Review

Verbose is the keyword when describing this episode, as it spends too much time on too few plot threads. I feel rather boxed in as aside from the raptor crash, the short quorum debate, and the rather useless Demetrius cameo, we see nonstop frontloaded Galactica scenes. This is especially jarring considering the myriad of plot threads the previous episode presented us with. It's as if we've suddenly gone from epic and dramatic to small scale and silly.

And indeed this episode is silly. At the beginning of the season I was quite entertained by Baltar's cult and his overall story in general. It worked quite well as an ongoing subplot, and it all seemed like a natural continuation of his character to me. It indeed still does. In fact, I'm quite glad to see him slowly manipulating his way back into public life and I was delighted to see Roslin's reaction to his ever regrowing fame and critical acclaim. However, this episode could have accomplished all of that with half or even a quarter of its scenes devoted to that plot thread. If we've learned one thing here, it's that Baltar's plot, at least for now, works much better as a subplot than a main plot.

This episode just oozes superfluous Baltar scenes and even Tigh's creepy little visits with Six were a bit on the verbose side. More aesthetically wrong in my opinion though was the dramatic angle chosen for Tigh's scenes with Six. Bringing back Ellen and dressing her up as Six was just too much. We didn't need to be force fed the symbolism; this could all have been done subtextually or, if the director was feeling particularly lazy, with just a single flashback to Ellen during the scene when Tigh is smiling over the sleeping Six. That said, a good share of this episode's points goes to Tigh and Six. Their scenes were endlessly fascinating if a bit pointless at times. A better episode would have shown us more of where that was going rather than dwelling on idle conversation, no matter how amusing it was.

One area where this episode was spot on was with Tyrol. His explosion at Adama was extremely well done and his mistake with the raptor was as chilling as its aftermath was fun to watch. As a side note, I find it a bit hard to believe that Racetrack and her copilot survived what appeared to be such a horrendous crash. The whole front side of the raptor was torn off, then the raptor slammed face first into the side of the hangar deck! And there's not a scratch on them. It's not entirely unrealistic, especially seeing as how they were fully suited up with helmets and all. I just think aside from adding a bit more realism, it would have added a bit of gritty drama to the episode. Something which it sorely lacked. Moreover, I'm getting a bit tired of Racetrack having random issues with her raptor. It's almost a cliche by now.

Another character I liked this episode was Roslin. Her behavior regarding Baltar in the quorum meeting was spot on and her new wig adds a chilling dimension to her character. It's been pointed out quite correctly by others that her new hairstyle bears a striking resemblance to Admiral Cain; some nice symbolism underscoring her newfound ruthlessness. Her scene with Baltar in jail illustrates this quite well. Finally, Adama's continued closeness with Roslin remains sweet.

Tory's story is a bit muddled this time around. While it's obvious that her "we're perfect the way we are" campaign is a way to help her feel okay with being a Cylon, it seems useless for her to use that to manipulate Baltar. For that matter, why is she still hanging out with him? Also, while I was intrigued regarding the various references to Tory having discovered a new physical prowess thanks to being a Cylon (slapping Cally halfway across the airlock, overpowering Baltar, inferring this newfound strength in a meeting with Tigh and Tyrol), the episode did not go into any depth exploring this beyond the most casual of references.

Instead, we're treated to Baltar generally acting like a jackass, then making a nonsensical religious speech at the end of the show, heavily motivated by Tory's "we're perfect" dialog with him just prior to the Baltar cult being assaulted. Baltar's and Tory's motivations in this episode make little sense and the episode's attempt to intercut Tigh, Tyrol, and even worse Anders after having shown absolutely none of the Demetrius the whole episode to add some significance to Baltar's speech seemed wholly manufactured.

At the end, the episode comes off as something of a flop. The two most relevant plot threads get no screen time and what we do see here is so overdone and mishandled that it's tough to choke down.