This episode was so engrossing and went by so fast that it felt like it was ten minutes long.
Number Six just started a Cylon civil war. Was it really about the Raiders (which felt a bit like animal rights to me) or was it inevitable that Six and Sharon would break away? It made sense that Sharon would back her up, but I also liked that, of the rest of the models, the third revolutionary was Leoben. I think he's the most interesting of the male Cylons, possibly because he's obsessed with Starbuck. Are the three of them breaking free of their programming, or fulfilling it? And why did the Sharons split? What next? Will the three males get boxed? Will Six bring back D'Anna? I bet the mystical D'Anna would be on board with all this, so maybe they will.
The title of this episode had my mind going in so many directions. Number Six becoming number one, the leader. The expression "Six of one, half dozen of the other," which was a fun reference to the split of the twelve Cylon models. We finally learned the remaining numbers, so here are all of them: Cavil one, Leoben two, D'Anna three, Simon four, Doral five, Six six, Sharon... eight. Why is Six always called Six? Cavil is always Cavil, Leoben is always Leoben, Sharon is always Sharon when she isn't Boomer or Athena, but Six is usually referred to by her number. And she's the only one who changes her hair. Six is different. And why do the numbers skip from six to eight, from Six to Sharon? Which of the Final Five is number seven? Six and Seven are the center. And maybe not just numerically.
Starbuck's imprisonment upset me, but I still don't know what to think about her certainty that she knows the way. The stakes are so freaking (frakking) high that I wouldn't have believed it if Adama had turned the fleet around to follow Starbuck's lead. Giving her Helo and a garbage scow (okay, a poop ship) and letting them go try to find Earth was pretty much the perfect solution. I wish she'd gone with Lee, instead.
Tory just went undercover to pump Gaius about the identity of the Final Cylon. (Two puns in a single sentence.) Why did she cry? That was just weird. I find Tory the hardest of the Four to read, probably because we've known the other three a lot longer and better. Why did Gaius talk about God and music? That was an interesting coincidence, if it was indeed a coincidence. And why did Baltar just get assigned a new Harvey – himself – when he was talking to a Cylon? There must be a reason.
Lee's huge, touching farewell party with practically all of the continuing characters in the series was almost an afterthought. It seemed odd that it followed what looked like a big strip poker tournament. I guess emotionally, everyone was stripped bare. Hey, I can assign symbolism to just about anything.
Bits and pieces:
— This week's survivor number: 39,676, two less than last week.
— Did Roslin miss Starbuck because Roslin is very sick, or did Starbuck get some divine protection? If Starbuck really does know the way, and Roslin is the Final Cylon, maybe Roslin's programming kicked in. Sort of a reverse of Sharon and Adama in season one.
— Number Six's name is a tribute to the lead character in the classic sci-fi series, The Prisoner. Number Six in The Prisoner also revolted against the mysterious Number One.
— Starbuck spent time in the brig, just like the rest of the cast. Gold acting stars for Katee Sackhoff again. She was over-the-top desperate, furious and suicidal and I absolutely believed it. What an outstanding actress she is.
— Lots of couple interaction: Adama and Roslin, Tory and Gaius, Lee and Dualla. Dan thought that Lee/Kara love scene in the brig was the two of them saying goodbye forever. I didn't feel quite as final about it, but it did have a heavy emotional zing.
— Laura Roslin started losing her hair. She has such beautiful hair. Such a shame.
— This week's Most Obvious Symbolism was again the statue of Athena on the prow of Adama's model ship representing Starbuck leading the way to Earth. It was also interesting that Roslin's shot shattered a photo of herself with Adama.
Quotes:
Hybrid: "Transformation is the goal. They will not harm their own." She said a lot of other interesting things about the Final Five that I probably missed because there was no close captioning again.
Six: "The Hybrid is clearly telling us something."
Cavil: "The Hybrid is always telling us something. They're supposed to maintain operations on each ship, not vomit metaphysics."
Six: "No one has ever voted against their model." Why did the Sharons split? Will Six and Leoben have to take some of them out, too?
Roslin: "Grab your piece of the golden arrow. I want to hear Admiral Atheist say that a miracle happened."
Roslin: "Diloxin fraks up your aim."
Adama: "So does doubt."
Roslin: "You want to believe Kara. You would rather be wrong about her and face your own demise than risk losing her again."
Adama: "You can stay in the room, but get out of my head."
What an outstanding scene this was. They give a whole new twist to the term 'power couple.'
Four out of four stars,
Billie
---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Wow, the Cylon civil war starting was a chilling moment - if Leoben / Sharon / Six don't bring back Deanna they are nuts. Definately would be on their side!
ReplyDeleteI don't like where Starbuck is going with the whole prophet of doom angle... Though I am glad they are giving her a chance to prove herself.... I don't know, I'm conflicted I guess.
I was also surprised that Lee actually went through with leaving the service - some nice scenes there and it was good to see everyone.
Exciting stuff!