Battlestar Galactica: Season 1-07: Six Degrees of Separation :

by ernestborg9

WOW!!

This is potentially the most powerful story yet to come out of the Galactica fold, and James Callis – with due respect to Olmos – establishes himself as the reason to watch the show. This is his episode, and he proves that he is not only every inch Olmos’ equal – albeit through vastly different means – but that his long shadow very much leaves the rest of the cast in darkness.

From start to finish, even knowing that ultimately, Baltar’s ego and sexual moirés did lead to the downfall of Colonial civilisation; that he is essentially a traitor – however unwittingly - one cannot help but root for his safe passage through the episode. Confidence, arrogance, pathos, fear, desperation, relief, confusion, hope, anger, disbelief – such is the range of emotions demonstrated by Baltar in this segment; some of them occurring so rapidly one after the other, that Callis seems to express them simultaneously.

As Six states during the epilogue, this is very much Baltar’s trial by fire – and the potential repercussions could be felt for some time to come. Who would dare accuse him of treason now? Even if her doubt – her gut instinct – is genuine, Roslin is going to have a hard time assailing Baltar’s new-found confidence and belief in himself. Adama is also caught between a rock and a hard place; any denial of resources for Baltar’s research could easily lead to he who was once branded traitor to make that claim of others in the name of protecting them all. In making his situation a matter of public debate, Roslin has potentially saddled herself with a new hero – as the standing ovation Baltar received from the press corps tends to demonstrate – and a potentially new political power. With elections only a few months off, and Tom Zarek’s return to the public stage mere weeks away (real time, in “Colonial Day”), Roslin may yet rue the day she made her uncharacteristic – and unwarranted, in some respects – personal attack on Baltar while he was in the brig. It is doubtful his ego is the kind that will forgive easily.

And what of Six – corporeal or otherwise in “Six Degrees”? There had been more than a little speculation on various bulletin boards that we might possibly gain greater insight into the nature of Baltar’s “Six” through the arrival of one of her corporeal “sisters” on Galactica; that we might even get a final answer to the question of whether or not she is a creation of his own mind, or some form of isolated intelligence implanted in his head. Some were even looking forward to seeing how Tricia Helfer would “interact” with herself as both a physical and (almost) metaphysical “Six”.

As it turned out, none of the above came to pass. Instead, the writers chose a path that only increased the mystery surrounding “Six”. Instead of placing the two characters together on the stage (which would, one has to admit, have been incredibly interesting – but would have likely pushed the writers too far towards revealing the true nature of Baltar’s “Six”), the writers went the other way: they removed Baltar’s “Six” completely from the scene – and at the same time simply created her “corporeal” sister in the form of Shelly Godfrey.

In this, they achieved two outstanding goals. First, they moved the “Six” / Baltar religious sub-text along to the point where, in the born-again Christian tradition “Six’s” idea of religion mimics – following his heartfelt repentance (as seen in “33”), Baltar now seeks to allow “God” into his life, promising to allow God’s “divine will” (the equivalent of the Holy Spirit?) to guide him. The second brilliant goal was to create even more of an aura of mystery and confusion about “Six’s” real nature.

Was “Shelly Godfrey” and actual Cylon? Or was she something else? “Six” vanishes from Baltar’s mind after he persistently mocks her belief in God – indeed, the very concept of God itself. Within minutes of her disappearance from his mind, “Shelly Godfrey” turns up on the Galactica – but from where? She claims she came from the Olympic Carrier, having escaped that ship prior to its Cylon capture and eventual destruction. She claims to have been an associate – lover – of Professor Ammarak. But none of this is conclusive proof of her existence as a physical being: Baltar knew all of this before the Carrier was destroyed. And for someone with a mission to expose the “traitor”, she took an awfully long time to get to the Galactica following the events of “33” – especially considering we had it clearly established last week that civilian movement to and from Galactica appears commonplace.

And what of “Shelly Godfrey’s” disappearance? The moment Baltar “accepts” the concept of God as put to him by “Six”, she returns to his mind – and “Shelly Godfrey” vanishes from Galactica. “I had two marines tailing her,” Tigh states. “They say they went around a corner and she was gone.” Later, once again safe, Baltar challenges his “Six”. “Just one small practical question: Shelly. Shelly Godfrey.,” he asks in wonder. “Was there ever really a woman called Shelly Godfrey? Did she ever actually exist? Was she ever really….here?”

Even this is a loaded question: Was she ever really…here? At the time it is asked, Baltar and “Six” are apparently in his home back on Caprica – so is he asking whether Shelly Godfrey was ever working at the Defence Ministry – was she ever really on Caprica? Or is he asking something else: was she ever really…here…aboard the Galactica? Perhaps he meant both questions.

It’s easy to say that she obviously was an corporeal form – Adama, Tigh, Gaeta – all clearly interacted with her. Adama even picked up her glasses after she had vanished – and she kissed him. But we’ve also seen the way in which “Six” and Baltar interact; could we have witnessed a mass psychosis among Galactica’s crew? A mental manipulation of some description? If so, how? Why?

The storyline makes perfect sense were “Shelly Godfrey” to turn out to be a physical entity – a Cylon – at some point down the road: as we know, the detector Baltar is building is potentially one of the worst-kept secrets in the fleet. In “Litmus” it appears the Cylons did make a genuine attempt to destroy the detector – and Baltar – with the bomb Doral turned himself into. Therefore, it makes sense for any remaining Cylon agents to make a further attempt before more of them are identified and neutralised.
 

