Half Measures.

Season 3 has been brilliant so far  with a tempo that hasn't been seen in the previous season openers. Torn really brought closure to the New Caprica Story but the effects of Cylon occupation still being felt. 'A Measure of Salvation' had a lot to live up too. Unfortunately it did not hit the mark for me, from the start of the episode to the end it was sorely lacking. There has been criticism on Ragnar Anchorage about the sloppy writing of this episode and I must agree with some of those members.

The interrogation of Simon seemed a little implausible, in the past there have been a few people interrogating the prisoner it did seem like this one was somewhat of the Spanish inquisition. It seemed that characters were being overused in this episode when there was no need for it. In addition the way in which Apollo came up with the plan to wipe out the Cylons was unbelievable; all the scientific and technological minds in the Colonial Military and it had to be Apollo. Was not Felix Gaeta in the room that has been always full of ideas like the resetting of the hard drive aboard Galactica when the Cylon Virus threatened to kill everyone on board Galactica. I would have imagined that someone would have come up with something long before. Then the following speed of the plan, I'm not military minded but surely there must be time to formulate a plan, recon the area, make sure everything was in place and then execute the plan. It all amounts to sloppy military planning.

The way in which President Laura Roslin would be so malice in her actions about the use of the Cylon Virus to infect the entire Cylon Race by executing the Cylon Prisoners from the infected Basestar; then the subsequent downloading process to new Cylon models, was very much deeply flawed. Why would not the Quorum of Twelve not be consulted in such an instance? I find it implausible that the Quorum were not consulted in such a major operation against the Cylons. Roslin is a nation builder by Soft power but her time on New Caprica has changed the former School Teacher. Some people may see this character change as sloppy writing but it is very much plausible that Roslin in the after math of the occupation of New Caprica has grown a resentment of the Cylons far beyond the occupation. This was shown directly by her actions with the use of the Cylon Virus. I also found the Helo in this episode offered something extra. The way in which he stood up to Roslin and the idea of the "Genocide" of the Cylon race and the moral implications of such an act was a continuation of his "Sympathy" towards the Cylons and the loyalty to his wife. This upped the anti for his character the sabotage of the Colonial plan has made in effect Helo step over that line again.

The torture sequences of Baltar by D'Anna Biers (Lucy Lawless) offered emotionally charged moments the sequence of scenes were good and were one of the good things about this episode, even in a supposed position of weakness Gaius was able to give reach into the moral and emotional consciousness of a Cylon was a very interesting development indeed. Gaius certainly turned the tables on D'Anna and forced her to confront her own thoughts. In this sequence of Scenes I did however find the notion of the beach a little tacky and an overused concept in such scenes as to lure the audience into an emotional rollercoaster, from switching to a utopian idea to the torture of a human.

This episode however seemed a little rushed from start to finish, from the boarding of the Basestar to the collapse of the plan to use the Cylon Prisoners to infect the Cylon Race was a little rushed. In amongst this there were problems with Doc Cottle, why did he let Athena remain in sick bay when there was no chance after the all clear was given to the boarding party. In spite of this her relationship with the majority of the Colonials will always remain frosty but this season will tell if that with thaw with time. Also there have been some problems with Doc Cottle in a Colonial uniform. It is very much plausible that this is a sign of Colonial unity throughout the ranks.

Highlights of this episode included the rich look of the sets as seen in the previous episodes the Cylon Basestars look awesome with the red eye effect spanning the entire room adds to the overall effect of the episode. As for the SFX of this episode they were amazing as ever.

This episode had many flaws to it and seemed like the writers had rushed this episode through production. With the episodes that had gone before the pace of the season was very much unrelenting until now it was only a matter of time before the season had to take stock. This episode could have been so much better but unfortunately it was a case of half measures.

By StarbuckRocks