Battlestar Galactica Season 3 Episode 18

The Son Also Rises was a perfect and very entertaining episode full of suspense and surprise. I really enjoyed watching this episode of Battlestar Galactica because there was a lot of character and plot development. The story was well written and the actors were superb! I thought it was genius to have Mark Sheppard play the role of Romo Lampkin, Baltar's attorney. Apollo is upset after Admiral Adama assigns him to guard Baltar's new lawyer, though in the end he ends up wanting to take on the role to assist Romo. I liked the connection with Apollo's Grandfather. There were some touching moments as Starbuck is missed and those feelings are still fresh. The President's scenes were great too. I look forward to watching the next episode!!!!!!!!!

Well after just one episode of a bit more action we are back to more drama. Although I am not complaining about it because as it one of the best drama episodes for season three. Once again the character that most people would despise is the center of attention with his trial. In what I find to be really a three part episode. This is a great beginning of the storyline. A lot of different emotions get drawn out here. Everything from the Vice President to the President. The pitting between father and son. This writing in this episode is what makes this series great. I am glad they realize that and strive to make the series better.

So - the trial gets closer and it gets exciting - as the old representer of Gaius is blown off and they need better protection and new person to do that job - a very mysterious man who has very odd reasons takes the case and Lee, after the last episode dramatic experiences, is assigned off flying to security. And he is needed - there will be several attempts on new attorney life and they come from very weird places.





But more than that, Lee has to face more personal matter - he and his father as their relationship is getting harder and harder.

"There is no greater ally, no force more powerful, no enemy more resolved, than a son who chooses to step from his father's shadow."





Perhaps one of the finest cliffhangers in Battlestar Galactica history. It really made me do a double take. Mark Sheppard makes for one of the best guest stars, too. I recognize him from somewhere, and even after checking IMDB, I can't figure out where I've seen him before. I recognize some of the television episodes, but nothing really stands out.





All in all, another excellent installment for the 3rd season. I know a lot of people have been disappointed, but I've really enjoyed it.

Okay


an other mixed episode in a long series of fillers


the plot for me was purely secondary


the trial and the assasination attempts have been done in 100s of other shows.So far so unoriginal /uninspiring


The thing that realy freaked me was the lawyer.


Having seen him in firefly as a mockney (Cor blimey guv nor)


and in 24 as a russian (nuclear wessels)


I remembered how bad his accent was from these.


Unfortunately his voice swayed all over the place.


I found myself smirking througth most of his scenes but at the same time shaking my head.


Sometimes he sounded irish and some time more like a cowboy


He`s hardley james masters when it comes to the voices.


I realise that this is to most a small insignificant detail,


but the episode was so unimpressive i had little else to distract me.


Maybe the grand finale will be better


I pray to baltar almighty that this will be the case

I like Lampkin. He's an interesting character, with ambiguous motives (aren't those always the best kind?), and is a master at manipulation. He played Six into sympathizing with Baltar, and he's set Adama and Lee back against each other. It'll be entertaining to see him work the jury. Wouldn't it be great if he was one of the Final Five?





We're back with the dueling Adamas; it has to happen at least once every season doesn't it? Their grief over Kara is pushing them apart, and now that they'll be at opposite ends of the courtroom, their relationship can only deteriorate even more. I'm looking forward to some good family drama next week.





Most of this episode felt like a setup for the two-part season finale which begins next Sunday. Gaius finally received a lawyer; the jury has been picked; Lee is set to help defend Baltar; Adama and Lee are fighting. All I can say is bring on the trial!





Final Notes and Quotes





- Survivor Count: 41, 399. Kara's really gone.





- Kara's death actually caused Lee and Anders to bond.





- The bombings were interesting, but felt like a weak way to add action into a dull episode.





- Will the actor who plays Lampkin please speak up? I was struggling to understand him throughout the episode.





- Lee: "Dad, I'm fine."


Adama: "No, you're not."


Lee: "Why?"


Adama: "Because I'm not."





Final Rating: The short review should have revealed that I was not impressed with the episode. sigh 2 out of 4 stars.





