Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2

Part 1 ends with three crises: the crash on Kobol, Starbuck's jump to Caprica, and Adama's realization that Roslin influenced Starbuck's decision to go AWOL with the Cylon raider. Part 2 deals with the outcome of these decisions, as well as translating Boomer's ongoing internal conflicts into an overwhelming trajectory towards violence. By the end of this episode Adama has been "betrayed" by his son, by Starbuck, by Roslin, and by Boomer.

The conversation between Roslin and Adama after Starbuck jumps away is the best (IMHO) dialogue in the episode. There are really two conversations taking place at the same time - the formal conversation between the military commander and the leader of the government, and the informal conversation between two people who had a friendly, respectful relationship but are now at odds. I think this is best captured when Adama says, "I don't want bloodshed" and Roslin immediately replies, "No, of course you don't, neither do I." Her tone of voice drops and she speaks more urgently, in contrast to the measured pace and careful wording of the rest of her lines. The way she says it indicates that she knows Adama enough to speak more personally and and say with confidence what she knows he wants. It's an interesting moment.

It also took me a while (duh) to figure out why, Roslin says "yes" after Adama tells her that the Raider has jumped away. It always sounded sort of odd, because it's as if she is responding to a question instead of the statement Adama actually makes. I finally realized that Roslin didn't know that Starbuck had left for Caprica until this moment. So interpret the "yes" to mean the yes you say after the Buffalo Bills, your favorite team, has scored a touchdown, even though Roslin doesn't say it with that kind of vehemence.

Everything Roslin says after this conversation is couched in very formal terms (notice how she does not use contractions - she says "will not" instead of "won't." She does this in part because she knows this is a historical moment, and in part because she is trying to present a calm demeanor in the face of a dangerous situation. Her body language and facial expressions are clues that she is nervous and frightened, but her tone of voice is forceful.

When it is clear that the standoff is one-sided and that bloodshed will be the inevitable outcome (I don't necessarily think, btw, that Lee's decision to mutiny would necessarily be a determining factor, although it is certainly the final straw), she chooses to end it on her terms. She doesn't say that she surrenders, she says, "I will not permit bloodshed," and then she says to Tigh, "Let's go," leading the way although she is ostensibly the prisoner. In fact, Roslin and Adama have a lot of qualities in common and conduct themselves in very similar ways so that it is obvious they are equals.

Finally, both have followers that are loyal to their leaders, but in disagreement with their decisions. In Part 1 Billy advises Roslin to accept Adama's decision and is skeptical of her religious faith. In Part 2, if you look closely, after Adama orders the marines to proceed through Colonia One, the camera focuses on Gaeta, who shakes his head.

Another strength of this episode is the way the settings and pacing contribute to the sense of impending crisis. I really like the way each setting has its own color (they also do this on New Caprica and the algae planet). Orange/yellow conveys a powerful feeling that Caprica has been irradiated and that it is literally a desert. Kobol is green and lush, giving a sense of virgin forest (I assume parts of British Columbia actually look this way", and the ruins of the opera house (white) in the valley stand in stark contrast. The ships continue to be blue/gray with patches of bright, artificial light (including the green light from the screens in the CIC), emphasizing the unnatural, claustrophobic setting. Each setting has its own story (identified with that color) and the episode switches between these settings at an accelerating rate until, at the end, the camera is spinning around Baltar and Six, and then cutting over to the CIC where Adama's body lies on the light board.

Moving right along..... I'm not going to discuss events on Kobol here. I will save that for the next episode in the interest of not testing my readers' (such as they are) patience. I'm not going to discuss Boomer's experiences on the baseship at all, since I think they pretty much speak for themselves. I'll have some comments on Caprica in the free-for-all section below. I want to go right into the cliffhanger ending in the CIC.

I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when they were filming the scene when Adama is shot, since I think that every actor's movement must have been carefully choreographed to look completely spontaneous. This is right up there with my favorite scene from the mini-series, when the nuke hist Galactica. In both a very complicated set of reactions to a single event is shown from multiple perspectives in a CNN-evening-news format, and yet it is completely clear what is happening. The pace switches between slow motion and real-time, adding to the sense of confusion and shock, although the slow motion makes it easier to see each character's reaction without detracting from the sense of chaos.

The gap between the first bullet and the second one lengthens the dramatic moment. Adama is literally blown off his feet and onto the light board. Lee starts racing across the room. Gaeta, in the background, goes from standing at attention to instinctively ducking. In contrast to everyone's shock, Boomer's face is a blank - she is now on auto pilot. After the second shot, each character is doing something different. Gaeta is calling for help, the marines are tackling Boomer, but the most compelling sight is the trio surrounding Adama. Tigh is literally trying to stop the bleeding with his own hands, Lee is cradling Adama's head, crying out in despair, and Dee has taken Adama's hand and is crying quietly.

Thus ends Season 1. WOW.

Meanwhile, back on Caprica ....

It's kind of interesting (and unexplained) how all three parties manage to run into eachother at the Delphi Museum, but one doesn't question God's will.

I dislike the dialogue between Athena and Helo, even though the information conveyed is critical. While Helo's lines are more naturalistic, Athena's lines strike me as very stilted. As I said in a previous post, Grace Park just gets better and better as the season progresses, so I don't think her delivery is the problem. Considering that her decision to escape with Helo was traumatic and driven by emotion, she uses very unemotional language to describe their relationship (she says, "I genuinely feel something for you," while Helo says, "I don't love you.") I don't know if this is bad writing or if the intention is to make Athena sound more robotic. It may also be setting us up for the shock of the next line, when Athena utters those two words that all men dread hearing, "I'm pregnant."

Let's be honest, the only point of this conversation is to let Helo know he's gonna be a daddy. We know, of course, because we saw Athena throwing up. Chekhov once wrote, "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." To paraphrase that rather freely, if a woman is puking in the first act, then in the next one we should find out she is pregnant.

The hilight of events on Caprica, though, is that amazing fight between Starbuck and one of the Sixes. The traditional fight on screen between women is your basic catfight (the sexist term denoting the scratching and hair pulling stuff that women are supposed to do over some guy who is probably not worth the time of day).

The Starbuck-Six fight is a scary, go-for-broke slugfest. The Six is skinny but powerful (actually, all Sixes are like that), and she is wearing one of her sexy spandex outfits. In contrast, Starbuck is her usual slobbish self, wearing fatigues and combat boots. (Not to imply that Starbuck isn't sexy, quite the contrary.) Starbuck is obviously outmatched, but she manages to keep coming back after each blow. The final moment, when Starbuck throws herself at Six and they both plunge over the edge is just fabulous in the extreme. It is also a very smart way to let Starbuck win the fight against the odds.

Lee loses his shirt & spits in his father's face

Every faithful reader of this blog (both of them) knows that Lee is not my favorite character (gross understatement). However, Lee cannot be blamed for the fact that once again he somehow loses his shirt (the first time was in "Bastille Day"). Lee was wearing it on Colonial One, but it magically disappears when he shows up in the CIC. His hands are also tied in front, which I assume serves to emphasize his bulging muscles, since I can't think of any other reason why that would be necessary. Of course the restraints also add to the sense that Lee is a martyr, which is SO tiresome.

As for the other sin, spitting, I know that actors do this on a regular basis (I happened to find this out when I once had a front-row seat). I did think that Edward James Olmos probably asked for a towel as soon as they were done shooting.

An Aside About Galactica Sex

I bet this post gets more hits than all the rest combined. I was writing this post on the train into NYC, and the guy next to me was definitely reading it.

All inappropriate comments will be deleted immediately.

IMHO the Baltar/Starbuck sex scene from "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1" is the best in the series. (Baltar/Six from the miniseries is a close second.) It helps that James Callis and Katee Sackhoff have a lot of on-screen chemistry. The main reason this is so good, though, is that this is the only one I have come across where the man is on top, which means their bodies are intertwined in a way that appears more intimate than when the woman is on top (I am speaking as a 3rd party watching the action). The way the comera moves from Starbucks feet to her knees, which are wrapped around Baltar's body (sort of), and then her hands moving on Baltar's back, to her face makes the scene explicit without showing them naked. Which just goes to show that the brain is the most important erogenous zone.

In general, it seems to me that if the actors on Galactica are filmed naked (as I suspect may occasionally be the case. It's obvious that sometimes the women are topless), you don't actually see any important body parts. I am quite sure that this is part of the rules when broadcasting on television. This means that sexual activity is conveyed by body position, facial expression, and vocal sounds, which are, frankly, pretty effective.

One other thing that I noticed about Galactica is that it's probably the only time I have seen on screen women put on their underpants after having sex. The camera focuses on the feet stepping into a pair of underpants and sliding up without showing anything above the knees. This prosaic act conveys a lot without showing much. I also like it because in a lot of movies when I am watching lovemaking scenes I find myself wondering, "this is very sexy but HOW did they do it? When did the underpants come off?"

For example, "Atonement" has this great sex scene (the only one in the film) set in a library where both the characters are fully clothed. You can pretty easily figure out that the man is adjusting his pants in preparation for the big moment, but what about the woman? She's still wearing her dress, but they show her feet and trust me, there are no nether garments down around her ankles. Is she not wearing any? That strikes me as a very un-English thing to do. I assume that filmmakers consider this small but critical detail to be a passion-killer.

