Battlestar Galactica

Flight of the Phoenix was another perfect and astounding episode of Battlestar Galactica and I really enjoyed watching because there was a lot of character development, some action, and other touching moments. It was cool how Chief Tyrol built the Blackbird and Helo's idea was great. It was interesting to see how others were adjusting to him. Adama uses Sharon to save the fleet from a few hundred raiders in an awesome scene. The characters are what really made the episode great and in the last scene Chief Tyrol tries to reconnect with this version of Sharon. I look forward to watching the next episode!!!!!!!!!

A lot of plot elements that had to just sit on the back-burner, in order to accommodate for the bigger picture, come rushing to the forefront in this character-driven episode. And yep, I'm not afraid to admit that I welled up just a tad toward Laura's reaction to seeing her name engraved on the new ship that Chief Tyrol built.

I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it again: Mary McDonnell is such an absolutely terrific actor. Every single moment with Roslin feels utterly sincere, and her reaction acting is absolutely flawless. She managed to capture joy, heart-break and hope masterfully during the final moments of the episode. And her reaction to Doc Cottle's prognosis was just so believable and realistic. Hats off to her!

Elsewhere the episode deals with the changing dynamics with the crew now that Helo and Sharon are back from Caprica. Tyrol still has so much love for Sharon, which is more than a little conflicting for him, since it's not actually the Sharon he grew to love. He's rightfully miffed over

With a cylon virus onboard, Adama, too, must set aside his prejudices of Sharon and ask for her help. I know that he has every single right to want her dead, but hopefully now her efforts here will prove to him that there is something inherently different about this cylon model. And how cool was that visual of the hundreds of infected cylon fighters crashing into each other? That FX shot of one particular raider cut in half was beautiful and horrible at the same time. Basically, my kind of awesome.

A few notables...

It's rare to see an actor coming off genuine when they're forced to endure a laughing scene. Katee's laugh really did seem like it was induced from a lack of oxygen. Maybe she's very method and had all of the air vacuumed from that set?

Gotta love the new viper! I hope we continue to see it throughout the season.

Ew, that scene where Sharon gets very Matrix-y for a moment made me uncomfortable. I loved Tigh's ''what the hell'' reactions.

Oh no, Billy, is Lee moving in on your gal?

All in all, a solid character-driven episode.

Damn that cold open was crazy good., probably the best one since Kobol's Last Gleaming Pt. 1. I loved the shots of Chief diagnosing the Viper interspersed with flashbacks of his time with Sharon. Him still trying to come to grips with how he could have loved(and still does love) a Cylon made for a powerful scene. His confrontation with Helo was the best part though and the best dialogue Chief has gotten thus far.



Chief: "Did she fill you in on the rest of the plan? She and I were gonna muster out at the end of our service. Ya know, that we would get married, maybe we would have children. I guess I'm just a big frakking idiot though, huh? Probably that Gods damned toaster's plan all along-"

Helo: "Don't call her that."

Chief: "-sucker some...moron into giving her a kid. Hey, but you know what? I should probably be grateful to you. Probably be grateful. You know why? 'Cause that freak in her belly could have been mine."



The card game was also a good scene(they always are) and helped set the tone of the episode as well as Helo's mood going into his scene with Chief.



I loved the plot involving the whole crew working on the Blackbird, seeing them come back from the edge of depression, exhaustion, and anger was an uplifting moment. And I couldn't believe my ears during the scene with Chief and Tigh in the tool room when Tigh offered Chief the engines he needed, that's gotta be like the first nice thing he's ever done. And even if they did take a little jam out of my donut by christening the Blackbird Laura, I still really enjoyed the scene. And Roslin was pretty good in this episode, the scene where she returned Adama's book got to me and I couldn't help but feel for her character. Though I do get the feeling that her one month life expectancy will somehow get extended.



