Monday, January 22

D'Anna in a Box

Source: TV Guide

I'm really grateful that this show is back, after that suspenseful finale. I'm personally a little exhausted by the whole new night and time slot, since most shows I follow that air at 10 pm on a "work night" shows are past my bedtime and get watched the next day. But with that out of my system, this episode proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a show worth losing a little sleep over.

The whole Lee-Kara-Dualla-Anders thing is really frakked up. Lee asking his wife to go save the woman he truly loves? Um, that's like pouring a whole bucket of salt into an open wound. And she does it, and gets what as a reward for saving the surly Starbucks' ass? A hug from her husband? I don't even like Dualla, but I'm feeling really bad for her. Anders wanted to save his emotionally unavailable wife, and nearly got himself killed in the process, but that was his choice. Dualla really didn't have a choice. Disobey her superior officer and husband and get reprimanded on both levels, or save a woman whom she truly must despise.

By contrast, Helo killing his Cylon wife Sharon so that she could download herself onto the Cylon base ship and find and save their stolen child seems downright romantic. Actually, it was a pretty big leap of faith, considering how little he really knows about the download process. Adama was right to be ticked off that all of their secret military information could be found out if her brain was somehow downloaded into the Cylon mainframe. Madame President, on the other hand, had less of a right considering that it was partly her fault that Helo and Sharon were driven to these extreme lengths. At least Helo called her out on it. "If you hadn't lied and stolen our baby in the first place, we wouldn't be here at all." Did you catch Adama silently holding Helo's arm back so that Helo wouldn't physically attack Roslin? But being that Roslin is a no-nonsense kind of president, she had a quick comeback at the ready, "I certainly played my part in bringing us to this moment. There is plenty of blame to throw around, and I accept it. But now all our lives are in the hands of Sharon Agathon. All we can do is hope that your wife is worthy of the unconditional trust you place in her."

Turns out that Sharon is totally trustworthy, and she manages to completely snow Caprica into believing that she's done with the humans since they mistreated her. The mom in me loved that Hera recognized real Sharon, even though Boomer is genetically identical. The action fan in me loved Caprica hauling off and snapping Boomer's neck. I wonder how Caprica is feeling now that she helped Sharon escape to find help for baby Hera, and Caprica got herself captured by the humans in the process. I can't help but wonder if her holding cell will be right next to Baltar's. That could be awkward.

Speaking of Gaius, according to the Six in his head, he is supposed to be the chosen one, yet he helped D'Anna find the Eye of Jupiter marking that would allow them to see the faces of the remaining five Cylon models, and got pretty much squat out of the deal. He didn't discover what he was desperate to know, if he himself was a Cylon, and he got decked by Tyrol and taken back aboard Galactica as an unconscious prisoner. I'm sure his crimes against humanity won't be so easily forgiven now that he's back.

But the humans have the marker that they wanted, even though it makes me wary of Starbuck. She's been drawing a particular image since she was a child, and it just happens to be the Eye of Jupiter? And Leoben, her Cylon "mate" of sorts said that she "had a destiny and it had already been written." That doesn't bode well. Is it possible that she is one of the final five? If Leoben knows about her destiny and the image she is drawing is tied to the path to Earth, it seems like a likely, yet horrifying, scenario. Then again, it is possible that Leoben was just messing with her mind, and that maybe Kara is just special and chosen to help the humans find a new home. Maybe I'm being naive.

The only one who knows for sure if Kara or Baltar are Cylons is D'Anna, and she's been boxed up and sent off to cold storage indefinitely. Harsh, but clearly this spirited Cylon who was consumed with the idea of discovering these identities at all costs is not one to be trusted. Loved Cavil's line, "Your model is fundamentally flawed." That's so awesome that I'm sure some cheesy reality show will steal it to use as their exit line.

But just because she's boxed doesn't mean that D'Anna or the lovely Lucy Lawless are gone forever. There are always flashback sequences. Plus, Cavil said that her model's stay in cold storage was indefinite, but he didn't say permanent — so there is always the possibility that she could resurface.

All in all, a pretty great way to come back for the second half of the season, in my opinion. I can't wait to see what other obstacles come up on this really bumpy road to Earth.

by Angel Cohn

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