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May 12, 2008 11:25

BSG Watch: Mother's Day

Posted by James Poniewozik | Comments (7) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

Sharon (Grace Park) gave her selves a good talking-to. / SCI FI Channel Photo: Carole Segal

SPOILER ALERT: Considering this episode of Battlestar Galactica aired Friday, you really have no excuse to have waited three days to watch it—um, like I did...

Mother's Day plans, and the Survivor finale, got in the way of my normal time-shifted viewing of BSG, so of course it makes perfect sense that this one should have turned out to be a pistol from start to finish. And apropos of Mother's Day, it also reminded us that BSG—contrary to the usual image of TV sci-fi—is a series most of whose most interesting characters are women. Not to take anything away from, say, Baltar or Adama (nice "You made me believe" moment at the close of the episode with Roslin), but this episode really showcased BSG's fascinating women: Starbuck, Sharon and Roslin on the Colonial side, and on the Cylon side, the Sixes, the Eights—and, of course, the hybrid. Since I'm running late to begin with, I'll go straight to the hail of bullets and let you join in:

* So the big Hybrid prophecy first. I liked that BSG did not fall into the trap of making her message more puzzling to the characters on the show than it was to the audience: they figured out quickly (unless they, and I, are wrong) that the "Three" is the boxed D'Anna and that the "home of the Thirteen" is Earth. But that bit about Kara Thrace as a "harbinger of death... lead[ing] them to their end"? Depends what you mean by "them" and what you mean by "end." It seems just as likely to me that the "end" could mean "destination," and that "death" could be anyone's (including the Hybrid's).

* Speaking of death, Roslin's subplot was handled wonderfully. It's easy to forget in the week-to-week action, at least for me, that the remaining humans in the fleet are not just at war but are the survivors of a massive trauma: most of them have lost many, if not most or all, off their loved ones. To a population like that, the idea of one's departed family waiting on the shore, and Baltar's entire religious message, must havee great potential appeal. To be honest, one thing that has thrown me a bit this season is that Baltar's transformation into a cult figure has seemed a little abrupt. But the idea that someone in the fleet would be calling for a massive religious and philosophical change, and that that message would spread like wildfire, makes perfect sense.

* Interesting how the episode turned on two separate prophetic voices: the Hybrid's, and Baltar's disembodied on the audiotape. (Where, in his reference to "the undiscovered country," he seems to have somehow read Hamlet.) I've talked a lot about the political/social, post-9/11 parallels of BSG, but finally it may be more interesting as a religious/philosophical show. The Hybrids, in particular, are a genius conception: computer/oracles that combine systems updates with pronouncements with seeming gibberish, in such a way that even her most attentive Cylon audience cannot agree as to whether their words are worth paying attention to. How do you sift the wisdom from the crazy talk, the signal from the noise?

* That last is Roslin's challenge now: how does she judge the validity of Baltar's message separately from her opinion of the messenger? Does she finally have to agree, with her dying friend, that he may be on to something? If so, what does that mean for her conception of herself as a leader/prophet? Hmmm: daing female leader has a hard time grasping the messianic appeal of her charismatic adversary—must... resist... political analogy...

* Finally, more very interesting intra-Cylon dynamics in this episode, from Sharon lecturing the other Eights on loyalty (within a Cylon civil war!), to the Hot Six on Six action (and more seriously, the lingering psychological scars of New Caprica, not just for the humans but for their former occupiers), Anders' very uncomfortable encounter with his own kind on their home ground, and the possibility of Three coming out of the box and roiling things further. Any guesses as to where this goes now?

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Reader Comments (7)

geoff:

James, although I agree with you that this was a great episode, and my favorite of the season so far, I was annoyed by the clarity of the prophecy. I liked the unfocused ramblings of the Hybrid much more than the Hybrid on Focusin (tm).

It just seems like, as we rush to the end of the series, things that used to be allowed to percolate are rushed through. The red shirt joining the raptor crew near the beginning was particularly awkward, yet necessary.

But these are minor cavils. On the other hand, Anders' behavior during the whole show was incredible and nuanced, and Gaeta's leg wound was very convincing, reminding me of the ambush on the planet from earlier in the show's run.

Will we see more Deep Space Nine cameos as the show winds to its end? Will Dr. Bashir be the final cylon?

Posted by geoff | May 12, 2008 12:04 PM

TyrantKing:

This episode reminded me of why Anders is my favorite character and why he could do so much better than Starbuck. I also thought it was sweet when the skinjobs tried to unplug the hybrid and the toaster came to its rescue. Further, has anyone asked the newly sentient toasters about the proposed alliance with the humans? The toasters had a treaty with the human's once. Was it the toaster's decision to return and destroy the humans or was that decision made after they were enslaved?

