BSG 2.13: "Epiphanies"

[annathepiper]

I don't approve of what just happened here.

Don't get me wrong. I really like Roslin as a character. She's totally badassed as a leader and as a President. I really like the development of her relationship with Adama. That part of me is happy she'll still be around.

However. As both a fan of what up to now has always impressed me as a gritty, cutting-edge show and as a fledgling writer, I'm really disappointed that they whipped out a magic cure for her cancer out of Cylon baby blood. It is an extremely cheap plot device, one for which I can see no purpose except to keep Roslin on the show. Had we had any hints whatsoever before this episode about interesting results coming out of the fusion of human and Cylon blood, I could have dealt with it better. But right now, as it happens, it just feels like they've done a huge disservice to the greater overall story arc. Hells bells, what happened to the prophecy about a dying leader seeing her people to the promised land? Is that suddenly now tossed out the window?

The story was demanding that she die. Sometimes in order for the story to just be told right, even a beloved character has to die. Gladiator would NOT have ended right if it had ended any other way than with "He was a soldier of Rome. Honor him." And I feel the same way about this thing with Roslin.

Now with all that said, I will freely give props to this episode for the Sharon/Helo mileage. The conflict about whether to abort the baby, taken apart from the thing with the magic cancer-curing blood, was suitably gripping. And while Helo's mostly big, cute, and kinda dumb, I do have to admire the boy for having principles and heart and being ready to unflinchingly stand up to Adama and deliver that "I'm a father. Like you." line. That was beautifully done. And watching Sharon wig out over the threat to her child--also beautifully done.

And I liked the parallels between Roslin's flashbacks about the teachers' strike and the current situation with the Cylon sympathizers--as well as the (not surprising but still cool) revelation that they're being manipulated by Gina/PegaSix. Also, watching Baltar react to both Sixes... thumbs up on that. I really liked how he told Gina that he would not be the "destruction of mankind". Even if the first word that popped out of my mouth in response was "again!" >;> And that, taken in conjunction with that little present he gave her towards the end... very, very good.

I liked seeing Lee back as CAG--I was hoping they'd do that. And I liked Starbuck's tentative attempt to sound him out to see how he's doing--and even that she didn't get a chance to actually find out, since he found the reader device with the data about the tylium ship on it. A small detail, but one that sat well with me with Lee and Kara's whole side of things.

So overall, sure, there was some goodness in this episode.

But the thing with Roslin really threw it out of whack for me. To be taken up to what looked like Roslin's time... only to have it yanked out from under us at the very last instant with a cheap magic bogoscience plot device... ugh. Especially with this hard on the heels of killing Cain off too damned quickly. BSG is supposed to be better than this. I'm not yet prepared to say it's jumped the shark, but I'm definitely disappointed by this plot decision.

Comments

[fleurdelista.livejournal.com]

Had we had any hints whatsoever before this episode about interesting results coming out of the fusion of human and Cylon blood, I could have dealt with it better

We did. Six said it, that the Cylons were trying to remove the imperfections of humans. That Cylon hybrid's blood was the result of that.

[fleurdelista.livejournal.com]

Also, it fits in with what Roslin said in Resurrection Ship Pt 1 -- how she wouldn't mind one of those blonde Cylon bodies. So it's not completely out of left field technobabble.

Course I am a wellknown Roslin fan, so you know, take what I say with a bit of apologism.

[starsongky.livejournal.com]

The bizarro-cure twist was kinda inconsistent with the rest of the series. I wonder how much of Rosalind's flashbacks she remembers - like seeing Gaius intimate with a "known Cylon" on Caprica's last day. The folder was right on top of her desk, Six's photo was the top one, she must've spent time memorizing those faces.

And now we know how a minor Cabinet official seemed to know more about President Adar than she reasonably should.

[spunbutterfly.livejournal.com]

I think what the doctor has to say will come into play too. That there may be unfortunate side effects of using the Cylon-hybrid blood.

I also agree though, the Sharon-Helo arc was played off well, her protecting her baby, him protecting his family.

[annathepiper]

Oh, I think she totally remembers now about Gaius and Six. The absolutely horrified look on her face when she regained consciousness and saw Baltar leaning over her told me that.

And yeah, *snorf*, that little revelation about her and Adar explains much. ;)

[annathepiper]

Yeah, spazzkat was already wondering whether the Cylon blood was going to mess with her as we got to the end of the episode.

Hell, the idea was already rumbling around last week, as of when we got the teaser for this episode--people wondering whether Colonial One was in fact going to be a "Resurrection Ship" of sorts. It'll be interesting to see where this goes, anyway. Now that Roslin won't have any reason to take the kamala anymore, she won't have any real story reason to keep having her interesting little hallucinations.

I wonder if the Cylon blood will start messing with her in a similar way.

[annathepiper]

Mmm, very true, I remember that now that you mention it. Point taken!

[annathepiper]

Well, I think Roslin's remark was more just her being snarky than anything else. ;)

Also, no need to worry about the apologism! As I said, I do love Roslin as a character, and part of me is very glad that she will continue to be around. I'm just taking issue with how they chose to handle keeping her around. It just doesn't feel nearly as tightly handled as it should have been, and usually BSG is better than that, so that does disappoint me. I'm hoping that this pulling this magic cancer-curing stunt will have ramifications down the road--that there will be a price to pay for it. If there's some impact it has on the overall story arc--aside from Roslin getting to live, that is--that'll help make me feel somewhat better about it.

I've heard it theorized that the Cylon blood may eventually screw with her, and that would be an example of the kind of price that might be appropriate to the story. Not that I necessarily want to see Roslin go batshit from having Cylon blood injected into her necessarily, it's just that I think that there ought to be a price for having snatched her back from the jaws of death. ;) Otherwise having her coming so close to dying loses a whole lot of its impact and meaning.

[wrog]

The story was demanding that she die

not to put a fine point on it, but... the story's not over yet.

I imagine she'll be randomly taken out by a bomb 3 episodes from now.

My big complaint is, of course, here.

[annathepiper]

Granted, the story's not over yet. But it still feels like a cheap trick to have had so much of a buildup to this from day one, only to have it yanked back at the last minute. I'm cutting them some slack just because historically the writers of the show have certainly seemed to know what they're doing... I'm just... somewhat disappointed that it went this way.

(But this has happened to me before--I quibbled with certain directions the plots took on Buffy and Angel, too. And it's hardly enough to make me stop watching the show!)

As for your big complaint... hee. I suppose I probably shouldn't admit that I didn't notice the mispronunciation at all, but in the interests of full disclosure... ;)

[annathepiper]

wrog did observe above that he expects Roslin to get taken out by a bomb three episodes from now--which would be kind of funny. ;) And others have surmised that the transfusion is eventually going to come back to haunt her. We'll see what happens.

Re: Gaius being looneytunes--heh. We did at least get that neat scene in "Epiphanies" where he and Six were arguing in the hall and several passersby were looking at him very oddly. It'd be nice to see rumors of his instability starting to spread, though I do wonder if we'll actually get that.

And welcome! Glad to have you aboard. :)