Battlestar Galactica 4.14 The Blood on the Scales

[selenak]

The scales of justice, I presume.



I hadn't expected the show to wrap up the mutiny that quickly, and am of two minds about this. On the one hand, given there are only seven episodes left, I can understand why. On the other, it made for some clumsy shorthand in cases, though I will take that back if in subsequent episodes we see Adama and Roslin dealing with the fact that a lot, if not most of the mutiny was entirely their fault. Talk about accepting responsibility. (I'll get to Gaius Baltar shortly.) As it is, I can't help but feel that other than making it clear that Zarek = The Bad Side once and for all, killing off the Quorum served the main purpose of annhilating any remaining dissenting voices to Adama and Roslin on the part of the show, so they don't have justify themselves to anyone anymore but we don't have to blame them for this lack of what was left of democracy, we can blame Zarek. Though, to be fair: this episode did well as far as the lower ranks of the munity was concerned, because instead of being presented with Evil Rapists (tm), we got to see Kelly sparing Tyrol, and also got to hear Adama being told by his not-executioner that respect for the admiral does not change the fact he still stands by the original cause for all of this.

Speaking of feelings for Adama, my sympathy is still lost, alas, which means such scenes like Adama talking the ship back with his Walk Of Heroic Stoicism, with more and more people joining, fall emotionally flat for me. Not because they aren't well done but because I really wouldn't have cared if Adama had gotten shot. (Which means the Roslin/Adama reunion fell flat for me as well. I don't dislike the 'ship so much as I dislike Lee/Kara (the romantic version; I'm okay with them as friends), but I'm afraid I'm getting there; when Laura had her big "I'm coming for you" speech, I so wished it hadn't been triggered by Bill's supposed death but by concern for the fleet.)

Now, the "Tragedy of Felix Gaeta" part of the episode worked fantastically well for me. You can look back through four years, as Gaeta went from a background to a middle to a foreground character, and all that happened to him, the changes this wrought, made sense, were fairly written, and made it possible to completely sympathize even while seeing that his fate was sealed, and partly by himself. I'm also glad of Tyrol's lone heroism heroism depicted, crawling through Galactica's tubes and disabling the FTL drive just in the nick of time, because otherwise I'd have sympathized with Gaeta far more than with anyone on the taking-back-the-ship side. As it was, I went "aw, Chief" every time he showed up, and the final scene, when he has saved the day, looks up sees the tears in the Galactica, the visual proof of the ship falling apart - perfect. But back to Gaeta - like Dee before here suicide, he was given a final poignant conversation just before, and of course it was with Baltar. (Sidenote: after watching the episode, I checked out other people's reviews and was surprised to find some thought it was a dream sequence. I then checked the episode-relevant posts and interviewers by composer Bear McCreary and scriptwriter Michael Angeli, and no, definitely not a dream sequence. The comfortable surroundings of the conversation were meant as some cheap manipulation to make the viewers hope Gaeta would be spared.) Tying in to their conversation the episode before, Gaius' sort of epiphany on the basestar in this episode and the whole last four years, though scenes like the one in Exodus II from season 3 come particularly to mind. I don't think Baltar spared much thought on Gaeta back in season 1, beyond finding the whole crush and hero worship thing useful for anything between getting lend stakes to play poker and getting his neck saved in Six Degrees.... By the time New Caprica ended in season 3, on the other hand, he was aware enough to realize just how much Gaeta had wanted to believe and had been disappointed. By mid-season 4, I think Baltar is the only one who gets that Gaeta risking his life to help the resistance on New Caprica and Gaeta organizing a mutiny against Adama was both caused by the same ideals. The whole scene is a rare moment of compassion and grace between two people who have seen each other's worst.

Baltar's epiphany, though: actually is one of those "shorthand" moments I was talking about earlier in this review. It's not that I don't believe it's right that at this point in his storyline, he should come to the conclusion that running away, saving his life and having sex when offered just won't do anymore and he has to go back because he is responsible for the people who believed in him. But introducing another Six model the audience doesn't know yet just so that he can have said epiphany felt like clumsy writing; if I had to rewrite, I'd have him arrive at the same conclusion while Roslin is arguing with the Cylons who want to cut their losses and leave the fleet. Or maybe in a conversation with Tory.

Now, the trailer for the next episode:

S

P

A

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Ellen! Hooray for a return of Ellen in general, and some answers on the "so how DO the Final Five regenerate and what happened after their original end on Earth" front. As to how she and Tigh will cope with Tigh killing her for the perceived greater good, and their new knowledge about their natures - no idea, but it should be something to see. Also, Ellen is not an Adama fan (or vice versa), and I'm petty enough to be immensely grateful at the prospect of a character showing up who is not keen on Bill but (presumably) won't be presented as wrong or evil.

