Category: TV Sci-Fi (Page 68 of 81)

Wow.

As I was watching this episode, I couldn’t help but think that it felt a lot like filler. Much of it was dedicated to ho-hum storylines like Lee adjusting to his new job, Cally dealing with the difficulty of motherhood and, of course, the grumpy, unbelieving underlings on Cara’s new ship, the Demetrius.

But then it happened. The gritty Cally (whom I’ve always liked, even though she was tough to watch for much of this episode) followed Galen to the weapons locker and managed to learn the truth about the three newly aware skinjobs. Suddenly, the secret was out. It was quite the moment, though I question Tigh’s decision to leave a note for a super-secret meeting where an obviously suspicious Cally could (and did) find it. Several questions jumped to mind. Who would she tell? Would anyone believe her? What would she say to the Chief? And what would she do about Nicholas?

It turns out she didn’t want to say anything to Galen. Her world was turned upside down, so she reacted by hitting him over the head with a wrench – by the way, that’s some serious symbolism, considering their professions – and then whisking her baby away to the airlock. Apparently, her solution was to commit murder-suicide without bothering to tell anyone in the fleet that there were more cylons in their midst. It was a little on the unbelievable side, but the writers set it up with all of those sleepless nights earlier in the episode. We were to believe that she was tired and she wasn’t thinking straight. Still, as a new father myself, I was appalled at the prospect of her apparent decision to jettison her son out of an airlock.

But there was Tory to “save” the day. Of all the new cylons, she seems to be the most complex. Her speech in the airlock and subsequent betrayal was a shock to the system. I don’t think that it was until I saw a lifeless Cally floating through space that it finally hit me – this is really the last season of “Battlestar Galactica.” Heads will roll.

The Cally/Galen/Tory storyline was the crux of the episode, but there were some interesting developments at Cylon HQ as well. Genocide seems to be ruling the day, and it’s unclear which side is going to win out. I’m a little hazy on the whole there’s-no-resurrection-ship-nearby-so-we-can’t-survive line of thinking, as dead skinjobs have never had a problem traveling long distances before. But what the heck, I’ll play along.

I thought the best moment of that whole mess was when Six had to say “please” to the Centurion. That moment was just dripping with subtext.

Speaking of subtext, it seems like VP Tom’s suspicions about Roslin’s presidency is a commentary on the secretiveness of the administration currently inhabiting the White House. Lee didn’t like Roslin’s attitude when he tried to quell concerns about the Demetrius, so he got a little vindictive and brought up that classified executive order. By the way, wasn’t VP Tom pretty annoying with that little knocker of his?

Lastly, on the Demetrius, nothing really happened in Starbuck’s world in the last 22 days, and the natives are getting restless. However, we did learn that she just wants “to frack.”

“WE’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!”

Starbuck’s screams are still echoing in my brain. Last week’s cliffhanger ended rather sheepishly after Cara handed the President her gun. Sure, there was a gunshot, but did anyone really believe that Roslin actually shot Starbuck? For a moment, it looked as if Cara’s actions would be for naught, but by the end of the episode, the Admiral (sort of) came around to her way of thinking. Apparently, she and Helo are going to take a sewage recycling ship and try to find a way to Earth. Since the fleet continues to jump further and further away, I’m not exactly sure how they’ll find a way to Earth and then find their way back to the fleet, but at least she’ll have some company on the trip to verify her discovery. The fuzziness of the plan makes me wonder if we’ll ever get a detailed explanation of why the details of her first trip to Earth are so sketchy.

Not much happened with the Four – Tigh, Sam, Tyrol and Tory – other than their secret meeting where they decided to try to use Baltar to find the final Cylon. Considering that Tigh, Sam and Tyrol are so devoted to the humans, it’s surprising that they don’t just turn themselves in. Aren’t they risking the fleet’s destruction? Is there some sort of programming that blocks the ability to tell the truth about themselves?

Anyway, Tory quickly infiltrated Baltar’s bed, but that’s not that difficult of a task, is it? Baltar saw a vision of himself for the first time (I believe) and the dynamic was pretty funny. His doppleganger said that he should handle Tory “with care,” to which he responded, “Oh, I’d love to.” I think the Four are barking up the wrong tree with Baltar; I don’t think he knows the identity of the final Cylon – can anyone confirm this?

Speaking of the Cylons, there is serious trouble in River City. With all the Number Threes boxed up due to their supposed Messiah defects, there are only six models running things, and they butt heads over whether or not to lobotomize the Raiders. The conflict seems to be the Raiders’ decision to turn tail at the last encounter with the humans, which made Number Six believe that the remaining five Cylons are indeed in the fleet. Number One says that they aren’t allowed to think about it and wants to take away the Radiers’ ability to withdraw from battle. The discussion ends badly for him when Six walks in with a couple of newly-freed Centurions, who are none too pleased with his actions. Does this mean that there are only three models left? And what was the deal with the weird little montage where Boomer (or some other Eight) was dancing around topless while the hybrid ranted gobbledygook?

