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Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy #8

Recap

Aboard raptor 1029, Racetrack and Hoshi continue their search. Hoshi is convinced that Gaeta would never give up on him and wants to keep searching. Racetrack reasons that even Gaeta would give up if the situation became hopeless. She reassures him that Gaeta would understand. Reluctantly, Hoshi agrees to return home.

Aboard the missing raptor, Gaeta accuses Sweet Eight of stripping the pliers. She tells him that her intention had been to kill Brooks, not Pilot Eight. She also admits to injecting Brooks with morpha. Gaeta accuses her of killing the whole crew and she coldly explains that they needed the air. She tells him that she's picked him over her own kind... even her own model. Gaeta rips out the data cable and tells her he could never have done what she'd done.

We flashback to New Caprica. Sweet Eight tells another Eight to “Kill everyone on the list.”

Thoughts

An absolutely chilling episode. I really enjoyed this one. Great acting from both Alessandro Juliani and Grace Park. Bravo, chaps!

What we're faced with here is a mathematical problem. The numbers simply don't add up. According to Sweet Eight's calculations they have ten hours to go before rescue. But according to the oxygen timer they have just over eight hours of air left. So as the old saying goes, something's got to give. Or rather someone.

So what are we to make of this episode? The evidence seems well and truly stacked against Sweet Eight (dear God, why haven't they given her a name yet?). Not only do we have a confession from her, we also have a flashback scene incriminating her in a far greater atrocity – the murder of dozens, maybe hundreds of civilians.

So why don't I believe it?

Well, it's just too obvious. They've been setting her up all series to be the fall guy (or girl... or maybe robot), and now here she is, unreservedly admitting to everything. With two episodes still remaining? I simply can't buy it.

I'm not saying I don't think she killed everyone on board the raptor. I can buy that. Like I said... mathematics. But what about the rest? The fact is, one of them still needs to die, and I don't think Sweet Eight's capable of killing Gaeta – in fact I don't think she wants to. I think she still feels something for him – so all I can think is she's trying to goad him into killing her. Could this be the purpose of her eleventh hour confession? Is this why she's suddenly being so cold and... well, robot-like?

The question may not be whether she loves him, but how much she loves him. Enough to die for him?

And what are we to make of the New Caprica flashback? Was everyone on the list killed? I thought Sweet Eight rescued some of them? If everyone was killed, then why is Gaeta trusting her now? Are we still missing a huge chunk of this puzzle?

Most probably.

Quotes

Gaeta: “No... no! You killed them all!”
Sweet Eight: “We needed the air.”
Gaeta: “No... God... what...?"
Sweet Eight: “Felix. I picked you. Over my own kind. Over my own model. I protected you from something you never could have done, but you were thinking all along.”
Gaeta: “No. I couldn't! I wouldn't... no one could!”

Sweet Eight: “Felix. There's a fine line between ignorance and hope. I would have thought you'd learned that by now.”
Gaeta: “What are you talking about?”
Sweet Eight: “Felix. You have to open your eyes. You have to see what the world is really like. You gave me the names, Felix. The rest was easy.”

Sweet Eight: “Kill everyone on this list.”

3 comments:

  1. The counter could still be set up for when there were 5 persons alive, so 10 hours in that counter would be like 25 hours for just Gaeta and Sweet Eight, wouldn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Anonymous,

    Could be....but why bother showing us the timer every episode if it's been inaccurate since episode two?? The idea is surely to create a sense of urgency?

    Plus in the opening scenes of episode one (where Gaeta's on his own in the raptor), the clock reads 21 minutes. Yet Gaeta's struggling for breath, sweating and struggling to remain conscious. Surely if he had over 15 hours of air left he'd be doing fine?

    I've been working on the assumption that the ship calculates how much oxygen's being used at any given time....compares it with what's in reserve...and then gives us a figure on the clock. So the calibration would be automatic. As one person dies, it readjusts as oxygen consumption becomes less.

    Or perhaps Gaeta or Sweet Eight have been recalibrating it manually every time someone's died. Bearing in mind their predicament, this clock is surely the most important instrument on the ship.

    What do you think???


    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the new theory, Paul. Sweet Eight's confessions don't sit well with me either. I still don't know if I buy that she killed everyone on the ship, but I'm willing to roll with that one. But I agree that her final confession is not what it seems and that she's trying to get Gaeta to kill her. Guess we'll see.

    ReplyDelete

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