"You want me to let it go? You're the one who can't let go. This ship is dead!"
SO SAY WE ALL: Adama must come to terms with Galactica falling apart, and Kara with her role in this drama.
REVIEW: Much of the thrust of Islanded in a Stream of Stars is about Adama accepting his ship is dying and finally making plans to evacuate civilians and move supplies to other ships before it's too late. What he doesn't know is that he's about to set things into motion that will take the fleet to its end. This is classic Adama. He resists to the end, but eventually, he sees reason. He's been drinking rather heavily since the Cylon alliance has been cemented, and it's true here, making Tigh appear to be the reasonable one. His XO tells him it's time to give it up. Laura tells him to give it up. Helo insolently tells him to give it up (and for all the bristling, classic Adama will probably risk it all for one little girl after this). The Cylons have even offered to let him move his flag to their ship, while the Quorum is talking about stripping the Battlestar for parts. In what looks like one of those scenes where they let Olmos do his thing (like the time he broke the model ship), a despondent Adama starts to rage-paint a wall before slipping into the mess in pain, and that's the catalyst for his final decision - to go on a final mission and give the old girl an appropriate send-off. One gets the impression he doesn't mean to come back from it.
Both he and Tigh get called out by the women in their lives, that they love the ship and each other more than they do them. For Ellen, there's the usual bitterness there, but I love Tigh cursing as he realizes that for him, it's physical. He just can't do wrong by the "the old man" any more than he could stop his heart from beating. In the matching scene, Laura is more gracious and accepting of the situation, but also accurately identifies the link between her and Galactica, his two loves both dying, and him unable to let go of either. Letting go... resignation... is the theme of the episode, even when we cut to the villains. Though initially cruel to Hera on the trip to the Colony (which is a space facility, moved from its initial spot so Galactica can't get to it), Boomer eventually bonds with her "niece", showing her the house that actually did mean a lot to her, and weeping after she hands the little girl over to Cavil. Oh Boomer, are you gonna betray someone again? Baltar speaks to Caprica for the first time in a long time, and seems genuinely sincere about loving her, but she rejects him. Move on, Gaius.
And then there's Starbuck's story. Anders has been put in a Cylon bath, which has turned him into a Hybrid, able to interface with Galactica's systems (if not its firewalled computers), and he's rattling off the usual math'n'prophecy. This, Kara discovers when she tries to euthanize him, her own "letting go", and he shows SOME awareness, albeit on a completely different level. What she must actually let go of is the doubt instilled in her by her mysterious resurrection. She goes to Baltar (who is become a community leader not without power - even Paula is all smiles - but still seems unhappy) to use his science to figure out what she is, telling him about her corpse on Earth and giving him its dog tags. He's been introducing the concept of Angels into his followers' religious world view, but this is something else, and he outs her a funeral for those who died in a hull breach, adding the concept of eternal life after death to the mix. Resurrection, reincarnation, cyclical universes, betrayal, exodus... all these events will feature/have featured heavily in human myths. Kara will eventually make peace with who she is and place a picture of her former self in the memorial hallway. I don't even think Lee's comforting words come into it. Rather, she comes to it via the strange visions of what Baltar calls Angels, in her case, the spirit of her father who, combined with Hera's innate knowledge of "the song", has given her a message. And asking WHY she was brought back (tying into Leoben's own prophecy), she intuits that her knowledge of the song, from her past, the same song that led the Final Five to Earth, must have a meaning. And she aims to find it.
There is an important conversation between Helo and Kara as they both wallow in self-pity that reminds us of the Hybrid's (and now Anders') prophecy concerning Kara and reframes it. Harbinger of Death can mean Bringer of Death, but it could also mean Herald of Death. Kara has been sent back into the world by Death or from the Afterlife to bring a message to humanity, which she doesn't know she carries. If she is not a Bringer of Death, then bringing them all "to their end" is not meant to evoke fatality, but simply destination. Also now consider the Opera House dream that Laura, Caprica, Sharon and Hera have started having again. Everyone's always assumed they were seeing a kidnapping by Baltar and Six, but could it be... a rescue? With no A to Z plan for the series, the writers are free to reinterpret these moments and pronouncements and make something new of them. They too are "letting go" of the past. Just as we will have to "let go" of the series very soon. Funerals indeed.
ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN: The Colony contains a couple of original series Cylon Raiders. The infinity symbol of the Cylon faith will turn up again (but chronologically before this) in the Caprica series. The way Hera moves the model ships in the opening moment (which must actually take place after she reaches the Colony..?) foreshadows what happens in Daybreak and may be prophetic.
HUMAN DEATH TOLL: The former total of 39,556 goes down by 35 in the opening sequence (39,521), the exact number for the dead given by Cottle later. In other words, the 26 Cylons in his count of 61 were simply wounded, which isn't right because we see a Six get expelled into space. Since this number implies there were no deaths in the previous episode's hull breach, we have to account for the fact that humans MAY only be among the wounded here, but that a few could have died in Someone to Watch Over Me Instead.
VERSIONS: This is a review of the DVD Extended Edition. In addition to more than 15 minutes of new material, the episode sequences the epilogues differently, ending on Adama and Tigh toasting the ship rather than Kara plugging Anders back into it. The added material includes Baltar taping his next address to the fleet, his conversation with Paula, Tigh's moment with the Eight, Tyrol in the brig (revealing he turned himself in), Tigh looking for something to drink, Kara kissing Anders, Adama and Laura's conversation about New Caprica, the conversation between Kara and Helo, the busy preparations to evacuate the civilians, and various bits and bobs.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - Feels rather penultimate. All well written and acted, but there's a lot of recapping (perhaps especially in the Extended Cut) and they're keeping the big stuff for Daybreak.
