Spoilers. The multitude of questions thrown up by the discovery of ancient Cylons on Earth are yet to be explored, annoyingly, but "The Oath" is something of a salve to last week's plodding bore -- which admittedly positioned us for this week's Galactica-wide mutiny, orchestrated by Mr. Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) on behalf of Vice-President Zarek (Richard Hatch)...The joyous thing about this episode was the tension that bled through every second of Gaeta's finely-tuned rebellion; with the mono-legged traitor freeing Zarek from Galactica's brig and flying him back to Colonial One, as he used his "eyes and ears" position in CIC to misdirect and outmanoeuvre his superiors, as a surprising amount of cohorts swamped the decks and ensured the mutiny quickly overwhelmed and silenced the majority of the ship's personnel.
Of course, some of the regular characters fared better -- with Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) returning to the alpha-female go-getter of yesteryear, brandishing a gun to help rescue Lee (Jamie Bamber) from a kill squad when he arrives on Galactica to question misinformation that his father release Zarek from detention. Roslin (Mary McDonnell) turns to Baltar (James Callis) as the ship is slowly overrun, with the intention of acquiring the shortwave radio he uses to preach to his flock, so she can use it to try and speak sense to the mutineers.
More worryingly, the insurgents specifically target known Cylons and throw them into a cell together -- including Sharon (Grace Park), Caprica Six (Tricia Helfer), hybrid toddler Hera and Anders (Michael Trucco), who was hoodwinked by Seelix (Jennifer Halley) to be bagged and kicked by prejudiced rebels, and the females threatened with rape by former-Pegasus crew.
Tigh (Michael Hogan) and Adama (Edward James Olmos) are amongst the last to realize a mutiny has taken place, before Gaeta removed Adama from command for treasonous actions, and has both men marched away. Luckily, they manage to escape their captors and quickly form an opposing force when they team-up with Starbuck, Lee and Tyrol (Aaron Douglas).
One startling thing about this episode (beyond the fact Gaeta had somehow amassed a sizeable band of followers in secret) was how many of the supporting characters have essentially been turned into villains -- Seelix, Narcho, Racetrack, Skulls, Redwing, etc. None are major players on the show, but it's still surprising that the underlying discontent was so widespread across Galactica and allowed Gaeta to use that bad feeling to his own ends. Incidentally, Alessandro Juliani is putting in some excellent work just now, making me wonder why they didn't give him more to do on BSG before now. He's had the occasional moment in the limelight (including another incident of mutiny aboard the Demetrius earlier this season -- which, assumedly, didn't get reported to Adama?), but he's mainly been a background face that's never interested me. But here, in a better-late-than-never scenario, the writers have finally realized how well Juliani can play a duplicitous slimeball. And he's grabbed the opportunity to impress with both hands.
It was also refreshing to see some action return to the series, as the show has slowly developed into more cerebral areas since season 3, and you sometimes forget how BSG used to balance its intelligence with pure spectacle. In particular, if you re-watch season 1 and 2, the show is crammed with far more ethereal, operatic space-battles and moments of machismo for the likes of Starbuck. I've been mostly happy with BSG's slow move into theological and societal complexities, but it's still refreshing when Battlestar Galactica containes sequences that reflect the mood of its pulp sci-fi title.
The fluid takeover of the ship was a delight to see unfold (superbly constructed by Verheiden, brilliantly directed by The Last Seduction's John Dahl), while giving Starbuck, Adama and Tigh moments of macho drama was a great antidote to their naval-gazing of recent times. I much prefer this series when there's something for the characters to achieve or fight for, and this kick was long overdue.
Overall, it's slightly worrying to think there are only seven episodes left of the entire series, as there are so many deep mythological questions being avoided, but hopefully this mutiny will clear the decks for a considered, eventful, enlightening dash to the last page -- where the pieces all fall into place (we hope), minus the excess baggage, to end on an action-packed, dramatic, revelatory high.
3 February 2009
Sky1, 9pm
Writer: Mark Verheiden
Director: John Dahl
Cast: Tricia Helfer (Caprica Six), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), Mary McDonnell (Roslin), Edward James Olmos (Adama), Jamie Bamber (Lee), James Callis (Baltar), Grace Park (Sharon), Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Jennifer Halley (Seelix), Alexandra Thomas (Hera), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol), Michael Trucco (Anders), Mike Dopud (Gage), Vincent Gale (Chief Peter Laird), Michael Hogan (Tigh), Richard Hatch (Zarek), Brad Dryborough (Lt. Hoshi) & Ryan Robbins (Charlie Connor)
