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Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Episode 19

Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1

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9.2

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AIRED: 3/3/06

Chief Tyrol is plagued by terrifying dreams and seeks the aid of a priest. Kara leads a rescue mission to Caprica. Roslin and Baltar go head-to-head in a presidential debate that changes dramatically with the discovery of a habitable planet.

Fan Episode Reviews (26)

Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1

10

By TrueTvWatcher, Jan 16, 2012

Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1 was a perfectly entertaining episode of Battlestar Galactica and I really enjoyed watching this episode because there was a lot of character development and political intrigue which kept things very interesting. A habitable planet changes the game for everyone and things intensify. It was cool to see the rescue mission in action as well. This was a great episode and I look forward to finding out what happens next in the season two finale!!!!!!!!!moreless
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How could anyone who have followed BSG like this storyline?

4.5

By Jonas_thefirst, Aug 18, 2011

Seriously people. Starbuck gets permission to go back to Caprica to save ca 50 measly people? They have sacrificed more people than that in one second.

Let alone the chances of bringing back an cylon infiltrator, which... See the next ep and you'll know what I mean.

What happened to the Adama and Roslin that threw out a guy in the miniseries, just because they suspected him to be a cylon. They were not sure, just the thought of it was reason enough. They just couldn't be sure of it. So they sacrificed him. That was riveting and compelling! Not this. God, I'm disappointed. Follow the whims of Starbuck, how deep and intelligent storytelling *sarcasm*. Also, wasn't just a few eps ago Adama and co. had to deal with the fact that there wasn't enough viper pilots to man the viper ships? Suddenly he is risking all his pilots? BS! Even Starbuck counted 20% of them would not make it back. And all for what? For Anders, aka Starbuck's boytoy? Who she only knew for a couple of days. This is the point where Starbuck becomes unbearable.moreless
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A dark time.

7.5

By kickdoor, Dec 08, 2010

The snippets from the presidential debates, while not exactly enthralling, were well written. Baltar in particular had some dialogue that was, if not inspiring, at least convincing(only because I know his character better than the people of the fleet). And any time someone can put Roslin on tilt is a good time. Even at this point I was 100% against Baltar as president, but it was nice seeing him get her so flustered that she had to result to some rather un-presidential comebacks, "Why don't you go frak yourself?" Baltar folding in the discovery of the new planet into his existing strategy of attacking Roslin's faith based quest for Earth was a very savvy political maneuver. Zarek's still no Bruno Gianelli or anything though. If anyone is curious to know where I would stand on the issue; you couldn't get me off of Galactica(or Pegasus) even if it was Earth they had just found. Now if I was part of the civilian fleet it might be a different story, but probably not.

I found myself still sympathizing a great deal with Sharon. The scene in the briefing room in particular was hard to watch knowing all that she's going through. It didn't get any better out in the hallway either. Helo's not a bad character, but man, the guy can be oblivious sometimes. Did you really just ask her if she's okay? No, she's not gonna be okay for awhile.

Introducing the whole idea of fate, and the Gods or God showing favor to either side early on in the series was a smart move, as it allows discoveries like the planet Racetrack finds to have some reason behind their suddenness, which is more than many shows would do. Beyond that I wasn't really crazy about the scenes of Starbuck's Raptor battalion's journey to Caprica. They weren't notably bad, it just felt like they were filler to stretch out the storyline so they could save their arrival for the end of the episode. Plus I felt bad for the red shirts that ended up in a mountain.

Chief letting his feelings for Sharon go so far as to make him question his own humanity was one of the better storylines in my opinion. I enjoyed his scenes with Brother Cavil(I'll elaborate on him in the next episode). The quick cuts of Chief beating Cally and his dream sequence were some nice pieces of cinematography/editing. I don't know if it was something they had to do for scheduling reasons, but I like Chief appearing beardless in the dream, as if to imply it's how he sees himself. If you didn't want to kill yourself before, I imagine wailing on a sweetheart like Cally would certainly get you there. And Cavil's, "it's all on you," form of therapy didn't seem to provide much comfort.

