The Picture.

[Lorpius Prime]

Yeah, I keep forgetting, what the hell is the little black-and-white picture that looks like it came out of photocopier that everyone touches when they enter a room?

[Big Brother]

Lorpius said:

Yeah, I keep forgetting, what the hell is the little black-and-white picture that looks like it came out of photocopier that everyone touches when they enter a room?

Ron Moore himself answered this just the day before in his blog on the sci-fi channel's official site:

Q. "It's probably been asked before, but I'm curious as to whom is in the picture in the Viper Pilot's briefing room, facing away from the camera . . . the one the pilots, including Commander Adama, touch when they enter and leave? This is touching, and is a wonderful human element to the story. So who is it?"

A. There was a scene cut from "33" where we saw Laura being given her copy of the photo along with a card that said it was taken on the roof of the capitol building on Aerilon during the attack. The photo was inspired by the famous shot of the fire-fighters raising the flag at Ground Zero that became iconic. I thought the Colonies would have their own version of this -- a snapshot taken in the moment that becomes a symbol of the day they can never forget and of all they had lost. The photo itself is of a soldier falling to his knees (possibly shot or simply overcome by emotion) as he stands on the rooftop over looking the devastation of his city, while the Colonial flag waves at the edge of frame. The inscription below the photo on Laura's plaque reads, "Lest We Forget" in itself a reference to the inscription on the watch presented to John Wayne's character in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."

Which explains why there's a much bigger copy of the same pic hanging in a frame on Colonial One behind the tray table that Roslin uses as a desk.

[Lorpius Prime]

I just don't understand why producers want to cut scenes that are actually important to the story...

[Big Brother]

Lorpius said:

I just don't understand why producers want to cut scenes that are actually important to the story...

While this is the sort of neat background detail that excites fanboys like us, when you get right down to it, no, that scene is not actually all that important to the plot, any more than that pic of the firefighters and the flag would be important to a historical documentary on the 9/11 attacks. Neat imagery like the flag-raising on Iwo Jima and neat anecdotes like Washington chopping down the cherry tree are easy to remember, but when you get right down to it, the raw data of battles and dates and lists of kings are more important.

The scene in question was probably 30 seconds to a minute long...what other scene would you have cut in order to make room for it?

[Lorpius Prime]

How about the long opening scene?

Anyway, it is important if you needed it to understand some of the characters' actions, which you do (hence my question).