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Battlestar Galactica: Season 1-01: 33 by ernestborg9

Overall, a good opening episode that cleverly adds to a number of arcs from the mini: is Boomer a Cylon? What is the Six who is interacting with Baltar? Can the Colonials truly escape the shadow of the Cylons? The opening sequence of shots ending with the Valerii on the Ragnar Anchorage is interesting: is this a hint to the real identity of Boomer on Galactica?

Also, is the good-natured teasing between Starbuck and Boomer during the CAP an indication that others have noticed Boomer seems to be handling the lack of sleep a lot better than others. Could this lead to some kind of rumour-mill starting-up about her? As to Baltar's Six: three possibilities seem to suggest themselves: - She is a working of his own psyche; a reaction to his betrayal of his people to the Cylons. Certainly, his increasing psychosis in the episode would seem to point to this; but then, he has - like the rest - been five plus days without sleep, and some degree of paranoia is bound to result. - She is, as she suggested in the mini, an implant in his head and possibly in communication with the Cylons.

However, if this is the case, surely the Cylon hunt for the fleet would continue despite the destruction of the Olympic Carrier - as the Cylons would be tracing the fleet through Baltar. Given the humans are to all intents and purposes "on the ropes", it seems odd that they would break off the attack when they have such a clear advantage. - Could she actually be a complete download of "Six's" personality, captured at the point of destruction of Baltar's home, and now contained in his head, possibily occupying his subconscious, out of contact with her own kind, but able to fully interact with his thoughts and feelings – even manipulate his thoughts and feelings? Hopefully, these issues will be addressed in time.

Meanwhile, the episode builds on some of the relationships established in the mini: Apollo and Starbuck clearly have a past, one that reaches beyond command hierarchies, exhaustion and tempers. The hanger deck confrontation is a valuable byplay not so much for what it says, but for the way in which it is communicated - a large element of non-verbal communication passing between Thrace and Lee Adama prior to her taking the stims.

Similarly, Roslin's mistrust of Adama, as expressed at the end of the mini following his admission that "earth" was a deception on his part, has begun to grow into an edgy respect: she knows full-well that without his leadership, the fleet would not have survived 5 days of repeated FTL jumps - and she is prepared to admit it. Then there is Adama's relationship with his son. From the scene where they discuss responsibility, it is evident that there is a gulf between them still - one that may well be held open in part by their relative positions aboard the Galactica: Adama is Lee's father and the Officer Commanding the Galactica. While both again appear to want to bridge the gap – the difference in rank still prevents them openly discussing things: hence Lee's act of rebuffing his father's attempt to console him following the shooting of the Olympic Carrier.

Overall the three storylines evident in the episode – escaping the Cylons, Baltar and Six and Helo on Caprica - are cleverly interwoven, with the main storyline; the Baltar / Six relationship in particular intersecting smoothly through the crisis involving the Olympic Carrier, while the Helo subplot is given enough exposure to engage us and deflect attention from the "A" story sufficiently to heighten the drama, without actually interrupting the overall story flow.

Indeed, such is the subtlety of the Helo sub-plot that the questions it raises don't really reveal themselves until a second viewing, and you realise they are related to the central Cylon theme: why does Six ask him if he is alive? He clearly is, and the question is not a reference to either his leg wound or his radiation-induced sickness. Nor is it simply a throwback to her "sister's" first words to the Colonial officer at Armistice Station. It is something that appears to go to the very centre of Cylon reasoning. Similarly, while it could be over-sensitivity given the amount of time the Valerii on Caprica was on-screen, but one couldn't help but feel she was perhaps a little too human; too familiar with Helo? It seems odd that she is introduced to Helo through the "killing" of the Six construct. Why resort to the "murder" of one of her own? Was this simply to establish her credibility in the eyes of Helo? Could she not have found another way to make contact with Helo? Contrasted with the comments regarding Boomer's heritage back at Galactica, are the writers attempting to imply something? Could it bee that BOTH the Valerii characters are Cylons that believe themselves to be human? Time will tell - but it will be interesting to see how the Helo/Valerii/Caprica arc is followed-up.

But, in discussing the role of Cylon agents, there is a potentially interesting throwaway comment in this episode that might be an indication that something is amiss in the fleet: in discussing the number of survivors, Roslin asks why the total has dropped by 300. Billy responds that some over-counts were made (understandable), that there have been deaths from wounds (possibly people picked up from the 12 colonies), and some seem to have simply "disappeared" during the last Cylon attack (witnessed prior to jump 237). "Disappeared"? How? No ships were destroyed during the attack / jump, so how do people just "disappear"? Again, is this simply an error in the script, or are the writers trying to point at something deeper? Away from this, one cannot help but admire the effort put into the new Cylon warriors. Some have critiqued this show for having "cheap" SFx.

