Crossroads Part II
We're here! We've done it! We managed to finish the third season! (Well, I haven't written the review yet so let's cross our fingers I don't keel over in the middle of it because that would blow for a few different reasons.) I hope that you're as excited as I am. Now, I have a lot of notes for Crossroads Part II because, um, epic episode much? So I have a feeling this might get long winded (not that I have a tendency to ramble on or anything) so let's just get right down to it.
Simon says 'jump'.
1) Once again, there is no opening credit sequence so there's no update on number of survivors. I suppose we should just assume no one has died since Starbuck and say the fleet is still at 41,399 survivors.
2) Cute scene alert! Laura calls up Adama in his cabin because she doesn't want to get out of bed and face all the people who are going to look at her like, "Cancer victim! Stare!" And after what Lee did to her, why would she want to go back to being in the same room as him? She asks Adama to yell at her to get out of the bed and he's kind of cute in his Adama way and says, "Get out of that bed." And Laura's like, "Um, dude. You're an Admiral. If that's the best you can do, I'm going to go knock on Sam Anders door instead." So Bill, ever one to oblige her (post-coup, at least), yells, "Get your fat lazy ass out of that rack, Roslin!" Laura, adorably, giggles and gives him a good "yes sir, okay sir, anything you say sir."
It's just so funny to think of how their relationship has changed. In the beginning, they hated each other. After that, they distrusted each other. Then, Adama staged a coup. Now? They're friends and confidants on their way to being more. As Bob Dylan might say, "The times, they are a-changing."
3) So Tigh's been hearing music when no one else can. Except now Tyrol, Anders, and Tory are also hearing the music.
What must it mean?!
Back when I was new to the series and was just catching up, I happened upon, completely on accident, a spoiler that basically told me Anders was a cylon. Dammit! I was so mad! So, it wasn't difficult to figure out who the cylons were when I recognized that what was happening to him was also happening to Tyrol, Tigh, and Tory. But I imagine I would have figured it out, anyway. I don't know if that final reveal was suppose to be . . . a reveal, but I think it was pretty obvious they were going to be revealed as cylons as soon as they started hearing the music. It wasn't a subtle reveal.
But more on that later.
4) Did I mention that Anders slept with Tory and broke young Seelix's heart?
5) Lee, because he hasn't been enough of an ass since joining Baltar's defense team, reveals to Baltar and Lampkin that Adama called Baltar a traitorous piece of garbage that didn't deserve a trial.
Frak, Lee. Learn to keep your mouth shut.
6) Crossroads Part II marks the first diloxin treatment Laura has. It looks pretty dreadful to me. But while she's waiting for the treatment to end, she has another vision of the opera house, same plot as before, only this time she shares the vision with Athena and Hera and, when the two adults go down to see Caprica in the brig, they find out she was there, too.
There's no indication that Baltar, though in the vision, shared it with the women.
Caprica tells them that she was definitely trying to protect Hera, so that clears some things up, but what does the vision mean? What are they protecting Hera from and are they all protecting Hera from the same thing? And how are they all capable of sharing the same vision?
(I like when Caprica, when told they all had the same vision, says, "That shouldn't be possible" and Athena responds, "Add it to the list.")
7) Tigh goes to Adama with his tales of musical cylon sabotage. Little does Tigh know at that moment how close to the truth he really is.
8) Back at the trial, Gaeta takes the stand. If Roslin and Adama's relationship has changed a lot since the beginning, Gaeta may have changed even more. Remember when he was, like, the wet blanket of the CIC? How he tattled on Apollo when Apollo was trying to get Laura off the Galactica back during the marshall law/coup debacle and he's the guy who tattled on Laura when he realized the election had been tampered with. I mean, Helo and Lee may be goody-goodies, but they have nothing on Gaeta.
So, he takes the stand, and he tells the court that Baltar signed the execution order with no protest. He says Baltar looked at all the names, so he knew what was happening, said a Three (gods, I miss D'Anna) asked him to sigh it and sign it he did.