On the negative side, I wasn't crazy about the Cylon virus plot. I mean, it was okay up until Sharon's scenes in the CIC, but that's where I lost interest. It's just, they reiterate again and again that she's(and all Cylons like her) as human as can be, and yet then they have her hot wire herself directly into a computer system? It was a little too sci-fi for me, if you know what I mean. Not saying it was bad sci-fi, just not to my liking. Plus the drama seemed a little hokey, with Adama pulling a gun on her and Tigh yelling to shoot her, it was just too much in my opinion. That look Sharon gives Adama after he orders her back to her cell was damn good though.



Brilliant cold open and some okay scenes throughout the episode, but it did lose some points for the Sharon/virus thing.

While this episode cannot stand alone as a story within a story - it does give us more insight and character development of people we want to see more of.



Chief has always been my favorite character - to see this big lug of a man work out his anger, fear, and frustration is something nice to behold. Here is a man that loved a toaster, was left betrayed by all she said to him, and through it all, must prove to everyone around him that he is still the same great human being that they have always known and respected. With the creation of "LAURA" you see that he is a man that can handle his past mistakes and make somethiing useful from his lessons. Bravo to Aaron Douglas for his wonderful portryal of this multi-leveled character.



Now as for Halo - he must go a step further and prove himself to everyone tenfold since he is the father of the Cyclon/Human hybrid. Only he knows that the baby is alive, they seem to have not shown the baby or Boomer still being pregnant for some reason!



Tigh is still an arrogant space idiot who needs to be retired soon - him and his hosebag of a wife.



Adama - sternfaced as ever must use the enemy of his enemy to stop his enemy - well-played on his part...but one shot to her leg would have been nice...just a little payback for some of his pain!



Madame President - dying, even moreso than led to believe - and I truely don't want her to leave the show - she is such a wonderful actress - I adore her turning the pages and shaking while reading her own medical report - her face is unshaken, but her hands tell a different tale.



overall - this series and the writing, just keeps getting better and better - can't wait for the season end when the "PEGASUS" shows up - it's going to be a bumpy ride when someone with more authority than Adama takes charge - and it's a woman (bout time!)

We all watch TV and while some of it is good and others are bad we all search for a story we can really get lost in.



The story line that is playing out is a great story of humanity and hope. We see it in few shows. We have all the angels shows that breed religion, but never one that would go outside the boundaries of the typical drama.



This show takes drama and hope to a new level. Sci-fi has always been about hope. Hope for a new race, hope for the future, hope that mankind will grow and survive. Finally a shows has come to TV that expresses itself in such a manner that it hits all the right buttons.



This episode was a crucial one for the season. I would go so far to say it was a defining moment in several characters of the show. Of course my favorite plot lines have been the Helios, Boomer and Chief. Along with Amdama's struggle to allow Sharon back into his life.



Every show about hope brings in the element of a new eapon or tool for the underdogs to use against the overwhelming enemy. While some may say it was the Phoenix, I saw it was the character coming together and showing unification.



Many Kudo to this episode!

Flight of the Phoenix was an enjoyable episode to watch. After the adrenaline high of Home, everyone comes back down to earth (pun intended), and the realization hits them that the daily routine and each other is all they have to look forward to, and everyone goes a little crazy. Tigh is nice to someone, Gaeta is insubordinate, Tyrol builds an entirely new ship, Starbuck beats the crap out of a girl who's antagonizi- wait, that's her acting normal.



There are a few plot holes noted in one of the reviews above, although I don't think there were as many as that reviewer suggests. The two that I think are actually notable is that Starbuck and Apollo were laughing as they were being deprived oxygen, when they should have simply passed out, and that if Cylon physiology is the same as humans, how was Boomer able to disable the Cylon fighters with a fiber-optic cable in her hand?



Aside from all that, it became fairly clear that the Cylons are again trying to get the fleet to trust Boomer once again into thinking that she is on the Colonials' side. Helo has been "saved" by her enough times that he has already bought into it. Adama still called her a "thing" at the end of the crisis, but is he now having doubts after being saved twice by her?



The moment when the name of the stealth fighter was revealed was extremely touching, and I found myself getting misty-eyed. President Roslin might not live much longer, but her name will live on through the fighter.

The entire episode was a load of baloney.

The issues i had with this episode



SPOILERS AHEAD - WARNING...



