TV Squad review: A Measure of Salvation

Source: TV Squad

I was about to say that I wondered if this was the first time any humans (besides Baltar, if he is human) have seen the inside of a Base Star, though the previews for next week seem to put that question to rest somewhat.

It seems it didn't take Apollo very long to lose a stone or two, though we really don't know for sure how much time has passed since the goings on on New Caprica, do we? I also noticed there were a few usual characters rather absent from this episode, such as Col. Tigh.

At first I thought it was a pretty stupid thing for the Cylons to tell Athena and the humans that there was a disease on board that was infecting them, but then I realized that, up until that point, nobody knew how far reaching the disease was.

I guess we're led to believe that when Athena jacked into the Base Star that she somehow triggered off the self destruct mechanism of the ship. I would have thought that her look of obvious guilt would create quite a bit of doubt in the humans as to where her loyalties lie. It still seems odd that the humans so easily trust her and carry her along on so many missions.

I have to admit that when Baltar was getting tortured I felt a bit of satisfaction mixed with pity. Satisfaction that such a wimpy scumbag should get what's finally coming to him, but pity knowing he's stuck on that Base Star with little to no hope of a way out of there. There's also pity that he has to sink so low as to turn on everyone and lie to save his own neck, as it's all he really knows how to do. And now that the humans know what Baltar's done and that he's alive, there's not a whole lot of hope left for him unless he does something pretty heroic.

You have to give it to Baltar for his theological rant to Number Three, just before his dreamstate self seems to change her to feel compassionate toward him. It's the overall theme of the episode really. Are we to decide what God's will is? Who is to die and who is to survive? As Baltar put it: "If we knew God's will we'd all be gods."

I had to look up "lymphocytic encephalitis", the disease plaguing the Cylons, though it doesn't turn up a whole lot of info. I just found it interesting that the doctor says that they've been cured for a few hundred years from the disease, and the knowing that humans from the 13th colony left for Earth 3,000 years ago. So much to think about there, as in what does this mean for the time period on Earth as far as this show is concerned?

Helo couldn't have sounded less convincing to me or, obviously, everyone in the President's office. As soon as he made the claim that the Cylons tried to live in harmony with the humans on New Caprica, I knew he was in for it. And really, his attitude there shows why Tigh, Starbuck and the others feel some loathing for those who were on the "cushy" Battlestars while they suffered on the surface of the planet.

Thinking back to the 'Collaborators' episode, this would have to be one of those situations where someone might be executed for being a traitor. Helo purposely put his fellow man in danger, and it wasn't for saving anyone he has a personal connection to, like his wife.

It's definitely an interesting and controversial topic, even for a fictional sci-fi series like BSG. Is it morally responsible to wipe out an entire race, even if it's an enemy you find no reason to keep in existence? Even if this race is out to cause your own harm and death? Even if they are trying to do the very same to your own?