{"id":702,"date":"2011-11-01T13:00:55","date_gmt":"2011-11-01T20:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=702"},"modified":"2011-10-30T14:30:27","modified_gmt":"2011-10-30T21:30:27","slug":"mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s04e01-he-that-believeth-in-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/11\/mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s04e01-he-that-believeth-in-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Battlestar Galactica’: S04E01 – He That Believeth In Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first episode of the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, Starbuck returns to the fleet to find that her friends and crew don’t necessarily view her as she would expect. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Well, everything is going to continue to be fucked up, isn’t it? It’s weird to say that I enjoy Battlestar Galactica<\/em> because it is so uncomfortable to watch, but the premiere of the final season of this show (well, one half of it, that is) was immensely satisfying to watch, giving us a tonal context for how this season might play out. Unlike season three, we open pretty much immediately after the events of last season’s finale. Right off the bat, the Galactica<\/em> has to deal with the impossible return of Kara Thrace, impossible because we saw<\/em> her explode. We saw it! It didn’t happen off screen. Lee witnessed it himself!<\/p>\n

This is in the midst of a massive Cylon attack, and four of the Final Five Cylons have their own problems to deal with, too. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6hell, how do you cope with the knowledge that you’re a Cylon? That’s what “He That Believeth In Me” begins to answer. We see this manifest in different ways: Tory Foster is distant and silent; Anders is still fighting the notion, but after being scanned by a Cylon Raider, he’s forced to accept that there’s no denying it anymore; Tyrol appears to be the one Cylon who simply accepts the reality of this all, refusing to let it interfere with his job. Tigh, however, reacts worse than anyone else.<\/p>\n

And that’s fascinating to me, because Tigh has literally become what he most despises. There’s no Cylon reveal that is more intriguing to me than Saul Tigh because of this. In a waking nightmare, he shockingly shoots Admiral Adama. (Which I believed was entirely real for a moment and SWEET BABY JESUS WHAT<\/strong>.) His fear of turning on the people he cares about manifests this way, most especially because he has historically been the most vocal anti-Cylon member of Galactica<\/em>. OH, THE IRONY. It’s too much! But I am<\/em> curious to see how this pans out. Why<\/em> would the Cylons plant four of their own on the Galactica <\/em>and wait all this time to activate them? How is “All Along the Watchtower” related to it? And will all four of them be able to resist their “programming” like Athena has, or will it be more like Boomer at the end of season one, where a switch goes off in their head and they can’t control their actions?<\/p>\n

This is a dense episode because not only do we witness all of these plot threads, but we’ve also got Gaius Baltar’s increasingly bizarre story on our hands. I am not at all surprised that there’s some sort of cult based on who people perceive him to be. And that’s what’s important: even if the “answer” is muddled in ambiguity, we, the viewers, know that Gaius is not some mystical godly being who can grant wishes or prayers or has some direct line to God. Well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.I suppose that addresses a different point, too. I think that half of my joy in watching Battlestar Galactica<\/em> comes from the ambiguous nature of the story, which never gives us the answers. And that’s not done in a way that’s insulting either. With Gauis, we know that it is in his nature to do whatever he needs to do. He needed to “escape” with the women who dragged him away at the end of season three to avoid certain death at the hands of an angry populace. But now he’s dealing with a group that worships him as a deity.<\/p>\n

The show has repeatedly shows us that Head Six has some tie to the version of the Cylon God and that plotline rears its head up again in “He That Believeth in Me,” giving us a parallel reference to both Baltar and Starbuck. Belief (and the ambiguous essence of it) play into the stories we are told. Is the Cylon God actually real, and do Baltar’s actions genuinely affect the outcome of the people on the Galactica<\/em>? We saw Baltar’s renunciation of his lack of faith in season one save his life; now, when he genuinely begs for Connor to take his life instead of Schaffer’s, Derrick miraculously recovers. Head Six seemed rather content with this turn of events, so now I wonder more than ever: What if the Cylon God is<\/em> real in some sense? Maybe it’s not a god in the sense that we understand, but Head Six represents some force acting through Baltar. As for the purpose of this all? I can’t even begin to guess what this all means.<\/p>\n

For Starbuck, her return to Galactica<\/em> is also an issue of faith, and it’s a rather difficult one to watch. It’s made all the worse to me because<\/em> the writers never give us the information we are used to getting: not once does the show tell us whether Admiral Adama, Roslin, Lee, or Starbuck are in the right. But we are used to this by now, and as I said earlier, it’s what I’ve come to love about the show. It’s much more fascinating to me to see the issue of identity addressed in this way. Starbuck’s sense of self deteriorates when she finds out that she has been gone for months, not six hours, as she thought. And how does she cope with the reality that her ship appears to be brand new<\/em>? Or that she blacked out during her trip from earth and back, despite bringing back what appear to be genuine photos? And on top of that, we know from Razor<\/em> that the first Hybrid warned Kendra Shaw: Do not believe Starbuck. She is the harbinger of death, the bringer of the apocalypse. But how<\/em>?<\/p>\n

