| BSG: He That Believeth In Me |
| Sunday, 06 April 2008 | |
 During a seemingly hopeless battle, Kara Thrace appears in a pristine Viper, claiming that she has been to Earth and can lead the Fleet there -- but the terminal Laura Roslin believes otherwise. Meanwhile, four of the so-called Final Five are forced to tackle the repercussions of their newfound nature, while Gaius Baltar discovers he has a commune of nubile female cultists who believe him to be an agent of the "one true God". Battlestar Galactica is back on the air for it's final season, and judging from this weeks episode it doesn't plan on pulling any punches. There will be no "Sopranos"-like blunders on this show's final arc. Get out the octogonal papers and tell the rest of the world to frak off, because this year of Battlestar Galactica looks to be the best year yet. The season premiere begins where Season 3 left off - with a massive fleet of Cylons bearing down on the Galactica- and is chock full of surprises, twists & turns, and mysteries that will no doubt be solved in upcoming episodes.  I'd be her wingman anytime. As we saw in last season's finale, Kara Thrace is back (and thank god because the show lost a large chunk of it's "hawtness" factor when she left). But how is she back? Is it really even her? Last we saw her, she was exploding in a fiery ball in the gravity-heavy atmosphere of a strange planet. Now, she's seemingly back from the dead and has not only been to Earth, but can lead the fleet there. Did she really find Earth? The mystery swirling around that little question just keeps getting bigger and bigger as the episode goes on. Not only is she "back from the grave", but Kara believes that she's only been gone a matter of hours, instead of the nearly 2 months that has passed since her 'splodey incident last year. To top that off, she returns to the Galactica in a brand new Viper. "Not a ding or dent on her", Chief Tyrol notes. The developed footage from her gun cameras do show an Earth-like planet, but the nav coordinates on her ship have been wiped clean, meaning the only key to the location is Kara herself, who can't point out the system on a map, but can navigate there by her "intuition". They match her DNA against an existing record, and it matches - unfortunately, that doesn't mean that she hasn't been a Cylon all along. Kara begs Adama to trust her, as the path that President Roslin is taking is actually heading further and further away from Earth, but he can't. Meanwhile, the President herself goes to see Six in the brig, looking for answers, only to find out that "the final five" are nearby, and that the Cylons have been programmed not to think about them.  Seriously Anders, keep off the ganja. During the attack, Commander Tigh is given an order and hesitates. Adama asks him what's wrong and Tigh responds by taking out a pistol and shooting Adama right in the head. Thankfully, it's only a vivid daydream, and Tigh snaps out of it, but the point is made: these people can't trust themselves anymore. Meanwhile, the "Baltar-as-Jesus-Christ" theme comes full bore this episode, as he is secreted away by a bevy of beautiful women who believe in the One True God of the Cylons, and believe that Baltar is the emissary for that God. The religious symbolism here is rampant, even having one point where Gaius - with full "Jesus Beard" and covered in a red shawl - walks amongst "his people". A sick child is brought to him with viral encephalitis (much like the fatal disease the Cylons discovered in the beacon) and at first it looks like Baltar is back to his old self, looking over the crowd and insisting that he prayed for the child in his typical unconvincing fashion. But then something happens. After seeing the child's pain, Baltar does pray for him - and not just some stock-standard "hey don't let this kid die" prayer, but a full on "take me and spare his life" speech! He asks the Cylon God to save the child and take his life instead, admitting his faults to everyone in earshot. It is a brilliant turn for his character. No sooner does Baltar offer his life than it appears that the Cylon God is willing to take it: Baltar is attacked in the restroom by the grieving father of a boy that was killed by the Cylons during Baltar's presidency. With a razor to his throat and looking at his imminent demise, Six appears to Baltar and asks if he was serious when he offered his life for the child's. He says he was, and begs the father to kill him. Miraculously, he's saved at the last minute by one of his followers, and upon returning back to the hideout he learns that the boy has been completely cured of his sickness. Hence the episode's title, which is a reference to John 11:25-26, which says:
Is Baltar really the emissary for a higher power? Or is this just another cunning ploy by the Cylons to put Baltar in a position of influence and power? The similarities between the two diseases is a little too convenient, but could be a red herring to keep the fans guessing. Not to be outdone by the spectacular opening, the show ends on an equally "WTF?" moment. Kara, after a crisis of identity and an unfortunate discussion with Anders (he tells her he'd still love her if she was a Cylon, she tells him that she'd put a bullet in his head if she thought he was one - ouch) decides that the President's course of action has to be stopped or they'll lose the path to Earth permanently. She attacks her guards, takes their weapons, knocks Sam unconscious (which is pretty good considering he's a toaster) and storms into Adama's quarters where she holds President Roslin at gunpoint. Things are going to get crazy. Now people are going to jump on the bandwagon for one side or the other: either she's human and is only doing what she has to do or she's a Cylon and is just doing what she's programmed to do. Personally, I think she could explain her whole length of absence by telling them that she landed on Earth, got into an accident, was revived with bionic body parts, fought a hot brunette bionic woman, and then eventually got cancelled due to low ratings, hopped back into her newly built Viper (care of NBC's severance package) and zipped back home to a network and fanbase that actually appreciate her. Then again... that might be hard to believe. Peter Sorensen is a part time reviewer, and may or may not be a Cylon sleeper agent. Comments (4)
  manzy704 wrote...
