci fi TV onto the Ice Planet Hoth two years before THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Detractors claim that BATTLESTAR was imitation STAR WARS. Maybe George Lucas and company saw fit to return the favor.

One basic notion about the nature of planetary bodies that this story ignores could undo the entire plot: rotation. Even the conniving Baltar could not time his scheme so perfectly so that the Galactica fleet could not slip by while the Ravashol Pulsar gun is facing away. The only way to discount this would be to assume that the mountain is located at one of the planet's poles. If this were the case, the Galactica would have to approach from directly "above" the mountain. Surely the ships of the Colonial fleet would not be that limited in their approach vector. Again, Glen Larson and Donald Bellisario, the Hollywood whiz-guys that made BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, show little regard for just vast outer space, even interplanetary space, can be.

Funny how a screen-saver for us Earthlings looks perfect for a Cylon computer readout. Ah, the 1970's were a different time. :-)

For as brilliant as these recruited criminal/commandos supposedly are, one would think they could stop fighting each other long enough to accomplish their goal. The whole fight scene on top of the snow ram was a rather convoluted plot device. It would've been more interesting (and not necessarily more expensive) if the firefight with the Cylon interceptor had resulted in damage to the ram which eventually lead to its breakdown. In the end, the team had to leave the ram behind anyway. You can't use a machine like that to climb a steep mountain. So, why not show the ram just driving up to a group of clones? The clones could tell the expedition that you can't take the ram any further without being spotted by the Cylons, and then the team would follow the clones to the village on foot. Same end result.

The first part of this two-part story already establishes that this is a watered-down remake of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (Columbia, 1961) and THE DIRTY DOZEN (MGM/UA, 1967), this time served up with outer space trappings. This story seems to be the perfect opportunity to tell an allegory tale about the life of commandos, like the U.S. Navy SEALS. Instead "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero" will start a bad habit of espionage and sabotage stories on BATTLESTAR which would seem more at home in the Word War II farce HOGAN'S HEROES (CBS/Bing Crosby, 1965-71). If this series was going to keep doing stories about commando raids, they should've made at least some recurring characters into full-time commandos. Thus far in the story, Richard Hatch's Apollo looks like a fish out of water. Why risk the Galactica's top fighter pilots like this? Starbuck might be understandable as the shuttle pilot. The whole notion of criminals participating in this mission is as poorly conceived of a plot device as using a child and his robo-mutt. The time devoted to these silly asides could've been more wisely used showing Starbuck (and maybe Boomer) having some kind of personality conflict with Nomen or some black-sheep team of SEALS which wound up on the Galactica after the Cylon ambush at Cimtar.

If this pulsar gun is so fearsome, the expedition's shuttle should never have been able to approach Arcta, let alone make planetfall.

Here we go again with Starbuck and women. Three blonde models who look like clones of Tracy Vaccaro. At least BATTLESTAR's makers gave Starbuck some foresight. (Vaccaro would ultimately become PLAYBOY's Miss October, 1983. Maybe Hugh Hefner and his centerfold-recruiting operation were "inspired" by this show.) And isn't it neat how the male clones speak without inflection, but the Vaccaro-alikes have that Euro accent? Funny how Starbuck has time to leer at the ladies while he's feeling guilty about leaving Cree behind.

The single-scene appearance of Baltar and Lucifer is much improved from "The Long Patrol", but still leave much to be desired. If this maneuvering is all Baltar's scheme, we should've seen more of his involvement. The only thing different we see is a more serious vindictive edge to his speech. These two characters are dying of neglect before our eyes.

Did Vulpa have to use the main gun to shoot down the viper when it was right on top of the mountain? Haven't these Cylons ever heard of secondary AA batteries?

If the Cylons have their own fighters in the air to fend off the good guys, what's to stop them from shooting down one of their own? Presumably, a garrison doesn't have an infinite supply of ships to expend.

