Battlestar Galactica #12: Fire in Space

"Apollo, if the fire reaches the energizer or the solium, either one... the Galactica is doomed."

SO SAY WE ALL: A kamikaze attack leaves the Galactica on dead in space and on fire.

REVIEW: Every genre show needs to do a disaster movie at some point and this is BSG's, which fits perfectly with the survival aspect of the show. Early episodes showed some concern for how humanity could survive unmoored from planetary habitats, and this is in that vein. With all those Cylon attacks - indeed, we've seen the ship on fire before - what happens when a ship is damaged? How do the (never before seen) glittery space firefighters handle it? And Fire in Space is quite good at BEING a disaster movie (give or take any millionaires getting killed by their own greed). It keeps making the situation more and more desperate, raising the tension and forcing characters to make impossible choices. Will I save my family, or the ship? (Well, you gotta save the ship regardless, but it doesn't feel any more fun for the heroes.) So Commander Adama is in critical condition, but he can't be easily operated on because the electricity keeps giving out. This does give Colonel Tigh his best episode, though he still needs Adama to tell him how to handle the crisis before he goes under the knife. The fire keeps spreading, Boomer, Athena and Boxey are trapped in the Rejuvenation Center with melted air masks, one landing bay is disabled... They eventually have to do a spacewalk (need hull set) to set charges and blow holes in the ship to blow out the fire, but right in the section where Boxey and friends are trapped... So on this level, it works. There's so much danger, you don't have a lot of time to process the plot holes.

But plot holes there are! The bridge knows things it shouldn't when it's required for the plot, even if comms are down. Fire rages in the landing bay, but it's exposed to space, so it puts the lie on a hull breach being able to stop it. Vipers are entirely too quickly equipped with retardant foam cannons so they can shoot goop at the flames. There's some talk of shuttles being able to maneuver to a stop so they can pick up the free-floating pilots, but Vipers can't even slow down to get a good bead on the fire. Adama tells Apollo to recommend Boomer for a commendation, but he's presumably the one who would award them. And of course no one from the rest of the fleet offers any help. And then there's Moffit. I believe in its ability to crawl through air ducts following the smell of a treat, that's not it. It's when it returns with the breathing masks and immediately jumps back into the duct. First, I loudly groaned when Boxey tried to follow it - this kid is out of his mind - and was relieved Boomer dragged him out by his feet. Then there's talk of the robot dog having been destroyed, and I'm kind of happy for the poor chimp inside that costume. That maybe she won't have to be on the show anymore (I mean, this episode has her walking towards open flame at her master's command). But then it survives, kind of burned, but still "alive" (oh well), and we're told - TOLD, not shown - it saved a firefighter's life. That's not the best storytelling. It just isn't clear what Moffit's motivation is when I guess it notices the man in danger. Messy, like a lot of the plotting here. Without the tension and energy, the episode quickly falls apart.

I mentioned Colonel Tigh, but this is also a good episode for Athena, who gets to show some leadership skills as part of the rec room crew. She still needs Boomer to be the action man though. And yes, Boomer does get a good share of the action, but I do question the idea that he had a misspent youth hot-wiring cars. Depending on your position, it either comes out of nowhere (it's not even in his file) or it comes out of racist stereotypes (that are especially nonsensical in the Colonies). And you could almost say this is a good episode for Cylons, because that's the closest they come to destroying the Galactica, though one has to wonder what the cost actually is. As a robot race, you'd think kamikaze attacks would be the norm. Send robots on suicide missions and just build more. Except that's not how Cylons are played. Some models are ambitious, the Centurions are perhaps more generic, but what if the original lizard-like Cylons were the only ones who could build them, and they can't "reproduce"? Then each machine life does become precious. Indeed, we won't see the Cylons attack again until the season finale. Will it take all this time to rebuild or regroup? (On the DVD, cast and crew interviews reveal they eventually ran out of Cylon armors, having blown up too many, and having run out money for them, so the truth may be more practical.)

SPACE DISCO: The rec room being called the Rejuvenation Center, and the sickbay as the Life Center all speaks to the New Age notions still popular in the 70s.

ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN: The modern show's pilot mini-series features a fire aboard that is only stopped by opening airlocks to deplete the oxygen.

HUMAN DEATH TOLL: We're told there are casualties, and surely there would be, but the word can also mean wounded. No deaths are actually confirmed.

VERSIONS: As previously mentioned, the two parts of The Living Legend and Fire in Space were edited together on the video release Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack. The novelization for The Long Patrol includes the kamikaze attack from this episode, with civilians being similarly trapped in a lounge area.

REWATCHABILITY: Not Quite Medium-High, But Close: The plot doesn't really stand up to scrutiny, but when it comes to disaster movie suspense, it delivers and puts a lot of money on the screen.