MONDO EXTRAS

Cut to Adama's quarters, where he convinces Colonel McCain not to press charges against Starbuck. Interesting things we can learn from this scene include the fact that Adama knows his XO is a drunk, shoes in the future will all use octagonal Velcro fasteners, and Starbuck's real name is "Kara Thrace." Also, Edward James Olmos in brown underwear is a scary, scary sight.

Caprica City. Or, as I like to call it, Coruscant Lite. In what is indisputably the lamest subplot in the entire mini-series, Mary McDonnell meets with her doctor and gets diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. In other words, the writers have an out if the pilot gets picked up and she doesn't want to commit to a series. The other blatantly stupid thing about this scene is that an overzealous location scout has gotten a little carried away while searching for "futuristic" office space, and has elected to locate this particular doctor's office in a room where the largest wall is comprised entirely of windows. Hmm. I'm not really sure that's the sort of place most women would want to go for their annual mammogram. I mean, I enjoy a good public "turn your head and cough" just as much as the next guy, but this is taking things a little too far, I think. "I'm afraid the tests are positive," explains Doctor Voyeur. "The mass is malignant. It's advanced well past…" Well past what? Her nipples? Her sternum? My suspension of disbelief? We'll never know, because the sound a low-flying Exposition Airlines jet drowns out the rest of his dialogue. Heh. I guess people who work in glass offices shouldn't throw plot points.