Spectacle Value

There is the legitimate complaint that GALACTICA recycled many pieces of FX footage so many times they loose their effect. This show could've done without so many viper launchings. Still, this particular BSG outing gave us some atmospheric adaptations of that footage which were nicely done.

The pulse generator effect itself, revealing the guts of the weapon in operation, was an impressive effect.

The crash of Cree's Viper, combined with the full-scale mock-up of the ship in the fake snow set, were good. They could've been excellent if we had seen Cree's breath.

Use of the snow ram, especially Starbuck's shooting down of the Cylon fighter, was beautiful. A shame we don't get to see more of it. (Actually, it would've been neat to see suped-up work snowmobiles, or even STAR WARS-style moto-gliders, but that would've been even more expensive.

The notion of a Cylon hit rupturing the hull of the shuttle and resulting in a whole in the bulkhead was also nicely done.

We see, for the first time in BATTLESTAR, multiple conversations taking place between centurions outside of a fighter cockpit. Some conventions are adopted. One, a command centurion, Vulpa, is golden while its subordinates are silver. This is a nice touch. Another, clumsier device is the motion of the front of the Cylons' helmets when one centurion is talking in a room full of them. Since they all sound the same and all look the same, the Cylon scenes are often confusing anyway. Maybe they could have used the illuminated mouthpiece seen on Lucifer to better facilitate Cylon dialogue. For that matter, maybe they should have made Vulpa an IL-series Cylon. Jonathan Harris, the smooth-talking voice of Lucifer, could've done a creepier job torturing Cadet Cree. The real problem here is the lack of distinguishing varieties of Cylons. The show's makers should've developed at least two more series of them, or made more IL-series units with distinguishing characteristics. It would've been a nice touch to see an IL-series Cylon wearing a helmet-like cone, instead of having the glittering brains exposed. Maybe a different-colored face and cape would also have helped.

The computer graphics in this episode were a let-down. That goes for both Cylon and Colonial graphics. No excuses here; even for 1978 they were lackluster.

The superimposition of fog-like blowing snow in the "outdoor" scenes is tolerable. Again, it would be better if we could see the human and clone characters' breath. That would bring the cold home to the viewer. Instead, this comes of as sanitized, canned '70's TV. Fake, fake, fake.

IF BATTLESTAR GALACTICA WERE NEW TODAY:

This episode would be a tough sell. Even without the planetary rotation issue and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE/DIRTY DOZEN criticism, the characters would have to pursue this adventure in a more serious tone, like the espionage tale THE HEROES OF TELEMARK (British, 1965).

The time spent on the planet, both the Cylon scenes and the commando scenes, would have to be more extensive.

The clone society would have to be better developed than the plastic, bearded-men-and-model-turned-actresses. It could be quite interesting, exploring why the Cylons consider them sub-human. The groundwork for it is laid in this show. Perhaps the sameness of these clones could have a psychological effect not unlike the alteration imprisoned Jews endured in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II, when the prisoners' heads were shaved and they were made to wear simple clothes, if any. This demoralized the prisoners.

There are close connections between this episode and the novel. While the novel itself could've been better science fiction, it points to the very real possibility that television could follow a more intense, literary model, not unlike motion pictures. Perhaps is GALACTICA were more sci fi oriented, it would give the franchise more depth and drama.

The ill-fated viper escort for the expedition's shuttle underscored that GALACTICA needed an armed class of shuttle, not unlike the Runabouts of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE or the Delta Flyer of STAR TREK: VOYAGER. How ridiculous that the only way the mission team could defend themselves from a Cylon strafing run was to get out the snow ram and use its weapons. Why can't the ship itself pack firepower? The bombers of World War II relied on fighter protection, but they also bristled with machine guns.

