Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:39:00
Battlestar Galactica - The Son Also Rises
I have a good feeling about this week. No I don’t. But I am trying to convince myself that I do. :)
TiVo synopsis: “Sabotage dissension and unlikely alliances cause complication as the fleet awaits the trial of Gaius Baltar.” So, Battlestar 90210 then? Got it. Moving on.
- The recap, of course, is about Baltar, the book, Zarek’s warnings about the trial, Lee becoming a lawyer and Starbuck’s apparent...suicide? Reclamation by the Cylons? Whatever.
- Open on the Old Man reading Starbuck’s file. Cut to a lottery drawing where the captain of The Gideon’s name was drawn - cut back to Adama reading page after page of Kara’s disciplinary warnings. Cut to the President drawing one last name, and it is… Cut to Adama again. Kara snuck something into her own file. A hand-made card that read “You were always like a father to me” and a photo inside that showed her with a handlebar mustache drawn on. Aww…
- Anders is not dealing with Kara’s “death” very well. He’s drunk on the flight deck. Lee gets interrupted putting Starbuck’s photo on the memorial wall...he comes to try to help Anders. “I think I fell.” Yeah, off the top of a Viper, ya drunk Irish-wakin’ bastard. :) Hey, Anders could be Irish.
- Adama was the last name picked. Hey, there’s a surprise.
- Getting ready to fly Baltar’s lawyer back to his ship, and someone rigged the Raptor to kill the lawyer but not the pilot. Here’s the thing - that would take an intimate knowledge of explosives AND the design of a Raptor. Sounds like a deck crew member to me. Or a Raptor jockey. Or both. Credits.
- 41,399. We lost Starbuck since last count. Well, and now the lawyer. One dead lawyer is a good start! (sorry jo-jo!) ;)
- Colonial One - press conference about the assassination. OK, that is definitely a little current-day political dig. “As long as I am president this administration will not allow terrorism to alter the framework of our legal system.” Unlike those evil Republicans and their demon leader George W. Nazi!
- Galactica - Pilot;s ready room, Lee CAGing it up and making some basic errors. Then, when Racetrack cracks a joke Lee yells “Hey, you got lucky Starbuck...” Ouch.
- Colonial One - We get to meet some dude who wants to defend Baltar. He was a public defender back on Caprica. He’s EXTREMELY sleazy looking and carries a cat. I’m not sure why, or if it’s just one of those things that writers throw in trying to make a character more interesting and edgy since he stated how he hates the cat but it was his wife’s. With this guy it’s totally unnecessary, as his accent and sleazy demeanor automatically make you pay attention. Of course maybe the cat means something later...or the cat is a frigging cylon. Lately I wouldmn’t put it past these writers.
- Galactica - Old Man assigns Lee to security for Sleazebag McCatHater. Lee knows it’s about getting him out of the air, and Helo is taking the job of CAG. Lee’s pissed. Adama is right though.
- Lawyer wants to meet with Baltar, and he’s suspicious that all the usual rooms are bugged. Turns out Lawyer McAccenty was taught by Joseph Adama. Yoinks.
- Cut to someone building a bomb. Donna says that’s a woman’s hand. Could be. Could also just be a small dude. Commercial.
- Jesus Baltar gets led up the hill to Gethsemane to meet with his lawyer. All Baltar can think about is writing more. The lawyer seems to like the idea. Gaius wants Lawyerman to meet with Six. After the meeting, Lawyer pokes at Lee to get him to fly Lawyerman to Colonial One.
- On the flight deck, we find someone preventing Lee from boarding the Raptor - on the surface it looks like Adama’s orders being carried out, that Lee is to stay aboard Galactica, but then we see the bomb. Athena is driving the Raptor...so, either this is going to kill someone and not her, or someone planted it and doesn’t care if it kills a Marine or two and Athena, since she;s a toaster anyway. Tyrol looks...complicit. Maybe the little chick fingers building the bomb were Cally’s? This could be a huge conspiracy.
Then the cat runs away and everyone starts climbing under the Raptor and Chief finds the bomb.
- Adama is tearing Lee a new ass. He’s right - the evil Lawyer was leading Lee around by the nose, and Lee screwed up by not checking the ship. Then they start arguing over who lost more when Starbuck “died.”
- During the break the question of the week is “Why has Romo Lampkin taken Baltar’s case?” The answer is obviously C, his true motives have yet to be revealed. More importantly however, is what moron thought up the name “Romo Lampkin” and why have they not actually told us the frackin jagoff’s name in the actual program yet?
- Back from break and Chief clearly isn’t behind it. The deck crew is arguing and Cally throws a few insults at Sharon/Athena. Oh sure, when something goes wrong always blame the fracking Cylon, how convenient! ;)
- Lee’s trying to help Rupert Pupkin or whatever his stupid name is...teaching him how to be secure. Pumpkin doesn’t seem to care. Probably because he’s also a Cylon. EVERYONE IS A FRIGGING CYLON. Maybe that’s the big mystery of the show - there are a lot more than 12 models, and like, only four humans actually survived. Everyone is a frigging Cylon.
