BSG 2.12: "Resurrection Ship" (Part 2)

[annathepiper]

OH MY.


Well now, THAT was unexpected!

The part where they killed off Admiral Cain, that is. solarbird says that they did it this way just to screw with the minds of every single fan who was familiar with the old show. And it worked, too, because now we're all going "HEY IT DIDN'T HAPPEN THAT WAY BEFORE!"

And I mean DAY-EM. Lots of intense, on-the-seat-edge stuff in this one. Where to start?

I really liked that both Adama and Cain backed down off their assassination plans at the last minute. Three cheers to Boomer for handing Adama a clue--and to Adama for following through with it. And I was really surprised that Cain backed off too, because I was totally expecting her to issue that order even after Starbuck was handed the hint to stand down. That she did not issue that order after all sits rather well with me and makes me almost sad that she was then popped off by PegaSix.

(Story-wise, I absolutely think it had to happen--because I can't see Adama and Cain comfortably remaining in the same fleet long-term. Adama and her now-former XO, yeah. But not Adama and Cain. Still, I was sad to see her killed off anyway.)

I really liked all the little bits of parallelism between Starbuck and the XO as well. "Good hunting, Captain." "You too, Colonel." Hee! And Starbuck's face in multiple scenes was exquisitely expressive--when Cain was giving her the Do Not Flinch speech, when she was walking alone down the corridor to close in on Cain, when Adama gave her that hint to stand down. Very well done indeed. Also, though I had not previously thought it possible, I think Starbuck may in fact have gotten hotter.

I was really glad as well to see the XO show up and keep Helo and the Chief from getting beaten. I liked that the tension and resentment was there on the part of the Pegasus guys--but to show us just enough of that and then show us that saner heads on the ship are still enforcing discipline was very good indeed. If the beating scene had gone on too long, I think that would have been too much. This way we get to see that seething resentment, which may show up again later, and we also get to see that the XO is less than thrilled about Helo and the Chief himself, but he isn't going to go making an asshole of himself about it. Very good all around.

AIGH POOR LEE. Just watching him floating there in space with a hole in his suit, getting groggier and groggier as he lost more of his air and the battle raged on before his very eyes... AIGH! We were wondering, at least for an instant, if we were in fact going to lose him. I was very relieved that we weren't. And now the whole experience has clearly shaken him. I wonder how this is going to change the dynamic between him and Kara.

Speaking of which, HOLY CRAP the battle. NICE footage all throughout, and those shots of the Cylon bodies blowing out into space as burning cinders... wow. Fantastic "WHY YES we do have an effects budget on this episode, why do you ask?" footage.

President Roslin is looking worse and worse. And while YAY SHE AND ADAMA SMOOCHED, that's a big red flag that surely she won't be surviving the rest of the season. Waaaaah.

But YAY ADMIRAL ADAMA!

Last but not least, AIGH BALTAR! I hadn't known it was possible, but it looks like he's gotten even more batshit. And how screwed up is it that you almost feel sorry for the Six in his head as she watches him fixating on PegaSix? During that bit where he echoes her pretty little speech about scalping Pyramid tickets, especially. Brrr.

AND THIS MAN IS VICE-PRESIDENT!

AIGH!

ETA: Also, now they have TWO! TWO! TWO! BATTLESTARS! Possibly even long-term! Like, WHOA!

ETA #2: What was up with Dee listening outside the doorway as Kara talked to Lee in his bunk? I saw a post by one of the folks on 13th_colony that mentioned this, and I forgot to mention it before. WTF, indeed?

Comments

[fleurdelista.livejournal.com]

President Roslin is looking worse and worse. And while YAY SHE AND ADAMA SMOOCHED, that's a big red flag that surely she won't be surviving the rest of the season. Waaaaah.

NOOOOOO SAY IT ISN'T SO PLEASE.

[annathepiper]

I keep telling myself that she has yet to actually lead the people to the land of their salvation--she hasn't fulfilled the prophecy in the Scrolls of Pythia yet! ;)

[fleurdelista.livejournal.com]

Well look at the clues from next week's storyline though -- three guesses says stem cells from the cylon baby can save her.

[annathepiper]

Innnnnteresting theory--and one solarbird says is getting voiced elsewhere, too. I saw a remark to the effect of wondering whether Colonial One is going to become a resurrection ship.

That would be a very amusing way to make sure Roslin gets to stay around, wouldn't it? ;)

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

I knew PegaSix was gonna kill Cain -- you could see the restraint marks on her wrists in the preview. What I did NOT expect was that Starbuck was going to start seeing things Cain's way. That was very unexpected, and could be the beginning of a huge character arc for Starbuck.

[annathepiper]

I missed the thing with her wrists in the preview, though I think we might have been yakking about whether it'd be her at the time anyway, so!

And yeah, very interesting things going on with Kara there. One almost wonders though whether it's less "she started seeing things Cain's way" and more "she was already kind of there to begin with"--and having a superior officer who thought the same way really kind of crystallized it for her.

[starsongky.livejournal.com]

We watched it tonight - great stuff! I thought the bit at the end of Gaius' parroting the sports speech was cool, when PegaSix reaches for his hand they pan back and red-dress Six is gone. Maybe he's finally gotten her out of his head by transferring his love(?) to this other incarnation.

[annathepiper]

I really do wonder what's happened to hallucination!Six, yeah, and whether we're going to see more of her. And whether she will not take well to being thrown over for Gina/PegaSix. From what "Six Degrees of Separation" from back in Season One taught us, hallucination!Six does seem capable of arranging events to take Baltar down if he pisses her off. ;)