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TV Recap: Battlestar Galactica - He That Believeth In Me
By Steve West: 2008-04-04 22:54:21
Finally, here we go. The first part of Battlestar Galactica’s final season has begun, and the burden of having seen the episode prior to this evening is lifted. Tonight’s recap will be slightly different than those you’ve read on Blend Television before, and I just wanted to prepare you for the one of a kind experience. OK, maybe I’m overselling things but I do have some tidbits garnered from my time with Ron Moore and cast a few weeks ago that explains some happenings in the season four premiere. Like the Cylon Raider and Anders mid-air(space) meet up and retreat. But let’s get on with it…at last.
The episode begins exactly where we left off last season, with Lee and Kara flying side by side. Be honest, before Chief mentions it later on in the premiere did you really notice that her Viper was so shiny and new? In any case, behold Kara and her shiny new Viper of mystery. Kara looks all content and happy, having just returned from a glorious holiday at Earth, but Lee is not sure what to believe. Back at the CIC the leaders of mankind are trying to verify that this is not a Cylon trick. Here’s a clue, we don’t fraking know! When I spoke with Ron Moore about Kara’s return and connection with the Cylons, all he would say is that we’ll learn more about it later and that some sort of parallels between her and Baltar will come about. Amidst all the theories and discussions, did we forget that Cylons had just jumped a few Base Stars in and were preparing for war? Yeah well, they didn’t as the Cylon fleet begins its attack on Galactica. I thought seeing Raider blood splash over Kara’s Viper was kick ass, but then the next scene happened. Admiral Adama demands every pilot in the battle and then asks Col. Tigh what the problem is when he doesn’t do his duty immediately. Tigh answers, “Nothing Bill. I’ve never felt better in my life.” Then Saul shoots the old man right through the eye. Holy shit! And here’s the thing, maybe 4 people out there in total were fooled by that scene, because as the camera pans around things go back to normal and we see that Tigh never really shot Adama. More than a gimmick (which it admittedly was), this scene gives a clear indication of where Tigh’s mind is at following the revelation that he’s a Cylon. Out of the four, he’s the one who is probably having the most difficulty wrapping his mind around things. Out on the hangar Anders is preparing for his first space combat, but he’s got things on his mind. Like whether or not a switch could go off and turn him against his own people. Luckily Chief is there to tell him to be the man he wants to be, just like the Colonel said. Yeah, way to give advice on protecting your human friends there…Chief Toaster. So Anders goes to fight, and we get to see one of the best brief space battles in television history. Sure, it wasn’t the most epic or provoking piece of filmmaking. But it was damn impressive, and will be yet another thing the special effects team on BSG get overlooked for come Emmy time. The battle ends mysteriously after a Cylon Raider and Anders meet “eye-to-eye.” The moment has the Raider do his K.I.T.T. red eye scan, and then Anders’ eye glows red at the same time. Now, there was much discussion amidst those who had already seen the episode on what this meant. Was a message sent, and in what direction? Or did a switch get flipped, just as Anders had feared? Ron Moore told me that it was simply an “acknowledgment,” so now the Cylon fleet knows that at least one of the final five are at hand. And he also mentioned that the Cylons could tell that the final five are around.  I love Col. Tigh as a character because the actor (Michael Hogan) who portrays him is so brilliant, and the writers have used that to build the character over the seasons. I love Gaius Baltar because he is such an interesting character, especially in light of last season as the creators of the show exposed the sham that is blaming him for all the wrongs done to mankind on the show. He’s become the scapegoat, and like Lee said in the season 3 finale it’s only because people don’t like him. Which is exactly why I, as a viewer, do like the character. Baltar’s actions and how he’s treated by his fellow man does indeed reveal their hypocrisy. But that’s all in the past; it’s time for Baltar to move on. Perhaps a harem will be suitable? Baltar is led into a room by his saviors from the season 3 finale to find it full of young beautiful woman, and a few young effeminate men. At the end of his processional into the room Baltar gives a look around and then just says, “Right.” You know that Baltar and his ego will love this scenario once he gets acclimated. And then Kara returned to the Galactica. She acts like everything is normal and there should be no big deal upon her arrival, which leads me to worry that we’re getting no answers soon. After Lee and Sam hug and hold her like she was back from the dead, Kara says she was only gone for a few hours. Admiral Adama, who doesn’t believe in miracles, orders everyone away from Kara, telling her to go get a complete physical from Doc Cottle. Guess who is suspect numero uno for being a Cylon? We return to Baltar in one of those scenes that just makes you want to strangle the guy, but at the same time he’s so much fun to watch. Didi, the redhead who saved Baltar, says she has to go and look in on Derek. Without missing a beat Gaius says, “Derek. That’s your little boy, isn’t it? The one in sick bay…Please know that I pray for his recovery.” After reaching out his hand to the lovely woman, and having completed his messianic duties, Baltar immediately moves into a line of questioning for himself. He wants to know when he’s getting out of the room, to which the women respond that he can’t. No other ship wants him, and it’s not