“33” is episode one of season one of the new Battlestar Galactica.
A clock is ticking and Gaius Baltar is asleep and dreaming of Number Six. Galactica is launching Vipers and the fleet is going into FTL jump. In Galactica‘s CIC, people are looking tired and under pressure. Number Six is telling Gaius that God – so far, only Cylons seem to talk about God; the humans talk about the Lords of Kobol – has plans for him. Colonial One is getting ready to jump. Its captain says the 33 minutes are almost up and Gaius wakes up. On Galactica, Cally asks why the Cylons come every 33 minutes and Chief Tyrol tells her to shut up. In CIC, Dualla says that Jump 237 is underway and 53 ships have jumped; 10 are still reporting trouble with their FTL drives, including Colonial One. The clock reaches zero and a Cylon Basestar appears. Gaius, now awake, is telling Number Six that there it’s been five days and there are limits to the human body and human mind; tolerances they can’t push beyond.
Colonel Tigh is telling them to watch the ammo for the main guns and an explosion shakes Galactica as it takes a hit. Raiders are inbound as Colonial One jumps. All the civilians are away and Galactica recovers its fighters and jumps. At the destination, all the civilian ships are accounted for and they prepare for the next jump in 33 minutes. The Cylons follow every time and know where they’re going, even though it’s supposed to be impossible to track ships in FTL.
Commander Adama is shaving and talking to Tigh, who appears to have nodded off. Apollo is briefing the pilots and eventually tells them they know what to do. Boomer’s new ECO is telling her that the Cylons look like them and Gaius marooned one on Ragnar Anchorage. The man was a Cylon, but Gaius had got that right by accident it seems. It was also revealed at the end of that episode that Boomer is a Cylon, though no-one knows this. Possibly – assuming Gaius’s hallucination of Number Six was right about unknowing sleepers – including Boomer herself.
Dualla is checking to see if some people have been reported as being with the fleet. She’s told to put the photo on the board for now. It’s a big board, stretching through the corridors. On Colonial One, Billy has a new headcount for President Roslin. It’s down by 300; overcounts, deaths from wounds and disappeared during the last attack. The president alters the number displayed on a whiteboard. There are now less than 50,000 people.
Number Six asks Gaius if he wants children. Let me think. No. She tells him that procreation is one of God’s commandments. Gaius replies if she’s a good little Cylon, maybe God will reward her with a walking toaster of her own. Gaius then overhears Billy mention a Dr Amarak to the president, and interrupts. He used to work with Amarak at the Ministry of Defence. Amarak reputedly has important information on how the Cylons defeated their defences. Gaius wants to speak to Amarak first; he’s basically worried that Amarak could reveal what he did. Amarak wants to speak directly to the president, but there isn’t enough time to ferry him over before the next jump.
Dualla is briefing Tigh and Adama; people are collapsing from nervous exhaustion. It’s decided to give them stimulants. Adama asks Tigh if this is Tigh’s ten minutes or his. Adama’s, according to Tigh, though afterwards Dualla comments that it was Tigh’s. Tigh replies that if Adama is so tired he can’t remember whose turn it is, it’s Adama’s.
Starbuck and Apollo are by one of the Vipers; she doesn’t want to use stims. Then tells Apollo he’s the CAG, so to act like one. Stop acting as if he’s everyone’s friend. They are not friends; he’s the CAG. Starbuck tells him what he’s doing wrong, which includes not cracking down on Starbuck herself for not taking her stims. Which both find pretty funny.
On Cylon-occupied Caprica, Helo, who remained behind in the first episode of the miniseries, is running through the woods, pursued by Centurions. He lures them into a trap. Later, he is injecting himself with anti-radiation medication; not surprising, given how many nukes the Cylons used, when he sees Number Six. There’s something odd going on there.
Everyone has been awake for over 130 hours and are getting so tired mistakes are creeping in. They’re short-tempered and snapping at people, falling asleep at stations and generally look terrible. As if they’re suffering from sleep deprivation. Adama says that when they make mistakes, people die. Until they can stop the Cylons from tracking them, they can’t get sleep, but they first need to work out how they are being tracked.