(XXVIII) BSG: "Bastille Day" (Sn.1, Ep.3)

So in the previous episode, "Water", Galactica's fleet lost a majority of its water supply. Nowadays water is a precious commodity to have, like oil. I think someone in our class made this fateful observation about what would happen to humanity if abundant resources like water, were to run short of supply. Cheers to this keen observant. So water is in short supply, but fortunately for the fleet, they come across this moon with a drinkable supply of water, in the form of massive ice sheets. The process of melting this ice and transporting it to the ship would be a dangerous job and will demand a massive supply of man-power. Apollo suggested that they gather 1500 prisoners for the job, but the President said she would not tolerate slave-labor. So Apollo made the other suggestion that all the prisons who volunteered for this job, be granted points towards their liberty. The President agreed to this, but when Apollo led an envoy to deliver this deal to the prisoners, none of them volunteered for the job. A political revolutionary by the name of Tom Zarek, spoke on behalf of all the prisoners. He had technically ascended to the position of leader. To the ignorance of Apollo, the prisoners had organized a take-over. Apollo and his envoy ended up as Captives, and as ransom, Zarek ordered the President to hold elections so the people could select their leader in a fitting democratic manner. The President refused to negotiate with the 'terrorists' and had a rescue team (led by Starbuck) sent to take control of the situation. Starbuck's rescue team arrived when Apollo appealed had already appealed to Zarek; imploring him to have some of his men do the job that would save what was left of human kind. In return, Apollo promised that elections would be held in due time, and until then, the prisoners could assume full control of their ship (& basically have their own convict-island..sorta) The President received the news with slight, when Apollo disclosed his deal with Zarek. But Apollo reaffirmed the fact that the President was only completing the term of the previous president, and after seven months, elections would be held as their constitution demands. At the end of the episode though, the President confided with Apollo that she had cancer, and would probably not live for seven more months.

I think this episode was basically speaking out against government tyranny. The title itself refers to the French Storm of the Bastille, in which the French citizenry broke into a prison, the Bastille, in a meaningful gesture against brute government power. With the President relying a lot on military decisions, it should come as no surprise that many elements of democracy were steadily dissipating. It seems the government likely took a dictatorial stance with administering Galactica, and Zarek saw that the government was losing sight of critical demands from its citizenry.