Battlestar Galactica: Season 2-10: Pegasus

The Best Scenes in BSG 210:
Pegasus Is A Believable Retelling of
TOS Living Legend!
By Koenigrules

One of my favorites of the original Galactica series is Living Legend-mainly because it focuses on two battlestars with two different types of commanders: Adama (Lorne Greene) who only wars when he must and Cain (Lloyd Bridges) who revels in the death and destruction. One almost sees a parallel with the Biblical brothers Abel and Cain in these commanders. The new reimaging of Legend, entitled Pegasus, certainly lives up to the reputation of the former as it updates the Cain character, making her a powerful female Admiral with a disposition for sadism in her torturing of the Cylons. Actress Michelle Forbes, although younger than Commander Adama, gives Cain that "twisted" edge that Bridges could never convey, and we soon forget the age of the character as we are constantly reminded of the heinous acts she has committed-all for the sake of her own self-survival.

There are numerous scenes in Pegasus that I would refer to as Best Scenes. The first comes right at the start of the episode, when the Galactica crew picks up the Colonial Fleet transmission relayed by the Battlestar Pegasus. It is a joyous moment when Lee Apollo sights the craft, and it is even more so when Admira Helena Cain arrives aboard the Galactica. One can see the look of happiness on everyone's face to know that other humans survived the destruction of the Twelve Colonies.

But the joy is short-lived when we see Admiral Cain pull rank on Commander Adama and express her disdain of President Roslin whom she refers to sarcastically as "a school teacher." That Cain wants to reassign Adama's son and Kara Thrace to her ship is a critical move on her part. She wants to break up the close-knit family aboard the Galactica and reshape it into her more militaristic lifestyle where the Viper pilots celebrate the number of Cylon kills and officers (like her XO) are shot in the head for disobeying orders.

Two episodes deserve mentioning as they give the audience some insight into Cain's pathological character. The first involves Baltar gazing upon the tortured and abused body of Pegasus' Cylon prisoner, Gina (an obvious reference to the disparaging title TOS fans have given the new series- GINO [Galactica In Name Only]). Perhaps Gina is a fitting name as these Cylons are a far cry from the more simplistic, cartoon-like "By Your Command" figures of the original series. The reimaged Cylons are able to evoke in us all sorts of feelings, and with Gina, it is shock coupled with repulsion. Baltar takes it upon himself to nurse her back to health, and when he gets her to eat some morsels of food, we applaud his efforts. Gaius' acts remind us of that better nature within ourselves to which we can aspire and is in sharp contract to the despicable behavior of Cain and her
minions (like Cylon interrogator Lieutenant Thorne).

The second episode is even more disturbing. Thorne brutally slaps Cylon sleeper agent Boomer across the face several times and attempts to rape her, all for the expressed purpose of obtaining information on the new Cylon ship that two Basestars are keen on protecting. But the end does not justify the means, and two of the Galactica officers, Helo and Tyrol, prevent Thorne from committing the defilement. In fact, Tyrol pushes Thorne's head into the wall so hard that the impact kills him. Quick to restore order, Cain sentences the two to death. While some might argue that there is a military protocol to follow, even if your superior officer is in the wrong, it would be more horrendous if Helo and Tyrol did nothing and simply watch the brutal scene unfold. I am reminded of the statement, "Evil flourishes when good men do nothing." Both Helo and Tyrol are good men, and Cain comes across as the ultimate evil in the galaxy-far worse than any Cylon menace. She has abused her powers and deserves to be executed as quickly as possible before more humans are put to death or converted to her cause.

Adama realizes this and by the end of the episode launches the Galactica's vipers to retrieve his men. The midseason cliffhanger ends with Adama setting himself up in opposition against Cain, just like Abel against his brother. Hopefully, Adama can outwit Cain before his crew suffers further wrath from this crazed Admiral. The two-part resolution to Pegasus airs on SCI-FI Friday January 6th, and if Resurrection Ship is anything like this episode, it might go down as one of the best Galactica story arcs of all time! So Say We All!