1. Every one isolates Helo cause he fracked cylon Sharon #2 and is pregnant with his kid. A guy who's in love with a freak.... But hey-dee-ho - with a brilliant flash of 'genius' - "why don't we use carbon composite to skin the plane?" turns him into everyone's friend? Bullshit!



2. Oh yeah.. while you're at it, since there isn't any steel,metal or aluminium to outfit the new Blackbird, how is it that they had loads of spare carbon composite sheets lying about doing nothing?? Might i remind the script writers that carbon composite can't be molded like metal? - and thus cannot be 'salvaged' or 'cannibalized' from other sources! Carbon composites need to be precisely cut from sheets to get the accurate shapes of an aircraft.



3. The oxygen loss portion - The first guy drops waaay earlier than the rest, and he wasn't even talking or laughing like Starbuck! And what's with the laughter? Oxygen loss causes gasping not laughing!



4. Computer viruses shouldn't have spread from one system to another as they pulled the plug after they calculated the jump coordinates in the previous episode. ASSUMING that the virus copied itself into ALL Battlestar systems in that short period when it was attacking the firewall, it should still be unable to coordinate and test the ship's weaknesses or shutdown the systems at once during the cylon attack since they're not networked!



4. The walked Sharon from her cell to the bridge without clearing out the path from personnel? What are they thinking of - a repeat cylon murder??



5. The optics cable link into Sharon's palm was crap - aren't cylons supposed to be exactly like human? I'd cut up that hand to have a look inside it.



I agree with some of the other reviewers that there are some good moments:

1. Laura's acting when receiving news that she's got 1 month tops to live

2. That the crew put in tremendous effort and cooperation to build the Blackbird and naming it after their president.

3. Sharon's, Laura's acting were top notch as always.



Overall i wish that this was just a filler episode and i could forget that it aired, but something tells me that the Blackbird Laura is gonna have significant impact on Galactica's cause

They have had great episodes full of hope lately and I am so happy for it. This one was very good char development - specially on Chief side. He has been the one left with nothing and how his wounds are shown at the beginning and how, trough the episode, with that ship, he finds a meaning and they all do and come up with wonderful spacecraft.



And Roslin, when she sees her name of the ship, thinking of it all - having weeks to live and those tears - it was so emotional.



And I cannot say that payback time was not bad either - lot of not working toasters to blow off the sky.

This is a really good one, this episode has everything inside - love story, anger, jealousy, hope, danger, handling of the danger and a happy end! We see Sharon helping the Galactica and we have to guess again - is she maybe not as bad as the other cylons or is she? Then an interesting confrontation happens when the chief and Helo speaks about Sharon, it is the first time they open speak about the girl/cylon, they are both in love with. I think some of you was waiting for it since Sharon "got unfaithful" to the chief with Halo on Caprica.

We have some character developement and some plot developement too. At least - a very good episode, gimme more of that!

This is one of my favorite episodes. It reminded me of when I was younger and built stuff from extra wood and construction material around the house. I managed to built a few interesting items. Tyrol idea quickly became a reality that everyone pitched in from a little hard work and some bartering and what they came out with was awesome. While it doesn’t look like a Viper Mark V it does look great. The final paint job was a great finishing touch. The rest of the filler time with the virus was ok but the main story is what sets this one apart as the best of the season so far.

***This review details –» this is a "I" perspective, based in what I like and recognize to be good or interesting, this is not a "god" where the guy thinks what he thinks is the true or the "you" perspective where I know what you will like and what you don´t.***



After so many conflicts created, there were many reactions to address and this is exactly the story of this episode, Chief, Helo, Adama, Sharron and the Virus. This is why the drama is the focus, mixed with a problem, but viewing the plot, it seems like pure filler, but was well made. The climax had good tension and had a funny part. The closure was very emotional.



Presentation Phase - » (9/10) great,

Complication Phase - » (8/10) a virus and character development,

Climax Phase - » (8/10) a funny part and some tension,

Ending - » (9/10) great emotional closure,



Even with the virus problem that can be considered filler, was very well explored. The progression is in term of character development, so hardly we could have plot flaws. The storyline is focused in the character, but without a real closure.



