Crossroads

There's the high quality Battlestar Galactica I've been missing for a while now. There was a down side, and that's that it was perhaps a little "overstuffed" in the plot department, somewhat like the mid-season cliffhanger. Tons of sudden momentum and change in the plot, most of which could have been pieced out a bit over some of the duller recent hours to fire things up -- instead, squirreled away for now.

But it doesn't diminish their impact here. As usual whenever Michael Hogan is given something meaty to play, the scenes involving Colonel Tigh were the best among many great moments. His confrontation with Caprica Six had me on the edge of my seat. His scene on the witness stand left me uncertain whether I was sorry to see him brought low, or a little pleased to see more consequences for some of his behavior at the start of season three. As for his apparent sudden decent into madness? Well, that's one of those things I wish had been built up to a little more in earlier episodes. And I think I know where it's going. But it's still interesting to watch.

Then there's the Lee plot. (Doesn't seem right calling him Apollo right at the moment.) The confrontation between him and the Admiral was pretty chilling, and seeing him out of uniform a few moments later was plain unsettling. With Starbuck gone, Lee resigned, and Helo serving as Executive Officer ("It's just temporary." "Right."), we're suddenly quite short on pilots we know. Who's the CAG? Racetrack?

Finally, the revelation that Roslin's cancer has returned. I think this is a great development for the show. When her cancer was cured through the magic of science fiction and technobabble back in the second season, I commented that while I was very pleased that she would be able to continue on the show, I was very disappointed that it had removed some of the gritty, harsh reality from the series.

Not so much, it now appears. Instead, it seems the ticking clock on her life was merely reset. And I hope the writers stick to their guns this time. In his podcast a few weeks ago, Ronald Moore said he thought that the "third chapter" of Battlestar Galactica had begun. And time has been rather flexible on the show (with the entire first season taking place in only about a month, while the second season finale famously skipped an entire year). If he's right, then it seems possible for Roslin to still live to the end of the series even with the threat of her cancer. I hope that's the way they'll play it.

That's it until next week, when that's really "it" until the fourth season rolls around.