417: 'Someone To Watch Over Me'
Wr: Bradley Thompson & David Weddle
Dr: Michael Nankin
Synopsis: Kara befriends a piano player who reminds her of her father. She also receives a mysterious drawing from young Hera Agathon. "Boomer" faces punishment for her support of Cavil in the Cylon civil war. She reconnects with Chief Tyrol and shares her visions of a peaceful life on Picon. However, her life on Galactica is much less tranquil.
Review: Given that we are only two episodes away from Battlestar Galactica's swansong, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the production staff might be upping the ante, spearheading the drive towards the (hopefully) explosive and revelatory closing hours with something rather more epic than this introspective, character-examining instalment. But then, that's Battlestar for you, confounding expectations and generally succeeding in giving us what we actually need, rather than what we think we do. 'Someone To Watch Over Me' is a beautiful piece of television, no two ways about it. The marriage of well written, believable dialogue for a soul-searching Starbuck and Bear McCreary's glorious soundtrack works wonders, and then the crew multiply the effect by taking the latter from the diegtic to the mimetic, finding a suitably moving place for it within the plot. Granted, it really doesn't make all that much sense and you can bet your bottom dollar that any semblance of an explanation as to why the notes from a song that Cara's dad played her when she was young give some galactic co-ordinates will be suitably avoided in the coming weeks, but hell, there's just so much to enjoy here that it hardly seems to matter. Amidst the quiet mood set by this storyline, and the corollary with Tyrol and Boomer, there is a wonderfully executed surprise too as Cavil's ploy to kidnap Hera comes to fruition and, like the Galactica crew, it almost passes under our noses. Typically fine, fine stuff. 9.0
418: 'Islanded In A Stream of Stars'
Wr: Michael Taylor
Dr: Edward James Olmos
Synopsis: The rebel Cylons and the Colonial humans react to Hera's kidnapping while the physical condition of the Galactica continues to deteriorate.
Review: Maddeningly, 'Islanded in a Stream of Stars' takes the same approach as 'Someone To Watch Over Me', choosing to wind down rather than amp up, spending a little more quality time with our favourite crew before they all get blown to bits in the finale. Probably. This decision requires a deal of patience with the show, something that it would be completely understandable not to feel when one considers the scope of what we have to come. In this respect, it is rather like that other programme that Battlestar has so often been compared, favourably, to: J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5, in which the latter instalments of its fifth season were noticeably quiet rather than action-packed extravaganzas. At the time, it was a little disappointment but, on reflection, they work as acts of conclusion far better than any epic space battle would have. With that in mind, 'Islanded' perfectly pitches every emotionally cathartic moment: from Starbuck's 'outing' to the crew, forcing her to come to terms with the fact that, well, she probably isn't alive (or something) to Adama's need to let go of 'the love of his life' (as SFX describes it), his beloved ship. Granted, Olmos uncharacteristically overacts his 'breakdown' in the AGGRO PAINTING AND DECORATING sequence but we'll forgive him this one disgression in four years of perfection. Plus, he more than makes up for it in the final five minutes with one of his finest home runs as he says goodbye to Galactica with a similarly superb Tigh. Here's to a stellar finale... 9.0
419: 'Daybreak, part one', 420: 'Daybreak, part two', 421: 'Daybreak, part three'
Wr: Ronald D. Moore
Dr: Ronald D. Moore
Synopsis: part one: With Galactica on the verge of falling apart, Admiral Adama readies the ship for what could be its final mission, as Baltar's Six warns that humanity's final chapter is near. part two: Admiral Adama leads a group of volunteers aboard the Galactica into a dangerous mission to rescue Hera. With the decrepit condition of the ship, Adama understands that this will likely be the final mission of the Galactica. As the personnel face possible death in the battle, they recall key moments from their time on Caprica before the Cylon holocaust. part three: Despite Anders' success at neutralizing the Cylon gun batteries, Adama's volunteer attack force sustains heavy casualties. Cylon Raiders pursue the Vipers and Centurions board the Galactica. Kara attempts to decipher the meaning of Hera's drawing and rescue the Galactica.
