How great was tonight's episode of Battlestar Galactica? By far the best of this "second half" of season two.
First of all, there was the incredibly compelling and (forgive the irony) humanizing tale of "Caprica Six" and "Galactica Sharon." A vast new dimension of the saga has been opened up. Will they escape being "boxed?" Will they succeed in persuading any of the other Cylons to accept their perspective? I don't know that I expect this story thread will be continued any time soon, and I don't know that it really should be. (The show is called "Battlestar Galactica," after all.) But what a wonderful texture to add.
Anders and the human resistance on Caprica was something I truthfully did not expect to see on the show ever again. We'd seen how the aftermath of meeting them had affected Starbuck, but it had become pretty clear that she was moving past it and accepting that she wasn't going to be reunited any time soon. And after his experience with these two very different Cylons, what's going to happen to Anders' view of things? Again, not a thread I expect to see picked up any time soon, but a fascinating addition to the show.
How perfect was it for "Caprica Six" to have hallucinations of Baltar in her head? Outstanding, and yet I don't think I'd have ever have seen it coming.
The only thing I'm not sure of is seeing the birth of Helo and Sharon's Cylon hybrid baby in this episode. I loved the events of that plot, the coverup that was orchestrated. But the birth of this child has been so important and so long coming, that to see it relegated to the "B plot" of an episode was just a little odd. Only a little though, as the story was clearly thematically linked with the main story -- it was all about showing the "humanity" of the Cylons.
There will be no looking at the bad guys in the same way after this.
7 comments:
My opinion? They aren't the bad guys. I'm rooting for the cylons. Sharon and Six show more human emotion than Rosslyn does.
In what war do you get away with whisking the children of the enemy from their parents because you don't want them raised by "their kind"? Outrageous. I hope she gets blown to smithereens.
I stared, open mouthed, at so many things in this episode. Last night I really, really felt just how distant you and I are as I sat here alone with no one to go "Oh my God!!!!" to every thirty seconds...
I can at least download these episodes on iTunes while in Japan... thank goodness, an episode like that is almost enough to make me decide leaving was not a good idea ;)
Kathy --
No question, this show has always shown the human "heroes" doing reprehensible things more often thean they ought to. Very much not black and white.
Still, while I agree with you that Sharon and Six are coming off more "human" than the president lately, the "Cylon case" is very much undermined by Xena Cylon (whom we've now learned can be called "Three"), who says "They don't respect life the way we do," just a second before she's going to pull the trigger to kill Anders.
Oh wait... come to think of it, that sounds like a sentiment I've heard expressed by many real life humans now and in our history. Never mind.
aabh --
Yup, *definitely* been missing not having you around to enjoy Galactica with.
wow. hot damn that was a freakin awesome episode. Caprica Six seeing Baltar?! what a twist. did they just confirm that there is no "secret message to Baltar" plot, and he is just crazy? how can they both have the exact same psycosis? the mystery gets worse (or better?)
a glimmer of hope to get the "original" Sharon back. will C6 and S8 will at some point want to escape to the fleet? I hope so. the "boxing" thing was creepy. fate worse than death type of creepy.
I agree that the birthing being the B plot was odd. the whole thing just felt rushed. still good, but coulda had more. Roslyn's new aide seems almost evil. if Billy was still there he would have spoke up with the parent-rights argument that was sorely missing.
the mole
I can only concur that this episode was amazing.
Everything else has been said - the humanization of the Cylons, the de-humanization of Roslyn. And I really like how revealing that Caprica Six has Baltar in her head, changes how we look at Baltar having Six in his head.
More episodes like this, please.
Perhaps this only happened to be, but when Baltar first spoke to Six in the "goop tub," my heart skipped a few beats. Holy crap! Baltar is a Cylon!, I thought. Then, moments later, I learned he was stuck in her head.
This was a great development. It was also a chance to see Baltar as the cool, calm, egotistical man he was before the attacks. He's as enjoyable in that form as he is in his post-attack paranoia.
Definitely some Moses-ness going on with that baby.
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