'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Escape Velocity'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​After sitting through several jam-packed episodes of Battlestar Galactica, I was fully expecting the next entry in this powerful saga, ‘Escape Velocity’, to feature more of the same; an epic number of competing storylines that would serve as a grand feast for the mind. But wouldn’t you know it? This particular tale found a way to surprise me, by instead scaling back the plot line fiesta a great deal in order to return the show to its character driven roots, since this story focused heavily on loss and grief and how that can impact a man who is struggling to get his life together.
 
All of that was accomplished by way of Galen Tyrol, who quite frankly, is not the same following Cally’s death. He’s vacant and shattered and well, it was a touch scary to see him like this in this tale, because the void in his heart spread to his mind to the point where he endangered his fellow ship mates since he made some big mistakes on the deck, which is surprising to say the least and it was equally as shocking to see him lash out whenever he saw fit. Because in a stunning moment with the Admiral, he unleashed his pain and his fury, sullying Cally’s memory and getting himself demoted in the process and this was just incredible to watch and poignant since, we have always been led to believe that the Cylons can’t experience pain the way we do.
 
In fact, this episode took the time to explore that notion further, by also letting Colonel Tigh indulge in some pain since Cally’s death put a little salt in the proverbial wound when it comes to what happened with Ellen and in a desperate attempt to understand his own pain and whether or not his feelings are genuine since he now knows his true identity, he sought out some face time with the Six that fell in love with Baltar and this was uh…filled with some supremely weird moments since she beat the crap out of Saul to help him feel alive. But all weirdness aside, all of this just goes to show that the humanoid Cylon models are clearly as flawed as the rest of us emotionally, and the pain that comes with loss and grief can stay with them for quite some time since Saul is clearly still struggling with the death of Ellen.
 
But, as this series is wont to do, it also made sure to look at other happenings in the fleet and well, considering that people in this day and age often find solace in their faith when loss and grief occurs, it seems only fitting that we checked in on Baltar in this tale and wouldn’t you know it, his newfound friends and his belief in the one true God is gaining him notoriety once again. To the point where the president wants to limit public gatherings in order to keep him from raising hell once more, as he did when he trashed a temple in protest of the Gods after a fringe religious group attacked his own. It’s a decision that Lee challenges, and wins the argument on, but it would seem in the closing minutes of this episode that he comes to realize that perhaps he made a poor decision and that Roslin was right to restrict Baltar since it’s clear he’s gaining followers, and power…
 
If anything, part of me wondered after this episode came to an end, as to whether or not the series was more or less bringing us boatloads of filler at this point since let’s be honest, the plot isn’t exactly leaping forward at this point. But, I quickly let those thoughts fade away. Because this is a series that believes in tying up loose ends, which means all of this is nothing more than a grand setup for some explosive endings and well, I think at this point, I’m just antsy to get to the end, and that’s okay. But, wandering thoughts aside, this was a compelling tale for certain, one that featured some top notch acting from Aaron Douglas since the Chief’s downward spiral was both chilling and compelling and, on that note, I’m off to watch the next episode, simply because I need more, and I need to see if this is where this sprawling story, starts to come together. Until next time.  

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