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Battlestar Galactica: Epiphanies

Roslin: "Causes are only lost when we give up."

Forced abortion, pseudo stem cell research, suicide bombers for peace? This episode explored some truly controversial topical issues in, of course, a science-fiction-y type way. The content actually made me somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe it was the great big needles.

On the one hand, Sharon was being treated as sub-human. Having her fetus, the hope of her race, aborted against her will, was outright evil as well as morally wrong. And it was utterly two-faced of the humans to keep her fetus alive simply because it cured Laura's cancer. On the other hand, Sharon is going to give birth to Something Major, and Laura is absolutely correct to fear that it will have a major effect on what remains of the human race. I wonder if this human/Cylon mix will actually turn out to be the future of both races. That may be too peaceful an outcome for this series, though.

It was fun to finally "meet" President Adar, and considering how Roslin has talked about him in the past, it wasn't that much of a surprise that they were romantically involved. The major thing I learned from the flashbacks was that Roslin was always tough; it wasn't just a new persona she took on when she assumed the presidency. She stood up to Adar at the possible cost of her job, after all.

Gaius was all over the map again, which was typical. He was actually taking the vice presidency seriously, he came up with a cure for Laura's cancer, and was all rah-rah human race ("No, no. I am not who you think I am. And I will not be responsible for the destruction of mankind"). And then he read Roslin's letter that very accurately alerted him to his possible failings as a future president, and he retaliated by sending Real Six a nuke. Does he bring a whole new level to the word "overreacting," or what?

The Harvey version of Number Six (thanks for that name, Anthony) was back after an extended absence. Gaius was even more indiscreet than usual; a ton of people saw him talking to himself in that hallway. (Will any of them report it, I wonder?) Gaius appears to think that Real Six is exactly the same as Harvey Six, only corporeal, while Real Six appears to find Gaius' sexual interest in her unpalatable. It's a fascinating relationship, and I can't wait to see where they go with this one.

The flashbacks about the teacher strike were meant to parallel the current situation with those "Demand Peace" morons. Let me add that I am a huge proponent of peace; however, there's a huge difference here. The teachers were striking for things they deserved, and negotiating with them was the correct and successful course of action. Humans making peace with the Cylons is more like chickens bargaining with Colonel Sanders. I liked the way that Adama handled it, but he has his work cut out for him. Especially now that Real Six is their leader, and she actually has a suitcase nuke, in an actual suitcase.

Roslin's subconscious was trying to alert her to a time when she saw Gaius and Original Six together. She appears to have forgotten it. Wanna take bets on when this memory will resurface?

Bits and pieces:

— This week's survivor count was 49,598, six less than last week's. One for Admiral Cain, five for casualties during the Cylon strike?

— The blood of Sharon's fetus has no antigens and no blood type. That was interesting. Gaius said that Cylon blood is very slightly different than human blood. So how come they can't devise a simple blood test to find Cylons?

— Telling Helo and Sharon about the abortion in advance was probably a tactical error. He took it well, but her rage was pretty impressive.

— Most Obvious Symbolism for this week was the bad ammo and the broken windshield. Is Roslin's cure genuine or just a temporary reprieve? Will there be unexpected consequences?

— When Roslin was dying, I liked what Adama said to everyone on the Galactica regarding prayer. He showed respect for people's beliefs without excluding non-believers.

— The "Demand Peace" guy's name was Yahee. I don't know why they didn't just call him Yahoo. And I'm referring to the original Yahoo, not the internet giant.

— The flashbacks to Caprica City were cool. It always looks odd when there are outdoor scenes on this show.

— Laura looked younger and prettier in the flashbacks, and it wasn't that long ago. I thought she was dressed oddly until I realized that it was just that she wasn't wearing one of her three remaining outfits.

— Lee was reinstated as CAG, no surprise there. Nothing about his depression, although he seemed a bit sharp with people.

— Harvey Six was, for the first time, dressed more like a real woman and less like an imaginary sexual fantasy. She seemed jealous of her "three-dimensional duplicate."