To all of them I would simply say: watch the Cylons during the Helo chase scene in the woodlands of Caprica. Not only are they beautifully rendered, they are fully integrated into the woodland itself: shadows and reflections accurately slide over their surfaces, rain drops bounce from their bodies, and their feet clearly impact on the ground as they run. Excellent stuff.

All that said, the episode isn't without some flaws. The first of these is the opening titles. The theme music is perhaps the weakest link here: although a brave attempt at something different. A haunting, almost Celtic vocal accompaniment to a series of battle shots from the mini in an obvious attempt at counterpoint: the peaceful, soulfulness of the theme contrasting with the violence of war. This then switches to a more strident piece over a series of clips from the episode being aired. This in itself is an interesting throwback to the time the original Battlestar Galactica series was aired, and when many TV series featured clips from the episode being aired during the title sequences. However, in this case - or at least for this episode - the titles don't entirely work. The soulful (mournful?) opening bars of the theme may help reflect all that the Colonials have lost, but they are, at the end of the day, a dirge - and one that could induce new viewers to flip channels. Similarly, while the second half of the theme is more engaging, one cannot help but think how well it may sit when placed over clips from some of the more cerebral, less action-oriented episodes we have been promised.

Other nit-picks include: - Why is Boomer's Raptor launched alongside Apollo's Vipers for what everyone is expecting to be an interdiction exercise against Cylon Raiders? It is a complete departure from previous actions: in the mini, CAG ordered Boomer to get her Raptor out of the way as his squadron went into to face the Cylon Raiders; at Ragnar, the Raptors weren't deployed against incoming Raiders, nor where they in evidence prior to jump 237 at the start of this episode.

It is unclear whether Raptors are armed, or whether they would be effectively in an electronic warfare capability against Raiders, but the sudden presence of a Raptor in a Viper interdiction flight smacks of being a somewhat clumsy means of meeting the needs of the plot: obviously, the writers wanted Boomer there to handle the communications with Olympic Carrier & so heighten the perceived tension. - The 9/11 scene is, sadly, something of a misplaced element. Yes, 9/11 is a horror that stunned the world, and will always rightfully have a place in the memories of all Americans, but the use of a scene that so closely mirrors the aftermath of the site around the World Trade Centre to try and convey the sense of loss the Colonials are feeling is somewhat heavy-handed.

More should have been done to impart this to the audience back in the mini (where Cylon strikes on the Colonial worlds were restricted to a few scenes of Caprica, and even then the outright and inevitable destruction was barely shown). - Similarly, the failure to openly resolve the issue of whether or not 1345 people were aboard the Olympic Carrier weakens the story. Indeed, Apollo's flyby of the ship is suggestive that she indeed wasn't carrying anyone any more - thus removing our feelings of horror one step further from the drama being played out on screen. In opting to remain ambiguous about the presence of humans aboard the ship, the writers very much weaken the entire “should we / shouldn’t we” argument as to whether the Colonials can fire on and destroy the ship. Should they have shown people clinging to the windows of the Carrier, staring back at Apollo in helplessness as he made his final fly-by? Perhaps; perhaps not - but out emotions would have been better engaged if we had at least seen some evidence that lives were going to be destroyed along with the Olympic Carrier.

A final nit-pick comes with the reminder of Tigh's alcoholism. The by-play here didn't entirely fit, and came across as a clumsy reminder that the writers hadn't forgotten about Tigh's condition and would possibly be returning to it in the future. Better to have kept the focus on Adama's comments regarding driving and managing the crew.

However, all this said, "33" serves as an excellent opening episode: the pacing is smooth, the storylines cleverly interwoven and combined without stepping on one another, and there are no hurried or harried resolutions. Arcs established in the mini are extended and new interactions given birth.

Things we learn in this episode:

- Continuous jumping badly affects the FTL drives and management systems aboard Colonial vessels

- The Cylons have the same ability to undertake highly-accurate FTL jumps as the Colonials: 238 times they’ve managed to jump to the Colonial fleet and arrive with precise momentum and trajectory to be able to close the distance and launch an attack

- Billy may be a good PA but he’s crap at maths. “33” starts with 50,298 survivors. He informs Roslin this is in error by 300 = 49,998 survivors. When the Olympic Carrier is destroyed (1345 people), he reduces the total to 47,972 – that’s a reduction of 2026!!

- Whatever Roslin taught at school, it wasn’t mathematics – she fails to pick up on Billy’s error!
 

All-in-all a good 4 out of 5.

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