In the fourteenth episode of the second season of Battlestar Galactica, Commander Adama assigns his son to investigate a military death due to a burgeoning black market in the fleet. Lee, on the other hand, struggles to deal with his ongoing sense of vacancy. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica.
Well, it had to happen eventually, right? This is the first episode after a very long run that I don’t particularly like. It’s a shame because in theory, this episode has about 50 billion things in it that I really love. But the execution of these ideas comes across as confusing, implausible, or just downright strange. I believe it is time for a double list!
THE GOOD
- I was more than happy to have an episode that dealt with the depression and the moral crisis that Lee was going through after his near-death experience on the Blackbird. I get the sense that other people didn’t like this, but I thought it was sensical to introduce the story in “Resurrection Ship, Part II,” and to deal with it after “Epiphanies.”
- I enjoy the idea of BSG tackling noir motifs throughout the story. All the pieces are there: murder mystery; tortured detective; love interest; betrayal; complicated plotting; surprise ending.
- Every second of the confrontation between Baltar and Roslin. Perhaps the best written scene of the episode, and yet another example of how talented this cast is. Baltar has no idea why Roslin is offering him his resignation, and he and Six interpret it as a power play, one riddled with fear. But she is fully aware that she witnessed Baltar and Six together, and I kind love that she keeps this information to herself. Basically, in the very near future, shit will get real and I will weep with joy.
- As weird as the whole story line is (and I’ll get to that), it’s very in-character for Dualla to address Lee very directly about their flirting. So I’ll give the writers that one.
- The first fight scene in Shevon’s room, where Lee is ambushed, is FUCKING INTENSE. My god.
- If any character should give exposition to us through providing information to Lee, I’m glad it was Zarek. I really enjoy his character and every appearance he makes. I’m intrigued by the way he seems so interested in Lee. Did he have another motive for giving Lee the info about the Prometheus?
- Have I mentioned I love parallels? I love parallels, and I love the one between Lee and Baltar. Both men were given a “way out,” and both categorically refused them.
- If the people on the Prometheus were nothing but people of color, I would have punched myself in the face with rage because I hate that trope, but I was impressed that this wasn’t the case. WHEW. BLOGGING CRISIS AVERTED.
- LEE SHOOTS PHELAN. That never happens!!!! EVER EVER EVER. Or at least I cannot think of examples right now, but that confrontation ends the same every single time but NO. LEE WILL SHOOT YOU DEAD IF YOU ANGER HIM OVER….yeah, there’s no hard justification of it. Moral ambiguity, get on my television screen.
- Shevon’s rejection of Lee. Don’t care. I was dreading this final moment and was shocked (pleasantly so) that Shevon refused to fit Lee’s perception of her and rejected the entire idea that she existed just to act as the solution to his problems with his past relationship. I did not expect this, and I’m glad it’s there. Lee, what are you doing? You are not anyone’s savior, and Shevon can take care of herself LIKE SHE’S BEEN DOING FOR YEARS.
- The final scene between Lee and his father, especially since Adama shows his son how easy it is to read him.
THE BAD
- If Lee is going to have a moral crisis that concerns a past relationship and a current one….where is Starbuck? Does she mean nothing to him?
- How long has it been since “Resurrection Ship, Part II”? Because how on earth did Lee develop a relationship with Shevon that is that serious in that span of time? This confused me, too, because I didn’t know if the Shevon scenes were happening in real time, or if they were a flashback.
- Speaking of that, is this Inception? No? Then don’t put flashbacks inside of flashbacks. The flashbacks were so clumsy and confusing that it took a friend explaining it to me for me to comprehend it.
- I love in media res, but you just did this. No.
- Why didn’t Admiral Fisk have guards on him, given that Cain was murdered in her chambers when she was alone?
- Colonel Tigh’s wife was trading with a well-known black market operative. After Lee discovers what’s really going on, why does he never address this again?
- I do like that it’s here, but the Dualla/Lee side plot feels very rushed. I wish it had more screen time. But I’m totally fine if this gives way to Billy/Dualla.
- I get that they were trying to go for the noir feel, but did Lee seriously have to do all of this entirely by himself? With not one person assisting him???
- Here’s the weird thing, and this is more of a tonal complaint: there absolutely would have been a black market in this situation, and I appreciate the realism of that idea. However, by the end of the episode, the black market doesn’t feel real. Like Shevon, it felt like something that existed to only prop up Lee’s story.
- Yeah, okay, SINCE WHEN DID LEE HAVE A GIRLFRIEND WHO WAS PREGNANT? Or trying to get pregnant? Or pregnant and then lost the child? I don’t even fucking know what actually happened. That shouldn’t be something I have to guess.
