|
Not a lot to say about this one. It was
a good serviceable character piece, but the more interesting
mythology arc was a C-plot at best.
Although it's not touched on further
in this episode, the idea that already-limited food
supplies could be tainted, or otherwise lost, is a
real problem for the Fleet. Moore has never mentioned
the "agro ships" which Classic BSG had. And
what is the algae being "processed" into?
MRE mush? Protein bars?
I wonder: did Athena somehow download
Boomer's Raptor-piloting skills, or did she learn on
her own during the New Caprica year?
Aha, so my speculation was apparently
right -- Threena has been getting herself offed and
downloading repeatedly. But Rebel Six makes it sound
as though only some of the others have noticed,
not all of them. Or maybe only some of them care. And
wouldn't the Welcoming Committee notice the same personality
showing up after, like, the third or fourth go-round?
Is she resurrecting alone? Wouldn't that be
noticed? Wouldn't it be logged somewhere that this
basestar is going through an alarming number of Three
bodies?
The macguffin plot of the jump didn't
interest me much. I was a bit more intrigued by the
suggestion that Kat was another Cylon plant somehow.
But honestly, whatever she did before
the attacks as Sasha, she earned the identity of Kat
in the last two years. She learned how to fly a Viper
and then a Raptor. She learned to lead people and become
a CAG. All of that she did on her own, without any
reliance on the former identity of "Louanne Katraine." And
even, by some chance, if Starbuck is right, and she
and Slacker Boy did inadvertently smuggle Cylons around
-- so what? They would never have done it deliberately,
and there was no way to know before the attacks that
Cylons looked like humans. How can Starbuck accuse
her of treason? How long can your past be held against
you? How long can pre-attack actions be counted in
a post-attack existence?
And frankly, why? What does it serve?
Did she want to pull Kat from flying duty? Court-martial
her? They had no one to replace her. Starbuck was waving
her metaphorical genitalia around because she could,
because Kat has always been something of a threat to
Starbuck's reputation and popularity, because in her
brashness and ambition she reminds Starbuck of herself
-- of the parts she doesn't like. She doesn't like
how Kat makes her feel, so she tries to slap Kat down.
It's beyond pointless.
Is Tigh XO again? Does Adama have two
XOs now, or was Helo demoted after killing the Cylons
prisoners a few weeks ago? (I like the consistency
that Gaeta is still pissed at him. It's good not
to forget these things, dramatically speaking.)
So why does Kat go back for another round
of escort duty, and swap her radiation telltale with
Helo's? I guess Starbuck's rant made her feel like
she had nothing to offer the Fleet, or that she was
going to be cashiered anyway, so she might as well
go out doing something meaningful. And she does save
the last ship, which is a bit of atonement for losing
the first one. (brr! macguffin or not, that was fairly
horrible.)
I love that Adama and Tigh get the giggles.
:D That was just such an awesome beat.
I thought I did see a bearded face reminiscent
of Baltar's in Threena's drawings. But I reeeeeeeally
hope he's not a Cylon. That would screw up so much
of the character's development. Moore can't cheat like
that. I do like that Baltar wants it in a way -- " would
stop being a traitor to one set of people, and be a
hero to another." He knows what he's betrayed,
and regrets it, although not enough to make him change
his future behavior.
Baltar's leap of interpretation of the
hybrid's koans was just a wee bit too convenient --
I'll buy the "eye of the husband of the eye of
the cow," if the hybrid knows enough about the
local star maps to understand the nomenclature, the
mythology, and the metaphor, but "the hand" becoming "the
unseen five" was too much of a stretch.
Starbuck is just enough of an officer,
just mature enough, to apologize to Kat before she
dies, so I give her credit for that (and for offering
her the pills in mercy). But she's not strong enough
to sit with her like Adama does. That's an even greater
gift than making her CAG for the last few hours of
her life -- she dies with honor, but she also doesn't
die alone. And Adama shows no awkwardness, has no strained
pauses, doesn't start spouting clichés or bromides,
just starts making conversation. I suppose if she was
his CAG for the year the civilians were on New Caprica,
they're probably fairly close, professionally speaking,
so it's not a surprise, but it's a good, kind gesture
from Adama. |