Details/Progress (To point A to B) -» (8/10) character development,

Time and Scene Management - » (9/10) great management,

Plot Details/Holes- » (10/10) fine,

Storyline -» (8/10) emotional,



Character development only allows great drama and some tension.



Drama - » (9/10) great emotional material,

Suspense/Tension - » (7/10) the necessary tension,



Overall, this episode was more about character development, because of some things not addressed before, so we have a great Storyline here.

Is this where the whole Cylon virus story thread was headed? Sharon plugs a wire into her arm, and a bunch of raiders go dark. Meh. At least the whole "president with cancer" storyline seems to be going somewhere at long last. It seems to me that a crew that was already overworked would find something else to do with their free time other than, you know, more work. Sure, it's a slick little ship they threw together there, but I think I probably would have written a book or something. But I guess that's why I'm writing reviews on the Internet and not a character in a sci-fi show.



I did find Laura's failing health compelling. An actress like Mary McDonnell, of course, is going to be able to do a lot when you say something like, "but if the cancer goes to your brain ..." to her. Knowing where all this is heading, of course, takes away some of the drama, but the way she sells the illness helps me forget that.



Yeah, so, I'm not really into this review. Maybe I should stop drinking while I watch BSG. Not bloody likely, though. Oh, and it what universe could Chief Tyrol take on Helo? That guy would break him in half.

This was a rather uplifting almost inspiring story in the show. The theme in the whole episode was about pulling it together, learning to rise again after all hope is nearly lost.



Everyone and everything around this episode are under circumstances that have crippled them in some way, but haven't completely destroyed them. All of what is going on in different places parallels with one another. From the physical conditions like the Cylon computer virus Galatica and the ships are infected with, a broken Raptor that will never fly again, as well Lee and Kara being trapped in a room with oxygen slowly depleting. And then there are the psychological conditions, Tyrol dealing with the loss of his significant other Sharron (well a copy of her) and Adama's continual prejudice toward Sharron (the copy in a holding cell). And of course we see all of them work it all out internally and externally. Adama learns to swallow his pride and prejudice and take a leap of fath to trust Sharron and of course it pays off when Sharron turns the Cylon's virus against them. Lee and Kara both make the best out of a bad sittuation though the power of laughter (it's always the best thing to have in the most troubled times). And of course Tyrol not just creates the first stelth ship for Galactica but accepts that Sharron is gone and he needs to move on. No matter how hard things get hope never dies.

this episode is another great bsg episode like always, i had a great time with this episode. the crew of the galactica makes a stealth ship. it's a cool spaceship. it's a great tool which hints on future dramatic turns. this hardware is perfect of bsg since this show features the hitech gear as much as the people who populated the show. this episode has great drama in it, president roslin and commander adama reunites again, they become partners once again, the crew seem to be together at this point. this is another great episode. it's really entertaining, i had a great time.

This sort of episode is exactly why I watch this show. Battlestar Galactica's foundation is the humanity of it. Obviously the episode is full of tension as the crew battles to eliminate the Cylon virus that has infected the ship's system. However, true to form, we get to see the trademark humour of the show as Starbuck and Apollo giggle their way out of jam as they attempt to escape and oxygen depleted firing range.



The episode also continues to blur the lines being Human and Cylon as, in the end, Sharon continues to seek absolution and is instrumental in saving the fleet.



As a series that is equally character driven and situational this episode encompases the gamut of what makes BSG a timeless and provocative program!

This is one of my favourite episodes

SPOILERS













I really liked the idea of them building their own fighter, they worked so hard and then eventually everyone chipped in. I also really liked (dispite the fact that i am a major supporter of Kara and Lee) I liked the moment in the gym between Dee and Lee and then they got interrupted by Billy (bless him). I liked it also when Kara, Lee and hotdog were in the shooting range and the oxygen was going down, hotdog then fell on the floor and Kara said he looked like a blueberry, I just thought that that hole scene was very funny. I also thoguht it was quite good that they had to trust Sharon to save them. Again another great episode of a very good series.

