Warp Section

Standard Spoiler Warning Applies. You know the drill.

We’re halfway through the third season, about to head into season 3.5, so I thought I’d do a broad recap. Remind us where we are, and where we’ve been.

The show spent something like a season (from the midpoint of season two until just a few episodes ago) dealing with internal issues. The Colonial survivors struggled to maintain a stable government, with varying results. The arrival of Pegasus introduced a whole new set of internal problems and conflicts. And finally, the settlement, occupation, and revolt on New Caprica had the show dealing with issues of government, humanity, freedom, and sacrifice on an intense level. All of these plotlines have looked inward, to the nature of humanity and human communities. We’re constantly left asking ourselves: can humanity even survive? Can they coexist with the Cylons in any meaningful way? Do they, or the Cylons, even want to?

But now, all parties are focused on the search for Earth. It’s like after all that internal trauma, both the Colonial survivors and the Cylons woke up and asked, “What’s the point of all this? Are we just here to continually beat the crap out of each other, or do our lives have a higher purpose?” Both sides have decided that their continued existence depends on finding the lost thirteenth colony, and that’s where the plot seems to be going. Last season, Starbuck brought back the Arrow of Apollo, which unlocked the star map in the Tomb of Athena on Kobol. Now, Colonial forces are in search of the Eye of Jupiter. (I can’t help but think of the great red storm that marks the atmosphere of our planet Jupiter.) However, so are the Cylons.

Thoughts and predictions: I want to say that Chief Tyrol will have an epiphany that will allow him to find the Eye of Jupiter before Admiral Adama is forced to blow up the temple to keep it from the Cylons. But that’s the easy, standard plot solution, and BSG never takes the easy way out. So I’m going to predict that the temple will be destroyed before any meaningful clues are found. Starbuck will be saved, because heck, she’s Starbuck. Will she and Apollo continue with their relationship? Who knows. I rather hope not, because they’re both behaving like asses. I don’t think the Cylons will continue to try to eradicate humanity, because they need them to help find earth. And they all will find Earth, eventually. Here’s a question: would Helo and Sharon defect to the Cylons in order to be with their child?

I’ve been re-watching the first season on DVD, and it’s been trippy and nostalgia inducing. I don’t have a good memory for details, so it’s a shock to see Crashdown manning a Raptor with Boomer, and Jammer working the deck with Chief and Cally, knowing what happens to them later on. That’s one of the things I admire about BSG: the background and secondary characters are just as strong and well-developed as the primary characters and can play pivotal roles. It’s also a bit hard watching my favorite characters go through what they believe to be hell, knowing how much worse it’s going to get for them.

Some of the characters have come so far and changed so much. I’d forgotten what a hoot it is watching Baltar try to figure out what this Cylon creature is doing in his head — especially when he doesn’t always remember that no one else can see her. Now, though, Baltar almost seems resigned to his fate as a cowardly, narcissistic tool of powers he can’t identify. He seems almost to be embracing the role rather than worried about his image, as he was early on. He’s grown comfortable with the idea that his fate is not his own. And no wonder, after all his attempts to determine his own fate turned to dust in his hands. But this is BSG, and he may surprise us all in the end.

Need to catch up? Try the Battlestar Galactica Wiki.

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