{"id":627,"date":"2011-09-29T13:00:49","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T20:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=627"},"modified":"2011-09-25T21:51:56","modified_gmt":"2011-09-26T04:51:56","slug":"mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s03e04-exodus-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/09\/mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s03e04-exodus-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Battlestar Galactica’: S03E04 – Exodus, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourth episode of the third season of Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, the Galactica<\/em> attempts to rescue the human survivors on Caprica. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Everything hurts and everything is beautiful.<\/p>\n

Never has joy and success been so depressing<\/em>. The second half to the “Exodus” storyline has some of the show’s best writing, most shocking plot twists, and dizzying special effects. I knew that I was never going to be prepared for this episode when the very first thing the story deals with is Ellen Tigh’s betrayal of the humans in order to save her husband. Anders is insistent on taking care of Ellen like any other collaborator, but it seemed that Colonel Tigh would find a way to make an exception. Anders had given his ultimatum, but Tigh wouldn’t actually<\/em> carry that out, would he? It’s too gruesome, and his wife had truly acted out of love. He’d make them understand.<\/p>\n

So he sits with his wife, who frantically explains to him that what she did was out of love for him. She would do it again and again and again, even though other people died. I’ve come to enjoy the chemistry of Saul and Ellen Tigh, and it’s why I was so ruthlessly shocked when Colonel Tigh gave his wife a last drink full of poison. I’d like to imagine that she knew what she was drinking, that she was conceding the difficult choice because she knew she had taken a risk. But it’s hardly comforting to see Tigh break down and begin to sob on his dead wife’s body because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6THIS IS HOW THEY START THIS<\/em>. This is in the first ten minutes of the episode! Oh god, Ellen Tigh is gone. WHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYY<\/p>\n

The victory of the Battle of New Caprica is bittersweet because of this, though I won’t deny that it was a pleasure to see the tide turn in favor of the insurgents. I love that the first moment we’re made aware of things changing is through the perspective of those on the Colonial One<\/em> because it takes the Cylons completely by surprise. What’s so entertaining about this battle is how the resistance basically outthinks the Cylons. The Cylons fall for a double decoy attack and it’s clear they underestimated the capacity of the humans. It’s so fascinating to watch the pieces fall into place, from the hidden cache of weapons, to the launch of the swallows to draw away two Cylon basestars, to the evacuation method, to\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6oh god. Galactica. GALACTICA.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Look, I’ve seen some cool shit in sci-fi, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything<\/em> like the atmosphere jump that Adama commands. It. Is. Ridiculous. It is beautiful. It’s such a garish display, a risky move, but one that is very<\/em> Adama in design. And really, it’s the only way to beat the Cylons in a battle like this. They have<\/em> to be clever and outsmart them. It’s not enough to just use force because the Cylons outnumber the humans. In terms of sheer volume, the Cylons would win every single time. And so, Adama understands that the only way to win this is to trick the Cylons.<\/p>\n

But the truth is that the fleet is split up, under staffed, and depending on a whole lot of luck. So even after it looks like the ruse worked, two more Cylon basestars appear and survival suddenly seems impossible.<\/p>\n

I knew that this show couldn’t actually<\/em> kill off Adama and Helo this early, but it didn’t make Adama’s resignation any less depressing. It’s because we have seen Adama refuse to give up under any sort of pressure before. But as the basestars begin to pummel the Galactica<\/em> and it’s clear that they cannot win, that look<\/em> that crosses his face is heartbreaking. This is not a man who takes defeat easily, and he’s certainly not one to take surrender lightly either. But he knows the end is here, and so he tells the remaining crew with him in the CIC that it has been an honor to serve with them and we know<\/em> he means it.<\/p>\n

my heart. my heart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But then SHIT YEAH IT’S PEGASUS<\/em> AND THERE GOES A BASESTAR AND FUCK YES<\/em> THE TIDE IS TURNING. It marks a complete reversal in the future of the battle and the relationship between Lee and Adama. This culminates in the rescue of Starbuck by Anders and the retreat of the Cylons. The Cylons are giving up<\/em>. But even this is not without one last moment of pure horror: Three is going to stay behind to activate a nuclear weapon to destroy anyone left trying to evacuate. Just as Baltar expresses horror at the idea, he is invited to stay with the Cylons. Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I suppose that answers my question from earlier. I guess I’d not even thought of this possibility, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6could Baltar choose to split off from the colonial fleet to join the Cylons full time? We’ve all seen and been told how much the humans hate Baltar for giving the last group of civilization over to the Cylons, and really, nothing exemplifies that more that Gaeta’s shocking turn against his “president.” I think that because we’ve only seen Gaeta mildly irritated in the past two seasons, seeing him put a gun to Baltar’s head with tears in his eyes is immensely uncomfortable. I’m sure Gaeta has had enough guilt to deal with for working with Baltar anyway, but he’s seen how the man has allowed humanity to be sold out.<\/p>\n