The scene is so great partly because of Baltar's feelings of complete confusion/exasperation/anger/shock at Gaeta's lie because, as we all know, Baltar may have signed the execution list, but he did protest and only signed it after Doral killed Caprica and had a gun pointed at Baltar's head. Even then, he really only gave it his signature while he was in his head talking to Head!Six, so he didn't sign it consciously. It was just about the only moment Baltar had while president where he showed some strength and bravery.
So, he starts yelling that everyone know Gaeta's out to get him because Gaeta tried to kill him by stabbing him in the neck and then yells, in another one of my favorite quotes from this show, "You missed! Butter fingers!"
But true or not, Lampkin realizes it's too damning and calls for a mistrial based on what Lee told him about what Adama said about Baltar not deserving a trial. It's really bad form for a judge to come to a conclusion before all evidence has been presented.
9) So what does Lampkin do? He puts Lee on the stand and here now comes discussion of The Court Room Monologue.
Now, on one hand, I do agree with some of things Lee says in his epic speech. He correctly concludes that Baltar is a scapegoat, someone everyone can kind of put their own baggage on and, if they convict him, can throw right out the airlock. It's true that Laura issues a blanket pardon for everybody who was involved in the events on New Caprica. Technically, it didn't extend to Baltar because Baltar wasn't there when the pardon was issued, but why should everyone else have forgiveness but Baltar?
I mean, Lee is right. Adama staged a coup and he was forgiven. Lee shot down the Olympic Carrier and was forgiven. Tigh sent dozens of people to their deaths on New Caprica and he was forgiven. Lee and Adama ran away when the cylons came and they were forgiven. Lee didn't want to go back and he was forgiven.
It's true that the case against Baltar is built on the shame of what those on New Caprica did to each other and it's true that it was also built on the guilt of those who ran and got away. Just as I theorized that Laura's anger towards Baltar is more about her anger at her own failings and at the fleet's failings, none of this is really about Baltar.
But . . . I do have an issue with those who weren't on New Caprica talking about what it was like on New Caprica. Lee wasn't there so he can't speak with any kind of authority on what Baltar did or did not do while he was president and while the cylons were an occupying force. I also don't think he knows what the word "temerity" means and every time I listen to the monologue, I'm taken out of the moment because of that.
10) So, wonder of wonders, Baltar is found not guilty of the charges and people start rioting.
Now what? Baltar's on his own. He has nowhere to go and pretty much everyone hates him. Before his nymph squad comes and sweeps him away, I almost feel like being left on his own after the trial was probably a worse punishment than finding him guilty and flushing him out the airlock.
11) Laura finds out that Bill voted not guilty and she is not pleased. Adama's lucky that when they finally reach the Ionian Nebula, the power goes out.
12) What I found really interesting and that makes me wonder what the original intention of it was is that right before the power goes out after the final jump, and right before Tyrol, Tigh, Anders, and Tory were signaled to that room, Laura had a dizzy spell. There's something about the way the scene is shot that made that dizzy spell seem kind of like . . . foreboding. Like it was supposed to mean more than it did.
13) So, okay, All Along the Watchtower leads Tyrol, Tigh, Anders, and Tory to a room and they all suddenly know that they are cylons. We now know four of the Final Five.
I wonder how we all feel about these four being cylons? I'm actually pretty okay with it. Aside from them all having "Ts" in their name (Samuel "Terrific" Anders, remember?), they're all such important characters strategically. Tigh is second in command of the Galactica. Tory is Laura's right-hand-woman. Tyrol is in charge of all the ship maintenance. Anders was married to Starbuck, one of the more influential people in the fleet. None of these people are insignificance.
I certainly don't have a problem with Tory or Anders being cylons because, in comparison to Tigh and Tyrol, they're minor characters and we didn't know too much about them. But Tigh and Tyrol . . . I actually kind of absolutely love that Tigh is a cylon. There's something so interesting about having this man who probably hates the cylons more than anyone because of what they took away from him on New Caprica, the man who was the leader of the insurgency against the cylons, actually be a cylon. Talk about a huge mind frak. Couple that with his relationship with Adama and you have a total, "How can this be?" moment. He and Adama have known each other for decades. How can he be a cylon?
