This really does have the feel of going to the well just one time too many. I quite like the idea of what The Plan attempts to do but I'm afraid it does feel like the staff writers sat down and decided to do an anal ret-conning to much of the series just in case fans out there were still scratching their heads over minor plot points even though much of it falls into the 'it was bleedin' obvious at the time' category. Just in case you were wondering why such and such happened in such a way you've now got Jane Espenson whispering, well...actually more like shouting, down your ear to help you connect the dots.


So what exactly do we get for nearly two hours (the Blu Ray is the extended cut and a 90 minute version is going out on Syfy in 2010) of running time? At its heart, the story centres on the Cylons and their leader, Brother Cavil, played rather superbly by Dean Stockwell. He really is the major reason for watching this and he outlines and punctuates the differences in the character with great skill. Well, actually it's the Brothers Cavil because as we all know there are copies of the human looking Cylons. So, it's a tale of the two Cavils both of whom infiltrate the remaining groups of humans on Galactica and on Caprica. We get to see many of the main plot threads that ran from The Mini-Series up to Lay Down Your Burdens (the end of Season 2) through the eyes of Cavil and the other Cylon models on the planet surface and ship. The behind the scenes machinations affecting the plot to blow up the Galactica's water supply, the attempted assassination of Adama, the ambushing of the resistance on Caprica are interwoven here with a great deal of previously transmitted footage from the series itself. Sometimes this is done very cleverly and subtly and sometimes it really feels gratuitously forced into shape.


The philosophical discussion here is pretty much a foregone conclusion. The two Cavils develop very opposing views about humanity. The Galactica Cavil is bent on their complete annihilation whereas the Caprica Cavil is awed by the human capacity for love. This extends to a humanising of the Cylons themselves - Leoben's obsession with Kara Thrace, the sub-plot between Boomer and Chief Tyrol - and it's given its ultimate expression here via a very welcome fleshing out of the Simon character, played by Rick Worthy. He barely gets any development in the series itself but here Espenson provides him with a human wife and step-child and, most importantly, a conscience. We also get much more development for Sam Anders, prior to his hooking up with Kara Thrace, and his journey begins on Caprica before the Cylon attack and takes him to the formation of the resistance. Boomer, the ever wonderful Grace Park, and her own inner conflict with her Cylon identity, is also well highlighted and provides fresh impetus for her decision to follow Cavil's assassination attempt on Adama.


What you don't get is anything focusing on the main characters. Adama, Tigh, Starbuck, Baltar, Ellen, Tory are there in very brief sequences, more often than not in footage culled from the main series itself, but there is no sign of Laura Roslin or Helo Agathon and blink and you'll miss Apollo. The whole show relies on Cavil, the Six models and various other supporting characters to develop the story. Stockwell is provided with good support from Tricia Helfer and both of them hold this together for the main part but quite honestly in the end I did wonder what exactly the point of it all was. Good to have some of the background filled in but there isn't enough dynamic plot movement here to sustain such a long running time unlike the previous spin-off Razor. This is strictly for fans only and if you haven't seen the series at all then avoid this until you have because it gives away the entire game.


Knowing who the Final Five are also gives The Plan an interesting mood and you'll spot lots of little references to events that will happen later in the main series itself such as the reinforcement of the connection between Leoben and Thrace when he paints the same image as the mandala in the Temple of Five and the paintings in Starbuck's apartment. We also get a barrage of CGI effects at the top of the film, depicting in greater detail the attack on the Colonies and offering a round trip of each world where there's a 'before and after' comparison expressing the utter destruction unleashed on each planet. The effects are for the most part exceptional but some are perhaps a little too glossy and self-indulgent. There's very little of that twitchy reportage feel that the main series adds to its space bound effects sequences and that rather diminishes the sense of chaos that made the parent series feel so realistic. Don't get me wrong, the expanded attack on the Colonies is technically superb but it does lack an edge.


It's a glorified bottle show with some intriguing background material, good and bad visual effects, a huge marshaling effort from Edward Olmos as director in trying to make Espenson's choppy script interesting and vital with great performances from Stockwell, Helfer and Michael Trucco. For some odd reason the producers have seen fit to throw in some very gratuitous nudity. It's out of place, is simply there to titillate and ultimately distract. It betrays a distinct lack of confidence in the final product. Bear McCreary provides yet another beautiful score which helps immeasurably to hold the disparate elements together and there is a gloriously lovely version of the main theme over the end credits. Unfortunately, I felt that at 112 minutes this did outlast its welcome and although there is some compensation in seeing just how the Cylon plan slotted into the major events leading to the end of Season Two, the end of the story is an underwhelmingly foregone conclusion because we've already seen it, and much of the footage here, in the main series. The difference of opinion about the qualities of humanity between the two Cavils is a slender thread on which to hang all of it and The Plan just about manages to get away with it. The best thing it succeeds in doing is to encourage you to go back to the original series and watch it again.

The Blu Ray picture quality is clean, crisp and bold. The transfer displays good contrast and detail and a use of grain and blur that is commensurate with the style of the series and its previous presentation on Blu Ray. The series has always been a melange of lighting, photographic and editorial styles and it's the same here and the transfer copes very well with the jagged visual style that we've come to know and admire from Battlestar Galactica. If anything, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track surpasses the video quality here. This soundscape will give your system a vigorous workout, capturing the thundering LFE from explosions and spaceships without smothering dialogue. It's a very involving sound mix and Bear McCreary's music gives it all a pounding boost. Very pleasing indeed.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary: Eddie Olmos discusses The Plan with writer Jane Espenson and its worth listening to just to find out about certain visual, directional and performance choices made for the film. There is a lot of back-slapping for everyone involved but get past that and you'll find out about Olmos' approach to editing, the way the old footage has been integrated into the new and an analysis of the script and plotting. There are moments of empty air but it is worth a listen.

From Admiral to Director (HD, 7 minutes): A brief look at Olmos directing the cast

Deleted Scenes (SD, 14 minutes): Some very obvious cutting room floor stuff but one or two scenes should probably have stayed in the final cut.

The Cylons of The Plan (HD, 7 minutes): Very short look at Cavil and the Cylons with behind the scenes footage.

The Magic Behind The Plan (HD, 19 minutes): A very good analysis of the visual effects of The Plan that shows the development of some of the film's best sequences.

