BattleStar-eyed wonder

[ijdgaf]

To explain myself a bit. It goes a little to what Gatac speaks of.

The word that characterizes the episode best is payoff. We've had three episodes of build-up to a conflict that came to fruition in this episode. I didn't find "Exodus, part 2" brilliant because of profound philosophical questions or shocking twists. I found it brilliant because it seemed to so simply pull off the impossible task of giving the audience a satisfactory payoff to what had come before. And it did it with so much damn style. We were told already how clever the battle plan was. What we got didn't fail to deliver -- it did that and then some. Tigh stole two very crucial scenes at both ends of the episode -- his character continues to be absolutely fantastic. And he joins the rank of a dozen characters who got their time in the sun and glowed spectacularly. Ellen. Starbuck. Leoben. Anders. Roslin. Adama. Lee. Baltar. And hell, even Gaeta. Especially Gaeta. There was a profound sense of cause and effect where everybody's actions were plausable and in character. We finally got a hell of a lot of payoff. And it felt damn good.

So this episode didn't make me think too much. But that's just fine. The show does that plenty (and has done so plenty recently). It appealed to a more primitive part of the brain. That happy ending center that BSG never caters to all that often, and as a consequence makes each a treasure. That's not to say all has been won, of course. I bet we see a survivor count next episode and I bet it's way lower. But it was a good day. Full of maneuvers just fantastic enough to drop a jaw and just plausable enough to avoid skepticism.

The rare sort of show that causes me to put random expletives after the word "holy". Damn enjoyable. And yeah, brilliant.

And re: "In The Pale Moonlight" -- part of the reason that episode sticks so well is the way it shows the darkest side in all of us. The dirty side of Utopia. The new Battlestar Galactica lives in that dark side. There couldn't be an equivalent for that episode on the show. It wouldn't have an analog. And I have a hard time seeing a fan of that episode not enjoying RDM's new series.