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.
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