Review

Aside from the The Face of the Enemy, this episode is perhaps the first true filler of the season. Granted, there are some important events here as there are with most episodes of BSG, including the filler, but what we get here is a mix of some irrelevant plots, some poorly executed plots, some downright annoying plots, with a few interesting and worthwhile things here and there.

First, let's talk about what was good in this episode. There are two stand out plots that make the episode worth watching. One is the Roslin and Adama story. Little needs to be said about the Roslin and Adama story as it measures up quite nicely to its usual charm. The other great plot thread is the exposition about the rebel Cylons wanting to gain citizenship in the colonial fleet, including a seat on the quorum of twelve. Ostensibly it would then become a quorum of thirteen. ;) The thirteen tribes back together again!

In exchange, the Cylons would offer to share their technology with the fleet. This is a plot which was hinted at, or rather spoiled depending on how you look at it, in the Face of the Enemy in which Tigh mentions to Gaeta that Cylon technology is going to keep the fleet running.

Other less significant nice details of the episode include the visual theme of Adama picking up crumpled up papers on the Galactica variously along with a focus on his daily routine, signifying that he's picking up the pieces of the fleet and his life in an attempt to return to normalcy. Likewise much of the episode had fascinatingly organic scene transitions, as if the camera was simply wandering the ship observing various concurrent events. It contrasts the previous episode nicely in which we could see mass depression and apathy throughout the ship in the background as well as the foreground. Now in this episode the organic feel of the directing creates a sense of life returning to the ship.

Another highly insignificant but amusing tidbit is the line "the president is resting comfortably aboard Galactica." I like the use of that line because it's precisely what they told the press when Roslin was jailed when she sent Starbuck on a mission against orders. Now of course the same line takes on an entirely different meaning. Another nice piece of trivial continuity is Zarek's line to Lee about Lee having held so many different jobs in the fleet. Amusing since Lee has in fact been everything from an ordinary pilot, to the CAG, to military adviser to President Roslin, to the XO of the Pegasus, to the commander of the Pegasus, to a lawyer, to a member of the quorum of twelve, to finally serving as acting president briefly. That's a lot of hats to wear in just a few years.

Unfortunately though these nuggets of gold are buried by the story being dominated by bad plots. The most important of these is the growing dissent about the pending permanence of the alliance with the rebel Cylons. We knew of Gaeta's objections in The Face of the Enemy, but of course the motivations behind his objections were not well understood. It's easier to understand his position after seeing this episode, but unfortunately his motives are still somewhat lacking in the usual complexity BSG affords antagonists.

I say antagonist in this case because it is obvious to the audience that the proposed alliance is entirely a good thing. Moreover, the dissenters are few and far between. Basically the only people who oppose the alliance are Gaeta, Zarek, and a bunch of extras. Granted some important name dropping goes on. All of the quorum seems at least somewhat opposed to the alliance, and a fair amount of ships in the fleet refused to allow Cylons to board their ships. However, with only two characters we know well backing the dissent, their motives lacking sufficient complexity, and their being relatively unimportant characters in the first place leaves the entire issue heavily lopsided, making it difficult for the audience to sympathize with the dissenters. The entire issue seems to lack that certain shade of gray that BSG strives for.

Indeed, Zarek too struck me as somewhat two dimensional in his motives in this episode. Once again, Zarek is using a controversial issue to make a power grab by attempting to undermine the popularity of the decisions made by the current administration. Adama even proves the man's susceptibility to corruption in an incredibly well executed bluff near the end of the episode. While this was a nice moment for Adama, it seems to imply that Zarek's political positions and sensationalism are wholly manufactured simply to facilitate the aforementioned power grab(s). This, I think, is a disservice to his character. I'd like to think he's more complex than this.

It's worth noting, however, the singular goal of attempting a power grab isn't by itself a sign of a two dimensional character. This very episode featured a classy scene in which Baltar similarly manipulates a crowd of his followers into rejecting the Cylon god with a sensationalist speech. The implication is that by continuing to deliver these rousing speeches, he's gaining an ever more numerous and loyal following. Unlike Zarek, Baltar's manipulations are subtle, complex, and layered.

What's worse about Gaeta's and Zarek's mutual objections to the alliance is that they seem to stem from nothing more than simple bigotry. While I suppose this is understandable among some of the fleet's population, both Gaeta and Zarek have a history of seeming like characters who wouldn't be stupid enough to let their bigotries blind them to progress. Especially Gaeta, given his prior willingness to collaborate with the Cylons.

Still worse, the entire tylium ship plot was completely unnecessary. It seemed like little more than manufactured danger to get Adama a good reason to confront, threaten, and attempt to blackmail Zarek. But on top of the tylium ship plot's irrelevance, it doesn't make a whole lot sense either. Why would jumping away from the fleet be useful for them? And even if they did for some fantastical reason believe staying away from the fleet would be a good idea, why not jump again when Athena located them? Did they just get scared of being all alone and decide it's time to go home?

But the worst sin of the episode is the Cally retcon. It's irrelevant like the tylium ship, poorly executed like Gaeta's and Zarek's motivations, and on top of that highly annoying all in one. The revelation that Tyrol is not Nicky's father is of absolutely no consequence in this episode. The only possible purpose for it is to render Hera the only hybrid Cylon child once again; the significance of which may or may not be used for some other interesting plot thread later.

I don't necessarily have a problem with Hera being the only hybrid, but the degree of plot fudging necessary to swallow this retcon is beyond what I consider acceptable. None of the prior Cally material can't be rationalized, but it significantly tramples on the aesthetic of previous episodes. For example, instead of believing Cally devoted herself to Tyrol after their rather unusual but sweet pairing in Lay Down Your Burdens, we must now accept the idea that she was sleeping around with other men while they were dating just prior to getting married presumably several months after her beat down, as evidenced by the fact that she was still pregnant one year later.

Also, when Cally decided to kill herself and Nicky in The Ties That Bind, it was heavily implied that she wanted to destroy her Cylon hybrid son. Instead, given the retcon, the scene now plays simply as her not wanting her fully human son to be raised by a Cylon who thinks he's the father. This all works in the context of the narrative, but strongly diminishes Cally's character. However, regardless of how well you feel this retcon can be rationalized, the very fact that it was even necessary to begin with is incredibly poor writing. An unfortunate product of BSG's "make it up as you go along" writing style, which usually doesn't create major problems, but here it reeks heavily of bad writing.

The final and perhaps most annoying sin of this episode is that once again this bottle show sheds no light on any of the outstanding overarching long term unanswered plot questions raised by prior episodes. I need not list the litany of these outstanding questions once again; suffice it to say that the longer they remain ignored, the more annoying these questions get and the more they risk becoming simple plot holes.

Overall, this episode commits a multitude of sins for which I cannot grant much of a score.