Battlestar Galactica

So much happened in this episode! Some quick thoughts below, and I will be on the ShaunOMac show again this evening to talk about Battlestar Galactica if you want to call in.

Let’s talk about the end, first. I knew something bad bad bad was going to happen to Cally, but I was really hoping she was not going to die. But when they were showing the scenes with the hallucinations, and the stars playing across her face, it just seemed inevitable. The final wordless moments with her empty eyes, and then Admiral Adama sitting silently with a shocked and grieving Chief. They conveyed so much without saying anything, and all of it was painful and beautiful and awful and great.

Nicki Clyne has not blogged about the episode yet, but it will be interesting to hear what she has to say - and hopefully hear that she has a new acting gig. I read there are some conspiracy theories about Cally being the last Cylon and she gets resurrected because the resurrection ship was close enough to catch her, but that all seems kinda wild. It seems she really is gone, which makes sense for Battlestar Galactica. This is a show that started with millions of deaths and contains a life count in the opening credits, it is only natural that some of the primary characters will not make it to the final episode.

What I did not see coming was Tory being strong enough to send Cally flying when she backhanded her across the face! Tory seems to be the Cylon that is most “open” to her new identity, and perhaps that openness brings added benefits? Perhaps sleeping with Baltar made her wake up from the stupor she was in for the first few days after she discovered she was a Cylon? It has been 21 days since the end of the last episode, and Tory seems to have used her time to get used to her new identity.

The sex scene with Starbuck and Anders is much more of what we expect from the Kara Thrace we used to know. She’s was way too weepy last week, but the feisty and scary Starbuck is back full force in this episode. This is not the first time we have seen Starbuck use fighting as foreplay, and it always reveals something new and interesting about Starbuck and her sex partner of the moment. This time was no exception, although I feel very bad for Anders - he is doing a great job of convincing himself that his wife is a Cylon, and I don’t see that ending well for him.

One of the biggest shockers of the episode was the crew of the Demetrius. Somehow I thought it was just going to be Starbuck and Helo on that ship, but Adama gave Starbuck an all star roster for her potentially doomed mission to find Earth. The fact that he would spare Gaeta says quite a bit about his hopes for Starbuck … it seems that he did not just give her the ship on the hope that she was right, but he really feels her vision is more credible than Roslin’s prophesy. Very interesting stuff.

Speaking of Roslin, I loved how she was grinning like a school girl when Adama was reading to her. Ronald D. Moore is really treating us this season, showing us intimate moments between these two great characters that we have not seen before. They seem to be settling into a love/hate relationship, and Adama seems to be finding a way to balance his growing personal affection for Laura the Woman with his diminishing respect for Roslin the President.

Lee is certainly losing respect for Roslin the President, and it will be interesting to see how this new political storyline plays out. I love Roslin, but it is time that she came down off of her pedestal … she is a much harsher ruler than she was in Season One, and episodes like last season’s “Dirty Hands” are great for showing the cost people are paying for her policies. Roslin has had a rough time of it herself, and it does not look like her last few months of life are going to be any easier.

There is a ton of stuff to talk about on the Cylon side of things as well, but all of that seems eclipsed by the one weird moment where Dean Stockwell and Grace Park kiss. What a bizarre and oddly fascinating combination. I suppose it makes sense that Boomer, who has always seemed to lust for a cause more than anything, would fall for Cavill … but that is a May/December relationship that will never be comfortable. It’s a bit like an old 1980s Apple mating with an Ipod, and it is just is not right!