The Cylon Attack (HD, 4 minutes): Blink and you'll miss it glance at an action sequence

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (Universal Blu Ray - 025192032592 - Region Free - Not Rated - Released October 27th, 2009)

SCI-FI HD - 20th March 2009 - 9.00pm

SPOILERS FOR UK VIEWERS

Hmmm. I like the original 1978 design of the Cylon Centurions and, well, yes, I like the 2003 CGI design of the Cylon Centurions. But, erm, which is better? (Turns to camera and winks) There's only one way to find out! (Jumps up and down with millions of other Galactica fan boys and girls) FIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHHT!

And that's pretty much what you get for your money in the first half of Ron Moore's 90 odd minute finale to what most of us consider a genre changing series that deserves to be recognised as one of the great television dramas of the last five years. The finale itself is trying to be an obvious crowd-pleaser and, I think, laced with some self-satisfaction from the writing team too. And we still don't get all the questions answered. The odd thing, and forgive me here as I race right to the end of the episode, is the unnecessary coda set in present day Earth where we get that clunky 'ooh, don't mess with artificial technology' message with the montage of robots as the angelic forms of Baltar and Six stroll into Times Square. This show is not about the dangers of robots and artificial technology. It's about humanity, whether you're a toaster or a human, and about all their capacity for good or bad. We don't need hiting over the head with a warning about technology right at the end because the whole series is already full of it. Adama at Roslin's grave was the right ending; the coda in Times Square was Moore being masturbatory (he's in it for God's sake and it's too much of a breaking the fourth wall moment in itself). Yes, it can also be interpreted as a question over the "all of this has happened before and all of this will happen again" cycle, and that what happened to Kobol, the Colonies, and the original Earth might indeed happen yet again. But it still felt wrong to me. And let's not get started on the series' idea of God, just yet.

Moore has been exceptionally lucky to have had such a great ensemble to work with.

OK. The Opera House. It was the Galactica all along and I thought the whole sequence with Roslin, Athena, Baltar and Six chasing after and eventually picking up Hera and entering CIC, intercut with all the visions of the Opera House, and then culminating with that shot of the Final Five on the balcony and on the upper level of the CIC was superbly done. A brilliant fusion of editing , music and performance and a very neat way to 'explain' the Opera House visions. This at the end of the mother of all battles. The first half of the story is exceptionally tense and gratuitously spectacular as the Galactica jumps into the jaws of The Colony and all hell breaks loose.



If you like your Galactica with guns, explosions, Cylon on Cylon fighting then this was for you and the visual effects team certainly surpassed themselves with the battle sequences. Intercut with the whole of the episode, and similiar to Daybreak Part 1, are more flashbacks to pre-Holocaust Caprica. Here we get to see that Bill's meeting is all about retiring and taking a new job, a discussion between Kara and Lee about the fear of death, Ellen and Saul desiring just to be together, Baltar's treason and Roslin's involvement in politics. Last week, these sequences felt misplaced but this week I think we can more clearly see the parallels with the long journey that each of the main characters undertook, particularly Roslin, and I felt this dovetailing was more successful this time round. Much of that success is really to do with the actors and the way they've taken this kind of material and given it heart and soul. Moore has been exceptionally lucky to have had such a great ensemble to work with.

No wonder Tyrol decides to become a hermit in Scotland.

What's less satisfying are the number of other closures here. Putting aside Baltar's epiphany in CIC about 'choices' and 'faith', I did feel that after his attempt at brokering a peace goes horribly wrong the writers found themselves in a corner with Cavil. He did unfortunately end up as the Black Hat and I found it somewhat inexplicable that the only way to cap his story was to have him put a gun down his throat. This felt a little too easy to me and it didn't satisfactorily complete his story, the show having abandoned his counter-philosophy about purity and evolution several episodes ago. Boomer's change of mind, her choice or exercise of free will, was rather heavily signposted anyway so it was no surprise that she'd grab Hera and make a run for it. I suppose there was some satisfaction in that Athena gunned her down in an act of pure revenge and it does fit emotionally in the show, especially as we get a flashback to Boomer's first meeting with Tigh and Adama and that whole scene about paying Bill back.



Tyrol's strangulation of Tory when it is revealed that she bumped off Cally was, for me, just Moore gratuitously goofing off again even if it was payback time. The Final Five are all rather dysfunctional and that's underlined by the later scene on Earth when Tigh acknowledges he'd have done the same. But you did Saul, when you poisoned your wife, remember? No wonder Tyrol decides to become a hermit in Scotland.

The idea of a 'clean slate' is a conceit that just doesn't quite work.

It is also revealed that the visions of Six and Baltar, and the resurrection of Starbuck are all part of God's plan. They are all 'angels', guardians of the fate of humanity it seems. And that's as much explanation you get about Starbuck. She's just an instrument of God. Some will find issue with the fact that many of the events in the finale are simply explained as acts of God, and indeed some of the contrivancies here are explained away rather casually as 'God did it'. I don't mind this because it does fit in with the religious and spiritual themes of the series and the notion of God and Gods has been with the series ever since it started. Divine intervention is nothing new to the series but I felt that it was rather crudely used to paper over explanations for Starbuck and the visitations of the angelic Baltar and Six amongst other things. I also wasn't convinced about the casual way all 38,000 survivors decided it was best to cast off their creature comforts, their technology and ships and go native. Evidence of their origins would surely have been found 150,000 years later. Lord knows how they coped without their hairdressers and telephone sanitizers. And middle management must have been in an uproar without access to a jolly good hot bath. The idea of a 'clean slate' is a conceit that just doesn't quite work.

Battlestar Galactica certainly refused to let its soul lag behind.

Despite these problems, there is, in the last forty odd minutes, a neat structuring of each character's story beginning in the Caprica of the past and their ending in the present on Earth. It does justice to each of the people we've been close to for over four years even if it does feel like it will go on, akin to Return Of The King, for ever. The acting from all the principals is what ultimately saves this and I'd single out James Callis as Baltar because the redemption of the character feels very true and Callis gets to the emotional core with such economy in the final scene where he and Six plan their farm and the reason for those flashbacks to his father become clear. And just look at the little scene in the first half with Roslin and Doc Cottle for emotional power and Mary McDonnell's playing of that is superb.