Review: Well. That was a turn up for the books, wasn't it? While these episodes were broadcast separately (well, 419 was at any rate), Ronald D. Moore penned the three instalments as one script, one movie if you will, so I feel it best to treat them as such in this review. And in so doing, it becomes very clear that there is an intentional concentric structure to the piece. The story essentially moves from chessboard maneouvering in its first hour to action/emotional apex in its second and then to introspection and finally, rest in its third. There's a distinctly poignant beauty in this most novel-esque narratology, anchored in the one element common to all aspects: the pre-Fall flashbacks. These mire the action in the one trope that has always been at the core of the 21st Century Battlestar Galactica: the human character and all its inherent quirks and faults. Moore is wise to incorporate these moments into the finale, despite the inevitable complaints that will arise from many corners that they take up time that could be 'better spent' giving us more coherent answers to whatever minituate that have been left dangling over the years. And while I will concede that certain aspects of the flashbacks could perhaps have done with a little more treatment (Roslin's in particular lacks any particular oomph and falls a little flat), 'Daybreak' was never obliged to neatly tie up every question, no matter how irrelevant, that has arisen over the years. In fact, if it had, it would arguably have been a disappointment, feeling more like a laundry list than a believable, engaging and satisfying goodbye to the characters that we've come to love over the years. The answers we DO get, and the action that they are tied up in, are generally excellent: they make up a significant proportion of the dramatically intense second hour which, unquestionably, is the best aspect of the entire finale. There's tension and suspense galore here, not to mention some stellar special effects, a whole hell of a lot of blood and some damn fine confrontational scenes, culminating in Baltar and Six's brilliant encounter at the 'Opera House'. There are kinks, unfortunately, and they begin to show in the third act as some highly illogical plot maneouvering jeopardises the believability of the plot. So the Galacticans find what we know as Earth, a planet populated with primitives, and they... decide to abandon everything and start again? You're telling me that 37,000 people would blindly agree to fly all of their technology into the Sun and live, not just without creature comforts, but without basic things like medical science?! Oh yeah, we'll just get rid of all of our advances in childbirth and let what, like, 30% of women die before the sprog pops out? Great idea! Transportation, communication, INSULATION? Oh shucks, who needs 'em, eh? I have a really hard time buying any of this; it smells pungently of a quick fix, driven by a misguided need to tie the events of the Galactica world into our own. The somewhat conservative allegory - that our predilections for technological advancement will only lead to our downfall - functioned as metaphor up to this point, but now it's just blatant finger-pointing, especially when one takes the rather patronising closing scene into consideration. Moore, you really needn't have. Meaning arguably works better when it is not tied around a 70 tonne anvil, towering over your head. The last two or three minutes are a huge let-down as a result of this: they come across as preachy, gratutious and unnecessary rather than thought-provoking and poignant. It's a shame really as there's a great deal to enjoy in the 'new Earth' scenes: yes, they're rather pedestrian at times but just check out the acting skills on display and the beautiful dialogue they're all given... Adama and Roslin, in particular, even if his decision to bugger off and build that cabin away from everyone is just plain ludicrous. And what exactly was Starbuck, anyway? An angel? Meh. I'd rather hoped Moore wouldn't take the rather obvious religious route out but alas, never mind. Still, when considered collectively, the three parts of 'Daybreak' make for a generally engaging and satisfying finale. They take that most important of facets as their dramatic core - character - and run with it, giving closure and finality to our favourite players while also delivering some of the finest, and most explosive, dramatic moments the show has ever seen. It's a pity that the 'comedown', if you will, contains a number of very prominent flaws that serve to distract the viewer's attention from the good and leave a slightly bitter aftertaste. 'Daybreak' is not the perfect crescendo we had come to expect from this oh-so-wonderful of shows, but perhaps our expectations shouldn't have been so high. It's enjoyable nonetheless and at the end of the day, that'll do for me.
'Daybreak, part one': 8.5, 'Daybreak, part two': 9.5, 'Daybreak, part three': 7.0, overall: 8.3
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