posted
... and once again, we start the episode and then jump back in time. I think non-chronological order can be a neat convention, but I also know that in the last batch of five episodes it's been used three times and, uh, getting a little old here.
So Galactica is tasked with defending a mining ship that's processing a valuable ore that can be used to repair and construct new ships. Pegasus has apparently transfered over a bunch of her Mark VIIs and is in the process of building new Vipers -- I wonder if Pegasus has the capability to manufacture new Mark VIIs -- with a big enough machine shop, and probably a lot of spare parts on hand -- and I imagine so ... big leap considering the Chief nearly killed himself building Laura. The fleet is also apparently actively recruiting new pilots since Galactica has just recieved a new cadre of nugget pilots.
The episode opens with Kat and Starbuck flying patrol, both in Mark VIIs. I'll be honest -- the Mark VII is ugly compared to the old Mark II. In any case, what is Kat doing flying a VII? She was one of the recruits brought aboard with Hot Dog, and it was explained that without simulators to accustom them to the powerful controls aboard the more modern Viper (well, that and they only had Lee's, I think), they'd turn themselves into paste with their first manuever (in retrospect, I guess Kat could've used Pegasus' simulator, which I again assume the other ship has).
Do you remember an episode of TNG titled "The Lower Decks" which featured a bunch of low ranking folks aboard Enterprise? Well, this is that episode of BSG, except they didn't have to create new characters -- this is the pilots' episode (I'll admit to surprise that the Chief and Cally got little or no screentime), and while Starbuck features heavily, Lee gets action (heh), Helo gets some lines, Kat shines, and Hot Dog's using too much gel in his hair.
This was as much an action episode as a character study. Starbuck's losing her edge, pining for Anders who she left -- abandoned -- on Caprica (see BSG 2x4 and 2x5). She's drinking heavily, ignoring her responsibilities, and taking out her pain over recent pilot deaths on the nuggets (which leads, indirectly, to a nugget's death). Discussing tactics with Helo, she mentions that she considered a manuever and then decided against it because she was almost certain it would have meant her death, (paraphrasing here) "... y'know, a few months ago, I wouldn't have cared, just done it and hoped I could've pulled out of the fire somehow." As Helo replies, "Now you have something to live for ... not just to die for."
Starbuck's issues are compounded by a growing rivalry from Kat, who has gone from a nugget washed out of flight-training in Act of Contrition, to a frazzled stim-junkie in Final Cut, and is now proving herself as one of the most capable pilots on Galactica's flight roster. Kat -- like Starbuck -- is a bit arrogant about it, challenging Starbuck in the pilot's mess, at flight briefings, and the shooting range.
Complicating all of this is a Cylon fighter named "Scar" by Galactica's crew. The mining ship is conducting operations in an asteroid field, and the ship's dradis (radar) can't distinguish between rocks and Cylons (speaking of, was Gaeta in this episode?). One particular Cylon -- Scar -- has been picking off Galactica's pilots one by one. Discussing with Sharon Mk II, Starbuck learns that the human-model Cylons aren't the only ones which can be "resurrected" ... pilot drones can, too. "All that flight and combat experience, otherwise lost... if you could keep that, put it into a new body, wouldn't you?"
Scar seems to have a particular, uh, dislike, for Starbuck. I wonder if that might come from having Starbuck literally cut up his head as she did to a Cylon fighter in You Can't Go Home Again.
Ultimately, Starbuck ends the episode a better pilot -- her carefree attitude is gone, she's not willing to hog the spotlight of her shipmates' glory anymore (indeed, she gives Kat a great victory), and she's turning into a much more valuable member of Galactica's command.
Look, I'll sum it up for you -- if you like to see attractive blondes getting drunk, getting it on, getting in "kat" fights (har har) and flying space-fighters around like they're Bo Luke in the General Lee and getting into some hair-raising stunts in asteroid fields while attacking a determined -- ugly -- Cylon, well, this episode is for you.
