Sine Qua Non

After a week off with no Battlestar Galactica, and a compelling cliffhanger at the end of the last new episode, I was very eager this week to see what had become of the vanished basestar, and Roslin, Baltar, and Helo.

Of course, this week we didn't get to see them on screen for a single second. Which on the one hand was a bit frustrating. On the other, it played just perfectly into the major theme of this episode: Adama's anxiety over losing Roslin. The structure of this episode, keeping the viewers as in the dark as the characters, helped bring us as close as we could be to their predicament, safely on our couches.

On the plus side, it was a great episode for Colonel Tigh. The revelation that the imprisoned Caprica Six is pregnant with his child?! Holy frak, did not expect that. And the confrontation he had with Adama over this was pretty incredible.

The earlier confrontation between Adama and Athena was even more powerful. You knew when she shot the "Natalie" Six last episode that this was going to throw a grenade right in the center of their relationship, and this scene didn't disappoint.

But there were some areas that ranged from "I'm not sure" to "I didn't like that" as well. I was thrilled to see the return of the Romo Lampkin character, having so thoroughly enjoyed him in the last season's final three episodes. (Mark Sheppard is one of those great working actors who is outstanding on nearly every television show he guest stars on.) And yet the sudden turn to writing his character as having gone over the edge was disappointing.

The thing is, last time he appeared, we didn't get a sense that he was anywhere near the edge. And this time, we didn't really get any picture of what might have happened between then and now to explain his decline. The man we saw last time was not someone who'd be seeing visions of a dead cat and threatening people with guns. This was like a completely different character. One the actor turned in a great performance for again, but a different character all the same.

And then there was the subplot for Lee. Anyone who didn't know from the moment "we've got to find a new interrim president" was uttered that Lee would end up being that guy doesn't watch much television drama. I was hoping the Battlestar Galactica writers would either buck the expectation (as they so often do), or do something neat to earn that eventual twist in the story, but neither really happened. I suppose this could go somewhere compelling for the Lee character, and if so, I'm willing to forgive the conceit. Still, I'm always disappointed a bit when a show that so rarely resorts to cliche stoops to using one.

The resignation of Admiral Adama to stay alone in a Raptor and wait for the return of the missing baseship made up for the stumbles, though. It's a pretty major turn for the character to admit to himself and others that he really does care that much for Roslin. And even if Tigh is "not the man he was" last time he took command of the fleet, a fleet not led by Adama could well be a scary proposition for the lot of them.

Until next week...