- What was with that weird shot of Zarek in the market? I don’t get it.
- No Sharon, Helo, Starbuck, Gaeta, Tyrol, or Cally. BOOOOOOOOOO.
Not my favorite episode, but also not because I didn’t try to find things to like. They are there, but it’s a mixed bag for me. Still, I don’t imagine this will be a common thing, and I love that there have been so many fantastic episodes in a row! I think Lee’s story could have been given a better treatment, but it is what it is.
The Following LiveJournal Post Contains One of My Favorite Lines Ever
What the hell was that? Because it sure as hell wasn't Battlestar Galactica.
First of all, we just had the "48 hours earlier" thing TWO WEEKS AGO. THIS IS NOT FUCKING ALIAS. Sometimes they went three whole weeks without doing it! Maybe, I never kept count.
Then there's all this confusing and boring talk about trade. THIS IS NOT FUCKING STAR WARS – EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.
Then Fisk was unexpectedly murdered. THIS IS NOT FUCK—wait, I actually liked that part. It surprised me, and one of the things I like about BSG is they kill people off like that. Unless they're played by Mary McDonnell, because you just don't do that.
Oh! I forgot the part where APOLLO IS NOW RANDOMLY HAVING SOME SORT OF FISCALLY SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A HOOKER AND HER CHILD OKAY NOT SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HER CHILD YOU PERVS. Also, why didn't they get Morena Baccarin? That would have been awesome. Oh right because she's not blonde and Apollo has always been in love with blondes because of some random chick we've never heard about on Caprica who is actually pretty hot so I can't blame him but she's blonde JUST LIKE STARBUCK OMG.
And then there's this annoying murder "investigation," like Apollo is magically Hercule fucking Poirot now, and I know Strega wanted to see some stories about civilian life, but it turns out stories about civilian life…suck. And…Zarek served no purpose at all; thank you, Richard Hatch, for stopping by on your lunch break. No, wait, he gave some big long speech about there not being a utopian fantasy except I wasn't paying attention by that point. Also, I kind of liked Phelan, and he should have lived to be large and menacing another day.
There was an entire episode about this black market we'd never heard of before. A black market, which, according to Roslin, is "illegal." OF COURSE IT'S FUCKING ILLEGAL. THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE GODSDAMN BLACK MARKET AND NOT "MOM AND POP'S EXTREMELY LEGAL GROCERY STORE."
WHERE IS MY SHOW ABOUT SPACESHIPS AND KILLER ROBOTS?
Oh, also: APOLLO/DUALLA MAKES NO SENSE. STOP TRYING TO MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.
There was some good. I loved all the Baltar/Six scenes because I love Baltar/Six. I love the way she's pretty much a part of him; he can hardly make a decision without her advice. And how great is it that he only wants to be Vice President because Roslin doesn't want him to be ahahahaha?
Also, I like the relationship between Apollo and Adama.
And Cottle smoking during the autopsy was GOLD.
Oh yeah: SOMEBODY GIVE THE EDITOR SOME VALIUM.
I called Jacob after the episode:
Jacob: "Sunil?"
Me: "Yeah, hey."
Jacob: "I'm at a party."
Me: "Aha, so I guess you didn't see the episode."
Jacob: "No, I didn't. Was it awesome?"
Me: "…NO."
Jacob: "That's what I was afraid of."
Because I'm guessing many of us don't want to talk about Black Market, I'm just going to take this time to say I like Morena Baccarin a lot and shall fixate on that aspect of your comment.
<img src="http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/7529/tumblrky6scepw8c1qzoaqi.jpg" alt="image of Morena Baccarin">
god i love her
so much
forever
OF COURSE IT'S FUCKING ILLEGAL. THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE GODSDAMN BLACK MARKET AND NOT "MOM AND POP'S EXTREMELY LEGAL GROCERY STORE."
<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2chq5w0.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
Oh right because she's not blonde and Apollo has always been in love with blondes because of some random chick we've never heard about on Caprica who is actually pretty hot so I can't blame him but she's blonde JUST LIKE STARBUCK OMG.
It's a shame he and Baltar can't bond over their similarities.
I agree with your entire comment. Usually BSG gives us so much material to discuss, so much moral ambiguity, and so many spaceships blowing up other spaceships. But this episode just leaves me feeling like "huh, anybody want to go watch Buffy reruns, or play Race for the Galaxy?"
Any scene with Cottle is gold.
Is that Jacob from TWOP or a random human named Jacob?
I will play Race for the Galaxy with you!
I can never beat my boyfriend and I can't find anyone else willing to sit through the rather complicated explanation of how to play. But it's such a great game
Oooh I want to play Race For The Galaxy! My dad actually just bought it and we haven't had a chance to play it yet. Is it any good?
