Category: Battlestar Galactica (Page 13 of 14)

Before I dive into this week’s episode, I have to comment on what has become a growing (and disturbing) trend on television – overlay graphics. I’ve learned to live with the station identifier. After all, the Sci-Fi channel has a right to watermark “Battlestar Galactica” to give themselves some publicity if the show is recorded and traded over the internet. But this week, above the “Sci-Fi” overlay, there was another graphic – “The Lost Room: Premieres Monday” – that was there the entire episode. I’m not fond of advertisements during the actual episode, but I’ve also learned to live with the occasional in-show advertisement promoting another program, but this graphic was there for the entire show. Combined with the channel identifier, the two took up the bottom sixteenth of the screen, and that is simply too distracting to the eye.

Now, back to business. I had a feeling we were watching Kat’s epitaph once her storyline started and after Apollo explained how those radiation badges worked. At that point, I figured someone was going to die (or be on the brink of death), and it might as well be her. I’m not sure why she decided to basically commit suicide. It wasn’t to avoid telling the Admiral about her shady past, because she was willing to do just that when she was on her deathbed. Anyway, I’ve grown to like her character. She was the one person who could really get under Starbuck’s skin and she wasn’t afraid to call Cara out when she was being irresponsible. We’ll miss ya, Kat.

This episode was Gritty (with a capital “G”). Hunger, vomit, losing hair to radiation poisoning – you never saw this subject matter on Star Trek. I do wish that they had touched on the food shortage leading up to this episode. Last week, everyone looked pretty nourished as they punched each other over and over in the ring. I’m assuming more than a week passed between episodes, but it was still a little jarring to go from the boxing episode to a “gotta feed the fleet” episode.

Dr. Baltar returned this week and seems hell bent on discovering if he’s a Cylon. Xena keeps killing herself over and over so she can experience the time between death and rebirth, but all she has to show for it are a few Picasso-like sketches. Obviously, those scenes were just a setup for a future episode, so it will be interesting to see how that pays off.

It looks like next week is the “Fall Finale,” and the series will pick up again in late January and run thru March. The creators have always done a nice job with the season breaks, so it should be a good episode.

This episode was a little frustrating at the start, what with all the disjointed flashbacks intercut with the boxing scenes, but I should have known that they’d piece things together in the end. The romances of the crew aren’t a major focal point of the series, and throughout its run, the show has always danced around the feelings between Lee and Cara. This episode was interesting in that it dealt with some of these feelings, while also giving us a snapshot of what life was like on New Caprica before the Cylons arrived. Speaking of the Cylons, this seems like the first episode in quite some time that they didn’t make an appearance.

There also is some chemistry between Adama and Roslin, but it looks like that will be left on New Caprica for the time being. At the start, I wasn’t too sure why the Admiral felt the need to bring the Chief into the ring, but it turned out he was none too pleased with how the Chief answered his question about the downed bird. I was expecting there to be some hard feelings from the Chief’s perspective, but the truth was that the Admiral felt that things were a little too warm and fuzzy. That’s why he called the Chief out and gave everyone the speech after the fight.

But back to Cara and Lee – where do things go from here? Cara’s actions on New Caprica shed some light on why Lee let himself go in the subsequent months. But I think Dualla is a much better catch. For one thing, she’s stable. It seems like Cara is incapable of having a healthy relationship and Lee is probably in for a world of hurt if he goes down that road. Dualla also seems to genuinely love Lee, while Cara can’t make her mind up about anyone.

The embrace at the end of the fight is going to make things interesting. Does Dualla let it go and stick around or does she do what’s probably the smart thing, and bolt?

Until now, Will Adama seemed utterly infallible. In this episode, we learned that even the Admiral has a few skeletons in his closet. But who would’ve guessed that one of those skeletons was going to enter the fleet’s space, flying a damaged rogue Raider?

Apparently, the Cylons let Marcus Dixon…err…Bulldog…sorry, I had an “Alias” flashback there…anyway, they let him escape so that he would learn the truth about how he was left for dead in Cylon space three years earlier. (Although if the Cylons know where the human fleet is, why don’t they just attack? Maybe annihilation of the human race is no longer their endgame.) When you think about it, the Cylons would have to know that Adama was the one in charge of Bulldog’s final mission if their ultimate goal was to get him to kill Adama. That would be quite crafty on their part.

