I distinctly remember seeing the jump flashes through the glass-like enclosure of the flight pods, and I still think that the damage inflicted by Boomer’s one jump should have been appropriately multiplied by however many Raptors there were.

In my original approximation, that effect should have blown the arm away and practically the entire hull on that side. That amount of structural damage would have “sunk” Galactica independent of any actual broadside battle damage.

However, I’ll wait for the dvd and take another look.

The jump literally blew open the flight pod. As in, it was totally destroyed. Most likely that damage was the reason it was unable to retract, which led to the massive damage that resulted from their emergency jump. And in Someone To Watch Over Me, Tigh was saying the jump would “rip out her guts” if the flight pod was to be retracted and put inside the ship. The raptors didn’t jump until it had already been put out.

Good point about the warheads not being dangerous unless they are primed, but I still don’t think they were necessary. If Galactica was going to blow the Colony after it left, they would have done better to keep a Raptor out of the fray with the specific purpose of shooting after the escape. Putting nukes on all those Raptors seems foolhardy.

Plus, I didn’t know they even had all those nukes. They made such a big deal about giving Baltar the one.

The thing with the Raptors jumping from aboard Galactica is that the show didn’t have to have it this way. The writers could have scripted it that Galactica crashes in. Vipers and Raptors launch. Raptors jump away.

It would have been less immediate, but it would have been stronger continuity-wise.

I take your points about the Colony being unstable. I guess the size difference between it and Galactica made me think it was more safe than it probably really was.

I fully agree that each character still had to make his/her own choices, but when there are guiding “angels” harping at your every move, I think that holds a lot of influence. I would even consider it stacking the deck. That’s, of course, my personal opinion.

Thanks for visiting!

Nitpick: The two shown jumps—the Raptors from aboard Galactica and Galactic itself—should have resulted in more damage. After all the trouble they went to to emphasize Boomer’s jump away with Hera, I would have liked to have seem a more consistent presentation on this point.

While you do bring up an interesting point with how little damage to the pod was shown as a result of the jump, I think that it would have slowed down the action just a bit if there was an elaboration on this. Remember, most of the Galactica’s structural failure came after her final jump. Therefore, while it did show some damage from the in-pod FLT jump, the overall effect was better shown after the final jump.

Nitpick: What the hell were the eight nukes supposed to do? Did all the other Raptors have nukes too? What if an asteroid hit a Raptor and exploded the weapons. The entire squad would have been wiped out. Pointless part of the plan.

Actually, the Raptors were ordered to go hot when they were within range of The Colony. However, it was Racetrack who decided to go ahead of schedule so that she’d be ready when the time came. But, I do agree with you, having the nukes hot would make for a dangerous situation if her Raptor were destroyed as a result of the collision. But, in any case, and yes, the other Raptors were armed with nukes as well, if the others followed orders to wait until they were in range of The Colony before activating their warheads, a collision would not set off a nuclear detonation (similar incidents have occured on Earth in reality which resulted in no nuke detonation).

Nitpick: Why were the assault teams not using explosive rounds? They were so effective in that one episode where Centurions boarded Galactica.

This is a good question. It is unlikely that the assault teams would use explosive rounds in their assault on The Colony. The reason for this is, the Cylon satellite had already sustained a direct impact from Galactica’s crashing into it, which resulted in structural rupturing. Therefore, the overall integrety of The Colony would be in jeapordy since the Galactica had weakened it. Therefore, if an accidental explosive charge or round were discharged within The Colony, the rest of the satellite would likely suffer complete failure, thus everyone would die and likely destroy the Galactica with it.

“I don’t remember what happened to Boomer’s family. Why was the service all she had?”

Remember, Boomer had no real family because she was a Cylon. Prior to discovering her real self, she had thought she was from Troy, which was on Caprica. These were implanted memories for her role as an infiltrator. So, in retrospect, the service (to the Cylons) was all she had.

Now, finally, let me cover God for you. God, in the BSG universe, is more of something that is believed in. But, without proof of His or Her existence. This is like the Judeo-Christian God (or any other deity worshiped here on Earth). Our gods on Earth no more interfere with things than those of the BSG universe. The reason for this is, everyone has the right to make his or her decisions. That is the basis of Judeo-Christian belief and similarly those of the BSG gods.

There are many unanswered questions, that is for sure. Was it all about Starbuck, as you have questioned? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But, one thing is for certain, we may get the answers in either Caprica or BSG: The Plan.