This episode begins as a kind of homage to "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero" and thankfully dodges every bullet that made that show a mess. That episode should have focused more on the prisoners, and this one does just that. Once more, the prisoners are chosen to help do things on the ice. But some of the similarity stops there. Thankfully, we don't get introduced to a bunch of people who will no longer be relevant; instead, the focus is mainly on one man.
In "Ice Planet Zero", the prisoners were chosen because they had knowledge in the field. They had skills that could be applied. But here, it's like the convicts are just cheap labor. I know they say it isn't slavery, but come on. By making them work for "freedom points", doesn't that make it indentured servitude? So that's sort of six of one, half a dozen of the other in my book. Freedom, real freedom, is an issue both in the original and in this one.
Hey, it's Richard Hatch! Throwin' a bone to the fans of the original! And he does a great job here in a role which is quite the antithesis of his Apollo. I also really like the discussion he has with Lee about the significance of the name Apollo. You can tell he says those things with kind of a wink.
I don't see why it matters the Hatch is a terrorist. Who cares what he did? It seems like the lazy writing that the show has been getting into in the name of "reality". They use easy buzz words: cancer, holocaust, terrorist. Chosen solely to provoke a response. It doesn't matter if he is a terrorist. Oh, and I never have understood the "we don't negotiate with terrorists" angle, and I'm glad they sort of throw it out here.
Tom makes some good points about the political structure. At first, it seemed he was annoyed that Capricans made all the decisions for the Twelve Colonies. This I agree with. But then his argument turned out to be about "democracy" and free elections. He wasn't against the government as a whole (which I kind of am, until I get more information), but against a President nobody voted for. So he's annoyed he's got a Gerald Ford on his hands. Boo-frickety-hoo. If this is supposed to have an American analog, it sort of falls flat. America does not now, nor has it ever had democratically elected Presidents. Apollo is smart to promise that there will be elections as dictated by law. Well played, sir.
There's no way Apollo was going to let Starbuck shoot him, not after the Olympic Carrier incident.
I hate that it started to become a "blaze of glory" story. Thank God Apollo talked some sense into him. That whole "blaze of glory" thing was also done on DS9, and I really don't feel like that's what this one was about. Glad they side-stepped it.
Despite some issues, this is a pretty well made take on an issue from the original series. It was exciting, had a nice guest star, and worked for me. I think it might be my favorite episode so far.
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