Underpinning all of the episode is, quite frankly, some of the most extraordinary music for television you are ever likely to hear and composer Bear McCreary really deserves a plaudit for his amazing work here. The first hour is grand space opera on an epic scale whilst the last is a meditation on the capacity of the human soul, the need for faith and the cycle of life. McCreary weaves his spell throughout it all, including nods to the original series Colonial March as Galactica and the fleet disappear into the sun. Whilst the finale is not entirely successful for some of the reasons I've gone into, it, and the series, is best summed up by Lee Adama's observation, "If there's one thing that we should have learned, it's that, you know, our brains have always outraced our hearts. Our science charges ahead. Our souls lag behind." It's not about the technicalities of the plotting in the end, the awkward way that this finale tries to wrap up the story, it's about the emotional content and the characters. Don't let the powerful emotional content, the religion, the politics and the mystical get dismissed amidst the fussing about the jigsaw puzzle plotting. Overall, it's a moving farewell to the series. Battlestar Galactica certainly refused to let its soul lag behind. So say we all.

Previous reviews:

Daybreak Part 1
Islanded In A Stream Of Stars
Someone To Watch Over Me
Deadlock
No Exit
Blood On The Scales
The Oath
A Disquiet Follows My Soul
Sometimes A Great Notion
Revelations
The Hub
Sine Qua Non
Guess What's Coming To Dinner?
Faith
The Road Less Traveled
Escape Velocity
The Ties That Bind
He That Believeth In Me & Six Of One

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica Daybreak Part 2

SCI-FI HD - 13th March 2009 - 10.00pm

"The end times are approaching."

Quite contentious this one. I mean, is Ron Moore deliberately baiting the show's fans by going back to pre-Holocaust Caprica on the cusp of what we hope is a ball-breaking finale? One imagines many fans are asking themselves why he decided to structure the episode with a fair amount of time flashing back to our main characters lives pre-Galactica. Is this a cynical exercise to prepare us all for the debut of the prequel series Caprica? Or is it cleverer than that? Oddly, it's a bit of everything. The flashbacks to Baltar, featuring the mutual hatred between father Julius and his son, does connect with the present events on Galactica, especially in the scene where Lee challenges his argument and actually makes him realise how untrustworthy and selfish he actually is. We also get that odd drunken moment from Lee and Adama's ominous one hour meeting but are left none the wiser. Poor Roslin seems to have had a pretty shitty life judging by the backstory we get here. Two sisters and a father killed by a drunk driver (not Lee, I hope) is enough to make anyone sit under a fountain until their mascara runs. So what was the point of the flashbacks? To show that our main characters had complicated lives even before the Cylons nuked the city? Is Anders flashback where he gabbles on about the sporting act of perfection just another excuse to get him naked in a bath tub? I can see the connection with his fate as the new Hybrid but we need to be told.

...into the heart of darkness one last time

Flashbacks aside, we did get all sorts of resolves flying at us. Tyrol is in the Brig and chatting to Helo about that pesky, untrustworthy Boomer. He's very heavy handed about this point so I think we should expect some further acts of despicable behaviour from her again. Very briefly it's mentioned that all those involved in the mutiny are freed to join up on the suicide mission to The Colony. Not a terribly satisfactory resolution to the problem that quite a number of these people committed treason and should be standing trial. Rather glossed over. Anders, soaking nicely in his Cylon bath tub, must obviously answer Adama's question off screen because one minute Bill's overseeing his move to the Base Ship and the next he's putting a big red line on the deck and asking for those interested in a suicide mission to step across the line. What prompted him to take the Galactica into the heart of darkness one last time? To me, it seemed rather reckless to invite a cancer riddled ex-President, the new leader of the Quorum, Starbuck, Helo and all of the Final Five onto the mission. That's all the main characters, apart from Baltar, potentially nose diving into a black hole with a cheery little wave and lots of space battles. Formulaic, huh? Please Ron Moore, please do something entirely left field and extraordinary with the fates of these characters. They deserve it. Flash forward, back, left and right but don't just do a heroic last hurrah based around one more big CGI battle.

...a very big, cliched black hat

It certainly felt right to have that big scene on the flight deck with Adama's speech and those shots of various people making their choices about whether to go down fighting for the sake of what we assume is a most important little girl, or to stay at home and indulge in scavenging and arguing politics. And bless her, Roslin hobbles from her sick bed to take her place with Adama whilst a tormented Baltar glares painfully at Caprica Six as she too joins the Galactica for one last battle. Is Baltar finally going to do the right thing for the right reasons? I hope we see some resolution to that next time. It's moments like these and the quick conversation between Adama and Hot Dog, Adama turning back to grab the photo of Hera off the wall (a beautifully shot moment where the camera lingers on Adama in he doorway), the gossip between Tory and Ellen and the painful scene between Athena and Helo that weave in and out of what amounts to a patchwork quilt of an episode and yet more set up for next week.



By the end of this we have moved a bit further forward thankfully and Galactica is about to set off for The Colony (a stunning bit of CG effects) which hovers on the edge of a black hole. Hmmm, black hole? Wormhole connecting past, present and future perhaps? And in the meantime, can someone do something with Cavil please? Dean Stockwell is fabulous but the character is now sporting a very cliched big black hat. So, we're hurtling towards the end and we've still got loads of questions. Will we get to solve all those visions of the Opera House, will we know why Starbuck came back from the dead, will we find out more about Daniel, will we know more about the importance of Hera? And who will live and who will die? Lots to tie up next week in what amounts to 90 minutes. I'm worried for them.

Previous reviews:

Islanded In A Stream Of Stars
Someone To Watch Over Me
Deadlock
No Exit
Blood On The Scales
The Oath
A Disquiet Follows My Soul
Sometimes A Great Notion
Revelations
The Hub
Sine Qua Non
Guess What's Coming To Dinner?
Faith
The Road Less Traveled
Escape Velocity
The Ties That Bind
He That Believeth In Me & Six Of One

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica Daybreak Part 1

SCI-FI HD - 6th March 2009 - 10.00pm

Well, this was a trifle dull. I can see what the writer Michael Taylor was under orders to do and there were occasional flashes of interest here but my eyes were getting heavier and heavier as this one went on and on. And quoting Henry Beston for the title is probably a dead giveaway that this one's a bit more languid than the rest of the season so far.



That's not to say that nothing much happens. A great deal does happen but it's offered to us in a ponderous and deliberately slow way by director Eddie Olmos. He and Michael Taylor are content to move the chess pieces of the narrative in their own good time but the trouble is that this makes for very soporific viewing. And as most of us have been paying avid attention over the last few weeks we've already worked out what those chess maneouvres are. It was inevitable that after Boomer's collision with Galactica that the old girl would be ailing. Cue much angst from Adama as he tries to make a decision on whether to abandon Galactica for the Base Ship. Meanwhile, Anders has become Galactica's own 'bathing beauty' as he's plugged in like a hybrid and scarily starts to connect to all the retro-fitted Cylon goo in the ship's hull. What's the betting that he'll jump the ship right into Cavil's waiting arms? And we've got the Opera House visions back which seemed inevitable as the very key to those visions, little Hera (loved the symbolism of her docking the Galactica model next to the Base Ship model perhaps suggesting the fate of Galactica in a future battle) has been snaffled away by Boomer.

