Battlestar Galactica –Lay Down Your Burdens Part 2 ---SPOILERS!!!

The upshot: When Baltar wins the vote, Roslin considers stealing the election because she believes (rightly) that he is a Cylon collaborator. Meanwhile, the fleet is stunned to receive a peace offering by Cylon representatives.

MEGA SPOILER WARNING—IF YOU MISSED BSG ON FRIDAY AND ARE WAITING TO VIEW THE ENCORE ON MONDAY, DON’T READ ANY FARTHER!!!!

Holy Frak!!!!! In case you haven’t figured it out my now, in the world of Battlestar Galactica, there is no such thing as the status quo. Following the events of Lay Down Your Burdens Part 2, you either love what’s happened at the end of this Season 2 finale or you hate it but there is no middle ground and there is no turning back.

Mrs. FanBoyWonder, who watched it with us, hated it. We on the other hand, liked the boldness of the storytelling and the resulting shake up in the show’s status quo. That said, the episode was not without its problems and we understand why the Mrs. had issues with the episode.

The 90 minute season finale essentially broke down into Season 2 in the first hour with the last 30 minutes as the beginning of Season 3. The end of Season 2 was a bit of a let down as the plot lines that had been building to critical mass during the past few episodes—the presidential election, Starbuck’s rescue mission back to Caprica and the fate of the prisoner Cylon Sharon among other things were resolved (more or less) hastily and without much satisfaction.

On Caprica, Starbuck was reunited with Anders just before they came under fire by the Cylons. After being pinned for hours, the Cylons abruptly withdrew.

The latest Cylon model is revealed to be the priest played by Dean Stockwell, whom we first saw last episode. We felt a bit cheated by this, not only because we accidentally happened on a spoiler that gave up Stockwell’s role, but because we liked the character and felt his exposure was rushed. We hope we see more of him!

The Priest Cylon conveys a message of peace to Adama and Roslin, the Cylons have left Caprica, nothing the Cylons have concluded the attack on humans and the pursuit of the fleet was a mistake. “We became what we beheld, we became you,” he said, noting Cylon and Man will now go their separate ways.

On the election: Riding the way of the public’s desire to settle on New Caprica, Baltar wins the vote but Roslin attempts to have the ballot box stuffed. She is (rightly) convinced that Baltar is a Cylon collaborator and she feels his leadership will be a disaster.

Unfortunately, the plot is discovered by Adama who quietly talks her back. Doing the right thing has consequences. President Baltar immediately orders planetary settlement.

Meanwhile, the Cylon Number Six whom Baltar rescued from the Battlestar Pegasus after being repeatedly raped and tortured remained damaged from her experience. She used the nuclear bomb Baltar gave to the Cylon-for-Peace movement to blow up herself and everyone aboard Cloud Nine.

The show abruptly shifts to One Year Later. New Caprica is a dreary place of little sunshine and frequent rain. New Caprica City, population 39,192, far from a mega-metropolis is little more than a shanty town. People are living in tents and eking out a living seemingly not much better than existence they shared cooped up on the tin cans of the fleet.

Speaking of the fleet, the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus remain in orbit of New Caprica, manned by skeleton crews. It’s an occupation fleet that’s grown soft by inaction.

President Baltar’s leadership is rife with discontent and he has not used his power wisely. The populace is discontented. Starbuck is now married to Anders, Chief Tyrol and Kallie are married, with child, Col. Tigh and wife Ellen are also living on the planet.

Out of the blue, the Cylon fleet shows up. The Colonial fleet jumps away, knowing they are no match in a fight but vow to return. President Baltar offers his surrender to the Cylons and we see New Caprica under the heel of the Cylons.

Love it or hate it, it’s a whole new show. Even counting that God-awful Galactica 1980, the new Battlestar Galactica has by all measures surpassed the original show—not just in terms of quality but now in duration.

From here on, this BSG charts it own course. Sci-Fi Channel is not bringing back BSG until October and we think that’s a wise move. Events this jarring require some time for the reader to decompress and absorb. The best show on television –Frakin A!

Stargate Atlantis--Allies

The upshot: Atlantis joins forces with a Wraith faction led by Michael, the Wraith they tried to turn into a human, who seeks their help in destroying their common enemies.

This was kind of a dumb finale. The team got totally suckered and it was a dumb premise. There was some suspense but we found ourself not caring. We’re waiting until July for this to be dumb cliffhanger to be resolved and we can all move on.


SG-1 Camelot

The upshot: SG-1 discovers the village of Camelot on an alien world, and must face Merlin's security system when they go in search of an Ancient weapon. The weapon they believe can stop the ORI invasion of earth.

See our answer for Stargate Atlantis—we’ll wait until July.