BUT – the story makes equal sense if “Shelly Godfrey” is some form of mass illusion. Why? Because through it, Baltar is finally driven to take the step “Six” has been pushing him towards: the acceptance of her “God”. At the same time, Baltar has been moved – at least for the foreseeable future – above the realm of suspicion and doubt, at least where the civilian population is concerned.

Which leaves us with a tidy little conundrum: was “Shelly Godfrey” real or not? If she was real, where did she go? Did Boomer help her to simply “vanish” within Galactica? If so, how will she get off-ship? If she was not real, how was she created? Who created her? Baltar’s own mind, or something else within him?

One thing is certain – “Six” herself, with her enigmatic, half come hither smile at the end of the show, isn’t telling – and I don’t think the writers will be letting us know too soon either.

If, for a moment, we do assume “Shelly Godfrey” wasn’t in fact corporeal, then we’re faced with two further issues: what exactly has Baltar become? We know his house took the full force of a nuclear blast shock-wave – and it seems unlikely that Six could have protected him, unharmed save for a few scratches, from the fury of the blast. And even if Baltar is still human and unchanged, then what is “Six’s” obsession with “God”?

Questions: all interconnected, all linked through Baltar and Six – a living example of the six degrees of separation truism that states everyone in the world can be connected to one another by six links, be they through friends, family, work, location, acquaintances, experience, etc.

And the idea of interconnectedness is exemplified elsewhere in the segment – most noticeably around Valerii / Boomer. And on Caprica, the interconnectedness is entirely physical as she and Helo pretty much get it on – thus passing another milestone in the Cylon’s plan – whatever that might yet prove to be.

On Galactica, Boomer’s interconnectedness is more mental as she addresses the captured Raider. Watching the sensual response she exhibits as she touches and describes the Raider, one cannot help but wonder how much longer she can be treated without considerable suspicion. The events of “Water”, her involvement in events surrounding “Litmus”…Tyrol at the very least must be more than a little concerned at what she might actually be; indeed, going on the spooked look he gives her as she comes close to foreplay with the Raider, he must be questioning her sanity, if nothing else.

What is interesting in these two story elements is they way they mesh together while effectively moving in opposite directions: as Valerii on Caprica moves towards fulfilment of her mission with Helo, possibly achieving more than her original creation / formation could have aspired to – a human / Cylon relationship born of love and respect, rather than of lust and ego, as was the case with Baltar / Six; Boomer on Galactica is beginning to spiral out of control: she has had at least one “black out” that she knows of, in which Galactica’s water supply was crippled; she’s almost blown herself up; she’s been accused of collusion with the Cylons; she’s broken up with her lover, come close to a near-orgasmic experience with a Cylon device – and now someone is accusing her directly of being a Cylon. Contrast the way in which Valerii’s coupling with Helo on Caprica with Boomer’s desperation in her bunk room. A powerful counterpoint.

One other character is worthy of mention in this episode – Lieutenant Gaeta. So far he’s had little chance to shine, but in this episode, shine he does, providing exactly the right amount of emotional support for Baltar – while also providing us with one of the most subtle moments of humour witnessed in television. The scene in the Head must be watched to be appreciated – especially Gaeta’s feet, which speak more clearly than any of the whispered conversation shared with Baltar, and the results are a joy to watch – as is the continued conversation with the camera peeking into each of the cubicles.

And in talking about this scene – witness Baltar’s confrontation with “Shelly Godfrey”. Notice how it runs in a similar vein to his confrontations with “Six”, only this time he for once appears to be the more physically stronger of the two of them? What’s more – just like all his other encounters with Six in public, it is entirely one-sided: Baltar apparently arguing with himself. The pilot who enters the Head never sees – or hears – “Godfrey” utter a word. Is this a subtle reminder of Baltar’s relationship with “Six”, or is it something deeper – an indication that while he (or she) might be able to influence some minds on the ship, he/she can’t influence all minds. And isn’t it strange that on a ship of that size, she happens to wander into the same toilet facilities the Gaeta and Baltar happen to be occupying?

Back at the start of this commentary, I said this episode had the potential to be the strongest segment yet shown. Why the qualifier? Purely and simply because, while this is an extremely powerful story in terms of character development and drive, the pacing is a little off. Despite all that is happening, the episode does – in places – seem to drag a little. Indeed, while it is entirely designed to heighten the sense of mystery surrounding Baltar’s trial by fire, the revelation that the photos allegedly taken at the Defence Ministry are in fact fake comes across as a little rushed. In this, it reminds us of the sin of later incarnations of Star Trek: drag the story and rush the ending.

On a second watching on the episode, the feeling was still here, albeit it somewhat reduced and vying with the unbidden thought that, for those looking for the “hidden Cylon mole” in the crew – Gaeta is in fact excellently placed; and his re-running of the security checks on the photos does come across as somewhat flimsy. Not that I would consider him anything else than a loyal member of the command crew; as stated, the sudden resolution to Baltar’s plight was deliberately aimed to increase our uncertainty about the real nature of “Shelly Godfrey”: “Like she wanted to be found out.”

Even so, pacing aside, and as we pass the half-way mark of in the series run, one cannot help but see the writers are slowly ratcheting-up the drama. 4.5 out of 5.
 

What we learn in this episode:

-A week has passed since “Litmus”

-Boomer is accidentally revealing more and more of her Cylon nature

-Helo has passed another test on Caprica; he’s now actively bonking Valerii

-Gaeta admires Baltar and may be his one true friend on the Galactica

-Baltar appears very close to completing his Cylon detector

-Roslin may well harbour genuine suspicions about Baltar

-Cylon Raiders may well be purpose-bred, semi-intelligent bio-machines

-The Colonials use QWERTY keyboards

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