(No explicit spoilers, but …)
This week’s Battlestar Galactica shifts from the ennui and depression of last week into high gear, as the pent-up frustration over Earth, and the Cylon alliance, finally erupts. Action! Adventure! Betrayal! Raw emotions! And all the folks who spent last episode wallowing in self-pity suddenly have something to do with their lives. Indeed, in retrospect, that almost seems like it was “the Plan.”
The whole episode is about crisis, and how people react — Lee, Starbuck, Adama, Tigh, Gaeta, Zarek, Roslin, Tyrell, Baltar — and each shines through. Crucible episodes like this do that, and it’s a pleasure to behold. Finally, everyone’s doing something, rather than moping or snarling or degenerating into their own personal clay-footed hells. I won’t call it the best episode of the series, as there’s not a ton of nuance going on here, just bing-bang-boom action and intense character drama (plus the final scene is just a bit goofy, tactically), but it was one of the most interesting and least annoying episodes in a hell of a long time.
Though I will give this to the nuance side of things: Lee is completely correct, and for those not intimately involved in the high strategy and survival-of-the-race talk, the whole Cylon alliance thang (on top of all the other games that Adama has played with the democratic government, plus the result of the “lonely quest” for “a shining planet, known as Earth”) is easily seen as a final straw. People aren’t reacting rationally, but in the the heat of the moment and the body blows that the Colonial society (and individuals) have suffered of late, that’s not at all surprising. In some ways, Adama has brought this on himself (as has Roslin), even without Zarek’s manipulation (and Gaeta’s itchy stump).
I find it interesting that in a series that is really one long story, this one actually concluded with a “To Be Continued.” Yes, it ended on a “OMG, What Happens Next?” kind of moment, but, really, the whole series has been “To Be Continued.” This one just was in media res.
A side note — the picture I use for my BSG posts was from the mini-series. Kudos and applause to the producers of BSG for, over time, slowly banging the hell out of Galactica, leaving it charred and scorched and far less shiny than the above. It’s subtle, if you’re not looking for it — but it’s a good attention to detail.