Battlestar Galactica 2.19/2.20: HOLY FRACK!

One of the best shows on TV now closes out it’s second season with one of the best two part season finales EVER! We have a rigged election, a nuclear detonation, a Cylon truce, the rescue of stranded individuals on Old Caprica, a Cylon invasion of sorts, and a million questions! Best season finale ever!

Let me get this out of my system right now. What a great way to end the season and get us wanting for more without doing a melodramatic cliffhanger that all other shows tend to do. Most other shows formulate their suspense for the next season with all of the drama hanging on ONE set piece. Not BSG. OHHH NO. After watching these two episodes, I feel satisfied with what was shown to me but also, definitely drooling at the bit for the next season. Good on you, writers for BSG! Good job!


Now, the episodes at hand. Part I consisted of a lot of foreshadowing for the execution in Part II. So we won’t go into it here since it’s not as interesting as Part II. The first BRAIN FRACK in the episode was when the Priest makes his appearance on both Caprica AND Galactica. Normally, the show is very careful about revealing the identities of Cylons so when it was revealed in this fashion, my brain instantly began questioning if it was real. The writers are so good, they have us trained like this. But after coming to the conclusion that the Priest was indeed a Cylon… the question of WHY he was there arose. It was a good method to introduce the peace offering from the Cylons to the Fleet. If you’ve been reading, I’ve been wondering that.


So we find out that the Cylons are backing off and now the question of rigging the election comes up. And in my mind, I think Adama and Roslin made the correct decision. Sure, Baltar is an idiot who follows his emotions and will probably kill the human race. But once you go totalitarian, you can never go back! And in the end I think Adama wisely convinced Roslin of this. I just love the political and ethical quandaries that are introduced throughout the show. It just makes the show feel that much richer.


And now for the part that really cemented this episode in my mind: the detonation of the nuclear weapon on Cloud 9. The same detonation that, one year later, the Cylons detect a LIGHT YEAR away and come calling. How ingenious. I definitely did not see that coming and I am just thrilled that something happened in a show I love that I had no clue was happening. Absolutely brilliant.


Which brings me to another point: did Baltar really just fuck the human race TWICE now? I mean, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… well I think you get where I’m going with this. Does Baltar really have NO CLUE that he is a patsy? It’s pretty evident now that the Cylons have been using him and playing to all of his human deficiencies (emotions). But that is something we can discuss later.


What I want to know is: First, that is definitely the #6 who knew Baltar on Old Caprica… now what is her motive with him? Second, how does the Cylon/Human hybrid baby play into all of this? Are the Cylons still seeking it? If they are, how do they know it still exists? Third, what are Adama and Apollo going to do now? Come back and blow the peace treaty between the Cylons and the Humans and get everyone killed? Fourth, what do the Cylons as a whole want with the Humans? Fifth, is the secret between #6 and Baltar going to come out? And if so, is there going to be a lynching? Sixth, who was that guy looking for Starbuck in her tent? What does he want with her? And lastly, dude, we ALL know Starbuck is going to start some shit… how does this play out with the peace treaty? Oh wait one more, Roslin is still here… what is her role going to be in the resistance? (we all know she is going to resist). Also, if she was truly the prophet to lead the Humans all to Earth… is she still going to do it?


Wow. Yeah. What a good show. I can’t wait til next season! And I don’t even mean the pilot episode which nicely ties up all cliffhangers like in other shows. I mean the WHOLE season, since it’s going to deal with ALL of those questions I listed up there (and more) which, amazingly enough, was brought up with ONE episode. What an amazing show.