{"id":717,"date":"2011-11-10T13:00:03","date_gmt":"2011-11-10T21:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=717"},"modified":"2011-11-05T14:23:26","modified_gmt":"2011-11-05T21:23:26","slug":"mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s04e08-sine-qua-non","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/11\/mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s04e08-sine-qua-non\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Battlestar Galactica’: S04E08 – Sine Qua Non"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eighth episode of the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, everything is chaos and then some things hurt, and then they become beautiful. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Without which it could not be.<\/p>\n

“Sine Qua Non” takes the characters aboard the fleet to uncomfortable places (surprise WHEN DOES IT NOT DO THIS) and then sees what they can live without and what they cannot. The true ramifications of the basestar disappearing are shown, and the first five minutes or so of this episode are possibly the most chaotic of the show’s entire run. This is not something to be swept under the table or ignored. Roslin, Baltar, Helo, and a host of Galactica<\/em> pilots are now lost somewhere on the basestar. Of course, we don’t get a single second aboard that ship in this episode, so we’re left wondering what the fuck<\/em> is going on. THIS IS NOT FAIR.<\/p>\n

Instead, what we witness is how the main players aboard the Galactica<\/em> and the Colonial One<\/em> cope with the disappearance of the president. The Quorum is routinely a hot mess, but never have they been so disruptive and out of control. Which, to be fair, is understandable, given that this military mission that was ordered without their input has now eclipsed into a possible kidnapping (in their eyes) because Athena shot Natalie. (OMG I literally just found out that the Six was called Natalie. I WISH I’D KNOWN THAT EARLIER.)<\/p>\n

It really doesn’t help that this is mixed in with the death of Natalie (oh god Cottle holds her hand PLEASE HOLD MINE NEXT<\/em>) and Adama’s furious condemnation of Athena in his quarters. A lot of times, the cold open of this show will give us a tonal hint towards what we’re going to have to deal with, and the cold open in “Sine Qua Non” does a wonderful job of this. In short: everything is awkward and awful, and it’s going to hurt. A lot.<\/p>\n

The main thrust of this all centers around Lee Adama, who consults with Romo Lampkin (PLEASE BE IN EVERY EPISODE MARK SHEPPARD) to find an interim replacement for Roslin instead of allowing Zarek to become president. I sort of thought how shitty all this must be for Zarek. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6every time he’s almost in charge of things, someone ruins it for him and he’s pushed aside for like five episodes before showing up again. The eternal pushover!<\/p>\n

Anyway, I don’t the show was necessarily hiding the fact that putting Romo and Lee together would inevitably end with Lee being the one recommended as the interim president, so the writers decide to focus on Adama, Tigh, and the way in which Romo manipulates Lee while he deals with his own loss. Obviously, the disappearance of Roslin directly affects Adama and disrupts Lee’s life, but I rather enjoyed how Tigh was bought into the story. I’m still confused as to why<\/em> Tigh continues to see Ellen in Caprica Six, but I was surprised to see Adama outright confirm that he knew Tigh was seeing Caprica Six. I genuinely don’t think she’s playing mind games with him; in fact, I am believing less and less that she even knows Tigh is one of the Final Five. I think it’s Tigh<\/em> who is projecting Ellen on to her. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6that makes me sad. Tigh. You are making me so sad<\/em> because your life is tragedy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I take back any statements I’ve made regarding how vulnerable Adama has been in the past, as this episode is the definitive example of Adama being vulnerable. And adorable. We’ll get to the adorable in a bit, but what’s so striking about his portrayal in “Sine Qua Non” is how he has decided to stop hiding his feelings for Laura Roslin. Admittedly, it’s taken her disappearance for him to start admitting all of this to other people, and it only gets more blatant as the situation becomes more desperate. The pieces and clues of what’s happened begin to slowly creep in: Pike is returned to the fleet in a destroyed Raptor, the exact one used as a shuttle for Baltar, Roslin, and Helo, and Racetrack finds his corpse inside. Even worse, when Racetrack and Skulls follow the coordinates of where the Raptor jumped from, they discover the “graveyard” of Vipers and basestars. Was the rebel basestar destroyed? Was the Resurrection Hub taken out?<\/p>\n

