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.