Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 - SciFi US broadcast thread - Page 9

Tonight was in many ways a turning point for the series. I'm finally beginning to get an idea of the overarching direction of both the Cylons and the various human factions. I'm also starting to get concerned about plot points, both interpersonal and conceptual. A Starbuck/Apollo/Pyramid player triangle reeks of the Smallville-esque interminable romantic circling, for instance. Cylons not being able to reproduce because they don't "love" lacks credibility to me from a sheer logical standpoint. Human beings certainly don't need to love to reproduce, and there is little evidence that the human Cylons are very biologically different than humans. I'm really digging the military/secular vs. civilian/religious conflict, but if they push it too far it could stumble into ridiculousness. I also am finding it harder and harder to buy into Apollo sticking by the president so resolutely, as the division it's causing becomes more and more apparent. Except for the revelation about the farm, though, nothing really bothered me about this episode in and of itself.
And there was a lot to love. The way Adama's return was handled, with the awkwardness that that implies. The way the president's rosy insurrection resulting in her freezing her buns off in a space-bound meat locker was a nice little bite of reality seeping in. The scene between Adama and the chief was a wonderful little surprise. We've been led to believe that the fleet view the Cylons as toasters and Adama once again exceeds exceptations and fundamentally gets it. It's a nice moment that reveals both the depth he cares for his crewmembers and the continuing depth that the chief felt for Boomer mk1 as a person. Having lost his son, moments like this and his first return to the command center really capture the internal meditations Adama must be having about love after such a betrayal by his son. I also liked the reluctance President Roslin felt when faced with the prostrated masses. She has taken the mantle of a prophet, and I don't think she truly understands the fundementalism of what she has tapped. The revelation that Starbuck was abused as a child was a real shocker, and it's something that strikes close to home to me personally. It adds a whole new dimension to her meloncholy at returning to her old home. Likewise, the disagreement between the black doctor cylon and Six was another dose of humanity to a fundementally inhuman enemy. The chemistry between Helo and Boomer mk2 likewise is surprisingly strong; when he's having casual conversations with her so soon after her leaving them stranded seems perfectly natural because we've watched the two of them evolve to this point. Unlike the chief/Boomer mk1 relationship, this one is honest and in the open. Boomer mk2 could still be planning for an ultimate betrayal I suppose, but I don't feel it. Since the show's premiere, Boomer mk1 had always been a ticking time bomb. Which leads us to my favorite moment of the episode: Adama visiting Boomer mk1's corse. With the flashbacks to her shooting him, I thought for sure they were going for him melodramatically slapping the corpse like so many lesser shows would have done. Instead his response nearly tore me in two, so decent and idealistic it was. Here is a man so fundementally decent that he can't begin to understand what motivates such evil. She was never a toaster for him, so he reflects her betrayal back upon himself as his failing. It strikes the same chords that have always made the story of Jesus so powerful to me personally. That's drama at it's best.

Also, two things I just noticed after the fact:
1) the episode teaser drum roll is back
2) the newer, competent Baltar didn't have any Six hallucinations this episode

Ron Moore anwsers this in tonight's Podcast: Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) On the topic of the podcasts, I really love them. They were a cool novelty back in Season One before they utilized them inside the podcast framework, but now that Scifi provides them in a feed, they've become as big a part of my friday nights as the episode itself. Moore is far more informative than many DVD commentaries, and far more candid as to what does and doesn't work in an episode. They're also far less polished than a DVD audio commentary; one episode he had to pause because I plane was going by overhead. Tonight he battled trying to turn off the ringer on his phone to somewhat mixed results when it started ringing mid-sentence (and wouldn't stop). Then at the end you hear his daughter playing in the background. It really gives them some additional personality and makes the affair more intimate than a DVD audio commentary (though if they included them on the Season Two DVD I wouldn't be surprised) Subscribing in iTunes has made it a cinch, too; once the new entry pops up, I click update, then go do other things and it's waiting for me when I get back. Sometimes technology isn't the enemy after all.