'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Black Market'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

I've said it before and I will say it again, you simply cannot win them all...especially when it comes to television. No matter how good the show, or how incredible the writing, eventually, a so-so or dismal story will find its way to the screen and after sitting through some phenomenal episodes of Battlestar Galactica, we have finally come to one of the lowest points in the series, in 'Black Market'.

This was an episode that reflected its title, wherein the Black Market was beginning to rear its ugly head within the fleet as supplies run low and after Commander Fisk is brutally murdered aboard the Battlestar Pegasus, Admiral Adama puts his son on the case to find the person responsible for Fisk's death, and also to put an end to the Black Market, an agenda that President Roslin intends to follow through upon and while that plot actually sounds like it could have turned out quite awesome since it offers intrigue and the darker side of the fleet, too many missteps end up making this episode incredibly weak when all is said and done.

For starters, it plays out like a pulp noir crime story and while there's nothing wrong with that, it simply has no place being fused into a brilliant science fiction show such as this. It makes Lee look silly since in no way would we ever comfortably think of him as a hardboiled gumshoe determined to 'save the dame' so to speak and the crime in question, but that's exactly what this episode sets out to do and this plot completely undermines the struggle that Lee has been battling with internally over the past few episodes when it comes to his brush with death and that's a shame to be honest because that's a plot thread that truly needs some quality reconciliation. 

To make matters worse, the whole notion of Detective Adama and all the cheese that comes with it, truly overshadows moments that should shock or disgust us. But by the time those moments arrive, your mind has already moved on because of how forced and out of place everything seems, which means the guest appearance and quality performance from Bill Duke as the head of the Black Market is utterly forgettable as is the entire subplot involving a political showdown between President Roslin and Vice President Baltar, where Laura asks Gaius to resign, a move that seems to embolden and infuriate the skittish scientist.  

This is simply a bad episode, where every character seems to do things counterintuitive to what we've learned about them up to this point. Commander Fisk is another fine example of this, because while we know he likes to keep it loose aboard his ship, at no point did any of us ever see him as a crime kingpin because the man is simply not smart enough to make that kind of magic happen. But there is good news to be found, it really is just one bad episode in a sea of wonderful ones and while I was dreading watching this one, it's in the rearview mirror now and as I recall it, the next one...'Scar' is quite the treat. So without further ado, it's time to clear my pallet of this unpleasantness and get back to what made Battlestar Galactica so great. Until next time.

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