He That Believeth in Me - S4-E1
Continuity mistake: When Starbuck returns in the season 3 finale, the side of her Viper has no nameplate on it. However, during the season 4 premiere, the nameplate with "Kara Thrace 'Starbuck'" has returned, though only a moment later.
He That Believeth in Me - S4-E1
Continuity mistake: In the season 3 finale, Anders has a very noticeable limp, especially seen when he's following the Chief to the hangar deck, However, in the season 4 premiere, even though the same day, he has no limp at all.
Continuity mistake: In the medical area, the Doctor checks on Samuel while others look on. Sharon has both her arms down by her sides. The angle changes, just as he says "lot of visitors", and Sharon's suddenly clasping her hands together.
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the 4th season episode "The Oath", Adama and Tigh choose to stay and fight rather than flee Galactica with Roslin. Apollo is not shown voicing any opposition to this. Yet in the next episode's opening, he is shown confronting his father, saying "No, Dad, you can't stay here". While this moment can be excused as having happened off-camera as the mutineers were shown approaching in the prior episode, it is the later show's narration which states "Previously on Battlestar Galactica" that is technically incorrect.
Answer: The original BSG has something of a complex version history. Several versions exist, but the rationale behind what you're referring to is as follows. BSG, before anything else, was a TV series - the 'pilot episode' was a three-part tale called "Saga of a Star World". In that three-parter, a last-minute alteration to the script meant that Baltar was ultimately spared execution, because Glen A. Larson, the series producer, decided that he liked the Baltar character enough to keep him around for the rest of the series. The theatrical version, which was edited down from the three-parter and was shown in some countries before the US TV broadcast, lost quite a number of scenes, including the one where Baltar is spared. The real continuity of the series can only be found in the TV version - the movies, all of which were created by editing together existing episodes, miss out scenes leading to such apparent continuity errors.
Tailkinker ★