'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Sine Qua Non'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​As I settled in to watch the next episode of Battlestar Galactica, I was expecting to bear witness to some serious tension. After all, President Roslin went missing with a good chunk of Galactica’s Vipers and Pilots and well, there’s no way a revelation such as that would go over well in the Fleet. However, while I did indeed enjoy the tension I was expecting to find in ‘Sine Qua Non’, this episode actually managed to feature some serious surprises since it was also filled to the brim with complete and utter chaos, and it also managed to resurrect the show’s love affair of exploring the human condition. 
 
In fact, the show actually focused heavily on the latter of those concepts, but before we get too deep into that, let’s talk about that chaos for a moment, because goodness, it was downright unsettling. Because in essence, Roslin’s absence brought forth a power struggle in the Fleet since Tom Zarek took over as president and Admiral Adama made it clear that it would be a cold day in hell before he recognized Zarek as the leader of the Colonies and well, that meant that somehow the fleet had to find common ground in order to function, which led Lee to seek out Romo Lampkin to help the Quorum find the right person to install as president, something they could do in a time of crisis. 
 
And this, is where that fascinating exploration of the human condition came to fruition since the story dug into the notion of how far people are willing to go to save the people they love, because Admiral Adama pulled out all of the stops to find his beloved Laura, to the point where he straight up risked lives. Because in a stunning moment, he jumped the Galactica away without the Fleet to personally oversee the search for the president and well, this is the first time we’ve ever really come to understand just how much Laura means to Bill and well, this was downright beautiful and haunting in its own right.
 
But, while this alone would have been enough to carry this episode, the search for a new leader also brought forth an exploration on the power and the need for hope. Because in this tale, we learned that Lampkin was damn near ready to throw in the towel when it comes to humanity because he saw a species drifting in the solar wind waiting to die and he needed to make damn sure that the next person to sit in the big chair would finally inspire hope in humanity, to the point where mankind could finally be better as a species and of course…he chose Lee to lead the Colonies, who was of course reluctant at first to accept the title, but did in the end because he knew it was his duty. 
 
If anything, this was just, vintage BSG on the screen and honestly, I loved every single second of this episode. It was beautiful, powerful and poignant from beginning to end, and I was also a fan of how the Admiral was big enough to own up to his mistakes and willing to risk life and limb to see his love once again because let’s be honest…that’s just magnificent, any way you slice it. But, this tale wasn’t without its little surprises and concerns. After all, Caprica Six is pregnant with Saul’s child, and that’s a huge deal since that shouldn’t be possible and…we haven’t a clue, as to whether or not the president and her attaché are alive or not. However, I’m sure we will find out their fate quickly, and well, I’m ready to refresh myself on that answer right now, so, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to start the next chapter in this incredible tale. Until next time. 

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