- Tim www.motionpicturereviews.com

President Roslin organizes a tribunal for Baltar. The trial haven't started yet, but problems begin when Baltar's defense lawyer gets assassinated, Adama orders Apollo to protect Baltar's new defense lawyer. This episode doesn't show a space battle, the story looks at a Baltar angle, but a good deal of the episode shows the crew dealing with the loss of Starbuck. It's a space drama, but it's well directed, things don't slow down in this. Everything played out really well, the appearance of number 6 hints at future plotlines about her. It's a good episode, I can't wait for the next one.

Why was this episode so bad? Where do I start! I think the biggest reason is the fact that there's too much self pity and too much retrospective on how humanity is so evil and self destructive on this show. If memory serves there were 12 Billion humans across the colonies and they all didn't run around going postal and kill each other. They were nuked by the evil Cylons damn it! Once again I will not buy this episode on iTunes. The writing has got to get better or I won't even watch it. I can't believe this show is on and Enterprise was cancelled. TV execs are becoming more looney by the day!

Gone but not forgotten. This saying came to mind as I watched one particular scene in this episode and I wonder whether it foreshadows Kara. The scene I'm talking about is the one in the president's office. We've had more scenes taking place there, but as far as I remember, this was the first time they showed the picture of Laura and Billy. Billy died and is gone, but he's obviously not forgotten.


I loved this tiny little bit of internal continuity and wonder whether it means something.





I thought the introduction of a new character setting up the season finale was well done. He's a bit of a dark horse but certainly knows how to manipulate other characters. I hope the final episodes will be worth it.





Admiral Adama, Lee Adama and Sam are trying to come to terms with Kara's death. At least, the disappearance of the actress' name from the credits seems to imply she really is dead. If that is the case, I wonder what will happen to season 4. The first three seasons focused on a lot of issues, but the Lee/Kara relationship was always there, somewhere in the background of even in the foreground. Killing off one of the main stars has had consequences for other series, so it will be interesting to see what happens to BSG in the future.

As the season finale approaches, we have more glimpses of what is to come during Baltar's trial and we are presented to Romo Lampkin, played marvelously by Mark Sheppard, Baltar's new attorney.





The ambience is still seriously attached to Starbuck's death/disappearence/whatever and, hence, the Adamas can't work normally, leading to mistakes and disagreement between them once more.





Exploiting this is a misterious new character that comes in hand just when Baltar's attorney is killed, a kleptomaniac that from scene one tries to attract atention and cooperation from everyone using whatever is needed, including lies, deceits and decoys. In sum, he's just too perfect to be true, knows more than he should also from scene one and escapes an assassination attempt after the other.





My hunch: he planned everything from the beginning, including luring other people to do the attempts, and danced the tune he was playing for the others.





Stay tuned, people. This might be interesting, although this episode per se wasn't.

Fantastic episode. Anyone who calls an episode like this boring is clearly watching the show for the wrong reasons. This episode gets right at the core of what this series is about; its about people. What drives them, what makes them tick. This is explicitly (and rather unsubtly) spelled out by Lampkin's magpie-like habit of stealing personal items from people that give insight into their behavior. Incidentally, I loved Mark Sheppard in this role. As a fan of Firefly and 24 I got a kick out of seeing him on this series too. I loved the introduction of his character, and will be interested to see if he is indeed just a simple legal-eagle with a passion for justice or if his intentions and goals are more sinister. While it was sad to see Capt. Kelly fall from grace, especially since he's been on the show since the mini-series, having a key crew member turn insurgent demonstrated how deeply divisive the Baltar issue is to the crew. Speaking of Baltar, I think the last two episodes have done a lot to redeem his character as someone that the viewers can at least respect, if not sympathize with. While its yet to be seen if his Marxist turn is truly altruist or if there are deeper motives, he has provided an important foil to a government that was walking the fine line of authoritarianism.





I couldn't help but wonder what the writers will do with Sam after this. Previously he had existed mainly as a foil to Lee in Starbuck's sphere of chaos, but with her gone, Sam seems like he'd be at loose ends. I for one would love to see him stick around and join the Colonial Marines, but my gut tells me that he is prime fodder for a season finale death. Or perhaps he will just fade away.