If the plot's basis in the notion that the Galactica is being "herded into this safe passage" were to make any sense to today's audience, there would have to be significant astronomical circumstances. Perhaps if the Galactica's fleet were being funneled through a star cluster or nebula, where there were all kinds of hidden hazards to linear space travel, the notion could be accepted. This would require an appropriate starfield backdrop for the spaceships to be set against. The best way to show Arcta as the key to the strait would be an imposing asteroid field. Would that not be out of the question for modern, computer-generated FX?

TIDBITS & NITPICKS

This is one viewer who doesn't see the point in showing a bunch of centurions standing in a row moving a couple of large slide-dials up and down. It looked silly.

True to form, we've already forgotten about the female viper pilot cadets. All boys again, and disobedient ones at that. Neat how they are entrusted with a ship before they are taught discipline.

This episode built up the Starbuck character. He is shown not only in a command situation, but with a commensurate attitude. He worries about the pilots under his command. He even says "that's a direct order!" In the strangely discontinuous scenes where Dirk Benedict wears shorter hair, he looks a little more military, by the way. There is a nice little scene where he is shown sneaking into a computer station and apparently inputting bogus career data to make it look like he's qualified so he can go on this expedition. Another beautiful scene is when Boomer is having a hard time accepting Starbuck's qualifications, even to the point of wondering aloud to Starbuck's face whether the records have been altered.

Another Starbuck special moment in this show, which some would dismiss as a blooper, is when he appears to address Adama in a naval discipline. He refers to the commander as "Captain", and says "Aye, sir" more than once. It's actually a nice touch. Too bad it is dismissed by some as a blooper. If Starbuck were a naval full-lieutenant, he would have the commensurate rank for the probe mission that a more junior airforce or marine lieutenant would lack. It would make more sense for him to command a small wing of fighters, piloted by trainees. And the reference to Adama as "Captain" opens up some intriguing lines of thought as well. Perhaps the term "Commander" is Adama's title, not his rank. And if this is true of "Colonel" Tigh as well, it casts a new light on how the Colonial military is organized.

I recently discussed evolution and conventions of naval rank with a former petty officer who was in the U.S. Navy. I learned that in some non-English-speaking nations, navies employ a ranking system that does not use the term "commander" as a stratum of rank, like the U.S., U.K. and Canada do. Here is an excerpt for an e-mail dialogue I enjoyed with this gentleman:

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Other European nations pretty much have the same number of ranks as the US, +/- one. Most nations use the basics of "admiral," "captain," and "lieutenant," just like we do. The subdivisions have come between different admirals (who commands fleets, who commands squadrons, who commands divisions), different captains (who commands bigger or smaller vessels) and lieutenants (who are senior enough to be command vessels, be seconds in command &c.). Most countries in the 1800s modified their navy ranks so they lined up with their army ranks. It's easier to transliterate the officer titles than the enlisted ones. You'll notice the odd-sounding title "captain-lieutenant," this is equivalent to our lieutenant commander and originated to indicate a lieutenant in command of a small vessel.

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This opens the door for Adama's title of "Commander" to mean "Commander-in-Chief", a term often used to describe the top brass in a given theater, fleet or operation. If Tigh's "Colonel" is a title indicating his supervision of pilots and other infantry-style troops stationed aboard the Galactica (it's a mighty big ship; there must be some troops aboard her) then perhaps he fits into this naval scheme of things as well. As for Flight Captain Apollo, perhaps his rank connotes something like a "Captain-Lieutenant", or "Corvette Captain". This would make him similar to a lieutenant commander in the U.S.N. This rank would match his responsibilities aboard the Galactica, while still giving him room for advancement.

The notion of stated ranks of "Sergeant", "Flight Sergeant" and "Corporal" in GALACTICA need not conflict with this naval convention, either. Many navies of Earth use land ranks as assignment titles in naval infantry regiments and other atypical land-based operations. Hence a petty officer can be referred to as a "platoon sergeant". Italian and Dutch navies even incorporate "sergeant" and "corporal" as part of their basic naval rank stratum.

This kind of naval discipline would go a long way to more adequately defining the military culture, and thus the characters, of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.