I am sick to death of people pulling apart good shows. I suppose it gives them something to do with their time or perhaps they really think that their words will matter in the long run of the show. I don't know, all I know is that I enjoyed the show, I like the fact that the Chief came to terms with his feelings for Sharon and that he is still a man with ideas. She did not totally frack him up. If you do not like the show, don't mess it up for me... I watch the shows I love and review only those of quality, anything I don't like I simply stop watching... that is my review.

Read mskogly's review of the episode and agreed with it.. but i had some additional thoughts on the subject later.. the Fleet really had no way of knowing how long before the large number of enemies before them might "purge the counter-virus" and regain control of their ships to resume the attack. Plus, although the ships were adrift, there were still live, formidable Cylons inside the ships that could still pose problems if any salvaging was attempted. Maybe Commander Adama (or was it Colonel Tigh) was thinking, kill them quickly and just try salvaging something useful from the debris later!

During the fight between Tyrol and Helo, When Tyrol is thrown back off the Raptor you can see two Camera crew guys kneeling in front of the Raptor...



I think the episode was good for the series but then when you judge it aginst the rest of the crap on TV it is awsome.

This episode showed a great deal of struggle in many ways.



First, Laura finds out that she has a month at the outside to live. She is probably one of the strongest characters on the show, because she deals with the doom of humanity as well as her impending death. To lead in that time in her life is the strongest, most selfless, and honorable thing anyone can do.



Second, Tyrol struggles with the death of "Boomer", and the return of Sharon at the same time. Note: If you haven't noticed, they have always called the current version Sharon, and the one who was murdered Boomer. When Tyrol explained to Tigh why he was building the Blackbird, you can really see the struggle with the past and the present. At the beginning he even rubbed a Viper and talked to it, something Boomer taught him. At first I thought that she really did a number on him, but I soon noticed that he was just struggling with the lies and his love for her.



Thirdly, the Galactic struggles with the oncoming Cylon attack with its infiltrated and weakened defense mainframe. Adama has to bite his tongue, and ask Sharon for help in fighting the coming Cylon forces.



At the end some of the struggles are resolved. The crew learns the meaning of teamwork again as they slowly start believing in Tyrol's vision. The win of a lifetime comes when Sharon literally plugs into the Galactica's defense mainframe, and sends a virus to the 200 Cylon Raiders waiting to attack the fleet. Shutting all of the Raiders down allows the Vipers to destroy all of them without a single death on their part. And finally the most amazing ending is the dedication of the very first stealth ship, the Blackbird, with the most emotional name possible, Laura.

This episode was a neat picture of what happens when a group of people gather to gether to rally around a cause. It is a basic human desire and can bring awesome things. What may be believed impossible by one, can be overcome by a collective desire. I thought this did a good job of showing how conflict can arise even amoung people with a common problem. Then when the conflict is resoved, it can be over come. As always, I recommedn that you watch this show.

Battlestar Galactica is struggling to find spare parts to keep their planes flying, and at the same time building a new prototype fighter from scratch.



But when the sky is suddenly (and in the same episode!) loaded with Cylon ships adrift, they simply blow them up? Even though they have already taken one apart and made it fly. Why not just collect a few hundre new planes, at least just to take them apart.



Stuff like that just irritates me.



Besides that, it was a super episode, as usual.

I was inspired by the chief and his unwillingness to give up. I like how the series tells of the crew's mental and emtional fatigue and how the cheif deals with it. His creation inspires collaboration and lifts the spirit other shipmates. Ultimately thier creation is christened with thier spiritual leader's name.

