Oddities in "Scattered".

[mikeforrest2003]

Hey guys.

I loved the this episode but for me it raised some interesting questions!

1. Why is the Starboard Flight Deck empty on the Galactica?

I mean think about it. There are some 47,000 people crowded into a few dozen ships of diferent sizes here and from previous episodes we know housing is a big problem. While I understand they probably didn't have enough equipment to reactiviate the deck you would think they'd use it for housing or as a training facility for marines or pilots.

And if they're using it for storage of ammo or supplies wouldn't the crew show a little more concern for the lost supplies?

2. Why would Adama send the Galactica's most senior Viper mechanic along with two other mechanics on a mission like this one? And why send an Electronic Warfare Officer on the Mission? Are they normally expendable? Do they normally participate in this sort of thing?What about the surviving marines mentioned in the Prison episode?

3. How are the Cylons able to infiltrate the computer network on Galactica? Are Colonial Communications that vulnerable that the Cylons can break in? If so why the Galactica still using the normal Communications system?

4. And wasn't Gaeta supposed to have purged the Galactica's computers of the Cylon Virus? Is Gaeta a Cylon?

What do you guys think?

[mikeforrest2003]

Forgot this one:

5. Where are Galactica's Damage Control Crews? Is it normal to fly along through space with a big hole in part of the ship?

Even if not being used you would think air might escape!

[Agent_Dark]

Ok, I'll take a shot

1. Galactica, being the sole military ship, is the biggest and most obvious target for the cylons. You generally would try and keep the civilians away from that Also, having the civilians themselves aboard the ship poses a security threat - remember what happened in Litmus?

2. I'm assuming Galactica is somewhat lacking in certain skilled personell. Considering that they dont really have anyone better to do a ground survey, they might as well use the deck crew. I'm thinking that their mission would have been something like 'go down, check around, see if it would be viable to land a few ships and set up some shelter etc' and that could easily be done by the deck crew. Also, whats to say there weren't marines or whatever in the other two raptors?
As for Crashdown, he would have been there to do his normal job - man the electronics on the Raptor. His normal pilot, Boomer, was in sickbay so he had a replacement.

3. That one had me too... I mean how do the Cylons remotely access a wired network? If they were able to do that, wouldn't that mean pulling the plug would do squat? I'm gonna write that off as a nessacary plot hole for the tension it provided in the battle

4. I don't quite understand that one... You mean the one that was trying to get past the firewall? It didn't breach the firewall, so it couldn't have infected the Galactica's computers...

5. It probably would have been easier for Galactica to seal the compartment and get the crews to check it later. Apollo reported no fire, so there wasn't any danger to the ship (or so they think ). Im going to think that episode 202 will pick up minutes after 201, when the D/C crews go to check the damage

How about that?

[Redwall]

Yeah, the whole network thing doesn't really make sense. The problem dates back to the miniseries, though, so it was consistent with the show's continuity...

Also, 47,000 may seem like a lot (and it is), but remember that originally more than 47,000 fit on the fleet collectively, so there should actually be more room now than when they started. I think many of the ships are bigger than they appear.

[LoneStar1836]

1. Why is the Starboard Flight Deck empty on the Galactica?

I mean think about it. There are some 47,000 people crowded into a few dozen ships of diferent sizes here and from previous episodes we know housing is a big problem. While I understand they probably didn't have enough equipment to reactiviate the deck you would think they'd use it for housing or as a training facility for marines or pilots.

And if they're using it for storage of ammo or supplies wouldn't the crew show a little more concern for the lost supplies?

It’s empty because that was where part of the museum was being set up for Galactica. That’s why it had the windows. Umm….and also that’s what RDM said on his podcast. Though I do question why it remained empty as well, and not used considering they are in need of space, but then again I agree with Agent Dark and think Adama is trying to keep the civilians off his ship as much as possible so that’s why they haven’t used it for say taking on people from other over crowded ships. That’s my guess. Good question though.

I’m not even going to attempt to touch the questions dealing with Galactica’s computers and how the Cylons hack into them. All I know is that when the red light flashes on the raiders, you are screwed if you have advanced computers or a computer network running.

[mikeforrest2003]

What about a sort of Colonial Boot Camp for new marines? With that much space on the Starboard side you could do a lot of training!

Also it was mentioned in the Prison Episode (can't remember the exact name sorry) that they did have some marines left. So why not send some of them instead?

[sharky277]

I think I may know the answer to the network one. He's connecting things together and wiring them together so they work together sending signals to each other, unlike before when they where seperate entities. The Cylons, with obviously wireless technology can hack into this connection and plant viruses or whathaveyou. Pulling the cord ends the connection because its like this. If you ha be a computer attached to a modem, and someones trying to hack you, you pull the plug, the no more connection for them to hop in on.

