Exodus parts 1 & 2

Well, wouldn't you know it, the whole execution was a fake-out. As soon as it went "one hour earlier" I knew where it was going. This is the same thing that happened on X-Files when Mulder supposedly shot himself. But not only did they fake us out, they changed things! When Callie was running away here, it looked nothing like the location she was running in the previous episode. And we heard the gunshots while she was running last time, but here they don't fire until after Tyrol has taken her to the ground. That sort of thing really annoys me.

Why did Tyrol shave his beard all of a sudden? Is he just preparing for return to Galactica?

I do not understand why they left the Cabbal Cylon for dead. Why not cuff him and take him prisoner so he can't download? He's maybe the only witness to what happened. Why let him report back?

Apparently my question has been answered and Cylons do indeed dream. I find it curious that the Oracle states she has a message from the Cylon God. Similar things do occur in biblical narrative. Balaam, a heathen prophet, does get revelation from the God of the Hebrews. But this is the first time we've seen such a thing here. And the Oracle is the first person to acknowledge the existence of both the Lords of Kobol and the Cylon God. Before now the polytheists believed they were right and the Cylon god was a myth, and vice versa.

I was so glad somebody finally stated the obvious. When Number 3 interrogated the doctor about cremating Hera, I said, "Thank you, Number 3!" Truly, why WOULD they just incinerate this miracle of biology? The baby had magical cancer curing blood! Why did nobody question this? 

We learn in this episode that it causes the Cylons pain when the download; pain that seems to increase each time. This adds a flavor to why they would try to avoid death. It is funny though for the Cylons to decry humanity's barbarism for leaving the guy with a bullet in his gut, even though they just planned a mass execution! And follow it up with the suggestion to nuke them all. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. If Cylons are so reactionary, it's no wonder Caprica and Boomer can't get through to them. Having said that, the humans do seem to have started the whole thing.

There's a really clunky line towards the end. When Anders asks what's so important about Hera, Roslin answers "She may very well be the shape of things to come." That's not an answer. That's just a fancy call-back to season one. It's the sort of line that sounds all good and "televisiony" like it's supposed to mean something but doesn't. I thought this series was about avoiding TV convention. 

Speaking of TV conventions, we get another one when Boomer says, "Adama wouldn't lie to me." There's never been a time that line was used and it was true. Writers only use that when the person has indeed lied to them. The dramatic irony that we know that equals "drama". But it is really quite annoying to see it yet again. Will she learn the truth? And will the resulting outburst be just as predictable?

With each Kara scene I realize how little I care about her. I never sit there wondering "What's going on with Kara?" I do wonder about other characters. But I never wait for Kara scenes. She doesn't enter my mind. I frankly don't care about her. And the scenario they put her in I find very uninteresting. It's as redundant as the Cylon she killed six times. The Kara stuff is basically the Helo stuff on Caprica from season one. They are scenes that have little to nothing to do with everything else, and aren't really about much.

Was anyone surprised when she stabbed him after the kiss? No? That's another thing we've seen elsewhere. Should she really be stabbing people in front of a small child? Will Casey remember this for years to come? 

I am very disappointed in the resolution of the Ellen story. Was she so much a liability he had to kill her? Why is it that when she is causing him nothing but trouble, he keeps her around. When she professes her undying love for him, he poisons her. There are dysfunctional relationships, and then there's nonsense. I just could not get behind this. And he seems all wrought up about it. Fine, then DON'T DO IT.

There's an interesting exchange between Baltar and D'Anna. She suggests that if they just leave, the Colonists will spread stories to their children of the evil Cylons who oppressed them and then left. This might very well be true. So Cylons, it turns out, are ultimately paranoiacs concerned about their reputation.

I really like the Baltar/Gaeta scene. When Baltar admits to being a bad President he is right, but isn't it funny that Gaeta never held a gun to his head then. He served that way for a year, but Gaeta didn't do anything. I like the line about "hot and cold running interns". In the end, I don't think Gaeta ever would have really shot Baltar. The Gaeta who was undermining the Presidency by passing information doesn't have the guts to pull the trigger. If he did, he would have done it a long time ago. And I'm glad he didn't because Gaeta is not an assassin.

So they finally got rid of the Pegasus. I like this end for the ship. Lee taking the ship in knowing that it can't survive is a welcome return to the original ending of the ship on the old show. In that case, Cain took the ship to take out two base stars. Lee does pretty much the same thing here.

Okay, Maya is dead. Never mind where Anders is. Wasn't he supposed to protect her and the baby? Anyway, she's dead, Baltar finds the baby. And he still doesn't get to raise it! I thought for sure this would be how they would link up the nonsensical story threads about the baby, but no! D'Anna just walks off with it!

Of COURSE the baby was not hers. I just laugh at Kara here. I know it's mean, but she should have known better. Didn't I say before that it didn't make sense? It does add another layer of Cylon evil; they kidnap children just to be pawns in their little love games. At least they didn't snap her neck. How old is this girl? Unless they had some kind of accelerated breeding process, any child of Kara's would have to be about a year old, 16 months, tops. So how old is Casey?

Is Roslin just going to usurp Presidential power? That's not right! I don't care if they are the best of buddies now, Zerek needs to say something about that!

Overall, I'm glad the New Caprica stuff is done with. The story was kind of irrelevant. Some elements really dragged. It was just a lot of angry people doing irrational things. So getting back to Galactica is a relief. What kind of fallout will there be from all of this? The funny thing is, despite the growing tendency to fall back on standard TV elements, and an increasing reliance on technobabble, the New Caprica parts were some of the best technically the show has ever done. The effects have never been as seemless. The world created was believable (minus the trucks). I hope they channel that energy and skill into something good. And the most important lingering question of all: how long will Lee stay fat?

Favorite line: "The last thing your son wants is me and Ellen for parents." It works because on some level it is undoubtedly true.