For Battlestar Galactica, though, it is precisely these details that add to the sexuality of the characters and their actions.

Over time I have often wondered, "How do actors do this? How / why do they appear naked (or almost naked) and engaging in very intimate activities in front of an audience?" I finally concluded that actors are so emotionally naked on stage or screen, that being physically naked is not that big a leap.

Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1

This is an absolutely critical episode because the fleet's goal moves from simple survival to having a specific destination. Faith and reason collide in this episode, reflecting both Roslin's and Baltar's changing "world view." (In German this is called weltenshaaung and in Russian it is mirovozrenie. I don't think there is an English equivalent.) This episode also moves really fast, but without feeling as though any plot thread is cheated to get thing done by the end of 43 minutes. I appreciate this after "Colonial Day," which moved a little too slowly (IMHO).

I am always struck by the cinematic quality of the filming and editing, especially at the beginning of the episode. With the exception of "Act of Contrition," "You Can't Go Home Again," and, of course, "33," most of the episodes in Season 1 are high-quality self-contained television episodes, with relatively straightforward plot lines. ("Colonial Day," "Tigh Me Up Tigh Me Down," and even "Litmus" are good examples.)

I think this quality is obvious in the opening 5 minutes, which signal immediately that this episode is different. The action switches back and forth between multiple scenes, a technique use in many of the best episodes (like "33," for example, and later in "Occupation"). Each scene tells a different story, but also shares high dramatic points with the other scenes, bringing them together thematically. Moreover, there is very little dialogue so that the viewer has to infer each character's psychological state (what they are doing, of course, is not exactly a secret).

In the first scene Adama and Lee are boxing. Lee is younger and faster, but Adama has experience and the patience. Moreover, Adama is clearly enjoying himself, so when Lee punches him in the stomach and asks, "Are you okay?" Adama just smiles.

Meanwhile, in Baltar's quarters .... If you watched the dance at the end of "Colonial Day" carefully, you will have noticed Baltar and Starbuck dancing together while Lee wanders around looking lost. Starback and Baltar always generated some heat, so now, fueled by alcohol, they are making love. When they start to climax Starbuck cries out "Lee!" putting the kibosh on the process. At exactly this moment Adama punches Lee, and Lee's face is pushed in the direction of the camera. What's his expression - shock? This anticipates Lee's expression during the card game when he watches Baltar and Starbuck and puts two and two together. IMHO Adama's remark to Lee - "You don't lose control" - is a metaphor for Lee's relationship with Starbuck. This explains why Starbuck is in bed with Baltar while Lee still hasn't figured out how to ask her to the senior prom. This character trait turns the Starbuck/Lee so-called romance into one of the most infuriating relationships in the history of television.

Interspersed between the Lee-Starbuck snippets, Boomer is in her quarters with a gun in her mouth, and Helo, on Caprica, discovers Athena. Athena puts her gun away and says, "Just do it." Helo shoots, misses, and wounds Athena instead of killing her. Is this deliberate or by accident? As Boomer tries to muster the courage to pull the trigger, her name is called over the PA, as if calling her back to life. When the sequences end both Boomer and Athena are still alive. The call to Boomer keeps her alive and functioning long enough to fulfill her destiny which, I think, is not just to shoot Adama, but also to find Kobol.

Baltar interrupts Boomer during her second suicide attempt and is probably responsible for taking her to the next (ultimately successful) step of pulling the trigger. This is one of those moments when Baltar really rises about himself. Six, who is a stand-in for the viewer, is deeply moved by his behavior and for once doesn't have anything to say. Baltar's compassion and concern for Boomer are especially touching given that he is gently steering her towards suicide. Boomer is completely isolated and fearful, and this is the only scene where she actually connects with someone who understands her state of mind. I am very ambivalent about Boomer in Season 1, and this is one of those moments when she is especially sympathetic because she is trying to do the right thing even though it means death. Boomer's destiny is fixed, and her efforts to control it are futile but nevertheless courageous.

The discovery of Kobol takes Roslin further down the road that she believes has been prepared for her. Unlike Boomer, Roslin embraces her destiny. When she describes what she sees on the surveillance photos to Elosha and Billy, she's looking at them and talking to them, but doesn't glance down to watch the gestures her hands make. My impression is that Roslin is also talking to herself. This experience is the final act that changes Roslin's understanding toward the prophecies. Elosha's (and Roslin's) interpretation of the experience (which is qualitatively different from the other visions), guides them to the next step, which is quite specific and concrete. I think that Roslin is now happy about her place in the story - the cancer that is killing her is also part of her role as a savior.

Roslin's new belief system does not change her underlying behavior, which is straightforward and business-like (pretty ironic, actually). This gives her credibility when she speaks to Starbuck. Based on Roslin's advice Starbuck does ask Adama about their journey to earth, and figures out for herself that Roslin is telling the truth and Adama is lying.

Meanwhile, back on Caprica ... The conversation between Helo and Athena, "You're not Sharon" / "I am Sharon," continues the exploration of the distinctions between Boomer, Sharon, and all the other Sharons. This is an ongoing debate throughout the series, and I have talked about this in previous posts. When does Athena's distinct personality emerge, and how does this affect Helo's love for her? Is he in love with both women? In later seasons it's clear that Helo's love is specifically directed to Athena and not (to paraphrase Roslin in Season 4) the whole line. The question of the 8's identity is extremely complex and interesting, and Gaeta also gets sucked into it in "The Face of the Enemy" webisodes.

By the end of this episode there are several story lines (Kobol, Roslin/Adama conflict, Starbuck's defection, and what will Boomer next). IMHO it is easy to keep them separate which says a lot about the exposition, and yet art has not been compromised along the way. That's a pretty big accomplishment. The tension for most of Season 2.0 is devoted to resolving these conflicting stories.

Some other thoughts

Reason Number 11 why Lee is a jerk

Actually this is Reason Number 12 if you count the the suggestion that wearing a pinstriped suit counts as Reason Number 11.

Anyways, regardless of your numbering convention, here is the next reason:

He is not smart enough to make a pass at Starbuck himself, and he gets pissed off when someone else does. He is just incredibly out of line, on both a personal level and as her commanding officer, when he basically calls her a slut in front of the whole deck crew. Me? I would have reported him for sexual harassment. Instead, Starbuck apologizes later in the episode. Why is she apologizing?

BTW, I don't completely hate Lee. I just hate it when he opens his mouth. Jamie Bamber has a great physical presence, and when he is moving around and not talking, Lee comes across as a more complex person (I feel the same way about the boxing in "The Dance" in Season 3). I also thought the card game was pretty good, Lee figures out what happened between Baltar and Starbuck based on eye contact and things unsaid, and his facial expression tells exactly when he puts two and two together.

Other Stuff

• James Callis does a great drunk. Is this based on personal experience (haha, no offense)? His sentences are coherent and they sound like Baltar, but they are slurred. He sounds exactly like a drunk trying to sound sober. He drops is guard, though, and his emotional twists and turns are there for everyone to see. The transition from arrogant to despairing is just perfect.
• How does Boomer know the planet is Kobol? How does Leoben know that the fleet will find Kobol? Just throwing it out there. I don't care because it adds to the sense that there are unseen forces at work, and I just go with the flow.
• When I first heard the phrase "Lords of Kobol," I had a good laugh. I don't think I have ever seen the word written in the course of the show, but close-captioning always spells Kobol with a "K," making it a homonym for Cobol (Common Business-Oriented Language). It is the first coding language to use English-like statements, making it accessible to ordinary mortals like me. My employer (and this is not unusual) is still maintaining a few COBOL programs developed before the dawn of humans. The history of COBOL is awfully interesting. Grace Hopper, a woman working for the US Navy, wrote the first COBOL compiler, which is the same as saying she wrote the software for the Cylons. In an interesting little aside she won the first "man of the year" award from the Data Processing Management Association.

All Those Cool Buildings in Vancouver

Not too long ago I read an obituary of a Canadian architect named Arthur Erickson. I knew that one of the locations in Battlestar Galactica (the riverwalk in Caprica City) was actually the campus of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. In fact, I am pretty sure that campus was used in some other Sci Fi shows. In any event, I learned that Erickson was the architect.

I am a big architecture fan anyway, so I did a little research, and it turns out that the really cool office where Roslin's doctor tells he she has cancer (you know, the office with the triangle - pyramidish sort of entrance and the slanted glass wall) was also designed by Erickson. It is called "Waterfall House" and is located, not surprisingly, in Vancouver. It has also been used in one of the Viagra commercials, I am not entirely clear why since a pyramid doesn't strike me as an obvious phallic symbol.

I also think but I am not sure that Baltar's house (you know, the fabulous house with overlooking water) is "Graham House" in West Vancouver. I am not really sure because I couldn't find that many photographs on the net, but based on a sketch that I found in a book ("Arthur Erickson - Critical Works" page 21) I would say that this is a reasonable guess.

The building that looks really interesting, IMHO, is the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology. If I ever got to Vancouver I will definitely check it out. The building is quite spectacular.

Colonial Day

Colonial Day is an interesting episode, but it is not the best episode. I like seeing the relationships between Roslin, Baltar, and Zarek develop. I also like seeing how the fleet is struggling to maintain, as Zarek says, the vestiges of the old life (including journalists behaving badly on a copy-cat of "The Capital Gang") even though the fleet is just a remnant of the human race.

