Wow. After the mess that was season three, it is amazing that they could make this movie. It is truly fantastic. It's great to see the Pegasus again with its familiar faces, along with the new character, Kendra Shaw. Shaw really carries this movie, and it never feels like we are being forced to follow someone new who we don't care about. From the opening images of the blade to the end, I was with this story.
A number of events we were told about in season 2 episodes play out here. It's good to actually see them, especially for anyone who never saw the extended version of "Pegasus". Some of this story was cut in the broadcast version of "Pegasus", so it's especially nice to see it play out. As the story is for the most part a prop to hang flashbacks on, I worried that it wouldn't hold up on it's own. But it does pretty well. In a way, this whole film is a flashback for us, since it is set at the end of season 2, sort of just after "The Captain's Hand". I like Cain being fleshed out a little more so she isn't such a villainess. She came off really badly in the second season, and we get a bit more of where that came from. It doesn't soften the execution of her XO, however, and that is even more shocking when actually seen.
For the run of the show I've referred to the captive Cylon as "prisoner-Six" rather than Gina. This is the first time we hear her name onscreen, so I can call her Gina finally. I also really like the touch that her name is from the "old Geminon" for "resurrection". Her lesbian relationship with Cain was a bit jarring at first. I'm not sure I get why the harsh women tend to be gay in these sorts of scenarios. Yet it is played discreetly and really enhances the second season in that I never understood why Cain was so harsh to Gina in "Resurrection Ship". What would lead her to spit on Gina as she did? Here we learn that it wasn't just for betraying the ship and humanity, but also for exploiting Cain's affections. Cain must have felt used and dirty; in a way she is a mirror of Baltar. Though Baltar embraced the relationship in his head, Cain hardened, which is how her character would react. I'm curious as to why Gina started this affair. Was it simply to use Cain, as Six used Baltar? Certainly there was no real attempt at the love experiment, since that seems to be about procreation, which in girl-on-girl relationships is impossible. Then again, could it be that Gina wanted to experiment with love wherever she could get it? In any case, this relationship adds a separate dimension to Gina's shooting of Cain at the end.
I like some of the parallels to the Galactica experience. Cain gives a rousing speech as Adama did, but where Adama's was about the promise of Earth, Cain's is about the promise of revenge. Both scenes also involve a rising chorus of "So say we all".
The one possible flaw to this whole story being set in season 2 is that we learn from Sharon about hybrids. Baltar is standing right there. So Baltar knew about hybrids, at least that they were part human and ran the base ships, before he even got to the base ship. This seems wrong to me, and I want to go back to "Torn" and see if it makes sense. But there are very often these sorts of continuity glitches in stories like this (Lost has had several in its last two seasons).
It was great to see the First Cylon War. Young Adama finding the lab was interesting, as we finally were told how the Cylons began making humanoid models: they kidnapped humans and butchered them for their biology. It is a shocking moment, but also makes a lot of sense, answering a question I've had since the show began. I love seeing the old-style Centurions and their Raiders (though the ships are slightly modified). I also like seeing Adama's Viper in action, a ship we haven't really seen since the miniseries. The shootout in free fall was a lot of fun. When we finally heard the "by your command" I squealed with delight. It makes you wonder, though, why didn't they go more in this direction in the first place? Why did the miniseries have to play SO differently? Here they were able to address the original series while toning down the sillier elements. And it works beautifully. More of this sort of thing on the show would have been interesting, and probably would have curbed some of the early criticism.
The one other thing that Razor brings to mind though is how ridiculous it is for Tigh to be a Cylon. We're basically saying that very shortly after the events of Adama's flashback, Tigh is created and put out there on a ship believing he's lived this life, etc. It strains credibility to me.
I wonder how it would have felt to watch Razor back in season 2 when it is set. Would I have felt spoiled at all by the information about hybrids? Would I have been on alert knowing that Kara Thrace is "the harbinger of death"? Probably not, since I never liked her anyway. I wonder if anyone out there watched this movie before season three.
Razor is easily some of the best work they've done. The action is great, the effects are great. While some of the flashback transition is rocky, the effect overall works really well. As with the best BSG, it all comes down to being about character and never gets bogged down in the explosions and such. Even if the main story of the old hybrid ship is not terribly consequential, the chance to meet this character Kendra Shaw and see things as she saw them; to find a warning about Starbuck that no one else would hear, these things make it worthwhile. I still really dislike the third season, and I think the series has been mediocre overall. But Razor is truly engaging and I think the best work the show has ever done. It is my favorite episode, and if the miniseries had been more like this, I might have been kinder to the show from the outset.
Favorite line: "I'd like to sell tickets to that dance." Adama speaking of Shaw vs. Starbuck. It's great because it implies "dance" in the sense we saw in "Unfinished Business"; a boxing match. If I had seen this before "Unfinished Business", it would have seemed interesting foreshadowing.
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