(Battlestar Galactica 2004, Caprica and Blood & Chrome)
Black Market is an episode of the TV series, Battlestar Galactica, and aired during the show's second season. Executive Producer Ron D. Moore was ultimately unsatisfied with the episode, finding the story to be unengaging and the narrative flow too generic and predictable as though a procedural drama.[1]
Plot[]
[]
The episode begins with Cpt. Lee "Apollo" Adama pointing a gun at a man in black, Phelan, on board a civilian ship. The man is calm and believes Apollo won't shoot. It then cuts to 48 hours earlier on Cloud 9. Lee wakes up in bed with a prostitute, Shevon, who he has been seeing regularly since his experience on the Blackbird. Having overslept by an hour, he quickly heads off back to Galactica before Colonel Saul Tigh notices he is AWOL. Apollo finishes getting dressed, and spots Shevon has also had to trade for antibiotics recently. He turns his attention to Shevon's daughter, Paya, who he has bought a stuffed doll for. He pays her for the night spent and leaves.
On Galactica, President Laura Roslin holds an urgent meeting with Vice President Dr. Gaius Baltar, Adm. William Adama, Commander Jack Fisk. Over the recent weeks imbalanced distribution of goods has led to a shortage of necessary supplies, and an influential black market operation has established itself while Roslin was in Galactica's sickbay. While it is impossible to put a blanket stop on trade, Roslin draws the line at the distribution of antibiotics and wants the Colonial Fleet to aid the government in stomping it out. Following the meeting, Fisk and Baltar walk down a causeway, freely discussing the failings with Roslin's policy, with Fisk finding the whole thing a joke. He departs with an offer of sending Baltar another pack of cigars, implying he is bribing the Vice President for favours.
Fisk returns to Pegasus and gets comfortable in his ready room. He realises he is not alone, and meets Phelan, who he has had dealings with before. Fisk is then garrotted by another mobster who was hiding behind him.
Act 1[]
Racetrack takes Apollo back to Galactica in Raptor 219. During the transport he has flashbacks of his accident in the Blackbird, and of Gianne, a girlfriend he had on Caprica who ran out on him. In sickbay, Maj. Cottle examines the body of Fisk in front of Adama and Tigh, and finds a piece of jewellery lodged in his throat, which would appear to be a calling card. Apollo is informed of the death in Adama's office, and is assigned the investigation due to concerns there is a conflict-of-interest if Pegasus' crew handle it.
Apollo arrives on Pegasus and enters Fisk's office. Guarded by Marines, it has not been entered since the medical team recovered his body. A glass table is cracked and covered in blood where he fell. In a closet are cases of Caprican Imperial cigars and case of jewellery containing Ellen Tigh's bangle. Baltar arrives outside the office for a scheduled meeting and is let in, only now finding out about the murder. Apollo begins questioning him about his reasons for being there and recognises Caprican Imperial as his brand. Baltar does not appreciate his suggestions, and is urged by Messenger Six to hold his ground, and lies that he was meeting Fisk to better explain Roslin's trade deal. Adama has him escorted off the ship by the guards.
Apollo returns to Galactica with fresh information from his investigation which is damning of Fisk's conduct as Commander. His personal logs show he was making frequent Raptor visits to ships across the fleet without Command Authorization and had seized goods from McConnell and almost a dozen other ships in the past week. His hypothesis is that Fisk was hoarding these goods and was murdered by a supplier. Still without a suspect, Apollo heads to Tigh's quarters to ask about the bangle. With Ellen absent, he interviews the Colonel instead. Noticing they have fresh fruit, he accuses him of being a participant in black market trading. Tigh scoffs at the accusation and, while admitting it, calls out Apollo's hypocrisy in questioning his own integrity. In a flashback to a previous meeting with Shevon, Apollo remembers hearing about the black market and how there has been an increase in women turning to prostitution on Cloud 9 just to get basic essentials, and how Paya is suffering from fever due to a lack of antibiotics, implying Apollo was the one who got the medicine.
Apollo heads to the gym to cool down, where he is approached by Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla. Dee wants to know if they are moving towards a relationship, but he is too busy to answer. After working out he gets a priority call from Cloud 9, and learns Shevon has been threatened by black market mobsters who have caught wind of the investigation. Apollo packs her bags to take her and Paya to Galactica for their safety, but is attacked by a mobster who was waiting for him. The man begins garroting him as another assaults Shevon. Rather than killing him, however, the man stops, and Apollo is given an ultimatum by Phelan, the mob leader. He must stop his investigation now, or Shevon and Paya will be killed. He then kicks Apollo in the head, knocking him out.
