Someone to Watch Over Me
Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 12:18pm by GeekBoyThis week, on Battlestar Galactica …
RECAP DETAILS AHEAD (don’t read if you haven’t watched it yet) …
This was another low energy episode, but with a few more twists and turns than last week.
Tyrol learns that the Cylons want Boomer to be released from Galactica’s brig … so that they can execute her for colluding with Cavil to kill thousands of Rebel Cylons. Distressed by this, he goes to visit her, and using that dream-state thing that Cylons do, Boomer shares with him her vision of the perfect life together that they had always talked about back when they were a couple, including the perfect house and a daughter. Tyrol tries to talk Roslin out of handing Boomer over, but when he can’t, he comes up with a plan to help her escape. He causes a power failure — of which there are many these days on Galactica, while repairs are being performed — and in the confusion, knocks out one of the other Eights, and swaps her with Boomer.
Once free, Boomer finds Athena in the locker room, and knocks her out, presumably to swap places with her, so that it won’t seem unusual when she flies away in the Raptor that Tyrol is getting ready for her. Annnd … that’s when it gets weird. Because Helo shows up in the locker room, thinks she’s Athena, and long story short, they end up doing the Dance of the Glowing Red Spine … with a beat up Athena bound and gagged in a closet … forced to watch and listen. Then Boomer proceeds to day care and picks up Hera … and it’s only at this point that I finally realize what’s going on. That Boomer bringing Ellen back to Galactica was only a setup for a bigger plan concocted by Cavil — to steal Hera.
Poor Tyrol remains clueless about how badly he’s been played, and even though Athena escapes her bonds before Boomer has a chance to leave the ship, it’s still not soon enough. In a battle of wills, Adama orders the flight pod doors closed, hoping to prevent the Raptor from taking off. But Boomer makes a break for it, clips her wing on the way out, then makes an FTL jump within close proximity of the ship. Which is apparently a VERY BAD THING to do. The space/time concussion strikes a heavy blow to the side of Galactica, which I’m thinking will NOT help the ongoing repair process. It’s only after Boomer has jumped away that Tyrol realizes she’s taken Hera, and when he does, he is suitably horrified.
The other ongoing storyline this week involved Starbuck and the Piano Man. Bored by the monotony of sending wave after wave of ships to search for habitable planets, CAG Starbuck has been going to the bar every night to drink and complain that the piano man keeps playing the same song over and over. It turns out he’s working on a composition, which she tries to help him with … because her father was a piano player too. Long story short, the piano player isn’t really there, Starbuck has been talking to her father in her head, and with the help of a drawing given to her by Hera, she starts playing a tune that her father taught her as a child. A tune that almost sounds like “All Along the Watchtower”, which brings The Final Five (those who aren’t busy getting used by Boomer) running to her side. Because it’s a tune that Daniel — Starbuck’s father — used to play.
Thanks to the hyper-guess-itivity of the Web in these past few months, this last revelation probably wasn’t as much of a surprise to most people as the writers would have liked it to be. The whole Boomer still working for Cavil thing was probably more shocking. But it was still nice to have that particular plot point wrapped up, so that we can finally figure out what the true nature of Starbuck is, once and for all.
Three more episodes to go!
1. Greater Czarina said ( Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 5:27 pm )
The Boomer/Chief parts were awesome last night, with Aaron Douglas turning in an amazing performance as Tyrol was totally fished in and then found out that he’d been played.
The Starbuck and Daddy Piano Man thing I called from nearly the first scene, re: he only existed in her head. My question is, when did they show that he is/was the Daniel model? Because there was a different name on his CD and I don’t remember anyone mentioning Daniel’s name. Did I just miss that bit?
2. GeekBoy said ( Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 6:12 pm )
It was only implied, but I think quite heavily. The name on the cassette she got from Helo was like Dreilide Thrace or something … begins with D, probably his “music name”. Anyway, she was playing the song her father taught her, then Tigh or one of them said Daniel’s name … or am I imagining that?
Or maybe I’m just assuming this is the case, because I called Starbuck as the Real First Hybrid way back in the episode when she “died”. Don’t believe me? CHECK IT OUT. And the only reason I take pride in that is because my dozen other theories haven’t actually panned out. So may as well take credit for the one that (probably) did.
3. ben said ( Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 6:14 pm )
Something really sad that struck me was when Kara was berating the piano player because he had abandoned his wife and child to play music. Kara said that was just like what her father did, and she never forgave him. No letters, no calls, nothing … he seemed to have completely abandoned her. But it struck me that since her father was a “Daniel”, then Cavil obviously killed him. Maybe her father didn’t really choose to abandon Kara, he was murdered. And that’s how Kara’s mother spun it to her young daughter….
4. Jack said ( Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 12:36 am )
Count me as one of the few who didn’t see the Starbuck – piano player thing coming. I put the pieces together by the end, and I wasn’t completely blown away by it, maybe because they’ve been slowly revealing that direction. I was blown away that Boomer was still working for Cavil. It wasn’t until the mention of it at the very end that I even figured it out!
5. Jack said ( Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 12:54 am )
By the way…. any guesses as to what happened to Roslin at the end? It looked like she collapsed, and did I see a hand reaching down to check her pulse?
6. GeekBoy said ( Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 1:05 am )
Wasn’t it Hera’s blood that healed Roslin’s cancer the first time? It seems like ever since then, she’s had some weird spiritual bond with Hera. Hence all those shared visions with Six and Athena. So I’m guessing that has something to do with it?
7. sandra said ( Sunday, March 01, 2009 at 3:24 pm )
I was bored by this episode
I guess because there are so few episodes left the last thing I wanted was one as slow as this. Every time it would flip back to Starbuck and Piano Man, I would just groan. Sorry, I know and appreciate that they do try to change things up and I understand not every episode has to be slam-bam, I just felt nothing for either story-line – Starbuck’s or Tyrol’s (except for the last 3 minutes of each). You’re right – it may be that because of so much internet chatter we had all suspected that Daniel was Starbuck’s dad so not much of a build-up but rather a “let’s get it going!” from me.
8. Dave said ( Monday, March 02, 2009 at 9:12 am )
Again, I don’t think Galatica is going to make it to the end of “Galatica.” It looks like Boomer did some massive damage FTLing out too close, and this is the same ship that’s taken a nuke hit a time or two. I just know I’m going to feel the same way as I did when I saw “Star Trek III” the first time….
9. Maggie said ( Friday, March 06, 2009 at 9:45 am )
Daniel was the name of the model, but that doesn’t mean he KNEW he was a Daniel or a Seven or a Cylon at all, any more than Boomer did at the beginning of the series, or any more than any of the sleepers did. Although I can’t remember the scenes with Starbuck’s mother…I wish I could go back and watch those!
10. GeekBoy said ( Friday, March 06, 2009 at 10:30 am )
Maggie, not sure if these links will do you any good up there in Canadaland, but here is some clippage from the “Maelstrom” episode where Starbuck’s mother dies …
http://video.scifi.com/player/?id=77839
http://www.hulu.com/watch/2139.....s-deathbed
11. Maggie said ( Friday, March 06, 2009 at 10:53 am )
Thanks! I’ve figured out how to watch Hulu from here, btw. I has a sneaky!