Unfinished Business

I hate this episode. "Hero" had no real B-story, but this one has no real story. It's just people boxing, then flashbacks. So we've finally put New Caprica behind us and it's only now that we find out what happened early on? So much of that New Caprica stuff is just not very interesting. At least we learn that Adama had some reservations about sending all his good people down to the planet. The dancing is all very Irish, Titanic-style. Very Jack and Rose in steerage. But really, what do I care? Even worse, Roslin seems to really embrace the New Caprica experience which makes the difference between Baltar and Roslin kind of moot. It also seemed like an excuse to see Ellen again.

All the main action is set around the boxing ring. The episode feels very much to me like a clip show, but one where the clips are new. It's a similar set-up; everyone's holed up in one place and throughout we see characters flashback to prior events. And that's the whole episode really. So much of it is about the "will they or won't they?" Kara/Lee relationship which I have never cared about. Now we learn that yes they did during that year. And I don't care. Furthermore, they were drunk at the time, and drunks getting laid is far less engaging than characters who are truly there together in the moment. I also hate the shouting to the heavens stuff which I have seen on other shows and don't like. Watching this show was truly a chore (and I had to watch it twice!).

Boring as the show was, there is a longer cut. The longer cut makes the show even more centrally about Apollo and Starbuck. Like that's the driving point. The only positive point of the extended version is that Dualla is involved in it all, rather than just being the third wheel that you never see. In fact, Dualla actually acknowledges that she knows Lee loves Kara. That moment works. But the rest of it just drags on and emphasizes the storyline that really doesn't matter. I don't like these two together anyway, and I don't like characters essentially cheating on their spouses. Boy, I wish Billy was still alive. Even with Tyrol and Adama beating on each other, I'm bored. The show can be summed up with a better title: "Boxing and Boning" and that sounds far more interesting than it actually is. In the end, Dualla bumps the show up ever so slightly in the longer version, but no matter how shiny you polish it, a turd is still a turd.