Yeah, and then Baltar starts begging him to do it. <\/em>I hate it because even though I despise what Baltar has done, I don’t like seeing him possessed with so much self-hatred. I suppose that I’m the kind of person who wants characters to redeem themselves in fiction, and this would only assuage his own guilt. So Gaeta gives him a chance to find that redemption: he needs to stop Three from setting off the nuclear bomb.<\/p>\n

I found the parallel between Lee and Adama “giving up” their ships to be fascinating because the context of them both was so different. Lee ignored his father’s command to stay behind to assure the survival of the rest of the fleet, and by doing so, saved his father’s life. I’m sure Adama isn’t going to forget that anytime soon. But when Lee abandons the Pegasus<\/em>, bringing about the end of that story arc, his sadness is not one of defeat. By abandoning the ship, he’s actually helping to ensure the human victory of the Cylons, but in the process, he has to give up being the commander of a Battlestar. That’s big deal to him, and he might not get the chance ever again, since Galactica<\/em> is now the only remaining Battlestar left.<\/p>\n

Starbuck, on the other hand, is faced with a sacrifice of her own. Upon waking up and realizing Anders has saved her, she actually bolts back into the Detention Facility to find Kacey, refusing to leave her behind. But Conoy arrives with Starbuck’s daughter, and an emotional stand-off begins. I am still creeped out by Conoy’s demands for Starbuck. I personally don’t get why<\/em> he thinks that her falling in love with him in any genuine way would provide her with the answers to her own internal pain. And holy awkward<\/em>, that kiss. Thankfully, it’s all a clever ruse because SHIT YEAH STARBUCK STABS HIM just before Anders arrive. And then holy awkward<\/em> how is Starbuck going to explain Kacey to him??? THAT SHALL BE SAVED UNTIL A LATER TIME, she decides, because they need to get off this goddamn rock<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The last scene we are given on New Caprica before this brief story arc ends are with the Cylons and Baltar, and then Roslin and her team aboard the Colonial One<\/em>. I think both moments are hints towards the plot of season three. I feel pretty safe saying that Roslin will return to being the president, and I am basing that solely on the utter joy on her face when she sits in her old presidential chair again. I mean, who else will the fleet have as their president as this point? Also\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6maybe Zarek will be the vice president. I RATHER LIKE THIS IDEA.<\/p>\n

But a much larger plot is going to deal with the ramifications of Hera. I was GUTTED when Baltar and Caprica Six found Maya’s dead body and, fulfilling Selloi’s prophecy, Three holds a baby as everything the Cylons have done on New Caprica completely falls apart. Selloi was right. But where did Three take Hera? Has Baltar accepted Three’s offer to continue working with the Cylons? AHHH I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THIS IS GOING TO GO.<\/p>\n

I must admit that the end of “Exodus, Part II” is bittersweet. I’ve wanted the fleet back together since the season two finale, and this episode grants me that. And I am<\/em> happy to see them all back in one fleet and off that wretched planet, but this moment is drenched in awful. I was unsure which possible explanation for Kacey I believed the most, but Starbuck’s end to that is worse than anything I could have ever imagined. Just seconds<\/em> after getting off a ship and on to the Galactica<\/em>, just as Anders asks who Kacey is, a woman recognizes Kacey–AS HER OWN DAUGHTER STOLEN BY THE CYLONS<\/em><\/strong>. I was horrified. Kacey was a plant, and she was a plant that Starbuck fell in love with anyway. Again, give Katee Sackhoff every award ever<\/em> for this scene, because I teared up so fast when I watched her tearful shock cross over her face.<\/p>\n

Colonel Tigh boards the Galactica<\/em> just as damaged and broken as Starbuck, and I can’t ignore the parallels between the two. The show has been putting these two side-by-side for two full seasons now, and they both have experienced a gutting and heartbreaking loss, and they both are completely numb. Why can’t I hug characters through the screen? Even Roslin’s end is bittersweet: they loss Maya and Hera somewhere on New Caprica and there’s no chance they’ll return to find her. Roslin knows that they lost something much more than a mother and her child, though. But what does Hera truly represent?<\/p>\n

For me personally, I’ll mourn the loss of the Adama mustache the most. Sorry, y’all. I love that goddamn ‘stache.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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