'New Command'

The real highlight of this week's episode was the snippy little tete a tete between Starbuck and Gaius. I adored the scene where Gaius is having a shave, perhaps sloughing off an old skin in preparation for the battle to come, and Starbuck, knickers round her ankles, sat on the loo, has a wee in front of him. She has a tinkle whilst discussing the afterlife and angels with him. It's a wonder he didn't slice his face open. This wonderful scene, in which she reveals, rather stupidly I thought, that she is undead and has the proof, is then extended into the funeral service for those killed in the collision, where both Cylon and human casualties are being honoured, Gaius decides to blurt out the news that, indeed, Starbuck is dead but yet lives on. No one seems greatly shocked by this news but then these poor people must be at their wits end and one more visitation from the afterlife must seem terribly inconsequential compared to what has just happened. Loved Sackhoff and Callis in these scenes which provided the story with some much needed frisson, especially that well deserved slap he gets from her at the end of the funeral. Perhaps this is what she was looking for all along. A bit of peace. She certainly looks more at ease with herself when she next visits Anders, plugs him back in after Tigh got the screaming ab-dabs at the thought that he could jump the ship, and promises that they'll both work out what the sodding music means. Scarily, he opens his eyes and declares, 'New Command'.

Boomer certainly looks worried after all that mummy bonding she's just done

Poor old Karl Agathon. The relationship with Athena is obviously suffering and the poor guy is desperate to get a rescue mission out to find Hera. Tamoh Penikett does distressed extremely well and it's gut wrenching to see Adama dismiss his appeal so brusquely. No sign of Tyrol this week. One assumes he's in the brig for clubbing a Cylon over the head last week. Meanwhile, the horribly conflicted Boomer is obviously suffering parental pangs as she has to deal with a distressed Hera. She finally delivers the child to Cavil, who has been waiting at 'The Colony' which is where we assume the Final Five originally gave the Cylons their human appearance and resurrection ability. He rather evilly rubs his hands and mentions playmates for Hera. Is he going to open her up and duplicate her, I wonder? Boomer certainly looks worried after all that mummy bonding she's just done. Finally, Adama's gone off his trolley whilst painting a wall and done a Jackson Pollock all over himself because he's realised that he must abandon Galactica before she falls apart. Cue, collapsing on the floor, having a little weep and a big glass of whisky. He promises to send her off 'in style'. I don't think that means a paint job and a cruise round the galaxy. More like a nose dive into a certain Base Ship.

You see, that all sounds exciting. But it's so leaden for the most part and merely amounted to slowly moving the pieces around ready for the 'shit your pants' end of an era, three part finale, Daybreak. Let's hope we get clear answers in the next two weeks (Part 1 next week and then the two part conclusion the week after) and a fitting send off for the whole show.

Previous reviews:

Someone To Watch Over Me
Deadlock
No Exit
Blood On The Scales
The Oath
A Disquiet Follows My Soul
Sometimes A Great Notion
Revelations
The Hub
Sine Qua Non
Guess What's Coming To Dinner?
Faith
The Road Less Traveled
Escape Velocity
The Ties That Bind
He That Believeth In Me & Six Of One

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica Islanded In A Stream Of Stars

SCI-FI HD - 27th February 2009 - 10.00pm

A Thompson/Weddle script that on the surface feels as if it's treading water, where you start screaming at the telly because the producers seem to be dragging their arses in getting to the big smackdown of a conclusion in only four more episodes. But then you're forced into silence as the writers pull the rug from under your feet and you're left gasping for air as the end credits roll. The way that this uses music as a major plot motif and allows plot lines to combine whilst also giving the composer enough space to add in episode specific music is a superb exercise in construction from script to screen.

Boomer ups the stakes for all concerned

I loved the construction of this. It's very clever and subtle. It focuses on Starbuck, particularly her 'daddy issues', but also craftily pulls a number of threads together - the kidnap of Hera, Anders bizarre brain activity, a Six signing up to the new council, Roslin's failing health - to make it all add up to something quite special. You feel the content of this isn't going to add up to much when it starts but by the end you're riding on an overwhelming sense that there has been progression towards that long awaited conclusion. As Starbuck confides in the mysterious piano player - a vision of her father, perhaps, conjured from her head just like Baltar has Six to talk to? - Chief Tyrol moves closer and closer to Boomer, totally seduced into a false sense of security. What you think is a moment of joy for Tyrol, seeing the fantasy home that they both dreamed about complete with fantasy daughter, tugging at our emotions, is simply a huge con. And he's hooked to the point where he's possibly committed murder of an 8 (we don't know if she's dead) and substituted her for Boomer in Galactica's cells. All that love, that obsession is then completely ripped away by the scheming Boomer, who subdues Athena (they're like alter egos of each other), seduces Helo and then kidnaps Hera. It's a very dramatic punch in the guts for such an unassuming episode. Acting under Cavil's orders, Boomer ups the stakes for all concerned and hints at the intention of the forthcoming drama.

...their playing and Hera's drawings of stars collide

The emphasis on Starbuck is also quite intense. There's that superb montage of her dull routine, the multi-tracked voice over of her speech to the CAG that gives us a very good picture of how bored, frustrated and anxious she is. Where did the spontaneous Kara Thrace go, we ask ourselves. She's reduced to repetitive speeches and dull routines. It's fascinating that she uses the piano player as confidante and she obviously sees something in him and his music that then allows her to deal with the abandonment issues that may well be the scar on her personality. The music in this episode is also a major character and composer Bear McCreary sticks to very simple piano motifs that weave in and out of scenes, as if the entire ship is bathed in these sounds rather than it being just a one-to-one exchange between Thrace and this father figure. It's brilliant and evocative music, it always has been as an ever present plot motivation, and it's genuine chills down the spine when after much coaxing Starbuck and the piano player start playing and the music explodes into a mad rendition of that familiar motif based on 'All Along The Watchtower' as their playing and Hera's drawings of stars collide. It always pops up when something seismic happens in the Battlestar universe and this was no exception. Oh, and if you were paying attention you'll have also heard some of Stu Phillips music for the Cylons from the original Battlestar series in the early scene with the piano player. Spooky.

...can you see what it is yet?