Comments

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I appreciate that they still remained somewhat balanced in their portrayal of the mutineers, especially because of Kelly and Narcho, but I'm still not sure I was supposed to be more devastated about Zarek's and Gaeta's death than Adama's possible execution. You're definitely not the only one unmoved by Adama's storyline. Bah.

I liked Zarek's smile in the end. It seemed like a fitting ending for the character in many ways, although I wish they had used him more and had overall painted him more grey.

This has been the first time in eons that I liked Tyrol. Although it cracked me up that he spend most of the episode crawling through vents.

I do like both Romo and Mark Sheppard, but is there any specific reason why the character is on the show other than the PTB also liking Mark Sheppard? I totally expect him to be the Cylon God by now.

Poor Sam - Karma is a bitch, isn't it.

But back to Gaeta - like Dee before here suicide, he was given a final poignant conversation just before, and of course it was with Baltar.

Cally got one of those, too, actually. Her conversation with Cottle was the one thing that didn't make me want to throw something at the wall in that episode, despite the lampshade hanging about her marriage.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I liked Zarek's smile in the end. It seemed like a fitting ending for the character in many ways, although I wish they had used him more and had overall painted him more grey.

Same here. I'd cheerfully have traded all the romantic storylines for political ones featuring Zarek being shades of grey in previous seasons. Re: the end - after the Quorum, I was afraid they'd go for a full blacker-than-black approach and have him grovel at the end, but no, thankfully they didn't. It was a good callback to his expression when Lee did NOT kill him in his debut episode, too - back then you couldn't tell whether he was devastated or glad about this.

...and I'd have traded him and Gaeta alive with Adama dead any time of the day, but I suppose yours and mine is a somewhat atypical reaction there.

Romo: yeah, I can't see any reason for his presence beyond "we like Romo, so let's bring him back one more time before the end", either.

Cally: right, that's another example.

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

I was less impressed with this episode (though expecting that disappointment, because Galactica has a bad track record with second/third parts of mutli-parters going all the way back to "Resurrection Ship II"), and far more annoyed with Zarek's slide into out-and-out villainhood, for precisely the reasons Gaeta states. They did have the truth - or at least a perfectly valid and even reasonable point of view - on their side, and the choice to make Zarek an aspiring tyrant obscures that. In fact, the entire episode worked pretty hard to sweep this dilemma under the rug, to the point that I'm wondering not whether Adama and Roslin's role in brining the mutiny about will be discussed in the future, but whether the perfectly understandable resistance to an alliance with the Cylons will ever crop up again.

I was also disappointed with the scenes on the basestar, in that these were my last, faint hope that the Cylons' role in bringing this situation about (by which I mean both the particular crisis in this episode and humanity's predicament in general) might be discussed. When Roslin was exhorting the Cylons to stick with Adama, I kept hoping she'd point out that they owe her, him, and all of humanity a hell of a lot more than just that. It probably wouldn't have gone over well, but at the same time I think I would have bought the Cylons staying out of guilt a bit more than their also having bought into the cult of Bill Adama.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

I really wouldn't have cared if Adama had gotten shot.

HAHAH! Yes, exactly! I was much more worried about Tigh than Adama earlier on, and I just wanted to punch Adama AGAIN multiple times because Gaeta was SO RIGHT that Adama has always cared more for the ship itself than its people (even though he believes that he loves them all like family. But we've seen how he treats his actual family - disappoint or disagree with him and you are dead to him!)

ALSO ... I HATE that Roslin's epiphanies seem to have come from Adama being in danger. That's NOT LAURA ROSLIN! She's always been a big picture person, and yet suddenly it's all about her faith in Adama, blahblahblah. Adama, actually, DID NOT take back his ship - a bunch of other people did, and Adama owes the ship and his life to them. UGH!

I loved the Gaius/Gaeta convo so much that I'm willing to forgive the weirdness of Adama giving Gaeta a cozy place for a reverie before shooting him :D

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

Just found this on Bear McCreary's blog, Alessandro Juliani about Gaeta's death. Love the final sentence:
“I had really mixed feelings,” Alessandro Juliani told me, of his character’s death prior to the finale. “At the time, I thought it was a pretty wicked way to go out. But I did miss being a part of the grand finale in all of its emotional payoff. It also pretty much ended the possibility of the ‘Gaeta and Hoshi Save the World with Math’ spin-off that I was working on…”

[selenak.livejournal.com]

The only reason why I wasn't worried about Tigh was that I was 99% certain Ron wouldn't kill him before he had the chance to see Ellen again, not after all that build up.