It's a great game. You should expect the first couple of play throughs to be frustrating, because there's a few different ways to win and it takes a while to get a handle on all of them. But after that it's a really quick and fun game with a good amount of strategy
Jacob from TWoP.
I have yet to play Race for the Galaxy! One day, maybe. One day.
THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE GODSDAMN BLACK MARKET AND NOT "MOM AND POP'S EXTREMELY LEGAL GROCERY STORE."
<img src="http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq100/nebula908/Gifs/k0s.gif">
Very well put. Just more complete stupidity and failure from this episode.
"MOM AND POP'S EXTREMELY LEGAL GROCERY STORE."
Hmm I wouldn't trust that place.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitle…
"Also, why didn't they get Morena Baccarin? That would have been awesome."
Weirdly enough, I kept thinking of Chevonne with the term "companion" instead of "prostitute" or "hooker" or anything else, because my mind insists on comparing all sci-fi to Firefly. =/ Morena WOULD have been awesome.
"A black market, which, according to Roslin, is "illegal." OF COURSE IT'S FUCKING ILLEGAL. THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE GODSDAMN BLACK MARKET AND NOT "MOM AND POP'S EXTREMELY LEGAL GROCERY STORE.""
This made me laugh harder than I have laughed in a long time. My compliments, sir.
Things I take away from this episode:
How adorable are Billy and Dee?
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And that’s it because practically everything else in this episode I would rather forget happened.
<3 Billy and Dee. That sneak kiss is one of my favorite things ever
They are seriously too cute for words.
Billy and Dee fill my heart with glee =3
Right here, pretty much the only thing this episode had going for it. Gah, I just love those two sooooo much! They make everything a little brighter and happier just by being there! <3
"No Sharon, Helo, Starbuck, Gaeta, Tyrol, or Cally. BOOOOOOOOOO."
There's your problem right there.
Let us never speak of this again.
=) love that these are the characters Mark misses because at this point i missed them too.
Yeah, this is the first episode I didn't like. I'm just really bored with Lee when he goes off on his own. And Shevon and Pregnant Girlfriend were just so out of nowhere.
I guess the shot of Zarek was to show that he was deeply involved blah blah blah I don't care enough to finish that thought.
Yeah, even RDM admitted that this episode didn't come out as he'd hoped.
I know a lot of people hate this episode, and I don't really. It's not the greatest BSG episode ever (and could well be the worst), but there are still plenty of things I liked. Most of them appeared on Mark's The Good List. There were some interesting ideas at play, but they just didn't quite pull it off. They took a risk and it didn't work out. At least they were willing to take the risk, though.
I think my real problem with this episode is that it just doesn't feel like I'm watching an episode of BSG. The characters are there. And a few things carry through. But it just…
Did anyone watch that horribly awesome show The Cape last year? This kind of felt like an episode of that show.
Bear McCreary and Summer Glau? Of course I watched the Cape.
That's not a bad comparison…
You know, I tried the Cape for Summer Glau. But she wasn't in it nearly enough to keep my interest.
You didn't miss much. I don't think they even aired the entire series.
Well, yeah, I didn't watch it all either, TBH. But I will gladly buy the soundtrack if they ever release it! But I want a Caprica soundtrack more, so…
Did you watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles? Lots of Summer Glau and McCreary did the soundtrack, too.
Both seasons sitting on my shelf as we speak!
TBH, it was Lena Headey who first pulled me to TSCC. I've loved her since The Jungle Book.
Bear did that, too? Well, fuck, now I have to move it up on my Netflix queue. I only saw the pilot, and only because of Lena Headey and David Nutter (the director, whom I've admired since The X-Files).
It’s a really good show! Probably the main scifi/fantasy show I’d recommend to people.
But I admit the music on the show is generally in the background. There’s one soundtrack for both seasons (31 eps total) that itunes tells me is just over an hour long. What music there is, however, is cool.
And I honestly wasn’t very familiar with Headey before, but she’s really quite fantastic and I’ve seen some fanhate for her since she’s not Linda Hamilton which is ridiculous because Headey does an amazing job.
All that is to say I’m glad you’re thinking about watching it! (Over-invested in wanting people to love the things I love since forever.)
…and then Heady did Cersei on GoT, and life was beautiful and full of joy and we forgot all about how disappointing Black Market was.
I'm pretty sure McCreary was tweeting about working on both soundtracks earlier this summer! Also, TSCC soundtrack, oh my god. This is just the end credits song and it's so freaking badass.
