As audiences and critics alike have discovered, BSG has succeeded on a variety of fronts this season in becoming one of the most compelling shows on television. This, I cannot help but agree with... I don't think the show has ever been better. The reasons I've heard given for this triumph often revolve around the whole "no, it's not a science fiction show, it's a _human drama_ show that involves some sci fi elements". Although I can see the argument for this, I don't believe this is why the show has become so interesting. Instead, I would credit the basics that strengthen and help any hour-long drama on television become a lasting success... intelligent writing that deepens characters, taught plotlines that move the action forward, and key performances that merge actors and their dramatic counterparts into a single being. (The kick-ass space dogfights don't hurt either, FWIW...)

So why did the show cop out and use such a cheesy device to save the Pegasus? After unflinchingly dispatching two commanders of the Pegasus in such unexpected, compelling ways... why do the obvious (and UNNECESSARY) thing and have Garner's character absolved by saving his ship and crew?

Okay... I have to agree strongly with the decision to have the recently promoted Major Adama suddenly and unexpectedly thrown into the thick of the fight. The brilliantly directed sequence not only forced Apollo to deal with command of a Battlestar under attack with fairly grim odds of survival, but it also re-enforced the Galactica-Pegasus crew schism. Admittedly, we've seen plenty of confrontation between the crews dating back to the Tyrol-Helo insty-court-martial (all of which I expect to continue to build to a future breaking point), but the purpose of this scene seems to be about Apollo. Frankly, there's been enough evidence of tension between the men and women aboard the Beast and the Bucket that using this scene for that purpose seems besides the point (perhaps, as intended by the producers of the show). So, I'm down with the whole Apollo-has-the-con thing. And then Garner exits (stage left, even)... and begins the laborious process of doing exactly what I feared he'd do.

He saves the ship. At the cost of his own life. In a scene lifted (as pointed out by Ms. Nolley) almost directly from "Star Trek II", with low tech spanners and hammers substituted for dilithium chambers and... other Star Trek nonsense.

Why?

Certainly not for lack of alternative ideas from the producers of this stellar show (pardon the pun)... at least, not as evidenced by the originality they've demonstrated in helping previous jerk-off Pegasus commanders kick the bucket. So why does Garner require absolution for being a dick?

In considering alternative paths to the Pegasus' FTL drives getting back on line, the only reason I can see goes back to one of the basics I mentioned earlier... character.

Garner had to bite the dust... granted. But did he have to do the heroic deed himself? He could have had a "best boy" down in the engine room, someone that appreciated engineering and had a knack for mechanics (again, as Apollo noted, he related to machines, not to people)... or even a team of engineers that the audience was exposed to earlier in the episode. I like this idea, as it gives us characters to relate to... characters to put in jeopardy that we'll care about while they're tring to save the Pegasus from a Cylon armada attack.

But that doesn't really solve the cheesy-ness problem. It's still Garner's character arc they'd be completing. Not satisfying.

So, considering another alternative, we could have had a nameless crew of engineers working together, desperately trying to solve multiple desperate problems while Lee shits himself on the mayhem-filled bridge. It focuses the audience attention on Lee and the space battle... and Garner can still get the axe.

I suppose this approach is at least more satisfying than the ho-hum "can Garner twist ALL THREE KNOBS by HIMSELF in TIME?" But I also have a problem with the anonymity of the Pegasus crew miraculously saving the day.

As I started with... the show has hit its stride at the end of this second season (and, might I add, come a LONG way from what I regarded as a sputtering start in the mini-series and early season one... back when I considered myself among the GINO crowd). The writers, directors, and Mr. Ronald D. Moore have clearly demonstrated they can make this show rock.

When they're ready for a better solution to the Garner disappointment, they can give my agent a call.