'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Lay Down Your Burdens (Part 2)'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

When we last left the good people of the fleet and the fine crew of the Battlestar Galactica, the situation was quite grim. The fleet was more or less falling to pieces over the prospect of a new planet to the point where they were ready to hand over complete control of their destines to an incompetent man, while at the same time, the rescue mission on Caprica was apparently going south, leaving us with a sense of dread as we barreled toward the second season finale.

As it turns out, that dread was justified because everything went from bad to worse in 'Lay Down Your Burdens (Part 2)' an episode that more or less set up countless plot lines for seasons to come by way of a stunning twist and this is also a tale that saw what happens when power is given to the foolish and in doing so it also neatly wrapped up the dangers of ignoring the themes presented to us this season. But before we get too deeply into that, let's take a moment and discuss the other shocking and surprising twist that this episode dropped into our lap, the fact that the Cylons are suddenly looking for peace after spending the last nine months in the show's timeline, hunting down humanity with extreme prejudice. 

Yes, you read that right. Peace with mankind is now a top priority for the Cylons and as a gesture of goodwill in the matter, they cease their attack on Starbuck's Search and Rescue team and send back another Cavil to Galactica wherein he and his clone speak to the fact that the Cylons have seen the error of their ways in trying to murder mankind and have decided to end their pursuit of genocide and head off on their own path. Their words however fall upon deaf ears since the President decides to throw both of them out of an airlock, and it should come as no surprise that this plot thread wraps up in such quick and clean fashion (or so it seems) because there's an election to be had within the fleet, one that has the President worried to her core that Gaius Baltar will win.

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Just how worried is Roslin? Enough to try and throw the election her way on election night when it appears that Baltar has the lead. It's an act that Adama rectifies for morality's sake, but it also results in Gaius Baltar being elected as the President of the Colonies, and a horrific attack that destroys Cloud Nine when the Cylon he freed from ​Pegasus detonates the bomb he gave her and that ladies and gentlemen all happens in just the first half of the show...which brings us to the big surprise of this episode, the fact that following that attack, we jump ahead in time a full year to see what life on New Caprica looks like, and holy cow...what a terrible life that turns out to be.

Because the colonization of New Caprica truly saps the people of the fleet of purpose. They merely exist now. On the planet's surface it's a cold and miserable life where the President does nothing but drink and romance in his office all day instead of govern and in the stars above the Galactica and the ​Pegasus have empty hallways since most of their crews have gone down to the planet, leaving the Adamas without a war to fight or a reason to go on and well, this whole sequence was tough to watch because these people are better than this and this is the culmination of those thematic concepts because without purpose they are a lost society. But one fateful day changes all of that because out of the blue, the Cylons find New Caprica, and with a depleted crew the remaining fleet jumps away, leaving the planet undefended and occupied by an enemy that may preach 'peace' but they clearly have nefarious intentions since they have invaded this world and that's where we leave the last of humanity in season two, staring down the barrel of a gun once again, and under the thumb of their mortal enemy.

When all is said and done, this episode was downright brilliant for so many reasons. For starters, the time jump is a bold and powerful move to say the least, especially from a storytelling perspective since there are holes and gaps when it comes to important events that likely helped grow and shape the people of the fleet over the course of that missing year. Plus, I truly loved the whole twist that the Cylons are at first content with leaving humanity be before tracking them down once again, and there's something to be said about Karma since once again, it's Baltar's fault that the Cylons have mankind in their grasp. Either way, this was one hell of a cliffhanger, one that clearly will teach the people of the fleet quite a lesson and one that sets up what seems to be a no-win scenario when it comes to escaping the cold metallic grasp of the Cylons. Guess that means it's time to get in gear and start season three as soon as possible, to see how the heck the last vestiges of mankind escape this mess. Until next time.

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