Latest episode of Galactica. A bomber kills Baltar’s attorney, and a new one is assigned. Lee is put onto Baltar’s security detail after he begins showing signs of emotional fatigue following Starbuck’s death. Anders is taking her death badly. AND there’s some interesting stuff involving Cap Six.
If you haven’t seen the episode yet, this post contains spoilers. Don’t click through.
Damned interesting episode. In my opinion, one of the best dialogue episodes of the whole series to date - a lot being said in very little space. Two scenes in particular - the lawyer and Six discussing the loss of great love, and the followup scene between the lawyer and Lee - were incredibly nuanced and subtle in how they played with and developed some of the core themes of Galactica. I’ve seen the ep twice now, and both times found myself just enthralled by those two scenes.
A few thoughts..
There’s a very ironic parallel here between Lee’s role in Kara’s death and Kara’s role in Zak’s. It was Apollo’s decision to let her continue flying when he knew she was impaired - a decision highly influenced by his feelings towards her - that ultimately got her killed. She shouldn’t have been in the Viper, and it was his call. I can’t imagine that somewhere along the line, the parallel to Zak won’t be brought up.
“Seeing Baltar dead and Starbuck alive - that’d be justice.” That was more than just a throwaway line.
More clues supporting the Tyrol-as-Cylon theory, the most prominent being the continuing anti-Cylon sentiments being expressed by Cally in his presence. Their marriage problems should start getting fun when she realizes that her husband is a Cylon and that her kid is a hybrid. These little moments have been popping up all year, all roughly centered around Tyrol and Cally.. we’re only two episodes away from that now.
What I mainly found intriguing, though, was how this episode brought out and developed Galactica themes that had been underplayed in season 3, but that obviously are going to be drivers in season 4. I don’t know if my recent Starbuck theory is correct, but watch these scenes again and tell me that the themes aren’t there - especially on the theatricality and practicality of deceit, and the justifications we make in the name of love. The conversation with Six in particular I found highly intriguing.
BTW - I’ve been asked to justify my Tyrol conclusions. Fine; give me a bit, I need to get my thoughts in order. But they’re coming soon.
Predictions:
1. Baltar will be convicted but not executed - he will either need to leave the fleet again or go underground as some sort of insurgent leader. Either way, he’s taking Cap Six with him.
2. Tyrol goes Cylon in the final episode and Starbuck makes a brief reappearance (but not in an easily verifiable corporeal form).
3. Things get ugly with the Cylons - we need some sort of heavy external conflict to balance out “West Wing In Space”. Some sort of heavy survival conflict will ensue with the Cylons, probably facilitating Baltar’s escape.
Yes. Yes! Yeeeeeeeeeessssssssssss.
Chills went up my spine when the Baltar’s attorney started sparring with Six about the nature of her love and what an illogical choice it was for the Cylons to “evolve” such human emotions. Indeed the evidence for intervention by a Lord of Kobol in the Cylon’s history seems overwhelming.
1. The Cylons know more about the Lords than the Colonials.
2. The Cylons made an almost inconceivable evolutionary leap.
3. “The last time anyone had seen the Cylons they looked like walking chrome toasters”
4. There are 12 Lords and 12 Humanoid Cylons.
5. The Cylons are *too* human. The attorney teases and manipulates Six because of this.
6. The Humanoid Cylons lord over the centurions in exactly the same way that the Colonials ruled over the regular Cylons prompting the initial revolt. Why evolve back into your servitude?
7. The hybrids are completely unexplained. Hybrids of Humanoid and Cylon implies that the Humanoid Cylons were created in one giant leap then somehow merged back with their more technological ancestors.
BTW, I *so* thought Cally was going to be the one who put the bomb on the Raptor. After all Baltar had ordered her execution back on New Caprica, and her Cylon hatred is so over the top I figured she’d have no problem offing Athena.
Left by rocket on March 13th, 2007
@Rocket: The Cylons know more about the Lords than the Colonials.
If the humanoid Cylons were created by a renegade Lord, then they only know one perspective - the “true” one. The Colonials have sketchy mythology, but the Cylons have propaganda.
The thing I loved about the Six scene was how it set up a plausible motivation for how such a split could happen in the first place - how sentimentality can turn into a liability, and the instinctual drive to isolate oneself in return. The paradox of strength (”if I needed that much strength, what was the point? I needed *her*”). What were the toasters, after all, but the embodiments of isolated strength absent sentimentality?
I heard him say that and thought to myself, “Bingo - we just heard the central theme of S4, and perhaps this whole shebang.” Really, so much of this story thematically boils down to that one point about strength. Starbuck. Lee. Adama. Roslin. The Cylons. Tigh.
The next thing I thing I thought was, “Well, damn. We might actually be right about this thing.”
- R.
Left by Rob on March 14th, 2007