Great Moments in Battlestar Galactica, Pt. 1
14 December 2008
by Kari Geltemeyer
So! Battlestar Galactica: what should we talk about? Hmmm… How about the new Gaeta-based webisodes that kicked off last Friday? (Blood! Drugs! Interdepartmental kissing! Lost in space!) Or the cryptically irritating teasers that Sci Fi is doling out, web-wise, and those new Angry Adama promos? Or the baffling Starbuck’s Boobs poster that just popped onto the radar? Or how about the final half of the final season starting in less than six weeks, and the fact that we’ve been waiting since JUNE 14 TO GET THE FRAK ON WITH IT?
Actually we are going to talk about my favorite character, who is of course Lee “Formerly Apollo” Adama, that wearer of cheekbones, expertly mussed hair, and pinstripe suit. Oops! Just kidding: I hate Lee. What a whiny, self-righteous, goody-two-shoes blowhard. He can’t out himself as the last Cylon soon enough for me, because maybe then he will finally get what’s coming to him, which is a Microsoft Zune. Either that or Starbuck and Dualla kicking him around in the towel area, just for being such a wiener. (And I just made a whole bunch of instant best friends with that angry little fake spoiler/scary feminist rant, didn’t I? But this is the way of things. Also, I think it’s best to lay my oddball likes, dislikes, and stylistic writing tics out here in the beginning, because ultimately it will save us all a lot of time.)
And what we’re really doing today is launching a little series called “Great Moments in BSG,” starting with my actual favorite character, Laura Roslin. (She of the glasses, neverending death watch, and brand-new old boyfriend.) Mary McDonnell, after all, is the reason I tuned in to begin with, because who would make a more level-headed president for the 49,000-something human survivors of a nuclear apocalypse than Donnie Darko’s eminently sane and sympathetic mother? And who else could get me to turn on the Sci Fi channel? (Note to Sci Fi: nobody.) Naturally I never suspected that she would turn out to be such a morally wifty, power-hoarding nutbar, but then head-snapping surprises and shape-shifting character curveballs are part of what BSG does best, and one of the reasons I’ll follow this show gladly, wherever it leads.
I had a tough time narrowing this one down, though, because Laura Roslin is such a conundrum. I mean, do we celebrate the Good Laura or the Borderline Evil Laura? Or both? I love both. I love how she tries to save mankind by remaking the rules as she sees fit and without answering to anybody, which is exactly what we loathe about Some World Leaders, but that’s also why BSG is so brilliant: just when you think you’ve picked a side, they show you another side and make it make just as much sense. And how she went from the soft-spoken Secretary of Education, tentatively accepting her new presidential authority in the miniseries, to a brutally detached pseudo-dictator who was willing to not only let Baltar die but to help him along in “The Hub,” was nothing short of remarkable. Plus, that moment when she finally, finally stepped back inside of herself and admitted to Adama that she loves him? Oh, my little shipper heart was officially breaking with joy and relief, even knowing the future looks grim for them both. Or maybe because of it. There can be no happy without the sad.
Yet for all that, for my favorite Madame President moment I have to go with something simpler and smaller, and maybe even sadder:
CROSSROADS, PT I.
It comes down to this—five small words on the witness stand. Five syllables. A plea to an old friend, the saddest whisper: “Please don’t do this. Please.” (Which, according to Ronald D. Moore, was a Mary McDonnell ad lib.) And then, so quietly, in that sweet, private Laura Roslin schoolteacher voice, the Laura Roslin we met so many lifetimes ago, when she first felt the weight of the world fall onto her shoulders, who could never have imagined doing all of the things that she’s done: “Captain Apollo—you remember that? I always thought it had such a nice ring to it. I am so, so sorry for you now.” Mourning them both, right before she turns back into the cold-blooded pragmatist she never thought she’d have to be. But it was nice to be reminded that the schoolteacher was still living in there, somewhere, waiting to see daylight again, even if she did it all with one sharp, calculating eye on her own rapidly fleeting agenda.
Whew! Now that we got that out of the way, you can tell me some of your favorites: scenes, characters, episodes, lines, hairstyles, battle scars, whatever. And I’ll be nicer to Lee the next time around. Promise.
Tags: battlestar galactica, bsg, sci fi channel
posted by Kari Geltemeyer in → Analysis
December 15th, 2008 at 2:42 am
When I said Chief above, of course I really mean Doc Cottle.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:45 am
Well, god knows I love Doc Cottle. And the chief, actually. And Adama, and Baltar, and … you know. I'm going through some sort of proactive separation anxiety.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:53 am
I hope you elaborate on ALL the characters you love in great detail.
Remember: they love you too. Especially Leoben. Although his might qualify more as creepy stalking.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Damn, Leoben in "Flesh and Bone"? That whole episode is a great moment in BSG — and will be treated accordingly
December 15th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Welcome, Kari!
Alright, my favorite character…so hard to choose. Here's one of them: Chief Galen Tyrol.
December 31st, 2008 at 5:41 am
S7WYxI Thanks for good post
January 2nd, 2009 at 4:30 am
I love Laura Roslin. She rocks my world. And I love what you said about her and the Goddess that is Mary McDonnell. Rock on!
January 3rd, 2009 at 5:57 pm
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January 4th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Nice post.
January 4th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Amen! And she scares the crap out of me.
January 4th, 2009 at 5:46 am
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January 8th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I have to split this post into pieces to accommodate the length… sorry!
I’ve long thought season three has always been a little underrated by BSG fans. Naturally, the mini-series and seasons one and two are fan favorites, but I seem to stumble across frequent comments/posts by fans that really slam season three as not being up to the level of the first two.
While season three did have a handful of filler episodes (“Hero,” “The Woman King,” and “A Day in the Life” come to mind), it also had some exceptional eps as well.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Since they aired, it’s always been my opinion that the first five episodes of season three fall into the ‘very good’ to ‘excellent’ category, specifically the initial resistance eps and the great two-part “Exodus” eps. The scene of the Pegasus crashing into the Cylon Basestar was an amazing visual effect (although in hindsight, an enormous waste of a modern Battlestar and the raw materials and technology it could provide to the Gallactica and the entire fleet if it had to be scrapped because of battle damage).
The mid-season highlights to me were the three consecutive episodes “The Passage,” “The Eye of Jupiter” and “Rapture” [eps 3-10, 3-11 & 3-12] (and possibly also the dark, disturbing Edward James Olmos directed episode "Taking a Break from All Your Worries" [3-13]).
January 8th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Finishing off season three with Baltar’s trail and the reveal of the human-Cylons in “Crossroads” was almost note perfect. I still enjoy watching the episode where Lampkin calls Lee Adama to the stand to testify and he eventually gives the speech about how many times the administration has simply “forgiven” various violent incidents against other innocent humans within the fleet. I get chills watching that speech. A good piece of writing (and acting) in that scene.
That’s my two cents.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:19 am
If you're interested in that Lee Adama courtroom speech, you can find the text here in the quotes section on IMDB:
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0947105/quotes
It's the last one listed.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:14 am
Doug, I completely agree. The New Caprica episodes were phenomenal — taking such a huge change to the fundamentals of the show and characters and building a complete new world, where they each have their place — and the post-NC eps. "Collaborators" and "Unfinished Business" are two of my all-time favorites (as is "Taking a Break…"). On the whole I prefer the first half of Season 3 to the first half of Season 2, which didn't really kick in for me until "Pegasus." And the wrap-up of Season 3 (while it could never top Season 2) was pretty absorbing stuff.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:49 am
See. So season three wasn't as big of a letdown as some fans/critics of the show seem to think.
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