10.11.2005

Battlestar Galactica “Flight of the Phoenix”

Cool: Bonus points to the writing staff for even thinking up a term like “Cylon logic bomb.” What is it exactly? It’s never made completely clear. But it sure sounds scary, don’t you think? Not sure Norton Anti-Virus would catch that one.

Cooler: What makes this show so compelling is the smart way it handles the characters. These are some completely ludicrous situations, but the characters’ reactions always feel logical and believable. The best example in this episode may be the cold shoulder and muttered insults Helo gets from the other Viper pilots. Helo’s fallen in love with a Cylon and now he has to deal with some predictably cruel anti-Cylon racism – assuming Cylons are indeed a “race,” a classic sci-fi sociological question (What is “human”?) that deserves a whole other discussion.

Huh?: The bit where Caprica-Sharon communicates with the Galactica virus by shoving a fiber optic cable into her arm is something out of a bad student film. Are they serious with that? Why didn’t she just stick her finger in the nearest electrical outlet?

Best Line: “I don't care who or what he fracks.” – Starbuck’s hard-boiled defense of Helo to the other Viper pilots, who aren’t too keen on his relationship with a Cylon (or, as some Colonials call them, “toasters”).

Rising: Caprica-Sharon – The enemy who unexpectedly goes reverse-Benedict Arnold and turns good is always an interesting character, but all this business with the logic bomb (and her thwarting of the Adama/Apollo assassination on Kobol, for that matter) makes one increasingly wonder how much of this is just a ruse to get the Colonials to trust her. Someone really ought to keep an eye on her.

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