Monday, October 19, 2009

Blood on the Scales

It's good that we're finally involving the Cylon base ship in these events, after my curiosity as to why they were not getting involved. What's Roslin's big problem? Why not just let them jump away, at least for awhile? Then Gaeta sort of gets what he wants and the revolution can end! There's another strike against the Adama/Roslin administration.

Roslin spends much of this episode shouting about how she is the President and ordering people around. Didn't she all but abdicate that position like two episodes ago? Where's that Roslin? She is so thoroughly annoying in this episode. Her every mannerism now is aggravating, and her inflections bother me. Her lips always seem pursed, so she looks like she has a mustache. I just hate her so much.

Baltar's having prophetic dreams all of a sudden? Should we be concerned about this? Is this actually going to play into the mythology, or is it just an excuse to have a fake execution?

Look at Tyrol going all Scotty in this episode, right down to saving the day by working in a tube (read: Jeffries tube). I was a bit underwhelmed that the FTL drive is just a big churning gear. And how does that thing make a leap faster than light? I could buy the "Star Trek" idea of exploding antimatter to create propulsion. But I'm supposed to believe some really big pistons and cogs can accelerate something like that? Sorry, at times like this it's better just not to know. 

In this episode, Zerek and Gaeta are executed for instigating mutiny. I find this just savage, and it demonstrates exactly Gaeta's point that Adama is a different guy. Adama would never have executed people earlier in the series. He faked it once to end a strike. But how does it make any sense to execute anyone when the fate of humanity is at stake? Yes, I understand he warned there would be no amnesty. And in a way, I can understand that there should be a price to pay. But remember the strike that essentially amounted to mutiny? He didn't execute Tyrol. I do think Gaeta went too far. He should have been allowed to express dissent without having to resort to a coup to make his point. But when you are trying to keep humanity from destroying itself, how does execution help anything? Though kudos for going through with the formality of a firing squad because that's what the law prescribes, even though they could have just airlocked them. It's not a very fitting end for Gaeta though. I miss the Gaeta from season one, and it's a shame his character was kicked around so much that he became a nuisance.

Having dealt a bit with Gaeta, let's talk about Zerek. I flat out don't believe that this is the same Tom Zerek we've seen since the start of the series, and that the writers intentionally messed with him just to get him shot. I don't care how much of a criminal or revolutionary or terrorist he supposedly was; the Tom Zerek from "Bastille Day" would not order the execution of an entire governing body just because they didn't do things his way. The whole reason they even have a quorum is because he pushed the issue. He has every right to be mad at Roslin, who essentially stole his job not once but twice. But the Zerek I know would not do that. Would he arrange a coup? Likely, if pushed far enough. But he seems flat out bloodthirsty here in a way I just don't think Zerek really is. He deserved better. He deserved vindication. And Richard Hatch deserved a place in the finale. Why is nobody acting in character in this show?

On an interesting side note, the immortal Lee Adama strikes again. I commented way back in "Sacrifice" how unfair it was that Billy died but Lee was just wounded. Lee is the character who just doesn't die. Note here that he alone survives of all the Quorum of Twelve. Why is it that he just happened to not be in the room at the time? Because the writers like him. It borders on ridiculous how often Lee should be dead but isn't.

I'm glad this story is over with, though it frustrates me that two more characters are dead and yet none of their points have actually been properly addressed. After two episodes, aren't we still essentially where we were before?

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