“You Can’t Go Home Again” is episode five of season one of the new Battlestar Galactica.
In the previous episode, “Act of Contrition”, Starbuck took out the Cylon Raiders, with some help from Hot Dog, but her Viper was damaged and crashing before she bailed. This episode opens with Hot Dog recovered by Boomer, his Viper adrift. He’s brought back to Galactica and Commander Adama asks him about Starbuck. Adama is sure Starbuck is still alive and Apollo, after pinning his wings on Hot Dog, headed out to find Starbuck.
Starbuck is on the ground. She comes around, being dragged by her chute, smashing her knee on a rock before cutting the chute free.
Gaeta is telling Adama they haven’t found any sign of Starbuck or her Viper. The commander wants more pilots; everyone who can fly is up. The commander thinks it’s time to start guessing where Starbuck is. In CIC, Gaeta guesses Starbuck’s Viper wound up on a planetary body. There’s a gas giant and a moon; Tigh says if she went into the gas giant, she’s dead. The moon isn’t habitable, but Starbuck has her flight suit. With about 46 hours of oxygen.
Colonel Tigh is concerned the Cylons will appear. The commander says they won’t for a while. A patrol instead of a base ship means the Cylons don’t know where they are. They’re searching a lot of places where supplies could be. Tigh says it would take weeks, but the commander says they have to assume the Cylons are better and faster. Days, not weeks.
Searching the moon is difficult, because it has cloud cover. Adama says the searchers need to go below the clouds and search the old-fashioned way. The Mark I Eyeball. President Roslin calls the commander; she’s happy he found one pilot and offers the rest of the fleet to search for Starbuck.
Gaius had come to see the president, to get her to sign off on a requisition. Number Six is asking him how long before the Cylons return, and how can the fleet be protected, spread across a system? One or two days, three at most? Gaius asks Roslin if it’s wise to compromise the security of the entire fleet? He knows the missing pilot personally – not as personally as he’d like, according to Number Six – so isn’t unsympathetic. Roslin is sure Adama will have considered this.
After finishing taping her knee up, Starbuck checks her radio. It’s broken. Then the atmosphere. It’s not breathable. She decides to head to higher ground. The searchers aren’t having much luck; Apollo and Boomer nearly hit a ridge, as visibility is still poor.
Starbuck is telling the Lords of Kobol she’s low on 02 and could use a lucky break. And comes across the last Cylon Raider. There’s blood on its head – and that may well be the right term – as Starbuck killed it. She thinks it’s her ride out if she can fix it.
Apollo is on bingo fuel and is told to return to Galactica. The tankers are themselves refuelling, and he’ll be dry before they return. Gaeta tells the commander they are having problems keeping up with fuel. Colonel Tigh says the civilians are spread across the system; they will have a hard time if the Cylons appear. He wants to pull them back. Adama does not.
Starbuck has got inside the Cylon Raider, to find flesh. The moon’s atmosphere is wrecking Vipers, and Apollo and Adama are getting obsessed with finding Starbuck. Starbuck herself is attempting to get a partially organic ship to fly, to get back to Galactica. In an enemy ship.
Helo and Caprica Boomer are in the bunker they found in the previous episode. They haven’t been able to contact anyone else. They’re going to load up with supplies and head out, to see if they can find something that flies. Helo heads up to the restaurant to make breakfast. Then a Cylon Centurion enters. The toaster pops up, Boomer comes upstairs and the Centurion opens fire. Helo takes it down but there’s another and he gets knocked out. When he comes around, there are no Centurions and no Boomer. Is this some sort of ploy?