Roslin, not having any model for a system of government other than that from the Colonies (which seems reasonable to me, since it is a form of democracy), is struggling to put an administration together. In addition, with Wallace Gray, she is trying to institute programs that are necessary to keep body and soul together. You know, the trivial stuff that makes life bearable (like education, garbage collection, healthcare, access to food and water, etc.).

Roslin's relationship with Zarek is pretty well symbolized by the handshake moment - external niceties masking mutual distrust. Although Zarek seizes the initiative and offers his hand, Roslin beautifully upstages him by taking the action one step further and kissing him on the cheeks (well, kissing the air next to his cheeks). BTW this scene is reminiscent of the handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat at the signing ceremony for the Oslo Accords on September 13, 1993, when Arafat held out his hand and Clinton sort of nudged Rabin into shaking it.

This is another episode where James Callis gets to shine as Baltar. He starts out treating his new role in government as a tiresome burden, but as the perks increase so does his enjoyment. The culmination is that fabulous moment when Roslin introduces him and he bounds down the stairs, waving and smiling like any ambitious politician (or movie star, for that matter).

Each politician has a totally different public persona. Roslin comes across as the realist (kinda interesting, considering that she is having drug-induced visions), and she has Gray, the wonk, helping her to present the most specific programs to the electorate.

Zarek has entered mainstream politics. Despite wearing a suit and tie, however, he hasn't really changed. He continues to speak in vague terms of the future without offering anything concrete except that he want to upend existing societal structures and replace them with.... what? Well he doesn't get around to that. Zarek is, of course, a revolutionary, and I think that some of the appeal of the message is that it's more exciting than Roslin's and that the life in the Colonies was so completely decimated that Roslin may seem irrelevant to some of the people in the fleet. In the Quorum, however, Zarek's attraction seems to be based on political favors.

Baltar waxes eloquent speaking about truth, justice and the Colonial way, as well as orating about preserving the future for our children, etc., etc. It sounds nice, but there is no there there. As Samuel Johnson said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels." Or, as Baltar himself says when speaking of Roslin (season 4, "Guess What's Coming to Dinner"), "Co-opting the rhetoric of patriotism..." The final result of all this is that Baltar is vice president, a role for which he is uniquely unqualified, thus fulfilling Six's prediction at the end of "Six Degrees of Separation."

Zarek loses this round to Roslin, but he continues as a threat. His last statement, "I don't know who killed Valance. I wonder who did?" is both menacing and also a lie. (I didn't think, btw, that Zarek had been told Valance is dead.) I know this is going to sound dense, but I could not figure out how Zarek (or anyone else) managed to find Valance. It was only at the 700th viewing of this episode that I had a revelation. Zarek did ask Ellen to help him out, but I couldn't make the connection from Ellen to Valance. I realize now that Tigh must have told Ellen. When Roslin says, "only the people in this room know [where Valance is]" I finally noticed Tigh standing in the background, and therefore knew Valance's location, and that he must have told his wife when they were in bed together (or something like that).

Starbuck and Lee are so utterly unqualified as security guards, and behave so badly that it shows abysmal judgment on Adama's part to assign them to this role. Lee's behavior totally contradicts everything he preaches about during "Bastille Day," when he rambles on forever about what is right, what the law says, blah blah blah. In this episode Lee roughs up a guy showing support for Zarek, expresses open contempt not only for Zarek but also for Zarek's supporters while sucking down martinis, or whatever, tells the bartender to turn off a radio broadcast other people are listening to, and manages to start a highly visible and completely unnecessary fist fight with the same Zarek supporter. So much for keeping a low profile. I can only attribute this to bad writing.

The treatment of Valance, however, seems to echo certain CIA practices in recent years. Valance is locked away in a secret location (sort of like all those people kidnapped by the CIA and squirreled away to other countries to be tortured). He is denied habeas corpus, he is tortured and threatened with summary execution (by the noble Lee, no less), and does not have access to a lawyer. Of course equating Roslin with "W" seems pretty extreme, after all Roslin is a lot smarter than "W." However, Roslin does have a nasty habit of bypassing certain restrictions on her power. I attribute this behavior to the unwholesome experience of running her own classroom.

Meanwhile, back on Caprica

In "The Hand of God," Athena and Helo continue their flight from the Cylons, and Athena starts barfing a sure sign of early pregnancy. (I could write about my experience with so-called morning sickness for pages and pages, but I will spare you.) There relationship continues to develop and it is clear that Helo loves Athena (and not Boomer).

As I said in previous posts, it's a little confusing trying to figure out if Helo loves Athena when she is behaving like Boomer, and then goes along with the ride when Athena's real personality asserts itself. After giving it a lot of thought, I have now decided that Helo SLEPT with Boomer, but fell in love with Athena.

In this episode, Athena realizes that Helo is going to discover her origins, and she is terrified of the prospect. In addition, if Helo kills here, she will lose her baby and the Cylons she betrayed will resurrect her. Her las kiss with Helo is really an acknowledgment that their relationship is about to undergo a drastic change.

In the miniseries and at the beginning of Season 1, I did not think Grace Park was a very good actress. It's been a pleasure to see how much she has improved, and she becomes more and more convincing in her two roles. It's especially impressive because she is playing two characters whose differences are quite subtle.

Some things I noticed and really liked

• The way that Ellen immediately determines that she and Zarek are on the same wavelength. Ellen's not the brightest bulb on the porch, but she's not nice to Zarek because she likes him, and Zarek knows that:

Zarek: "What would that [your agenda] be?

Ellen: "Same as yours Tom. Me. Myself. And I."

• Roslin giving Baltar a dirty look after he seconds Zarek's proposal. Mary McDonnell is just SO good.

• Six's threat, "I have your heart, I can always rip it out of your chest if I need to." (and of course the context of this line is hilarious)

• The party after the election, when Adama says, "Politics, as exciting as war," and Roslin says, "Except in war you only get killed once." Strictly speaking, this is not true - at least it isn't for the Cylons.

One last question

In the scene where the delegates arrive, there is a guy who yells, "Murderer. You don't belong here Zarek. Go back." There are no credits given for the actor playing this character, but if it's not Anthony Edwards, it is someone who looks EXACTLY like him.

The Hand of God

This episode is absolutely critical - from this point on Galactica is as much about finding earth as it is about simple survival. This also marks the point where both Roslin's and Baltar's intellectual and emotional lives undergo a drastic transformation.

For Baltar this experience starts in "33," and "Six Degrees of Separation" expands on the theme. Both of these episodes, however, are restricted to dealing with threats to Baltar. In this episode Baltar's seemingly random choice of target ends up saving the fleet. This has an enormous effect on his world outlook, since he makes an irrevocable decision to move away from his rationalist, materialist mindset to a faith-based understanding of reality. The final scene, where Baltar stands in his robe looking up at the sky (and we are looking down at him) is typical of Baltar's ego and his sense of grandiosity (it's also pretty funny), but it has a core of truth since it appears that divine intervention DID guide his hand to the right target.

I find the fact that Six is the source of religious instruction fascinating. She seems unlikely since she is essentially a seduction machine, very jealous and capable of violence. (In "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I" she says, "I can rip it [Baltar's heart] out whenever I want to.") There's nothing warm and fuzzy about her, but she still mouths pieties like, "God doesn't take sides. Give yourself over to his love." and ".... surrender your ego, remain humble." 

Roslin's evolution starts in "Flesh and Bone," when she has dreams that predict the future. Now, however, she is having visions (or hallucinations, depending on your point of view) that require explanation. Roslin's use of chamallah as an "alternative" treatment for cancer soon becomes the vehicle for her understanding of the Colonials' founding story and her place in that story. 

The episode opens with Roslin's press conference about the latest crisis. She starts out in usual presidential form, but as the vision of the snakes becomes more disturbing she becomes incoherent and distracted. The snakes are a particularly creepy symbol (at least to this writer).

Like Baltar, Roslin's personal experience convinces her that she is playing a role given to her by the gods. Like Baltar, she is a rationalist and is even ignorant of her society's religious belief system, making her "conversion" seem a logical and legitimate change in her sense of self. Mary O'Donnell's expression depicts with stunning verisimilitude Roslin's version of falling down on the road to Damascus. Unlike Baltar, this transformation doesn't seem (much) to inflate her ego. It does however give her a sense of purpose that offers more than just safety, but also hope.

The end of the episode offers a nice touch when Six's interpretation of events matches Elosha's. 

The rest of the episode is a ripping good yarn. The special effects are great and it is a lot of fun watching the battle scenes, especially as Lee & co. destroy the refinery. There are also some nice twists as Lee takes on qualities of Starbuck and Starbuck is forced to step back and assume a role inimical to her personality. This is a rite of passage for Starbuck (as Adama says, "Welcome to the big league.")

Of course we are forced to sit through the usual Lee histrionics when he bitches and moans that everybody likes Starbuck more than they like him, and his daddy has to sit by his side and stroke his ego and prove that he loves Lee more than he loves Starbuck, blah blah blah. In fact, the only Lee moment I liked was at the end, when he looks at his father while he is smoking a cigar. Not surprisingly, Lee doesn't say anything, which is probably why the little scene is a success.