[youtube GLlRraD6niM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLlRraD6niM youtube]
Yeah, I like that they brought up a black market as a way to look at other pieces of the fleet, since it usually talks about the military/government, but all the Lee stuff was just kind of clunky and random.
Ok, so glad I'm not the only one lol. We were watching this last night and I kept doing things like playing Words with Friends on my iPod or checking my email or editing a paragraph or two. When Sabryna asked me why I wasn't paying attention (which was odd, since I am usually riveted by this show), I realized that I was simply bored by this episode. In theory, it seems like the makings of a good episode but somehow it just … wasn't. Not a whole lot else to say that Mark didn't cover already so … yeah.
Ok, I admit it…I didn't watch this episode this time. I always watch whatever episode of BSG you're reviewing over lunch so its fresh in my mind but…I couldn't bring myself to do it. I watched Stargate instead. 'There But For The Grace Of God.' One of my favourite episodes!
ANYWAY. This episode…It's just done so…badly. Lee's characterisation is all wrong and comes completely out of nowhere. His flashbacks to his old life on Caprica just made him look like an asshole. Apollo/Dee is never going to make sense to me. The whole plot seems thrown together and completely out of context with the rest of the show.
Naq bs pbhefr, cerggl zhpu abar bs guvf vf rire zragvbarq ntnva. Yrr'f jvsr/tveysevraq ba Pncevpn, uvf eryngvbafuvc jvgu Furiba…nal bs gur punenpgre punatrf rssrpgrq va guvf rcvfbqr frrz gb or pbzcyrgryl vtaberq. Lbh pna gnxr guvf rcvfbqr bhg bs gur fubj naq yvgrenyyl ybfr ABGUVAT. Gur bayl frzv-vzcbegnag fprar vf Ebfyva gelvat gb znxr Tnvhf erfvta, naq lbh qba'g rira arprffnevyl arrq gb frr gung sbe yngre riragf gb fgvyy znxr frafr.
Not Impressed Battlestar. You can do better.
There But For The Grace Of God! Love it too, especially since I'm a sucker for alternate universes.
Yes! Alternate universes are such a weak spot for me too, right up there with wibbly wobbly timey wimey.
I really need to rewatch some SG-1. I haven't seen any episodes in far too long.
Bigger on the Inside
SG-1 (and SGA)/Doctor Who crossover fic. Short, gen, go read it if you haven't.
That is brilliant! You are my favourite person.
That was amazing. I love it forever.
And 'Moebius' totally has both.
This is rather turning into a Stargate thread.
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KAWOOSH!
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Now I want to know Teal'c's (haha what a silly looking word) opinion of BSG. I'm not sure what he would think of it, tbh.
He would quietly raise an eyebrow in judgement because he's Teal'c and doesn't need words to express his opinion.
Do we know of his pop culture likes and dislikes outside of Star Wars, though? (I suppose he doesn't care for the Vagina Monologues.)
Hmm, I don't think I remember any other mentions of Teal'c and pop culture outside of his unique way of saying general turns of phrase or things like 'What is an Oprah?'
Me too! That's why I ended up watching 'Moebius' as well. Nerdy alternate universe Carter is adorable. 😛
OH ALSO.
Since I was watching my favourite episodes of Stargate SG1 instead of this rubbish, I saw the two parter 'Moebius' in Season 8. And Lt. Gaeta showed up an ancient Egyptian!
It was weird. So I did kind of have a BSG-esque experience today.
SG-1 is amazing for Canadian Bingo.
You guys have seen the Canadian Actor Bingo vid, yes?
Link to the download post here, if you haven't: http://fanlore.org/wiki/Canadian_Actor_Bingo Sadly, there's no streaming version, but it's totally worth the dl. Like 80% of the cast of BSG is in there. And Stargate. And X-Files. And all the rest. It's hilarious.
I absolutely have and I love it.
Talking about shows made in Canada, Supernatural is also great for the damn I know that guy meter. What a shame they wasted Micheal Shanks like that though.
"What a shame they wasted Micheal Shanks like that though."
IKR? I think I saw more hype for the guy who played Jonas than for you know, guy who played Daniel Jackson. I get that SPN-Jonas-actor had a bigger role in SPN, but if Michael Shanks is guest starring on a genre tv show then you best milk that! (Same with the Buffy actress I won't name who was in SPN.)
Michael Shanks is one of the most underrated actors out there. Frankly the guy deserves his own show.
He shows up in Dark Angel. With…no, words are inadequate. Let me just show you.
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/29mvb7t.jpg"/ width=500>
WAT
I may actually have to rewatch an episode or two of that show.
