Battlestar GalacticaSine Qua Non
Original Air Date: May 30, 2008
Brittany – TwoCents Reviewer
Brittany@thetwocentscorp.com
Galactica, you’ve done it again. Some people say this season has been a complete disaster, dismissing the show after a couple of misses even after three stellar episodes. Some say that the writers are relying too heavily on used story lines – shootings, namely. To all of that, I say, perhaps you are being too harsh on a show that may not be what it was in season one, but slipped and has now found its footing again. At its heart, this show is about conflict; how do we survive, how do we live, how do we make the decisions we make, how do we love? I’m not here to preach though, so let’s get on with it!
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Battlestar Galactica
ReplyDeleteSine Qua Non
Original Air Date: May 30, 2008
Brittany – TwoCents Reviewer
Brittany@thetwocentscorp.com
Galactica, you’ve done it again. Some people say this season has been a complete disaster, dismissing the show after a couple of misses even after three stellar episodes. Some say that the writers are relying too heavily on used story lines – shootings, namely. To all of that, I say, perhaps you are being too harsh on a show that may not be what it was in season one, but slipped and has now found its footing again. At its heart, this show is about conflict; how do we survive, how do we live, how do we make the decisions we make, how do we love? I’m not here to preach though, so let’s get on with it!
We start almost exactly where we left off. Natalie has been shot by Athena, and even though Cottle tries his best, she slips away, holding on tightly to Cottle’s hand. The Quorum is in a frenzy because Laura is gone and Zarek is having fun fueling the fires of speculation, even though he insists he’s trying to get to the truth. And what’s this? Lee might actually do something this episode that won’t make me hate him. Adama, by the way, is about to lose his mind on Athena. Because Athena broke a promise to him. He trusted her and now she’s killed an ally, she disregarded orders from a superior officer, and quite possibly got the President killed in the process. To the brig you go, Athena – déjà vous?
Adama decides that to find Laura, they need to find the Hub. One of the main problems they’re facing is losing half the Vipers and the pilots. And that’s just one of the problems. Racetrack is out in the middle of a debris field. There’s a Raptor floating alone in the middle, so she does a space walk towards it. Adama looks on tensely, and then the bad news comes: The pilot is hanging dead, upside down. So much destruction, no sign of Laura. Tigh says it’s obvious what’s happened and that they might as well give up now on finding anyone alive. Bill refuses. He’s not giving up on anyone. And certainly not his President. He finds the charred book they’ve been sharing - Searider Falcon - inside the abandoned Raptor, and he’s more determined now to regroup and search. He makes rash decisions; he leaves the entire fleet completely unprotected, but he doesn’t care. Tigh calls it – Bill is way too close to this.
He makes his way down to sick bay to ask Cottle what will happen to Laura while she’s off her meds. Cottle explains that she’ll probably feel better at first, because the Diloxin is such a kick in the ass. But every day she’s off her regular treatment is another day for the cancer to regroup. Bill’s starting to silently freak out a little more. And then the shit hits the fan when Cottle decides now would be a good time to mention that Six is pregnant. With Tigh’s kid. The confrontation between Bill and Saul is some of the best dialogue I’ve ever heard, and if this doesn’t prove that best friends can get through anything, I don’t know what does. “You’re risking all of our lives for what?!” yells Tigh. “Our missing pilots? No. A woman! For a frakking woman!” Bill, as you might imagine, does not take well to that. “You watch what you frakking say about her! She’s the president, not some frakking skin job I’ve been banging!”
Woah.
They beat each other up, but after Tigh falls through the model ship and Bill complains about having to repair it again, he promotes Tigh to Admiral. Because Bill is going to find his woman. When Lee asks why, Bill responds: “Because I can’t live without her.” (Observation: Laura’s robe is hanging in Bill’s closet.)
Meanwhile, on the political side of things, Romo Lampkin is back. His job is to help Lee find a suitable President, since everyone knows that Zarek is a joke and Adama won’t even answer the phone when he calls. So, they need to find someone Bill can’t shut out. After Lee pretends for a while that he doesn’t know the likely candidate is him, Romo decides he’s had enough frakking around. He informs Lee that he’s the obvious choice, after a long chat about how the cat that Lampkin has been talking to this whole episode is really dead, and that one person’s guilt isn’t bigger than the next person’s, so get over it.
