'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Rapture'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​The more I ponder on it, the more I come to realize that the ‘two-parter’ that is often featured on television, has to be an incredibly difficult thing to pull off. If the folks behind the scenes put together an amazing part one, part two has to be equally as incredible or the audience will most certainly be disappointed. It’s an event that has garnered mixed results when it comes to our favorite shows from time to time, but one series was always able to deliver when it came to this kind of storytelling; Battlestar Galactica.
 
Because this is a series that made use of the ‘two-parter’ in liberal fashion and I’m hard pressed to find any particular pair of episodes in that vein that managed to disappoint, and that includes the second half of the Eye of Jupiter saga, ‘Rapture’, since this second half of the tale managed to once again deliver on the action and tension, with a majority of that of course coming from the struggle and battle planet side as both mankind and Cylon worked to uncover the Eye’s secrets.
 
But while all of that was fun and amazing, what truly made this episode so outstanding was the sheer push toward ‘destiny’ that the series had toyed with prior to this tale, but had never truly dug into until this episode came along. Case in point, D’Anna’s quest to see the faces of the Final Five. Because I cannot recall a time I’ve ever seen a Cylon focused on anything but revenge and her desire and determination to make this happen speaks to a new beginning for the show, and while the Final Five have been in the back of our minds this season, this episode moves the whole matter to the forefront and it’s clear we are now barreling toward that big reveal.
 
Yet I can fully understand if that plot point seems like I’m reaching when it comes to the notion of destiny, and I would agree with you, if it wasn’t for the fact that this entire two-parter is a perfect set of circumstances come together. Think about it. Man and Cylon in the same planet’s orbit, searching for the same thing mere moments before a star goes Nova, and that event ends up helping mankind figure out that they are on the right course to Earth, well…that is all too much to ignore. Destiny is truly coming into play when it comes to this story, plus…the whole matter of the Mandala in the Temple, matching the drawing in Kara’s apartment, is also something that cannot be ignored.
 
In the end however, this particular episode deserves some serious props. To combine an action/adventure story with an overreaching story arc in this manner is incredibly impressive to say the least and now that the immediate danger is behind us, I’m curious to see where the story goes now that Baltar is back aboard the Galactica and I’m looking forward to refreshing my mind on the nuances of the Final Five storyline as we grow closer and closer to discovering their true identities. Until next time.

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