Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Battlestar Galactica: Colonial Day

Gaius: "Politics is the only thing more boring than blood samples."

Politics, Battlestar Galactica style. And BSG style is pretty drastic; there was a terrorist running for vice president, assassination plots, a political coup, and a bar fight. And a marvelous scene in the unisex bathroom.

I didn't realize how popular Gaius was. Who knew he could shore up support for the "power-mad schoolteacher" Laura Roslin? (Although he was certainly in it for himself.) Tom Zarek's near political coup and his subverting of the already morally bankrupt Ellen Tigh could have been extremely ugly. This is Zarek's chance to remake society in his own image, and I'm certain he'll try again. Despite his villainy, Zarek is right about one thing: things have changed, and there's no going back. It is time to build a new type of society.

Gaius and Starbuck were still sniping at each other in a pre-sex sort of way ("Guess you got the super genius vote. No accounting for taste") but what superseded it was a lot of Apollo/Starbuck couple-y bonding: a water fight, a bar fight, dancing, how nice.

Meanwhile back on Caprica, Helo and Sharon arrived at Delphi, and Helo made a startling discovery about his Cylon honey. Sharon Two appeared to have changed sides, for real. The thing is, there's just no way to tell.

Bits and pieces:

— Nearly all of our cast couples got to dress up and dance with each other: Adama and Roslin, Lee and Kara, Billy and Dee, and so on. Fun.

— It was jarring to see outdoor scenes (on Cloud Nine) that looked somewhat normal. Caprica always looks alien, what with the yellow glare or the constant rain.

— Isn't there a show called "Capital Gang"? That must be what "Colonial Gang" was mimicking.

— It was the 52nd anniversary of the signing of the Articles of Colonization. I don't know why I thought their current society was older than that, but I was wrong.

— The money Starbuck was tearing up looked a little like Euros.

— The reporter Gaius was boinking in the bathroom when Roslin showed up was, like Six, taller than he was. He likes blondes, doesn't he?

— What exactly did Ellen do for Zarek? Get him access to Valance? Would she have killed Valance for him? I can't see Ellen as a hit woman, somehow.

Quotes:

Roslin: "No, I'm the fascist. You stick with being the gas bag."

Starbuck: "I clean up good sometimes." She sure does.

Adama: "Dr. Baltar. Interesting choice."
Roslin: "I figured, the devil you know."

Fascinating, typical Gaius/Six exchange:
Six: "You can have any woman you want. But always remember, I have your heart."
Gaius: "Yes, of course you do."
Six: "I can always rip it out of your chest if I need to."

Two out of four stars,

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

8 comments:

  1. So they found out how to insert the most popular building in Vancouver into BSG too. :) So far i've seen it in the 4400, Fringe, Kyle XY and probably lots more.

    Anyways, change of scenery is good thing plus political machinations can be just as interesting as military operations. Also that party at the end was the proverbial calm before a storm i bet. Roll on the two part season finale.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am only up to episode 10 in season 2 but I was always under the impression Ellen Tigh killed Valance.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't see Ellen killing him either, letting Zarek know where he was being held, sure, but actually killing him? Either way, Ellen is still a terrible person. :)

    I can see why gaius would be popular among the fleet, the weirdness that we see with six, and him having 'air sex' wouldn't get out to the people, but his colon detector and work last week certainly would be on the talk wireless I'm sure.

    Like this one more than last week, but I'm certainly looking forward to the finale now!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ahaha 'colon detector'. Meant Cylon detector...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Baz, do you by any chance mean "cylon detector" -- not "colon detector"? LOL, and I'm still giggling.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Billie! Indeed I did! It's my personal favourite auto-correct mistake I've ever made! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I guess I enjoyed this one a lot more than you. Zarek's speech was actually fairly convincing. It was startling from our perspective to see Baltar get chosen as Vice President, but as Baz says, he's a famous scientist and none of the reps other than Roslin have probably had any personal interaction with him. And I enjoyed the dancing at the end. The show is so tense and dark so much of the time, it was an enjoyable change of pace. I Liked the thaw between Roslin and Adama and the banter between Starbuck and Apollo. I was impressed that they were able to fit in these charming character moments in an episode where there was so much going on.

    With respect to Ellen, I'm assuming she either got a drunken Tigh to tell her where Valance was kept or pilfered a classified document from his briefcase in order to get the info to Zarek. I'm assuming she didn't go full Lady Macbeth and got Tigh to off him himself--that would surely be out of character.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The bar fight was pretty cool, Starbuck kicking the bottle to Lee and them re-using the same intense music from when she fell into that planet after taking on those 6 raiders.

    >>"Roslin: "No, I'm the fascist. You stick with being the gas bag.""
    Anyone reading this in the future happen to know when/around when she says this? I don't feel like combing through the episode again for it. At least not from the beginning. I missed it.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.