Battlestar Galactica Episode 3.09 Unfinished Business

After walking out on her estranged husband Sam Anders, Starbuck attends a below-decks boxing tournament in which Tigh referees and rank is forgotten. She watches Apollo suffer a tough loss to Helo, then singles Apollo out, challenging him to fight her. Apollo accepts, and, with a strange tension simmering between them, the two wait their turn.

Laura Roslin, a closet boxing fan, joins Adama ringside. The Admiral explains that boxing is an old fleet tradition for blowing off steam and settling grudges. In fact, the fights tonight are haunted by memories of New Caprica - especially memories of dreams and relationships lost and found as the ill-fated settlement was just beginning.

On the 123rd day of New Caprican coloniziation, President Baltar hosted a groundbreaking ceremony in hopes of a bright future for the young colony. At the party that followed, Tigh and his wife Ellen enjoyed a rare bright spot in their difficult marriage; Adama and Roslin bonded over hopes and concerns; and Tyrol and Cally worried that their jobs aboard the Galactica would deprive their newly conceived son of a childhood spent in the colony's fresh air.

As the evening's drinking and dancing wore on, Starbuck and Apollo caught each other's eyes over the shoulders of their new lovers, Anders and Dualla. Despite - or because of - their long, troubled history, the two old friends felt irresistibly drawn together.

By the next morning, Adama had decided to allow members of his crew, including Tyrol and Cally, to leave the Galactica and join the new colony. And Starbuck and Apollo had shared a secret experience that sent Starbuck rushing into marriage with Anders and provoked Apollo to propose to Dualla.

Now, at the boxing match, Adama himself challenges Tyrol to a bout, goading the man to pull no punches until Tyrol unleashes a flurry of blows, leaving his commander bloodied. Adama seizes the moment to warn his crew that he accepts the rigors of war and will never again put humanity's survival at risk by being too soft-hearted, as he did when he allowed so many of them to leave their posts and settle on New Caprica.

With that as a climax, Tigh declares the boxing over. But after Adama, Tigh and Roslin leave the room, the night's real main event begins. Starbuck and Apollo enter the ring to settle scores that only they understand - and their spouses, left out, can do nothing but watch.