ALSO ... I HATE that Roslin's epiphanies seem to have come from Adama being in danger.

Yes. I mean, fair is fair - the relationship was build up carefully, she loves him, it would be equally wrong to depict her indifferent to his fate. But there was no need for him to be presented as the trigger that galvanizes her outburst - I wanted her to do this for the fleet. Though I must honestly ask myself: would I feel differently if I liked or loved Adama as a character, and thus would presumably feel Laura channelling my own rage in that scene? Instead of thinking "damn it, Zarek, you shouldn't have indulged Gaeta in his need for a trial and just shot Adama, then we'd actually be rid of him and Laura could return to being awesome without a connection to Bill Adama".

As I said: if the next episode brings us follow-up in the form of Adama realising he (and Roslin) were to blame for the mutiny as well, that they left the mutineers with little to no option because of the dictatorial way they went about imposing the Cylon alliance on the fleet, I'll probably change my mind about the dissatisfaction I feel right now. I'm not without hope there will be follow up; after all, we got that little scene with Narcho (that was him, right?) and Adama after Adama had swung the tide around. So there might be some actual discussion about what the mutineers wanted, and why. If not, though - if we're just supposed to believe Adama Knows Best - then my dissapointment will continue.

I hope someone will get around to thank Tyrol.

But we've seen how he treats his actual family - disappoint or disagree with him and you are dead to him!

That's the trait of Adama's which drives me crazy and why I answered as I did here (http://pellucid.livejournal.com/316035.html). Also, I guess, why I'm able to stomach Baltar's brand of egotism so much easier - he never confused "loyal to me" with "good" or "against me" with "bad person". As butterfly put it, by contrast Baltar understands if you think he's a coward or a bad person (he'll still want you to change your mind, because he really wants to be liked and admired, but he respects you for it -- the way he treats Roslin is a great example of this). I've read Adama meta that point to his brooding as examples of how guilty he feels for his actions and flaws, but that's not the impression I got. Adama is great for claiming guilt in the abstract (is the human race worthy of survival?), where it makes him look noble and overly conscientious to even consider it, but not at all for the definite, where it really applies to him (i.e. personal relationships with just about anyone); and most importantly, he never makes an effort to change.

[serrico.livejournal.com]

...it's like we share a brain. :)

I agree with all of this! Especially the hope that the valid concerns that led to the mutiny--Roslin's effective refusal of responsibility upon discovering the state of Earth, Adama's military-rule insistence on the Cylon alliance/tech upgrade despite widespread resistance--will be addressed. Roslin and Adama (whose post-coital scene in 'A Disquiet Follows My Soul' struck me as more self-indulgent and head-in-the-sand than straightforwardly *romantic*) need to realise they have to stop mourning Earth and let their leadership tactics evolve to suit the new state the fleet is now in. I...really hope TPTB know they have to address this stuff.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

So do I. On the bright side of things, all scriptwriters interviewed about this arc so far have emphasized that Gaeta and Zarek had good points, so I hope these won't vanish into thin air.

The post-coital scene: reminded me of nothing as much as Gaius Baltar on New Caprica, from Roslin's pov, because she's basically doing the same thing Baltar did then, ignoring her presidential responsibility in favour of a mixture of depression and escape via hedonism. Considering the parallels and contrasts between Roslin and Baltar have been very skillfully drawn for several seasons now, I hope it was intentional...

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I dunno. . .I agree it was decent as a Gaeta episode, and I liked the parts with Chief. But otherwise it seemed really unworthy of the great setup of the last couple weeks.

Re: Zarek I saw where it was going once he ordered the execution of the quorum, so I kind of disconnected from the episode at that point and spent the whole time thinking of the potential they wasted with the character. With all respect to Gaeta and the really good work the actor has done, particularly in these past few episodes, I find the Tragedy of Tom Zarek a lot more interesting. How did he get from being a skilled politician/leader/motivator to the guy who has the entire elected government executed because they argue with him? There's certainly precedent for such a transformation -- especially with a guy whose willingness to kill has been part of his character from the beginning -- but I would have liked to see more of how it happened.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

You and Richard Hatch both (http://community.livejournal.com/battlestar_blog/1481674.html). Have you ever read A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel? Still the best novel about the French Revolution I've ever read, and what she does with Robespierre there, who credibly goes from an idealist who is anti-death penalty to, well, Robespierre in the final phase is what BSG could have done with Zarek if they'd tried a little more. (And lords of Kobol, there were ough superflous things they could have cut out to make room. *eyes stupid love quadrangle of doom and vastly equally annoying A/R*