There are some really great things about it (Roslin leafing through her test results with trembling hands and the chief working through his emotional train-wreck), but in the end all this episode did was highlight the completely stupidity with which most script-writers approach science fiction:



Firstly, the blackbird. I would think that if carbon composite material were so completely undetectable by radar, that someone would have thought of using it for a stealth fighter before now, but that is a relatively minor point.



and secondly, if we think back to the first episode of season 2, we remember that gaeta had to network three of galactica myriad computer systems together in order to speed up the calculations necessary to find the fleet (although one ownders why they didn’t just keep a copy of the previous emergency coordinates, but that is a minor issue). In that episode we are expected to believe that somehow the mere act of string wires between two computers somehow makes them succeptable to a psylon attack, despite the fact that both computers are completely safe on their own and the only change is that now a wire connects the machines. Do writers even use computers? To catch a virus from a network connection, someone/thing ON the network must spread the virus. So unless, in addition to connecting the systems with physical wires, they also started up a wireless network connection, I don’t see how the psylons could infiltrate a hard-wired computer network ON-BOARD galactica. I suppose the psylons could use some sort of com laser targeted at one of galactica’s external sensor arrays to try and infect the sensor systems, but they could do that without a network and the sensor systems weren’t part of the network.



Now we fast forward to this week’s episode, when the psylon virus has somehow managed to duplicate itself and infect all the other systems on galactica, including those that were never involved in the networking to begin with.



Then we come to the amazing climax of this episode when Sharon uses her own computer virus to infect and destroy a psylon strike force. Now the human psylons are supposed to be physically and physiologically identical to humans (that was stated in part 2 of the miniseries). And I don’t know about you, but personally, I would consider any sort of fiber-optic input-output device stashed inside a forearm or any other body part to be distinctly un-human. In fact, I would suggest that such a device would be amongst my top priorities if I were performing the autopsy on a newly discovered humon-like type of psylon.



Sharon is a character that has been very well portrayed so far in the series, and that trend continues with this episode. Except for the whole fiber-optic debacle, she was great and I am very interested to hear what she and the chief had to say to one another.



All in all, this episode gets a 6.4 as a decent filler episode with good acting, but continues to highlight how little the script writers care about continuity, consistency and plausibility.

We have, in a masterful mixture, a whole lot of elements in this episodes.



A few predictables:



- according to the physician, President Roslin has three weeks left to live



- the Cylon virus from before has evolved and endangers the whole ship



- Helo and the chief get into a fistfight over Sharon



- the Cylons attack at the most improper moment.



and a few unpredictables:



- cool, controlled Gaeta starts swearing.



- the chief starts building a very special viper from scratch, trying to flee his private devils, yet inspiring the crew with a new zest for *doing* something



- Adama asks President Roslin for counsel, and we see that he is a changed man since the first season



- and some degree of attraction between Apollo and Dee begins to evolve



The storytelling is dense and gripping, and fighting onwards as darkly as we have come to like it. But what do we see developing?



Humans and Cylons gradually start moving towards each other:



- Just like the humans in previous episodes, Cylon Sharon develops a will to live, not only because it is the Cylon plan, but because this time she wouldn't just switch bodies but would lose her baby. Therefore, she chooses life on her own mind



- and in doing so, dooms a few hundred of her own "species" (bringing herself in the same bias which has been decried by Number Six to Baltar that humans were a race of murderes).



- during the Cylon attack we see that the Cylon raiders are susceptible to the reciprocated virus as well, which appears *very* human, even if the speed of infection exceeds that of human infections somewhat.



- even the old man, Adama himself, gruffly accepts help of a Cylon in the moment of crisis when it becomes evident that with a disabled battlestar and only a handful of vipers out the humans have no chance against several hundred Cylon raiders. Accepting help from *anybody* doesn't come easy to him, help from a Cylon even less. But help from that Cylon who shot him, and those memories quite vivid in his mind - well, nobody has ever reached out so far as him in that situation.



To top it all, the naming ceremony for the new viper/fighter takes a *very* unexpected twist once its name, "Laura", is shown. What does it mean? The obvious would be that the fleet thinks of Roslin so dearly that they just named the fighter after her.



But that's not it. It's more. Knowing that her end is near, how better a way can there be to continue fight the cylons than being "reborn" a fighter? The Galactica deck crew made that present to her. But - what makes the fact of her being reborn a machine different from the fact of her being a Cylon?



The implications of that simple name on the fighter's side were suddenly incredible, with theological and philosphical questions tumbling over each other and there has *never* been a moment in TV which summed up, implicated so much in one second.