I've been rambling and getting away from the point of reviewing the episode. Bottom line is this: episodes like this are what make this series great. By showing us the human side, the truly human side, of these characters, it becomes a show far more relevant to 21st century America than a show set on a spaceship has any right to be. Lee's devotion to and admiration of his grandfather has finally come into conflict with his grudging respect and sense of duty to his father. This kind of conflict, this kind of basic identity crisis, speaks to anyone that has ever felt pushed one way when their heart wants to go another. It is writing like this that allows this series to transcend its genre.

According to his podcast commentary, Ron Moore didn't take a pass on this script before it went into final production.





It kind of shows.





Don't get me wrong--I enjoyed the episode and it was certainly a marked improvement over last week's huge letdown. But I still felt as if something was off. It's interesting to hear the podcasts and learn what might have been for certain episodes. Such as how last week, the discussion led to them deciding it was time to kill Starbuck. And then this week, how Lampkin was supposed to die but was reprieved. I guess they figured having Lee be the only person defending Baltar would have been a bit of a stretch.





And you know, they were right.





Let me get my big beef with this story out of the way--the way Lee's character has been portrayed. He seems to waver back and forth a lot between being the good son and standing up and defying Adama's authority. And while the plotline isn't necessarily a bad one, I wish they'd just pick one and go with it. It seems as if Lee wavers on his loyalties to his father as often as most of us change pants. I get that this season has been about Lee and Bill being in conflict and Lee's desire to get out of Adama's shadow. But I wish it had been a bit more consistently played. Also, the storyline here felt like we were regressing a bit and not covering any new ground.





I can see where it's leading us and if it goes somewhere great, I can (maybe) forgive it. But that was a huge glaring weakness of the episode.





Other than that, it felt like we were back to business as usual in the Battlestar universe. And I mean that in a good way.





We see how the trail of Baltar is slowly tearing the fleet apart. I loved the assertation by Cally that the Cylons were sitting back and letting humanity self-destruct. The tension between Cally and Sharon was nicely done and it calls back to the fact that one of the Sharons was once involved with Tyrol. Nice touch.





Meanwhile, Baltar can't keep a lawyer--and not becuase he's hard to work with. It's becuase someone keeps killing anyone who will defend him. A few weeks ago, Zarek warned that the trial would destroy the fleet and his prediction is coming to pass. Baltar gets a new lawyer here and he's one of the more intriguing characters we've seen. I credit a lot of that to actor Mark A. Shepard, who may be best known to genre fans as Badger from Firefly. Shepard takes the role of Lampkin and runs with it. It's fascinating to watch him manipulate everyone from Six to Baltar to Lee as he prepares to defend Baltar. It does make me wonder if he ever really knew Lee's grandfather or if he's using that as some leverage. He's focusing everyone on the cirucs around the trial and not the trial itself. It makes me wonder if Baltar will be found not guilty or if there will be a hung jury. This being an epsiode that is about moving the chess pieces into place for the season-finale, how it stands in the overall season will rise or fall based on payoffs in the season-finale. That said, I have faith in Moore and company to pull off a season-finale worthy of the last two we've seen (both were jaw-droppingly good) and make sure it's a long wait for the next batch of new episodes.

This was by far the worst episode of the entire series to date, and I am normally a staunch defender of any critique of the show. Most of the actors in this episode seem like they're sleeping through their roles, and maybe it's because of the poor acting that the old 'channelling Clint Eastwood thing' has finally gotten tiresome. You know what I mean: The actors are directed (or choose) to speak in hushed tones to amp up the melodrama in every single scene. Egads, this one was awful. If I could un-watch it, I would and move on to better eps.

"The son also rises" was great, I thought it was well written and well acted. The introduction of Romo this late in the season made me ask questions about why he is so interested in Baltar's trial? And is he a cylon? One of the final five? Remember last season the father was introduced at the end. This episode layed the bricks for the season finale in which we will see the trial. What I cant wait for is to see the fleets reaction to seeing Lee on the other side of the bench, defending Baltar. The episode also did a good job of showing the pain and void that afflicted the characters since the "passing" of Starbuck. Overall the episode was great.

When I saw that Viper explode last week, I felt that the show too could have suffered a fatal blow, Kara being such an important part of it. After watching this week's episode, I have to reconsider my previous thoughts and congratulate both writers, director and actors for a great introduction to the season's two part finale.