I think it just makes, potentially, for some cool story telling.
I'm not as hot with Tyrol as a cylon. I don't know why. I mean, I love that all four were active in the resistance on New Caprica. Chief was basically second-in-command. I like it on one level because it's like, "Chief?! Chief's a cylon?!" but, had I been set to choose, I probably wouldn't have gone with Chief.
I won't say who I would have picked because we still have one cylon left to figure out and I don't want to give away any clues for my newbies.
14) Just as the four cylons are having their moment of crisis, dradis contact is made. The cylons have found the fleet.
15) Tigh, much because I love him, as the line of the episode: "My name is Saul Tigh. I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be."
Because isn't that what the show has been kind of saying the whole time? Even way back when Boomer was still a sleeper agent? If Tigh and the others are cylons, what does that mean? Does it change who they are fundamentally? These four only know themselves as human so why should that change? And if they see themselves as human, does that make them human? And if a cylon can be human, what's the difference between the two races, anyway?
16) But the surprises aren't through yet! Because guess what? Starbuck's back.
Holy frak. Say what?
During the fight against the cylons, Lee sees an unknown object on his ship's dradis and goes to investigate and, lo and behold, it's Starbuck telling him she's been to Earth and it's all going to be okay.
How is she alive? Is she alive? Is Lee having a Head!Starbuck now? Is she a cylon?
Stay tuned for season four to find out!
Wow, that review wasn't as long as I figured it would be. Hm. But what a doozy, right? So many revelations and so little time. Do I think Crossroads Part II was a perfect episode? No, much like Malestrom, I don't. But it has such hubris. I mean, Baltar is acquitted, four of the Final Five cylons are revealed, and Starbuck is back. How can I not reward that many risks? And how can I not be excited for season four? I'm going to give Crossroads Part II 5 out of 5 airlocks.
And, for your listening pleasure, how about a little bit of Bear McCreary's version of All Along the Watchtower, which I actually really like? You know you want to.
Simon says 'jump'.
1) Once again, there is no opening credit sequence so there's no update on number of survivors. I suppose we should just assume no one has died since Starbuck and say the fleet is still at 41,399 survivors.
2) Cute scene alert! Laura calls up Adama in his cabin because she doesn't want to get out of bed and face all the people who are going to look at her like, "Cancer victim! Stare!" And after what Lee did to her, why would she want to go back to being in the same room as him? She asks Adama to yell at her to get out of the bed and he's kind of cute in his Adama way and says, "Get out of that bed." And Laura's like, "Um, dude. You're an Admiral. If that's the best you can do, I'm going to go knock on Sam Anders door instead." So Bill, ever one to oblige her (post-coup, at least), yells, "Get your fat lazy ass out of that rack, Roslin!" Laura, adorably, giggles and gives him a good "yes sir, okay sir, anything you say sir."
It's just so funny to think of how their relationship has changed. In the beginning, they hated each other. After that, they distrusted each other. Then, Adama staged a coup. Now? They're friends and confidants on their way to being more. As Bob Dylan might say, "The times, they are a-changing."
3) So Tigh's been hearing music when no one else can. Except now Tyrol, Anders, and Tory are also hearing the music.
What must it mean?!
Back when I was new to the series and was just catching up, I happened upon, completely on accident, a spoiler that basically told me Anders was a cylon. Dammit! I was so mad! So, it wasn't difficult to figure out who the cylons were when I recognized that what was happening to him was also happening to Tyrol, Tigh, and Tory. But I imagine I would have figured it out, anyway. I don't know if that final reveal was suppose to be . . . a reveal, but I think it was pretty obvious they were going to be revealed as cylons as soon as they started hearing the music. It wasn't a subtle reveal.
But more on that later.
