Battlestar Galactica — 1x13 — Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2
Synopsis
When Commander Adama learns that Kara disobeyed orders and Jumped to Caprica on orders from President Roslin, he demands the president's resignation, with the implied threat of a military coup. Roslin refuses his demand and sparks a confrontation.
As civil war simmers in the fleet, the conflict on Caprica heats up. Kara completes her mission for Laura: She finds the Arrow of Apollo that, according to prophecy, will lead the fleet to Earth. No sooner does she pick it up, however, than she is thrust into a battle to the death with Number Six.
Meanwhile, Adama sends Sharon and Racetrack in a Raptor equipped with a Cylon transponder, to fire a nuclear warhead that will destroy the basestar. But when the missile release jams, Sharon lands the Raptor deep inside the basestar, to deliver the warhead manually.
Once outside her ship, however, Sharon is greeted by dozens of Sharon avatars, all Cylons like her, welcoming her home. She retreats, but is told that she and her fellow Cylons will meet again. She and Racetrack escape the basestar, which explodes.
Mission accomplished, Sharon returns home to the Galactica. She warmly accepts Commander Adama's thanks and praise for a job well done, then she coldly shoots him, point-blank, in the chest.
Remarkable scenes
- Caprica Boomer revealing to Helo that she's pregnant.
- Adama terminating Roslin's presidency.
- Boomer and Racetrack flying inside a Cylon Basestar.
- Kara fighting a Six model.
- Troops storming Colonial One.
- Galactica Boomer meeting her counterparts.
- Kara tackling Six and falling down a cliff just as Helo and Caprica Sharon notice them.
- Lee turning on the attack troops, pointing a gun at Tigh.
- Tigh: "This is mutiny, you know that." Lee: "Yes, I do. And you can tell my father that I'm listening to my instincts and my instincts tell me that we cannot sacrifice our democracy just because the president makes a bad decision."
- The Cylon Basestar exploding.
- An injured Starbuck meeting Helo, then noticing Boomer.
- The opera house scene. One of the best scenes the show has ever done.
- Six: "Life has a melody, Gaius. A rhythm of notes that become your existence once played in harmony with god's plan. It's time to do your part and realize your destiny." Baltar: "Which is what exactly?" Six: "You are the guardian and protector of the new generation of god's children. The first member of our family will be with us soon, Gaius. It's time to make your choice." Baltar: "But I don't understand what you're talking about, really I don't understand." Six: "Come, see the face of the shape of things to come."
- Galactica Boomer shooting Adama.
Review
A potent story of betrayal. Roslin betrays Adama by breaking their agreement; she makes a military decision over his head. Not only that, but she does it through Kara; she gets Kara to betray him too which makes it so much worse. Then his son betrays him during the deposition of the president. And finally, Boomer betrays him. Shoots him in the chest. Twice. It's incredibly powerful and moving to watch Adama go through all of this emotional disappointment; just when you think it couldn't get worse for him, there's an assassination attempt made on him by someone he trusts in a moment that is supposed to represent his triumph despite recurring betrayal.
The last few minutes of this episode are extremely well done. You can see as Adama falls his son going raving mad with fury and sadness; the whole CIC flows with emotion, contrasted beautifully by the cut to Baltar reveling in his own little world with Six in the wake of the grand revelation about the Cylon plan she's delivered unto him. Indeed, one major facet of the Cylon grand plan is made abundantly clear here and it's that they believe that the future of life lies with human-Cylon hybrids. Caprica Boomer's baby is of extreme importance to the Cylons.
Similar to the teaser of part 1, much of the appeal of this episode is on a very basic level, such as the wonderful visuals and music during the unmistakably beautiful opera house scene, the interior of the Cylon Basestar which is as visually spectacular as it is fascinating, and of course its destruction. Another wonderful aspect to this episode which makes it so appealing is the shock value factor at the end of the episode. Which to be clear is not necessarily unexpected, but the punch of the scene is so strong that it's shocking an emotional level rather than an expectations level. As such, no matter how many times I see the scene, it's still shocking. Overall, a spectacular ending to a great season.