'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Final Cut'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

What's truly amazing is that often times we simply don't take the time to understand the plight of others. We rarely know what other people are truly going through or what's on their mind because unfortunately...it's difficult and scary to reach out and try and discover those things and sadly that can lead to conflict with our fellow human begins.

Because by not fully comprehending their struggles in life, assumptions are made, and poor communication often follows that and therein lies the conflict. Which means the only way to truly understand and find common ground is to take the time to see where another person is coming from and that exact idea was explored on quite a grander scale in Battlestar Galactica by way of the episode, 'Final Cut', wherein the entire crew of this storied ship was placed under the microscope of the media to understand what life looks like aboard the Galactica, and sadly...the need for such a measure came about thanks to Colonel Tigh.

Because that whole mess about the Gideon, where four civilians lost their lives, happened on Tigh's watch and in order to suppress a scathing news report on the matter from reporter D'Anna Biers, the Commander and the President open the Galactica's corridors to D'Anna's cameras so that she can tell the true story of what it means to serve on the last ship in the Colonial Fleet and while at the time this episode was considered so-so, even by myself, this time around, I found myself enjoying this episode quite a bit mainly because of what D'Anna discovered about this intrepid crew; in that..they are bold men and women, people who have literally dedicated their lives now to the future of humanity. As Kat put it and I paraphrase, there's no relief coming for this crew, no shore leave. They're on their own, and it's fight the Cylons with their last breath or see mankind come to an end.

If anything it was a refreshing type of story to see on the show considering how much conflict had been brewing within the fleet over the whole Martial Law fiasco and it was equally as refreshing to see that this story also featured a message of redemption and forgiveness by way of the subplot involving revenge upon Tigh, since Palladino, the pilot who oversaw the whole Gideon fiasco threatened the XO to find internal peace and oddly enough, Tigh used the scariest moment of the episode as a teaching one to help the young man move on. But, while this was in many ways an uplifting and philosophical episode, it wouldn't be any fun for BSG to not up the stakes and keep the danger rolling and it found a way to do that. Because there was the matter of Caprica-Sharon having issues with her baby, and D'Anna getting footage of Sharon getting treatment in Medical, something the Commander simply wouldn't allow...but that didn't stop the intrepid reporter for keeping said footage safe...

That matters, because the Cylons on Caprica were able to view the documentary in question...and the footage of Sharon alive and well before hearing the news that her baby is safe...because as it turns out, D'Anna Biers is another one of the twelve mystery Cylon models, upping the ante for the story since she's now had full access to the Galactica, and who knows what horrors might come of this. Either way, what a nice little low key episode, one filled with positive and uplifting messages and it was wonderful to see the plight of the crew of Galactica come to light and to truly get an idea of how dedicated and noble this fine crew is deep down and how they will truly stop at nothing to keep the fleet safe. Until next time.

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