Thursday, August 13, 2009

The Magnificent Warriors

A number of issues are addressed in this one. It kicks off great, with all the pilots flying in formation. It's good to see Jolly again (despite his stupid name), who I don't think has appeared since episode 2. 

It's very right of them to address the issue that Apollo does leave Boxey alone every other day! Every episode has him flying some mission and leaving Boxey. I bet the writers really rued the day Boxey was ever written onto the show, and would probably have killed him off if killing children wouldn't ostracize viewers. Especially in light of "Ice Planet Zero" when Boxey just stowed away anyway, it's good for Apollo to take Boxey with him. 

I like that Lorne Green finally has something to do in this episode. Yes, it's goofy and comedic, but for a long while he's been just a grandfatherly figure who does very little. I like that this story in many ways depends on Adama. Looking back, I think Captain Picard is a bit of an Adama throwback.

We learn how the colonial ships eat; they have agricultual ships. Details like this are important to sustain the show's conceit. 

Adama makes a point of saying the mission will be five: Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer, Adama, and the lady with the energizer. Fine. Apollo then brings Boxey and the dog. Fine. ...So why is Jolly on that shuttle? Who decided he should come?

I was worried that Serenity was going to be another frontiersy Western thing. Despite a few flourishes in costuming, and the "sherrif badge", they succeed in making it more subtle. I guess they learned their lesson after the mess that was "The Lost Warrior". But still they couldn't resist a little western joke, as the shooting of the sherriff occurs at "high moon".

I was so glad to see aliens again! I was beginning to think there were only humans on all these worlds!

Starbuck gets them in trouble, but curiously it's not by his own fault. On any other series, the "scoundrel" would do something selfish or nefarious which would lead to his being hoodwinked. But here Starbuck is genuinely trying to secure information. This story point separates Starbuck from the kind of Dr. Smith he is sometimes in danger of being.

I like that Muffit is used by Apollo for his tracking system. This is the second time the daggit has served a purpose (the first being "Gun on Ice Planet Zero"), and the first time the warriors specifically use him that way. The daggit was in danger of becoming the bloop, an oddity that's only there to entertain the kid and show viewers "look at our weird pets!"

It isn't the world's greatest hour of television. Still, "The Magnificent Warriors" was less boring than some prior episodes, and gave some needed fleshing out of some issues. Part of this I'm sure comes from Larson having written it. And is this the only time we've seen on-screen location legends?

Favorite line: when Boomer says something like "see if you can do better with a net thrown over you!" He's so indignant about it, making it sound sillier than it already was they they were waylaid by a net. To Boomer's credit though, he was the first one free.

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