What I really liked

• Elosha, whose personality conveys a magisterial authority. Her deep voice and cynical reaction towards Roslin's initial description of her experiences, as well as her embrace of Roslin's role in bringing the prophecies to fruition lend credence to this important new story line. After Elosha dies, she is replaced briefly by the priest who delivers the oath of office. The guy looks like a typical mainstream Protestant minister, who matches our (or at least mine) experience of traditional religion. By season 4, however, the representative of religion is this wishy-washy new age type that I personally cannot take seriously.
• When Tigh says, "It'll cost us." His tone of voice, which is slightly hoarse, and his serious and even pained facial expression convey the image of a leader embracing a necessary evil (the death of his men) to achieve a larger purpose (the safety of the fleet). I suppose that this is the whole point of war, even though the only "just wars" I can think of are the American Civil War and World War II.
• The depiction of an active, free press during a press conference that resembles U.S. presidential press conferences. Despite the extraordinary circumstances, the structure of colonial society survives, including a legitimate government following rules established before the Cylon attack, and journalists playing their role as conveyers of information as well as devil's advocate. 
• Adama's and Roslin's glasses reflecting the green light from the light board. I also noticed that once the mission completes Adama briefly takes off his glasses, his equivalent of letting his guard down.

One thing I thought was really really stupid

Everyone standing around the light table (which I guess served as a map) while models of ships are pushed around to indicate how the battle is progressing. Come on, CNN can do better than that, why can't Galactica? I realize that this is one of Galactica's deliberate anacronisms and I assume that the intent was to allude to those old RAF / Battle of Britain movies where everyone stands around stiff-upper-lipped, but I thought it was stupid for the following reasons:

• Space is 3-dimensional but the model was 2-dimensional
  
• I couldn't figure out why they weren't in the CIC in the first place
• Gaeta's function seemed to be restricted to repeating everything Adama or Starbuck said. I kept wondering why they couldn't just speak to Dualla directly and eliminate the middleman. It kind of reminded me of the movie "Galaxy Quest," where Lt. Tawny Madison's job was repeating other people's commands to the computer, and then repeating what the computer says to everyone else.

Tigh me up, Tigh me down

This episode is very funny, and I enjoy it a lot. There are many hilarious scenes and the actors' comic timing is superb. My only quibble is whether this makes sense given that it takes place just a few weeks after the Colonies are destroyed and billions of people are murdered, but I don't find it hard to get past that (it is, after all, fiction and not fact) and relax and enjoy the ride.

This episode is obviously meant to provide some comic relief, and it is the only episode I can think of that is primarily humorous. A lot of episodes have a serious premise with funny moments that are usually provided by Gaius Baltar (even "33" manages this). But I can't think of any other episode that has this many laughs. (According to Ron Moore's podcast, "Taking a Break From All Your Worries" in Season 3 was meant to provide comic relief, but by the time they were done it was pretty grim.)

This episode is based on misunderstandings, which is the foundation of a lot of farces ("Twelfth Night" and "The Importance of Being Ernest" are just two examples). In fact, this episode achieves the impossible - it manages to make Baltar look reasonable in comparison to everyone else. ("Ladies and gentlemen, please. We're in a laboratory. There are hazardous chemical compounds everywhere. That's a thermo-nuclear bomb, for frack's sakes.")

One of the first scenes, when Six commiserates with Baltar and offers him a sexual interlude sets the very silly tone for the rest of the episode. Italian opera starts playing, Baltar spins around in his chair, tosses the clipboard, and the camera gradually lowers until we are looking underneath the table and watching the characters' legs. It tells us everything we need to know about what is going on without actually showing it. The episode ends at this same location, with Baltar at the head of a table crowded with blood samples, spinning dreamily in his chair and being caressed by Six.

In this episode Tigh is reunited with his wife, Ellen. I like Kate Vernon a lot, like Mary O'Donnell she is another really attractive over-40 woman. She is very beautiful and radiates sex from the moment she steps onto Galactica. Kate Vernon has a very expressive mouth, and as Ellen steps of the raptor, she uses her mouth to convey vulnerability. This is the only time in the episode where she evokes our sympathy. It's quickly apparent that Ellen's drinking is not characterized by moderation, nor are her relationships with men. In Freudian terms she is all id and no superego. In Adama's terms "... she's nothing but trouble."

We've already seen Tigh's alcoholic behaviors. In "Water" he draws lines on the bottle to mark how much he will drink. In the briefing scene at the beginning of "Bastille Day" the deck crew smirks when they realize he's drunk. In this episode, before he sees Ellen, he tosses a bottle of liquor in the garbage. His relationship with his awful wife is also a form of addiction. In spite of promises to "start over," they quickly fall into the patterns that always characterized their marriage (and Tigh's resolution to stop drinking is quickly tossed aside). One thing that Ellen gets absolutely right, though, is that Adama is "... one of those faces on a totem pole."  I did get a good chuckle out of that. (I wonder if Edward James Olmos made his face grimmer than usual to make this line more accurate.)

In spite of all the laughs, the underlying mood in the fleet is suspicion. During her conversation with Billy, Roslin is wide-eyed with terror and acts paranoid. IMHO she also, for the first time in the series, looks sick, as if her emotional state of mind is affecting her health.

Athena/Boomer

This episode ends with the critical conversation between Doral and Six, which I have already discussed in my post Why Battlestar Galactica. I have watched this episode several times since that post, and I am struck by the fact that it is Doral who says "I can't help wondering what it would be like to feel that intensely. Even in his (i.e. Helo's) anguish he seemed so alive." There is a lot of curiosity and yearning on his face that is very un-Doral-like. This scene is the first to give a glimpse of Cylon interior life. With the exception of Baltar's Six, the Cylons, for the most part, have been cold, psychologically remote, and self-sufficient.

"Flesh and Bone" is the turning point in Athena's relationship to Helo. In that episode she discusses Helo with Six and Doral dispassionately, but she doesn't actually answer Six when Six asks her if she can kill Helo. Athena's loyalties are now unconditionally transferred to Helo and (later) the fleet.

Before she changes sides, Athena had behaved like Boomer, who is insecure and needy. I assume this was a deliberate decision on the part of the Cylons, and done to deceive Helo. At the end of "Flesh and Bone" Athena asks Helo, "Do you trust me?" Until now Helo has been the leader and made the decisions, now Athena is asking Helo to let her share that role. This line signals the point where Athena's true personality asserts itself. She is forceful, decisive, and confident. These changes in personality don't seem to affect Helo's love. Although Athena and Boomer are psychologically completely different, at some level they must share qualities that make them both attractive to Helo. I am also sure that Helo loves the new Boomer (i.e., Athena) even more because of her determination to save him.

IMHO, Boomer's hesitancy and fearfulness are a manifestation of her subconscious knowledge that she is not who she believes she is. Which leads to an interesting question - is Boomer culpable for her actions in later episodes, or is she destined to behave as she does. As I have already pointed out, Galactica repeatedly returns to the question of free will. This is another example of Galactica's relevance to difficult issues in our own society. In the American legal system there is an ongoing debate about whether individuals with serious mental illness can be held accountable when they commit violent crimes. (For a discussion, see  this fascinating article on the subject.)

Some things I noticed

Call me crazy, but if I hadn't seen my husband in weeks and thought he was dead, my first action wouldn't be to uncork a bottle and toss down shots. I would throw him on the floor and ravish him (which is pretty much what Ellen does in "Deadlock" in Season 4.5). Starbuck and Anders also seem to prefer the bottle to bed ("Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2"). After pining for each other for months they suck up huge amounts of alcohol before climbing into the sack. IMHO this is a really bad idea since performance is usually not improved by alcohol consumption, and the happy couple probably won't remember the sex anyway.

Starbuck & Baltar - I've already discussed the scene with Baltar & Six, but there is a also a tiny little moment when Starbuck interrupts them that adds to the fun. Starbuck ever so slightly closes her eyes and shakes her head. It is so subtle and funny, and characteristic of the "early" Starbuck. Katee Sackhoff is great at producing these minute facial expressions that convey Starbuck's thoughts in seconds. In "Flight of the Phoenix," Racetrack calls Athena a Cylon whore while Starbuck is walking away from the card table. Starbuck stops, and there's a short pause and you can see Starbuck silently asking herself, "Should I or shouldn't I?" The she gives a little smile, turns around, and decks Racetrack.

I know I've said it before, but ...

One of Galactica's attractions is its epic scope. A few episodes may be self-contained stories (IMHO they are not the best episodes either). Star Trek Voyager theoretically had a similar premise (return home), but the episodes were typically self-contained, with only occasional references to the ultimate goal.

And finally, an extremely fun piece of trivia

Kate Vernon's dad is John Vernon. In case that name doesn't mean anything to you, then maybe the name Dean Vernon Wormer rings a bell. And if that doesn't trigger any synapses in your brain, then maybe Farber College does. And if you still don't know what I am talking about, it is time for you to netflix "Animal House" (one of the five funniest movies ever made). If you don't like "Animal House," then you are beyond redemption and there is really nothing more I can do to help you.

What is the most basic article of faith? This is not all that we are

This is such an interesting statement (and it reappears toward the end of the series in "The Road Less Travelled") that I contacted a friend of mine who is a theologian (Catholic, no less). Since I couldn't summarize my friend's remarks in 10 words or less, I decided to replicate the discussion here. I offered to cite my friend by name, but the offer was turned down.