That whole storyline led to the realization that Adama believes that he started the war. I think he’s being way too hard on himself. But still, that’s some heavy stuff.

Meanwhile, Cylon Biers is having a spiritual crisis on the mothership. Was it the result of the apparent three-way she had with Baltar and Number Six? Doubtful, but possible. I’m not sure where that storyline is going, though the other skinjobs looked pretty worried when she said there was something beautiful between death and rebirth.

Baltar never ceases to amaze me. One minute, he’s on the verge of execution. The next, he’s getting double-teamed by a former Victoria’s Secret model and Xena the Warrior Princess. He’s certainly got the mojo working.

And then there’s everyone’s favorite alcoholic, Saul Tigh. There was a great exchange when he offered Bulldog a drink.

Tigh: Drink?
Bulldog: You have no idea.
Tigh: Yes, I do.

It looks like the Bulldog encounter is going to bring Tigh back to the world of the living. The cigarette game he was playing – “I see it…I see it…I see it.” – was pretty creepy. But none of my regular readers should be surprised that he looks razor sharp in an eyepatch. I was hoping for a black one, but that tan one looked pretty tight.

Is it just me, or was it fun to watch Baltar squirm a bit in that torture chamber? It’s nice to see the doctor get a little of what’s coming to him, but something tells me he’s going to redeem himself at some point in the series. For now, it looks like the skinjobs have relented with the torture and he should be back in the fold on the mothership.

I’m happy that this storyline with the virus is (seemingly) over. That’s so “ID4.” I would have liked there to be a “Where’s Helo?” scene in the command center when he was running around unplugging computer cables. Wouldn’t Adama want his second in command on the bridge with him during that kind of mission, especially considering Helo’s reservations about the operation?

I find it more than a little poetic that one of the humans who’s had his life positively affected by the Cylons is the one that ultimately saves their entire race. Though if the doctor can whip up a cure, I’m not sure why the Cylons can’t.

Also, it looks like Adama and Roslin are willing to overlook Helo’s betrayal. That was surprising to me considering how strongly they felt about the mission, especially the President. Adama is a stickler on loyalty and the chain of command, so it’s hard to believe that Helo is going to get away scot-free.

So the Cylons have decided that they want to make Earth their new home. Caprica wasn’t good enough? I’m still not clear what their endgame is. Do they want to annihilate the human race? Do they want to make a new race of human/Cylon hybrids? I’m sure that their goals have religious origins, which could mean just about anything. Luckily they have Baltar to lead the way to Earth…that’s just great. Way to sell out your own race (again), Doctor. At least the search for Earth is on. I was wondering when they’d get to that.

Baltar goes to inspect the infected ship and ends up strangling a Cylon just to shut her up. Then he lies to the seven Cylons about the presence of the human artifact, but Number Six is onto him. I’m not sure how this is going to play out, but like Gaeta said, Baltar’s instincts for survival are unparalleled, so he’s not in any real danger.

What’s the deal with the other five models of Cylons? They can’t even talk about them? Consider my interest appropriately piqued.

Back on Galactica, Starbuck’s line to Lee on the deck was great: “The bird is on the deck! I’m on the deck! I don’t know what you’re bitchin’ about!” I didn’t really understand why she and Tigh took a bunch of shots at those that weren’t involved in the ground war. That storyline seemed a little contrived, but Adama’s speech and actions in the lounge made up for it. First, he kicks over Starbuck’s chair, causing her to run out the room with her tail between her legs. Then he confronts Tigh, who looks like he’s about to spiral downward into oblivion. I still think all he needs is a patch over that eye.

One surprising thing is how much trust Adama puts in Sharon (Athena). I like her character, so I hope this doesn’t backfire on him. Clear something up for me…this is the Sharon that had the baby – is it the same one that shot Adama? I’m pretty sure that one – Boomer, the one who loved Chief – is back with the Cylons.

And then there’s Starbuck, knife in hand, ready to cut that hair of hers. Inside, I was screaming, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” (She looks much better with long hair.)