Not that I’m complaining…

In (fairly) minor news, Lee has left Galactica to take an empty quorum position. I’m not sure what this means, but methinks he’ll still be involved in the day-to-day happenings of the show. He had a nice little moment with Dualla before he left. I hope her character gets more screen time than she’s been getting in the last few episodes.

Lastly, Roslin and Adama had some sharp words about Starbuck that precipitated his decision to let her go. After some back and forth (and a little Psych 101 analysis by the President), Adama quipped, “You’re afraid you may not be the dying leader you thought you were. Or that your death would be as meaningless as everyone else’s.”

Ouch.

Seriously, why is Roslin so convinced that she knows the way to Earth? Isn’t Cara’s relationship with the Eye of Jupiter enough of a clue that she does in fact know the way to Earth?

“WE’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!”

This video popped up on my TiVo the other day. It’s an eight-minute recap of the entire “Battlestar Galactica” run, and it’s pretty funny.

It’s pretty amazing that it has been just more than a year since the season three finale of “Battlestar Galactica.” How time flies.

I’d like to say that the show is back with a bang, but most of this episode seemed to be a setup for the rest of the season. It was implied that the fifth Cylon would be revealed (it wasn’t) and all of Starbuck’s talk about knowing where Earth is and how she was going to take the fleet there seems to be a bunch of hooey. She probably did visit Earth – she did describe Jupiter and Saturn in detail – but she has no idea how she got there or how to get back. Great. Throw in the fact that she supposedly survived an explosion, lost months of her life and that she’s flying a brand new Viper (that doesn’t have any navigation history) and it’s not surprising that the President is suspicious. She flips out every time the fleet makes a jump in the wrong direction and finally decides to raise a gun on Roslin. That probably isn’t going to end well for her.

The opening battle sequence did look terrific. When I think back to the first space battle I ever saw (“Star Wars”), it’s truly amazing how far special effects and CGI have come. This is a basic cable show on a limited budget and they’re able to put together an immense, realistic battle scene. The nice thing is that those special effects are backed up by great writing – otherwise, the show would be paper thin.

It was interesting to see the four new skinjobs – the Chief, Tigh, Sam and Tori – deal with their new realities. I felt a little used after Tigh’s fake assassination of Adama, but was impressed with the way they shot that scene. I jumped initially at the gunshot, but knew that they wouldn’t kill off Adama at this point so I figured they were just messing with us. Presumably, the purpose of that scene is to show the kind of internal conflict that Tigh is going through. But is he really driven to assassinate Adama or is he just worried that a switch will flip and he’ll betray his friend someday?

Sam and Tyrol are in the same boat as Tigh. Neither want to believe that they are actually Cylons, so they’re going to go on trying to be the men they want to be as long as they can. To me, this would include telling everyone the truth (to protect them), but apparently that’s not in the cards at this point. Sam’s experience in this episode was the most interesting given the fact that he encountered a Raider face-to-face, which precipitated the Cylon retreat. Tori’s character is probably the most questionable, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the first of the four to betray the humans. Lastly, let’s not forget that Tyrol’s kid is a hybrid – the creators have to address this, right?

I’m not a big fan of the whole Gaius/Messiah storyline, and much of the premiere was unfortunately dedicated to his new situation. It was funny that a majority of his new followers are (hot) women and, predictably, it didn’t take too long for him to succumb to the temptation. (But who can blame him? He did spend the last few weeks cooped up in a cell.) The storyline has a cult-ish feel to it, so it will be interesting to see how this affects the big picture.

Based on what I’ve read, it does appear that the fleet will find some version of Earth this season. They could arrive in our past, our present or our future, or they could arrive to an alternate version of Earth. They could be the first humans to settle on Earth (maybe the two hybrid babies are Adam and Eve – though all the technology would be a problem) or they could arrive to a futuristic Earth that has the ability to fend of the Cylons. A grimmer possibility is that they arrive to find that the human civilization destroyed itself, not unlike the ending of “Planet of the Apes.” The possibilities are almost endless.

The only thing that’s bothering me is Starbuck. How was she able to survive the explosion, travel to Earth, take pictures and travel back in just six Viper hours? Why would the pictures survive if the nav data didn’t? On one hand, it seems like she has to be a Cylon, but that doesn’t explain how she found Earth. Unless the Cylons have already found it…but, in that case, why would they try to lead their enemy there?

So many questions, and just nineteen episodes left to answer them all. Let’s get a move on, people!