By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
In Battlestar Galactica, there was perhaps no relationship more surprising than that between Apollo and Dualla (better known simply as “Dee”). Early on, the show implied that Apollo and Starbuck were destined for each other, which made it that much more surprising when Apollo and Dee got married. Fans have often wondered at how these characters got together in the first place, and it mostly stems from showrunner Ronald D. Moore being impressed with the characters’ dynamic in the Season 2 episode “Resistance.”
Now, Apollo and Dee don’t have a lot of interactions in this episode…they talk for a bit earlier in the episode while he is imprisoned in the brig, and she later helps him and President Roslin escape custody. To the casual viewer, there aren’t many hints here that these two characters are likely to end up together. However, the writers included a tiny moment where Dee looks down at Apollo when he exits a scene, which was meant to hint at future romantic developments between these two characters.
Of course, Battlestar Galactica is infamous for hinting at things that don’t come to pass…heck, Moore later admitted that even the famous “they have a plan” from the show’s opening credits was a lie because he was making much of this up as he went along. Why, then, did this brief, non-verbal interaction between Apollo and Dee lead to the two characters later getting married? In a later podcast commentary, the showrunner said that he simply enjoyed seeing their dynamic in “Resistance” and wanted to further develop their relationship.
What developed was interesting, but it remained one of the most confusing romantic relationships in the entire show. They go on a date in “Sacrifice,” and she later visits Apollo in sickbay where he is recovering from some friendly fire courtesy of Starbuck. Speaking of which, Starbuck has a crushed expression on her face when she sees Apollo and Dee in the sickbay, heavily implying that she had the hots for him and was sad to see him with another woman.
Early on, Apollo and Dee try to keep their relationship discreet, but he’s anything but discreet when he cheats on Dee by having sex with Starbuck. The next day, Starbuck elopes with Anders, causing Apollo to propose to Dee. They get married, but this doesn’t keep Apollo and Starbuck from having a later affair.
Weirdly enough, it’s not the affairs that cause these two to break up…instead, Dee separates from Apollo after he defends Gaius Baltar when the mad scientist is on trial for crimes against humanity. They go their separate ways but maintain a happy relationship, one that made us wonder if each of them would find love again. That never happened for Dee, however, who shockingly killed herself after finding the planet Earth nothing but a devastated ball of dust.
Dee’s death, like her relationship with Apollo, seemed to come out of nowhere, leaving fans to debate why these two characters got together in the first place. Interestingly enough, the whole relationship stems from showrunner Ronald D. Moore liking their vibe back in “Resistance.” It turns out Moore himself is a bit like the Cylons after all…he might not have had a plan for these characters all along, but he created an entire sprawling story based solely on their chemistry in a single episode.