- I hate that Baltar’s cell is just spray-painted pegboard. It looks ridiculous, and most things on this show are not that cheesy.
- Umm...Baltar is missing his pen. The President is missing her glasses. What’s going on? Spells? DNA testing? Miniature bombs? The cat;s a klepto? Anyway, Lee is now starting to act as defense advocate...which sucks, but he kind of has to do in the interest of fair play. If they’re not going toss Gaius out an airlock, they have to give him every benefit afforded a defendant under whatever law they’re running with.
- Why does the lawyer always wear sunglasses indoors? Anyway he’s interviewing Six. Damn she’s hot. Pumpkin is prattling on about a woman he loved, and he sounds like he’s saying exactly what Six needs to hear and not really speaking the truth. Holy crap he took off his sunglasses. Calculated. He gives Six Gaius’ pen. OK...he’s convincing Six that Gaius is far, far more devoted to her than he really is. Seems like an obvious ploy. She gives the pen back.
Then Lawyerman explains that she’s alive at the whim of Adama and Roslin...and informs her that he wouldn’t help her for ten times the money he’s getting for Baltar.
Lawyer: “Now tell me, does your love hurt as much as mine?
Six: “Yes”
Roslin: “I feel like part of our world just fell down.”
Then the Old man grabs at his stomach where he was shot and seems to check for blood. I gotta admit I don’t get this sequence. It really doesn’t matter what Six says. This whole trial is basically a dog and pony show. Of course this being the year that Battlestar Galactica does actually get preachy and, let’s face it, left wing and overly liberal, Gaius Baltar will go free and it will be Adama that casts the deciding vote. Because following the rules is more important that actually prosecuting a criminal.
- Lee is going to have to break his “confidentiality” agreements - the lawyer is playing dirty and he plans to tell the world that Gaius was “silenced.” Lee’s not going to keep that quiet. They’re chatting amicably over drinks about how Lee’s grandfather defended the worts of the worst.
Rico Pumpkin isn’t a lawyer - he was a client of Joseph Adama’s. I bet he falsified his past. Pumpkin also tells Lee the story about his lost love is true.
- In the hall, a Marine saves Pumpkin’s life - someone rigged the door to the head. That could kill the first person who had to cop a squat. This is clearly going too far, as though the last big bomb wasn’t.
- Donna made a good point - this episode is a lot more subtle than the last 6 or 8 have been. It’s filled with tension which is nice.
- Back from break - Lee found Roslin’s glasses in the lawyer’s bag, as well as a button from Adama’s uniform. It’s tarnished. Ham-fisted writing! So that’s why Adama grabbed at his belly - he felt the missing button. DAMN. It was way cooler when i thought he was reaching for an imaginary wound. He seems to have stolen something from everyone involved. He’s a complete klepto. He’s trying to come off as deep and meaningful by reading about people from their things, but I don’t buy it. I think it’s just that he’s a thief and this is how he justifies to himself. See, no need for the cat - this makes him more interesting. The cat was totally superfluous.
- Then Lee finds what I think is a detonator? The Lawyer says he stole it from Kelly. Kelly admits it. He says that he will keep trying to kill Baltar’s lawyers unless they lock him up.
- Somehow this leads to the Old Man re-instating Lee as CAG. 1. Did I miss a frigging edit somewhere? Was there a scene that demonstrated Lee is back to 100% mental acuity required for combat flying? 2. Was accidentally finding the detonator and having that lead to finding the saboteur really proof that he’s over Starbuck? That is really jarring...it feels like a scene is missing. Lee wants to stay on as defense assistant. Bill wants Lee to resume flying because, as Lee seems to have guessed - Bill thinks Lee is getting a bit too much like Grandpa Joe and defending scum, and of course facing off against the Old Man again. And that’s that...Lee gets his wish and Helo stays on as CAG. I actually like that idea because i want to see Helo do that job. I hope we get to actually see him in that role.
- Anders and Lee meet at the memorial wall. They seem to have bonded somewhat over Kara’s death...I suppose that’s to be expected.
- Gaius is going slightly mad. It’s mostly rabid paranoia, which seems like a perfectly reasonable reaction to being watched and recorded every minute of every day and also knowing you are the most hated human being alive. Lee left him the pen, and the lawyer wrote a note that said “There’s no greater ally, no force more powerful, no enemy more resolved than a son who chooses to step from his father’s shadow.” So we’re going with Adama versus Adama again. As if we haven’t seen it before. As if we didn’t see Lee get as much respect as Bill Adama knows how to give another human when he named Lee commander of the Pegasus. As if they didn’t just do the whole thing with Lee and Bill and Mom. Nope...we get to do it all over again.
Why should we tell a new story when we can keep going back to the well? I know it’ll be awesomely performed by Bamber and Olmos. I’m sure that the show will end this season with a bang. However, at this moment, the whole thing is leaving a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, which sucks because this was a pretty good episode.
I guess I’m just tired of this endless circular argument the two of them always have. This had better end with some kind of resolution, like Lee is actually a Cylon or some shit.
