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| Monday, June 16, 2008 02:42 PM |
| On the Viewer - Battlestar Galactica ("The Hub") |
 by Fëanor |
I was a little disappointed with the previous episode, "Sine Qua Non," but I feel like things picked up quite a bit with "The Hub." Spoilers ahead!
This episode goes back in time to reveal what happened with the basestar after it jumped away with Roslin and friends aboard. Apparently it was the death of the Six on Galactica that upset the hybrid and caused it to jump. But after that first jump, it continues to jump, following the Hub. So those on board decide to go forward with the attack plan after all. But each time the ship jumps, Roslin returns to a continuing vision that takes place aboard Galactica. There she meets her old friend Elosha, who guides her through the empty corridors to her own sickbed where another, apparently future, version of her lies dying. Elosha then proceeds to berate Roslin for her lack of humanity, emotion, empathy, and love. Meanwhile, Baltar has some hilarious scenes where he claims to have some connection and power over the hybrid, but really he's just being a dumbass. There's a super-creepy scene where an Eight massages Helo and it comes out that she has accessed his wife's memories. Helo takes off, understandably disturbed, only to be ordered by Roslin to bring the Three directly to her as soon as she's found. This goes against the agreement they made with the Cylons. Besides the fact that it's a two-faced, lying thing to do, it seems to me like a really bad idea. I mean, what's the ratio of human to Cylon on this basestar? Even if it's 50/50, the Cylons have the advantage, because they're super-strong. And why put yourself in a room alone with the Three when you don't even know who's side she's going to come down on? She could easily just kill you and keep her secrets to herself.
Anyway, interestingly enough, it's Cavil and Boomer who end up awakening the Three, in the hopes that she can somehow broker a peace between them and the rebels. Meanwhile, the rebels are planning a desperate attack that requires a lot of cooperation and trust between humans and Cylons. The humans are balking at the plan, but the Eight who's been hanging with Helo reminds them of Athena and how they trust her. It's an effective speech, but sadly ironic given the fact that the humans don't really trust them at all and are planning to betray them.
Next, Baltar has a very interesting, if one-sided, conversation with a Centurion about God, as if trying to convert him. The unboxed Three refuses to help Cavil and in fact kills him, then runs off with Helo and the Eight when they show up. Cavil's group seems to put up only a very half-hearted defense against the rebels, actually; maybe they just can't believe other Cylons would try to destroy the Resurrection Hub. We get to see where the ghost ship Raptor came from: in the middle of the battle a pilot freaks out and hits the jump button to go back home just as he's being shot.
In one of the episode's most interesting sequences, Baltar is seriously injured by an explosion on the ship, and as Roslin is applying first aid, she gets him to admit that he's the one who gave the access codes to the Cylons that allowed them to invade and destroy the Twelve Colonies. She freaks out and rips off his bandage. He begins bleeding profusely. Will she let him die? I really wasn't sure. But as the Hub is destroyed and the basestar jumps again, Roslin drops back into her vision of Galactica, where what she sees and what Elosha says touches her deeply and causes her to rush to save Baltar after all. This could have been a really lame scene, but it's well written and acted and works very well. It's especially effective because at this point, it being the final season and all, it seems quite possible to me that the writers would just let Baltar die.
When Helo reveals his secret orders and takes the Three to see the president alone, the Eight is upset and feels she's been made a fool of - which she has. I still think this was a really bad plan on Roslin's part! But luckily for her, the Three doesn't kill her. In another of the episode's truly great scenes, the Three says Roslin herself is one of the Final Five. She waits just long enough to totally freak out Roslin and anybody watching, then laughs (some joke!) and says she's not telling anybody anything until she feels safe on the Galactica - after all, she's now the very last Three in the entire universe!
In a final vision, Elosha exhorts Roslin to "Love something." And when she returns to where the fleet was and finds a lone Adama waiting for her, she embraces him and finally admits to him that she loves him. He says, "About damn time." Again, it's a scene that could have been really lame, but is instead really effective and even romantic thanks to great writing and acting.
So now I'm nearly caught up! The only episode I have left to watch is the latest one that just aired this past Friday. |
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