I haven't watched any of this show yet. I hear really good things about it though. I'm planning on buying all the seasons on DVD but I'll save that for summer.
|| April 10, 2008
 Peter wrote...
If you like Heroes and Lost, I would definitely recommend Battlestar. It's a lot more traditional sci-fi, what with the spaceships and robots and such, but it cashes in on the same style of "what does that mean?" storytelling as Lost and Heroes.
Throughout the series you get little glimpses of the greater mystery and it's fun to watch what is essentially an apocalypse story set in space.
http://www.bleepinggeek.com || April 10, 2008
 Boomer wrote...
Peter,
Glad you have gotten into BSG! I think it will be put on the pantheon of 'terrific shows that couldn't get mass support despite top notch writing,action and acting' when it ends up this year. I'm not going to hypothesize about the various hints and red herrings scattered through this episode, cause I'm 3 episodes back in continuity thanks to a frustratingly busy work/life schedule that doesn't allow for more than a few shows a week. I'm sure many questions will have already been answered by ep 6. I like your Kara-bionic woman mashup storyline - it made me laugh out loud. My wife and I were phenomenally dissapointed in that show, coming from David Eick and all. Goes to show how smart writers and good actors can get completely derailed by corporate suits demanding they 'jack up the action' I think BW started off on teh wrong foot with it's one hour pilot - too much, too quickly, too strained. Why don't suits realize that 2 hour pilots work better? Or let them be cliffhangers? I still marvel at how Fox screwed Joss Whedon and the Firefly series opener. Back to BSG. This season does open with a bang - the religious imagery is over the top creepy, and I would like to see Baltar actually embrace this as a way to cleanse himself of his sins. Here's a thought. Ya know how Kara went to Earth and buzzed the planet, but did'nt mention anything about satellites, signs of inhabitation, all that. Maybe the 13th colony landed on earth but lost all their tech, leaving them living relatively primitively. Maybe the Galactica gets to Earth around our year....oh, lets say 40 BC. Maybe Baltar isn't just a Christ like figure.....maybe..........naaah! Thats really over the top sacriligeous.
|| May 19, 2008
Peter wrote...
Thanks for the comment, Boomer!
I've actually been a huge BSG fan since around the second season when I decided to check it out, I just recently decided to actually cover this season on my website. As it turns out, maybe that wasn't the best idea because real life has made it difficult to continue this series of articles. I've been taking notes about each episode though, so I'm hoping to post a "recap" article sometime this week (probably along with Friday's episode) and then continue on for the rest of the season. As for Baltar, they really have started ratcheting up the whole "Baltar as Jesus" aspect of the show, even going so far as to have direct parallels to the Bible. So honestly, at this point, I wouldn't put it past them to have him be the real Jesus. Hahaha! I've been wondering a lot lately about how they're going to handle the return to Earth. In the original series, they did that cheesy "present day" return where they showed up in the mid 80s and had to conceal all their futuristic technology. I hope they don't do that again. They could end with them arriving on Earth and finding it just like New Caprica was before the explosion, sort of a Caprican utopia, and being accepted into the society with open arms. Or, they could go with the "plot twist" endings, like they arrive in the time of dinosaurs, or they arrive and find out that the 13th colony are all Cylon Centurians, or they arrive and the planet has already been nuked by the evil Cylon faction. Either way, I'm staying by the TV each Friday.
http://www.bleepinggeek.com || May 19, 2008
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