Resurrection Ship Part 1
Oh.My.Gods. Okay I just have to get this out of my system: this is so frakking good. It is amazing just HOW good it really is on every level. Damn. I mean it is so good that there are moments as I watch, where I wonder if in fact it is better than my beloved Farscape. For continously intriguing and compelling drama...? Maybe. But since I can't bring myself to really think in those terms, I'll just say that I think that BSG is the best "dry" drama/scifi series, and Farscape is the best "romantic" drama/scifi series. But do I even have to compare? Not really - for they are very different shows!

Last night's "back half" premiere was better and taughter than the S2 premiere, "Scattered" - mostly because it didn't allow itself to be over-packed with information and events. The cast remains in top-notch form, as well as the fantastic guest star, Michelle Forbes. When I had watched, "Pegasus", I had wondered if perhaps she was so "by the book" because she isn't a seasoned commanding officer. But after watching last night, I've determined that Admiral Kane is in fact insane. And I'm not talking barely holding it together insane like Baltar so recently. No no - she is a scarier monster: but cold, resolute, intelligent, and terrifyingly insane. It was the meeting on Colonial One
between Kane, President Roslin, and Commander Adama that convinced me. The later confessional between her XO and Tigh only sealed the deal. Oh and by the way, that scene WAS UTTERLY BRILLIANTLY played by the two actors involved. Jeez - the hair on the back of my neck stood up as the Pegasus' XO related the story about what happened to the families on the Sila [sp?]

Kane is such an interesting figure right now. lady_m2835 and I were talking about this last night. Laura thinks that Kane, as a woman in a man's world, feels she has to be twice the man in order to be taken seriously and get ahead. I concur. She is tough as nails - and perhaps she always was. But I also think that I am not far off in my assertion that she hasn't really known hard-core battle command. Of course how/why should she? She is younger than Adama and presumably too young to have fought the cylons the first time around. But there is something else I can't quite put my finger on. Could it be that the stress of the attack on Caprica, and the strain of possibly being the last suriving humans have pushed her over the edge of sanity? Or something else? During her interview with Thrace, the way she so casually mentioned those still left on Caprica, made me wonder. Did she leave men and women behind in her flight from Caprica? I honestly don't know. Why would she have needed to have her former XO shot? Really? On the one hand, Admiral Kane appears to be a solid tactician when it comes to fighting the cylons. Or has she made lucky guesses and her efforts were really suicide missions? I don't know!

And I know that I'm probably not making much sense. Dammit.

I was surprised to see Roslin so coldly assess the situation and tell Adama that he needs to kill Kane before she kills him. I don't think she is wrong - but I find it interesting that she is the first to utter the words. Of course she is at death's door and she is thinking long-term about the survival of the human race. And she knows that Kane would abandon the civilians in a heartbeat in order to continue her mission to destroy the cylons. And perhaps that is where Kane's insanity truly remains. She isn't thinking at all about the future of the human race - to her it is already dead. She is just out to take down as many cylons as she can before the end.

Oh, but how tender were Adama and Roslin? I know the 'shippers were probably going ballistic, and I can't say that I totally blame them. It is apparent that these two are tight. Whether it is romantic or not remains to be seen - or not. But they truly are the parents of the human race and are joined in their desire to create a viable future for their kids.

I had accidentally read about Kara's promotion so that scene was a bit anti-climatic for me. However, I truly hated how Kane used Kara's desires against her in order to get what she wanted. And I wonder if Kara can actually be a leader. I also wonder if she can truly carry out the mission that Adama later gives her.

I found myself empathizing with Gina. That is so cool and interesting to me. I know she is a machine and not human. But as she said she was "a soldier..I had a job to do..". Isn't that like human soldiers, such as the ones on Pegasus that followed their Admiral's orders to kill the civilian families? Freaky, eh? And why not just kill her when she was discovered? Or keep her prisoner to try and gather intel? Why rape and beat and abuse her? I think that is what bothers me the most - the torture. Technically, she is a POW and should be questioned and perhaps tussled up a bit to see if she will talk. But continuous abuse and torture. Hell no. That goes beyond interrogation techniques. That goes beyond understandable conduct in times of war. The difference between Tigh's interrogation of Galactica Sharon and what Kane allowed to happen to Gina is 180 degrees in my book. And it isn't only because of what it does to Gina - but what it represents about the captors. Humans in this case. And that is what is so ugly and disturbing. Knowing that humans were so base in their actions.

Anyway, the scenes with Baltar and Gina were truly interesting and engrossing. For the first time since the attack on Caprica, Baltar is faced with his uber-girlfriend's visage on a completely demoralized and damaged being. Not cool, calm, manipulative, powerful, unbreakable super being. But utterly and completely damaged. And he's transformed - for now - into a truly compassionate figure. And yet his job is to find out what she knows. She appears more than willing to give up intel on the Resurrection Ship because she wishes to die - and remain dead. If she transfers into another body it will still be the same damaged concsciousness - and in this instance she is wishing to be humanlike - and remain dead. What a quandry for Baltar. I can tell that he doesn't wish for her to die, but in this instance can he save her? Will she remain alive for him to help heal when the Resurrection Ship is destroyed?

Now for the last scene - beautifully edited by the way - of the two commanding officers setting up their very different assasination missions. Holy cow. I am surprised - I have to tell you - that Adama chose Kara. I really am. Does he expect her to fail? Is there a greater plan that we're not aware of? Has he already briefed Lee on what is going on? His, "Stay focused, son..." was interestingly placed. On the flip side - I don't think for one minute that Kane's XO [damn I wish I could think of his name] will follow through with his mission to not only kill Adama, but wipe out his command. Not for one minute. I think that he views Adama as the fleet's savior and will betray his Admiral. Perhaps he will be the one to actually point that gun at Kane that we saw in the previews. I guess it could be Kara - but it was hard to tell and I've learned to not really take previews at 100% face value.

And speaking of previews, um Kara kissing Lee? That WAS Lee right? Lee comes close to dying? I saw a brief flash of folks trying to resuscitate Lee. And the images of him floating in the water with sunglasses on clearly were him floating in and out of consciousness - or his daydreams as his life ebbs away. Flashes of Roslin nearly dying as well. OOOOOO goodness I don't know if I can handle it!

Oh and if you have read any spoilers - do NOT tell me! I am spoiler-freee!

Man it's time for me to do more BSG art and icons!
Oh and I'm playing with black and whites again.......