Posted by TyrantKing | May 12, 2008 3:03 PM

Quickdraw:

I loved this episode. Best one yet hands down! After last two weeks of slow character oriented talking heads, I'm so happy to finally see some action.

I know you said that the more interesting aspect of BSG might now be it's religious/philosophical bent and while I'm always up for a discussion of comparative religions in BSG, I'm curious to see how Felix's leg injury plays out. I could see easily see a parallel between Gaeta and the amputee's coming back from Iraq. I hope he can get better care than our own GIs have. I hope but as my roommate pointed out "They ran out of antibiotics back on New Caprica". Maybe it's just me but Gaeta begging Helo to keep Doc Cottle from taking his leg also brought back memories of Vietnam and WWII as well. (And I didn't even live through those wars.)

I loved the part with Madam President and Emily in the sick bay. I thought it was very touching and it made my heart ache to see Roslyn lose another soul that she had become so close to.

I hope that we can have a least another moment like this episode in this last season but I'm not really holding my breath. I just hope my favorite characters make it out in tact.

Posted by Quickdraw | May 12, 2008 4:21 PM

gogo:

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

Best episode of an already wonderful season. I can't wait to see how they manage to integrate a base ship into the fleet. And it's only Monday...

Posted by gogo | May 12, 2008 6:29 PM

Yes we can?:

The Most un-Erotic Six on Six action EVER: BSG telegraphs a lot of things, but the showdown between Barolay and the New Caprica Six was one of those great "wtf just happened?" moments that BSG does so well. James, I agree, the female characters in this show are particularly strong. This week's episode highlighted yet more of how the Sixes are the most pragmatic of the glowing spine crowd. The New Cap Six's comment of "I'm glad its you sister," seemed to imply that that she knew her death was going to be the price for killing Barolay and keeping the fledgling cylon/human alliance alive. Tricia Helfer is just, wow. How many other model (fashion not cylon) turned actors could deliver a performance that nuanced for that many different cylon personalities?

A bad week for human justice: Six's comment asking if that was enough human justice right after she pulled the trigger and scattered New Cap Six's motherboard all over the deck was priceless. The cylons clearly haven't gotten around to reading Hammurabi. In past episodes, models have killed other models with seemingly no consequence. Is this because cylons can't die or is it because they have their own cylon justice code? It seems boxing is the closest a cylon can get to the blue screen of death, rather than actual death.

The Unsurrection Ship: The lack of a resurrection ship makes the Cylons much more interesting. Will the sudden mortality, now affect their decisions? It's much easier to make the hard decisions when you know you can always try again. It's much harder when you know this life is all you got.

Harbinger of Death: The more I think about it, the less clear the prophecy is. I'm more or less convinced at this point, that Starbuck will NOT jump the fleet into the heart of a sun on the last episode, thus killing everybody. Death and End have to be something metaphorical and Starbuck will lead us all to the promised land. So say we all!

Athena: Great model-on-model verbal smackdown. Although, by falling in love with Helo and defecting to the Humans, couldn't weak principles also apply to Athena? But I digress. Great to see Athena verbalizing her choice to stick with the humans. I always wondered if she was as truly committed to the fleet as it appeared.

Random Cylon Thoughts: Is there a Cylon planet? After all, these baseships, raiders, skinjobs and resurrection ships don't just make themselves. What is the history of the Cylons? Not that I doubt the ability of Moore and Co. to do a good job with Caprica, the upcoming series, but why not go back and tell the story from the Cylon perspective? Everything from the decision on the attacking the humans to the subsequent occupation on New Caprica. The machinations that drive Cylon society would be incredibly fascinating. This of course has NOTHING to do with my desire to see more scenes of Tricia Helfer and Grace Park.

Posted by Yes we can? | May 12, 2008 7:06 PM

DM:

Interesting how there seems to be unanimous agreement that this was the season's best thus far. Only up from here, amiright? *crosses fingers*

@geoff: Dr. Bashir? I loled. (And it took me awhile to figure it out, but I did figure it was Visitor eventually!)

Posted by DM | May 13, 2008 12:04 AM

Yes we can?:

@ DM

From your fingers to Moore and Eick's eyes...

Posted by Yes we can? | May 13, 2008 9:37 AM

About Tuned In

James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or--once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers--in your dreams themselves.