It was solid but beyond a few moments nothing especially noteworthy about it. Maybe I was just expecting too much because of how good the last season finale's Pt. 1 was.moreless
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This episode setups the final events that will play in the last episode of the season.

9.0

By Dante_Edy, Jun 16, 2010

***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.***

And the season finale begins here:

Presentation Phase - » (8/10) the beginning was the necessary setup, with some strange actions to Cally who was beaten up by Tyrol,

Complication Phase - » (18/20) and Gaius and Roslin have to dispute the presidency since this is the season finale, Starbuck had to come back to New Caprica to find Sanders, and with luck, two members of the fleet may have founded a planet that can be their new home, the conversation that Tyrol had with the Priest was the best,

Ending - » (8/10) emotional and interesting ending,

Drama - » (18/20) like I said, the conversation with the priest was the best drama played here,

Details/Progress (To point A to B) -» (9/10) the necessary progress to this setup,

Time and Scene Management - » (10/10) didn´t noticed fillers,

Plot Details/Holes- » (10/10) fine,

Storyline -» (9/10) until now the Storyline is very interesting,

This episode setups the final events that will play in the last episode of the season.moreless
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Season Finale part one. Awesome viewing.

9.0

By kingrich06, Jun 16, 2010

You knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Baltar using his vice presidency to run for president. This one story line I was looking forward to and I like they didn't rush into it with one episode and they actually split it between two. Now the other storylines with Tyrol and the priest was an interesting one. The storyline of Starbuck returning to Caprica is the best of the three in my opinion. I like how the Good Sharon helps with the jumps that turn 200 hyperspace jumps into 14. I like the rule of if they lose more than 3 they have to scrub the mission and turn back. Interesting plot twist at the end of this episode.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Edward James Olmos	William Adama
Grace Park	Sharon Valerii
James Callis	Gaius Baltar
Jamie Bamber	Lee "Apollo" Adama
Katee Sackhoff	Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
Mary McDonnell	Laura Roslin

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Michael Trucco	Samuel Anders	Recurring Role
Nicki Clyne	Cally Henderson	Recurring Role
Leah Cairns	Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- Leah Cairns' character is mistakenly listed in the end credits as "Lt. Margaret 'Racetrack' Edmonds." The character was listed as Margaret 'Racetrack' Edmonson during the "Final Cut" episode (2-08). In other episodes, the character is listed simply as "Racetrack."
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- The name of the newsletter that Baltar is reading is "The News-Review."
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QUOTES (5)
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- Tyrol: Well, how do you know I'm not a Cylon?
  Brother Cavil: Oh, well, maybe because I'm a Cylon and I've never seen you at any of the meetings.
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- Kara: Did I ever say thank you?
  Adama: No. Then again, that would be a first, wouldn't it?
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- Tyrol: That's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to find my way.
  Brother Cavil: Well, it's not gonna get better until you see what the problem is. And the problem is, you're screwed up. Heart and mind. You, not the, not the gods or fate or the universe. You.
  Tyrol: Thanks for the pep talk.
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- Roslin: I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, Gaius.
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- Baltar: The mob is not usually in the habit of electing ungodly apostates who denigrate people of faith.
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NOTES (0)
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Roslin: Why don't you go frak yourself.
  
  Roslin's statement is inspired by the June 2004 encounter between Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) in which Cheney told Leahy, "F*** yourself," in the Senate building.
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- Roslin: Well, my initial response is 'There he goes again.'
  
  This is a reference to Ronald Reagan's famous line "There you go again" in the presidential debate with the incumbent Jimmy Carter on October 28, 1980, in Cleveland, Ohio. Interestingly, Roslin's name is similar to Reagan's and both represented religious groups in the electorate. Baltar's name is somewhat similar to Carter's.
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