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

Battlestar Galactica: Crossroads, Part 1

Lee: "Are you done?"
Adama: "Yes."
Lee: "Then so am I."

So where was all this drama hiding in the last few months?

I'm usually on Adama's side, but this time, I was totally with Lee. Lee was trying to do what he had been instructed to do, i.e., keep the trial on track, while Adama was disrupting it by trying to take over instead of allowing all five judges to do their jobs. Yes, Lee probably shouldn't have done what he did to Roslin (that was sad) but she was indeed taking an hallucinogen, and she did have personal reasons to hate Gaius that had nothing to do with the Cylons.

And Tigh was indeed drunk on the stand. Adama's loyalty toward Tigh is commendable, but keeping an emotionally unstable alcoholic on as XO under conditions like these makes me wonder about Adama's judgment. How can he keep excusing Tigh, whose performance is at best sporadic, and attack his own son, who saved the Pegasus as well as everyone on New Caprica? It makes no sense to me.

And while I'm floating out at the brink, I feel compelled to defend Gaius. Yes, he's a self-centered, amoral jerk, but he really was powerless on New Caprica, forced to sign orders with a gun literally to his head. If I am remembering it correctly, he did save the remainder of the colonists on New Caprica from getting nuked, too. I think he even said once that he was aware of what Gaeta was doing to help the insurgents, and protected him.

Come to think of it, nearly every huge mistake Gaius made was a result of his desire to get laid. If Gaius deliberately allowed Caprica Six access to the mainframe two years ago so that the Cylons could destroy the twelve colonies, I'd be ready to sentence him to a William Wallace execution. But I don't think he did. I also think Gaius was just trying to convince himself that he knew Six was a Cylon all along because he was hoping he was a Cylon himself.

Or not. I know I could be wrong. This series is very much about the shades of gray. We don't know the truth. For that matter, neither do the judges. That's why we have laws, and why everyone deserves a fair trial. And I'll get off my soapbox now.

There were some major revelations: Roslin's cancer has returned, Lee quit his job, Dualla just left him, and some people appear to think Gaius is a god. What's up with that? And what was with Tigh and the music? Are they about to force him offstage? It appeared that Tori and Anders were hearing it, too. Maybe it has something to do with how the Cylons are tracking the fleet, because I'm not at all sure Six told Tigh the whole truth. The timing seemed fishy to me. No Cylons for a long time, Six tells Tigh about the tylium ship's wonky radiation signature, and suddenly we have a Cylon convention showing up?

Another question. Okay, two. How did Lampkin know about Ellen when he knew nothing only moments before? Does he have a Harvey whispering in his ear? And how did Harvey Gaius know about Ellen? It just felt bizarre that they both pulled that knowledge about how Tigh killed Ellen out of thin air. Not a coincidence, I'm sure.

Bits and pieces:

— No credit sequence and no credit survivor number. But the whiteboard in the courtroom scene confirmed the pre- and post-New Caprica numbers. 5,197 lost.

— Helo is temporary XO now. He should be permanent XO.

— Laura's dream strongly reminded me of the vision Gaius had when Six showed him the baby. Laura and Athena (or was it Boomer) were chasing Hera, who ended up with Six. The palace they were in looked like an Escher painting. Does this mean that Hera will end up back with the Cylons? Was it symbolic of Laura searching for a cure that will elude her?

— Lee looks good in civvies. He looks good in uniform, too. And in a towel, for that matter.

— There are no more law schools. If Lee is interested in becoming a lawyer, he may have to apprentice.

— What was with Tori being grooming-challenged? Is she having a nervous breakdown?

— This week's pointless bonus scene: Lee and Lampkin in the empty courtroom, discussing Baltar's guilt.

Quotes:

Gaius: "I'm not god, the god, or any derivation thereof."

Prosecutor Cassidy: "I do serve at the pleasure of the president." Isn't that what AG Gonzales keeps saying these days?

Gaius: "I suppose it can't be helped. Celebrity trials seem invariably to bring out the crazies."

Helo: "Weather's changing, Felix. We need to be ready for it. There's a storm coming." Again?

Three out of four stars,

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

4 comments:

  1. What is going on here? Absolutely everybody is losing the plot.

    -- Adama has said some unforgivable things to his son in defense of a man who should have been put out to pasture ages ago. What does Tigh have on Adama? And, what is with Adama trying to stop the trial? I'm glad he didn't get a way with it.

    -- Laura is back on hallucinogenics and didn't tell anyone? How long did she think she would be able to hide that??

    -- Tigh and the music has creeped me out. What is he hearing? And, he while he was drunk on the stand, I do pity him having to relive his wife's death in public.

    -- Speaking of the music, did Tori and Sam hear it as well? If so, why them and no one else. They couldn't be three of the Final Five, could they? With the Chief (I know, but I'm still convinced) that would only leave us one left.

    Very unsettling episode. I know what Helo means about feeling something very bad right around the corner.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I actually like dthat trail very much. It's more riveting then any "earth" show about lawyers could produce. Especially becasue of the work of Mark Sheppars. Eh just give him a phonebook to read and make it a show. :)

    I too was on the side of the defense the whole time. Mainly becasue Baltar didn't do anything wrong on New Caprica. Waht he did wrong is way back at the start of the series, but he wasn't on trial for assisting genocide. So he has to walk.

    Looking forward to the 2nd part.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow an excellent 1st half of the season finale. Again I agree with the Gaius is innocent of what they are charging him for camp.... Romo is a good lawyer though.

    The music is interesting - Tigh is looking crazier than usual... Sam looks normal and Torie looks like she's not sleeping. I miss Billy.

    Oh well I'll reserve further comment for part 2...

    ReplyDelete
  4. In some ways my favourite ending scene lol. It's in the ship... it's in the frakking ship! But I liked a lot of other instances.

    "I embarrassed you up there. Made you look bad."
    "You're my oldest fren Saul... you never embarrass me."

    "No, you just decided to stand up for truth and justice and all those other lovely little things we inscribe upon courtroom doors."
    "Yeah! That's exactly what I'm doing. Because I believe in the system. I really believe. I even believe that our lowlife pond-scum of a client actually deserves a fair trial."

    I don't understand why the prosecution willfully limited themselves to charging him on New Caprica-specific crimes. Before this rewatch I thought those parameters were forced on them, and I was a little stunned to see it was their choice... what is this chicanery.

    @Patryk: "Waht he did wrong is way back at the start of the series, but"
    No!!!! "But" nothing!!!
    WHAT HE DID WRONG ON TOP OF THAT WAS, JUST OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD:
    -GIVING GINA THE NUKE, CAN'T EVEN BLAME HEAD SIX SHENANIGANS BECAUSE SHE *FUCKING* WARNED HIM GINA WAS DANGER
    -THROUGH THAT ACT EVENTUALLY LED THE CYLONS TO NEW CAPRICA
    -AND BEFORE YOU SUGGEST THIS 'UNWITTINGLY THO' NONSENSE HE DELIBERATELY SPILLED THE BEANS TO THE CYLONS ON THE BASESHIP THAT THE FLEET IS LOOKING FOR EARTH
    I'm only on the side of the defense because they don't know what the viewers know, and on that basis they did nothing wrong and genuinely do produce a solid acceptable defense, but as fellow viewers yourselves, knowing what we know, the mind boggles!!!

    I hope I got a detail up there wrong because I'd like to pop that little ragefest like a soap bubble lol.

    I feel sorry for Lee but not in the same withering way that Roslin does. I really felt his "Well, you don't... you really don't" to Dee disappointedly saying she understands him. Dee just wants Bill's man and it's a lonely emasculating place to put Lee under.

    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.