WARNING – SPOILER ALERT
If you do not want to know, stop reading now! This post contains information about “Sometimes a Great Notion,” the Jan. 16 episode of Sci Fi’s “Battlestar Galactica.”
In last nights episode (Jan 16) of Battlestar Galactica, the show entitled Sometimes a Great Notion kicked off the last 10 shows of the series with lots of action, activity and some answers. As we joined the newly formed alliance of Humans and Cylons, they have landed on a devastated earth that is uninhabitable and they start to look for answers. Defeatist silence, no words, no talking — just utter desperation and sadness.
Then the human begin to fall apart as the realization that there is no “earth” and their long struggle continues. Watching the crew fall apart, especially the shots of the crew members fighting and spacing out in the hallways of Galactica was thought provoking. The buring of Roslin’s scriptures was very powerful. The pain, anguish and despair seen throughout the crew was played perfectly though watching Admiral Adama lose it was tough and unnerving. Our heroes are not suppose to lose it.
We quickly learn that “earth” was destroyed 2000 years earlier. The bones found on earth along with remains of unknown Cylon metal models at first suggested a war between humans and cylons but it was revealed that all of the bones where cylons. No human remains had been found on earth.
The suicide of Lieutenant Anastacia “Dee” Dualla, played by Kandyse McClure, while shocking, made sense. Dee had been the most “religious” of the crew since she was originally from the Sagittaron colony. Her hope for earth was based on true belief. The moment she pulls out her gun and shoots herself in the head was as dramatic and shocking sci-fi moment as when Walsh was killed by Revers in Serenity.
Meanwhile Starbuck is in search of the beacon and discovers to her horror the burnt out viper she had been in and (“da-da-da”) her dead corpse. Another mystery to explain for the writers but not one that I was suprised to see. It made complete sense since Starbuck had returned with a new viper after she had gone missing. It only confirms that she is not who we think she is.
Another story line of the how the four cylons came to be was further developed that they each realized that they had had lived 2000 years before on earth and had witnessed its devastation, even to the point of “seeing” Tyrol’s shadow burnt into a wall from a nuclear blast. Their appearance 2000 years later plus Starbucks miraculous resurrection will all play together.
But the big event of the night was the reveal of the 5th Cylon and while it makes sense, I was less than satisfied. With Ellen Tigh being the 5th Cylon, the writers have explained why the 5th had not revealed themselves – death will do that – and have introduced a timeless love story concept of Saul Tigh and Ellen. But for me, the great reveal left me less than satisfied due to its lack of potential intrigue. According to series producer Ronald D Moore:
There was something really appealing about the idea that of the final five, the two of them were a pair, and they were THIS pair — you know, as drama-ridden as their relationship had been, the idea that there had always been something deeper and more profound at its center, I always really, really liked.
It probably wasn’t until we settled on the final four that I knew it was Ellen. When we got to the final four — Tigh, Anders, Tory and Tyrol — then it felt like, “and Ellen has to be the fifth.” Because Tigh being revealed as a Cylon was such a profound shift in that character, such a big leap for the show, that it felt really natural that she was also a Cylon.
And he had killed her for collaborating with the Cylons! There were layers and depths to that I felt were really fascinating, about guilt and blame and memory and responsibility, and I just really liked the way that all tied together.
Source – Chicago Tribune
So it was with a bang that the last 10 shows started by moving its gritty story lines. The increasingly bleak sci-fi show still remains strong and worth watching and waiting for more explanations on all of the story lines will keep me tuned in.