AHAHAHAHAAHAHA
THIS IS AMAZING
lol I think I saw your post about this on tumblr.. unless someone else happened to watch that episode of Stargate today as well. I always lol when Alessandro Juliani shows up on things. I watched the Alice (as in Wonderland) miniseries from a couple of years ago the other day, and he was in that, too! AND Smallville! (and so was Crashdown.. hrmmmm)
Yeah that was me! 😛 My Tumblr is enigmaticagentalice so it's pretty similar to my name here.
Was he in Alice too? The one with Andrew Lee Potts? I didn't notice him when I watched that! haven't seen it in ages though…I should buy the DVDs really.
Yes! He plays one of the Queen's henchmen. =D
Gaeta is also L.
<img src="http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv301/vick1986_album/random%20anime%20screenshot/LDeathNoteAnime.jpg">
YOU ARE FUCKING WITH ME.
Nope L is played by Alessandro Juliani who plays Gaeta.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0432228/
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This is my favorite random AJ fact.
Yeah I was pre warned that this one was a clanker so I tried my best to get some enjoyment from it…nope :\
Fans like to call Apollo/Dee "the love that all of a sudden". Apparently there was going to be a more subtle buildup, but those scenes kept getting cut until the writers just decided to jump right in, no matter how confusing it would be.
The love that all of a sudden! Yes! I remember that phrase; I love it.
Doesn't their entire relationship take place in the previousLIES?
Shevon’s speech was good, but she should have rushed to free Paya before making it. Priorities!
Gianne was pregnant and was engaged to Lee, according to Mark Verheiden. Ohg guvf vf onfvpnyyl sbetbggra sbe gur erfg bs gvzr.
I think Verheiden also said Lee had been visiting Shevon offscreen for a good while.
This is the only episode Ron Moore complained about on his blog. He says it wasn’t Verheiden’s fault, he should have stepped in to help firm it up or something, it just didn’t come together.
That said, I didn’t mind it on my last rewatch the way I usually do.
Ok, I take back what I said yesterday about Epiphanies being my least favourite episode so far. How did I not like that one? Was Black Market written just to prove that when BSG does bad, IT CAN DO BAD REALLY WELL? Granted, I’m being dramatic and this is not the worst piece of television I have ever seen in my entire life, but it was just weird. Normally when I don’t like an episode I’m up all night thinking about all the reasons why I don’t like it, but this one…nothing. I don’t even know if I thought it was bad. I definitely didn’t like it, but I’m not in my normal TERRIBLE TELEVISION RAGE. It’s just kind of there. I don’t even have anything to say about it; this comment is totally useless.
I will say that although I’m sad Lee rejected Dualla, I like her and Billy together and I’m glad we don’t have to see Billy heartbroken…YET. He’s like an adorable puppy!
Oh, and I think the guards of Fisk's quarters were supposed to have been paid off according to Verheiden.
Funny thing about the Moore blog complaint. He didn't name the episode directly, so some people combined that with other rumors and thought that episode 2.18 was the one he meant, and that it had been scrapped. (Actually, what happened was that 2.18 replaced an unfilmed episode called "The Raid", that would have come earlier in the season, I think)
That's odd, because 2.18 is straight up my favorite episode of BSG.
Actually, the podcast for Black Market pretty much has Moore saying straight-up that he wasn't happy with this episode, he never prevaricated about which one it was.
I said blog, not podcast.
What do you know about "The Raid"?
Would it have been Black Market?
I never heard of that.
I think it would have been around "Home". I remember that Battlestar Wiki (?) mistakenly thought that "Home, Part I" and "Home, Part II" would be called "Home" and "The Raid" for a while.
Oh boy this episode. The basic idea of there being a black market in the fleet could have been a really interesting thing to explore, but no, we get this mess instead.
You are not anyone’s savior, and Shevon can take care of herself LIKE SHE’S BEEN DOING FOR YEARS.
If I can think of one good thing to say about this whole storyline, and it's difficult, I'll say that the actress playing Shevon handles that whole scene reasonably well. I mean apart from the ham fisted explanation of Lee's sudden pregnant ex-girlfriend that gets jammed into the middle. The actress at least tries to make the character work but the whole scenario is a complete mess and full of bad writing. Her "That's all this has ever been about" hasn't been earned (neither has Zarek's "I hope she's worth it").
It's amazing that the Laura/Gaius scene is so good when the rest of the episode fails on so many levels.. From the major failures in the clumsy flashbacks and sudden backstory to some incredibly dialogue (the clunky opening conversation between Lee and Shevon just sets the tone for how bad it all gets).
I've read that RDM himself has declared this episode out of continuity and frankly I'm more than happy to pretend that none of this ever happened. Lee's sudden drama with Shevon and his ex-girlfriend we somehow never heard of before? Never happened. The head of the black market organising child prositution in the fleet and actually atempting to justify it? Never happened. This episode? NEVER HAPPENED!
