Battlestar Galactica - Should Mankind Survive?

I finished up “Flight of the Phoenix”, “Pegasus”, and “Resurrection Ship Parts 1 & 2”, and the question that actually should be asked and is to Gaius from the abuse victim, Cylon Gina (Tricia Helfer). When the Sunshine Boys (the military scum that were pretty much given carte blanche to do as they felt against Gina because, as Fisk so doles out to Helo and Tyrol, “You can’t rape a machine”) assault Helo and Tyrol with towel-wrapped soap, certain to probably kill them if their commanding officer, Fisk, didn’t intervene, and Commander Adama grapples with his assassination order for Starbuck to shoot Admiral Cain in the head (she has provided her own assassination order for Fisk to use his marines to take out Adama). President Roslin “negotiates a truce” between Adama and Cain, but it is under false pretenses…when Roslin tells Adama he has no choice but to kill her, his response of surprise makes sense. And this all stems ultimately from the Cylon Sharon being protected from abuse by Roslin’s interrogator by Helo and Tyrol.

With Tyrol needing to keep his mind occupied through the build (with help from members of the crew also desiring to dedicate themselves to something that would provide attention away from their grueling confines of remaining on the BG for such a prolonged period of time) of the stealth ship, Blackbird, due to that lingering affection for his lost Sharon when noticing Helo (who would provide his own contribution to the “hobby ship” with suggesting the properties to protect its outer hull) at her cell, the two in love, a baby between them. So when they protect Sharon (a machine in the minds of Cain and her crew), sentenced to death according to superior officer, Cain, Commander Adama is in a bind. Adama even discussing why the Cylons “hate” the human race and her response about their predilection towards violence (correlating with how the Sunshine Boys and Cain herself abuse Gina) gives him food for thought.

With Adama and Cain successful in destroying the Cylon Resurrection Ship (the ship is responsible for Cylons ability to move (“download”) from one body to another), you see Fisk grappling with the ordeal (Graham Beckel is magnificent in “Resurrection Ship Part 2”, conveying the torment of conscience while Sackhoff on board the Pegasus, sweating profusely and overcome with anguish herself, is equally as superb), clearly hoping he doesn’t have to carry out the order to command his marines to kill Adama. How could it all go so terribly wrong? Why couldn’t Cain and Adama just get along?

All the protocols regarding court martial, protecting humans over Cylons, derelict of duty, respect for commanding officers, the articles of command, the complexities of protecting the fleet against the Cylon threat, how far it too far even when interrogating the “enemy”, being humane even when dealing with those who nearly rendered you extinct, making tough decisions even if they result in the loss of human lives as a result; Battlestar Galactica truly gave us plenty to think about, dwell on, contemplate, and search within our hearts and minds the uneasy answers when the situations are quite complex and morally suspect. We haven’t spent much time on the Pegasus but have the BG with Adama. Cain and her ship’s crew survived quite a lot also, but while Adama allowed Sharon to remain imprisoned, the Admiral and her macho officers committed atrocities that truly explore just why the Cylons felt eradicating the human race was necessary. While Adama has treated his prisoner more humanely than Cain (Sharon has proved useful, while Gina gave up the Resurrection Ship), she felt that the Cylons weren’t worthy of fair treatment. Good work from James Callis as Baltar, his horror at seeing Gina balled up in a cell, serial raped and practically unresponsive, devastated and mortified. Helfer, as the traumatized Gina, provides an example of humanity at its worst. It does offer a reasoning behind the near-annihilation of the human race, why the Cylons considered the extinction plot that was almost successful. Baltar setting her free and Gina getting a measure of revenge against Cain by shooting her, the episode proves that while the initial attack by the Cylons was horrifying, humankind sometimes reveals an ugly, unpleasant alternative.

Starbuck and Cain have some great scenes on the Pegasus: two strong women who  stared down death, driven to kick ass and determined to lead through their courage and willingness to face whatever hardships approach them. While they don’t see eye to eye on the plan to execute Tyrol and Helo or Adama’s discipline of officers who offer subordinate behavior (according to her), when Cain and Starbuck share a glass of liqueur and discuss the hardships of survival and being able to contend with whatever conflicts might arise. But nothing is quite as exciting as seeing Michele Forbes and Olmos challenging each other, not always with melodramatics or elaborate conversation but often just as intense and confrontational. When Cain undresses Adama’s command, stripping him of the likes of Starbuck and Apollo, and questioning his talents as a leader, that tension is quite ratcheted. It sets off a rivalry that could have eventually been off-set even both found a way to put aside their egos, working together to face the journey ahead instead of plotting against each other. It was not to be. Sharon, who had come between Tyrol and Helo, also dividing members of the BG because of Adama’s near death by her “previous version”, also put a rift separating Cain and Adama. And their command strategies, so different, probably would have resulted in butting heads.

Apollo having to go it outside a destroyed Viper, fantasizing about swimming, a little cut in his suit, not long after facing his father about the assassination order, in space, admitting to Starbuck he hoped he wouldn’t return safe to the BG is quite a revelation. This whole conflict has left him emotionally wrecked. Even the strong have dents in their armor. Who could blame Apollo, visualizing the Pegasus and BG attacking each other until everyone is obliterated (an incredible special effects sequence), for feeling that way? Add a weakened Roslin giving Adama his Admiralty and his “token” in return, tears visible (he tells his son that she is deserved of more respect than she often receives) and respect for her as Billy helps her walk away, and all the marks of a great television series further prove that with the stars aligned (the right braintrust, acting talent, and creative crew) something truly awesome results.