Battlestar Galactica: The Passage

Source: TV Squad

I have to ask -- why isn't anyone getting on Apollo for the short rations? It wasn't that long ago that he was a fat tub, and it's not like he was feasting on New Caprican grub. Can you imagine the thrashing he'd be taking if he was still fat? Alright, so it's a nitpicky point to bring up, but I know there are others of you who were a bit bothered that Apollo so easily lost all those stones of weight so quickly.

(By the way, check out writer Jane Espenson's answers to your questions regarding her experience writing this episode. I'll be asking a few more questions myself after tonight.)

Something that was sort of backgrounded in this episode, though when you're looking for it like we are, it stands out quite prominently: We're seeing Athena/Sharon taking some extraordinary risks for the human crew of Galactica. Not that she's had a lack of doing so in the recent past, but it struck me more this time, with her being the guinea pig for all of existing, known humanity.

Baltar's onto Number Three's suicide ways, though are we going to find that what we thought all along was right, that the more a Cylon downloads the crazier they become? So far she seems relatively unaffected, though the reaction of the other Cylons last week seems to indicate they know what tends to happen when one travels down that road.

And what of the drawings Number Three made of the visions she had from beyond? They're likely the "boxed" Cylons as some have surmised. What's initially weird to me is how Baltar seems to believe he may be a Cylon himself, though I'm not sure it was ever revealed that his Cylon detector from his days on Galactica was a farce or not. I guess if it wasn't a farce, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense at that time if he'd have tested himself, would it? Not unless he was asked to at least.

Gaeta's lack of applause for Saul reentering the bridge (do we call it a bridge?) spoke volumes. Clearly there's some unresolved issues that we'll see play out in future episodes. Though it's likely Gaeta never had total respect for Saul even before the events on New Caprica, so what happened recently doesn't help matters one bit.

I found it interesting how we got some insight into how the ships process minimal food resources from plants carrying life. Forms of algae are processed into a form of food that the crew can eat. It's almost a take off of the replicators from Star Trek:TNG, where I believe (if my I reach back into my nerd databanks) all sorts of materials, even waste, were used to make whatever the replicators made. Or maybe I'm just overthinking things and they just make a big sloppy gruel out of the mess.

Oh, by the way, you think The Lost Room premieres Monday or what? I mean, I like the show (I caught it early), but that watermark over the entire episode was obnoxious.

Hearing Jupiter being mentioned gives us a little look into how this seasons is certainly seeming to end up -- with everyone staring our solar system right in the face. "A connection between their gods and ours." "Five faces," and Jupiter is the fifth planet from our sun. If that's the case, it'll make for an interesting break once this season ends -- how will the next season play out if Earth is so close to their reach?

I'm not really sure what I feel about Kat's story. I don't feel a lot of remorse for what she went through, though I admire that she found it within herself to do what she had to to redeem herself, at least in her eyes. It was something that I'm not sure I needed to see, as Kat played what I consider a very background role since her days of taking over for Starbuck.

This episode really was all about sacrifice. Sacrificing oneself for the betterment of others. Sacrificing oneself for redemption. Sacrificing oneself for knowledge of what's beyond. Seemingly everyone's succeeding in one way or another at getting what they wish for.