Battlestar Galactica - Home*

There is a key scene at the very end where Petty Officer Dualla was requested to speak with Commander Adama about his “rage”. She’s honest with him because really enough is enough. Families are separated and apart; the fleet’s division weakens both parties. And the Cylons are the ones who benefit from their division. She is even persistent that he listens to her. She addresses that because of the Petty officer rank that perhaps he figured she would just allow him to vent without honest retort. And, sure enough, he actually takes what Dualla says to heart and acts accordingly.

I think Home Parts One and Two is perhaps the best episode of the series up until this point because it closes certain chapters. Is Number Six a chip in Gaius’ brain or just his guilty subconscious manifesting? Will Roslin and her company of believers find the Map of Athena now that Starbuck, Helo, and Caprica Sharon Cylon have returned with the Arrow of Apollo? Will the Cylons on Kobol disrupt Roslin and company’s efforts to find the location of the Map? Can Commander Adama and [Former] President Roslin find common ground, come to a peaceful resolution after such a contentious period of unrest, and agree to reunite instead of remain splintered and distanced?

Seeing the father and son Adamas hug, Commander Adama nearly in tears when his eyes meet Starbuck, and that all turn completely when another Sharon appears in front of him is really, to me, an incredible sequence of events. So much emotion, from relief and euphoria to rage and anger, in about five minutes…as a viewer who appreciates this work of all the actors involved and how the developments build to Sharon having to prove her loyalties (James Remar’s Zarek loyalist, Meier, is plotting to kill Apollo so that Zarek can slide into Roslin’s leadership position, so if he isn’t stopped by Sharon the execution might be carried out as planned) is a treat to watch. Gaius continuing to insult Number Six and mock her belief in God is turned on him as he must endure her own antagonizing, provocation, and disregard for his paranoia. Gaius getting a CT scan by an unamused Dr. Cottle especially cracked me up because he continues to contend with Number Six “in his head”, conversing with her even as Cottle tries to get him to stay still, questioning why he’s talking to himself. Her “revelation”—that she’s an angel of God informing Gaius that their child is actually Helo and Caprica Sharon’s, assuring him that all Number Six has told him in the past is true—is quite a lot to absorb. Particularly after all this Number Six further concludes to Gaius that following the birth is the annihilation of the human race…of course, that. Finding the Map of Athena, after a Cylon attack ensues when Elosha sees a stone symbol, not realizing it is a bomb trap that kills her.

Not being able to replace Apollo is also a grueling situation Commander Adama and Colonel Tigh have been unable to counteract. Trying a green Lt Birch (Ben Ayres) as a substitute proves to be quite a pain in the ass, too. Birch tries hard, but even Tigh knows he’s inexperienced as a leader and lacks certain leadership qualities needed to take pilots with very little real experience (and still competing with anxiety) into combat, as an asteroid belt training session and docking mission result in failure. Commander Adama having to accept that Birch just isn’t the right one for the job, eventually agreeing with Tigh that another replacement is necessary, although no one is Apollo (or Starbuck, for that matter).

Apollo kissing Starbuck and their playful (and eventually serious) exchanges once she returns cannot be excluded. Starbuck leaving Caprica was hard, and the mission, returning with the Arrow, left her with a lot of mixed feelings. Knowing that some were left behind, not to be included in the fleet, leave Roslin feeling some responsibility while Commander Adama recognizes that the decision was the reasonable one to make considering the conflict against them.