Act 2[]
Apollo wakes up in Shevon's room with a concussion and calls a security team down to L Deck. She and Paya are nowhere to be found, but the man who tried to garrote him lies dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
On Colonial One, Roslin holds a meeting with Baltar to discuss recent events. While maintaining pleasant conversation, Roslin quickly makes her position known: she knows about his connection to Fisk, doesn't believe his excuses, and wants him to quietly resign as Vice President. At Messenger Six's insistence, he holds his ground once more, believing Roslin to be intimidated by him.
Back on Cloud 9, the security team has arrived on L Deck and one man stays inside to check the body. Finding the wire, he concludes this was the man that killed Fisk. Councilman Tom Zarek enters the room, heaving heard about the murder during a Quorum meeting. His arrival gets Apollo's suspicion, and he questions him about Fisk's three visits to Astral Queen in the past ten days. Caught out, he names Fisk as one of the major players in the black market, and was attempting to recruit Zarek as his chief supplier so the repeated Raptor visits would cease before raising Adama's suspicion. Having turned down the offer to protect his political career, Fisk had ordered a boycott on standard supply runs to Astral Queen. Moving on to the more urgent matter, Zarek explains that Fisk's killer was executed by his fellow mobsters to provide Apollo's with a conclusion to the investigation. A ship in the fleet, Prometheus, is connected to these mobsters and is so strongly tied to the black market it has supposedly "gone off the grid". Phelan is the leader of this operation and is based on the ship.
Act 3[]
Apollo takes Raptor alone to Prometheus. The ship is a bustling marketplace frequented by people from all backgrounds, including Galactica crew. Alongside illegal narcotics, he spots a room full of children being stored as merchandise for child sex trafficking, with Paya amongst the children.
Heading into a bar, Apollo is identified by Phelan and his men immediately and the room is emptied so they can talk in private. Phelan served in the Colonial Fleet once, and was a mercenary in the lead-up to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. He tries to establish a rapport with Apollo by comparing his father, also in the service, to Adama. Failing that, he provides Shevon as proof she has not been harmed, and reveals he is also leading a prostitute ring; with Shevon as one of his high-class escorts he never really intended to kill her, and was able to use her to get to Apollo. Phelan admits to the killing of Fisk's assassin to give him an out, and further gives his motive to ordering Fisk's assassination being as punishment for being too greedy. Finally, he defends the black market as a necessity, including child trafficking.
Having heard enough, Apollo takes a seat with Phelan and warns him Galactica is tracking his ship on DRADIS and if he were to die they would know where to look. He offers his own ultimatum: hand over Shevon and Paya, shut down their operation, and they'll be let go. Phelan rejects the offer, having already sold Paya. Apollo begins toying with Phelan, and soon takes his gun off him.
Act 4[]
Apollo admits that Phelan is probably right about the black market being an inevitability, but he will not accept the lines he has crossed. As Phelan toys with Apollo, he is shot dead. Rather than kill Phelan's guards, Apollo allows them control of the black market on condition they stop murders, hoarding of medicines and child trafficking. Apollo is ready to leave the bar, but Shevon rejects him over her ordeal and accuses him of treating her like a replacement to his girlfriend.
On Colonial One, Apollo hands over his report to Roslin. She is concerned about Prometheus, and is disappointed the Colonial Fleet will merely "keep an eye on it". He insists they let Prometheus stay open, as this way they know who is in charge and where they are based. Back on Prometheus, Tom Zarek arrives.
In Galactica's gym, Dee is exercising with Billy Keikeya, who she is also involved with. Apollo pays her a visit, but leaves without saying a word.
