Several plot threads are resolved with
a sickening thud, and new ones begin. Much craziness
ensues in the interim. This ain't your father's BSG.
It's consistent both with Tigh's previous nastiness
about Tyrol and Galactica Sharon's relationship
and his current floundering dictatorship that he would
immediately assume the Chief was also a Cylon. Of course,
the only way to prove it is with Baltar's test...which
supposedly cleared Galactica Sharon. Nice backpedaling
about a "beeta test" (Callis's accent is
occasionally jarring). Tigh may have bought it, but
will Adama?
Speaking of Tigh "buying it" --
I was so hoping
Adama was going to kick his ass for his screwups, but
I guess not. Tigh's overreactions and bad judgment
were partly because of his drinking problem and partly
from Lady MacTigh's influence. If Moulin Rouge hadn't
labeled her that last week, I would have seen it crystal-clear
here. She's acting almost precisely like Lady MacBeth,
manipulating and wheedling and pushing her "passive" husband
to do dangerous and ambitious things to get power,
and the hell with anyone who gets in their way. I bet
she wouldn't hesitate to take someone out if she felt
she had to, either. (Did she take out Valence for Zarek?)
She craves power. If she can't get it, she wants
to be
near it. For Tigh to have
power and not know what to do with it is insanely frustrating
for her. He's a bad commander (although to his credit,
he knows it). He's not flexible, he's not confident,
and he doesn't think well under pressure. He doesn't
think things through or consider the long-term consequences,
he just flails out with the first fist which comes
to hand. She can push him into almost anything because
he'd rather placate her, or please her, than work though
the ramifications of what she asks for. Their dynamic
is dangerous. (And the scene where their
argument
ends
in sex was
just
plain
creepy.
Although it shows quite plainly what gets her off.)
So now both Sharons have been violently rejected by
their swains, both with angry epithets about machines
being incapable of love. Both Sharons claimed to love
the men they were with and were deeply hurt by being
pushed away. Is Sharon just a weak model? Was she created
for this kind of assignment throughout human society?
Grace Park has done a great job portraying two subtly
different individuals. Caprica Sharon's hurt wasn't
quite the same, even though her stakes are higher,
and she had a bit more backbone -- but then, she knows
what she is. Galactica Sharon was devastated
by Chief snarling at her, and was willing to give up
or make up information for Baltar to keep Chief from
dying. She told Chief she loved him with her last breath.
Caprica Sharon took Kara's Raider and vanished; we
still don't know what that story is. (It does resolve
the naming problem for the moment, though.)
Here's something I don't understand:
Tigh claimed that because the President, one person,
was in the
brig, that the government couldn't function, and he
was dissolving the Quorum and declaring martial law.
With the president arrested and the VP vanished, I
can see how that could be a rudderless government.
But you had twelve additional people who were
empowered to make decisions, and if nothing else they
could have elected a president and vice president pro-tem.
And once Baltar returns, if Tigh had actually been
thinking clearly and not shooting flies with an elephant
gun, wouldn't that have been the moment to return the
reigns to the civilian leaders? He is Roslin's
elected successor, slimeball or not.
Six continues to dress demurely,
and needle Baltar about "their" child. "Our child's going
to be half 'toaster.' How does that make you feel?" she
hisses after he uses the term to Cally. Then she puts
down groundwork for the next arc: urging him "to
do something about... being humiliated by mechanics
and colonels alike." We won't know until next
week whether she goaded him only into poisoning Chief
or if more is going to happen.
Dee sneaking in reports for Tigh to sign as he's trying
to talk to Baltar hee hee hee rather like Yeoman Rand
constantly giving Kirk PADDs to initial. That also
set up her hallway piece nicely.
I am very glad that the civilians immediately
protested Roslin's arrest and removal and didn't roll
over for Galactica's weaponry. We only saw occasionally
on Classic BSG how the ships depended on one another
for supplies, but it's been more spelled out here. Lorne
Greene's Adama was benevolent and loved, and the querulous
Quorum was more than happy to have him in command --
the one time they attempted to restore civilian law,
it backfired on them, and they pleaded with Adama to
take over and reinstate
martial law again! The pilots were supportive of
Lee, catcalling the unpopular Tigh, but Hotdog didn't
defy orders. Of course, he wasn't given an order to
fire on Lee, either, so we don't know how that might
have ended.
