'Battlestar Galactica' Retro Recap: 'Unfinished Business'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

The more time I've had to soak up the wonder of season three of Battlestar Galactica, the more I've come to realize that it has sneakily slipped in a common plot device used in this show, an analysis of the human condition. Buried beneath the Battle of New Caprica and the revenge that came with reuniting the fleet, a common theme has emerged, the past and how we deal with it.  

After all, we've seen yesterday come up often in multiple episodes now since the aforementioned revenge episode, 'Collaborators', focused heavily on past transgressions and even 'Torn' got into the game by looking back at Adama's biggest mistake as a Battlestar Commander and it seems that at long last, the show decided to bring this prevailing theme to a head in 'Unfinished Business'.  I mean heck, that title speaks to the fact that what what has transpired in days gone by was going to be a focus for this particular tale, but rather than take a traditional route in confronting the past, this particular episode explored the whole matter in unique fashion...with an unexpected amount of violence. 

Because in this story, the Admiral has set up a special kind of Fight Club aboard the Galactica, one that everyone is allowed to talk about because on the surface...it seems like a great way to let off some steam, and to top it off there's no rank in the ring so a good old fashioned brawl seems like a great way to even tempers in-between skirmishes with the Cylons. But Adama being the mastermind that he is, well he just so happens to have a bigger plan in mind for these fights...he wants the crew to settle what the title makes mention of because despite the fact they've survived some incredible horrors this season, he firmly believes the crew has gone soft and lost their edge a bit, and he also feels that teamwork has fallen to the wayside thanks to the bad blood that developed on New Caprica. 

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Yet while that idea sounds fascinating enough in its own right, the show wasn't comfortable just hinting at what caused some of that bad blood, it straight up felt the need to show us and at long last we went back to the early days on New Caprica where two key plot lines caught my eye, one involving the Admiral and the Chief, and a big surprise when it came to Kara and Lee. We'll talk about the latter of those stories in a moment simply because, it's rare that we ever see the Admiral take anything personal. He's a model officer, and a good man that has lived the kind of life where you see it all, and know when to let certain things go because of those experiences, and his flashback allowed for us to discover that he was hurt and hurt deep by Chief Tyrol's request to live on the planet and he used that past memory to teach his crew a lesson about letting go of the past by taking a dive after challenging the Chief to a little fisticuffs in the ring. 

But truly, the centerpiece of this episode is the story involving Starbuck and Apollo because something quite incredible happened to the two of them on New Caprica, they finally fell in love. After years of hemming and hawing around their feelings, the two finally decide to take the plunge and declare their feelings for one another and while this should have led to a happy ending...well this just isn't that kind of show. Freaked out at the prospect of being happy, Kara returns to Sam's waiting arms and marries him, badly wounding Apollo and setting up the anger between the two of them we learned about in the season premiere, and it would seem the only way these two could make amends was to beat the living hell out of one another and believe it or not...it worked. 

If anything, the simplicity of this episode and what it stands for is what makes it such a magnificent tale. After all, we can all stand to be reminded of the fact that while the past is important and helps shape our lives...there is a future to live for and I like that this episode let us know in non heavy handed fashion, that sometimes you just have to let the bad stuff go, and how you do that is up to you. When all is said and done however, I'm curious to see if this episode stands as the closing point for the show's analysis of the past and what it does to mankind because it truly feels like the finale of this philosophical arc and if it is...well I cannot wait to see what new part of the human condition the show is planning to explore next. Until next time. ​

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