{"id":620,"date":"2011-09-28T09:30:03","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T16:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=620"},"modified":"2011-09-28T09:13:45","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T16:13:45","slug":"mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s03e03-exodus-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/09\/mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s03e03-exodus-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Battlestar Galactica’: S03E03 – Exodus, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third episode of the third season of Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, the Cylons ramp up their severity of their treatment of the humans while Adama works out a way to rescue the survivors on New Caprica. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[Note: This review is up early on purpose. I’m posting my review of last week’s Fringe<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0premiere as well and didn’t want to have two posts up in the late afternoon\/evening for some folks. Enjoy the double postage!!!–Mark]<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Okay, let me get the complaint out of the way: Um, didn’t Cally fall down a hill in “Precipice”? How could she run towards Tyrol all of a sudden? OMG CONTINUITY ERROR WORST SHOW OF ALL TIME<\/em><\/strong>. Also, it is taking every ounce of my heart not to type Tyrol’s name as “Tyrion.” Tyrol would make a terrible Lannister, by the way.<\/p>\n

All right. I’ve gotten that out of the way. It’s out of my system.<\/p>\n

HHHHHNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG OH MY GOD THIS SHOW. HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Let’s separate this into the main themes and character growth we’re subjected to:<\/p>\n

Colonel Tigh Is Totally An Adult<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Think about how Tigh acted during the opening to season two when Commander Adama was unconscious from the gunshot wound delivered by Boomer. He made a number of massive mistakes, some that inherently cost people their lives. Now think about the way he treats Tyrol, the way he speaks to the insurgency, and how he conducts himself. Even if you disagree with his methods of warfare, which is completely up for debate, it’s hard to deny that he is a much more measured and thoughtful man than he was a full season before this.<\/p>\n

I was blown away by the reasonable way in which he dealt with Tyrol’s panic. (Apparently, Tyrol panics by shaving his beard? I hope I don’t start doing that. I like my beard.) When the Chief nearly hyperventilates while trying to communicate the fact that Cally is on the Cylon list for execution, Tigh very quickly takes control of the situation. He calms Tyrol down, drilling some sense into him, and doing the one thing that helps diffuse the tension: assure Tyrol that he has the information and the skill to save his wife. I know Tigh’s scenes don’t make up much of “Exodus, Part I,” but they’re very important to his character’s growth. What I am now<\/em> interested in is how this is going to all change with the revelation he gets at the end. Learning his wife betrayed the team to save him appears to have destroyed him. Also HOLY SHIT MICHAEL HOGAN CAN ACT<\/em>. That reaction shot is so believable that I’m pretty sure someone told Michael Hogan that his whole life is just a hologram projection before the tape started rolling, and that was his genuine reaction.<\/p>\n

The Cylons Don’t Like Death<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I honestly believe that this is a significant<\/em> plot and character point and one that will be developed at length throughout season three. One of the obvious advantages the Cylons have is their ability to “regenerate” their mind by downloading into another body. By not fearing death, since they can always come back, it allows them to be fearless and reckless at the same time. The humans know that this also means they cannot fight a war in any traditional sense because the Cylons essentially cannot sustain heavy damage ever<\/em> because their “troops” can never truly be depleted. It’s actually something I was worried about the show dealing with. I imagine that without any sort of development or change, it would seem that fatalism was the only thing left to do. The humans would have to give up or find an even better hiding place.<\/p>\n

But when rescuing the detained humans from their execution, Seelix leaves a wounded Cavil to die out in that canyon, and he eventually does after killing himself. What I’d never thought of was the way the memory of death could compound in on itself after each download. After a particularly slow and painful death, Cavil suddenly finds that the discomfort is giving him pause for the first time in his existence. Death was painful, and the download process may have traumatized<\/em> him. At this point, there are only more deaths ahead of the Cylons. What will happen to a Cylon who has died twenty, thirty, forty times?<\/p>\n

So of course the Cylons are like LET’S JUST NUKE THE CITY<\/strong>. And it’s not an offhand comment to me. They mean that and they would do it and that is legitimately the scariest moment in the whole episode.<\/p>\n

Where Is Kara’s Sassy Gay Companion?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Because WHAT WHAT WHAT ARE YOU DOING<\/em>. Oh my god. I know I am conflicted about Kacey but:<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/p>\n