Me:

There is a line in Battlestar Galactica: "What is the most basic tenet of faith? This is not all that we are." (I know, it should be "article" not "tenet" but I don't think the mistake has any significant effect on her answer.)

Can you provide any insight into that statement and how it may reflect

Choose one:

a. Some

b. All

c. No

religious belief systems?

Theologian Pal's answer:

Interesting.  I think I'll choose to answer "a. some" and also "b. all."  I guess one could claim that some (most) if not all belief systems/religions/faith traditions would assert that "this is not all that we are," meaning that human beings are more than the accidental if complicated end of specific evolutionary processes.

So, I'm guessing that "this is not all that we are" is meant to refer to a faith based claim that human beings are more than meets the eye, perhaps possessing some non-material aspect (i.e.  a soul or something similar.)  If that's what is meant by the claim, then it would be congruent with: the major monotheistic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) as well as the harder to classify Hinduism and also Buddhism, and you could also make the case that it applies to non-theistic traditions, like some native American belief systems, or African tribal ancestor worship (and pantheism.)

It's possible that this sentence is really a tautology since "faith" could be defined as belief in something not evident to the senses, i.e. "not all that we are."

What's slightly odd about how the claim is phrased is that it's referent is anthropological and not cosmological.  IT would be a little more standard to claim faith in something beyond human life (a claim about the cosmos) than to state in the negative that human life is not all that we are, and anthropocentric way of making a faith claim - I think.

Flesh and Bone

For a long time I didn't like this episode, maybe because I was uncomfortable watching the torture scenes. I also don't think that Katee Sackhoff's acting is so great (unlike most of her work on Galactica). Or it may simply be that Starbuck is such a failure as an interrogator. I watched this show again several times while working on this post and found my opinion changing 180 degrees, mainly because Starbuck and Leoben's conversations are so interesting.

This is an important episode for two reasons: Roslin has her first "vision" and Leoben and Starbuck begin their extremely unhealthy relationship.

Roslin's first vision is the only one that takes the form of a dream. Moreover, unlike the other visions it's prescient of events in the near future. The dream sequence has a disproportionate effect on the episode's events, considering how short it is. Like all dreams, Roslin's is disconnected and contains a lot of disconcerting jumps in action.

Roslin's wandering in a dark forest is a recurring symbol in many fairytales:

"The darker elements in some tales often reveal shadow energies in action, an image, or even a setting. The deep dark forest is a common representation of the feared elements within. The monsters live in the forest. The forest can reflect parts of ourselves that are never entirely tamed, that are always somewhat dangerous and chaotic. These elements sometimes come up in nightmares. They are important parts of ourselves. In some ways, they are the most creative aspects of our inner world. We need to go into the dark forest. It is difficult and mysterious. Still, fresh energies and new ideas come from that place. Once Upon a Time -How Fairy Tales Shape our Lives", by Jonathan Young

Leoben calls to Roslin but she can't hear him. (I am always having this experience, I think it may be a common theme in dreams. Even more often I have the sensation of talking and no one hearing me, which is probably just replicating my experience with my husband and kids during my waking state.)

Leoben grabs Roslin and pulls her aside while the marines run through the woods. This is fairly ambiguous - is Leoben preventing her from calling for help, or is he protecting her from the marines chasing both of them?

Roslin is wearing a white nightgown and the marines are in black. Is this supposed to represent good vs. evil, or did they just happen to put on those clothes that morning?

Finally, Leoben looks very creepy when he bows his head and is then sucked away. As he pulled further away, he looks more and more non-human (to me he looks like a rubber doll).

Roslin is unsettled by the "coincidental" appearance of Leoben in the fleet. I think this is why she insists that he be interrogated before killing him. Roslin's decision to go to the Gemenon Traveler well after the interrogation has started is obviously triggered by Leoben's reappearance in her subconscious as well as apprehension as the deadline for the bomb approaches. 

I am sure that Roslin's decision to throw Leoben out the airlock is premeditated, but I am suspicious of the timing (after Leoben whispers to her that Adama is a Cylon). BTW, contrary to some opinions I have seen posted, I don't think that Roslin's decision to break her promise is that much of a moral failing, after all the guy participated in the murder of billions of people. I don't think, either, that Roslin objects to Starbuck's interrogation methods per se, her objection is that they don't work. Hours after Starbuck's unsuccessful attempt to extract the information, Roslin gets it in about 5 minutes. 

This episode was first shown during W's 2nd term, and Starbuck's torture methods hit a pretty sensitive nerve for many of us in the good old U.S. of A. At this writing, in the first months of the Obama administration, questions about torture are very much in the headlines now that we know more about what actually happened under Obama's predecessor. There is a great deal of skepticism about the reliability of information obtained through torture, since victims tend to say anything to get the torture to stop. (Leoben does this when he says there is a nuke hidden in the fleet.) Starbuck's assertion that she can use any methods because Leoben is a machine echoes demonization of terrorists (who are apparently all non-Western Muslims) in our time. 

Leoben manages to both spiritual and menacing in an extremely weird way. Callum Keith Rennie gives Leoben unexpected intonations which intensify the sense of danger. One of the most memorable Leoben moments is in the miniseries, when he is first encountered on Ragnar station. He starts barking out his demands, and his last demand is shouted, "I WANT A SHIP WITH AN UNTRACEABLE" and then his voice returns to normal levels, although still threatening, "jump drive." The sudden switch in sound level and intonation is very unsettling. He does something similar in this episode when he says, "This is not the time," and then breaks his manacles and has Starbuck by the throat in about two seconds.

Leoben's personality is also antithetical to common perceptions of robots (actually all Cylons are like that, but Leoben carries it a setp further). He lies a lot, which is not something I would expect from a machine. Lying is a very complicated cognitive function that requires a sophisticated understanding of other peoples' perceptions (see Theory of Mind). In other words, Leoben knows what he is thinking, he knows what I am thinking and he knows how to manipulate my thinking by stating an untruth that he has identified as something he can successfully pass off as the truth. Leoben is the polar opposite of Data from Star Trek TNG, who is incapable of lying.

Most of Starbuck and Leoben's dialogue is a debate between her assertion that he is a machine and his insistence that he has qualities (such as a soul), that contradict her perception. Leobon talks a lot about his god and how god manifests itself in his world view. Leoben says, for the first time in the series, "All this has happened before and all this will happen again." As I discussed in "33," Galactica frequently poses the question of whether the characters are making independent decisions, or whether their decisions are predetermined by their fate. 

Leoben also knows a lot about Starbuck that he theoretically should not know, and is able to predict future events.  How or why he can do this is left unanswered and makes him more elusive than other Cylon models. It doesn't however, make him more likeable (on New Caprica he does a lot of shitty stuff without exhibiting any inner conflict between his spirituality and his deeds).

Finally, since I watched this episode again after the series conclusion, I am struck by the reoccurrence of this phase (Season 4, "The Road Less Travelled"). "What is the most basic article of faith? This is not all that we are." My next post analyzes this assertion.

Boomer/Athena 

I'm not going to spend a lot of time discussing this plot line, although I think the events taking place in this episode are important. It's just that I don't think these scenes are that interesting except for what happens, and they are not the dominating story in this episode.

Final Random Thoughts

• The biggest trivial question in my mind is why on earth anyone would think that Starbuck is capable of interrogating a prisoner successfully.

• I (like everyone else) have a lot of questions about Baltar's decision to lie to Boomer about the test results. So, OK, he lies to her because Six convinces him that Boomer will kill him if he tells her the real results, but he never tells anyone else, either. This seems to indicate that Baltar's loyalties are with the Cylons, which is pretty odd considering the number of times the Cylons try to destroy Galactica (and by extension, Gaius Baltar). James Callis really funny depicting Baltar's craven side.

• The dream sequence bears a certain similarity to "Sub Rosa," from Star Trek TNG (at least I think it does, I haven't seen it in about 10 years). I wonder if the image of women in white wandering through dark forests is used a lot in literature or cinema. (The only one I can think of is Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White," rather obvious, I know.) If anyone has any other examples, please add them to the comments. 
  

Six Degrees of Separation

This is a very silly episode. It is a lot of fun, mainly because Baltar is more schizophrenic than usual in this episode, and his behavior varies in a pretty short time between craven, analytical, smug, lustful, and even dignified. James Callis does a great job handling this emotional rollercoaster.

Although there are a few side plots, there are really only two major plot lines: Baltar's trial by fire, and the Boomer/Athena trajectory.

The heart of Baltar's story revolves around his relationship with the Cylon god. (Honestly, some of Six's lines make her sound like a Jehovah Witness.) I will try not to repeat too much of what I said in "33," but I do find it fascinating that the Cylons are monotheists, unlike the humans, and in some ways their god sounds like the Christian god.

Before I delve into my analysis, I just want to make a couple more quick points:

First, Cylon behavior is completely at odds with their god's commands, which is an accurate summation of the dichotomy between religious tenets and human behavior exhibited by all major religions through human history (except maybe Buddhists, and I don't know enough to make a judgment about that).

Second, Six looks a lot better in red than in blue.

This episode brings to a head the threat introduced in "33," namely that Baltar has a big secret.  The ghost of Dr. Amarak raises the same threat in tangible proof provided by Shelly Godfrey. Even more interesting is that despite Baltar's involvement in the Cylon attack, Godfrey accuses Baltar of something he didn't do. I think it is mainly so that Baltar feels persecuted since this accusation is completely unjust.