So, both Tyrol and Starbuck spend a great deal of time raking over the past and both end up immersed in the desperate events precipitated by Boomer. It's one of a set of narrative recurrences in the show. The humans and Cylons are recycling through a number of tropes here - for Baltar's trial for treason by the humans, read Boomer's trial by the rebel Cylons, for the Cylon mutiny we see the equivalent human mutiny on Galactica. It very much fits in with the show's 'it's all happened before' notion. A connection is formed between the two groups through repetitive narrative cycles that build one upon the other. And now with that cold blooded kidnap of Hera are we headed towards a final revelation about that ruddy opera house? I hope so because in the middle of that kidnap, Roslin mumbles 'Hera' and then collapses to the floor. Is she dead or has something overwhelmed her that's linked to the Cylons destiny, Athena stumbles into the room, the Final Five hear 'that' music and then Boomer puts a big dent in the Galactica. In the words of Rolf Harris, can you see what it is yet?

Fabulous playing from Grace Park as Boomer, equally good stuff from Katie Sackhoff and Aaron Douglas and very tightly directed by Michael Nankin. For me, though, it's McCreary's music that seals the deal on an episode that sneaks up on you and literally allows the scales to fall from your eyes.

Previous reviews:

Deadlock
No Exit
Blood On The Scales
The Oath
A Disquiet Follows My Soul
Sometimes A Great Notion
Revelations
The Hub
Sine Qua Non
Guess What's Coming To Dinner?
Faith
The Road Less Traveled
Escape Velocity
The Ties That Bind
He That Believeth In Me & Six Of One

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica Someone To Watch Over Me

SCI-FI HD - 20th February 2009 - 10.00pm

Thunk. The sound of Jane Esperson's comic-tragedy landing slam bang in the middle of the final ten episodes of the series. With just five episodes to go, Esperson's episode comes across as a squeal of brakes and, instead of ratcheting up the tension from the previous four weeks, she opts to make the inevitable Ellen - Saul - Caprica love triangle the tent pole of the narrative. And Ellen is back to her old ways, the bitchy selfish manipulator we all knew and loved. Maybe Cavil has good reason to kick back at this particular member of the Final Five because she does nothing to endear herself to the audience here. It was certainly a case of 'mother knows best' as Ellen swans in and throws her weight about, splits the Final Five and throws Saul Tigh into a tizzy. From mother of the Cylons to whore of the fleet, the personality change she undergoes is rather frightening.

Kate Vernon and Michael Hogan are undoubtedly the stars of the episode. Kate's absolutely fantastic as Ellen as she twists and turns the feelings of poor Caprica Six, huffs and puffs about Tigh's choice of partner. She also prompts the Final Five to put it to a vote as to whether to stay with the fleet or hop it with the rebel Cylons which causes all kinds of recriminations. Naturally, Ellen decides to use the vote to get back at Tigh and agrees to flee with Tory and Tyrol. Tigh decides to stay with the comatose Anders. The Final Five's obsession with racial purity kicks in and Tigh is not happy: “No wonder we had to invent some passionate God for them to believe in, we couldn’t have them deify us, could we?!”

Tigh takes comfort in Adama's arms

Meanwhile, the Galactica is, rather symbolically, getting something of a blood transfusion. Or is that Cylon ejaculate she's getting covered in? Teams of engineers and one of the Sixes spend most of the episode slapping Cylon gunk into the old girl's joints whilst being stalked by a grim-faced Adama. The sight of one of the Sixes wielding a big trowel and a paint brush was I'm sure unintentionally funny and I do hope she didn't mess up her blonde locks or get muck on that nice outfit she was wearing. Running in parallel we see Bill Adama really crumbling. He's torn over his decision to repair the ship with Cylon tech and seemingly doesn't know how to handle a disgruntled and starving populace, many of whom hate the Cylons with a passion. To compensate he's self-destructing on a diet of booze and pills. His tete a tete with Saul Tigh is actually very worrying as he slops his whisky all over the place in a state of bewilderment. Again, Hogan and Olmos are a wonderful double act, especially at the conclusion of the episode when, after the quite distressing scenes of Caprica Six losing her baby, Tigh takes comfort in Adama's arms. A bittersweet moment after the earlier snarling accusation from Ellen, “...there’s something in the universe he loves far more than you or me - it’s Bill Adama.”

Keep an eye on Paula

The other moments of comedy gold are apportioned out to the return of Gaius Baltar. He returns to his harem only to find that they've all got along without him pretty well, managing to trade for food and establish friendly relations with the rest of the ship. Their figurehead, Paula, has even managed to arm them to protect them from the violent raids from the Sons Of Aries. James Callis is charming and funny as ever as Baltar, another arch manipulator of course, and with religious fervour out of the window he decides to rely on his cult of personality to impress the ladies once again, almost going to the extent of kissing babies. The invisible Six reappears and effectively writes his speeches for him and goads him on into convincing a befuddled Adama that the threat of revolution is real and to hand over weapons to the group. Adama's really lost it if he lets the silver-tongued Baltar convince him thus. So, after promising to feed everyone and suggesting to a Cylon ambivalent Adama he is the 'last human solution' to keeping together a disaffected fleet, lots of guns are doled out. Keep an eye on Paula, I say. She's hungry for power and was cradling that very big gun rather too enthusiastically for my liking. And I loved the physical comedy of Baltar not knowing one end of a gun from the other.

The death of Six's baby Liam is in stark, tragic counterpoint to the Ellen and Baltar 'comedy of errors'. It all comes crashing down very depressingly even though this resolution to the situation does seem rather throwaway and is almost a too convenient way to end the pregant Six plotline. How does this now square with the plans of the Final Five? Oh, it's OK, they've still got Hera, after all. And I'm guessing Ellen isn't going to be flavour of the month with Tigh after her tirade of abuse seemingly triggered the complications of the pregnancy. And as baby Liam dies, suddenly Anders EEG sparks into life. Has there been some sort of transference? Will Anders recover and will we get more exposition? Where's Starbuck? Will Cavil catch up with the fleet? Will there be a Baltar and Paula revolution? C'mon, there are only five episodes left!

Previous reviews:

No Exit
Blood On The Scales
The Oath
A Disquiet Follows My Soul
Sometimes A Great Notion
Revelations
The Hub
Sine Qua Non
Guess What's Coming To Dinner?
Faith
The Road Less Traveled
Escape Velocity
The Ties That Bind
He That Believeth In Me & Six Of One

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica Deadlock

SCI-FI HD - 13th February 2009 - 10.00pm

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR UK VIEWERS

OK. Deep breath. You have to be prepared for this. It's a bit of a mind-scrambler and leaves you rather wide-eyed and muttering, 'What the frak?'. And pay attention at the back, because if you haven't been following this series closely you might need to have a sit down and a moment to try and piece all this together. Your mantra for the day is “All this has happened before. And it will happen again.”

