'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'A Day in the Life'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​Oh, dear reader, I have to start off this Retro Recap of Battlestar Galactica, with an apology. Because for the past couple of recaps, I’ve become increasingly salty toward the show and well, I’m sorry, that’s simply bad form on my part. Because we’re talking about BSG here, a show that revitalized and/or ignited our love of science fiction with its beautiful storytelling and my greediness to get to the big ending of season three, overshadowed my true love for the series.
 
So, with that in mind, the time has come to celebrate this magnificent saga amongst the stars once again. In part because, there’s nothing that I can do to change how these stories turned out, the season three finale is right around the corner and also because the next episode, ‘A Day in the Life’ is one that I went into with my guard raised high, only to have it dropped in quick and magnificent fashion with a story that flat out blew me away with its beauty and majesty since this one focused on what made us fall in love with this series in the first place; it’s rich characters and their fight to survive and see another day.
 
Yet, it went above and beyond in doing so, because it also put on display something we don’t visit enough in fiction in general, mental health and the ghosts that haunt us. Because there are plenty of people out there who battle that daily and for them it is a struggle for survival and in this story, it was the Admiral dealing with such matters, since this episode took place on his wedding anniversary, and the memory of his wife hung heavy on his mind all day long and it was just fascinating to see him reflect upon the things that he loved and hated about her and just how important she was to this man and how hard he held on to the joy that she brought him, and how her memory held him back at times and it was just wonderful to see him come to realize how to balance those memories and emotions in order to move forward in life.
 
But the more literal fight for survival came by way of the Chief and Cally, who were not only working to repair some of the more badly damaged areas of the ship, courtesy of the Battle of New Caprica, but the damage building in their own relationship and unfortunately the first of those two issues took precedence since a seal breached while they were working in an airlock, putting them on borrowed time oxygen wise and forcing the crew to put together a bold plan to save them and as everyone worked around the clock to keep them alive, they came to understand how fragile their lives really are, regardless of whether or not the Cylons are on the hunt for them, and eventually they resolved their problems the best way they knew how.
 
If anything, all of these elements made for a surprisingly uplifting episode through and through, which let’s be honest, is pretty darn rare for this show. But it was a welcome change of pace to say the least and the little nuances we witnessed from the characters in this one reminded me just how rich this series is storytelling wise and well, I loved this one, and I’m glad I went in with fussy expectations because this episode truly surprised me. In the end however, if memory serves this will be the last time we will see any semblance of uplifting storytelling for a while, because tough times are ahead for the fleet, because we are inching toward an episode that left a lot of us angry, so it’s best we enjoy these little moments of levity, while we still can…

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