Battlestar Galactica: Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1

Sharon Two: "Something dark is coming, Helo. I can feel it."

Hey, I'd listen to her. She'd know.

What's up with Sharon Two? She was utterly furious about the death of her child, but she's ready to help our guys rescue people on Caprica? We may be certain of Sharon One's motivations at this point, but Sharon Two is still a mystery to me. The whole thing screamed booby-trap, even before the shells on Caprica started flying. And I have strong reservations about the perfect little hidden planet, especially since they found it by "accident." It's too good to be true. Smells like a trap, doesn't it?

I absolutely hate the possibility that Chief Tyrol is a sleeper Cylon, even though it explains a few things. Like why he was covering for Sharon when he was pretty sure what she was. Like why Sharon One didn't get pregnant with him, but Sharon Two immediately did with Helo. But may I say, no no no! A few nightmares does not a Cylon make.

The good part about the Chief's suicide nightmare was the advent of Quantum Leap alumni Dean Stockwell as the very interesting Brother Cavil. The way he spoke to Chief just screamed Cylon, but of course, they're so good at misdirection on this show. (The possibility of Dean Stockwell in a continuing role here makes me salivate.) And the religious aspects are just so weird all the time. The message we keep getting is that the Cylons are the chosen people with a direct connection to God, while the humans are getting bubkis.

The political shenanigans rang very true. Gaius doesn't want to settle on Planet Perfect, which isn't perfect at all, but he's willing to say so to win the election. Roslin truly has the best interests of the people at heart, refreshing for a politician, but she's also willing to manipulate public opinion to win. I have to give her points, though, because I found the talking points rehearsal scene and the giggling with Adama to be utterly delightful.

Her verbal sparring matches with Gaius were also a hoot:

Laura: "I'm going to wipe the floor with you, Gaius."
Gaius: "You must be losing your mind again."

and

Gaius: "Not your night, I guess."
Laura: "Why don't you go frak yourself?"

Bits and pieces:

—- This week's survivor count: 49,579. Laura didn't add the baby.

— I absolutely loved the giggle scene. Yeah, I know I said it already, but I wanted to say it twice.

— Please tell me Chief Tyrol isn't going to do what Sharon One did: try to commit suicide.

— Lee has himself some hot new digs. Being the commander of Pegasus has its perks, which may compensate for its high death rate.

— I used to do something similar to Roslin when I was writing papers in grad school. As soon as I finished with my notes or drafts, I'd wad up the paper and toss it across the room.

— Anders' full name is Samuel T. Anders. I get the feeling he's going to be toast in the next episode. Depends on whether the writers want a full-time love interest for Starbuck to make Lee jealous.

— One of the raptors jumped into a mountain. Not a pleasant mental image.

— We got another viewer discretion warning.

Quotes:

Harvey Six: "Pay attention. You're about to win the election."

Laura: "What happens if the moderator doesn't have a pencil?"
Adama: "Then you're pretty screwed."

Brother Cavil: "Do you know how useless prayer is?"
Chief Tyrol: "Are you sure you're a priest?"

Chief Tyrol: "But how do you know I'm human?"
Brother Cavil: "Well, maybe because I'm a Cylon and I've never seen you at any of the meetings."
Six said something like this at one point, too. I wonder if there really are Cylon meetings on Galactica.

I don't like rating the first part of a two-parter, so I won't. But I can't wait for next week's,

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

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