REVIEW: Much of the thrust of Islanded in a Stream of Stars is about Adama accepting his ship is dying and finally making plans to evacuate civilians and move supplies to other ships before it's too late. What he doesn't know is that he's about to set things into motion that will take the fleet to its end. This is classic Adama. He resists to the end, but eventually, he sees reason. He's been drinking rather heavily since the Cylon alliance has been cemented, and it's true here, making Tigh appear to be the reasonable one. His XO tells him it's time to give it up. Laura tells him to give it up. Helo insolently tells him to give it up (and for all the bristling, classic Adama will probably risk it all for one little girl after this). The Cylons have even offered to let him move his flag to their ship, while the Quorum is talking about stripping the Battlestar for parts. In what looks like one of those scenes where they let Olmos do his thing (like the time he broke the model ship), a despondent Adama starts to rage-paint a wall before slipping into the mess in pain, and that's the catalyst for his final decision - to go on a final mission and give the old girl an appropriate send-off. One gets the impression he doesn't mean to come back from it.
Both he and Tigh get called out by the women in their lives, that they love the ship and each other more than they do them. For Ellen, there's the usual bitterness there, but I love Tigh cursing as he realizes that for him, it's physical. He just can't do wrong by the "the old man" any more than he could stop his heart from beating. In the matching scene, Laura is more gracious and accepting of the situation, but also accurately identifies the link between her and Galactica, his two loves both dying, and him unable to let go of either. Letting go... resignation... is the theme of the episode, even when we cut to the villains. Though initially cruel to Hera on the trip to the Colony (which is a space facility, moved from its initial spot so Galactica can't get to it), Boomer eventually bonds with her "niece", showing her the house that actually did mean a lot to her, and weeping after she hands the little girl over to Cavil. Oh Boomer, are you gonna betray someone again? Baltar speaks to Caprica for the first time in a long time, and seems genuinely sincere about loving her, but she rejects him. Move on, Gaius.
And then there's Starbuck's story. Anders has been put in a Cylon bath, which has turned him into a Hybrid, able to interface with Galactica's systems (if not its firewalled computers), and he's rattling off the usual math'n'prophecy. This, Kara discovers when she tries to euthanize him, her own "letting go", and he shows SOME awareness, albeit on a completely different level. What she must actually let go of is the doubt instilled in her by her mysterious resurrection. She goes to Baltar (who is become a community leader not without power - even Paula is all smiles - but still seems unhappy) to use his science to figure out what she is, telling him about her corpse on Earth and giving him its dog tags. He's been introducing the concept of Angels into his followers' religious world view, but this is something else, and he outs her a funeral for those who died in a hull breach, adding the concept of eternal life after death to the mix. Resurrection, reincarnation, cyclical universes, betrayal, exodus... all these events will feature/have featured heavily in human myths. Kara will eventually make peace with who she is and place a picture of her former self in the memorial hallway. I don't even think Lee's comforting words come into it. Rather, she comes to it via the strange visions of what Baltar calls Angels, in her case, the spirit of her father who, combined with Hera's innate knowledge of "the song", has given her a message. And asking WHY she was brought back (tying into Leoben's own prophecy), she intuits that her knowledge of the song, from her past, the same song that led the Final Five to Earth, must have a meaning. And she aims to find it.
There is an important conversation between Helo and Kara as they both wallow in self-pity that reminds us of the Hybrid's (and now Anders') prophecy concerning Kara and reframes it. Harbinger of Death can mean Bringer of Death, but it could also mean Herald of Death. Kara has been sent back into the world by Death or from the Afterlife to bring a message to humanity, which she doesn't know she carries. If she is not a Bringer of Death, then bringing them all "to their end" is not meant to evoke fatality, but simply destination. Also now consider the Opera House dream that Laura, Caprica, Sharon and Hera have started having again. Everyone's always assumed they were seeing a kidnapping by Baltar and Six, but could it be... a rescue? With no A to Z plan for the series, the writers are free to reinterpret these moments and pronouncements and make something new of them. They too are "letting go" of the past. Just as we will have to "let go" of the series very soon. Funerals indeed.
ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN: The Colony contains a couple of original series Cylon Raiders. The infinity symbol of the Cylon faith will turn up again (but chronologically before this) in the Caprica series. The way Hera moves the model ships in the opening moment (which must actually take place after she reaches the Colony..?) foreshadows what happens in Daybreak and may be prophetic.
HUMAN DEATH TOLL: The former total of 39,556 goes down by 35 in the opening sequence (39,521), the exact number for the dead given by Cottle later. In other words, the 26 Cylons in his count of 61 were simply wounded, which isn't right because we see a Six get expelled into space. Since this number implies there were no deaths in the previous episode's hull breach, we have to account for the fact that humans MAY only be among the wounded here, but that a few could have died in Someone to Watch Over Me Instead.
VERSIONS: This is a review of the DVD Extended Edition. In addition to more than 15 minutes of new material, the episode sequences the epilogues differently, ending on Adama and Tigh toasting the ship rather than Kara plugging Anders back into it. The added material includes Baltar taping his next address to the fleet, his conversation with Paula, Tigh's moment with the Eight, Tyrol in the brig (revealing he turned himself in), Tigh looking for something to drink, Kara kissing Anders, Adama and Laura's conversation about New Caprica, the conversation between Kara and Helo, the busy preparations to evacuate the civilians, and various bits and bobs.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - Feels rather penultimate. All well written and acted, but there's a lot of recapping (perhaps especially in the Extended Cut) and they're keeping the big stuff for Daybreak.
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