Posted by JimK at 10:39 PM on March 11, 2007
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Comments:
#2 Posted by mgnmfrc1 
on 03/12 at 06:08 PM -
I guess I’m just tired of this endless circular argument the two of them always have. This had better end with some kind of resolution
You may not get one. How did Bill and Grandpa Jo get along? I don’t know enough about the back story to tell.
My newbie eyes tell me either Bill and Jo didn’t get along and going into the military was against Jo’s wishes to piss him off. Maybe Bill saw Jo sink into the abyss of defending scum and wanted to get as far away from that as he could to maintain his integrity (personal experience for me). I assume Jo is dead, Bill has regrets. Maybe one of those is Lee following in his footsteps when he should of, could of, followed in Jo’s. This type of argument never resolves shy of submission, don’t talk about it or be adults and agree to disagree and be happy.
We didn’t need to know Layer Mcsleazy’s name if he got blasted in his first appearance. Maybe he’s a cylon plant and “senses much anger” in Lee. Pitting the Adama’s against each other is a brilliant tactical maneuver for the defense, if it was planned. (got the idea from preview of next week with six and one eye smacking it up).
Bill thought security was low enough that Lee could get back to flying, or maybe he picked up something else when Lee was in with Baltar and Layer. He did reach for his stomach, maybe the button was removed from THAT particular place because it was over the old wound. Layers comment about tarnished, tired soldier who has had enough or something may have been right on.
Reading people quickly and accurately is a well honed lawyer skill. Layers have potential jurors summed up long before they aver ask a single question, that’s how they pick the jurors they want.
#3 Posted by Harley W Daugherty on 03/12 at 07:14 PM -
I Sure hope all these Can shows mean they are saving their FX budget up for something WILD!
All this melodrama is getting boring..
#4 Posted by bgeek on 03/12 at 07:33 PM -
How did Bill and Grandpa Jo get along? I don’t know enough about the back story to tell.
Just wait for next weeks episode. :)
#5 Posted by Digger on 03/13 at 02:26 AM -
Actually wait for the next 3 episodes where the soap opera continues and we find out that
1) Lee has an evil twin he constantly fights with
2) Lee also has a long lost sister who has emotional conflict issues with Bill and we have to watch in detail every nuance
3) Roslin decides to enter a 12 step program to deal with her anguish over having a secret crush on Gaius.
#6 Posted by Christian on 03/14 at 12:56 AM -
Overall not a bad episode, much better than we have had all year. B+
On the whole Baltar thing, a friend of mine summed it up really well. I was telling him how they were bringing him in and Baltar was yelling bout getting his trial. My friend pointed out the problem was not anyone listening to him, but that they had a perfectly good Airlock right there, and didn’t use it....
“Cycling Air Lock 1”
#7 Posted by Mazz on 03/14 at 01:17 PM -
Not seeing twitchy baltar as jesus much at all.
More like Judas Iscariot, AKA Kafka. He betrayed, now he cannot die, and, in a way, is full of guilt and remorse.
I understand Lee’s grief. he lost his wife. He lost his true love (maybe). And he almost lost the only thing he had left, flying.
Jesus? The Lawyer. In a way, he is bringing some healing. Lee: “is that true what you said about your wife?” Cap6: “Yes, my pain is as deep as yours.” They should keep him around, challenging the other characters.
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I think the cat means lawyer man is telling the truth about his love that he lost. That’s a deep pain so he has feelings. Or it is pure misdirection and manipulation. I don’t know any back story about Granpa Adama. When you only deal with freaks you tend to lose yourself.
Why is he a klepto? Strange. Maybe it gives him a sense of power, but what he takes is significant and important to the person, Rosalyn’s glasses, Adama’s tarnished button, Baltar’s pen, the shoe has me at a loss. Hmm, maybe he just stole the damn cat from some chick he was peeping?
Amen sister. Truth doesn’t matter, but how much you care?
Jesus Baltar will not die, immediately anyway, he should, but that’s what we want, vengance. He’s also a main character so come on, but I guess Starbuck was too. Lawyer boy wants the case for the fame, Johnny Cochoran anyone? He takes the case, win, lose, draw or get blown up in the shitter before the trial even starts, his name is attached to the biggest trial in history, forever. Maybe lawyer man is just a pathetic narcissist like Jesus Baltar?
Baltar is going crazy, and that’s why he won’t die immediately. Insanity defense. The system must work or why fight for it? It must work for even the worst piles of shit. But justice must be based upon truth and fairness, not who cares the most. Baltar’s death will be slow and painful as he slips into a state of babbling rhetoric, completely engulfed by his narcissism and tormented by it. He thinks he has all the answers but he has none, no one is listening, and no one cares for his all most important life, except for his emotionally immature skin job hottie. Hottie aside, his best punishment is total isolation, he will kill himself, slowly. The damage has been done, throwing him out an air lock may be satisfying, but won’t change anything. Maybe once he is babbling uncontrollably we might get some important info from him, something six gave him? Killing Six might actually push Baltar over the edge and if done at the right time of emotional turmoil may have other benefits too.