Characters: President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell)
                   Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis)
                   Elosha (Lorena Gale)
                   Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos)

Scene Summary: During the battle to destroy the Resurrection Hub Baltar is injured. Laura, in an act of comapssion dresses his wound. When the pain medication takes effect he reveals his part in the destruction of the twelve colonies. In response Laura takes of the bandage and proceeds to let him bleed to death as he begs for his life. As he comes close to death and she prays, she is thrust back into the visons she's been having throughout the episode whenever the ship jumps. In this particular one, Elosha explains that she has to forgive and love in order to prove that the human race deserves to survive.

Thoughts: This scene is easily one of the best written for television ever. I'd loved the character of Laura Roslin from the start and I really hated where they had been taking her character prior to this scene. I understood it, I just didn't like it. Mary McDonnell, a hell of an actress in any circumstance, absolutly outdid her self here. I was getting chills as she prayed while Baltar bled out. I even felt honest to god relief when she made the right choice because I was so completely into the whole thing. Just an excellent, excellent scene.

Quotes: (These characters belong to NBC Universal. The dialogue was written by Jane Espenson. For the final time, I swear I'm not making money off this.)

(The battle continues as the Heavy Raiders and Vipers rush back to the Rebel Basestar. There's an explosion; the Centurion and Gaius fall. He discovers that he's bleeding and begins to cry, terrified. The battle begins to wind down; Marines bring Gaius back inside.)

Roslin: Put him over there. Wait. Easy, easy. Easy slim, easy. Okay. Find out what's going on!

Marine: Yes sir.

Roslin (bandaging him) Okay.

Baltar: Thank you, thank you.

Roslin: Good.

Baltar: Thank you, thank you. Thank you...

Roslin: Okay, wait. (She injects him with morpha and he yelps.) Okay. Sorry. You have this, uh... You have this big hole in your hide, as Cottle would say. Okay. All right. I'm gonna do this again.

Baltar: Thank you.

Roslin: It's the least I can do. I think you're gonna live. As usual.

Baltar: You know something?

Roslin: What?

Baltar: You're very pretty.

Roslin: Man, that morpha worked fast.

Baltar: Still... Do you know why I'm so serene right now?

Roslin (indulging and funny) You're doped out of your mind?

Baltar: Because I know God. You need God, Laura. Really, you'd be a different woman. I know God, therefore I know myself. Truth is... I was harboring the most awful, desperate guilt. A heavy, dark... Unimaginable, soul-breaking guilt. Now it's gone. Now it's gone, it's been transformed. Into ... I have been transformed.

Roslin: What was your guilt about?

Baltar: I have no guilt.

Roslin: What was your guilt about?

Baltar: I gave the access codes to the Cylons. They wiped out most of humanity. Of course, I didn't know that's what I was doing at the time, exactly, but that's what I did. And when I realized what I had done, the magnitude... In that moment, I was saved. I was loved. By God. Looking back... I think I was rewarded.

Roslin: Rewarded.

Baltar: Pythia talks about the flood that wiped out most of humanity. Nobody blames the flood, a flood is a force of nature. Through the flood, mankind is rejuvenated, born again. I was another flood, you see. I blamed myself. I blamed myself. But God made the man who made that choice. God made us all perfect. And in that thought, all my guilt flies away... Flies away, like a bird. I can give you that peace, Laura, that freedom. Pray with me. Pray with me.

Roslin: Okay.

Baltar: Thank you.

Roslin: Okay...

(She sits down to think, having nearly fainted during all that. She watches his blood drip down onto the floor, and makes her way back to him, tenderly removing the bandage from his abdomen.)

Baltar: What are you doing?

Roslin: Shh.

Baltar: What are you doing?

Roslin: It's all right. You're fine. Shh! You're fine.

Baltar: Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me, please.

(His blood pours out in a flood.) 

Baltar: Don't do this to me, don't... Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me, please. Please. No.

(Roslin's hands are folded in prayer as he dies) No...

(Jump.)

Jump

Elosha (over Laura's deathbed) I'm not saying Baltar's done more good than harm in the universe. He hasn't. The thing is, the harder it is to recognize someone's right to draw breath, the more crucial it is. If humanity is going to prove itself worthy of surviving, it can't do it on a case-by-case basis. A bad man feels his death just as keenly as a good man.

Roslin: What do you want from me here?

Adama: Laura.

Elosha: Just love someone.

Roslin: Love. Huh.

(Dying Roslin flatlines. Bill begins to weep, and kisses her lips. He falls beside her.)

Adama: You go. You go. You go to your rest now. I'm not gonna be selfish anymore. You go. Rest.

(He takes off his wedding ring and puts in on her finger. Laura is moved. Jump.)

Basestar/Corridor

(The bandage is still on the floor. She puts on her glasses, panicking.)

Roslin (taking Baltar's pulse) No. No. Please, no. Stop bleeding. Stop the bleeding, stop the bleeding... Oh! (He stirs.) Okay, good. Don't go... 

(Laura talks herself through setting up a saline drip.)

Roslin: Please don't go, Gaius. Please. I don't know how... All right, put it in...

Roslin: No more. No more, don't go. Please don't ... die, live. Please, live. Don't go. 


1. Cally's Death - Battlestar Galactica

Characters:Cally Henderson Tyrol (Nicki Clyne)
                  Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma)

Scene Summary: After finding finding out that her husband, Chief Tyrol, is a Cylon Cally goes completely around the bend. She attacks him, steals his access keys, and flees with Nicky. She goes to the airlock intent on killing both herself and her son. Tory arrives and makes what seems to be a sincere bid to talk her out of it. Once Cally has calmed and handed Nicky to Tory to hold for a moment, Tory knocks her out. When Cally awakes, she realizes that she is alone and locked in the airlock. She looks up through the glass of the control room to see Tory holding Nicky. Tory meets Cally's eyes and pushes the button to open the airlock.

Thought: Okay, I will admit that this is is in my top ten for less exalted reasons then the rest. The acting is admittedly top notch. Sharma, in particular, is awesome. I love the way she plays out Tory's whole hearted embrace of her Cylon nature. But that's not the reason I love this scene. I love this scene because I hated the character of Cally. She was possibly the most insipid and annoying role to ever grace a television screen. I felt extremely sorry for Nicki Clyne, who I could always tell was struggling to get above the matierial she was handed. It has to be really hard to play a doormat whose only flash of spine was attempting to kill herself and murder her child. Here's hoping Clyne is handed a role worthy of her talent in her next venture. Meanwhile I will admit I rewound this on my DVR about ten times just to enjoy the character's look of utter shock as she blows out an airlock.

Quotes: (See above disclaimer. The dialogue was written by Michael Taylor)