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Battlestar Galactica: Sacrifice

Tigh: "What if they're right? What if Sharon has been playing us all, plotting our destruction with every passing day?"

Good question.

Using Sharon One's body was clever of Adama. Would it have changed the outcome of the hostage situation if he had indeed sacrificed Sharon Two? It's true that Adama is getting significant intelligence from her, and giving her up might be a tactical faux pas. But what if she really is playing everybody? What if the terrorists were right?

This hostage situation was way more immediate than most, since Adama, Roslin and Tigh each had the person they loved most in the middle of it. It was almost like a bizarre Russian roulette. Unfortunately, Roslin lost. Too bad it wasn't Tigh.

With the classic ambiguity of this series, this episode either gave some fuel to the "Ellen is a Cylon" theory, or confirmed that Ellen is a complete idiot. Ellen came out of the bathroom instead of hiding, or helping Lee. She told the terrorists outright that she was married to Galactica's XO, giving them a high level hostage. She looked startled when she recognized Starbuck, which directly caused the shooting exchange that got Lee shot. Was it sheer stupidity? Or was she screwing things up in order to protect Sharon Two and the Baby?

I had a feeling someone we cared about was going to die, but I was still shocked when Starbuck shot Lee, and when Billy Keikeya was killed. Poor Billy. He gave his life to save Dualla, even after she turned down his proposal with his debate team ring. (She definitely should have told him sooner.) And the early scenes where he was advising Adama and Laura ("tell the people the truth") just emphasized his value, and the significance of his loss.

In the final scene, Dualla was at Lee's bedside, and Starbuck watched from the shadows. Say goodbye to the old love triangle, and hello to the new one.

Bits and pieces:

— This week's survivor count: 49,590, which means three dead. I think that was three of the pilots. BB, JoJo, Reilly?

—- Dana Delaney was good. Sesha's extreme grief gave weight and empathy to the terrorists. Her husband's death was ten weeks ago. Would his death have been reflected in one of the survivor counts?

— Sharon refused to tell Adama who the other Cylon models were. I'm glad they finally addressed that one.

— Grace Park spent some time playing a creepy looking corpse. I noticed that just after they showed Sharon One's body, we saw Sharon Two lying flat on her bunk in the same pose.

— Sharon appeared to find the Baby's kicking painful. It's not usually painful; it just feels funny.

— Dualla and Starbuck looked exceptionally hot in civilian clothes, while Lee looked like a used car salesman on a Saturday night.

— Dry ice? Wouldn't that be exceptionally painful or possibly fatal to drink?

Quotes:

Adama: "People look for complicated answers when something terrible happens. Maybe we were just caught by surprise, and beaten." That's an astute observation.

Lee: "Ellen, the bathroom's over here."
Ellen (thrilled): "Are you serious?"
The unisex bathrooms must be used for hetero liaisons in the BSG universe.

Starbuck: "Lee got hit by friendly fire. I think it was me."

Paul Campbell, we'll miss you. Unless Billy is a Cylon. In which case, you'll be back.

Three out of four stars,

Billie
---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

3 comments:

  1. Billy wanted out, I mean the actor wanted out. At least he went out with a bang. :)

    Hostage situations are a must in any long running show. This was was better then most, because all the hostage takers were killed and there was colateral damage. Felt more real.

    They seem to be using Cloud Nine more and more as a place to set their stories. It's like the Zocalo on B5 or the promenade on ST:DS9.

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  2. I liked this one better than the last two, but still not all that much. I was sorry to see Billy die, and Dee pissed me off with how she treated him. She is the reason he died as far as I'm concerned. I feel sorry for Roslin who has now lost her adoptive son.

    These few episodes have been a slog after the fantastic Pegasus trilogy - which might be obvious thanks to the slow pace of my comments - but Im looking forward to the last few episodes of the season :)

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  3. >>"— Sharon appeared to find the Baby's kicking painful. It's not usually painful; it just feels funny."
    Your experience is of no use as a comparison to painful hybrid baby kicks!

    >>"— Dualla and Starbuck looked exceptionally hot in civilian clothes, while Lee looked like a used car salesman on a Saturday night."
    lol. I thought you meant used as in, a car salesman who was used.

    >>"Paul Campbell, we'll miss you. Unless Billy is a Cylon. In which case, you'll be back."
    Hell yeah. Return of PUNISHED BILLY: A MAN DENIED HIS BROWN PRINCESS

    @Patryk: "They seem to be using Cloud Nine more and more as a place to set their stories."
    Yeah and I don't like it! It's like how I mentally tapped out of the hairy puta films once the third movie started having them wear regular clothes more often. No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    (I'm sorry)
    But I hope Billy's death really messes up the characters willingness to hang around there again anytime soon.

    Starbuck accidentally shooting Lee was really cool. And actually I assumed wrong on who I remembered dying in "Sacrifice" so yeah. It might not even happen this season after all. I'm surprised to say I liked this episode better than Scar, because generally I don't think it was a great send-off. But I'm not especially sorry to see Billy go. He never left much of an impression until I saw the poor guy having to catch Dee on a date with, uh, Lee. I like the character a lot, but he never felt like he was a real fit for the show. Maybe the actor agreed.

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