safe out in the hallways. The brilliance of this moment is how blatant Baltar is with doing what he thinks those around him want only to get what he desires. It wasn’t even a second later when he was looking out for himself. Head Six returns to question why Baltar isn’t more thankful to be alive. Looking around his sanctuary, Baltar says that it’s probably better to be hated by everyone than loved by this loony lot. He is the “King of Fools.” As he kneels in front of Head Six and pleads for a little hope, the girl who was left (Tina or Tracy…I can’t remember) tells him how beautiful the way he prays is. Then something subtle and interesting happens as the girl says it’s like the gods are there next to him as he prays. She says it feels empty when she does the same, and Baltar explains that that would be because there are no gods. They don’t exist. There is only one truth, and when she asks him Gaius defers to Head Six who forcefully says, “There is only one god.” So, is this the purpose of Baltar to the Cylons? To introduce a Christian style monotheism to the human race and convert them over? Perhaps the Cylon’s plan, a race of super intelligent robots, is to capture the race of men in the web of religion. After all, if you’re the power in religion history has shown that you’re also the power in politics. It could be a far more decisive victory than a military invasion. Oh yeah, and then Baltar gets some sex time.  After her physical Starbuck is trying to explain what happened to Adama and Roslin. The latter tells the returned pilot that she’ll have to explain until it all makes sense. Seriously Kara, you were “dead” for two months and you come back with tales of earth. How can you expect anyone to not be wary? So she tells them how she followed the heavy Raider into the cloud, hit some bumps and then was near a planet with a yellow sun. The star alignments matched what they knew to be Earth, and Kara took some photos. Cottle’s tests prove that she isn’t a Cylon, or at least that she’s not being detected as one. But Kara also doesn’t remember how she got back to the fleet. She talks about seeing a ringed gas planet, she took pictures and now she’s home. It all seems dubious to the President, and probably the others as well, but Kara appears to be sincere. Starbuck’s problems don’t end there, back in the hangar Chief Tyrol goes over her Viper with Adama and Roslin. The Viper is in pristine, showroom shine, condition. “Unless she found a hell of a body shop, no it’s not,” Chief tells Roslin when asked if it’s the same ship Kara flew out in. The nav computer is also just as new, with no record of where the ship has been. So Roslin orders Starbuck to be put back in the brig, a decision that Lee doesn’t like. But Tory and Tigh both agree that even though Cottle’s test showed her to not be a Cylon, she still could be. After all, they’d be experts on being in that situation. And can I just mention how much hotter the disheveled, post coitus, looking Tory has been the last two episodes? “We’re back where we started from,” Admiral Adama says as he looks around at Roslin, Lee, Tigh, Chief and Tory. “There could be Cylons right here and we wouldn’t know it until they put a bullet in our heads.” Says the man who is at this moment surrounded by three of the final five. Roslin is concerned about all of the coincidences: the Cylons appear and then turn around just when they have the human fleet at their mercy, at the same time Kara returns with supposed knowledge of earth and could lead them off course. Lee tries to argue that the nebula was supposed to be a clue to earth, but Roslin disagrees. “The nebula is only a roadsign on the way to earth,” she says. The problem with what happens next is the president gets into a game of “What if?” Asking what if Kara is playing everyone; that she is trying to lead them off course. But the problem is this…what if she’s not? Derek, the sick little boy, is brought to Gaius who has little to no clue what to do. He just says they have to pray and be strong. Yes, that is a genius plan for saving the boy’s life. Meanwhile the final four convene a secret meeting, and I have a feeling this won’t be the last time. The great thing with this scene is we get to watch the characters going through the ordeal theorize on what’s happening. Anders wonders why he didn’t shoot the Cylon Raider, maybe he was programmed to leave his safety on. Who knows? “Those bastards can’t program me to help them,” Tigh responds. Chief brings up Boomer, who thought the same thing before shooting Adama. Tigh is desperately holding on to his humanity and says that it won’t happen to them. They know what they are. Then he pulls out a gun, lays it on the table, looks around and asks, “Agreed?” They are inclined to acquiesce.  Roslin visits Caprica Six to get more details on what happened in the visions. A fact that had I not just rewatched season three, I would have completely forgotten about. This is another aspect of a human’s connection with the Cylons that will be explored, if not explained outright, this season. According to Ron Moore there is definitely something important going on here. Roslin asks Caprica Six to help her, since she went further into the opera house. She asks who the Final Five are, but Caprica Six doesn’t know. In fact, she responds that the seven models are programmed not to think about it. Which brings up a bit of a quandary, as actively not thinking about the Final Five would be thinking about them. It’s an interesting point, and goes to further show the idea of free will in the Cylon society. As time goes by certain models like D’ianna and Caprica Six start to drift away, and as much as Brother Cavill tries to claim it’s a defect there’s a good chance this is simply evolution. Caprica Six tells Roslin that the Final Five are close, that she can feel them. Notice she says “Five,” and not just some of them. That means whomever