The McGuffin Review: Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Episode 3

Posted by Cory Johnson on 04.23.2008

Who dies and what, exactly, do you do when a robot makes you say please?

Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Episode 3 (64) The Ties That Bind

Previously on BSG….Chief, Anders, Tory, and Tigh dealt with the shock of their new lives as secret Cylons living in the Colonial Fleet. Lee Adama resigned his position to become a part of the government. Admiral Adama gave Starbuck a ship and told her to go find Earth. We are reminded that D’Anna was boxed after seeing the final five Cylons. Aboard the Cylon base ship, Six orchestrated a mini-coup, removing the Centurions’ inhibitors that prevented them from having free will and higher functions. The Centurions used their new freedom to massacre the opposing Cylon models, especially Cavil, leaving the Cylons on the brink of civil war.

Cavil is born again and is wiped off and tended to by Boomer and another Cavil. Cavil (the reborn one) says the Sixes are insane and have no idea what they have done. Boomer says that the Sixes have taken over the base ship, the fleet is now split in two, and that her swing vote didn’t mean anything. Cavil says that will teach him not to trust in democracy and BOOMER KISSES CAVIL? The hell? Where did that come from?

Cally is awakened by the baby in the middle of the night. They flash back to Chief and Cally fighting and her taking pills. Cally finds a napkin from Joe’s Bar in Chief’s pocket.

Chief is drinking with Tory, saying that he doesn’t know who he is anymore. Cally, holding the baby, watches them. Tory says that she is flooded with new sensations and feelings, saying that she doesn’t hate it, and she feels open to change. Chief doesn’t do well with change. When Cally sees Tory’s hand on Chief, she bursts in and yells at Chief until the baby starts crying and Cally vomits. Tory just keeps drinking as we open this episode of Battlestar Galactica with 39,676 survivors.

Roselyn is getting her cancer treatment in sick bay when the Admiral arrives to read “Love and Bullets” to her-a noir story set on Caprica.

Lee announces how grateful he is to join the government at a press conference. Roselyn defends Lee decision to defend Baltar during his trial, saying that he is a man who stands up for what he believes in. Admiral Adama answers questions about the Demetrius and refuses to confirm that Starbuck is on board. Roselyn cuts off the press conference.

In private, Roselyn says that she is going to have to cover for the Admiral for a long time on the Demetrius. Adama says that wanted to give Starbuck, and himself, a chance. Roselyn dismisses him.

Starbuck looks at charts and maps frantically on the 22nd day of the mission. She looks like she hasn’t slept the whole time. Anders, Kat, Sharon, Gaeda, and Helo are part of the crew and ticked to find out that they are reversing course, again.

Chief tries to convince Cally that he is not having an affair, but Cally is not having it.

Centurions are still cleaning the blood off the walls of the Cylon base ship when Cavil arrives. Cavil says that this is his fault, as he did not listen to their concerns. The Sharon’s tell him to stop lobotomizing the Raiders and Cavil concedes. Six wants the D’Annas unboxed. Cavil says that D’Anna’s quest is what started their split in the first place. Six demands the restoration of their greater unity, not just D’Anna, but all 12 Cylon models. Cavil says that he will present this to the others, but offers little hope that this will work. Six orders a Centurion to escort Cavil off the ship. The Centurion does not move until Six says please. Cavil has a great line, taunting her, “It’s a good thing you remembered the magic word”, then warns her about the can of worms she has opened. Incredible scene, I’m loving this Cylon storyline.. The Centurions just look so badass.

Zarek approaches Lee, whispering in his ear about Roselyn’s decisions are all stamped classified, and how her bills are starting to read like decrees. Zarek hopes that Lee cannot ignore the truth and gives him a classified file.

Cally tells Doc Coddle that she can’t sleep and she fears that she is going crazy. Cally says that she wishes that Chief would hit her sometimes, just so she would know he cares.

Starbuck is bleeding; no she is painting the ceiling when Anders confronts her about her erratic decisions. Anders tries to see how Starbuck feels about her. Starbuck says that their marriage was just easy. Starbuck tries to push him, but then says that she just wants him to frack her, make her feel something, and then dares him. Anders is only too passionate to oblige.

After the loving, Starbuck, wrapped in a sheet, feels like it was different this time, and it was like she was watching herself, feeling alien in her own body. I don't think that Anders was able to make her feel anything.

Cavil says that he was outvoted, and all the other models cared about was unity. Cavil feels that he was still right, but outvoted. D’Anna will be resurrected and Cavil proposes that all go together, but Six refuses, saying that they would rather take their own ship.

Roselyn denies any discussion about the Demetrius is off the table, since this is a matter of fleet security. Lee tries to quiet the discussion by trying to get Roselyn to admit that they are exploring all options to Earth. Roselyn calls Lee a junior delegate and tells him that he is not her spokesman (ouch). Lee pulls the classified file and grills Roselyn about a tribunal court system that would put the legal branch directly under the control of the executive branch. Roselyn says that this was a draft, and not finished, or even discussed.