Lee, or should I call him Leland (heh), gets sworn in and his first official duty is apparently, to go watch his father pack a bag. Bill is going to the rendezvous point that was previously established with the Cylons. Donning a flight suit, he leaves in a Raptor, and there he waits for the person he can’t live without as he drifts, reading their book.
There are a few things I didn’t hit on, like Tigh’s confrontation with Six, but there was a lot going on, and I don’t want to put everyone to sleep. My main points: The name Leland makes me giggle, this love story between Laura and Bill is beautiful (I don’t care what anyone says), and if Bill Adama ever yelled at me like he yelled at Athena, I would just cry. What else can you do but curl up in the fetal position and weep? Edward James Olmos is a hell of an actor. What’s your Two Cents? Shoot me an email or leave your feedback in the comments!
And then the shit hits the fan when Cottle decides now would be a good time to mention that Six is pregnant. With Tigh’s kid.
ReplyDeleteActually, nobody's established that it's Tigh's yet. Let's not get ahead of ourselves...
Wow yet again, this show surpasses everything just when you think it couldn't get any better. For me to adore and ep without Laura is unheard of yet this was a true love story...and I noticed the gown in the closet too ;-) The Saul/Adama fight was classic...particularly when they ruined the only just fixed boat! Lets hope Bill gets his girl back next week...and Bill in Viper suit...*drool*...and Leland....dude no wonder the kid has issues!
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely right, SG, we don't know for sure. But for all intents and purposes, until the writers tell me otherwise, I will continue to be both appalled and bewildered by this sudden revelation. After all, when Bill asked him if he denied it, Tigh most certainly did not.
ReplyDeleteAh, Leland. Will you never cease to amuse me? I really can't believe that they went through that whole process and Romo was that to decide on Lee as president. I really do not get the purpose of that story. Part of me thinks it was Lee setting it all up so that he could have it "laid before him". You know, the whole suppressed ambition thing? Just odd. I do appreciate Romo being the one who ultimately made Bill see he had to go and get him woman.
ReplyDeleteGalactica, I love you so.
Bill/Laura really is amazing! This season, over all, has really picked up with Lee as president, pregnant Six . . . looking forward to seeing how it all turns out!
ReplyDeleteOh Leland. I honestly found that whole storyline a little annoying because of the blatant obviousness of it all since the start of the season, but, I loved having Romo back. Poor Lance :( I can't believe someone killed his cat. Thats what you get for defending Baltar I guess. Maybe it was the Sons of Ares :p
ReplyDeleteGreat recap as always - and your so right...
“You watch what you frakking say about her! She’s the president, not some frakking skin job I’ve been banging!”
BEST.LINE.EVER.
Hearing Adama say banging just had such a nice, crude, quality to it. Nice to know hes not always such a gentleman.
So this is probably just me trying to figure out where this little chess game is going. We did a lot of shifting of pieces the last couple of episodes. Roslin and Baltar are playing at the Opera House presumably (big let down that we didn't even see it this episode, but I'll expect it to take up quite a bit of the next one), Adama steps down, and Lee and Tigh are in charge now leaving Zarek pushed aside yet again.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm seeing, and I'd love any other thoughts, is the big reveal that the final Cylon is such a big next step toward organic that they finally got it perfect (new and improved, now with cancer?). The new model blends totally the concept of machine and what it is to be sentient and whether this ultimate machine has rights in the ways that we do. We've already seen a civil war on the Cylon side, but we're going to see a rift with the humans too when the Cylon is revealed and we can't tell what it even means to be a toaster anymore.
My prediction, no matter who the final model turns out to be, is that we'll find Roslin, Adama, Baltar, Starbuck and the Four all on one side, pushing for peace with the Cylon group that they've been in talks with, and Zarek (and possibly a reluctant Lee) leading a good chunk of the rest of the humans as the 'purists'. We've still got a few wild cards that I don't know where they'll land, but I definitely see that as where we've been headed essentially since the beginning of the show.