After watching last night’s BSG episode “Deadlock”, I found myself caught between enjoying some wonderful, philosophical character arcs and despising the overly simplistic, if not downright perplexing, portrayal of others. Sure, we could argue that some events were meant to set up those that are to come in the remaining episodes; but effective storytelling shouldn’t sacrifice telling a proper story in one episode for the sake of another. As you’ll see, my subtitle for this episode relates as much to the episode’s theme as it does to my own impressions of it.

In that vein, I’m going to start off picking away at those elements of this story that just didn’t work or which demonstrated a clear glossing over of some significant points in terms of the series and certain character arcs. First off, the arrival of Boomer and Ellen. I’m certain their arrival came as no surprise to any of us watching, but for me that’s still a really big issue. Why? Simple – how come Boomer was able to find the fleet so easily? Now, I’m certain we’re all anticipating the return of the Cylon fleet under the control of John/Cavil, considering his thirst for punishing his creators, all of whom are now once again in the fleet, if not also his needing the Final Five to help him rebuild the resurrection ship. Given the ease with which Boomer found the fleet, it’s not hard to imagine John/Cavil also having no issues in tracking them down. Add to this plotline they’ve created that Galactica at present can’t jump without putting the ship’s integrity at risk and yeah, this isn’t exactly a hard equation to calculate. And I’ll be honest here – if this indeed turns out to be the plot for what’s to come, I’ll be extremely disappointed. One of the hallmarks of what makes BSG such a compelling show is its unconventional approach to series television. We’ve all become used to getting a healthy dose of mind fraks simply because Moore and Eick would lead us down one path only to suddenly bank a hard right into another direction. So if John/Cavil is to return, I hope it’ll be under less obvious circumstances than what I wrote above.

Regardless, the simple fact is that when Adama et al find out that it’s one of the Sharon Cylon models aboard the Raptor, Click here to continue reading »”BSG “Deadlock” – Between Hate and Love”

I’m sure it’s become obvious from my previous reviews of BSG that I’m a big fan of examining the inner workings of characters and the subtext behind the events that unfold. From that vantage point, I think you’ll understand why this week’s episode “No Exit” was a little underwhelming due in large part for it being more an exercise in trying to tie up stray loose ends before the end approaches. Of course, that’s not to say that there weren’t some tasty morsels in the offering and it’s those aspects of the episode that I’ll discuss in this review since I don’t have enough interest to dissect all the series’ origins details that were provided courtesy of Anders’ subdural hematoma.

Speaking of Anders, it was clear from Starbuck’s reaction to Anders’ revelation about being able to remember everything that she had some hope that he might be able to shed some light on who – or what – exactly she is. Since her reappearance at the end of Season 3, many fans have speculated that Starbuck must be a Cylon and personally, I’d hate for that to be the case. It’s been clear since the first episode that Starbuck is a character in search of some meaning or grounding in her life. Her fractured sense of identity and subsequently, her relationship with those around her, gave her character a great deal of potential to be an interesting character study, something which sadly was never realized and remains one of the weak points for this series. But having her become a Cylon would be an even greater let down because of the obvious cop-out it presents – Click here to continue reading »”BSG “No Exit” – Time To Accept What We Are”