(And, in the long run, I wouldn't be surprised if in the end the cylons greet the humans on earth as their long lost real brethren, finally able to get rid of their bad character traits through the hardships they have endured.)

Season 1 was very good, maybe even exceptional. I could not wait for the next episode, I _had_ to know what's next.



Season 2 on the other hand doesn't have the same drive so far, everything is more complicated and sometimes slow and there is definitely less action, which on the other hand doesn't necessarily mean that it's less interesting - which it sometimes is... :-)



This episode promises old virtues in the sense of suspension and of course character development. I am looking forward to seeing the next episode, which I could not say after the previous one. I am hoping for more episodes like this - and better, of course.

The Chief is a character who has really been given the short end of the stick. He is in love with a woman who just so happens to be his superior officer, just so happens to be a cylon,who shots Adama, who is shot and killed by his best friend, and who is pregnant with a friend's baby after she is supposed to be dead. Yep, I would be staying up late building a spaceship after that.

The computer virus problem was overdue, and it did not conclude well. To think all the cylon raiders would just start to float around in space just seconds after infection is unlikely. What is more likely is this is all a setup and is part of the overall cylon plan.

In George Orwell's 1984, he detailed a world where the aggresor was not just content to be in control physically, but in control mentally of his subjects. Perhaps that is the goal of the cylons. they are just trying to mess with the mental state of the human race before wiping them from the face of the universe.

If this show is to be believed, the resilency of the humanity will not allow that. Of course, that may just be foolishspeak.

After so many episodes with a podcast from Ron Moore, I’m sorry to see this episode not get one. I think it would have been interesting to hear Ron’s comments on the truth behind the events; certainly, it seems as though a few very important things happened, both obvious and subtle. In particular, the motivations of the Cylons are becoming more and more suggestive of herding and masterful manipulation.



This question has been bugging me ever since the series premiere, and certainly ever since Boomer became the center of the Cylon/Human question. Looking back, there are several points at which Boomer had the opportunity to “save” the humans, on Caprica and otherwise, and she did so with remarkable efficiency and apparent personal risk. But how much of that risk is genuine?



In this episode, for instance, the entire plot seems designed to allow Boomer to gain some degree of trust among influential humans. The Cylons need her to be kept alive and well, after all, to ensure that their most successful breeding experiment remains viable. In keeping with the first season, it’s entirely possible that Boomer is truly in love with Helo and even Tyrol; that doesn’t mean that she’s not playing humanity in the process.



If that’s not the case, then the Cylons are making some rather convenient decisions. And that kind of contrivance is usually not evident on “Galactica”. A lot of effort goes into long-term cohesion. Hence the morale low after the apparent high of the broadcast in the previous episode; the crew psychology is following a clear and consistent pattern. So should the logic of the Cylon gambit.



From where I’m sitting, it certain seems that the humans in the Colonial Fleet are being purposefully herded and kept at a level of stress and anxiety that keeps them from considering the big picture. Lately the Cylons haven’t been attacking: why would that be the case? Because the fleet was busy distracting itself. The Cylons kept just enough pressure on to keep the ruse going, but they never delivered the killing blow that they are clearly capable of implementing.



The way I see it, the Cylons could have wiped out the fleet at any time. They haven’t, and therefore, there must be a reason. It’s still unclear what that rationale might be, and thus, it is difficult to imagine how the hapless humans without a clue can hope to win. I get the feeling that this is going to be another “Babylon 5” scenario: the conflict and warfare will ultimately set the stage for a philosophical transformation, with victory as a convenient late-minute side effect.



The crew might think that using Boomer to plant a virus in the Cylon network is the prize in this episode, but since that looks like a complete ruse, that’s not the case. The real prize is the Blackbird. Not the single fighter itself, though that’s likely to be meaningful in the long run, but rather what it represents: the ability of the personnel to build new fighters. This is something that the fleet needs to recognize: long-term survival means more than maintenance. Training pilots is one thing, but equally important, they should be training artisans and engineers to make the components for new equipment.



