Battlestar Fodder

Battlestar Galactica: Key Points from "Sine Qua Non"

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Apologies for the delay - I realized in my haste that I didn't actually publish my review to the web! Doh! Better late than never, as they say...

This week, I understand what the producers, writers, and director were trying to accomplish. I believe they came within a hair's breath of accomplishing their goals, but some key areas fell short. This is one of those episodes that deserves an expanded edition, and here's hoping we'll see one on the DVD's. The episode actually gets better on a second viewing - some of the nuance I had missed the first time I was able to catch the second go-round.

We'll resort to our usual character break-downs this week, since some incredible changes occur.

BSG SHARON / NATALIE 6

Last we left Sharon, she had blown away Natalie 6 on fears that the #6 models would one day take away her daughter, based on the shared dreams she's been having with #6, Baltar, and Roslin. At the opening moments of this episode, we see Natalie 6 carted away to the emergency room, where she passes away from her injuries, holding out a hand to Doc Cottle much like the Sharon model did aboard the rebel Cylon ship.

Cuffed in Adama's quarters, BSG sharon gets one of Adama's nastier verbal tirades for threatening the truce (although it wasn't much of a truce given both sides' paranoia). He sends her off to the brig in short order, where she is agonizingly separated from her daughter. It's not until the end of the show that she is reunited with Hera.

LEE ADAMA

Boy, talk about left field - Lee's character takes on a major new role this week, and while it does make sense when you step back and think about it, the show really didn't have enough time to ease us into the transition. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Initially, Lee is caught up in the chaos of the Quorum as they rely on Zarek to get answers for them in Roslin's absence (remember, she's aboard the rebel Cylon ship that jumped at the end of last week's episode). But Admiral Adama is both too busy and too full of hatred for Zarek to respond to what is going on. Lee has to tell the Quorum that he is in the dark as much as anyone, because Adama has shut him out as well.

Later, in the Presidential chamber, Lee asks Zarek to step aside from the Presidency since it seems no good will come with a stubborn Admiral Adama refusing to recognize Zarek. Zarek, as you can imagine, is not too pleased with the idea. Lee informs him that The Quorum has a legal authority to appoint an interim President in a time of crisis. When Zarek finally realizes that he will have no choice, he essentially hands the reigns over to Lee to form a committee to find a good candidate to step in.

This is where one of our favorite characters (and fave actors) come back into play. Lee goes to see our beloved crooked lawyer, Romo Lampkin, to help him find someone that Admiral Adama will not reject and that The Quorum will approve. Apparently Romo knows a thing or two about character (as we saw during the trials). It's important to note that Lee questions Romo's reclusive nature during this scene, since it comes into play in a huge way later on. Also note that Lee never makes reference to the cat while he is in Romo's quarters, another key clue. I have to believe this is one of those moments in Ron Moore's podcast that he will not quite be happy with in execution. The whole cat business does not come through as clear as I'm sure he would have liked.

Romo ends up hesitantly taking the case, warning Lee that sometimes it's best to stick with what you've got.

The search for the right candidate continues throughout the episode, with Romo pointing out along the way that Lee and Roslin share a trait - repressed ambition, never seeking out the job until it's handed to them. Later, after Galactica's surprise jump away from the fleet to search for Roslin and then a just as hasty return, Romo takes Lee aside as The Quorum erupts in anger of being bypassed. They head to Romo's quarters to nail down the candidate. Note: Lee steps on the cat's bowl, asks where the cat is, and Romo sees the cat but doesn't say anything. Lee apparently doesn't notice the cat, and with good reason.

Later, when Lee is away listening to his father relinquish command of Galactica (more on this later), Romo begins plotting on his own the characteristics of a good President, and comes to the conclusion that their is really only one choice.

As he leaves his room, Romo runs into Lee and congratulates him on his Presidency. With Lee still in shock from the statement, Romo pulls a gun on Lee and reveals that his cat has actually been dead for weeks. Romo is obviously off-kilter from the death of the cat, the last tie to his wife, whom he left behind when the Cylons first attacked. Lee manages to talk him down, and in the process convinces himself that he is the right candidate for President. Romo the Manipulator strikes again!

