'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Someone to Watch Over Me'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​Of the many, many, many things that I respect about Battlestar Galactica, perhaps what is truly at that top of that list, is the quality of the writing. Because putting together quality episodes week in and week out in the Writer’s Room is a difficult venture for any television series, and while BSG wasn’t always successful in making that happen, it rarely delivered a stinker of an episode and really, the writing is on my mind today when it comes to this series simply because, I’m in awe of how smooth and how flawless it often turned out to be, even when there really wasn’t anything for the show to chew upon.
 
Case in point, the next episode in this storied saga, ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’, because it became inherently clear pretty early on in this episode that this was more or less a filler episode, one designed to dig into a few lingering plot threads to tide us over as we barrel toward the series finale and well, the quality of the writing of this particular tale, made this one of the finest filler episodes that I’ve ever seen since I was captivated by every single moment of this tale, one that focused heavily on the Chief, and Starbuck for that matter as well as they worked to resolve a couple of nagging issues that have been hanging heavily over their heads for some time now.
 
Starbuck for instance, was still struggling mightily with the fact that she had seen her own corpse on Earth and of course, Sam’s subsequent health problems, and the down time that she had to ponder upon such matters as Galactica’s CAG led her to Joe’s Bar often to drown her sorrows and it was in this place that she discovered a musician who was trying to compose something beautiful in this trying time and the two of them clicked almost immediately. Allowing for Kara to reminisce on her own father’s work in music and how she used to play the piano alongside him and really, what made this storyline so fascinating is the sheer fact that it would seem that this man was the ghost of Kara’s father and we also learned that when she was young, her dad just so happened to teach her the iconic song that switched the Final Five on.
 
As for the Chief’s storyline, well it’s clear that his harrowing experiences this year have put him in a tough and isolated place, one where he’s reflected heavily on his life and the things he’s lost, to the point where he expressed great concern over Boomer’s fate since the Cylons were planning to try for her treason and really, he came to realize he still loved Boomer and wanted to see both sides take the higher road, especially since it seemed as though Boomer had finally figured out the error of her ways. But, despite his pleas, she was going to face trial, and it led the Chief to decide to help her to escape and well, once again it turns out Boomer played everyone since she vindictively made Athena witness an uncomfortable moment involving her husband, but more importantly, she stole Hera, undoubtedly for experimentation at Cavil’s hands and that’s where this one ends, with uncertainty.
 
Granted, those are some fascinating plot lines, but let’s be honest, a vast majority of this stuff, outside of Hera’s kidnapping, could have been handled ages ago, instead the series brought it together now to once again remind us that fate and destiny are going to play a part of these final episodes and this is also the second time now in the past few episodes that the value of life has popped up as a thematic concept, and deep down, I know there’s a solid reason that the show continues to introduce that idea, but I’m still waiting to see how that all comes together in the end before I say anything more on it. Either way, this was still an entertaining ride, one that I thoroughly enjoyed, and one that I firmly believe remained in neutral territory because far bigger things await us on the horizon…until next time…

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