Look! It's Brock Peters! I love Brock Peters. He really elevates whatever project he's involved in. He's got that presence that you can't help being transfixed by.
It is just me or has Athena seemed to have dropped from the show entirely? She makes basically a cameo appearance at the opening triad game, then is not seen again. What happened to all that Starbuck-Athena-Cassiopeia love triangle stuff? Now he seems to be almost a one-woman man. With Sheba thrown in, it seems they don't need Athena as a pilot either. It's a shame that she isn't getting more screentime. I'd like to know more about her as a character. It feels like they are one step away from killing her off.
So Baltar is still on the prison barge. Well, that answers that question. Does anyone else notice the parallels with Hannibal Lecter in this episode? Baltar is the only one with information, Apollo asks him for help, but Baltar insists on a quid pro quo. Apollo leaves, but Baltar still calls after him as he goes. The similarities struck me as uncanny. Even down to the glass door with the holes in it. What's remarkable about it all is that this episode predates Silence of the Lambs by ten years. Is this just me making connections after the fact, or where some of those involved influenced by this episode? I guess there really is nothing new under the sun.
The specifics of the case make things seem so odd to me. Everyone assumes that Starbuck is guilty. I also like the little bit where Starbuck is concerned that the television interviews will create bias against him. But really, what's their case? I can see how they might think they'd have enough to at least consider him a suspect, and maybe even try him, but they essentially had him convicted before the tribunal even convened. Peters' character acts like he has great damning evidence. He doesn't. He has circumstantial evidence. All he knows is that Starbuck's GUN killed the guy, not that Starbuck did. Then on the other side, Apollo focuses all his energy towards tracking down Karibdis because one guy said he was "the only one" who would kill him. So all of Apollo's defense rests on hearsay! I find the legal issues here to be extremely weak on both sides. Isn't it lucky that Apollo's search turns out to be correct? There is some unfortunate truth about badgering an innocent man into taking a plea out of fear of sentencing. That element was good to see, even if I've seen it on countless court dramas since.
This was a relatively engaging story, helped some by tying it in with the pilot episode. That new incite into the assault on Caprica makes it part of the mythology and not just a one-off. I like that. Also, this may be the first time we've seen a flashback on the show.
Next episode is a "special 2-hour" one. Translation: another multipart. At least it seems to be the last one.
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