BSG 2.03: where things go to hell even more than before

[dangermousie]

First off, I'll start with things that weren't there: we saw no Boomer, Starbuck or Helo. Adama is still unconsious. And there was a bit of Lee, snarking at Tigh, and leading a rescue mission, but there wasn't much of him either.

So what did we get? Tigh, Roslin, Ellen, Tyrol, Baltar and a damn good show.

I was full of admiration for Roslin in this episode AND I felt sorry for her. The lack of chamalla is almost like a withdrawal, she needs it to mentally function. I felt uttrly sorry for her falling apart, her confusion and loss, her inability to function. But what I loved most was the last scene with her, where she makes a calculated gamble, makes the best decision she can, and declares herself a Prophet. It's a very smart move, as I discussed in a pervious BSG post, because as the faces of those people showed, she has her own unshakeable power base now (No wonder Zarek was ooking at her with respect).

I also loved Ellen's brief but Lady Macbeth-like role. She can't compete with Laura in the brains department though.

Tigh is falling apart because having the supreme responsibility is getting to him. He is snapping and paranoid for no reason, he takes to drink again, he forces the Quorum out (worst possible thing) and at the end he does the untenable, he declares martial law. The man is cracking, and unfortunatelyas he is in a position of power, he is going to do a heck of a lot of damage before he is done.

And now we get to the Kobol storyline. First off, Crash was a frakking idiot, and I never liked Baltar more than when he shot him. Not only did he come up with the worst plan in history of creation (or at least since someone said "Let Baltar control the defense system design"), he shot down Chief when he tried to argue (but I love that the Chief still sided with him against Baltar, same military v. civilian divide we see on Galactica itself). He also completely snapped and went overboard in a horrible way (what a parallel with Tigh, also out of his depth). The scene where he is going to shoot Cally is just awful to watch, and I cheered when the Chief, finally reaching his breaking point, and wanting to protect his people, pulled a gun on him. And I thought I couldn't like Tyrol any more than I do now, but I did.

Now, on to Baltar. This has to be the first episode I like him as a person. His horror at Six's suggestion that it's not arts or thinking that is mankind's heritage, but murder, his knowledge he is unfit to be a guardian, his shooting Crash (finally), and discovering his bravery and teaming up with the Chief in fighting the Cylons. Yay. You will be a man yet.

I also found Six's comment about Kobol being cursed and forgotten by God, interesting.

The trailer for he next episode looks fascinating.

Comments

[hobviously.livejournal.com]

::shields eyes:: Erm...you might want to raise that cut tag higher. I won't be seeing the episode for several hours yet and already I'm disappointed that there's no Starbuck or Helo.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry. I changed the tag. *grovels in apology*

[littlebutfierce]

And then after that whole thing w/Crash, the bit where Tyrol gets shot & then he stands up to start shooting @ the Cylons & you think OMG ARE THEY GOING TO KILL OFF TYROL??? *shudders*

Yeah, I wasn't really surprised that he stood up for Cally either. Love love love Tyrol!!

I thought Baltar killing Crash was horrifying, though--couldn't he have shot him somewhere non-fatally enough to distract him, letting Tyrol disarm him or something? Sigh. Although yeah, Crash screwed up royally. I still don't like Baltar, but I'm glad perhaps some of his skepticism towards Six has come back after he kills Crash.

I wonder what Cally is feeling through all this. Yikes. (And I loved when she mentioned earlier she signed up just to pay for dental school. Hee!)

Ellen is so, so creepy. I am wondering when the secretive stuff she was involved in last season (when she first starting talking to Tigh about leadership, etc.) will pan out.

Blah. Anyway--great ep, yeah.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think Baltar just wasn't think about shooting. And of course if he wounded him, Crash would have still had the ability to shoot. I was ready to strangle Crash myself, so I didn't feel so bad about Baltar's actions.

Poor Clly, and yeah the dental school bit was funny. I too couldn't believe that they'd kill off the Chief, but for a moment there, I panicked...

Yes, Ellen is a horrifying woman.

[littlebutfierce]

I'm surprised the medic made it, especially after she got shot & Cally dragged her away. I thought her days were numbered for sure.

Baltar himself seemed so surprised, which I think is natural, but given his special situation, I'm wondering if maybe Six somehow compelled him to do it in a way? Like Boomer's cylon half making her shoot Adama, or whatever.

At least this ep was more interesting, Baltar-wise. When he's completely insane & not fighting Six @ all he's terribly boring.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

When he's completely insane & not fighting Six @ all he's terribly boring.

Amen. He has a brilliant mind, and it's a lot more fun when he uses it.

I think Baltar is not super-used to firearms, so I think he just aimed at the vital spot and hoped for the best (he is not sharpshooter enough to shoot the gun from Crash's fingers). And to be brutally practical, they had to kill him. Otherwise what would they do with him, clearly off the rails?

[littlebutfierce]

he is not sharpshooter enough to shoot the gun from Crash's fingers

Oh yeah, definitely not.

I liked Crash, despite his poor leadership, until this episode... hence my extreme wishful thinking that Baltar could've just shot him in the shoulder (whether by mistake or on purpose) & Tyrol could've tackled Crash to disarm him & while they were struggling the Raptors could've come in & taken out the Cylons, except then Tyrol wouldn't have shot the dish &...

Darn.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't Crash have just reported them for court-martial?

I used to like Crash too. He was a nice guy. But BSG shows that some people can bear under the burden of leadership (Tyrol, Lee, Roslin) and others fold (Crash, Tigh).

[morwen_peredhil]

Yes, and Crash paid the ultimate price. I was pretty sure he was going to die, since the episode is called "Fragged" and he was clearly losing it in previous episodes. I wonder what price Tigh will pay when the old man is back on duty.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I hope he will pay for some of it, as he's caused quite an extensive amount of damage!

[littlebutfierce]

Maybe... or maybe he would've realized what an ass he was being & colluded in some kind of cover-up (like Baltar & the rest did when Baltar said that Crash died leading the charge). Sigh.

[danceswithwords.livejournal.com]

I had the same reaction you did to Baltar in this episode. I've always found him interesting but also fairly loathesome. But there was something about how stripped down he was in this episode, how brutal he was with himself, and how his defense of Cally came out of himself, wasn't something that Six had to direct him to do, that was really sympathetic.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know, if he keeps on that way, I might even tolerate him.

[phylogenetics.livejournal.com]

I kind of felt sorry for Crash---he clearly felt guilty for the death of Tarq and Socinus, the way he grabbed their dogtags and wore them was very symbolic of that guilt. But he was a horrible leader in that he was trying to lead a suicide mission in order to avenge their deaths. I didn't cheer for anyone in this episode, because no one came out a hero (well, except for Apollo who got to be snarky, sexy and heroic!).

As for Tigh, I don't think Adama will be happy when he wakes up, but I'm not sure how 'mad' he'll be since Tigh did his duties as a military commander and screwed up on the civilian front---if Adama have known Tigh as well as they claim on the show, then he must know Tigh would screw things up with the civvies....I'd think he'd be more resigned to what Tigh did more than anything else.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't envy Adama when he wakes up...