TV.com

Battlestar Galactica Season 1 Episode 18

Murder on the Rising Star

Favorite

Watched It I've Watched This 1

Next
Episode Previous
Episode

8.3

User Rating

57 votes

Your Rating: 10
Your Rating: 9.5
Your Rating: 9
Your Rating: 8.5
Your Rating: 8
Your Rating: 7.5
Your Rating: 7
Your Rating: 6.5
Your Rating: 6
Your Rating: 5.5
Your Rating: 5
Your Rating: 4.5
Your Rating: 4
Your Rating: 3.5
Your Rating: 3
Your Rating: 2.5
Your Rating: 2
Your Rating: 1.5
Your Rating: 1

Rate Now

EPISODE REVIEWS
By TV.com Users

Write A Review

Episode Summary

EDIT

AIRED: 2/18/79

When Starbuck's rival in a popular sporting event is found murdered, all the evidence points to Starbuck as the culprit. Apollo defends his friend at trial even as others race to find the real killer and prove Starbuck's innocence.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

Starbuck is accused of murdering a rival Triad player, and a regular Whodunnit ensues, shedding some new light on the last hours of Caprica before the Colonies fell.

6.7

By Henotheist, Jul 23, 2008

This episode reminds us how painfully small the Galactica cast is, sometimes: it is very difficult to pull off a high-stakes murder mystery when all of our sympathies as an audience are placed so narrowly on the five or six main protagonists.

The story seems contrived and miswritten in several places: the tension all lies in the fact that this particular advanced civilization only allows about 10 hours for people to investigate a high-profile murder case (!); Baltar cuts a deal with Apollo, but the terms of this deal are never really put forth in the episode (off the prison barge, but where is he now? is he trustworthy again? etc. etc.).

The inclusion of Karibdis (Charybdis) and his part in betraying the Cylons is an interesting detail, but the detail is really offered too late in the season (and without what might be a warranted surprise) to really make this episode shine. All in all, a pretty average episode.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Flag
Share Hide
Interesting... for reasons other than plot. Scenes that resonate in today's world.

7.9

By kyravon, Apr 03, 2008

I enjoyed this episode for it's exploration of the legal system.

The fact that a Judge (I think that's what the "Sire" who arrested Starbuck was) could go on a talk show and talk about the fact that Starbuck would be found guilty was strange to me. However in a move startlingly prescient, the fact that people would dissect on television what the legal team of a famous defendant was doing was sadly spot on.

Another scene that is probably much more resonant several decades later, is when Boomer & Apollo are in the "computer" room. They're standing in front of these ancient 1970's wall size computer banks and Boomer is talking about how fast technology changes and how complicated the systems are to use. They then use a vocal interface to talk to the computer - again something that was probably not a forseeable development..

And finally, in what is probably a complete coincidence, one of the scenes seemed exactly like one I'd seen before. When the body is first shown, there is nothing more than a hand sticking out of an elevator door that is repeatedly trying to shut. Nearly the same scene appears in a Remington Steele episode (season 1 "In the Steele of the Night") where an old boss of Laura's is found dead with only his stand sticking out of an elevator that is repeatedly trying to close. Maybe the shows shared a cinematographer. Or it's just a cool shot.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Flag
Share Hide

See All Fan Reviews

Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Tony Swartz	Lieutenant Jolly
Dirk Benedict	Lieutenant Starbuck
Laurette Spang	Cassiopeia
Lorne Greene	Commander Adama
Richard Hatch	Captain Apollo
Herbert Jefferson Jr.	Lieutenant Boomer

See All Cast & Crew

Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

Brock Peters	Chief Opposer Solon	Guest Star
Patricia Stich	Broadcaster Zara	Guest Star
W.K. Stratton	Barton	Guest Star

See All Cast & Crew

Watch Online

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (2)
ADD TRIVIA
- Goof: When Apollo is waiting on the shuttle preparing to launch back to the prison barge he is looking at the cargo weight meter to see if someone gets on the ship. At first glance, the meter reads 2250. The scene cuts away to someone approaching the shuttle and back to the meter, which now reads 2425. Back to the feet of the person who climbs aboard the shuttle and the meter jumps from 2250 to 2425 which Apollo acknowledges with a nod.
  EDIT SHARE
- Goof: Civilian authorities appear to overly involved--Council security guarding him (despite apparently being on the Galactica), a civilian prosecutor ("opposer"). Yet in Greetings from Earth (1), it is made clear that civilian ("Council") authorities do not have jurisdiction over military personnel.
  EDIT SHARE
QUOTES (4)
ADD QUOTES
- Boomer: (while standing in front of huge computer banks) These computers get more complicated every yahren.
  EDIT SHARE
- Starbuck: Apollo! Thanks, I owe you my life!
  Apollo: Don't thank me, thank Baltar! He saved both of us, but he's not very thrilled about it...! Heh... heh...
  EDIT SHARE
- Baltar: I'll point out Karibdis for you.. for a price...
  Apollo: Your release from the prison barge...
  Baltar: Bright lad ! You'll go far...!
  EDIT SHARE
- Starbuck: ( gesturing towards TV monitor image of Chief Opposer) He's got me convicted before I've even got a chance to be heard !
  EDIT SHARE
NOTES (0)
ADD NOTES
- ADD NOTES from this episode.
ALLUSIONS (0)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.