Flight of the Phoenix

The episode title is a reference to the films of the same name. I was worried they were going to call the new ship the Phoenix, and that I'd have to point out that was done in First Contact already. Glad that didn't happen.

Every time I hear Racetrack's name, I think of Newsies. Whatever happened to Max Casella?

I'm no big Starbuck fan, but I'm totally glad she wailed on Racetrack at the card game! There's only so much trash talk you can take from people who don't know what they are talking about.

I love the intercutting in the teaser with Tyrol caressing the Viper and the similarities to caressing a woman. With Sharon a Cylon, the ships are all he has left. And ships won't betray him. Last episode, Kat said flying was better than sex; I think Tyrol is starting to believe something similar.

There are a lot of what I deem to be homages to classic Star Trek in this episode. Moreso than before, Tyrol comes off as a kind of Scotty type in love with his ships. In his free time, he builds another ship. I'm reminded of "Relics" where Scotty compared loving a ship to loving a woman. Also, when Dwalla was working on the ship's communication system, I suddenly realized how much like Uhura she is. The scene where Apollo is teaching her to fight also reminded me of Kirk teaching Charlie Evans. Maybe that one is a stretch.

Glad that the virus story came back. It seemed to me in "Valley of Darkness" that the lights went out, and then nothing was ever made of it again. This is a month later though. I wonder if the virus activating now had anything to do with D'Anna's recent visit to the ship.

It's so right that the knuckle-draggers would throw a party for Callie when she got out of the brig, and that the Chief wouldn't like it. He acknowledges that he needs the help (as we saw last episode), but he can't talk to her now.

The sequence with the Cylons poised to attack was great. I love the formation of the Raiders, and the corresponding formation of the Vipers. It was like old school warfare; two armies facing each other on the field of battle. I'm so glad we FINALLY got to see some indication of the mechanical side of the Cylons when Sharon shoved the tube up her arm. Though it leads me to wonder, doesn't this indicate that she has some kind of device in her arm that could be easily scanned for? Or does it too closely resemble a humanoid nervous system? At first, I thought she was just going to take the virus in on herself, thus killing herself for the cause, but I quickly realized that would kill the baby. 

I like the bit after the Raiders have been infected. The Colonial Fleet is shooting fish in the proverbial barrel. For them this is some much needed release. For Sharon, it is the pain of watching her people die, and being responsible. I'm not sure I like the blood spraying when the Raiders blow up though. While it makes certain sense, we never saw that before.

There's a very telling element to the above scenes as well. When Sharon is brought in, her shackles are removed, but her neck remains bound. She is kept in a collar, reminding us that despite her help, to Adama she is still an animal. The dog may save little Timmy, but in the end, the bitch goes back in the cage. The collar serves no purpose otherwise; it is there to remind us that Sharon is a thing, not a person.

The "blackbird" ship pays tiny homage to the old show as well. In one episode, Starbuck had to fly a Viper that had been made faster by having it's lasers removed. The notion of building a faster ship is sort of played here as well, though the went the step further making it stealth. 

This is the best episode since "Fragged". It is well-acted, doesn't overplay the Baltar card, and gives more time to the secondary characters for a change. I like the touches of naming the ship Laura and the dedication with the champagne (or is it ambrosia?) where you think she's going to smash it, but then doesn't. This episode, unlike so many, ends on a positive note. There's a real sense of hope that the original series had but which BSG often undermines. Even the hanging ending where Tyrol just picks up the phone has that hope. It doesn't matter what they talk about, what matters is that he's brought himself there to talk. I think this is the first episode of season 2 that I've really enjoyed watching.