...one of the most revelatory episodes so far this season

Before even I attempt to do the same, firstly let's welcome back Ellen Tigh. The episode flashes back 18 months and shows Ellen's death on New Caprica and then we see her resurrected on Cavil's ship. Naturally, we didn't know at the time that she was one of the Final Five. Judging by the vast amounts of info dump in this one maybe that should be 'one of the First Five'? Writer Ryan Mottesheard makes this one of the most revelatory episodes so far this season and splits the narrative between the events post-coup on the Galactica and a series of flash forwards on Cavil's base-star. This structure quite neatly knits together much of what we were already aware of - the destruction of the resurrection hub and the journey to Earth - with vast amounts of back story courtesy of Ellen Tigh, Cavil and Anders. Anders has a bullet lodged in his brain and very conveniently it's started to release a flood of memories that had obviously been blocked from him. Add to this the follow up from Tyrol's discovery that Galactica is actually falling apart and Roslin and Lee picking up the pieces after the mass murder of the quorum with her offer of the Presidency to him and suggestions of a new order leading the fleet.

...he'll probably write off the ship

Adama is told that Cylon technology is the solution to stopping the old ship falling apart. Strangely he hesitates and rather vehemently opposes the idea. Is that a rascist streak we are now seeing in the Admiral? After requesting Tyrol return to the post of Chief, he orders the repairs to be undertaken by human crews. Did he not understand why he took the Galactica back in the first place? Surely, it was to effect the collaboration between the fleet and the Cylons? Off he goes to wash some pills down with a pint of whiskey and ease his conscience. I found his prevarication hard to understand after all he'd been through. Yes, all are treading on eggshells around each other and he has to be sensitive to how the fleet would view the use of Cylons and their tech. Also note the bit of foreshadowing when Tyrol tells Adama not to use the FTL drive for a while. We just know he's going to have to and he'll probably write off the ship.

...he's playing Mr. Exposition wearing a bandage on his head in most of his scenes

Meanwhile, the meat of the episode deals with Ellen and Cavil debating the origins of the First/Final Five and the intricacies of what it means to be a human machine. The episode pretty much belongs to Dean Stockwell and Kate Vernon. They are simply brilliant to watch as they bat the arguments to each other about machine intelligence and perfection versus human frailty, compassion and creativity. In the middle of their heated debate stands Cavil's pet 8, Boomer/Sharon, or whatever you want to call her. At first, she appears to side with Cavil, or John as Ellen refers to him, but gradually you can see that she's starting to appreciate Ellen's argument. Ellen is revealed to be one of five scientists who discovered resurrection technology and Cavil wants her to recreate that facility now the hub has been destroyed and he's happy to open up her brain to get the information. Meanwhile, Anders starts to recall the lives of the First/Final Five back on Earth and relates this to Tigh, Tory, Tyrol and Starbuck. Michael Trucco is excellent and conveys this back story very well considering he's playing Mr. Exposition wearing a bandage on his head in most of his scenes.

It's...er...rather Biblical, isn't it!

So what do we learn? Ready for this? Let's go back to Kobol. It is the home of the 13 tribes but after a war, possibly over religious beliefs or over the creation of Cylons or both, 12 tribes leave and form the colonies (e.g. Caprica et al) and the 13th tribe, which could have been Cylon, head for Earth. On their journey they stopped at the Algae planet and built the Temple of Hopes and were guided to Earth. With me so far? The 13th colonise Earth, learn to procreate and abandon resurrection technology. There is a war and aware that this an inevitability the Final Five, all scientists, - Anders, Tyrol, Tigh, Ellen and Tory - recreate resurrection technology. As the warheads hit the Earth they all download themselves to new bodies on an orbiting ship.

They decide to head to the 12 (human) colonies to warn them about creating artificial intelligences, but they don't have FTL technology so it takes them 2000 years to arrive at the colonies only to find that the first Cylon war is happening. The mechanical Cylons, having found religion, are seeking to recreate themselves in human form. The Final Five agree to help on the understanding that they cease the war against the humans. This is where the original pilot picks up the story where after 40 years of armistice the Cylons return and destroy the colonies. The Final Five and the mechanical Cylons create the first human Cylon, John Cavil. Cavil helps them build the other models: Leoben, D'Anna, Simon, Doral, Six, Daniel and Sharon. Cavil does not want to be human, but instead wants to be the best machine he possibly could be and out of rage and jealousy he destroys the Daniel model (#7), poisoning the copies so he could not resurrect. The secret of the resurrection technology remains with the Five, Cavil rebels against them, wipes their memories and dumps them in the colonies, forcing them to see how terrible being a human must be. He then takes the Cylons to war and attacks the colonies. The survivors form the fleet with the Galactica and head for Earth. It's...er...rather Biblical, isn't it!

The episode ends with more questions than ever...

The episode is also very much a discussion between creators and created, parents and childen, particularly as the Cylon origin story is explored. Cavil despises his human form and is determined to return the Cylons to their machine state and he forced the Final Five to live among humans to repent for their own humanisation of the Cylons. Some really stunning stuff as Ellen, now seen as the Cylon motherfigure, tells John, her son, that he's not a mistake, that she loves him because she created him and offers him forgiveness. Once again we run the gamut from fanaticism to the tenets of mercy and grace. By the conclusion Boomer is clearly convinced that it would be wrong for Cavil to seize the resurrection secret from Ellen's brain and flies her away from the base star. The episode ends with more questions than ever - is Anders ever going to recover from his surgery, what the hell is Starbuck, will Ellen return to Galactica and how will she react to the Tigh and Six relationship, is the Galactica doomed, will Lee make a good President, will they go back to Earth?

The danger is that, with only five episodes to go, we'll get more episodes like this where the producers and writers hurriedly wrap up the entire story and instead of drip feeding us we'll get whacking great bits of exposition wedged into the episodes at the expense of decent plot and characterisation. They just about managed to balance that here but I don't think five more episodes along similar lines will be beneficial to the series conclusion. Not long to go now.