Though the one problem is that Fisk is still dead. Well, you can easily fanwank that he killed himself for what Cain made him do or something.
Yeah, this is basically a good example to use for Canon Discontinuity. Well, technically it's just fanon, but even the people responsible for making it don't like it, so it might as well not exist.
Agree with everythingyou said Mark…..but how do you forget that touching scene between Roslina and Adama???? He's *admiral* Adama now! And fisk isnt an admiral
I swear that I read somewhere that they weren't originally going to start with it in media res, but they felt they needed to add it to make it more interesting or something. But now I can't find it, so maybe I just made that up… I know that I thought, "Really? You just did this!" too.
Here, have Bear McCreary playing Passacaglia.
[youtube jcf7OTnTvi4&feature=feedu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcf7OTnTvi4&feature=feedu youtube]
I checked the BSGwikipage while waiting for this episode and they mention the addition of the in media res opening in their Analysis section.
THERE it is! I thought I had read it on the BSG Wiki, and I swear I read the entire analysis section before posting that comment, but I guess I skimmed over it. Thank you!
That song would cure any ill, let alone "Black Market."
Moore says so in the podcast. There was no tension without the in media res.
This episode was… not what I expected from BSG. A lot of sloppy writing.
To lighten the mood: funny me-being-an-idiot story of the day!
I started to watch 'Dances With Wolves' yesterday. I've always wanted to see it!
I was 56 minutes in before I realised that the scenes spoken in the Lakota language were supposed to have subtitles but they had been completely cut off by the screen ratio I was watching in.
I literally just thought it was SUPPOSED to be confusing as hell, and you weren't supposed to know what they were saying.
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I did exactly the same thing with Kill Bill. Don't feel too bad.
It had to happen eventually. It's not even that big a of clunker. It's still a good episode but the show up and to this point has had such a rush of great episodes that good becomes bad in comparison.
Making 22 episodes a year, it's impossible not to have a clunker or two, getting enough (good) ideas to fill 22 episodes is hard enough, doing it whilst rushing to get scripts out in time to shoot them is impossible
If it's any consolation, basically no one likes Black Market. Don't worry; it's kind of an aberration. 😉
So, um… I can't say Black Market is my favorite episode. =/
For those who haven't listened to it, Ron Moore's podcast commentary on "Black Market" is really worth hearing. In his usual articulate fashion, he really goes into what went wrong in the production of the episode, what the writing team was trying to accomplish (and the various difficulties they had in expressing their ideas), and ultimately why the various components of the story don't work. It's an insightful and honest piece of self-examination.
The podcast can be downloaded (or read; there's a transcript) here: http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Podcast:Black_M…
I learned a lot about TV from that podcast. About creative production in general, really. Lemonade from lemons!
"How long has it been since “Resurrection Ship, Part II”? Because how on earth did Lee develop a relationship with Shevon that is that serious in that span of time? This confused me, too, because I didn’t know if the Shevon scenes were happening in real time, or if they were a flashback."
Yeah, that's basically why this episode always seemed like a bit of a misfire to me. For a show that maintains a fairly coherent storyline of Where The Fleet Is At and at least vaguely telegraphs where it's going, this episode just didn't fit in, even though its premise works. The existence of the black market? Fine. Lee having a love interest on the side? Also fine. Lee with his principles butting heads with the more criminal elements of the fleet? Still entirely fine. But it's too much to dump into one episode as a quick aside. It just doesn't fly.
"Colonel Tigh’s wife was trading with a well-known black market operative. After Lee discovers what’s really going on, why does he never address this again?"
It's been a while since I saw the episode, but to me it was:
1: A sign to Lee of the extent of the black market.
2: A sign that messing with the market won't lead to problems with the criminals alone, but also, just for a volatile example, with one of his commanding officers, who happens to be his father's intergalactic BFF.
Before I even read your review, I’m gonna say I thought this was the worst episode of the show, and terrible not just by bsg standards. Kinda answers your ‘how long can this streak last?’ question from recent reviews. I think it put me off finishing the season for weeks.
"If Lee is going to have a moral crisis that concerns a past relationship and a current one….where is Starbuck? Does she mean nothing to him?"
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS. Sometimes I wonder what went down in the writers' room when they were working on this one, because you'd have to be doing some strange things if you're writing an episode about the complicated love life of Lee Adama and it doesn't even mention Kara Thrace. It's like they forgot she existed or something. She's not been in episodes before – 1.09, 2.03 – but her absence here is positively glaring when you consider what it's about.