>>One particular Cylon -- Scar -- has been picking off Galactica's pilots one by one. Discussing with Sharon Mk II, Starbuck learns that the human-model Cylons aren't the only ones which can be "resurrected" ... pilot drones can, too. "All that flight and combat experience, otherwise lost... if you could keep that, put it into a new body, wouldn't you?">>
posted
Get a room you two (they have hourly rates). 49,593 Survivors, btw.
But so I started this Ep thinking it stunk. But by the end I did wind up liking it a bit more. I'ts like it was on a kamikaze course with oblivion and then pulled up at the last minute, sort of.
I'm still not sure I buy Starbuck's self-destructive motivations or the depth of her connection with Anders. The hyper-indulgence in drinking and stim-abuse in the episode was comical. And there were some laughably bad lines/deliveries ("I've got nothing to live for..." *groans*), but I think I wound up sort of liking the episode eventually. Largely in spite of the X hours ago storytelling (3 in a row now?), rather than because of it.
But we got some great information regarding flight ops and some catchy pilot lingo ("bingo on fuel") which may or may not have any bearing on how real pilots talk, but I bought it. And as previously mentioned, the stuff with Sharon was pretty intense and interesting (read awesome). I think Grace Park did a really good job of being half-sympathetic/half-menacing. I didn't quite catch what she said as she reached out to Starbuck and the guards recocked their weapons (Incidentally, what is with all that recocking in film/TV? That strikes me as sort-of not-what-actually-happens-in-real-life).
So we figured that Kat was going to score the kill well before they'd even engaged the real Scar, but the way it went down was pretty cool. I kept expecting her to not be so monotonously a bitch to Starbuck, and in scenes it almost seemed like she was going somewhere, but I'm not sure we ever got there. Which makes her less interesting to me.
In summary, I'm totally available to take a look at episodes and just suggest some dialogue changes should the producers require. Or to be Katie Sackoff's personal fluffer.
Registered: Sep 2000
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"I didn't quite catch what she said as she reached out to Starbuck..."
Something about thinking of her like a big sister.
"Or to be Katie Sackoff's personal fluffer."
Either we know different definitions of that term, or there's something you know about her that the rest of us don't.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Teh PW
Self Impossed Exile (This Space for rent)
Member # 1203
posted
Bingo on Fuel = Bingo Fuel = I'm getting to that point of the gauge where i want to be on deack already or humping an Hoover's Ass for fuel now...
true term, Bingo Fuel in Navy Aviation at least (not sure if the Airforce use the same or not)
posted
I thought it was kind of interesting that Starbuck was drunk and on the receiving end of a punch from a lower ranking person, just the opposite of her position in the miniseries.
Oh, and at the very beginning when they showed the mining ship, did anyone else see that wheeled vehicle roaming around the asteroid surface? Looked a lot like the vehicle from the original series. It would be nice if someone was able to come up with some screen caps so we can compare the two.
posted
One thing, though - I wonder whether Pegasus' ability to manufacture new fighters is a standard feature of modern Battlestars (and if so, did Galactica once have this ability prior to her decommissioning?). . . or a result of Cain's stripping her civilian fleet of all useful equipment and personnel? It would explain why Cain & Co (apart from that civilian engineer bloke) didn't seem interested in the Blackbird at all.
To me, however, this episode highlights the problems in the ongoing-arc format. They have this situation that is worthy of being explored, namely the fallout from Starbuck's visit to Caprica and her hookup with Anders, yet only now do they address it. Yet in the meantime Starbuck's just been seen getting on with it, you know? I didn't notice her drinking a lot before, she was too busy getting angsty about almost assassinating Admirals. I suppose you could make a case for this being a recent thing as it's only just sunk in that she won't get the opportunity to go back to Caprica again, and we didn't see her in the previous two episodes. . .
Not true! We met Jolly in the miniseries. He was one of the Viper Mk. VII pilots killed in the Cylon raid that took out most of Galactica's modern fighters.
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