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Battlestar Galactica: Season 1-02: Water by ernestborg9

Overall, another powerful episode, the major features of which are the growing relationships between the major characters. Adama and Roslin clearly begin to find a balance; Baltar and Starbuck appear to have something of an attraction for one another and Roslin’s respect for Lee Adama is obviously growing.

What is very refreshing is that no "reset" button is pressed: three days on from the Olympic Carrier incident, yet the after-effects are still being felt - Lee is suffering flashbacks and Roslin is ill-at-ease with her first major decision as president. Again, "Six's" role is interesting: confusing Baltar at critical moments and challenging his capabilities; did his "Cylon detector" work, or was he merely reacting to her prompting, providing the means to get Doral off the ship to report to his "siblings"?

We also learn a little more about Galactica's capabilities: the fact that her water recycling systems are around 100% efficient - so much so that she can operate for years without needing to take on fresh water supplies, and she's more than able to recycle water on behalf of a third of the other vessels in the fleet - thus supplying an additional 16,000 people with fresh water.

Another interesting facet is that, despite needing a minimum of 590 tonnes of foodstuffs a week to support the 45,000+ survivors, no-one in the briefing room seemed remotely taken aback by Baltar's figures - other than further expressions of concern relating to the water situation. This suggests that the Colonials have managed to gather up some pretty impressive stocks of food: 82 tonnes of grain a week is a lot in anyone's language; as is 85 tonnes of meat. Could this indicate the Galactica has some other forms of highly-efficient recycling that could help supply the people with food - if not in its original form then as recycled proteins, carbohydrates, etc? If this isn’t the case - just what is the status of foodstuffs aboard the various craft in the fleet?

But the focus is clearly and obviously that of Boomer, with the finger pointing even more squarely at her being a Cylon agent, but one that is working directly against her "human personality". Within the story, she is evidently unaware of her actions in sabotaging the Galactica, and wants to believe Tyrol's view that she is being set-up. But her actions on the Raptor suggest something deeper. If her "human half" had not won out and announced the water, would her "Cylon half" triggered the explosives in an attempt to keep the discovery from Galactica?

And what of "Valerii" on Caprica? No attempt to pump Helo for information. No attempts to get him to reveal anything at all - just an apparent determination to get to "their" Raptor and get back to Galactica - and a moment of intimacy that suggests that perhaps she, too, is operating more in a "human mode" than that of a Cylon agent. Indeed, watching the scene where they receive the transmission on Caprica, one cannot help but recall "Six's" admission to Baltar in "33" that she wants his babies...could procreation be a part of the humanoid Cylon "plan"...?

Overall, another outstanding episode - lead by a very strong "A" storyline involving Boomer and the water sabotage, but with more than enough scope to allow us more insight into the characters and their developing relationships without bogging down the action. Not even Tigh's tightrope walk with alcoholism is forgotten - will we see the booze left in the bottle in his quarters drop below the "five fingers" he measures?

Any weaknesses in the episode? Yes. It’s odd that Helo would accept lighting a fire in the middle of occupied territory so easily. Some of the dialogue in CIC came across a little clunky in places - but again, these are overall minor nit-picks for the present. Certainly, the opening theme worked better with the selected titles this time around than they did with "33". And it is nice to see Galactica still continues to carry the scars for her first run-in with the Cylons back in the mini - the outer skin of the forward end of her portside flight pod is still something of a mess.

Rating for this episode: Again a solid 4 out of 5.

Things we learn in this episode:

- BSG stands for “Battle Star Group” – and the Galactica was a part of Group 75

- The Galactica has an outstanding capability to recycle water supplies

- Sharon “Boomer” Valerii on the Galactica does indeed appear to be a Cylon agent and – despite her programming being activated – her human personality appears entirely isolated from her Cylon “persona”

- Galactica has at least 5 Raptors on board

- The Cylons apparently haven’t re-located the fleet.

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