Quotes:

Adama: "Pull yourself together. You're about to become president of the colonies. You're going to be asked to make some very hard decisions. Act like you can handle it."

Roslin: "One of the interesting things about being president is that you don't have to explain yourself to anyone." Adar said almost exactly the same thing in the flashbacks.

Three out of four stars,

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

4 comments:

  1. I hope there will be consequences for keeping the president alive. Apart from the obvious: she knows about Baltar and Six.

    One consequence I see now is that she's not the leader mentioned in the prophecies because she's not dying now. So the whole Earth thing might turn out to be bogus after all. Let's hope.

    The hybrid storyline can go only two ways, abortion or rapid aging, like in all sci-fi shows. They toyed with number one but i'm not sure the idea is gone for good. We will see.

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  2. My god, how petulant is Baltar? Giving the enemy a nuke for what? Some constructive criticism? Idiot.

    Not a fan of "funky blood cures cancer" plot, bit too contrived - also why on Earth did they let Baltar draw the blood? He's not an MD, he's a physicist, Doc Cottle was right there!

    OK episode, but not my favourite - glad to see Roslin survive, even if I don't like why, and the Cylon sympathiser guy was kinda creepy.

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  3. >>"And then he read Roslin's letter that very accurately alerted him to his possible failings as a future president, and he retaliated by sending Real Six a nuke. Does he bring a whole new level to the word "overreacting," or what?"
    Baltar's a bastard, I'll never stop saying it, but I can buy it on the grounds of what it feel must feel like to be told to be ethically careful by someone planning to abort a hybrid baby for the POTENTIAL unrealized danger it could pose to the fleet. Not that I think Roslin was entirely wrong either. All of it makes emotional sense to me at least.

    I didn't watch the episode in one sitting so maybe it's leaving me feeling better about it than it really was, but the ending thrilled me. Such an interesting move to give Gina the bomb to 'placate' her. Feels like a natural, albeit functionally retarded extension of the act of giving her the gun. Of course she used that gun, so I don't know why Baltar should think she won't use the bomb too. Or, to be fair, why I even think he only gave it as a placating gesture. He probably wasn't thinking beyond giving a Frak You to Roslin (and Adama's palpable contempt earlier probably didn't help). I like seeing this worthless piece of shit belittled, but it's probably in the best interests of the fleet to tread lightly around him. I can respect the balancing act he must play to keep both the cylons happy and the fleet alive, but it leaves him being very very dangerous and being set off by the dumbest things.

    I don't like the episode title... lol... just, putting it in plural makes it sound so generic. I like how 'Angel' did it. But the episode was alright, I was kind of touched by the Peace With Cylons movement. Really it's nice that only humanity would ever consider pardoning your would-be genociders, even if it's only in the desperate name of survival. And I'm reminded of Adama having to learn: no, there is no war, the war is lost. Surrender and hopefully they'll lose interest. Unsavory, but... I don't know. Makes sense. It's what a civilian fleet would try to reach for. I mean they're still annoying and I don't approve of the killings to be taken seriously, but knowing it's Gina and what her grievances are, it works for me. Plus I like seeing Gina. I like seeing her say to Baltar she missed him, it was a really nice moment but of course Baltar tries to pork her immediately. I mean I see the charm in not letting their meet-uncute put him off, but wtf was he thinking lol. "I can't help myself!" Fucking men

    >>"Real Six"
    Oh shit, it's coming back to me. They didn't name her at this point, did they? I wouldn't have even remembered her name until the natural point we learn it in the show but my subtitles name her already

    @Baz:"Not a fan of "funky blood cures cancer" plot, bit too contrived"
    And a hybrid baby as the possible path to peace isn't?? Just embrace it mang

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    Replies
    1. Watching/listening to the episode commentaries was a largely meh experience except for when Moore's revealing the original scenes before they were rewritten or certain interesting ideas that were taken out entirely due to budget. But this episode's pointed out a little moment I missed which was the way Saul looked slightly amazed/amused for a second at Adama's aggression during that interrogation scene. I don't know how I missed it myself, but it's pretty good lol.

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