Written by John Edward BetancourtAs 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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Written by John Edward BetancourtTHIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...While I’m still relatively new to the Timeless universe, if there’s one thing I’ve already come to learn about this magnificent show, is that it can in essence tell any kind of story it wants to, at any given time. If it feels the need to give us a fluffy and romantic tale, it will deliver just that. If it wants to thrill us with a dark and brooding adventure, done and done. Or, as was the case with this week’s episode, ‘Mrs. Sherlock Holmes’, if it wants to tell a socially relevant tale, it can speak to our world and its parallels to history without breaking a sweat. Because this week, the Time Team headed back to 1919, to stop Rittenhouse from executing what turned out to be quite the messed up plan; ending the women’s suffrage movement and the passage of the 19th Amendment so that women in present day would be…docile and obedient and well, the parallels to our world, and the current fight for equality was painfully relevant in this episode, and I’m glad that the series didn’t shy away from this topic in the slightest and that it served as a solid and bold reminder that equal rights for all shouldn’t be a debate, it should simply exist, plain and simple. But, everything in this series is driven by its characters, and this particular tale was no exception to that rule. Because when it seemed as though the movement might falter shortly after the death of its leader, Alice Paul, Lucy was more than ready to make history herself and give the all-important speech that Alice gave to advance equal rights and well, it was downright stunning and wonderful to see how far Lucy was willing to go to see equal rights for women in America, despite the danger present to her and it’s amazing that she was able to inspire others to stand up for the cause and surprisingly she wasn’t the only one willing to go the extra mile to make this happen, Emma did her part to see this movement succeed as well. However, her motivations for betraying Rittenhouse made for perhaps the most powerful moment of the night wherein she revealed the awful abuse that she and her mother endured at the hands of her father ages ago and Rittenhouse’s awful plan carried with it some serious consequences in her eyes. Because without a choice, without freedom…she would have continued to suffer in that environment and others would face that kind of pain if she stood by and did nothing and while Emma has done some awful things, no one should be subjected to that kind of abuse and she made the right decision in this tale, and if anything, this particular part of the story definitely gave me pause to say the least and it added a powerful sense of urgency to the mission and thankfully, they pulled it off… Yet while this episode was wondrous and inspiring in its own right, it also took the opportunity to address some lingering issues this season, like Lucy and Wyatt’s complicated relationship, and the fact that Wyatt clearly still has feelings for Lucy and while obviously Jessica’s presence complicates that, things are only going to get more convoluted in the weeks to come, since Connor and Agent Christopher came to find that Jessica’s face is popping up in Rittenhouse’s files, leaving all of us to wonder, could she potentially be a sleeper agent? Time will tell of course, but in the here and the now, this was just another wonderful episode and I cannot wait to see what incredible storytelling is waiting for us down the road. Until next time. |
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November 2024
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