Previous reviews:
Blood On The Scales
The Oath
A Disquiet Follows My Soul
Sometimes A Great Notion
Revelations
The Hub
Sine Qua Non
Guess What's Coming To Dinner?
Faith
The Road Less Traveled
Escape Velocity
The Ties That Bind
He That Believeth In Me & Six Of One

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica No Exit

SCI-FI HD - 6th February 2009 - 10.00pm

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR UK VIEWERS

My word. If you thought last week's episode was tense and had left you all but despairing for our heroes then be prepared. You'll go through the emotional wringer on this one, sort of.

...his constant scratching of his amputated limb, a proxy for his own guilt

Last week, the fleet was falling apart with civil unrest and a military coup led by one-leg Gaeta and the opportunistic, power hungry Zarek. Yet, the story did give us pause for thought about the reasons for this insurrection. The coup did have a point to make and it looked like it was a victory for the underdogs. But in the back of our minds, didn't we really see what was coming? We knew that once Zarek tasted power then the idea of fair trials, diplomacy and power politics would simply go out the nearest airlock. If the writers wanted to make Zarek the defacto 'evil' man then this episode effectively did that, with knobs on. Which, though exciting and dramatic, just pops a big black hat on his head after all and doesn't actually help to give the man any more dimensions. Gaeta, naively complicit with him, suddenly realises he's in over his head when the body count spirals upwards. Writer Michael Angeli shows Gaeta's descent into what eventually might pass as a form of martrydom and Alessandro Juliani was fantastic in the way he portrayed the man's crumbling sense of self-worth and his utter inability to realise the extent to which Zarek intended to take his ambitions. His profound disability was visually echoed by his constant scratching of his amputated limb, a proxy for his own guilt, which ceased its nagging in the chilling conclusion and final words, 'It's stopped'.

...the 'imagined' firing squad death of Adama was such a dumb thing to do

As a viewer I think the game was up the minute Zarek ordered the execution of the quorum. At that point the entire argument lurched back towards Adama and Roslin. It also gave us some revealing moments and punch the air scenes with our major characters. Gaeta giving the order to execute Adama under pressure from Zarek, showing his vacillating moral compass; Roslin screeching back 'I'm coming for all of you' at Zarek after believing Adama was dead (reminded me of the Chris Eccleston speech in Bad Wolf), almost phoenix like in her determination to get him; and Baltar realising he can no longer keep running away from events that don't suit him. Mary McDonnell and James Callis firing on all cylinders again and I hope we see more development for Baltar in the remaining episodes after such a long absence. And, briefly, Baltar's 'dream' of the firing squad death of Adama was such a dumb thing to do. It's treating the audience as media illiterates and it was beneath the writing team to even play that trick, especially after manipulating that moment in all the pre-broadcast trailers. Did you really think we'd fall for that crap, Mr. Moore?

Thus ends the coup in a rather predictable way...

In the meantime, Tyrol does seem to spend the entire episode crawling inside the Galactica's innards only to reach the big lever called 'Plot Resolution'. Then again, he is literally quoting Mario Savio's "you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop". However, he does spot a rather nasty looking section of damage which would suggest that even the ship itself has come to the end of its journey. Galactica trashed in the finale, then? All in gritty contrast to the interior of the Cylon base star which is more and more resembling a very bad nightclub interior. I'm beginning to suspect that the Cylons have recruited Tory as their mouthpiece because she can lead them all in a Saturday Night Fever inspired dance routine when we're not looking. I digress, as thus ends the coup in a rather predictable way. This of course underlines Roslin's pep talk to the Cylons about how bloody marvellous they've all been to get this far. Last week it seriously looked as if their luck has run out but by the end of this we are more or less back to square one despite Anders bleeding to death in a corridor somewhere, a fleet minus a quorum who just sat there and squabbled to themselves, and Zarek and Gaeta executed for their deeds whilst smirking at each other in a previously undisclosed moment of mutual gay attraction.

There is that interesting coda where Baltar chats to Gaeta in the cell. I get the impression that Angeli was trying to articulate what he believed was the moral trajectory that Gaeta took. It sounds like he's comparing him to Hitler, what with the allusions to architecture and science, as well as painting Zarek and Baltar as the yin and yang of Manson-like pretensions to power, each with their 'flocks' in the fleet. I suspect that Baltar, newly enlightened, is going to play a major role in what is to come. That's certainly the question that is posed at the end of this: where does the fleet go from here? I'll say one word. Cavil.

Previous reviews:

The Oath
A Disquiet Follows My Soul
Sometimes A Great Notion
Revelations
The Hub
Sine Qua Non
Guess What's Coming To Dinner?
Faith
The Road Less Traveled
Escape Velocity
The Ties That Bind
He That Believeth In Me & Six Of One

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica Blood On The Scales

SCI-FI HD - 30th January 2009 - 10.00pm

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR UK VIEWERS

Visceral, punchy, punctuated with hints of black humour...I'm beginning to sound like Masterchef's Gregg Wallace as he ploughs yet another heaped spoon of pudding into his fat little face...but that was an episode to really stir the emotions.

...no wonder Gaeta and Zarek are able to manipulate the crew.

All the powder-keg frustrations of the Colonials, about their leader and President, the quorum, the rebel Cylons, their four year battle to survive, seriously overheated and, like boiling hot milk swamping across the stove, blind anger was the result. Written by long-term scribe Mark Verheiden with a focus on the mutiny's effects on the lower ranks, I cheered as director John Dahl's name came up. The director of The Last Seduction and Red Rock West, two of the very best noir films of recent years, helms this Battlestar Galactica with much meticulous panache and attention to editing and cross-cutting between various groups and individuals. He brilliantly built up the tension as that snake Gaeta orchestrated the mutiny on the Galactica and various crew members dragged out their festering scores for a final settling. We are reminded of many of the incidents from the episodes on the Pegasus and it is to Verheiden's credit that he is able to reach back with ease and drop these little flavourings into the stew. Add to this the resentment over Lee and the Baltar trial, from Ander's girlfriend and the unanswered questions about Starbuck's suspicious resurrection...and no wonder Gaeta and Zarek are able to manipulate the crew.

