Battlestar Galactica Season Three, Episode "The Woman King", Page 1
The episode begins with a panorama of the entire fleet, then quickly switches to Helo and Athena's room, aboard the Battlestar Galactica. Helo is having trouble sleeping, so after a quick glance over at his wife, who is fast asleep, he decides his only alternative to tossing and turning, is to get up and start pacing the floor. Since, this action seems to have no affect on his insomnia, he starts going over some paperwork to make better use of his time.
In the morning, Helo is the one who is fast asleep and his wife is standing over him, with the baby in her arms. She wakes him up and they both get ready to report for duty. As they are headed to their duty stations, Athena asks, "Pretty rough night, last night, huh?", to which Helo gives no answer. Athena taps him on the shoulder to get his attention, then says, "Hey? I said you didn't sleep, so well.", to which Helo replies, "Ahh, stupid dream, whatever." They continue walking and Athena asks, "So, you're ok?", to which Helo, simply, replies, "Yeah." Athena, then says, "They're about to increase the population down there, by over 300 and you're ok?" Helo replies with, "Yeah ...I don't know where I'm going to put em, but it's not like I'm walking around taking my home cross ...I'm fine.", as he pats her on the tush to reassure her.
As they are walking, we hear Apollo, Starbuck, and a few others approaching from the other end of the corridor. Apollo yells, "Hey, there he is!" and Starbuck jokingly says, "If it isn't the Mayor of Dogsville." Athena replies with a friendly, "Hey, cut him some slack, guys." Starbuck continues to joke with, "I hear you just got a new shipment of loyal subjects." There is some more joking around, then the group continues past the couple, which gives Athena a chance to talk to Helo a bit more, before they go their separate ways. Athena moves closer to Helo and asks, "You're going to check up on Hera, right?", to which Helo replies with an assuring, "Yes, I'm gonna check up on Hera.", as he gives her a goodbye hug and smooch.
New Scene:
Still onboard the Battlestar Galactica, the scene begins with a very large crowd, moving down a stairway into a converted cargo hold, where there are countless bunks prepared for the influx of new people. The camera pans down the stairs to show Helo is in charge of reception. Helo is directing people to keep moving, then he says, "Welcome aboard the Galactica, people. My name is Captain Karl Agathon. I've been assigned to look after your personal welfare. We'll get to it, soon. I need you to keep moving, for now." Then, we hear one of the refugees ask, "Where are you putting the Sagitarons?", to which Helo replies, "Living arrangements have not been made, yet. I need you to keep moving." The Sagittaron refugee yells, "We want to be with our own!" Colonel Tigh has just arrived, so he yells back at the refugee, "You heard the man! Get your ass in motion!" The refugee just stares with resentment, then Colonel Tigh yells, "MOVE!" and the man continues on. Helo turns to the colonel and says, "I got things under control, here, colonel." Colonel Tigh looks around and sarcastically replies, "Yeah, sure you do."
The camera pans over to show Dr. Robert stopping a woman to examine her. He says, "Excuse me, ma'am? Could I have a brief look at your ...", but he is interrupted by the woman, "No, no, no. We're fine, We're fine. We don't need a doctor." Dr. Robert replies with a condescending, "Ok ...Alright, I know.", then turns around to wave Dee over to his position. The woman continues to insist, "We don't need a doctor.", to which Dr. Robert replies, "I know.", but he continues to call for Dee. The woman responds with more resistance, "Look, we don't need a doctor. We're Sagittaron. We don't believe in medicine." Dee arrives and says, "It's alright, ma'am This is Dr. Robert. He's a civilian doctor. He has nothing to do with the military. We'll respect your traditions. You can trust me, I'm Sagittaron. It's ok." The doctor then asks, "Alright? Ok?", as he reaches to her face and neck to give her an examination.
The scene fast forwards to show the doctor examining her son and when he says, "Do you feel anything? How about here?" , the boy makes a gasping noise, to signify that he is in pain. The Sagittaron mother, interrupts the doctor, "Alright, that's enough.", as she tries to pull her son away. Her son tries to get away and says, "Get your hands off me!" The doctor is disappointed that he was not allowed to continue the exam, but he turns to help someone else, only to be rejected, again, "Hey! Just keep your hands to yourself." The camera pans around the room, to show many people affected by this sickness, but the doctor is unable to help, due to similar resistance and paranoia. How can you offer medical assistance to a people, who's religious belief, demands them not to accept it?
Suddenly, we hear someone yell, "Mike!? Ya brain dead card cheat! You still owe me that drink." The doctor turns around to see Colonel Tigh approaching him from behind. The doctor, with great concern, turns to his friend and says, "Saul? Get out of here, now.", to which the colonel replies, "Well, you're in a good mood, today." Helo, walks up to the doctor and says, "Hey Doc? I don't know, but some of these people look uh...", to which the doctor finishes the sentence, "Sick..." and Helo continues, "Sick, yeah." Suddenly, the camera pans over to show the woman's son fall to the ground and Dee yell, "Medic! Dr. Robert!?" The doctor turns to his friend and urgently demands, "Leave, Saul.", then runs over to the fallen boy, but the woman screams, "Get your hands off my son!" The doctor ignores her demand, puts the boy's arms around his shoulder, and carries him to sickbay.
The camera pans around the room, to show what appears to be, the start of an epidemic ...and even though the doctor could help, most people refuse to accept.
New Scene:
Still onboard the Battlestar Galactica, Admiral Adama, Colonel Tigh, Dr. Robert, Dr. Cottle, and Helo are sitting in the Admiral's office, discussing the epidemic, when Colonel Tigh asks, "So, what do we got here, Mike?", directing the question to Dr. Robert. He answers, "Malerak Sickness ...It originates in the kidneys and rapidly attacks the respiratory and the immune systems." Dr. Cottle offers, "It's a nasty bit of business ...If you don't treat the first symptoms within 48 hours, it'll kill you within three to five days." Admiral Adama, then asks, "How contagious is it?", to which Dr. Robert replies, "Well, it's not airborne, so we lucked out, there. It's spread through human contact ...saliva, sexual intercourse, through the skin ...right now it seems confined to Sagitarons." colonel Tigh interrupts, "That's good, they're welcome to it." Dr. Robert continues, "It's, obviously spreading down there, where we were working." Helo asks, "Is it curable?" and Dr. Cottle replies, "Absolutely. A shot of Bitamucin and your right as rain, in a day or two and sedatives to alleviate the symptoms ...But, I don't know how long our stock of Bitamucin will hold out, so we should probably, conserve it and only inoculate after the first symptoms show."