I think Black Market isn't bad in isolation – it's just that that single "cool idea bunged in from the middle of nowhere" (the pregnant ex who was never mentioned before) just drags it into straight-up stupid territory, as does the decision to make Phelan a Complete Monster (ie. child-selling rat-bastard). You can basically just ignore its existence forever after this, that is how throwaway it is.
It might have been okay if they had left out the pregnant ex. Then the hooker could have referred to Starbuck, and Lee might have been just as messed up as Starbuck with her "I want this but I hate this so I take that" tendencies. Of course, there's still Dee, and what the hell.
I think I might have actually loved Dee/Lee (not as much as Dee/Billy and Lee/Starbuck, because that'd be sacrilege) but the way it just always seemed like she was the fifth choice and still she was ruining everything with Billy ruined it.
Black Market. Hoo boy.
Previously on Battlestar Galactica, a bunch of stuff that never actually happened.
The subtitles on this one are coming in before the actual dialogue, so I get to see what people are going to say before they say it. It's annoying. The subtitles come a full ten seconds before the dialogue, and often by then they've moved on to talking about something else.
Hi, Lee's favorite prostitute. Wait, since when does Lee have a favorite prostitute?
Hi, Lee's flashback girlfriend. Wait, who?
Hi, Lee's favorite prostitute's daughter. Don't you love it when Mommy's clients bring you creepy dolls?
Bye, Fisk. Nice knowing you, sort of.
"E.T." The extra-terrestrial? Oh, it's probably Ellen Tigh.
When I heard Baltar once again whining about how he's the VICE PRESIDENT, all I could think was "Do you know who I am?" "Do you know who *I* am?" "This is not a game of who the fuck are you."
(He's Jeff Baltar, he runs the Battlestar! This is a star? This is a fucking star!)
Who the hell is in charge of Pegasus now?
"Lee, when your baby's crying because it's hungry, you'll do anything to make it stop." WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR SON WAS AT HOME, CRYING ALL ALONE ON THE BEDROOM FLOOR CAUSE HE'S HUNGRY? AND THE ONLY WAY TO FEED HIM IS TO SLEEP WITH A MAN FOR A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY?
(At this point I stopped watching the episode and watched two entire City High videos because the episode is THAT BORING.)
They have pineapples in outer space?
Oh yay, an evil black dude.
"Is that when you knew that you loved her?" "I thought so." "But you hurt her." THIS DIALOGUE IS SO FASCINATING.
Yes, please resign, Gaius. Say you're going to spend more time with your imaginary family.
Oh great, Zarek's involved. MY FAVORITE PERSON.
I'm really sick of seeing the same three shots of Lee's old girlfriend. I hate these flashbacks.
Oh yay, child trafficking.
"You want me to be her." Yeah, this woman we've NEVER HEARD OF that apparently Lee loved so much. All the women in this episode are just there to tell us things about Lee. Yay.
"Ever since you ejected from the Blackbird, you've been different." THIS DIALOGUE. SO SCINTILLATING.
jbdfasdfpjpdsaflk;lkds;kl I can't even. NEXT EPISODE PLEASE. FUCK OFF OR I'LL KILL YOU WITH A TRAY.
When I heard Baltar once again whining about how he's the VICE PRESIDENT, all I could think was "Do you know who I am?" "Do you know who *I* am?" "This is not a game of who the fuck are you."
(He's Jeff Baltar, he runs the Battlestar! This is a star? This is a fucking star!)
I admit, I LOLed. Eddie Izzard reference FTW!
That is indeed my favorite line. I still love it after all this time.
(And, yep, that Jacob. It was funny; I looked at the recap page and forgot that Strega was recapping initially, and her grades are much more balanced, whereas Jacob just has a string of A's with the occasional C or D.)
That's how Jacob reviews stuff, though, right? I always assumed it was his way of saying he saw the ratings system as mostly pointless.
Yeah, this is the first episode I haven’t cared for essentially since the series began. I just couldn’t get into it at all. Don’t have anything against Lee, but I just find him much more interesting when he’s playing off the other main characters than when he’s playing Mr. Brooding Indepedent Detective Guy. Also, the introduction of both Chevonne(sp?) and the Caprica girlfriend felt forced.
“No Sharon, Helo, Starbuck, Gaeta, Tyrol, or Cally. BOOOOOOOOOO.”
Exactly! Isn’t this supposed to be an ensemble show? I love ensembles with the passion of a thousand burning suns- the BSG ensemble in particular- because they make one or two specific characters the focus of the episode AND still craft good B-plots that give screen time to everybody else. I think this ep definitely failed in that regard.