Tigh admits to Adama that this is probably not a good sign, but Adama holds out on his hope. More than ever before, what we witness on Adama’s part is the fact that he is losing his capacity to be pragmatic. It sort of reminded me of Starbuck’s insistence on going back to save Anders, even if it wasn’t the most practical idea of all time. We can see how much this hurts him to have Laura gone, and I think Tigh can see it, too. Hell, even the way that Adama looks upon his longtime friend shows just how torn up he is over this. Why else would he visit Cottle to ask about Roslin’s Doloxan treatments will be affected by this? Because he obviously loves her and my shipper heart can’t handle this.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Dr. Cottle\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.there’s actually not a whole lot in “Sine Qua Non” that’s terribly shocking. Which is not what I expect from Battlestar Galactica<\/em>! But it still makes absolutely no more sense than it did when Adama confronted Tigh about the fact that CAPRICA-SIX IS PREGNANT<\/strong>. WHAT THE FUCK?!!?!?!??!<\/em> How is that even possible? Have the writers just been leaving out their sexy time escapades from their visits? HOW CAN TWO CYLONS EVEN CREATE A CHILD? What the fuck WHAT THE FUCK! i can’t deal MY ABILITY TO CAN IS DEFUNCT.<\/p>\n

Oh right, THERE’S STILL HALF THE EPISODE LEFT why are you dropping bombs in the middle of my episodes, BSG<\/em>. Because amidst this, we have Romo Lampkin. Oh, my beautiful Romo Lampkin, you continue to manipulate the people around you while<\/em> having a nervous breakdown over the death of your cat at the same fucking time. Sorry, I would lose my shit, too, if someone killed my cats. Truthfully, I didn’t know what was going on until he revealed it to Lee later on. Something seemed off about his conversation with Admiral Adama on the hanger deck, as if he was working something out in his head while trying to get a feel for what Adama is going through. The conversation quickly addresses the idea of hope, and I wonder if it was Romo’s intention all along to trigger Adama into either accepting Zarek or giving up his own position. I think I ultimately believed it was unintentional, a mere coincidence of sorts. But the two come to terms with what their limits are. What can’t they live without? Where do they draw the line?<\/p>\n

We see how this idea causes both men to react differently. In Romo’s case, we see\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6shit, do I refer to him as Head Lance? I suppose so. WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING? Oh god, it’s a ghost head cat, basically. I almost want to laugh because it’s so depressing it’s nearly funny. Romo essentially breaks at this point in the story, coming to terms with a silent and unintentional manipulation by Lee Adama. When he confronts Lee about this, he states this plainly: why else did they disregard forty-seven other candidates who weren’t qualified enough?<\/p>\n

AND THEN HE PULLS OUT A GUN ON LEE WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ll admit to not really understanding what Romo did while it was happening, but in hindsight, it seems more obvious that it was a combination of being overwhelmed and a desire to test Lee to see if he truly wanted the role of President. It’s an awkward moment, for sure, but what would Battlestar Galactica<\/em> be without awkwardness??? It’s like the life fuel of this goddamn show I SWEAR. Sometimes, it’s as pronounced as this situation (Romo, you are honestly not very threatening with a gun), or it’s ironically awkward, like when Adama steps down as Admiral AND GIVES LEADERSHIP TO TIGH<\/em>. Adama. ADAMA! YOU JUST GAVE THE FLEET TO A CYLON. Oh god, and a Cylon you love and respect, and it is going to break your heart until the end of fucking time when you find out<\/strong>. God, how long can this charade last? IT IS GETTING TO BE TOO MUCH JFC SERIOUSLY<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I’m not used to this show ending on a “positive” note. I use that word loosely because I know that things are pretty goddamn awful for the fleet in general, but this particular episode gives us two amazing things. First of all, JAKE IS BACK. Oh my god SPECTACULAR I would like a dog again, please. Oh god, I miss having a dog SO MUCH. And this dog helped the rebellion!!! None of the dogs I’ve owned in the past have ever done such a thing! WHY DOES THIS EXCITE ME SO MUCH??<\/p>\n

Secondly, and you’ll have to excuse the Doctor Who<\/em> reference, “Sine Qua Non” gives us the man who waited. I feel like I have finally become a whole person because my shipper heart has had his ship completely and totally validated by this show. I can now become a real boy<\/em>. Adama has made up his mind. Laura Roslin is without which it could not be. He cannot live with out her. So, for the first time in forty years, he dons a Raptor flight uniform, refers to himself as Husker, and sits in a lone Raptor at the rendezvous point, Searider Falcon<\/em> in hand, waiting for Roslin to return.<\/p>\n

YOU SLAY ME, ADAMA. oh my god.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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