As the episode closes, Lee swears in as President with his father, Zarek, and the Quorum in attendance.

ADMIRAL ADAMA / COLONEL TIGH

In this week's episode, we finally get to see the fruition of all those scenes building the sweet relationship between Adama and Roslin.

With the Resurrection Hub gone, Adama asserts that the rebel Cylons will be determined to resurrect the 3's, and he informs Tigh that if they find the hub they'll find the rebel ship.

Later, he asks Tigh to ask the captive #6 how to find the hub, since he's heard that Tigh has formed a special relationship with the prisoner (little does he know - but he'll soon find out!). Tigh visits the captive #6 in her cell and finds out that only the hybrid knows where the hub is, as the hub communicates its position only after it jumps. After letting it slip that Adama is after Roslin, Tigh sees Ellen's face again as #6 asks if he loves her, which is when alarms go off. Saved by the bell, Tigh erupts in anger at what he believes are #6's mind-games.

Back at CIC, we find that one of the missing Raptors that boarded the rebel Cylon ship has jumped into draedis range. Racetrack and Skulls are sent to rendezvous with the floating Raptor, where Racetrack discovers during a spacewalk that the lone pilot that jumped, Pike, is deceased.

With the Raptor recovered back onboard Galactica, Adama searches the ship himself (obviously for signs of Roslin). In the scarred remains of the interior, he finds the charred copy of "Searider Falcon" that he used to read to Roslin, and which she took aboard the craft, so he confirms it was her shuttle. Tigh says the shuttle readings give them the jump origin. Tigh also notes that Zarek wants to be briefed on the recovered Raptor, but Adama blows it off and orders a search of the jump point.

Adama jumps the Galactica (without the fleet mind you) to the point of origin, and is met with a vast graveyard of demolished ships, including a slew of BSG's own vipers. Racetrack and Skulls find the source of the transponder, which is coming from Sandman's destroyed viper, minus Sandman. The results look grim, but Adama is not having it. He believes that their pilots destroyed the hub, but also believes that survivors may have moved on from the current location. He orders Tigh to leave 4 Raptors behind to search until they find something conrete. Adama is obviously desperate to find Roslin, and Tigh knows it.

Jumping back to the fleet, Adama ignores hails from Zarek, and heads to Doc Cottle to see how long Roslin will last without her treatments, and it doesn't look good. The doc also informs Adama that he found something interesting when running tests on #6. Ahem.

In his quarters, Adama downs some drinks (uh oh) and confronts Tigh about the fact that - are you ready for this - the captive #6 is pregnant! Hoo boy, Tigh has some 'splainin to do! After some nasty words, the two resort to punching each other, and an all-out brawl ensues. When they've finally gotten the pent-up frustrations out of their systems, the two old friends wonder how they'll deal with their women.

Adama later orders rescue squads to be sent in search of Roslin over Starbuck's objections. As he's observing the departure, Romo approaches and has Adama sign papers that give the captains release absolving them of blame if anything were to occur on the mission. When Romo mentions that Zarek is not a bad choice for President, Adama dismisses the idea.

Back in his quarters, Admiral Adama informs Lee that he's finally realized how strong his feelings are for Roslin, so much so that he's lost all objectivity. Given that, he's decided to relinquish command effective immediately. This only makes sense, given the fact that he jumped Galactica away from the fleet and left them defenseless.

After Lee is sworn in as President, Adama hands the Admiral pips over to Tigh and informs him that he's in charge. He also tells Tigh to return Hera to Sharon.

As the episode comes to a close, Adama climbs in a shuttle, departs Galactica, and stays behind in the emptiness of space to wait for Roslin and Co.'s return to the rendezvous point.

While I don't think they quite hit the mark they were intending, the episode was certainly entertaining and moved the plot forward in very striking ways. As I said before, it certainly doesn't hurt to watch the episode twice.

Next Friday:

This episode has been very controversial with the fans - leave us your comments below!


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