Using Baltar's upcoming trial as background, several themes emerge.





First, the effects of Kara's death (only two weeks have passed) are still very present on everybody's minds, especially the Adamas and Anders, and each in his own way tries to deal with her absence. Anders chooses to hide himself behind alcohol and avoids having to face reality. It's not that surprising that he chose to do so, given the fact that he also didn't react that vigorously when his wife was cheating on him. Lee doesn't seem to able to get Kara of his mind and I believe that, for the first time, he may have realized how much he loved her. His father on the other hand, even though he misses her probably as much as the other two, can't allow the pain to cloud his judgement or interfere with his duties. The scene where he finds and old birthday card sent by Kara is very moving. We can see that despite their quarrels, they did love each other like father and daughter.





Second, the father vs son conflict of the Admiral and his son Lee. They do have different personalities and different ways of dealing with pain (and I don't think age and maturity explains it all), the Admiral being more rational and Lee being more emotional and not wanting to let go so easily. Friction inevitably happens and Lee chooses to once more oppose his father's wishes by committing himself to help Baltar's lawyer. This cocky but genuinely intelligent lawyer, a former apprentice of Joe Adama, Lee's grandfather, quickly realizes that in this need of Lee's to get out of his father's shadow may reside their defense's greatest strength.





Also, almost as a side note unfortunately, we see that in the fleet there are still those who rather take justice into their own hands by trying to murder Baltar's lawyers. I recall the vice-president warning that this might happen. I wonder if he has anything to do with it...





Well, to wrap up, this episode is the best introduction possible to what seems to be a fantastic and nerve-wrecking season finale, and that's way I "only" give this a 9.9. Just leaving a little room for the perfect 10s that are on our way.

baltars trail is indeed going to eat up the fleet and drive them apart.


and when that happens the fate of humanity will be sealed given the fact that the toasters will then pick them off one by one without any kind off fight.


from all the weapon that the toasters could have even thought about using against this fleet baltar end up being the best.


and then that lawyer that baltar has, romo lampkin, he couldt give the intire cylon race a really good run for there money when it comes to lying, dicieving, thieving and manipulating and the cylons are good real good when it comes to these things.


and in all honesty i think this guy is a total kreep that has everybody suckered into believing what he want when wants and why he wants.


quistion only is will everybody wake up from this in time, what kind of damege will be done and will season 3 end as exiting as season 2 or the end of season 3 from stargate atlantis ?

Spoiler Ahead......This is a direct follow-up to the "Death" of Starbuck episode. Now when I say that, I have a feeling we will be seeing Starbuck again, either as a Cylon or as a pawn of the cylons. But Jamie Bamber (Apollo) and the actor playing Starbuck's husband do great jobs with dealing with the loss. The plot is pretty basic, someone is out to get any attorney who associates with Baltar. So when one attorney is killed...Adama assigns his son to protect the new attorney. The new attorney turns out to be an eccentric and he brings with him a pet cat. The reason I bring up the pet cat is because it annoyingly tips off the good guys that there is a bomb under one of the raptors.


Aside from that cliche...it's a good episode putting Lee in place as a partial defense attorney for Baltar.

It has been said on many an occasion that much of Western literature, particularly American fiction, can be reduced to the relationship between father and son. This is a subset of the common mythological construct exploring the generational struggle: the child literally or metaphorically killing the parent to rise as the new power or achieve full adulthood. This story is in keeping with that time-honored storytelling.





Lee Adama has been a character in search of himself, particularly after his long association with the moral high ground fell apart after a near-death experience in “Resurrection Ship: Part II”. Since then, Lee has found success by walking in his father’s footsteps, and disaster when straying from the well-trodden path. All of this points to an important crossroads: when will Lee find his own path, even if it means denying his own father’s wishes?





This particular episode presents a prelude to that process, or at least, it seems to match the expectation. Rather than toss Lee into the role of Baltar’s defense attorney, he becomes a key member of the defense team. Bill Adama is randomly chosen to sit as one of five judges on the tribunal. Despite the many plot contrivances necessary to set the stage in this particular way, this sets up a father/son collision that has been coming since the beginning of the series.





