"You know the mission. You should also know that there is only one way that this mission ends, and that's with the successful rescue of our people off of New Caprica. Look around you. Take a good look at the men and women that stand next to you. Remember their faces, for one day you will tell your children and your grandchildren that you served with such men and women as the universe has never seen. And together you accomplished a feat that will be told and retold down through the ages, and find immortality as only the Gods once knew. I'm proud to serve with you. Good hunting."
SO SAY WE ALL: The Resistance prepares for the coming of Galactica.
REVIEW: Rather than bring us back to the cliffhanger in the "previously" montage, there's a reprise so that the show might cheat. Hmm... First, it goes back an hour to show us that the Resistance was tipped off about the summary execution of the prisoners, and so were present when Cally made her escape. Over at Boomer and Anders' meeting, they pull the same thing, with hidden Marines using a rocket launcher at the Centurions. Thanks to overlapping audio in the original cut, they also manage to hide the fact that it was the Resistance firing first, but where it REALLY cheats is in re-editing the sequence so that Cally runs for a long, long time before even the first gunshot, so as to manufacture a crossfire moment, as if the original scene's tension wasn't already high. We're off to a rocky start. Thankfully, there are no other missteps.
This is, of course, all set-up for the rescue to come. Tyrol's pretty hopeful when he gives the liberated prisoners the news, but the title tells us New Caprica is about to be a thing of the past. We consequently don't see a whole lot of Galactica, though there's an interesting ceremony, where unity is represented by breaking a line of salt, and an equally poignant moment between Adama and Lee saying goodbye and holding the emotion back for the good of the crew. When Boomer relays the launch codes and the go order, it is met with a real mix of elation and dread. As it should be. Mixed emotions is the order of the day, note also Tigh's horror at Ellen's betrayal and how there's a sort of defeated understanding from the Resistance leaders in that moment. Baltar's narcissism can only lead him to the similarly self-centered self-loathing, something that registers as ungrateful by Six after everything she's personally given up for him. But how can we side with her. This is also mirrored in Starbuck's relationship with Leoben and Kasey, the family she never asked for.
And then there's Three, who dreams bleached dreams of a baby, a premotion that leads her to a human oracle (Amanda Plummer is a fine guest-star) who tells her she will hold a child called Hera in her arms and know true love. D'Anna's faith is shaken, but it's interesting that the oracle says the Cylon God speaks through her as well as the Greek models, all gods an aspect of the same divine force. Humanity and Cylons don't have dueling fates, I don't think. Anyway, this gives us a D'Anna that pets a border collie (one of God's creatures), but also feels very threatening towards Doc Cottle who she suspects (correctly) knows that Hera is alive after all. And one wonders if a half-Cylon child is somehow connected to whatever network the Cylons communicate with, and if this is the cause of Three's dreams. She will later use this information to try and turn Sharon (can models recognize specific identities?), but gets capped in the knee for her trouble. Sharon has to believe Adama wouldn't lie to her, and as far as we know, she's right. This was Roslin's doing and he's not in on it. And I really want it to stay that way. Let Sharon's redemption stand, and no more mistrust between those two characters if at all possible. Still, that's a thought that will fester. Galactica's coming attack isn't the only bomb we can hear ticking...
CAPRICANADA: All Canadian locations already detailed. Amanda Plummer is American, though her father, Christopher Plummer is Canadian.
ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN: Roslin says of Hera, "She may well be the shape of things to come", which is a reference to Kobol's Last Gleaming, where Six says such a thing. Speaking of references, Adama gives his crew the same opportunity afforded Achilles in The Iliad; namely to gain immortality by dying in battle.
HUMAN DEATH TOLL: Human police officers are no doubt killed in the shootout at the execution site, but the number is unknown. Jammer will later be seen to have survived.
VERSIONS: A teaser aired prior to the season premiere contains another line to Adama's speech that was either cut from the final episode or recorded specifically for the teaser: "The dignity and integrity of the human race rides with us."
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - I don't care for the cliffhanger's resolution, but change is on the horizon, and people are behaving like people facing any kind of change. With inner and outer turmoil. Strong.
REVIEW: Rather than bring us back to the cliffhanger in the "previously" montage, there's a reprise so that the show might cheat. Hmm... First, it goes back an hour to show us that the Resistance was tipped off about the summary execution of the prisoners, and so were present when Cally made her escape. Over at Boomer and Anders' meeting, they pull the same thing, with hidden Marines using a rocket launcher at the Centurions. Thanks to overlapping audio in the original cut, they also manage to hide the fact that it was the Resistance firing first, but where it REALLY cheats is in re-editing the sequence so that Cally runs for a long, long time before even the first gunshot, so as to manufacture a crossfire moment, as if the original scene's tension wasn't already high. We're off to a rocky start. Thankfully, there are no other missteps.
This is, of course, all set-up for the rescue to come. Tyrol's pretty hopeful when he gives the liberated prisoners the news, but the title tells us New Caprica is about to be a thing of the past. We consequently don't see a whole lot of Galactica, though there's an interesting ceremony, where unity is represented by breaking a line of salt, and an equally poignant moment between Adama and Lee saying goodbye and holding the emotion back for the good of the crew. When Boomer relays the launch codes and the go order, it is met with a real mix of elation and dread. As it should be. Mixed emotions is the order of the day, note also Tigh's horror at Ellen's betrayal and how there's a sort of defeated understanding from the Resistance leaders in that moment. Baltar's narcissism can only lead him to the similarly self-centered self-loathing, something that registers as ungrateful by Six after everything she's personally given up for him. But how can we side with her. This is also mirrored in Starbuck's relationship with Leoben and Kasey, the family she never asked for.
And then there's Three, who dreams bleached dreams of a baby, a premotion that leads her to a human oracle (Amanda Plummer is a fine guest-star) who tells her she will hold a child called Hera in her arms and know true love. D'Anna's faith is shaken, but it's interesting that the oracle says the Cylon God speaks through her as well as the Greek models, all gods an aspect of the same divine force. Humanity and Cylons don't have dueling fates, I don't think. Anyway, this gives us a D'Anna that pets a border collie (one of God's creatures), but also feels very threatening towards Doc Cottle who she suspects (correctly) knows that Hera is alive after all. And one wonders if a half-Cylon child is somehow connected to whatever network the Cylons communicate with, and if this is the cause of Three's dreams. She will later use this information to try and turn Sharon (can models recognize specific identities?), but gets capped in the knee for her trouble. Sharon has to believe Adama wouldn't lie to her, and as far as we know, she's right. This was Roslin's doing and he's not in on it. And I really want it to stay that way. Let Sharon's redemption stand, and no more mistrust between those two characters if at all possible. Still, that's a thought that will fester. Galactica's coming attack isn't the only bomb we can hear ticking...
CAPRICANADA: All Canadian locations already detailed. Amanda Plummer is American, though her father, Christopher Plummer is Canadian.
ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN: Roslin says of Hera, "She may well be the shape of things to come", which is a reference to Kobol's Last Gleaming, where Six says such a thing. Speaking of references, Adama gives his crew the same opportunity afforded Achilles in The Iliad; namely to gain immortality by dying in battle.
HUMAN DEATH TOLL: Human police officers are no doubt killed in the shootout at the execution site, but the number is unknown. Jammer will later be seen to have survived.
VERSIONS: A teaser aired prior to the season premiere contains another line to Adama's speech that was either cut from the final episode or recorded specifically for the teaser: "The dignity and integrity of the human race rides with us."
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - I don't care for the cliffhanger's resolution, but change is on the horizon, and people are behaving like people facing any kind of change. With inner and outer turmoil. Strong.
Comments