Six and Sharon complete their jump to the resurrection site, but Cavil’s ships didn’t follow. To their horror, they realize that they are trapped, and the others are really trying to kill them. Back on their ship, Boomer says that they are really murdering them, but Cavil says that they can trust in their god to save their souls. Boomer asks what about us, and Cavil tells her that they are machines, they don’t have souls. The ship with Six and Sharon is destroyed. DAMNIT.

Cally studies her bottle of pills as the baby cries. She finds a note in the door with an address and time. Chief, Tigh, and finally Tory arrive and lock the door. Cally pulls a panel off and squeezes herself between the walls of the ship’s infrastructure. She removes a grid and hears Chief tell Tigh that he didn’t get a note, Tory told him about the meeting. Tigh reminds him of what Cally would do if she discovered they were all skin jobs. Cally is horrified and drops the grid panel she was holding, which loudly clanks all the down the innards of the ship. Everyone leaves and Tory notices the panel that Cally had pulled off.

Cally is crying in her room when Chief gets home. She is flashing back to all the memories she has of her and Chief. Chief tries to tell her that he isn’t cheating on her, but she won’t turn around (and doesn’t reveal that she has been crying her eyes out). Chief tells her that he will be there from now on. Cally finally turns around and DRILLS CHIEF with a wrench. That should have damn near killed him. Cally slowly walks through the corridors of Galactica with the baby, through the hanger and to the launch pad? Cally has Chief’s key and she is going to launch herself and the baby into space. Oh god no, I might not be able to watch this. Tory appears out of nowhere and tries to tell her that this is not simple. Cally closes the air lock behind her, trapping all of them. Cally says that she will not get her hands on her baby. Tory says that they are still the same, and there are not evil, and are just as scared as she is. Tory tells Cally she doesn’t want to do this to her son. Cally breaks down sobbing. Tory says that it’s going to be ok, and takes the baby-THEN SHE BACKHANDS CALLY SIX FEET OFF THE GROUND. Cally comes to see Tory holding the baby behind the window of the air lock and turning the key to open the hanger and launch Cally into the vacuum of space. We see Cally’s dead and blue face, as Adama sits with a grieving Chief.

Analysis
That episode felt like it took about 5 minutes to finish, which is always a good sign. Lots of death in this episode, and I’m surprised that they resolved the Cally storyline so quickly. I never really cared much for the character, but it was tragic to see her go this way.

I’m shocked and ticked that they ended the Cylon revolt so fast, that storyline could have gone so many different ways. Personally, I’m guessing that if they would have kept the Cylon rebel storyline alive, it would have overshadowed the whole Galactica storyline they have been building since the series began. To be honest, the Cylons are far more fascinating than the humans on this show.

Weird to see an episode without Baltar, and it feels like forever since we’ve seen the platinum blonde Six in Baltar’s head. Admiral Adama played basically no role in this episode either.

Lee looks like he is custom built to succeed or overthrow Roselyn, but I had a hard time caring about this arc of the story. It was good to see Zarek back as a player, though.

Starbuck and crew on the Demetrius don’t do much for me either, how far can they take that story? They will need a twist starting next week or those scenes are going to start to feel like that age old question-are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

The biggest gripe that I can muster about this show is the just semantics, but the use of frack really reminded me that I am watching some science fiction soap opera. Starbuck calling Anders a dumb mother-fracker just sounded dumb. I realize that they want to keep their teen audience, but it still takes me out of the scene when I hear it. Frack should never be substituted for the sexual act when you are begging for it.

The director deserves a solid pat on the back for this episode; there were some very nice touches. Personal favorites include the scene where Starbuck was just a silhouette in the overhead lights, have Starbuck look like she was bleeding when she was painting, and the final shot of Cally’s face. The Cylon ambush scene was also well done.

Things I Wonder
So what happens to the rest of the Six and Sharon models once they realize what happened?
How does Tory explain what happened? How does this affect the Tory-Chief relationship?
Is Tory just acting solely out of self-preservation?
What role does Chief and Cally’s baby play in all this-is the baby the final Cylon? That wouldn’t make sense, since we still don’t know if Hera is in this count.
How long will Roselyn tolerate Lee? Does Zarek have a plan in mind?
Could anyone else watch an entire episode featuring Centurions?
Will D’Anna ever get unboxed? Why do I feel dirty typing that?
Starbuck owns Anders, huh? Join the club.
Where did that relationship between Cavil and Boomer come from? How does that relationship make any sense?
Think they are ever going to resolve that dangling plotline where the Cylons did something to Starbuck on Caprica?
How exactly did Cavil become the leader of the Cylon models?
Does anyone else love the word frack?

Thanks for reading, your comments, corrections, and feedback are always welcome and appreciated. This is Cory and I’ll be back next week with episode 4, featuring an angry Chief, and the return of the platinum blonde Six we all know and love. Keep watching.

The 411: Really good stuff this week that is sure to keep all the BSG addicts begging for their next fix. Battlestar Galactica feels like it is going to sprint all the way to the final episode and it is episodes like this keep us hanging on for the ride.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]