Written by Bradley Thompson & David Weddle
Directed by Jeff Woolnough
“Genocide, Murder, Vengance… they’re all… sins in the eyes of God. That’s what you and I know. That’s what they don’t want to hear…”
“…Because then, they’d have to rethink what they’re doing! They’d have to consider that maybe the slaughter of mankind was a mistake.”
It’s an episode that primarily takes place in two major sets: an abandoned apartment, and a parking garage. Leave it to Galactica to make them the set-pieces of a daring, and disturbing episode.
In fact, this episode is VERY disturbing, starting with the re-birth scenes on…actually…where ARE they taking place? On Caprica? On the unnamed Cylon Homeworld? Wherever it is, the black limbo makes for a frightening, disorienting place of reincarnation — the perfect location to screw with our two favourite Cylons.
This being Galactica, the writers don’t take any half-measures in their efforts to put Galactica-Boomer and Caprica-Six through the emotional slicer-dicer machine. Bad enough that Boomer is feeling guilt and horror regarding her actions on Galacitca; aching remorse towards the people she still considers her family. But as for Six…
WHOA! Holy illusionary Baltar! James Callis delivers a tour-de-force performance worthy of his hallucinogenic hugeness. Watch Baltar needle away at Six…watch him slowly take apart her psyche, making wry, pointed, brutal observations about the Cylons and their legacy on Caprica…
…and realize that Six is seeing him EXACTLY the way the real Baltar sees Six in his own head! She loves him with the same terrible, wondrous passion as Baltar loves her. A man and a machine, trapped by their shared desire. Dostoevsky would have had a field day with this kind of material!
Amidst all the emotional chaos of our two Cylons, we have all manner of disturbing images, big and small — the best one being the sight of Cylon drones reconstructing parks and planting trees, while newly-minted-bitch-queen Cylon D’Anna (the inimitable Lucy Lawless), comments happily on creating places to relax and meditate…the same places they consciously destroyed less than a year ago!
To top it all off, we have the revelation that the Cylons have come full circle. Not only were they created by humans…they’re now just AS human as we are! Jealousy, rage, fear, paranoia, guilt, remorse, and above all, love: deep, passionate, unrequited, burning love. All of our weakness — everything they thought they didn’t possess — have now emerged. They’re positively floored by this self-discovery!
Where does the line between machine and man exist? This is Galactica’s first step in answering this question…and it’s going to be a messy, ugly business.
The epic revelations and operatic overtones extend to the mournful sub-plot: the decision to fake the death of Caprica-Boomer’s baby. Another dark road lies ahead, as a machine sinks into depression…and for all their concerns, both Adama and Roslin don’t seem all that pleased by the results of their actions. But there lies the counter-point: they’re constantly dealing with the messiness of being human — something the Cylons on Caprica are just beginning to explore.
Downloaded: a savage stab into the psychological heart of Battlestar Galactica. It will leave you deep in thought long after you’ve turned off the television set…
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