Battlestar Galactica: Season 2-16: Sacrifice

The Best Scenes in BSG 216:

Sometimes A Sacrifice Must Be Made

for the Good of the Many—

or the One!

By Koenigrules

Like the recent Galactica episodes Black Market and Scar, Sacrifice is a stand alone episode that builds in tension until the dynamite ending is reached.  The plot is a fairly simple one.  Galactican Sesha Abinell (China Beach's Dana Delaney) has recently lost her husband in a Cylon attack on the battlestar.  Once Sesha finds out that Admiral Adama has been colluding with a Cylon agent, Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii, she holds those at the Cloud 9 lounge hostage until Adama hands Valerii over to her.  It is apparent that this woman wants revenge on the Cylons, and nothing would please her more than killing Valerii in front of everybody. 

Of course, there is a complication (isn't that always the case!).  Adama's son, Lee, has been taking some R & R with his latest companion, Dualla in the very same lounge that Sesha is at.  Once Lee is identified, he becomes a critical bargaining chip for Sesha.  After all, the Admiral would never choose the Cylon over his very own flesh and blood.  What Adama does do is order his favorite Lieutenant, Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace, to infiltrate the lounge and take out Sesha.  But things go from bad to worse as Lee is caught in Kara's cross-fire and suffers a fatal wound.  Suddenly the time table speeds up for Adama: he must do something, and quickly, if he is to save his son from death. 

One of the most interesting scenes is the exchange between Adama and Boomer.  Using the same exact words as Sesha, the Commander asks the Cylon whether she has been playing with them—and him—all along.  When she denies this, he then poses another question: "If I were to ask you, would you tell me who the Cylons in the fleet are?"  Boomer does not volunteer the information, and Adama responds by saying, "That I believe."  While the Commander does not trust the Cylon, it is interesting that he still wants to keep her alive.  But why?  Does he think she will yield vital information on the enemy?  Or is he more interested in the hybrid baby that is about to be reborn, perhaps even fascinated by the fact that the Cylons are able to breed with the human species?  Maybe deep down Adama wants to understand these 'things' that were created by his own race, and in the process, learn something about his kind.  Or maybe he wants to show the Cylon that humans are able to rise above their warlike nature and can maintain their dignity in the fight for survival.  Whatever the reason(s), Adama keeps everything close to the chest and does not allow anyone to decipher his thoughts. 

Although Sacrifice has a serious tone throughout, there is one very humorous moment when Lee takes Ellen Tigh into the restroom as Sesha and her team enter the lounge.  Ellen thinks this is all some romantic rendezvous with the Admiral's son and plays along, until Lee covers her mouth and instructs her to keep quiet.  It dawns on Ellen that Lee is really not interested in her sexually and casts a look of disappointment his way.  It's too bad that Lee was not sleeping with Ellen in Black Market instead of the prostitute, Shevron.  I think the story would have been much more believable if the woman was someone familiar to Lee (and the viewers too!).  Plus, a connection had been established with Ellen in that episode as she and husband Paul (Colonel Tigh) were dealing with Phelan and his operatives through the Pegasus Commander Fisk.  Oh well, it's always nice to contemplate on things retrospectively.  But there is definitely a chemistry between Lee and Ellen that should be more fully explored in later teleplays. 

By the finale, Adama decides to use the copy of Boomer within the morgue and tells Sesha that she can have the Cylon, but the creature will already be dead.  When Sesha agrees to this, Adama comes aboard with the copy.  As soon as the woman identifies the Cylon, she shoots the body twice; it is only then that one of her confederates realizes that this Boomer is merely a copy.  All hell breaks out as Sesha orders her team to take out Lee's girlfriend, Dee.  But Billy, who has been pining for Dee throughout the episode, protects her by taking the bullet straight in the chest.  While Dee holds the dying Billy in her arms (and Adama hovers near his wounded son), the Marines come in blazing and put down Sesha and her group.  And the audience finally realizes that the episode title, Sacrifice, does not deal with the Cylon Boomer giving herself up at all, but rather is in reference to Billy who saves Dee from being slain by placing his life on the line.  I keep recalling Roslin's words, "It's all about how we conduct ourselves—how we survive."  Billy represents the best in the human species as he is able to rise above his own selfish desires and focus on another.  Billy—we hardly knew you, but you were a paragon of virtue.  So Say We All!  

The epilogue to Sacrifice is very moving.  Roslin joins Adama in the morgue and then breaks down as she sees Billy's lifeless body on the slab.  She moves the few strands of his hair away from his forehead and admits that he was too young to have died so soon.  Adama does not say anything as he has experienced so many casualties of war in his lifetime.  But as the two leaders sit quietly in the chamber, one reflects how difficult it is for these people to lead the people when senseless killings like this happen.  These last minutes of Sacrifice elevate my rating to a 9 out of 10.  My prediction is that the final four episodes of Season 2 will even surpass these last few stories and prepare viewers for the follow-up Season 3.