"Battlestar Galactica": Holy Frak!
By Sarah Carlson
March 26, 2007
"Battlestar Galactica" ended its third season Sunday in true "Battlestar" form: It dropped several plot bombshells on its fans, smirked, and sauntered out of the room. Now we're left to debate with our fellow geeks several developments -- the revelation of four Cylons among the fleet, the 'not guilty' verdict for Gaius Baltar and the return of thought-to-be-dead Starbuck to lead the human race to Earth -- until the show returns for a full fourth season in ... 2008? We have to wait until January to get a few more answers? I'm still getting used to it being 2007, and I've only thought as far as June in terms of making life plans. Are fans even going to remember what happened and/or care as much about the show 10 months from now?
At least we'll be treated to a two-hour episode in the fall that will bridge the gap between the third and fourth seasons, and the depressingly long hiatus will give us a chance to re-watch the entire series on DVD. But I'm still unsatisfied. What can stand in for one of the most culturally-relevant shows on TV?
This season of "BSG," and especially its People vs. Gaius Baltar trial, offered up more pain and beauty and truth than you can rightfully ask for these days in a television show. The People wanted justice -- justice for the near-annihilation of the human race, justice for the death of their friends and loved ones during the Cylon occupation on New Caprica, and justice for President Baltar, the man everyone sees as a traitor to mankind. But as Lee Adama eloquently pointed out when he was called to the stand as a witness for the defense, Baltar was no more at fault than everyone else was. Baltar isn't evil; he's the definition of selfish. He was a puppet at the hands of the Cylons in a lose-lose situation, and although his lack of intestinal fortitude is deplorable, he doesn't deserve to be made a scapegoat for all of the problems the remainders of the human race are facing. Why string him up when you pardoned far more heinous crimes committed by members of the fleet? If we create a bloodthirsty form of justice, as well as use the reason of being at war as an excuse to create our own vengeance-bent rules, we’re completely disregarding the aspect of our society that's supposed to keep it civilized: Due Process.
Lee's plea for rational thinking and a fair trial won Baltar's judges over and freed the former president, with the elder Adama casting the deciding 'not guilty' vote. Now he's at odds with President Roslin, but what's more pressing is the new development they've yet to discover: More of their friends are Cylons. Colonel Tigh, Chief Tyrol, Sam Anders and Tory Foster were all drawn together after hearing the same, eerie tune. They all knew they were Cylons, but all chose to go about their daily lives for the time-being. Will they be like Sharon (Caprica Sharon, not Boomer) and choose to side with the humans? Will they out themselves to friends and hope they'll be accepted? One of "BSG's" strengths is that there are never clear-cut right and wrong sides to any situation, and now that these characters are indeed machines, they're not automatically the bad guys. Having certain humans turn out to be the very thing they've been fighting reiterates the need to step back and realize that we're not so different from the enemies we create.
I have plenty to think about from now until January. In the meantime, I'll be parsing the lyrics to "All Along the Watchtower."
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Comments
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Posted by: AJ Smith on March 30, 2007 4:20 PM
If only there was a channel filled with the work of Ron Moore and Aaron Sorkin, life might be OK.