1. This episode is pretty much universally reviled as the worst in the series. So at least that's behind you.
2. My favorite thing to do when I rewatch BSG is to mute this episode and re-narrate it. Once I was doing this with my sister, and I was doing fake awful dialogue on purpose (I think I was making fun of Lee at that point), and my butt accidentally hit the unmute button and Lee repeated word for word the fake/bad/mockery dialogue that I'd just said. TRUE STORY.
3. The best thing that came out of this episode is Bear McCreary's "Black Market." That piece is amazing. Bear McCreary kicks so much ass.
My problem is…I don't see how there could possibly be a shortage of jobs, I mean, not enough for it to result in (implied) lots of women having to resort to prostitution.
I mean, all these ships have to be manned. And cleaned. And people need looking after, and children need teaching, and there are hospitals, and mechanics needed. There's got to be a thousand jobs in just keeping this fleet running. That and people keep dying, which means more spaces keep opening up. I mean, we just had that whole bit with new pilots coming in unprepared because they're so desperate for soldiers. And why are people on the Battlestar so exhausted all the time if there are others out there who'd happily train up to take over and make some money?
How is it possible that the workforce hasn't been fully realised? I know many of them don't have the right skills, but surely to survive every major job should be taking on apprentices to replace them in case of the next Cylon attack?
This is partly what bothered me about Cain. Okay she took those with potential to help the fleet (which is more than Adama has done) but surely someone looked at all the civilians and thought 'Excellent. Grunt work force'.
Gah. Tired. Sorry if my ideas didn't really make sense.
No, you're completely right.
Does the fleet have a functioning school system? Why isn't there an apprenticeship program? You don't have medical schools any more. Why isn't Cottle being followed around by a gaggle of interns? It's the only way you're going to have future doctors….
And that's just in the education department.
This episode makes me wonder just what Roslin has been doing all this time.
Madam Airlock does have to keep in practice….
A frillion points for the Izzard!
It was the only way to make this episode bearable!
So say we all!
I don't understand why people don't like "Epiphanies", but I certainly understand the hate for this episode. And I really gave it a chance. I like noir. I like characters acting as detectives. I was willing to take the Lee-Adama-Must-Hunt-Down-The-Criminal-Underbelly ride. But this, was just horribly done. When you add in the really important pregnant fiancee that was never mentioned before, then I've just totally checked out.
It is true, even for a devoted Lee-fangirl like me, this is just a bad episode. Maybe it's especially bad because of that, but whatever. I think that most of my objections to this episode down to the very bones of the plot is that it doesn't know what it wants to be and so very much of everything seems sort of pasted on. Lee's backstory? No mention of any of this aside from one brief flirt between him and Dee? No problem, we'll do a flashback. Or ten. No previous mention of a black market? No problem, have Zarek fill us in. In media res? Didn't we do that a couple weeks ago? Yeah, but it worked great, let's do it all the time!
Jamie Bamber said in one of the RDM podcast things that he knew the writers had always had trouble with the character of Lee, that they used him for what was needed and then put him back in his little box until the next time*, which is really a terrible shame because the character of Lee has so very much potential for really interesting twists and turns.
Also, Yes. This: "If Lee is going to have a moral crisis that concerns a past relationship and a current one….where is Starbuck? Does she mean nothing to him?"
* Partial transcript for podcast thing here Warning: Some spoilers, as this was recorded mid-season 3 or so.
I am very interested in one aspect of this story in particular which I don't feel was fully explored here. You've got this fleet of civilians, many of whom, I'm sure, are accomplished at trade and services that are useful in their current situation. But I'm betting there's also loads of people whose former livelihoods are completely useless on the run in deep space (hi, I'm an archaeologist), and who have lost their entire families and support networks. So how many people have turned to trades like prostitution and black market trading since the Cylon attack, in order to get the things they need?
What was with that weird shot of Zarek in the market? I don’t get it.
My guess would be that he's planning on making himself the new big man in charge.
LOL, my first thought on reading the title was "Ohhhh, he hit the first bad episode." and then I read the first sentence of the review and had to work not to LOLIRL and wake the baby I just got to sleep! Even the best tv series ever made has to have a few duds.
You should talk to my dad sometime, it really irritates him as well. ^^
He'll sit there fiddling with the remote for ten minutes, complaining 'They're all really fat! Look at them! It's ridiculous! Now they're too skinny! I've chopped his head off!' etc etc….
hee hee, that would be far too amusing for me.
I know, right?
The thing is, there was a way more interesting place to go with the child-stealing: The number of parents who've lost children probably far exceeds the number of orphans in the fleet.
Maybe this episode takes place in a holodeck. Lee decided to play 30's noire detective for an episode.