by Shannon Nolley, Sci-Fi Fodder Editor
To gear up for the January 6th resumption of Season 2, here's a cheat-sheet of the major plot points from the season so far. SO MUCH has occurred, it's impossible to include everything in a concise way. Of course, it's also hard not to go on and on about the show so I TRIED to be as brief as possible. If you think a major point has been left out, feel free to post it below!
Previously on "Battlestar Galactica"....
Pegasus
Episode #2.10
23 September 2005
To add to their newfound hope in their struggles against the Cylons, the Galactica crew becomes ecstatic when Pegasus, a top-of-the-line battlestar long thought to have been destroyed with the rest of the Colonial fleet, appears out of nowhere.
The Galactica's relatively ragged crew meets their spit-and-polish counterparts from the Pegasus, among them, the higher ranking Admiral Helena Cain, played by sci-fi favorite Michelle Forbes ("Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "24"). Cain warmly greets Commander Adama, who - per protocol - yields command of the fleet to his superior officer.
In private, Adama and Cain compare notes. Cain reveals that the Pegasus crew had taken its computers offline for servicing shortly before the original Cylon assault and therefore was able to escape the nuclear genocide. Since then, the ship has been on a relentless search-and-destroy mission against the Cylons.
It's revealed that the Pegasus also has its own Cylon prisoner. Since Vice President Baltar was successful in extracting information to Sharon, Cain invites him to study her Cylon captive on the Pegasus. Baltar (and his hallucinatory Number Six) are shocked to find a weak, cowering and battered replica of Six named Gina. Seems like the crew of the Pegasus are a "bit" more abusive to their enemy prisoners than the Galactica crew. Because they viewed her as a machine and not human, they justified abusing her in any way they could.
It turns out that the Pegasus encountered the Galactica while tracking a Cylon fleet, which itself appears to have been pursuing the Galactica. The officers decide to take a collaborative offensive move and attack a mysterious vessel guarded by this fleet. Niceties are broken, though, when Cain announces that, due to "rampant discipline problems" on the Galactica, she is reassigning key crewmembers (including Lee and Kara) from the Galactica to the Pegasus. Of course, that leads to conflicts among the crew of both ships.
Meanwhile, Lt. Thorne, the chief interrogator from the Pegasus, decides to test out the Galactica's Cylon prisoner (Sharon) and to "break" her like he broke Gina (he "rides 'em hard and keeps them talking"). When Helo and Tyrol - usually fighting over their love for the Sharons - learn of Thorne's brutal tactics and his intent to use them on Sharon, they rush to her aid. Arriving just in time to save Sharon from a brutal rape, Helo grabs one of the guards and Tyrol throws Thorne across the cell. Thorne hits his head on a bolt in the wall and dies almost instantly.
Cain orders a snap court-martial and sentences both Helo and Tyrol to death. Adama has had all he can stands and he can't stands no more. He is not going to allow his men to be convicted and executed without a full tribunal and the opportunity to mount a legal defense. (He's also fed up with her meddling with his crew.) Commander Adama demands the return of his men and launches Vipers against the Pegasus. This leads to a big-time game of chicken Vipers from both ships training weapons on each other.
And thus, the Season goes on break until January.....
TO BE CONTINUED....
Check back with Battlestar Fodder for a review of the next episode of "Battlestar Galactica"!
The Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus face a new Cylon target, a "Resurrection" ship, while a power struggle threatens to result in all-out war among the human fleet.
The conclusion to this episode absolutely killed me. I have no idea how I've managed to get along during the long LONG wait.
Bring on Galactica!
-- Posted by: mac at January 3, 2006 11:00 PM