Battlestar Galactica 1.06: Litmus

[voleuse.livejournal.com]

I'm not as impressed with this episode, but that might be my personal bias against witch hunt episodes. I become so violently disgusted with the proceedings I can't be objective about the episode as a whole.

YMMV.

• I'm curious as to how, exactly, Doral was able to obtain the right papers to board the ship. Are there forgers amongst the fleet?
  
  
• I'd love to see how society is establishing itself outside the government and the military. How does commerce work now? Is there a black market?
  
  
• Tyrol and Boomer are getting the crew to cover for their liaisons? Bad, baaaaad idea. Though the entire relationship is a bad idea, anyway. I tend to side with Tigh on this front.
  
  
• Nice touch having Tigh recognize Doral in the hallways. It might have been nice if, say, Gaeta had recognized him, but at least somebody did.
  
  Tigh's intercept approach was, also, probably a better strategy than Adama's. Not that it would have made a difference.
  
  
• Given the relatively small amount of explosives Doral was carrying, and the relatively minimal damage inflicted, I'm wondering why the Cylons would bother. Unless, of course, they were able to predict the revelation of the human-form Cylons, and the fallout.
  
  The short hospital scene was painful to watch, however. Lowered morale might be another benefit, to the Cylons.
  
  
• This might be prurient interest, but I thought it was odd Tyrol and Boomer appeared to be fully dressed in every scene of their tryst.
  
  
• The independent tribunal was, I think, a good idea initially. I dislike the way things ended up, but I already mentioned my bias against witch hunts.
  
  
• I'm surprised it took this long for someone to start churning out moonshine. I'm also impressed Tyrol knew how to improve the brew.
  
  
• Seventeen days after the attack.
  
  
• "He's very handsome."
  "Do you really think so?"
  "She says that about everyone."
  
  Heh. I take it Six has a reputation amongst the Cylons, then?
  
  
• "If he flees, he dies." That's one for those of us who think the Cylons are conducting a sociology experiment, I suppose. Helo's only valuable to them if Boomer is able to observe him personally.
  
  
• I'm not sure how useful it is to let the public know about the human-form Cylons, given they don't have any reliable way to detect them.
  
  If they're nervous about sabotage, I would assume it would be simple enough to remind the public to keep their eyes open for suspicious behavior. Of course, that's a whole other can of worms.
  
  Roslin's press conference could easily been have tailored as a request for the public to keep an eye out for Doral and the other cylon as escaped prisoners, or some other such human danger.
  
  
• It seems like Hadrian already had her suspicions, given she immediately targeted the crew.
  
  The deleted scene from "Water" makes this less of a surprise, but it still doesn't make me like her.
  
  
• Nobody ever taught the crew about getting their stories straight, huh?
  
  
• Hadrian's questions about Boomer and Tyrol's romantic relationship doesn't seem relevant at the time she asks. Maybe later, perhaps, but starting off with that?
  
  
• The 23rd article of colonization allows the right to remain silent. Hm. And why would invoking it be used as evidence of guilt? That seems like it would defeat the use of the article.
  
  
• I'm not sure why everyone chose to keep quiet about the relationship, as that violation would, I think, be much less serious than that of aiding and abetting cylon agents in an act of terrorism.
  
  And while I'm touched at his loyalty to Tyrol, I don't understand why that crew member wouldn't simply state he might have accidentally left the hatch open because, again, carelessness seems to be a less serious crime than aiding and abetting cylon agents in an act of terrorism.
  
  
• "Toward his love." Um. Or maybe Helo doesn't want to abandon the only ally he might have on the planet? Not that I'm not all over Helo/Boomer, I just think immediately jumping to romance seems silly.
  
  I guess the cylons are just big, fluffy romantics at heart.
  
  
• Could we get Baltar to say "ambulatory" more often?
  
  
• Six hidden behind the hopsital curtain? So very, very creepy.
  
  
• Baltar walking, holding hands with nothing, ranting at nothing? Why don't more people treat him like he's crazy? Just a throwaway scene with the crew, or something. That's all I ask.
  
  
• "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." BWAH!
  
  
• Methinks Six has been wanting to beat down on Boomer for quite a while.
  
  
• The book on Adama's desk? Reader's Digest Condensed Books. I wasn't able to discern the titles, but...that was sloppy.
  
  
• Helo's limp is a nice nod to continuity--his leg was injured way back in the miniseries. Or seventeen or eighteen days ago, if you want to get technical about it.
  
  
• The fight between Helo and the Cylon was nicely done, though I'm kind of surprised he didn't hear it creeping up on him.
  
  
• Aw! Helo/Boomer smooches! That was sweet. Though Helo is so, so dumb. Why would she have a sack over her head? Why would she be battered around the face, but have no broken bones? The cylon hands (such as they are) aren't very geared towards delicacy.
  
  
• Okay, I know Hadrian's suspicion of Boomer is correct, but she's so completely out of line with Adama. (I remind you of my bias.) Was Adama too lax with their relationship? Perhaps. I don't see why she felt the need to drag Adama in and browbeat him about the fact.
  
  Therefore, I was grimly satisfied when he had Hadrian confined to her quarters. Because I HATE her. Ordering Adama to be restrained? WTF?
  
  
• And the bitchslap Adama gave to Tyrol? Wonderfully done, because he's right. They can't afford to lock Tyrol up. They're woefully short on engineers, even more than they're short on pilots.
  
  
• "You? You'll pay a different price. You'll have to walk out on that hangar deck every day, knowing that one of your men is in the brig because you couldn't keep your fly zipped. You're the most experienced, non-commissioned officer we have left. You keep my planes flying. I need my planes to fly. Dismissed."
  
  
• The breakup scene made me very glad Boomer isn't actually a human being, because she comes off as spoiled and self-involved. "I can't believe you can just turn your back on us." As if the entire debacle hadn't happened.
  
  
• Also, it partially made up for Tyrol's idiocy from before.
  
  "I put everything on the line for you. Everything. I cover for you. I protect you. I risk my career, my freedom, my integrity, for what? So some innocent kid, one of my kids, can take the fall for me? No! We are not worth that."
  
  
• "Did you leave the hatch-combing [sp?] open last night?"
  
  If we didn't know she was guilty, I would say that was a low blow.

Overall, I think it's a good episode, and there were some great performances within, but my bias doesn't allow me to enjoy the episode fully.

Hey! No Apollo! ::pouts::

Crossposted to my LJ.