Battlestar Galactica‘33’
DVD Season 1
Brittany – TwoCents Reviewer
Brittany@thetwocentscorp.com
Imagine being on the run from an enemy that continues to attack no matter how many times you kill it. Imagine losing friends and family at a rate so alarming that you feel like you’re going to be next. Now, imagine feeling that every 33 minutes. You’re jacked up on stimulants so that you don’t fall asleep while fighting the enemy as said enemy finds you time after time, no matter what corner of space you try to hide. Humanity is dwindling one Viper pilot at a time, and all you can do as the leader, is sit by helplessly. That is the intensity of the first ever regular season episode of Battlestar Galactica, and it’s such a force of writing that I couldn’t imagine not recapping.
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Battlestar Galactica
ReplyDelete‘33’
DVD Season 1
Brittany – TwoCents Reviewer
Brittany@thetwocentscorp.com
Imagine being on the run from an enemy that continues to attack no matter how many times you kill it. Imagine losing friends and family at a rate so alarming that you feel like you’re going to be next. Now, imagine feeling that every 33 minutes. You’re jacked up on stimulants so that you don’t fall asleep while fighting the enemy as said enemy finds you time after time, no matter what corner of space you try to hide. Humanity is dwindling one Viper pilot at a time, and all you can do as the leader, is sit by helplessly. That is the intensity of the first ever regular season episode of Battlestar Galactica, and it’s such a force of writing that I couldn’t imagine not recapping.
Tick. Tick. Tick. The countdown begins. Vipers launch from Galactica. The fleet starts to jump away. Pilots chew gum and try to blink themselves awake. The whole crew is tense and they’re getting slower with their reaction times, slowly becoming sitting ducks for the Cylons. And then, like clockwork, the enemy arrives, just as they have every thirty-three minutes for five days. It’s a plan, head Six says, all God’s plan, but Baltar doesn’t believe, because that’s not rational. The 237th jump is completed and the clocks are reset. One hundred and thirty five hours without sleep, and counting.
As Lee tries to rally the troops, he gives up, because what are they going to do that is any different from what they’ve already done? It’s about survival now and making sure they live to see the next jump. Boomer is strangely the only pilot who isn’t exhausted, and Crashdown brings up the rumor that Cylons look like humans. She snaps, because perhaps it is possible that she’s just on edge as everyone. Dee goes to a wing on the ship that is dedicated to finding loved ones who were scattered after the initial attacks. She walks the lonely ghost hall of pictures of the dead, and it’s than the realization sinks in that there are more lost than living. Laura and Billy create a head count, and even that is worse than originally thought. In one swoop of white board eraser, the number of survivors has changed to reflect a loss of three hundred souls, and Laura tries to block the sorrow.
Six, as Gaius’ hallucination, lets him know that he’s not safe, that beyond the Cylons attacking, there is a Doctor Amarak on another ship, the Olympic Carrier, who knows about a certain man who might have helped the Cylons’ attack on humanity. “I’d say you have a serious problem,” laments Six with a smirk. The Doctor is to board Colonial One immediately, no doubt to relieve Gaius of his sins. Back on Galactica, Starbuck refuses to take her stims to keep her awake, and Lee asks too nicely for her liking. She reminds him that he’s not her friend; he should either command enough respect for her to take a direct order or he should shove the pills down her throat. “I’m glad I’m not working for you,” he cracks as she finally takes her stims and gets ready for another fight. On this last jump, the Olympic Carrier is left behind. A ship that had over a thousand souls on it is suddenly gone, and as Laura’s voice breaks, she whispers: “Okay. Next crisis.” Conveniently for Gaius, the one man who could have ousted him was on the ship that was forgotten. “God is looking out for you, Gaius,” Six comments, and Gaius still refuses to believe. “There is no God.” Six warns quietly. “Be careful. That which God gives, he can also take away.”
At the 33 minute mark, the Cylons don’t appear. As mysteriously as the Olympic Carrier vanished, so did the Cylons. And then, after the pilots and crew think that they have a reprieve, the Olympic Carrier jumps back in. Adama orders the clocks to be reset. “I hope you’re wrong,” Tigh mutters. So does everyone. But Adama is not. Somehow, some way, the Cylons are using that ship to track the fleet. And now, for Gaius, the threat of Dr. Amarak is back. So are the Cylons - with nuclear warheads. Six tries to reason with Gaius. “This is God’s punishment for your lack of faith.” Gaius realizes that the only way to survive and not be left at the hands of the President is to push her and the Commander to destroy the Olympic Carrier and everyone on board. The President wavers and Gaius prays. “I repent!” And Laura orders the aircraft be shot down. Lee does the duty and must live with the guilt of killing a part of humanity. He has killed a group of people to save the masses, but where does one sin end and the other begin?
On Cylon occupied Caprica, Helo is running for his life, living on anti-radiation meds. His eye is suddenly caught by a woman standing in a white rain coat. A Cylon, yet he has no idea. He’s brought out of his thoughts when two Centurions aim their weapons, but these killing machines don’t fire on him. They chain him and leave him in the woods, and then the same woman appears. A version of the Six, and she asks him if he’s alive. She releases him, then leans in to kiss him when she’s shot from behind by Boomer. But not the Boomer Helo thinks he knows. A copy. And she has a plan.
What do you all think about this fantastic episode? It still keeps me on the edge of my seat, even four seasons later. Which would you like to see reviewed next? Leave your TwoCents or shoot me an email!
To be honest, this episode probably got me hooked on the show. I remember watching it and thinking "This show is AWESOME." Superb acting on everyone's part and just a completely thrilling episode.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great episode! So intense and the Olympic Carrier thing really lets you know what kind of show you're in for.
ReplyDeleteAs for you what you should review . . . if you're really ambitious, I vote for doing them in order. Or maybe starting with your personal favorites. That would be fun to see. :)
Best season premiere...ever. I don't know how many friends I managed to suck into this show by having them watch "33".
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