...sharing the Cylon tech might be the worst thing you could do

This has repercussions of course. Starbuck gets trigger happy and has no regret gunning down a number of colleagues, Lee (in a masterstroke from Verheiden) is stuck in the middle and actually offers that perhaps Gaeta and Zarek do have a point about the those in the upper echelons leading the fleet on a wild goose-chase that now ends with their proposed Cylon alliance. Quite rightly, all are suspicious about the alliance and see it as the tactics of a command structure way out of touch with all the lower ranks and civilians in the fleet. However, as the episode shows, the methodology of the mutiny is questionable. It's like swapping a liberalist agenda for a neo-con fascism and it it's far from a bloodless coup. Lots of people are getting killed by both sides in the argument. Gaeta and Zarek are also bringing personal issues to bear with Gaeta's own suffering and morally suspect motivations eating away at him and Zarek's lust for power just waiting for an opportunity such as this. What an unholy alliance! But then we've discovered that the President's conviction about Earth has gone up in a puff of smoke and it has so shaken her to the core that initially she backs away from the mutiny. Adama's argument that sharing Cylon tech is under military jurisdiction won't hold water. No one will trust Cylons that easily and with Cavill likely to turn up on the doorstep sharing the Cylon tech might be the worst thing you could do.

...this tectonic collision between two factions who think they're both right

What this does is present the audience with conflict where, as a viewer, you're really not comfortable cheering on Starbuck as she mows down people, or Adama and Tigh as they overcome their captors and hold out in the hangar deck and get the President off the ship, and you're presented with an argument from the mutineers that you actually empathise with and throws our 'heroes' actions into doubt. It is this tectonic collision between two factions who think they're both right that ratchets up the tension but also shows you a rather bleak side to our Galactica favourites. Even so, one of the downsides to this is that much of the personal stuff either happens off camera (e.g. in the webisodes) or is left on the editing room floor. The webisodes apparently provide more background to Gaeta's traitorous actions or that phone call from Baltar, and then Roslin's sudden about face in her attitude towards the fight suggests a scene that didn't make it to the final cut. Perhaps also the Baltar and his harem stuff doesn't quite sit right in this either - even though it was rather funny - and when Roslin uses his personal radio to broadcast her message to the fleet how come Gaeta suddenly knows how to turn it off? Turn it off and he doesn't have any followers, yes? Gaeta seems to find the off switch rather conveniently, if you ask me. The Roslin/Baltar relationship also seems to have returned to swiping at each other sarcastically which seems to undermine the events of The Hub. Still, it added a bit of humour to decidedly dark proceedings.

It all ends on a shudderingly breathless cliffhanger - Adama and Tigh facing off the mutineers in the storage bay and Athena's Viper about to be knocked out of the sky. Cracking stuff.

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica The Oath

SCI-FI HD - 23rd January 2009 - 10.00pm

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR UK VIEWERS

So the search for Earth is over and with this chapter Ronald Moore examines just where that leaves all the various factions within the fleet, especially in relationship to the rebel Cylons. Now, you could argue that this is just a filler episode or a bottle show but I don't think it is. The destruction of hope is going to have its consequences and quite clearly Moore is setting out his stall to discuss what those consequences will be. Essentially, this is about the humans vying for political and military might over one another. Thus, we get the disenfranchised Tom Zarek, Baltar and Gaeta circling like vultures around Adama, Roslin and Starbuck.

is the crudity of his false leg symbolic of his need to remain human?

Gaeta. What a slippery little bastard he's turned out to be. Shacks up with the Cylons and Baltar back on New Caprica, gets spared an execution and loses a leg. He appears quite content to sell his soul to any of the various devils the show throws in his face but, apart from obviously feeling somewhat pissed off that he's now only got one leg and can't get the medical care because Doc Cottle's too busy cooing over the forthcoming Cylon kiddy, I still don't understand his real motivations. Beyond being as scared as anybody else, just what is it that he wants? Here's hoping that his fifth column dissention and partnership with Zarek will actually shed some light on this. For the moment, he just seems to be 'bigot for hire'. If he played his cards right surely he could get a nice new Cylon leg? Or is the crudity of his false leg symbolic of his need to remain human?



For Adama, again brilliantly played by Eddie Olmos, it's a case of picking up the pieces and using military jurisdiction to pull the fleet together. But he's falling apart. The poor bugger's knocking back the Anadin every five minutes and trying to fathom out what the hell has got into Roslin. She's popped her turban back on again, thrown her drugs away and is jogging round the ship like a maniac. She's pretty much given in to her cancer and it seems just wants to live out the rest of her days. The scenes between Adama and Roslin are again beautfully played. That final scene, in a sense, is their two fingers up to the rest of the world and, even though we've been building up towards the Adama/Roslin bed scene, it feels sad rather than happy. However, the other feeling I get here is that they are being complacent. Perhaps it's a generational thing too as both of them seem to have reached a point where they are almost prepared to devolve their power to younger men and women.

But then, aren't the Final Five citizens too?

Baltar returns too and whips his crowd of adoring fans into a frenzy as he takes pot shots at supposedly human and Cylon gods, the 'father' of the fleet (Adama surely) and the sin of ever believing these figures, real or imagined, would ever deliver them to the promised land. 'His' perfect plan is in tatters and Baltar's out for blood. There is a sense here that Moore is making this analogous to the Israel/Palestine struggle for recognition of a home state. Which is ironic considering that he's using the self-serving Baltar to make this comparison. Like Gaeta, I suppose, he's questioning the morality of forming an alliance with the Cylons - the same Cylons that four years ago wiped out the colonies and relentlessly hunted down and oppressed the remaining humans on New Caprica. There are some deep questions here about whether you can forgive the sins of your oppressors, put on your love beads and sing a few hymns or whether there should be a reckoning and you kick back. But then, aren't the Final Five citizens too? Don't they have rights?

In the middle of this is a rather weakly inserted soap opera element, Tyrol's questions about paternity when it is clear that his blood won't do to ease his son's renal failure. Sure, there are hints of a debate about racial purity in there, but the whole story element about Cally's unfaithfulness just seemed rather hastily bolted onto this script. It's obvious to me that they had to do this once Tyrol was revealed to be a Cylon as Hera is supposed to be the only living Cylon/human hybrid. A further weakness is Zarek's attempt to seize power. This clearly is something we've seen before - using a controversial issue to make a power grab by attempting to undermine the popularity of the decisions made by the current administration. Adama's bluff is well executed but we don't really understand Zarek as a complex character. If you compare him to Baltar, it is clear that he only thinks one way and lacks the subtle manipulation that Baltar has been using.



There are some lovely bits of sarcasm here too - from the crackling tension of the barbed conversation between Gaeta and Starbuck as he sticks the knife in about her attempt to chuck him out of the airlock for being a collaborator to Zarek's pot shot at Lee about how he's had so many jobs in the fleet. This is all building towards a face-off at some point during the remaining episodes. So, pretty much a set-up for the future, well directed by Moore himself, full of high quality performances and brilliant production values we've come to expect. Just not as good as last week.

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Cathode Ray Tube Battlestar Galactica A Disquiet Follows My Soul