"Battlestar Galactica" Retro Recap: "Act of Contrition"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

The more I sit down to re watch all of Battlestar Galactica, the more I find myself stunned at how sweeping a tragedy this story truly is. You already have 99% of humanity wiped out in the series premiere and despite that, the show is more than happy to pour on the sorrow and hardships and that was never more evident than in the fourth episode of the series, "Act of Contrition".

Oddly enough though, this particular chapter in the story actually managed to start off on a chipper note. With a pilot celebrating his 1,000th landing. It meant all kinds of cheers on the deck, and a few traditions to go along with it. Heck, it was so momentous an occasions that we even learn a little more about the Commander's more foolish days in his youth and career. But all of that comes crashing down when a hanger accident/explosion results in thirteen pilots dead, including our hero of the moment, and seven more injured.

The disaster ends up putting the fleet in a tough position and that's when this episode becomes quite Kara centric since she is tasked with finding and training new pilots to fill the ranks of the fallen and as is always the case when it comes to its characters, BSG shines bright with this little twist. It's this piece of storytelling that really gives us insight into the mystery that is Starbuck as we see her hesitance in training these "Nuggets" as they are called because the sheer act of doing it takes her back to one of the darkest hours in her life...the death of Zak Adama, her former fiancé and piloting pupil. It chews at her soul in fact, simply because she was the one to pass Zak at the academy, even though he wasn't qualified to be a pilot and she blames himself for her death.

It leads to erratic behavior from Starbuck, as she pushes the Nuggets to their breaking point and since none of them satisfy her incredibly high standards...she essentially fails all of them. This behavior of course concerns Lee Adama who takes the issue to his dad who in turn confronts Kara and well...this is the most heartbreaking moment in the episode as Starbuck is forced to admit to the Commander, the man she sees as a father, what really happened to his son. It was actually quite an emotional and difficult scene to get through after all these years, kudos to it for holding up. Commander Adama of course orders her to give the Nuggets another try and on a quality training run, trouble arrives in the form of the Cylons and knowing that her trainee squadron won't make it back to Galactica in time...Kara and her rookies engage the enemy, and during the battle her Viper is damaged and spiraling out of control into an unknown planet's atmosphere...

In the end, we are left with our first cliffhanger of the series since the premiere and damn...this was one heavy episode. So first and foremost, props to Katee Sackhoff and Edward James Olmos for their outstanding acting in this episode. It would not have worked with anyone else in my opinion since Starbuck's painful journey sucks you in along the ride, and that's a good thing if you ask me. While the show was and remains stellar at this point, this is the first real time it put a microscope on these fascinating characters and I'm glad they did. It made for one compelling story and I distinctly recall being frustrated at reading the always ominous "To Be Continued" in the final moments, which is exactly where we will pick up next time. Until then...

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