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.
Prior to the end of the "Resurrection Ship" arc, this BSG had never backed down from having characters make difficult choices in situations where there are no good options then dealing with the fallout from them in usually protracted ways. The writers' decision to have Adama back down from killing Cain is the first major exception to this, and one I find still angers me. It would have been even better if Cain had backed down then Adama had ordered the trigger pulled. By letting the Cylon do the deed, the creators took the cheap, easy way out, something they'd made a virtual religion of rejecting up to this point. Starbuck's subsequent baring of hindquarters at Cain's funeral after all of this plays out is just unthinkable. Kara is always a very flawed character; the pettiness of that was off the scale though, like she's some spoiled brat who would let humanity be exterminated by this maniac just because the maniac suggested getting her boy-toy--the one she barely knows--back for her.
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