Battlestar Galactica: No Exit Discussion Thread

Last week was entirely free of any Myth Arc elements. Consequently, it was a fast-paced call-back to the Season 1 and 2 actioners. This week, we're going deep into the Myth Arc with the return of the fifth of the Final Five and a great deal of drama about their whole alive then dead then alive again a few thousand years later problem. It might slow things down again.

My brief recap of last week's episode, Blood on the Scales, is below the fold.

Spoiler Policy: Anything from the miniseries and the show up to and including tonight's episode is fair game; no need to warn or in some way obscure text for anything that comes from that material. However, anything you may have heard about future episodes should be kept to yourself. Thanks.

Blood on the Scales Recap:

Well, that insurrection was short-lived. In brief, Zarek and Gaeta get shot up after Adama single handedly teeth-clenches his way back into control of the ship. It gets to Gaeta so much that he starts dreaming that Adama is spitting mad, literally.

Apollo and Starbuck start the episode creeping about the ship, but once they free the Cylons and Cylon-lover Helo things pick up fast. Anders gets shot in the neck and it looks pretty serious. Oh, right, Romo Lampkin (aka Badger) comes back and in something of a break from character protests when he's asked to participate in a kangaroo court. Later he first gives Starbuck a "Pshaw!" when she asks for help carrying Anders' dead weight, but then decides it might be helpful to have the Entity owe him one.

As I wrote last week, the writers want you to have no illusions about who are the good guys and who are the bad (even though Gaeta and Zarek have a point about the piss-poor leadership in th fleet) so for icing on the cake Zarek has the Quorum shot and declares himself Emperor. President. Whatever. My brother emailed me immediately to say, "Thank God for that. Do we have to have a new Quorum?"

After freeing the prisoners, Tigh and Apollo go tearing off after Adama and single-handedly (or double-handedly, whatever) disarm the marine firing squad that was just that minute ordered to kill the Admiral. They do it off screen, however, and -- Kriminy! -- the marines on this ship are fucking useless.

Then, the Admiral uses his stompy-walk all the way back to the CIC where Gaeta gives up without a fight. Oh, right. I forgot the bit where Roslin goes apeshit after she thinks her boyfriend got dead. "I'M COMING FOR ALL OF YOU!" Zarek is ready to bug out immediately. Somehow Roslin keeps the Cylons (being led now by Tori? huh?) from jumping away. And then she persuades them (also off screen) to attack the Zarek-controlled battlestar. She doesn't care about the fleet, mind you, or her responsibilities. She just wants revenge. Gaeta was right.

One other moment of ominous foreshadowing: Tyrol, who spent the entirety of the episode crawling through the Jeffries Tubes (yes, I know, but I'm a Star Trek fan first) before tearing the FTL apart with his bare hands discovers some fairly horrific rents in the bulkhead down where the CGI FTL lives. I thought it just looked like wear and tear on the ancient ship that'll force them to end this little wagon train to the stars sooner rather than later, but my buddy immediately began spinning plots about the Cylons. We'll see.

At the end, Baltar realizes that he actually has some responsibility for Gaeta and in what has to be the most well-written and well-acted scene that we've had in a while has one last chit-chat with his protege/sidekick/little brother-figure. Watching this, you know it's Gaeta's last meal cup of tea. They're both smoking. Gaeta is smiling; he's happier than he's been since he got shot. Baltar is near tears. It's a great scene, although when you think about it Baltar is equally deserving of being in Gaeta's place. The Traitor assures The Mutineer, "I know who you are, Felix."

And finally, Gaeta and Zarek are at the end of a launch tube, both of them handcuffed to chairs. Gaeta still has a secret smile for Baltar's parting words. We see the witnesses: Tigh, Baltar, Apollo, with the Admiral and the firing squad in front. I'm surprised by two things: (1) I thought airlocking was the prefered method of execution; and (2) they're letting Gaeta die in his uniform insignia intact, which seems more than he deserves.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 08:44 PM

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