This episode also has the same problems that I discussed in "33" (although it is fun to ignore them and just go with the flow). The non-corporeal Six seems to have a lot of control over events (as I have said in previous posts, they never do come up with a satisfactory explanation of what Six is), including managing the appearance of her flesh and blood counterpart. In fact, I think that Shelly Godfrey is just the Six-in-Baltar's-mind made flesh. In addition, Baltar's redemption is based on embracing the Cylon god while he has a gun pointed to his head (figuratively this time, literally comes later) - sort of the Spanish Inquisition strategy for winning converts.

Of course, none of the fleet's leaders trust Baltar (why would they? He does have something to hide). In fact, Adama is more taciturn and grim than usual in this episode. Even so, Baltar manages to show some dignity:

During the scene in Adama's office he says, "(And) I don't like to be accused of participating in the genocide of the human race based solely on the word of a woman whom I have already indicated to you may well be a Cylon agent."

During his conversation with Roslin he says, "You'll forge me Madame Presiden, if I don't wish to be executed solely on your gut feeling."

In the end they reinstate him despite their misgivings - misgivings that are reaffirmed, no doubt, by Baltar's attempt to destroy evidence, and then screaming for a lawyer (a sure sign of guilt).

As for Boomer and Athena...

Athena and Helo finally get it on, conceiving Hera. It is also the deciding moment when Athena switches loyalties. I always liked Helo and Athena, I think they have a lot of chemistry (unlike Boomer and Tyrol). Their relationship is stable and enduring, in contrast to all the drama and infidelity in some of the other relationships which-I-will-not-name. I also like the way their lovemaking coincides with Boomer's discovery of "Cylon" written on her mirror. I assume Boomer wrote that herself.

But the really creepy moment is Boomer's conversation with Tyrol about the raider. She strokes it and talks about it as if in a trance, and then snaps out of it. Tyrol's reaction is puzzled and a little suspicious. Boomer's subconscious is reflecting the change in the human /Cylon ratio.

My favorite scenes:

• Baltar's initial encounter with Shelly Godfrey. It is really really funny because, up until now, Baltar has been behaving as if he doesn't see or converse with the Six-only-he-sees. Therefore, when he sees Shelly Godfrey, he behaves as if he doesn't see her because he assumes no one else can see her. It's a nice little twist, since no one else present can figure out why he is behaving as if he doesn't see her.
• Baltar opens the door and finds Dee standing there, on the receiving end of his latest proposition to Six. She doesn't actually get to say anything much to Baltar, but her changing expressions convey her reaction beautifully. It's easy to forget that Dee was a very funny and cheerful young woman at the start of the series. She s very charming and appealing when she first meets Billy in the miniseries, and the followup flirtation during "Water," when he throws out the "I really like your hair" line at her is amusing. I attribute her decline into a humorless, morose person to Lee's depressing influence.

The scenes I really hate:

• When Cottle says to Roslin, "It's not that kind of shot."
• Baltar's attempt to influence Gaeta when they are both sitting on the toilet.

I assume that both these scenes were David Eick's idea, and reflect his juvenile sense of humor.

Thank the gods they deleted the scene where we get to see the Cylon Raider shit. Or maybe I've just changed too many diapers in my time. (It is not fun to have 3 kids simultaneously in diapers) and have lost all interest in scatological humor. But then, my taste has never run to the vulgar.

Litmus

"Litmus" starts with the reappearance of Aaron Doral, who is a very creepy guy and bears an uncanny likeness to Kevin Spacey. Of course, the fact that he was in Public Relations (as we learn during the miniseries) should make it obvious that he is one of the enemy. The destruction that follows his appearance forces the fleet leadership to take more drastic steps to find the enemy within. One decision is to inform the fleet that the Cylons take human form, the other is Adama's decision to authorize an independent tribunal to find how Doral gained access to a secured area.

Sergeant Hadrian, who conducts the investigation, has a pretty interesting name, depending on whether you are Roman or Jewish. Romans consider him one of the "five good emperors" (NOT a rock group) for reasons too complex to go through here. He did, btw, build Hadrian's wall in England. Jews hate him because of his bloody suppression of the Bar Kochba revolt, and the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Jews. I have no idea, of course, whether any of this influenced Ron Moore's choice of name or if he chose it because it sounded cool.

But I digress.

I don't want to spend a lot of time discussing the tribunal except to make a few points. At the beginning Roslin warns Adama that this could turn into a witch hunt, a line that Adama echoes when he shuts down the proceedings. The faces of the judges as well as the face of the stenographer are fun to watch. When Adama says "I'm a soft touch" they all start to snicker while Hadrian looks peeved. When Hadrian asks Adama if he thinks there are Cylons aboard Galactica, he says "I do," and the stenographer looks up with a startled expression on her face.

But most important, Adama was right when he said to Hadrian, "you've lost your way." Assuming that Hadrian interviewed many people, she identified a direct line through the deck drew to Tyrol and Boomer, even though everyone denied that they were together. If she hadn't gotten so absorbed in trying to bully Adama, she might actually have caught Boomer. She certainly got very close.

The heart of this episode, though, is the story of the two Sharons, who start to switch places.

Boomer the Cylon continues to be a threat to the fleet. I also think that her responses to the unexplained coincidences that seem to place her in the middle of each attack become more calculated over time, even though she is not yet aware she's a Cylon. Her response to Tyrol's question "Did you leave the hatch door open" dodges the question totally, probably because she doesn't know herself. She doesn't confide in Tyrol the way she did when she discovered explosives were missing. She is indifferent to Socinus' fate, and, by extension, Tyrol's angst over one of his "kids." Finally, despite repeated warnings from her commanding officers, the near miss of being discovered during the tribunal, and Tyrol's feelings of guilt, she wants to continue the relationship and is stunned and furious when Tyrol breaks up with her.

Meanwhile, back on Caprica.....

Athena, a Doral, and a Six stand on the roof of a building watching Helo the way scientists might watch a rat in a maze (in fact we see a rat running around before the camera turns to Helo.) They identify the directions that he can take, and what each direction says about his affection for Athena. When he starts walking away, Six says, "He just doesn't love you." When he turns around and heads towards Athena, Athena says, "He's a good man, he always does the right thing." I think this marks the beginning of Athena's realization that she loves Helo, and is the first step in her journey away from the Cylons and towards humanity.

My favorite scenes:

Adama says "YES": No, not like Molly Bloom (See Molly Bloom's Soliloquy.) It's right after the bombing, when Tigh asks "Did you get a good look at the bomber?" and Adama says "YES." Then Tigh asks "It was him?" and Adama says again "YES." I keep trying to decide why I like the way Adama says "Yes." I guess it's because he's absolutely furious and you can see it by his expression. He says "Yes" in a way that is almost yelling but at the same time feels very restrained because it is such a terse answer. It is one of my completely favorite Adama moments.

Six beats the shit out of Sharon: Season 1 Sixes are scary. They are skinny, blond, sexy, and very tough. Six was supposed to beat up Sharon enough to convince Helo that she was a Cylon captive, but IMHO she sees to err on the side of making things a little too convincing. In fact, the camera looks directly at Six while she pulls back her arm and throws a few punches, letting us know what it's like to be on the receiving end of her fist. It's pretty frightening. (I suspect, btw, that the motivation for this violence is jealousy over Helo's return to look for Sharon.) By season 4 these types of Sixes are gone, and replaced by more emotionally vulnerable Sixes. Frankly, I kind of miss the bitches from Season 1.

Tyrol gets yelled at by Adama: What can I say? Yet another great Adama moment. Adama is working on his model ship while Tyrol is talking and he doesn't even look up from what he is doing. In about 20 seconds he gets Tyrol to admit he was with Boomer at the time of the bombing. When he finally does stand up and look Tyrol in the eye, he is MAD, but, again, he doesn't raise his voice. His anger is expressed in intonation and he doesn't mince words. In fact he is perfect at phrasing everything in a way that is guaranteed to maximize Tyrol's guilt feelings while also establishing his expectations from his crew, regardless of circumstance.

You Can't Go Home Again

It's taken me a long time to figure out this episode, not so much the what but the why. For a long time I thought that it was a one-two punch, in other words, pull Starbuck down and then pull her back up. I think the timing on this is primarily responsible - Starbuck is lost immediately after Adama finds out that she is indirectly responsible for his son's death. In that respect it feels rather contrived.

After giving it some thought I concluded that prior to this episode (IMHO) Adama's relationship with Starbuck was mediated by their connection to Zak. In this episode I think Adama realizes how much he cares about Starbuck for herself. In other words his affection (and even love) for her is independent of the fact that she came into his life because of Zak. In this respect, I think that Roslin is somewhat (but not completely) wrong when she tells Adama and Lee that they can't let go of Starbuck because they haven't gotten over Zak's death.

In fact, Adama's sense of urgency leads him to contravene his own rules. For example, in "Water" Adama tells Roslin (who is asking Gaeta to speculate on the cause of the water tank explosions) that he doesn't like his officers to guess. In this episode Adama tells Gaeta, who has no data on where Starbuck could be, that it's time to start guessing. In fact, in the next scene Gaeta says "I would guess" with just the slightest emphasis on the word "guess."

