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.