HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME (Part 1 of 2)
Written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson
Directed by Michael Rymer
“Relax Gaius. Do you think I’ve brought you this far to let it end here?”
“I need encouragement. A ray of hope about the future. An inkling.”
“You’ve got me. I’m here for you.”
After more than a year, Battlestar Galactica returns…and runs on the spot.
Not that I find running on the spot intrinsically bad. After all, considering the emotional roller coaster that was the previous season - to say nothing of the stunning events of the season finale - a slow re-immersion into the complex pool of plot and emotion that is Galactica is more than welcome. It won’t be the most action packed episode, but it will be a seductive re-acquaintance.
Ok…no action except the visceral battle in the opening tag scene. A shocking series of casualties begins to mount…Lee is reassured he is not imagining Starbuck-back-from-the-dead…all realized with some exceptionally upgraded CGI…
…and then Tigh shoots Adama!!!
Or, at least, imagines shooting Adama (honestly, tell me that YOU TOO screamed “Oh my God!” at the television screen)…
…meanwhile, Anders goes all red-eye to red-eye with a Cylon fighter…and the enemy fleet suddenly retreats!
Ok…a hearty welcome back to the most intense show on American television, everyone! 
This episode is designed to do nothing more than freak out everyone in the human fleet - whether it be with Starbuck’s impossible return from the grave, or with Baltar’s realization that he’s now a frakking saint to a large segment of the population…
…at least, the part of the population that doesn’t want him dead.
It’s an episode of quiet, frantic debate. Is Starbuck real? Was she truly on Earth? Can she really feel that they’re going the wrong way? Are our four new Cylons on the verge of being discovered? Who is the fifth and final Cylon? It’s a double-boiler on simmer…that goes into over-drive two-thirds of the way through, as Starbuck snaps, and makes a bee-line to the President.
But THE most impressive aspect of the episode is the setting up of Baltar’s new world - a world of sexy religious fanatic babes, willing to do his will…and his mental Six apparently approving of the entire endeavor. I’m not sure what’s creepier…watching Baltar sincerely praying for a dying boy…or quietly welcoming death…or watching his new babe enforcer get off on killing in his name! I also love the shades of red that layer Baltar’s new domain: velvet & silk sheets, powerful, evocative lighting…all of it a strange, unearthly contrast to the flagship’s utilitarian greyness. Director Michael Rymer (Galactica’s Michaelangelo of visuals) goes to town with his camera, giving us a hot and heavy glimpse of this new environment, where emotion and faith seem to have pushed reason to the backburner.
This is an episode of stunned reactions, paranoid suspicions, emotional basket-cases, and shocking stabs of violence. It offers nothing to radically push forward the astonishing plot-lines of last season, but it does successfully throw everyone into a giant pressure cooker and turn the heat up to maximum. Next week’s explosion will be well earned…
8.5