All that, and I’ve only scratched the surface. Tyrol’s personal low point was hard to watch, as was his fight with Helo. (Though clearly, Grace Park is someone to fight over.) Dee’s growing attraction to Apollo, which threatens to create an Excruciating Polygon of Lust within the crew. And there’s the news that Roslyn is on even less borrowed time than expected. Like I said…the Cylons don’t need to do much, since the humans are more than capable of undermining their strengths while under so much pressure.



But this is another example of where I disagree with the notion that this series is massively divergent from the “Up With Humans” message of the Trek franchise. Some Trek fans bash this series for its darkness and the deep flaws of its human characters. But this series highlights something that the recent Trek installments couldn’t truly communicate: when push comes to shove, despite its flaws, humanity will rise above.

1) It isn't known how the Cylon's feel about the baby. The only Cylon who wants the baby is in Baltar's brain and we don't know if that is a Cylon or not.



2) The computers were networked for a very short period of time. During that time the virus could have infected all the systems. It didn't say the virus was working together it was working in certain areas.



3) How the hell did she cure the ship you ask? She didn't they erased the hard drives.



4) We know next to nothing about Cylon physiology. I mean on some level they are machines, otherwise they'd be human clones raised as machines and couldn't be super quick and smart like we know they are.



5) The oxygen thing I'll give you. Aside from the lips turning blue and the hand shaking the laughing doesn't make sense.



6) I'm not to sure where the nitrogen comes from, but as people breath they expel carbon dioxide. Possably the ship was pumping that into the room to kill the three of them faster.



7) If you haven't noticed most of Galactica's "radar" tech seems to depend on energy readings. When Starbuck "disappeared" she had turned off the power in the ship. I'm no master of science and I don't know jack, but I'm willing to suspend disbelief. I mean after all this is a show about robots trying to kill mankind.



8) None of the other ships are build with this mysterious carbon composite stuff.



9) From the looks of things Starbuck just moved in front of Appolo and cut her power off. Space is black...the Laura is black you do the math.



10) We have no clue how much time passed between them starting the viper and finishing it. There was no "chief you've been working for x days" dialogue as far as I remember. Also, you have to figure that large numbers of crewmen were working on this thing 24 hours a day. How long does it take to make a car in a factory? It can't be more than a few days to build one car. Therefore, why should it take longer than 3 or so days to build one ship?



After going through all that I feel I just have to say that this is a great show. I love it for it's characters and it's compeling story about real people facing extrodinary odds. That said I don't need everything to be explainable to enjoy the show. I mean christ if you needed that no Sci-fi show would ever be good enough for you, because all of them have gaps in their science. I just hope DrgnSlayer85 can overlook these details and realize that's it's a show filled with fictional characters.

*SPOILER*



This episode was the first episode of the second season that reminded me how bad science fiction shows can be. Although the rest of season 2 was absolutely spectacular, this episode was a complete disappointment. It made me think that the writers just got together, drank some cheap liquor, and went "I love you man..." in a garbled and drunk way. Then wrote this episode.



Plot holes:

1. It is known that the Cylons want the Sharon and the baby to live. Why try to kill her?

2. The computers are not networked. Why did the virus act simultaneously?

3. How the hell did Sharon cure the ship? Nothing was explained.

4. Cylon physiology is not different from human. Except that their spines glow when having sex. How do you connect a fiber optics cable? Wouldn't it have been more efficient if she put it towards her spines? Wouldn't the blood contort the signal?

5. Why were Apollo and Starbuck laughing in the gun range? Oxygen deprivation would cause headaches and get you to pass out. Nitrogen does not mean Nitrous Oxide, which is laughing gas. Higher levels of nitrogen than oxygen wouldn't cause you to laugh.

6. Gaeta said that it was venting the air out. The nitrogen and carbon dioxide levels were not dropping. What is up with that?

7. Whose ass did they pull this new stealth technology out of?

8. Why are the rest of the ships not equipped with it?

9. Apollo looked like he was physically looking for “Laura”(not just on radar), and he couldn’t see it. Shouldn’t he be able to see thruster emissions?

10. How long did building the viper take? It looked like 3 days from scratch. What is up with that too?



I am willing to forget that this episode existed. Somehow they got a new fighter. And the president has weeks to live.