"Battlestar Galactica" Retro Recap: "Bastille Day"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There's a lot to like when it comes to Battlestar Galactica. It was often well written, packed to the gills with thought provoking storylines, the list goes on and on. But one particular aspect of the show's storytelling that I always enjoyed was the sheer realism the series was happy to present to us when it came to giving us a solid look at people and how they can really act or how they really are when it comes to certain situations. 

Some characters were sneaky and conniving, serving only their own interests while others were bold and heroic. Or in the case of Colonel Tigh, simply all kinds of messed up. It was that kind of honesty in storytelling that I always appreciated, and one of the series' finest examples of what they could really do with characters and give us that taste of real life and for the sake of this recap...how the masses react to certain situations, came about in the third episode of the show, "Bastille Day".

This was of course a direct follow up to "Water", with the fleet having found a supply of the precious liquid to keep everyone and everything going in the fleet, but there is a slight hiccup when it comes to bringing it home...there simply isn't enough qualified manpower for such a dangerous job. It leads President Roslin to come up with the idea of using prison based labor since the Astral Queen, a prison freighter that made the big jump into the unknown with the fleet not so long ago, has enough men aboard to do the job. But the prisoners have a surprise for the delegation that arrives to talk them into a plan that allows them to earn points for freedom in exchange for mining the water...they simply take everyone hostage.  

They are led by political radical Tom Zarek, who believes that any order from President Roslin is null and void since there was never a full on free election for the people of the fleet for her position and until such an election takes place, the prisoners and the hostages stay aboard the ship. It leads to a delicate cat and mouse game between Commander Adama, Lee and Zarek throughout the episode until Lee finally figures out a sneaky way to satisfy Zarek and get everyone what they want...by letting Tom know that he will get his elections within a year. It isn't something special he promises the man, it's the sheer fact that Roslin inherited President Adar's term, and he only had a year left on his presidency anyway. 

In the end, everything wraps up in its own happy way, the water is headed back to Galactica but I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with the story this go round. As I mentioned earlier, the show is damn good at showing us for who we are and the behavior exhibited by Zarek and the other prisoners is stuff we have seen before, opportunists that seize the day to speak to the importance of their cause, or do what the prisoners did and take a stand when it seems like poor timing to others and I appreciate the fact the show went there with such an idea. End of the world or not...it makes sense that some people would see the end as their own beginning and to take a chance in storytelling like this, is certainly something you still don't see often, if at all on television. Until next time.

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