Cast[]
- Edward James Olmos as Commander William Adama
- Mary McDonnell as President of the Twelve Colonies Laura Roslin
- Katee Sackhoff as Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
- Jamie Bamber as Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama
- James Callis as Doctor Gaius Baltar
- Tricia Helfer as Messenger Six
- Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh
- Paul Campbell as Billy Keikeya
- Kandyse McClure as Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla
- Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek
- Claudette Mink as Shevon
- Donnelly Rhodes as Major Sherman Cottle
- Bill Duke as Phelan
- Leah Cairns as Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson
- Amy Lalonde as Gianne
- Hayley Guiel as Paya
- John Mann as Linden
- James Ashcroft as Security Officer
- Brad Mann as Pegasus Marine
- Gustavo Febres as Herbalist
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Lee "Apollo" Adama
- William Adama
- Karl "Helo" Agathon
- Gaius Baltar
- Anastasia Dualla
- Felix Gaeta
- Calandra Henderson
- Billy Keikeya
- Number Eight
- Number Six
- Laura Roslin
- Saul Tigh
- Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
- Galen Tyrol
Locations[]
Species[]
Technology[]
Vehicles and vessels[]
Organizations[]
Production[]
Writing[]
The script was written primarily by co-Executive Producer Mark Verheiden, with rewrites tackled by Moore.[1] The story was written based on a writer's room meeting, which wanted to explore life outside Galactica and see how the fleet copes with there being no police force. Having not wanted an episode dealing with a rampant drug problem or slavery, it was decided it would focus on black market goods, and more specifically criminal gangs hoarding supplies. A second story conceived of was one for Apollo's personal life and how far his life is being left astray following Resurrection Ship.[1] The character of Shevon was written as a reference to Cassiopeia from the original series, not simply in being prostitutes, but with the unscandalous nature of their relationship with a lead indicating prostitution was not so heavily crowned upon in the Twelve Colonies as it is in the United States.[1] With the scene with Baltar and Roslin, it was decided that Roslin would not outright accuse him of colluding with the Cylons, as he was already accused of this in Six Degrees of Separation.[1] In having Apollo shoot Phelan, the writing team were inspired by a tendency in procedurals for the episode's villain to question the protagonist's willingness to kill, and die after trying to grab a gun. For Black Market, it was decided in the first day that Apollo kill him in cold blood, with no self-defence justification.[1]
An idea dropped during the writing was that Apollo began seeing Shevon because he had temporarily lost his flight status while he was recovering from the events of Resurrection Ship. His flight to Prometheus was, in fact, the first time he was flying any craft since that episode.[1]
Directing[]
Sequences were filmed of actor Jamie Bamber floating in body of water to symbolise Apollo's personal journey, which was inspired by the novel Heart of Darkness.[1]
Editing[]
The episode was not scripted to begin with a flashforwards. This sequence was added into the teaser to provide a framing device, making the story now about how Apollo was pushed so far as to aim a gun at someone.[1] The various flashbacks with Apollo were moved around across the episode. The attempt on Apollo's life at the end of Act 1 was to take place in the next act, and was moved earlier in Moore's hopes of keeping people interested.[1]
A number of scenes were cut or trimmed for time, with blu-ray copies listing over 9 minutes. This consists of:
- An additional minute of teaser, in which Shevon offers her father's locket to Lee after he pays 100 Cubits extra.
- The opening to Act 1, where an officer walks in on Fisk's body.
- An extension of Act 1 where Dee talks to Lee about his recovery from the Resurrection Ship encounter, revealing she knows what his dying thoughts were and shares them. This was cut out on the grounds it and the gym scene presented the same information, though Moore regretted the decision as it removed the context for the latter scene.[1]
- A scene from Act 1 where Lee returned to Pegasus to talk to Commander Trenell, but hears from Captain Renner he has already gone to Galactica to meet Adama. Trenner insults the Admiral for assigning an outsider to investigate, and is assaulted.
- An extended opening for Act 2, where Lee lies on the floor after the attack. He thinks back to talking to Shevon about Gianne, who he says hated her name while he took weeks to pronounce correctly.
- A sequence from Act 3 where Lee arrives on Prometheus and is hassled by a black marketeer working for Phelan; people without merchandise to trade have to queue up. To get through, he trades Shevon's father's locket after learning handguns are so commonplace they are worthless to barter.
- A sequence from Act 3 where Lee is halted going down a corridor and refuses to surrender his sidearm to the security guard. This results in a fight with two guards, who he knocks out without the need for guns. A third takes him from behind.
- An extended sequence for Act 4 where Shevon refuses to continue her services with Lee; in another flashback it reveals he told her Gianne was pregnant when they broke up.
Notes[]
- Ronald D. Moore recorded a podcast, which can be found here.
- Ronald D. Moore does not particularly like this episode, thinking the plot was predictable.