And if that doesnt suit your fancy, which I don't even know if it makes sense to me even, perhaps the cords he pulled where also power cords, cuz he did pull a lot of em, that shut down the computer he was on that they where trying to hack.

[Agent_Dark]

I think I may know the answer to the network one. He's connecting things together and wiring them together so they work together sending signals to each other, unlike before when they where seperate entities. The Cylons, with obviously wireless technology can hack into this connection and plant viruses or whathaveyou. Pulling the cord ends the connection because its like this. If you ha be a computer attached to a modem, and someones trying to hack you, you pull the plug, the no more connection for them to hop in on.

And if that doesnt suit your fancy, which I don't even know if it makes sense to me even, perhaps the cords he pulled where also power cords, cuz he did pull a lot of em, that shut down the computer he was on that they where trying to hack.

But its like this:
You connect two computers together with some standard Cat-5 crossover cable. How am I, with a wireless network card, meant to access that network? It can't be done.
Now if the Cylons were able to access that wired local network, that would mean that somewhere on that ship there is a computer that can receive wireless communication. So therefore, breaking the wired network wouldn't really do anything because the Cylon's would still be able to access that remote point. Granted they wouldn't be able to do as much damage if those 3 computers weren't networked, but they'd still be able to get in.
Unless.... There was a Cylon on board accessing the network locally...

[Helo]

1. Why is the Starboard Flight Deck empty on the Galactica?
I mean think about it. There are some 47,000 people crowded into a few dozen ships of diferent sizes here and from previous episodes we know housing is a big problem. While I understand they probably didn't have enough equipment to reactiviate the deck you would think they'd use it for housing or as a training facility for marines or pilots.

And if they're using it for storage of ammo or supplies wouldn't the crew show a little more concern for the lost supplies?

It was a museam. They are in the process of converting it back into a useable fighter landing bay.

2. Why would Adama send the Galactica's most senior Viper mechanic along with two other mechanics on a mission like this one? And why send an Electronic Warfare Officer on the Mission? Are they normally expendable? Do they normally participate in this sort of thing?What about the surviving marines mentioned in the Prison episode?

Galactica marines are shorthanded. They are MP. There won't be alot of them. With the threat of cylons as humans they need the marines also, the Electronic Warfare Officer, he was copilot in the raptor thats why he was there. Tyrol was probally sent because he is a good leader and is trustworthy. He was probally sent because of that and also because if a raptor crashed or something (lol what a coincidence).

3. How are the Cylons able to infiltrate the computer network on Galactica? Are Colonial Communications that vulnerable that the Cylons can break in? If so why the Galactica still using the normal Communications system?

They use some kind of virus that all the raiders have. It can inflitrate ONLY networked systems, It seems to be transmitted by some kind of wireless wifi thing. Also Gaeta made a few firewalls to hold them off.

4. And wasn't Gaeta supposed to have purged the Galactica's computers of the Cylon Virus? Is Gaeta a Cylon?

They retransmitted the virus. About Gaeta well I hope hes not a cylon.

[alki]

the only oddity i noticed (because it was sooooo noticeable) was the overuse of Bright Red Blood on the injured people. i'm not squeamish, but it seemed quite lame to me.

anyone in an accident is going to try to wipe off the blood for the most part, so it would be more smears than running rivulets. and more importantly, blood that has dried is NOT bright red.

the special effects people should go for a more rusty, maroonish shade.....

[mikeforrest2003]

In real History Marines started out as guards for ships and to form landing parties as in the case here. And the Galactica did apparently have enough to dispatch to the entire Fleet for riot control which suggests there must be a hundred or more. (If there weren't then why didn't Adama say so in the water shortage episode. "Madame President I don't have enough to cover every ship!" should have been sufficient.

And to the lack of them why isn't Adama having some more trained like he's doing with pilots? As I said earlier that is an obvious use for the Starboard Flight Deck.

[Dahak]

1. Changing a the museum bay back into a hangar bay that is the size of an aircraft carrier is a big job and the Galactica hasn't really had the time. It's certainly on their to do list since having 2 bays is better than 1.
2. Good question probably because it's a tv show and we wouldn't care about some so far never seen characters getting in trouble. If you want a military reason Tyrol is the senior enlisted so Adama picked him. Tyrol likes Callie (remember this was supposed to be a safe mission) and thinks she would be useful.
3. How the Cylons are able to infiltrate everything is a good question. My theory is that basicly the Colonial's system is filled with so many backdoor programs that it's impossible to keep the Cylons out so they try to keep the Cylons from accomplishing anything when they get in.
1.5, 4, and 5 were all answered last night. Basicly there was little time between the end of last weeks episode and the start of last nights.