Even though tonight's Battlestar Galactica ended with "to be continued," it was less like getting half an episode and more like getting two episodes in one.
On the one hand, there was the Galactica-based half of the episode. I had commented a few week ago, after the death of Ellen, that I didn't see how they were ever going to redeem Colonel Tigh. This week, the answer seemed to come that they have no immediate plans to do so. We've seen "messed up Tigh" before, but as he said himself so perfectly in the episode, he's not "that man" anymore -- he's sunk even lower. And Starbuck seemed to "hit bottom" as well, but appears to have turned around and begun the journey back. Pivotal character moments for both of them.
Sharon continues to be a polarizing figure on the ship. The people who don't accept her seem to reject her even more, while those who accept her grow ever more accepting. (They've now renamed her Athena, even.)
Plus, no more "fat Lee."
On the other half of the episode, we had the adventures of Baltar aboard the base star. And this was weird stuff. It almost felt like it was coming from another series. Galactica has always been a series grounded in gritty, docu-drama-esque reality. Everything about the Cylon plot in this episode was science fiction. And not exactly "television science fiction" either; it flirted with heady, psychological -- some might even say trippy -- stuff. It wasn't paced like a normal Galactica episode, it didn't look like a normal Galactica episode. It was out of order, mixed, and jumbled at times. And all of this perfectly sold the fact that Baltar now finds himself in a totally alien environment.
It's all very interesting, because to hear the podcast, a great deal of what I liked in this episode was manufactured after the fact, to redeem an episode that was otherwise considered to be "not working." Unlike last season's "Black Market," which they saw as trouble, and it finished that way (probably the worst episode of the season), this one I thought crawled back out of their perceived hole quite a lot. I wouldn't have pegged it for a "bad episode."
What was your take?
3 comments:
I loved the whole "projection" stuff. it sounded like something a computer-enabled mind might be able to do, and what that meant for Baltar's delusions was stunning. and how he came right out and asked about the "other 5 models" (almost as if he was watching the show himself)
I hated the quick slimming of Apollo. it seemed like such a chumpy way out of him wearing the makeup. they made it seem too easy to lose that much weight. plus I really wanted a scene where Starbuck would give him some zings about his weight.
I guess if Adama says "it's cool" then Boome... I mean Athena, is cool to act like a normal human. and everybody just has to accept it military-style. it still seems a little weird though but I guess she earned their trust a bunch. I wonder if Helo and her will try again at the whole family thing?
I'm wondering if they will actually eventually find Earth... at the beginning of the series I was thinking "no way" but it's starting to look like they may actually go there (pun intended?)
the mole
Athena? ATHENA??? I couldn't stop laughing. Very nice indeed. Could be a problem for the CCG, but heck if Athena and Boomer are both in play... she IS a Cylon.
Anyway, I liked the trippy stuff, and some of that dialog was revealing.
I was sure that Lee would be "cured" in a sweaty beefcake moment just like that, so I'm not surprised.
I was stunned by naked Boomer and tiny-swimsuit Six, those were shocks to the libido. Don't quiz me on the dialog in those scenes.
I love it when Adama gets all angry and quiet and sounds just like Castillo. Cool stuff. Good ep.
The scenes on the Cylon ship were very well done - they clearly showed it alien-ness and differentness. The style was very different from the rest of the show and I think that worked well.
The other plot of Starbuck and Tigh dealing with what happened to them on New Caprica was good, but mostly for moving the plot along and less for what it did for the characters.
And I know everyone disliked "Black Market" and I agree that it wasn't a very good episode, but at least it fleshed Lee out more and showed where his flaws are. I thought "Scar" was the worst episode of last season. The use of flashbacks was incredibly distracting and I thought there were several scenes where Starbuck acted out of character from what we knew of her.
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