'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'The Ties That Bind'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

The last time we sat down to discuss the wonder of Battlestar Galactica, I made note of the fact that the series packed in the prior episode with a ton of storylines that allowed for the hour to simply fly by, which was awesome to see for certain. But what I had forgotten about, having not seen much of season four since the series went off the air, was the sheer fact that ‘Six of One’ was merely the preamble to more episodes that were to be packed with the gills with incredible storylines since ‘The Ties That Bind’ also gave us plenty to chew upon, and a stunner of a moment to process as well.
 
But before we get to that big moment, let’s take a little time and catch up with the other storylines this episode provided us with. Like the fact that Lee is going to fit in with the Quorum of Twelve just fine since he was able to stand up to the President with no problem when it came to her policies and the story even took the time to take us aboard the Demetrius to see how things are going with Kara’s mission to find Earth and as it turns out, it’s going pretty poorly. She simply cannot decide on a proper course through the stars and it’s straining her credibility and her crew and at this point, it seems as though there is little hope that this mission will be successful if Starbuck doesn’t find a lead and quick.
 
Now while Lee and Kara dealt with their respective situations, the nasty matter of the Cylon Civil War was taken to a whole new level thanks to the fact that Cavil was unsure of how to deal with this incredible double cross and the demands from the dissenters since they wanted Cavil to also unbox D’Anna’s line in the hopes of bringing unity to the Cylon once again. If anything, this entire crisis left Cavil stewing and he decided the best course of action to handle this mess, was to enact a touch of revenge and he drew the Sixes and all of her allies out of Resurrection range so that he could slaughter them with impunity and this whole conflict is simply stunning to watch because we’ve never seen the Cylons act this…human. 
 
But the centerpiece of this tale, came about from the fact that Chief Tryol’s life is in essence falling to pieces following the discovery that he’s actually a Cylon. Because he’s barely been home, and it’s ripping his marriage apart to the point where Cally believes her husband is cheating on her. And with her mental state already in a fragile place, the paranoia she’s experiencing leads her to follow Galen to one of his secret Cylon meetings (also kudos to the show for the Star Trek: The Next Generation reference with Weapons Locker 1701D) where she learns the truth about her husband and well…it breaks her. She takes her son to the airlock to do heaven knows what and is thankfully stopped by Tory, seemingly putting her on the right track again. But surprise, surprise, the new and improved Tory will not let the truth come out about her and her friends…and she blasts Cally out into space, making it look like a suicide.
 
If anything, I truly did not see this death coming in the slightest and my goodness, this one sticks with you because Cally was always one of the good ones on this show, a hard-working deck hand that tried to find a slice of happiness and well, what a tragic way to exit the show. But while it’s a shame to see her go, her death serves as a fine reminder that all bets are off this season, and anything can and will happen. And after re-watching this one, I have to admit that I am thoroughly impressed with how much stuff is being packed into these episodes, and I’m honestly still good with it. Because this is the end, and there’s a lot that needs to get wrapped up and if having a metric ton of storylines thrown our way will accomplish that, so be it. Either way, things are clearly heating up and I have no doubt that the story is only going to get more intense as we close in on the grand finale. Until next time. 

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