In the meantime.... on the moon where she is landed, Starbuck is busy having a conversation with the Lords of Kobol. Its flippant tone struck me as completely at odds with the dire nature of her situation and somewhat contrived, but, after thinking about, it is in character with Starbuck's generally insolent behavior towards her superiors. Maybe the awkwardness of the monologue stems from the fact that this is the kind of conversation I would have in my head. Of course in that case we would have no idea what Starbuck is thinking. (Duh)

Starbuck's discovery of the Cylon ship provides the first "inside"glimpse of Cylon technology. Despite the sleek design and impression the ship gives of being an automaton, the inside is completely organic, once again blurring the distinction between "machine" and "man" that is typical of encounters with the Cylons. (In a later episode Boomer says to treat it like a pet.)

Finally, this episode is another instance of how alliances change based on circumstances. Tigh and Roslin, who have been polite adversaries until this point, become allies in their concern over the risks presented by continuing the search for Starbuck. Roslin's behavior towards Lee and Adama is very very tough, while still hitting the right button to bring them back in line. Even though the death of a child is an enormous tragedy, she doesn't provide a drop of sympathy. Instead, she provides a concise summation of the psychological forces driving their behavior, appeals to their "sense of honor," (a trait they both pride themselves on), and tells them to "clear [their] heads." In two minutes she accomplishes exactly what she set out to do. In this respect Roslin is a complete politician since she so quickly grasps the two men's personalities and uses this understanding to her advantage.

My favorite scenes:

When Adama climbs the ladder to the cockpit and gives Lee his helmet. I think this scene made an impression on me because Adama is almost never on the hangar deck, let alone climbing ladders. Although Adama maintains his usual tight-lipped mien, the fact that he does these things which are not typical of Adama, sends up a signal about his agitated state of mind. (Of course, it is always possible to read too much into these types of things. If the director read this he might say "What? I never thought of that! We just did it that way because we couldn't think of anything better.")

Baltar's conversations with Roslin. If you look very very closely, while Baltar is talking to Roslin, he is looking at Six. Roslin briefly glances in the same direction, but Six, of course, is completely invisible to Roslin. It's just an interesting little moment, that's all. Again, I have no idea if Mary McDonnell does this intentionally, but she is such a good actress it wouldn't surprise me at all. It certainly amps up Baltar's oddness factor.

I will be devoting a lot more time next post to Athena/Helo's developing relationship back on Caprica, but I just want to briefly mention the scene in the kitchen when Helo is making breakfast. First off, it reminds me a LOT of the scene in Jurassic Park when the kids were in the kitchen hiding from the velociraptors (mind you, I haven't seen Jurassic Park since it came out, so I may be completely wrong on this one). Second, it is a very nice visual pun with the toaster popping up, and alerting the "Toasters" that someone is there.  Very cute.

BSG 101 - Quiz number one

True or False - Starbuck loves Lee more than she ever loved Zak.

Why is BSG filmed in British Columbia?

a. Because the weather in Vancouver is so great

b. Because James Callis hasn't been able to get a visa to enter the US since the lewd behavior conviction back in '98

c. Because Canadians work cheap

Roslin was appointed Secretary of Education because:

a. She was a terrific teacher

b. She was great at getting out the vote

c. She was President Adar's girlfriend

Admiral Adama most resembles which of the following captains:

a. Jack Aubrey of HMS Surprise

b. Joseph Hazelwood of Exxon Valdez

c. Captain Feathersword of the Wiggles

Felix Gaeta prefers:

a. Men

b. Women

c. All of the above

Doc Cottle is a chain smoker because:

a. He's smoking cannabis and not tobacco

b. There is no tar or nicotine in Colonial cigarettes

c. He hasn't read the surgeon general's report

Which couple does NOT need to get drunk before having sex

a. Starbuck and Sam

b. Starbuck and Baltar

c. Starbuck and Zak

d. Starbuck and Lee

e. None of the above

Who is smarter - Sam Anders or Lee Adama? (hint - this is a trick question)

Essay question: Explain the political, social, economic, and technological conditions that contributed to the first cylon war. Discuss in detail the consequences of the Armistice in the development of the post-war political and military organization structures. Use both sides of the paper if necessary.

Essay question: Explain why Callie would allow herself to get beaten up by Tyrol in order to get him to marry her, and then proceed to one-night stand Hotdog immediately before the wedding?

Followup question: Do you think that this might have something to do with randomly choosing Tyrol to be a cylon without considering the consequence of having another half-cylon child running around?

Act of Contrition

Before I get into details, I want to say that I like every part of this episode except the underlying story about Starbuck's relationship with Zak. It's told in a series of short flashbacks, which I think fails to provide a full picture of their relationship or help us understand why Starbuck does what she does. For me the problem was getting a sense of who Zak is. The flashbacks tell what happened and they tell us what Starbuck says and does, but they don't really say anything about this man she so desperately loves.

This is a fairly significant problem from the standpoint of plot. However, what I really love about this episode is that it consists of a series of brilliant scenes set on Galactica that capture the nature of the latest crisis in the context of relationships on board the ship. 

"Act of Contrition" starts out with a glimpse of Starbuck on a viper that is out of control, and then periodically returns to this same scene. This scene is the episode's end, and while I am not sure that I understood that the first time I saw "Act of Contrition," I think it nevertheless serves as a way of creating suspense. In other words, how do we get from the current story (which is set almost entirely on Galactica) to Starbuck ejecting from a viper?

OK - so here are my favorite moments in this episode:

The scene where Flattop is celebrating his 1,000th landing. It gives us a glimpse of the pilots' lives (when they are not dealing with crises) and rituals.The Chief's question, "Why didn't anyone tell me this is Flattop's 1,000th landing? Now we look like fools" is so prosaic - it is exactly the kind of thing you would expect to hear in almost any circumstance (birthday party, major system implementation, grocery shopping) when someone isn't in the loop. The metal wagon, of course, turns out to be fatal because the drone locks in on the metal assuming it is a ship.

Speaking of which.... I also like the way that the perspective switches to the drone's viewpoint as the cart wheels round and round. This also means that we get to see the look of stunned horror on Flattop's face just before the drone hits, transforming the moment from a celebration to a tragedy.

The poker game. OK, I know it's not poker, but they are playing a card game & gambling, so calling it poker is good enough. I love the way the camera circles around, closing in on the individual players, and moving between their faces and their hands laying down cards and throwing money into the pot. It starts with a closeup of Starbuck's eyes looking around the table, and skips around the table at the other players sizing each other up and trying to figure out who is bluffing. It is also a pretext for discussing other things. It focuses on Crashdown head-on when he asks Gaeta about the Cylon detector, then on Gaeta when he responds, and on Boomer looking back and forth between the two. We get a look at Baltar smoking his cigar and making a crack about a bad smell. Given that everyone is just sitting around, it is very dynamic. Boomer kissing the cubits after she wins is  a nice touch.

Roslin and Cottle.  Cottle calling Roslin "young lady" is a stretch. But her response to his question about why she didn't get breast exams is pretty interesting, she says "Yes I DO mind" and then as an afterthought makes the most overused excuse, "I was busy." In the meantime, while Cottle is lecturing Roslin, he lights up a cigarette, and  Cottle's chain smoking pretty quickly becomes a recurring joke.

Starbuck training the nuggets. When she is lecturing them in the ready room about how she is God, etc., etc. it felt kind of heavy handed. But there are two small actions that I think keep it on keel and give a great sense of how Starbuck is trying to instill a sense of discipline in her recruits: first, she takes off Chuckles' cap, and second, as she walks back to the podium she turns around and points to someone off-screen and says "Sit up." In my opinion those two moments make the scene work and convey perfectly her relationship to her nuggets.

Lee's conversation with Commander Adama. This scene gives a sense of how fraught the father/son relationship is given that Lee's father is also his superior officer. At the beginning of the scene Adama says to Lee, "Sit down, Captain." And it seems to stay on track as a professional conversation. It ends, however, with Lee saying "You'll have to ask her yourself, Dad." switching very suddenly from military formality to familial intimacy.

Starbuck's conversation with Commander Adama. Katee Sackhoff and Edward Olmos are wonderful in this scene. The more distraught Starbuck becomes, the colder Adama becomes. His lips are pressed together and he is stony-faced, and he says absolutely nothing although it is obvious he is furious. (He does the same thing with Baltar in "Bastille Day.") When he finally speaks, he only says two things, both without much inflection. But his second statement, "Now leave while you can" is all the more powerful because the tone of voice is completely at odds with the content.

This is actually one of my all-time favorite scenes with Katee Sackhoff. Starbuck is trying to do so many things - she wants to avoid telling Adama the truth, she wants him to know she did it because she loved Zack hoping that Adama will understand, and she is trying desperately to hold on to Adama's respect and affection. She whimpers and is incoherent, but at some point she just tells Adama the truth in plain language. When Adama says, "reinstate the pilots" she rushes to say "Yes, yes I will" in a way that shows how much she wants to please him and hold on to their special relationship which was held together by their common love for Zak. The dialogue is very short but includes a lot of conflicting emotions.

This is the first episode of a two-parter. The first part is used to tear Starbuck down in Adama's eyes so that he can spend the second part proving that he still loves her anyway by leading a desperate search. A crude, but nevertheless accurate summation of these episodes.

