Saturday, April 26, 2008...1:24 pm
“Sometimes, the right thing is a luxury.”
Battlestar Galactica S04E04
“Escape Velocity”
You can feel that the end is near. Since their time on New Caprica, the show has only gotten darker and this season has magnified that trend. The desperation and hopelessness is present in every character, in every action that they undertake. Everyone is just looking for the clarity that would allow them to know what to do. As Caprica Six asks, after pummeling Col. Tigh, “Can you feel it, Saul? Can you feel the clarity of it all?”
While the story lines aren’t as divergent as they currently are on Lost, I think that is still easiest to break this up by character. In a story as expansive and complex as this one is, it is difficult if not impossible to run through the episode comprehensively.
The Final Four
Our chief is slowly losing it. He is beginning to slip away and losing all sense of who and what he is. The death of Cally is the last straw. She was his last link to humanity, the tenuous rope that prevented him from being pulled under by the weight of these new revelations about who he is. Nicki won’t be able to save him because as we saw from his talk with Adama, Nicki is a half-breed abomination. With Cally gone, Tyrol is sinking, and fast. He can no longer focus at work, and his confrontation with Adama in Joe’s Bar shows how little regard he has for his own well-being or anything that once mattered to him.
The conversation with Tigh and Tory, following the funeral, provided a scary preview of what is coming for these characters. Tory is already slipping away from her humanity, shutting off her guilt like the machine that she believes she is. It is clear that the Final Five are different from the other Cylons, but even the seven models we know have feelings. Tory is essentially using the knowledge that she is a Cylon to allow her inner sociopath to come out. I have to say, Tyrol looked like he was getting pretty suspicious of Tory following that meeting, it is only a matter of time before he learns that she killed Cally.
Tigh had quite a bit of revelation tonight, we learn that he has been visiting Caprica Six in her cell everyday. He is trying desperately to come to grips with what he is, to understand what is real and what isn’t. Tigh is essentially exploring what it means to be human, and Caprica Six is telling him that not much separates humans and Cylons. Now when he sees her, Ellen appears to him. Tigh is looking for absolution for what he has done, to understand what is expected of him. Caprica Six tries to tell him that clarity can only be found in pain, and proceeds to beat him. It becomes clear that Tigh is not looking for clarity, as she guessed beforehand he needs absolution. It is clear that Caprica Six knows that the Final Five are near, following her make-out session with Tigh, do we believe that she knows he is one of them?
Gaius Baltar
Baltar’s cult is growing in size and influence. The brutal assault on his compound and his believers, allowed for a glimpse of Baltar’s true colors. He was hiding behind a bulkhead as his followers were beaten. Chip Six is clearly pulling all the strings here, but Gaius is the one who is suffering. He is feeling the pain and by the end of the episode it is obvious that he is beginning to get glimpses of clarity. Slowly but surely, Baltar is becoming the leader that he has to be.
By far, my favorite scene in the episode was Roslin’s conversation with Baltar in the brig. She knows that the end is nigh and is doing her best in order to secure the well-being of the fleet after her passing. The way that she spoke to Baltar just goes to show what someone who truly believes they are acting on prophesy looks like.
The Government
Roslin is continuing to push her agenda through supra-democratic means. She is signing executive orders and pushing legislation when the Quorum isn’t meeting. He conversation in sick bay with the Admiral was quite telling. When she spoke of the “right thing” as a luxury, it became clear how she sees the world. It is more pronounced now because she is going to die soon, but Roslin was always aware of the “pragmatic realities,” as she refers to them. This is the woman who was willing to steal an election. She will do what has to be done then, and only then, will she worry about what is right.
Lee continues to be a thorn in her side. He leads the Quorum to overturn her restrictions on public assembly. When these two spar it is difficult to pick sides. Roslin has carried us so far, enduring so much, yet she is the one who is slowly eroding democracy to preserve order. Lee, on the other hand, is fighting for what is right, no matter the cost or consequences. I get torn, and it breaks my heart to see the fracture that has occurred between Roslin and “Captain Apollo.”
* * * * *
The season is continuing to move forward at breakneck speed. We didn’t get any glimpses into the Cylon camp since Cavil destroyed Natalie and her followers. The preview from next week shows that a Leoben survived the cleansing. Who else do you think survived? And how long until D’Anna is unboxed and willing to tell the identity of the 12th Cylon?
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