Collaborators

I thought last night's new Battlestar Galactica was a strong return of the things I felt were a bit muted in the last few weeks. The episode had almost no artificially forced plot -- it was a story that sprang entirely from the characters and their recent circumstances, and thus it was an episode that packed a big emotional punch.

We got to see a stark portrayal of how strongly the occupation affected characters like Starbuck, Tigh, Gaeta, and Tyrol. Clearly, none of them are "alright" or "back to normal," nor does it appear they will be any time soon. And that's as it should be.

I was glad to see them acknowledge that Roslin wasn't going to just be able to step back into being president, with Zarek being the next in line. And though initially I was a little disappointed that it was going to be a simple matter of him stepping aside for her, I was very pleased to see that the writers used the brief "Zarek presidency" as a way to really juice the story, by making him sanction the activities of the "jury of six." When Starbuck asked if what they were doing was legal, it really put a new spin on things to hear that the answer was "yes."

Baltar on a base star now, eh? I guess that means he'll be for season three what Helo was for season one -- an interesting, but parallel and largely disconnected storyline in the whole. It would seem that he's come back from the brink where he found himself near the end of last week's episode, and he's no longer ready to die. I'm sure he'll "recover" from that despair very quickly -- Baltar has always been one to act with less emotion or sympathy when he can do so from afar and not have to face the consequences of his actions. (He'll be sitting in a swivel chair under a spotlight on top of a tall column in a big, round, empty room in no time!)

An excellent episode.