'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Six of One'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​As I continue to pour through the final season of Battlestar Galactica, I’m quickly being reminded of the fact that season four held nothing back storytelling wise. It truly wanted to end the saga in the boldest of fashion and I appreciate that. Because I’ve seen many a television show leave the airwaves in disappointing fashion either by way of a blasé finale or sub-par storytelling and it is just refreshing to enjoy this kind of rich storytelling knowing full well that the end draws near and well…I’m actually still in awe of how much storytelling went in to the next episode, ‘Six of One’.
 
Because this story simply packed it in, offering up three important storylines, one of which involves the Cylons diving into Civil War. Now this is something that I never thought would be possible from a villain this organized and this powerful, but following the encounter at the Ionian Nebula, the Raiders simply refused to fight, out of fear of hurting the Final Five. It’s a decision that opens up a great debate and eventual vote amongst Cylon leadership, as to whether or not the Raiders should be surgically altered to obey, and Cavil earns the votes necessary to make that happen thanks to Boomer. But the Sixes and their allies see this as barbaric, an act that makes them no better than their former masters which leads to armed conflict and you know something such as that won’t end with one simple skirmish…
 
While the Cylons dealt with that mess, the story also explored a couple of fascinating tales aboard the Galactica, one of which involved Lee Adama stepping away from military life. Of course, this shouldn’t come as a surprise since he’s clearly been disillusioned with the service for some time now. But this is really the first time we hear him say it aloud and he makes the decision to instead serve his fellow man by taking an open slot in the Quorum of Twelve and this led to some beautiful moments as the crew slowly said goodbye to the Major, and I loved his farewell moment on the flight deck and it still feels weird to know he won’t be the ship’s CAG or in a Viper from here on out.
 
But the centerpiece of the night was Kara’s journey, since this episode brought the last episode’s cliffhanger, where we saw her pointing a gun at the President, to its logical conclusion and in shocking fashion…Starbuck didn’t do a thing to harm Laura. This act was merely about her sending a message and that message was simple, the fleet was taking the wrong path to Earth and after some great debate, and one incredibly fascinating moment between Laura and the Admiral, the old man decided it was high time to trust his gut on this one and he granted Kara her freedom and a ship, so that she could chart the path to Earth, giving her ailing mind some peace at last.
 
Now, it’s a well-known fact that transition/filler episodes tend to irk me when they pop up during a season because often times they’re rough in how they tell their story and this episode is in fact filler, but holy cow, it’s a damn good episode to say the least. Because not only does it do a fine job of setting up what looks to be some incredibly important plot points for season four, it’s just downright compelling; especially that scene between Laura and Bill where they put their souls on display and well, I really loved this one. I loved how character centric it turned out to be, and I need more, in order to be reminded of where all these plot threads are headed. So, without further ado, it’s time to hit ‘play’ on the next episode so I can continue to enjoy the Galactica’s final adventures…until next time… 

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