Top Ten Reasons Why Lee Adama is a Jerk*

In no particular order:

1. He has no sense of humor
2. In spite of being a hunk, he has no sex appeal. None of his relationships with women are particularly compelling on the soft porn front. Whenever he and Dualla kiss they always end up rubbing foreheads. His only sex scene with Starbuck is short and not particularly convincing. It certainly doesn't stand up well when compared with her sex scenes with Anders. Or Zak. Or Baltar. Or Leoben.
3. His anger is one-dimensional, and shouting is his only mode of expressing it. His absolutely first meaningful scene in the Miniseries has him yelling at his father. Obviously Lee hasn't caught on to the fact that the scariest anger is often based on intonation, not volume.
4. His second most-frequent emotional expression is that of being deeply, quietly moved. This is manifested by his eyes shining with unshed tears, and sometimes he presses his lips together.
5. He is a maudlin drunk.
6. He is pompous. When he says to Dualla in "Exodus Part 2" "I am proud to serve with you and proud to call you my wife," I had a hard time keeping my gag reflex under control. Barf.
7. He is self-righteous, and is always explaining to people (lecturing, actually) why he is right and they are wrong. He does it at the end of Bastille Day and a WHOLE BUNCH the minute he decides to play lawyer and defend Baltar.
8. He has a huge ego.
9. Notwithstanding reason number 8, he has all these ridiculous insecurities and is in constant need or reassurance. In "The Hand of God" he keeps whining about how everybody thinks Starbuck would do a better job, and instead of slapping him in the face and telling him to pull himself together, everyone caters to him. In "Sometimes a Great Notion" Dualla spends the entire time she is with him (her last moments alive, actually) telling him how smart he is, how he did such a good job handling the Quorum, and on and on until you just want to kill yourself (which, of course, is exactly what Dualla does).
10. Speaking of Dualla, Lee cheats on his wife, and then we are supposed to feel compassion for him because he is obviously suffering tremendous guilt over it.

*I can think of more appropriate terms than "jerk," but none of them seem appropriate in polite society, so I am hesitant to use them in the title of a post. Were it not for my desire to avoid offending sensitive souls, I would probably choose to call Lee a prick.

Bastille Day

This is not my favorite episode by a long shot, since its primary purpose seems to be to show how Lee Adama is a really deep person and not just a viper jock, while also providing us the opportunity to see what a hunk he is by having him appear, for no apparent reason, without his uniform jacket. I did wonder, btw, whether it was written into Jamie Bamber's contract that he has to show his chest at least 2-3 times during the course of a season.

This episode also introduces Tom Zarek who will be a thorn in everyone's side until season 4.5, when .... well, I don't want to give it away. I do think including a prison ship in the fleet was a terrific idea, the survivors are now a more diverse group and coping with them will make life complicated. In addition, it also makes clear that the Colonies were not an egalitarian utopia. There are haves and have nots, sometimes defined by cultural differences, and these distinctions carry social and economic consequences.

Lee spends all his time in this episode demonstrating to Zarek how he is a truly intellectual person and how much he values social justice blah blah blah blah. The crowning moment is when Lee goes I read your book in college, and Zarek goes but it's banned and Lee goes like, yes I read it anyway. Yeah right. And John McCain read Frantz Fanon's  The Wretched of the Earth. Oh, and Lee even saves Zarek's life, and is thanked by him. Of course, Zarek's gratitude lasts about 10 minutes.

So Lee shows all sorts of psychological insight while at the same time getting to deck a few really powerful looking guys. AND he manages to lose his jacket. One scene he is wearing it and the next scene we have a front row view of his biceps.

We also get to learn something about Tom Zarek, whose arrival on the scene is extraordinarily dramatic. He obviously views himself as a "prisoner of conscience," and yet speaks in the kind of vague generalizations that led me to suspect from the start that he is a demagogue at heart. He certainly evokes widely divergent reactions. He blew up a government building - is he the Oklahoma City bomber or a member of the Weather Underground? Is he the Unabomber? He produced writings from prison - is he Nelson Mandela or Adolph Hitler? He talks about freedom - is he Barack Obama or George W. Bush?

He talks a good talk, but my decision is based on the attempted rape of Callie. When Callie defends herself from rape and gets shot by a prisoner, Zarek stands around spouting slogans about the oppression suffered by her would-be rapist, implicitly absolving him for an act of violence against women. Callie is a typical (if such a thing is possible) Galactica woman. She doesn't go down without a fight, notwithstanding the fact that she doesn't look old enough to babysit my kids. (I will be dedicating a future post to the portrayal of women in Galactica).

Some other thoughts....

Whose side are you on? I just wanted to point this one out - Adama pére asks the question and Adama fils seems, by his actions to give his answer. This will bite them in the ass by the end of Season 1.

They would have destroyed themselves anyway. Six and Doral have a short conversation about the destruction of the Colonies. Doral speaks of the Cylons as being the children of humanity. This is an important theme that will be referenced many times in the course of the series, and is thematically related to Adama's question from the mini-series - is the human race worthy of survival?

My favorite scenes

Based on the above, it should be obvious that none of them includes Lee Adama.

I love Starbuck's briefing of the pilots, with Boxey by her side. It is funny and showy, with just the right touch of insolence. It's a shame that somewhere in Season 2.0 (probably after "The Farm") Starbuck, understandably, begins to lose her sense of fun.

I also got a lot of pleasure out of Baltar's meeting with Adama. He is obsequious and talks too much. The more he talks the more suspicious Adama (who says almost nothing) looks. Six is in great form scaring the shit out of Baltar until Baltar requests the nuke. In fact, Baltar is at his most convincing when he is thinking aloud about how he would use the plutonium to build a cylon detector, which probably explains why Adama gave it to him.

And finally, for once Tigh gets the last word in a conversation with Starbuck. This is a nifty response to Starbuck's snotty remarks about Tigh's alcoholism in the ready room, and also (looking back) her smart-ass remarks at the end of the mini series.

Water

"Water" introduces a new crisis before the fleet has recovered from the crisis in "33." The episode starts with Roslin's extremely formal, uncomfortable visit to Galactica. As soon as the water tanks explode, the formality disappears and once again Adama and Roslin, who barely know each other, must work together to cope with another threat to humanity. This episode is a reminder that the fleet is a small remnant of the human population traveling with limited supplies through a vast universe that is largely empty. (In discussing season 4.5, the New York Times made the apt analogy of a wagon train travelling through uncharted wilderness).

I think the core of this episode is the meeting between the leaders of the fleet to review the situation. These scenes are as much about the divide between civilian government and military authority, as they are about the water shortage.

The expression of these separate agendas is subtle but critical, and will explode by the end of Season 1.

For example, after Gaeta does his presentation, Roslin presses him for an opinion on the cause of the explosion. When Adama finally gives permision, Gaeta avoids saying it was caused by an explosion and instead offers the theory that the cause is structural damage from the war. It's obvious that Gaeta is lying, and everyone in the military knows it was caused by sabotage. In fact, Roslin probably suspects that herself when she responds "Interesting."

Another example is the comments made by Tigh, which display unconcealed contempt for the civilian population. When Tigh says to Roslin, "Now you want me to guess," Adama, who is looking at some papers, says, without raising his eyes, "Colonel." This small act establishes Adama's total authority over his officers, and is also a small concession to the president.

Finally, Gaius Baltar's relationship to the other characters begins to develop. His conversations with Six continue, and their discussions about god and religion have sexual overtones (actually, overtones is not a sufficiently strong word). Baltar's simultaneous conversations with Six and Adama are very funny, mainly because Baltar is having a nervous breakdown trying to manage what he says, Six is provocative, and Adama is not saying much, but looking distinctly dissatisfied. As usual Baltar is a very bad liar, which doesn't prevent him from doing it all the time. That he is always caught doesn't prevent him from lying again. (In other words, he meets the definition of insanity by constantly doing the same thing but expecting different results.)

As outcome of the meeting is that Baltar and Gaeta begin working together, which thrills Gaeta (who runs after Baltar like a little puppy), and bores Baltar. This is the start of a very complicated relationship that changes drastically over the course of the series and has a profound impact on Gaeta (see my entry on Felix Gaeta for a lengthier discussion).  

The parallel Sharon stories also start to unfold. On Galactica Boomer's actions, for the first time, are a threat to the fleet, and Boomer's sense of self starts to deteriorate. On Caprica, Helo and Athena's relationship begins to heat up. Both these plot lines become more important in determining events as the two Sharons' personalities start to diverge.

Some final thoughts:

I never bought Tyrol and Boomer as a couple. I just never felt that there was any chemistry between them. I also don't believe that Tyrol would cover up for her. On the other hand, I always thought that Helo / Athena and Tyrol / Callie were great matches.

I didn't understand either why Boomer placed the last detonator in the raptor next to her seat. I finally concluded that if they found water that she was supposed to blow the raptor up before they could report back to Galactica. And, in fact, she has to turn it off before she is capable of telling Crashdown that she has found water.

I have already said how much I like the card game between Starbuck and Baltar, but I'll repeat myself here. As far as I am concerned the game is played as if it is another form of foreplay. There is also a nice little touch in the background - as Baltar says he doesn't have any money, Gaeta, anxious to please, reaches towards his pocket to get some out for him.