WRITERS: Anne Cofell Saunders & Jane Espenson DIRECTOR: Wayne Rose
CAST: Edward James Olmos (Adama), Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol), Kandyse McClure (Dee), Mary McDonnell (Roslin), Tricia Helfer (Number 6), James Callis (Baltar), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), Samuel Patrick Chu (Milo), Bryce Hodgson (Danny), Don Thompson (Anthony Figurski) & Jennifer Halley (Seelix)
The Chief finds himself in the middle of a labour dispute and a book written by Baltar begins to change opinions amongst the working classes...Dirty Hands is another episode with its basis on real issues, namely slave labour and the class system. It's an interesting storyline, shedding light on a sub-culture where men and youngsters work long hours keeping the fuel refinery operational to power the fleet. Compare and contrast BSG's depressing and smoggy refinery to the pristine Engine Room of Star Trek for another example of the show's emphasis on reality!
Aaron Douglas takes the lead in this episode as Chief Tyrol, assigned to run the dangerous refinery after his predecessor is jailed by Roslin. The Chief soon realizes the harsh conditions and long working hours are having a detrimental effect on safety and morale, so decides to organize a controversial strike.
BSG often parallels contemporary issues in a sci-fi context and Dirty Hands is fine example. Unlike recent attempts, that have been somewhat heavy-handed or predictable, Dirty Hands gets the mix of soap-box grandstanding and character drama just right. It helps that a subplot with Baltar, who has written a book while in prison (shades of Hitler's Mein Kampf?) is an enlightening insight into the slippery traitor's childhood and beliefs.
It's also interesting to see the "working classes" of the fleet taking Baltar's prose to heart, strengthening the sense of a class system aboard the fleet (from the wealthy Capricans to the agricultural Aerolons). Exposing divides in society not dissimilar to ours is an intriguing new dynamic for the show.
The script, by Anne Cofell Saunders and Jane Espenson, wades in with its potentially yawnsome comments on society, but manages to be genuinely interesting and sprinkled with great character moments: the Chief's mounting sense of injustice, Baltar's working class roots and Adama's drastic measures to avert a mutiny.
Dirty Hands may be yet another standalone episode that takes an "issue" and supplants it to the series, but it feels less like filler material than previous examples. It's genuinely interesting throughout and the reactions from Roslin and Adama' are particularly unpredictable. But, am I the only one who thinks Mary McDonnell's performances are becoming distastefully condescending? Her holier-than-thou attitude to Baltar has me longing for a coup d'etat!