the last Cylon is we definitely know them. It won’t be a random brand new character. At navigation Kara is trying to find the star system to get them to Earth, but it’s not working as well as any of them would hope. Final Cylon suspect Gaeta is fed up with following her orders, and Helo comes over to help out. He tells her it could take months to work out the calculations, but Kara says it doesn’t work that way. “Then how does it work,” the Old Man asks as he walks in. Kara says that it’s a feeling that led her to Earth. From the nebula it was crystal clear, but each time they jump it gets more and more muddled. At some point soon she’ll lose it altogether. President Roslin has ordered that the course laid out by the Eye of Jupiter is how the fleet will proceed, and so they jump again. This is another scene that I think just lets us all know that no questions are going to be asked, only old ones asked in a concise way. Kara pleads with Adama to believe her stating, “You once said you loved me like a daughter. If you still do, you’ve got to trust me on this one.” Watching the tape of Kara’s Viper blowing up the Admiral asks his son what he should believe. “Should I believe my heart or my eyes?” Poor guy, as stoic as he’s been in the episode you may have forgotten how much Kara’s return has wrenched at his heart. During the following conversation he offers Lee his wings back. Lee says that he took those off for the wrong reasons, but he should keep them off. I agree, because this new Lee is far superior to military Lee. And I think his connection with grandpa Joseph Adama is a great one. Why follow in the father’s footsteps when you can follow the grandfather? In any case, Lee is better for the decision. And it’ll be interesting to have him as an official part of the President’s “cabinet.” He worked as Roslin’s military liaison way back in season one after all. Now we begin the most interesting section of the episode. Baltar is in his harem room with the sick boy, Derek. And seemingly without pretense he prays over the boy asking how god could take the child, who has yet to really live, and let him live. Gaius has these great moments where he is fervently sincere, and you can’t help but wonder if he desires to be a stronger man. To be able to have stood up to the Cylons on New Caprica, or any other instance where he has shown weakness. Baltar asks god to take him instead of the “innocent child.” I wonder if faced with his own mortality, would he be so willing to die for another?  Gaius is led to a bathroom where he gets himself a shave. Post shave a man walks in who says they had met at the groundbreaking on New Caprica. The man had a little boy named Kevin who said he wanted to grow up as president. Baltar asks how the boy is, and the man says that his little boy is dead. Shot by Baltar’s police. Uh-oh. Another guy bursts in and takes down the woman and the first guy grabs Baltar and puts the straight edge blade to his throat. Head Six appears and asks if he truly meant it when he prayed for God to take his life and spare Derek’s. Baltar immediately answers, “Yes. Do it. Take my life!” Wow, Baltar did indeed face up to his death if it meant saving another. Most impressive. The woman with Baltar gets free and finds a bar to hit the men with, which she does repeatedly. “A little less smiting next time, you don’t want to be held on murder charges,” Baltar tells her as they return to the sanctuary. Miraculously little Derek is now feeling much better. What the frak is truly going on here? Kara’s at the remembrance wall with Sam talking about what happened while she was lost in space and how her picture is still up. She says she at first thought it was a crazy dream. It’s clear Kara’s just as lost on what happened as everyone else is. Starbuck theorizes that maybe the Cylon’s pulled her out, brainwashed her…something. She also wonders if she was cloned somehow on Caprica (the whole Simon and uterus stealing ordeal), and now this new Kara is that clone with the old memories imprinted in her head. Anders tells her that if she was a Cylon, then she’s been one from the beginning. Hmmm, here comes that old mantra. Sam says it doesn’t change who she is, or the fact that he loves her. To which Kara replies, “You are a better person than I am, Sam. Because if I found out that you were a Cylon I’d put a bullet between your eyes.” The fleet jumps again and Kara begins to panic, saying she’ll lose the way in one more jump. Seeing that Roslin is the one standing in her way Kara decides to go after her, a move that Sam sees as no bueno. Instead of listening Kara takes out the guard and Sam, running off to find President Roslin. Using ninja skills, along with some smoke and stun grenades, Kara gets into the president’s quarters (that seemed way too easy, considering who this woman is) and holds Roslin hostage. “To Be Continued…” And thus ends the premiere of season four. A really great episode with little to no questions answered. I’m already tired, but what did you think of the episode? Were you expecting more action or answers? Or is this about par for the course? And what is up with Kara’s “feeling?” More importantly…how many more women will Baltar have to sex up during his rise to power? The poor man. Image Gallery
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April 4th, 2008 at 23:38
Holy Frack! Welcome back BSG, you've been missed. This is going to be one hell of an interesting ride. Great episode to get us back into the swing of things. Wasn't sure how Baltar as savior was going to play out, but it ended up being wonderful (just like the rest of the episode). The back and forth between "selfish Baltar" and "savior Baltar" was interesting and I get the feeling that little Timmy or Scotty or whatever the hell his name being healed is going to set Baltar down the path of self-rightousness. The look in his eye at the end of the scene said it all.