"Starbuck to all vipers - do not fire... repeat, do not fire! I am a friendly, okay? We're all friendlies. So, let's just... be friendly."
SO SAY WE ALL: Galactica and Pegasus come together to plan an attack on the Cylon's mystery ship. But it's only a temporary truce.
REVIEW: Normally, I might call this series of set-ups the calm before the storm, but from the intensity of the previous episode, I think we'd better call this the eye of the hurricane. After playing chicken for a while, the two battlestars' Viper squadrons are recalled thanks to Starbuck arriving with pictures of the Cylons' new mystery ship (every time she returns from a mission, the status quo has been upended, this one), and a common threat brings the two crews together. Roslin plays peacemaker, putting the execution of Helo and Tyrol on hold to buy Adama some time, but surprises him by suggesting he assassinate Cain! As he said in the previous episode, she's come a long way!
So what is this new threat? A huge, bizarre ship that looks like a flying rib cage, filled with sleeping copies of Cylon models we know. When the Six in the Pegasus' brig finally breaks down, she tells Baltar all about it so he can help her commit true suicide. She's been traumatized so badly, she doesn't want to be resurrected. The "Resurrection Ship" is what the Cylons have to use this far from the homeworld so their uploads don't dissipate in the void of space. Destroy that, and the Cylons might give up the chase in the face of true death. That this Six WANTS true death says something about her treatment at Cain's hands. So Baltar has the goods, and actually uses them (as opposed to withholding for his own purposes), though one might wonder if he intends for the Six to die given his ambiguous conversation with HIS Six in his mind palace, about how he doesn't really care about or need the unreal place. Might he hope to have a relationship with a real Six rather than his fake Six? As preparations are made, Starbuck is promoted and Stinger demoted for letting her and Lee get the better of him. Cain does respect mavericks as long as they get things done. She buys Kara's good will by promising to go back and reclaim the Colonies, which will play with Starbuck's head just enough that we don't know how she'll respond to Adama's next order...
In another ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH cliffhanger, we are shown intercut conversations between Cain and Fisk, and Adama and Starbuck, in which each commander asks their officer to position themselves at C.I.C. on the other's ship after the battle, and while people are celebrating, to wait on an order to kill that ship's commander. That Cain would want to assassinate Adama is no surprise (with men she called "Razors", keep that word in mind); that Adama finally agrees with Roslin's suggestion is. And while you think Kara is loyal to Adama, this is an extreme request, especially after the assurances she's just gotten from a woman who is a lot like her. Beautifully edited, it's also quite cool that they've come up with the same plan. It's not an about-turn for Adama, mind you. Investigating the presence of the civilian engineer now running his deck crew, he sends Tigh to do what Tigh does best - get drunk - and gets the lowdown on the fact Pegasus used to have its own civilian fleet. Cain stripped it down for parts and key personnel, killing the families of recalcitrants, and leaving the rest marooned without jump drives. Between the very real threat to the fleet, Sharon's inexcusable rape, and his two men awaiting execution for doing what's right, he's been pushed to the only possible action. Roslin playing Lady Macbeth or not, it's his only play. And it's entirely justified because of her war crimes. Is Starbuck game?
ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN: Part 2 of a storyline inspired by the original BSG's "The Living Legend".
HUMAN DEATH TOLL: Headcount starts and stays at 49,604 (Thorne the only casualty of the previous episode). Fisk tells the story of 15 ships' worth of people marooned or even executed by Cain at some point since the Cylon attack.
VERSIONS: A deleted scene has Dualla and Lee having a chat where he expresses deep doubts about serving in the Colonial fleet.
REWATCHABILITY: High - Though we're setting things up for Part 2 (or Part 3, really), there are some important revelations about the Cylons, and this cliffhanger is even more gripping than the previous.
REVIEW: Normally, I might call this series of set-ups the calm before the storm, but from the intensity of the previous episode, I think we'd better call this the eye of the hurricane. After playing chicken for a while, the two battlestars' Viper squadrons are recalled thanks to Starbuck arriving with pictures of the Cylons' new mystery ship (every time she returns from a mission, the status quo has been upended, this one), and a common threat brings the two crews together. Roslin plays peacemaker, putting the execution of Helo and Tyrol on hold to buy Adama some time, but surprises him by suggesting he assassinate Cain! As he said in the previous episode, she's come a long way!
So what is this new threat? A huge, bizarre ship that looks like a flying rib cage, filled with sleeping copies of Cylon models we know. When the Six in the Pegasus' brig finally breaks down, she tells Baltar all about it so he can help her commit true suicide. She's been traumatized so badly, she doesn't want to be resurrected. The "Resurrection Ship" is what the Cylons have to use this far from the homeworld so their uploads don't dissipate in the void of space. Destroy that, and the Cylons might give up the chase in the face of true death. That this Six WANTS true death says something about her treatment at Cain's hands. So Baltar has the goods, and actually uses them (as opposed to withholding for his own purposes), though one might wonder if he intends for the Six to die given his ambiguous conversation with HIS Six in his mind palace, about how he doesn't really care about or need the unreal place. Might he hope to have a relationship with a real Six rather than his fake Six? As preparations are made, Starbuck is promoted and Stinger demoted for letting her and Lee get the better of him. Cain does respect mavericks as long as they get things done. She buys Kara's good will by promising to go back and reclaim the Colonies, which will play with Starbuck's head just enough that we don't know how she'll respond to Adama's next order...
In another ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH cliffhanger, we are shown intercut conversations between Cain and Fisk, and Adama and Starbuck, in which each commander asks their officer to position themselves at C.I.C. on the other's ship after the battle, and while people are celebrating, to wait on an order to kill that ship's commander. That Cain would want to assassinate Adama is no surprise (with men she called "Razors", keep that word in mind); that Adama finally agrees with Roslin's suggestion is. And while you think Kara is loyal to Adama, this is an extreme request, especially after the assurances she's just gotten from a woman who is a lot like her. Beautifully edited, it's also quite cool that they've come up with the same plan. It's not an about-turn for Adama, mind you. Investigating the presence of the civilian engineer now running his deck crew, he sends Tigh to do what Tigh does best - get drunk - and gets the lowdown on the fact Pegasus used to have its own civilian fleet. Cain stripped it down for parts and key personnel, killing the families of recalcitrants, and leaving the rest marooned without jump drives. Between the very real threat to the fleet, Sharon's inexcusable rape, and his two men awaiting execution for doing what's right, he's been pushed to the only possible action. Roslin playing Lady Macbeth or not, it's his only play. And it's entirely justified because of her war crimes. Is Starbuck game?
ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN: Part 2 of a storyline inspired by the original BSG's "The Living Legend".
HUMAN DEATH TOLL: Headcount starts and stays at 49,604 (Thorne the only casualty of the previous episode). Fisk tells the story of 15 ships' worth of people marooned or even executed by Cain at some point since the Cylon attack.
VERSIONS: A deleted scene has Dualla and Lee having a chat where he expresses deep doubts about serving in the Colonial fleet.
REWATCHABILITY: High - Though we're setting things up for Part 2 (or Part 3, really), there are some important revelations about the Cylons, and this cliffhanger is even more gripping than the previous.
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