'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Sacrifice'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Sometimes when you settle in to re-watch your favorite television shows, you find yourself treated to all kinds of unexpected surprises. You'll occasionally come across an episode that you find isn't quite as strong as you remember it being or, as was the case the other day when I settled in to watch the next entry in season two of Battlestar Galactica, you revisit an episode that you didn't care for much back in the day when you first saw it...only to change your stance on it because it is downright brilliant.

Because 'Sacrifice' is a dark and brooding story, one that seems to operate in utter chaos and it those elements that left me with a bad taste in my mouth originally, but upon further viewing, it is those elements that actually make this one an incredible and jaw dropping story that saw the exit of a series regular in heartbreaking fashion. Now in this particular tale, we meet Sesha Abinell, an everyday citizen and survivor in the fleet who recently saw her husband die at the hand of the Cylons and she decides that action is needed, action that the Admiral is unwilling to perform so she takes it upon herself to hold a group of hostages aboard Cloud Nine in order to get Adama to turn over Sharon Valerii, so she can be summarily executed. 

If anything, that sounds like a fairly by the numbers, one off plot, but upon second viewing it turned out to be anything but. Not only was this a tense and powerful story, but it also continued the whole theme that the series has been exploring in this back section of season two in regards to death and how we deal with it. Thus far in this arc we've seen Lee sink to the lowest levels possible, we've seen Kara begrudgingly accept death as an acceptable fate before choosing to fight it, and this go round...we were witness to  someone taking revenge in order to right the pain it causes by way of Sesha and she most certainly takes it to the extreme since Lee, Ellen, Billy and Dee are all caught up in her hostage crisis. 

But what made this episode so harrowing, is the fact that the Admiral, Colonel Tigh and the President are faced with the sheer horror that their loved ones and crew mates may need to die in order to keep more issues like this at bay and while it's clear they are resigned to the potential fates of those in question, they certainly don't like it and it eats at them the entire episode, and to make matters worse, this was the final appearance of Paul Campbell as Presidential Advisor Billy Keikeya because at the end of the hostage crisis, Billy is gunned down as he tries to do something heroic and well...at the time what upset me about this episode was the fact that his death seemed so unnecessary...as though he was mere fodder for Sesha's fury. But now with a few years under my belt, and a better understanding of what this show is trying to accomplish during this story arc...it works. It's sad. It's powerful and necessary since it fits this ugly story arc to a tee. 

Because truly the lesson here, is that revenge accomplishes nothing and harms more than expected and while that may seem like a no brainer to so many, sometimes people forget that all important lesson. Sadly though, that's that for Billy, and there are plenty of new wounds to tend to in the fleet since Kara nearly killed Lee by way of friendly fire and it's hard to say how hard the loss of Billy will hit President Roslin, not to mention Adama's bold decision to protect Sharon may backfire as well. Either way, what a powerful and wonderful episode and I am incredibly glad it was a far more engaging experience the second time around, and I know that the show isn't quite done exploring death just yet because 'The Captain's Hand' is next and I distinctly recall that this next story features plenty of loss and sorrow. Until next time. 

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