I think what’s so hard to watch about Starbuck in “He That Believeth In Me” is that her resurrection is not a joyous moment for her. It’s no secret that she’s my favorite character on the whole show, and “Maelstrom” pretty much cemented that for me. So, like Lee Adama, I want<\/em> to believe her. I want her to be right. I want her to be the hero who brings the humans to Earth, who saves the day, who finally finds happiness. Yet I cannot ignore the inconsistencies. I can’t ignore that this does<\/em> feel like a giant trap. I am ecstatic that Starbuck has returned, and I’m glad it’s in this way, since it doesn’t feel cheap, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.I just want things to be puppy dogs and rainbows.<\/em><\/p>\n

While most of this episode focuses on how Starbuck deals with this unfortunate reality, I think one of my favorite scenes out of all of this concerns Lee and his father. Lee can’t stop watching the damning footage of Starbuck’s Viper exploding. It’s there on camera, so there is at least part of her story that isn’t true. It’s a rare moment to see these two actually<\/em> get along, even when Lee later brings up his career change. Both of them are conflicted by Starbuck’s return, even if they ultimately are opposite sides, because neither one of them can ignore the appeal of believing she’s real or a Cylon trick. (Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6perhaps it’s possible there’s a third option, right? That she did<\/em> die in the explosion, but it was not<\/em> the Cylons who brought her back. Right? OH GOD, I KNOW NOTHING<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

We have also seen that the two aren’t necessarily the most talkative father and son, at least not in a direct sense, though most of that falls on Admiral Adama’s side than Lee’s. So their conversation has an entire unspoken subtext that I find insightful and brilliant, from Lee asking if Roslin is still staying with Adama, to Adama offering Lee’s wings back. Even if there might be an accusatory edge to Lee’s question, that perhaps Adama is siding with Roslin because of some romantic notion, I think Lee actually asks the question with a more genuine intent in mind. The same goes with Adama: he doesn’t come out and outright apologize to Lee for what he said at the end of season three, but it’s part of him offering the position back to his son.<\/p>\n

It was both a shock and a completely believable twist to have Lee confirm that he is leaving the military, that he’s going to pursue some “opening” in the government. Never have I seen a character who can use silence to speak volumes like William Adama, who remains entirely quiet during this segment. Perhaps Adama is disappointed in his son leaving, but also feels guilty for essentially pushing him in that direction. Perhaps he’s proud of his son, but also to prideful himself<\/em> to admit this. Either way, Lee breaks this silence with a pointed question: If Zak returned as Kara had, and if he turned out to be a Cylon, would that mean that Adama would stop loving him?<\/p>\n

I think it’s a wonderful way to set up the inevitable: Adama is going to have to discover that two people he’s worked closely with for many years, Colonel Tigh and Tyrol, are Cylons. God, how is Adama going to deal with Tigh’s revelation? That is going to be a horrific moment on this show, isn’t it? I can only imagine it being much worse than Tigh’s reveal in “Crossroads, Part II.” But I think it speaks to something else regarding the Cylons: is it enough to merely be<\/em> a Cylon to be hated? The four of the Final Five that we know of now have really never done anything to deserve the condemnation for being Cylons. If anything, haven’t they all been helping and supporting the human survival this entire time? (Though\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.oh shit, I just realized that Tyrol being a Cylon might explain how he was able to find the Temple of the Five. HOLY SHIT REVELATION.<\/em>) So do they deserve the hatred and scorn from humanity for just finding out they’re Cylons?<\/p>\n

We even get a bit of setup for Laura Roslin, too, when she visits Caprica Six. I still don’t know why those two and Athena share visions of the Opera House, or why they’re connected, but they’re drawn to one another. But FUCK. Caprica Six tells Roslin that the Final Five feel “close.” THAT IS NOT HELPING THINGS AT ALL. But I am actually more interested in why<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0the Cylons are programmed not<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0to think about the identity of the other models that haven’t been released.<\/p>\n

I had no idea until I finished “He That Believeth In Me” that this aired as a two-parter. I thought this episode would end on a somber note as Starbuck battled with the thought that she might be <\/em>a Cylon, or at least a Cylon experiment, especially since the Cylons stole part of her during “The Farm.” AND HOLY IRONY TO STARBUCK SAYING SHE’D KILL ANDERS IF SHE FOUND OUT HE WAS A CYLON. oh my god this is not going to end well<\/em>. I don’t have a guess for why<\/em> Starbuck’s mind seems wired to respond to the physical location to earth, and it seems like another clue that this might not be the same Starbuck who disappeared in “Maelstrom.” And it certainly doesn’t help when Starbuck KNOCKS OUT TWO GUARDS AND ANDERS AND THEN GOES AND AIMS A GUN AT LAURA ROSLIN.<\/p>\n

Fuck you, “To Be Continued.” FUCK YOU VERY MUCH.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"