4) Did I mention that Anders slept with Tory and broke young Seelix's heart?
5) Lee, because he hasn't been enough of an ass since joining Baltar's defense team, reveals to Baltar and Lampkin that Adama called Baltar a traitorous piece of garbage that didn't deserve a trial.
Frak, Lee. Learn to keep your mouth shut.
6) Crossroads Part II marks the first diloxin treatment Laura has. It looks pretty dreadful to me. But while she's waiting for the treatment to end, she has another vision of the opera house, same plot as before, only this time she shares the vision with Athena and Hera and, when the two adults go down to see Caprica in the brig, they find out she was there, too.
There's no indication that Baltar, though in the vision, shared it with the women.
Caprica tells them that she was definitely trying to protect Hera, so that clears some things up, but what does the vision mean? What are they protecting Hera from and are they all protecting Hera from the same thing? And how are they all capable of sharing the same vision?
(I like when Caprica, when told they all had the same vision, says, "That shouldn't be possible" and Athena responds, "Add it to the list.")
7) Tigh goes to Adama with his tales of musical cylon sabotage. Little does Tigh know at that moment how close to the truth he really is.
8) Back at the trial, Gaeta takes the stand. If Roslin and Adama's relationship has changed a lot since the beginning, Gaeta may have changed even more. Remember when he was, like, the wet blanket of the CIC? How he tattled on Apollo when Apollo was trying to get Laura off the Galactica back during the marshall law/coup debacle and he's the guy who tattled on Laura when he realized the election had been tampered with. I mean, Helo and Lee may be goody-goodies, but they have nothing on Gaeta.
So, he takes the stand, and he tells the court that Baltar signed the execution order with no protest. He says Baltar looked at all the names, so he knew what was happening, said a Three (gods, I miss D'Anna) asked him to sigh it and sign it he did.
The scene is so great partly because of Baltar's feelings of complete confusion/exasperation/anger/shock at Gaeta's lie because, as we all know, Baltar may have signed the execution list, but he did protest and only signed it after Doral killed Caprica and had a gun pointed at Baltar's head. Even then, he really only gave it his signature while he was in his head talking to Head!Six, so he didn't sign it consciously. It was just about the only moment Baltar had while president where he showed some strength and bravery.
So, he starts yelling that everyone know Gaeta's out to get him because Gaeta tried to kill him by stabbing him in the neck and then yells, in another one of my favorite quotes from this show, "You missed! Butter fingers!"
But true or not, Lampkin realizes it's too damning and calls for a mistrial based on what Lee told him about what Adama said about Baltar not deserving a trial. It's really bad form for a judge to come to a conclusion before all evidence has been presented.
9) So what does Lampkin do? He puts Lee on the stand and here now comes discussion of The Court Room Monologue.
Now, on one hand, I do agree with some of things Lee says in his epic speech. He correctly concludes that Baltar is a scapegoat, someone everyone can kind of put their own baggage on and, if they convict him, can throw right out the airlock. It's true that Laura issues a blanket pardon for everybody who was involved in the events on New Caprica. Technically, it didn't extend to Baltar because Baltar wasn't there when the pardon was issued, but why should everyone else have forgiveness but Baltar?
I mean, Lee is right. Adama staged a coup and he was forgiven. Lee shot down the Olympic Carrier and was forgiven. Tigh sent dozens of people to their deaths on New Caprica and he was forgiven. Lee and Adama ran away when the cylons came and they were forgiven. Lee didn't want to go back and he was forgiven.
It's true that the case against Baltar is built on the shame of what those on New Caprica did to each other and it's true that it was also built on the guilt of those who ran and got away. Just as I theorized that Laura's anger towards Baltar is more about her anger at her own failings and at the fleet's failings, none of this is really about Baltar.
But . . . I do have an issue with those who weren't on New Caprica talking about what it was like on New Caprica. Lee wasn't there so he can't speak with any kind of authority on what Baltar did or did not do while he was president and while the cylons were an occupying force. I also don't think he knows what the word "temerity" means and every time I listen to the monologue, I'm taken out of the moment because of that.
