BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - Season 2 - Eps 13-16
There's no denying Battlestar Galactica's quality in every aspect of its production, but it's been disapppointing to see the show dip in quality after the stunning "Resurrection Ship" two-parter mid-season 2.
Warning: spoilers for episodes 13-16 - shown on Sky One
2.13 "Epiphanies", concerning President Roslin's cancer wasn't terrible, but it was disappointing to see a potentially fascinating demise of a main character so quickly resolved. The episode also felt rushed due to Roslin's sudden "touch-and-go" status in the very first scene!
2.14 "Black Market" offered an interesting concept about the criminal underground at work amongst the fleet, but just didn't provide much meat to a fairly weak story. It didn't help that I continue to find Lee Adama the least interesting main character on the show.
2.15 "Scar" was full of nice CGI space sequences, but its story about a particularly cunning Cylon Raider was a clear steal from Space: Above & Beyond's Chiggy Von Richthoffen episodes. It also didn't help that the supposedly notorious Raider's attacks had never been mentioned by anybody before now! We could have used some foreshadowing of Scar's activities in prior episodes. Oh, and the overused flashback/forward plotting made an unwelcome return again...
2.16 "Sacrifice" was the last episode aired on Sky One, and another example of an interesting concept laden with a weak plot stretched to fill an episode. Here, a recently bereaved woman take hostages aboard Cloud Nine in an effort to get Adama to kill their captive Cylon informer. This could have been a taut hostage negotiation piece (sci-fi style), but ultimately it just became a waste of time thanks to poor characterizations, plenty of cliches, and an obvious final "trick". Its only redeeming feature was the demise of BSG's most pointless secondary character. Finally!
Anyway, I've been reliably informed that BSG regains its oomph as it nears the end of season 2, after this four episode "blip". But it's worrying that BSG has dropped the ball this early in its run. We're only 29 episodes into the series now (season 1 was only 13 episodes long, remember), and I've already begun to sense that BSG seems content to "coast along" between its big reveals...
So, I expect a fantastic finale to the season, and a great opening to season 3. I just don't want BSG to drag its heels between "main events" next year...
