Written by Toni Graphia
Directed by Allan Kroeker
“What’s happening on my ship?”
Commander Adama wakes up from his coma…and finds his world has gone to hell in a handbasket!
Watch Lee Adama stage a prison break with President Roslin, using allies and manoeuvres in a way that leaves the audience (1) enraptured in fascination at the mechanics of it all, and (2) on tip toes the entire time, wondering if he can pull it off. Suffice to say that he does, and with pulse-pounding style.
Watch Colonel Tigh send marines to force the other ships of the fleet to send Galactica supplies…which leads to rioting, shooting, and death! Watching it, and its horrific inevitability, is like tasting gut-rot.
Watch the aftermath of the goading by Tigh’s wife…and the way their mutual bitching leads to the strangest, sickest form of intimacy. It is, without a doubt, the most twisted, most bitter, most disgusting…and most realistic dysfunctional family relationship currently on television! How’s that for a thumb in the eye at everyone who dismisses Battlestar Galactica as simply science fiction. Michael Hogan and Kate Vernon act their socks off as they compete to see if her bitch factor can out do his pathetic factor!
Watch as Baltar uses the simplest, most sadistic method to prey on Boomer’s love for Tyrol, and get the information he wants about the Cylons hiding in the fleet. Watch how this man can be full of anguish at his own evil actions one minute…then become quiet and terrifying as he threatens Cally in the corridor.
Ah, yes…Cally. Watch as she pulls off a Jack Ruby-style shooting during Boomer’s prisoner march…framed like Christ being led through the mocking streets of Jerusalmen, on the way to Calvary. Talk about mixing your metaphors and imagery…and ending with the most shocking conclusion since the end of Kobol’s Last Gleaming-Part 2, which it so neatly counterpoints.
Hmm…
To be a nitpicker, I could have done without the survivors-on-Caprica cutaways…not because it wasn’t well done, and (in the pyramid game between Anders and Starbuck) not because it oozes with the most intense sexuality you can manage without getting naked. It simply felt like it belonged in next week’s episode…and that it was stealing time away from the glories listed above.
But, in truth, it also serves as a breather between the intense moments of what is, without a doubt, the best episode of this season so far. Resistance is adrenaline, action, suspense, and recrimination…all on overload. And it knows exactly when to stop.
10