10) So, wonder of wonders, Baltar is found not guilty of the charges and people start rioting.
Now what? Baltar's on his own. He has nowhere to go and pretty much everyone hates him. Before his nymph squad comes and sweeps him away, I almost feel like being left on his own after the trial was probably a worse punishment than finding him guilty and flushing him out the airlock.
11) Laura finds out that Bill voted not guilty and she is not pleased. Adama's lucky that when they finally reach the Ionian Nebula, the power goes out.
12) What I found really interesting and that makes me wonder what the original intention of it was is that right before the power goes out after the final jump, and right before Tyrol, Tigh, Anders, and Tory were signaled to that room, Laura had a dizzy spell. There's something about the way the scene is shot that made that dizzy spell seem kind of like . . . foreboding. Like it was supposed to mean more than it did.
13) So, okay, All Along the Watchtower leads Tyrol, Tigh, Anders, and Tory to a room and they all suddenly know that they are cylons. We now know four of the Final Five.
I wonder how we all feel about these four being cylons? I'm actually pretty okay with it. Aside from them all having "Ts" in their name (Samuel "Terrific" Anders, remember?), they're all such important characters strategically. Tigh is second in command of the Galactica. Tory is Laura's right-hand-woman. Tyrol is in charge of all the ship maintenance. Anders was married to Starbuck, one of the more influential people in the fleet. None of these people are insignificance.
I certainly don't have a problem with Tory or Anders being cylons because, in comparison to Tigh and Tyrol, they're minor characters and we didn't know too much about them. But Tigh and Tyrol . . . I actually kind of absolutely love that Tigh is a cylon. There's something so interesting about having this man who probably hates the cylons more than anyone because of what they took away from him on New Caprica, the man who was the leader of the insurgency against the cylons, actually be a cylon. Talk about a huge mind frak. Couple that with his relationship with Adama and you have a total, "How can this be?" moment. He and Adama have known each other for decades. How can he be a cylon?
I think it just makes, potentially, for some cool story telling.
I'm not as hot with Tyrol as a cylon. I don't know why. I mean, I love that all four were active in the resistance on New Caprica. Chief was basically second-in-command. I like it on one level because it's like, "Chief?! Chief's a cylon?!" but, had I been set to choose, I probably wouldn't have gone with Chief.
I won't say who I would have picked because we still have one cylon left to figure out and I don't want to give away any clues for my newbies.
14) Just as the four cylons are having their moment of crisis, dradis contact is made. The cylons have found the fleet.
15) Tigh, much because I love him, as the line of the episode: "My name is Saul Tigh. I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be."
Because isn't that what the show has been kind of saying the whole time? Even way back when Boomer was still a sleeper agent? If Tigh and the others are cylons, what does that mean? Does it change who they are fundamentally? These four only know themselves as human so why should that change? And if they see themselves as human, does that make them human? And if a cylon can be human, what's the difference between the two races, anyway?
16) But the surprises aren't through yet! Because guess what? Starbuck's back.
Holy frak. Say what?
During the fight against the cylons, Lee sees an unknown object on his ship's dradis and goes to investigate and, lo and behold, it's Starbuck telling him she's been to Earth and it's all going to be okay.
How is she alive? Is she alive? Is Lee having a Head!Starbuck now? Is she a cylon?
Stay tuned for season four to find out!
Wow, that review wasn't as long as I figured it would be. Hm. But what a doozy, right? So many revelations and so little time. Do I think Crossroads Part II was a perfect episode? No, much like Malestrom, I don't. But it has such hubris. I mean, Baltar is acquitted, four of the Final Five cylons are revealed, and Starbuck is back. How can I not reward that many risks? And how can I not be excited for season four? I'm going to give Crossroads Part II 5 out of 5 airlocks.
And, for your listening pleasure, how about a little bit of Bear McCreary's version of All Along the Watchtower, which I actually really like? You know you want to.
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