The writers choose to create this conflict through the mechanism of Romo Lambkin, Baltar’s unusual and engaging attorney. A protégée of Grampa Joe Adama, back in the heyday of the Colonies, Lambkin has an unusual penchant for understanding people. He’s quite detail-oriented, which helps him identify strengths and weaknesses. (That this manifests in kleptomania is a particularly nice touch.) He wants to unbalance his opponents by pitting father against son, thus complicating at least one vote on the tribunal. It’s such a neatly divisive tactic, right down to facilitating Baltar’s manifesto, that it’s hard not to wonder if Lambkin is a Cylon.





Like the stereotypical lawyer, he’s not above using grief over Kara’s apparent death in this endeavor. His words to Caprica-Six were as much for Lee’s benefit as for hers. He recognizes that Bill Adama needs to step out of his role as The Old Man, and that could be dangerous. So why not push Lee into stepping out from his father’s shadow?





Because Lambkin is the mechanism intended to overcome the contrivance of an Adama family showdown during the upcoming trial, the success or failure of the episode is largely dependent on the viewer’s reception of Lambkin as a whole. I, for one, liked the character, because he was challenging. He was a lot smarter than one might expect from his appearance, and his motivations remain questionable at best. Mark Shepard was a great choice for the role.





There were some items that were less than satisfying. On the whole, Cally’s issue with Athena felt tacked on, as if the writers understood that there was unfinished business of a sort but had no real idea how to make that into a viable subplot. Also, Dee’s absence in the episode was glaring. Wouldn’t she have her own opinions about Lee’s choices? Thankfully, this is balanced out by the excellent material for Lee and Anders, which served to remind all of us that the loss of Starbuck is still a major component of the story.

As was to be expected in this episode, the primary concern was to set the characters in motion for the upcoming trail next week while at the same time tackeling the loss of their greatest pilot.





The Adama's are once again in conflict, barring a difference of opinion on how "hurt" the other side is concerning the loss of Starbuck. Just as one would conclude at the end of last weeks episode, both young and old Adama have a different take.





As Lee was emotionally involved with Starbuck, he has a harder time letting go, unlike his father, due to age and experience, remembers her in positive light, concluding that those will never come again. Although both are deeply hurt, it is a shame that Kara's husband did not receive the attention i personally thought he deserved. From the state he is in the first time we see him, he seems to have recovered remarkably with only a broken leg to show for it. As the title suggests, the core of this episode is Lee-centric. Starting as a security guard for the new Lawyer, he is assigned to protect him after a successful terrorist attack on the original yet useless lawyer. A man trained by the great Joseph Adama himself, plays out the 3 factions against one another, in an attempt to get Lee to follow a calling he might have had all his life. It is logical in the sense that Lee, always in doubt about his military career the entire 3 seasons so far, would benefit from yet another change in profession. Maybe this is what will make him happy. Maybe, the ever-lasting conflict between both his father and him is meant to be, not a moment to be given up, just calm periods before the next crises. Maybe, something else is at play. It is made clear that the Lawyer, first placed in doubt has something up his sleave. Something that might indicate the impossible, a perfect and flawless executed plan to create confusion and uneasyness between Six, Baltar, Tribunal and the fleet survivors.





Speculation does not help. In essence this episode, although well written, felt it was heading too slow, concentrating on introducing the lawyer and making sure Lee's journey from the battleground in space moves him towards the battleground in the courtroom. It would have been more satisfying to see more reactions concerning the loss of Starbuck from all main characters, including the people of the fleet, with at least some kind of memorial service. Yes, a sad start to an episode, but it would have helped greatly setting the overall mood of this show. We can only hope that Lee will come out of this a stronger person, prone to react emotionally to new sitations and unpredictable even to himself. Maybe he will see through the obvious manipulation as the Lawyer continues his plan. I foresee a media escapade in the two upcomming episodes and a certain change, known commonly as a "crossroad in life".





9.8 rating might be over the top, having read through this episode and some might consider it to be a filler, but essentially, what this episode does is set everything up while introducing the "fighters" for the ring match to commence next week. It was essential, and there was no way around it. It could have been executed a little better, but then again with this show, nothing is as it seems. I can only look forward to next week, and this episode is a fine addition to BSG.