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Battlestar Galactica: Season 2-11: resurrection Ship

The Best Scenes in BSG 211:

Resurrection Ship- Part One Is A Keeper

& The Best In the Series To Date

By Koenigrules

Typically sci-fi series begin to fade out in the second season- if they are able to air that long.  One such series in Stargate: Atlantis where the Wraith have been converted into squabbling, power-hungry creatures that hiss at their foes instead of suck the very life out of them without hesitation.  The enemy of the Galactica series is far different: it is a robot species created by us, and while it has evolved, it still has all the inherent weaknesses of humanity.  What Ron Moore and his team have done is shift the focus from the Cylons to another enemy: namely, the creators of the Cylons themselves—the human species.  As we watch Pegasus and its follow-up Resurrection Ship- Part One, we see the mirror reflecting back on ourselves, and it is not a pleasant sight.  What makes the Cain trilogy so fascinating to watch is how an Admiral has sunk into the pit of damnation so that she can continue surviving, even if it means killing civilians or her XO in the head with a bullet.  And as long as this show provides a critique of our race (as this trilogy is doing), it will remain on the air for many seasons to come. 

Resurrection Ship not only keeps the momentum of Pegasus going, but it also reveals some more elements of the Cylon mythos.  As such, it is far better than Pegasus and provides a killer cliffhanger that will keep this reviewer waiting in anticipation for the resolution.  There are a number of best scenes in this story line that will now be addressed. 

The first involves Starbuck taking pictures of the Cylon mystery ship in her stealth Viper, Blackbird.  When she returns to the fleet, she sees Pegasus and Galactica  Vipers all over the place who target their sights on her.  All she can say is that she's a friendly, and that they should all be friendly.  While they do acknowledge her, it is a hilarious scene to watch as both battlestars were ready to engage in a full-scale war.  It takes but a lone Lieutenant to stop the madness.  Wow- Starbuck must have a lot of power.  As Resurrection Ship unfolds, we find out just how true this statement is.   

Another scene has both Admiral Cain and Commander Adama in Roslin's office.  She dresses both down, indicating that they are the leaders of the fleet and that they need to set an example for others to follow.  This was pretty funny as well as the former school teacher looked like she was berating her pupils for bad conduct.  But, the follow-up interaction between Adama and Roslin becomes much more serious as the President tries to convince Adama that Cain must die before she kills him.  We know she is right, but it takes Adama slightly longer to acknowledge this, remarking that the whole world has gone mad.  Several times on the Galactica boards fans have remarked that Roslin may not have the potential to lead her people to Earth.  But she shines at this moment.  She also shows viewers too where the Cylon killer instinct originally came from: right in humanity's very core.  All of us have that death impulse in us, and we can call it up when we need to.  Adama is a bit surprised that Roslin has become so bloodthirsty.  Perhaps when faced with death by terminal breast cancer, that impulse has finally been released in her.  In any case, President Roslin is worthy of that title.  Credit should be extended to Mary McDonnell for continuing to play Roslin with an incredible magnetism and power on the screen. 

Baltar has an interesting experience with Admiral Cain in this episode.  Cain comes in and sees that Gina is finally eating.  She kicks her in the ribs and spits on her, showing just how much contempt she has for the enemy.  Baltar tells Cain, in a respectful but forceful way (that-a-way Doc), that she should stop her abuse of the Cylon; otherwise, all his rehabilitation efforts will be pointless.  Interestingly, when Cain leaves, Gina makes a half-hearted attempt to strangle Baltar and then crawls in a corner and  begs Baltar to kill her.  Perhaps she does this to mimic Cain's actions on her.  Perhaps she wants to infuriate Baltar enough that he will do it.  But what Gina really wants is a permanent death- one we did not think was possible for a Cylon to achieve. 

This is when Resurrection Ship- Part One really takes off.  Apparently, when the Cylons die, their consciousness transfers to a new copy.  However, they need a nearby energy source to do this.  The mystery ship is really a resurrection vessel that houses the apparatus necessary for completion of the transference process.  As Gina relates to Baltar, if that ship is destroyed, then she can finally die.  Some might say that Baltar gets this information all too easily from Gina, but this is the first suicidal Cylon that is shown in the series.  And we know suicidal humans say crazy (yet very sincere) things in the heat of madness.  Perhaps the same thing applies to Cylons too.  In any case, even if the plot is contrived, I loved it.  A little bit more of the Cylon puzzle has been revealed, and if Ron Moore continues to whet our appetites in small doses, we will be hooked on this series for a long time to come. 

Before the battle plans to destroy the Cylon resurrection ship are outlined by newly promoted CAG, our very own Starbuck, another light moment is introduced (I loved the vacillation between the funny and serious episodes in this episode).  Laura is in bed, getting worse from her cancer.  When Adama asks her what he can do, she replies that a new body would be nice: one of those young, gorgeous Cylon models with blonde hair.  We laugh with Adama, hoping that Roslin will have a resurrection too.  Perhaps the Cylons can do something for Laura in an upcoming episode—hint-hint! 

The final minutes make Resurrection Ship a truly outstanding episode.  Adama instructs Starbuck to take her gun and shoot Cain in the head, all the while that Cain orders her officer, Fisk, to take out everyone in the Galactica's command center, starting with Adama.  The shifting of scenes back-and-forth from Cain to Adama was enjoyable to watch as I remember another series continually doing the same thing in their episodes.  That show, of course, was the very popular nighttime CBS soap, Knots Landing, which might be an appropriate comparison to make as the new Galactica has been referred to as a space opera.  This was a pretty cool filming technique that heightened the suspense considerably before those fateful words scrolled on the screen: To Be Continued…. 

Resurrection Ship- Part Two will resolve this second cliff to the Cain trilogy in a number of respects as we see what happens to the Admiral, the Cylon vessel, as well as the Battlestar Pegasus (I understand they have big plans for the Pegasus in future episodes- really BIG PLANS!!!).  My rating for Resurrection Ship- Part One is an outstanding 12 out of 10.  It was perfect in every sense of the word!