Once again, Tigh's only capable of using one tool:
military discipline. If someone resists, clamp down
harder. When he finally gets enough of a breather to
gain perspective and muses that he should contact all
the fleet's captains for a discussion, Lady MacTigh
hems and haws and wheedles and backtracks and poses
and drapes until he can only think of her, and her
opinion, and does what she wants him to do.
Was Tigh constantly in the background talking to people
whenever there was a conversation in the hallway, or
were we just seeing things?
Okay, it's flat-out annoying that they
bring back Triad but they call it Pyramid. Pyramid
was the
name
of the card game. If they needed to change it, they
couldn't have invented any other term? (On the
bright side, maybe we'll get to see those Fifth
Element uniforms again.)
Beautiful teamwork by Lee, Billy, the
corporal, Roslin, the quack doctor, and Dee in getting
the rebels out of the cell and off the ship. Although
now I'm half-convinced Gaeta's a Cylon too. He mentioned
the
off-log calls
to Dee as a warning, but then covered for her to Tigh.
Does he covertly disapprove of what Tigh's doing, but
not enough to support Dee's illegal actions? Or is
he a toaster creating as much trouble as possible?
Tigh sending out Marines to forcibly collect supplies
is just nuts. Moogie pointed out that such action essentially
makes Tigh a pirate, seizing tribute and booty. How is
Adama going to justify keeping Tigh as XO after this?
Who is going to trust him?
Baltar takes a page from Dr. Phloxenstein's book in
dealing with Galactica Sharon and the Chief.
He doesn't particularly care if Tyrol dies, because
he can blame it on her. He can use that to force her
to talk, so he has some concrete source of information
-- to take back to Tigh or Adama, I'm guessing; maybe
that's part of Six's plan for him to end the "humiliation." Now,
the question is whether he believes her number, and
separately whether it's real. I think she said whatever
she could come up with just to save Chief.
Well, it looks like Cally really did snap down on
Kobol. She was finally pushed farther than she could
handle, and now she realizes what she's capable of
-- what she would do in the name of loyalty. She cares
about Chief too much, and she's still a bit wired from
their time on the planet. Since Chief nearly murdered
for her, she's prepared to murder for Chief. She threatens
Baltar, she attacks one of the guys putting together
the cell, and finally goes Jack Ruby on Galactica Sharon.
Will we see her again in a court-martial?
I was surprised that Billy didn't
join the rebellion, but not displeased. It's nice
to see that he does have
a line he won't cross. Roslin's cool "I wish you
well" makes me wonder if she'll take him back
after it's all over, though.
Zarek! Holy catfish! It's perfect, though. We guessed
it after Lee said Roslin wouldn't like his plan, but
it was delicious to see. He's still trying to be casual,
charming, and legitimate. She still won't give him
an inch more than she has to. Fasten your seatbelts;
it's going to be a bumpy ride with these two.
Olmos is an amazing actor. He usually keeps Adama
tight and formal, but here he shows his physical pain,
lets his emotions show in his wide eyes and his voice.
You could see Adama struggling for his habitual calm
and cool, but he's just not strong enough yet. A fantastic
piece of work for two minutes of airtime.
So, potential Cylons on Galactica:
Gaeta (privy to a lot of information, well-trusted,
dubious
behavior with Dee, did he really screw up with
the rendezvous coordinates or was it deliberate?),
Billy (how else would Caprica Six have known Starbuck
was coming to the Delphi Museum?), Lady MacTigh (mysterious
reappearance, constant attempts to unbalance XO and
separate him from CO, shady dealings with Zarek to
foment discord). Or none of them. And to close with a laugh, here's
this gag but appropriate story: "Battlestar
Galactica Accidentally
Cancels Itself." |
