'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Occupation'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

When it comes to season finales, the best ones out there are the ones that manage to haunt us, by leaving us worried about the characters and what might happen to them when the next season arrives and one such show that seemingly always found a way to make this happen with their finales was Battlestar Galactica. After all we were all left wondering what would become of then Commander Adama after Boomer put two rounds in his chest at the end of season one and the season two finale left us with the horrifying image of the Cylons marching through New Caprica.

Which meant the season three premiere was going to be downright intense since we knew we would find out whether or not the Cylons would make good on their promise of peace and 'Occupation' wasted no time in answering that question...with a resounding no. Four months after their arrival and after the fleet jumped away, life on New Caprica is downright awful. People continue to disappear, and many are tortured in the Cylon's newly erected jail and when all is said and done, the mood of this season premiere was beyond grim, it was completely and utterly hopeless. With the Galactica and ​Pegasus away from the planet, there was no help coming, and that helplessness is exactly what this episode seized upon, exploring two powerful concepts over the course of the hour; how far one is willing to go when it comes to trying to defeat your enemy, and what happens when a soldier has no cause to fight for.

Let's look at the last concept, first, because that was explored in brilliant fashion by way of Lee and William Adama. As it turns out, a soldier without a cause is a sorrowful creature indeed because not having a cause appears to polarize men like Lee and the Admiral. In Lee's case, it makes him soft, and that's not a joke about his weight, even though that matter certainly came up on several occasions, but Lee truly no longer has any fight in him. He wants to do everything the easy way and that clashed in ugly fashion with the Admiral since the elder Adama...found new life in this whole situation. There was a powerful energy radiating from him in this episode, to the point where he pushed his crew to the limit, since it's clear the old man has a plan to put into motion and really, the moral of the story here is that without a war to fight, a soldier can potentially become nothing in life. Because despite the fire burning in Adama's heart, let's not forget that before the Cylons reappeared he seemed ready to simply disappear into oblivion and his son certainly became a shell of his former self.  

Back on New Caprica however, the whole notion of how far one will go was explored by way of Colonel Tigh, and the answer to that question...is that a man in his situation will go as far as he needs to. Because this poor man received some horrible treatment from the Cylons; he was incarcerated and brutally tortured to the point where his right eye was gouged out and well...he came out of prison a man transformed. Suddenly, the idea of taking the Resistance that was growing on this planet to new heights greatly appealed to him, to the point where Tigh had no qualms with taking volunteers to become suicide bombers. It was a notion that Anders and Tyrol questioned but Tigh went on with his plan regardless of their objections and in the stunning final moments of this particular tale, we watched a man give his life to strike fear into the hearts of the Cylons and it's an image that I remember left me in silence when I first watched this episode, and that same silence was waiting for me again when I re-watched this one.  

However, there was some joy to be found in this episode. Because now we know that Lt. Gaeta is working with the Resistance and he helped humanity get its biggest break in four months by giving Tyrol the Cylon jamming codes, and since the Galactica has had a raptor hiding in the nebula ever since she left, the colony and the Old Man are once again able to communicate and there's no doubt in my mind that because of this, the Admiral will now make a greater push to save those he left behind. Either way, what a powerful and incredible way to start season three. To rob us of hope, and to put the characters through the wringer is simply bold storytelling and I distinctly recall the opening four episodes of this season being some of my all time favorites when it comes to this series, which means I'm beyond excited to hit play for the next episode, because there is a particular moment coming up that I cannot wait to write about. So if you'll excuse me, it's time to head back to New Caprica for a little bit...until next time...

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