Battlestar Galactica: The Oath

I still haven’t properly caught my breath since Friday’s magnificent episode of BSG.

When it ended, my husband turned to me and said, “There’s no way they’d kill Adama off, is there?”

Then he looked at me. We both knew that when it comes to this show, nothing’s off the table.

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Unlike almost any other show, Battlestar is fearless in showing the faults of all involved. (OK, The Wire was pretty good at it, too.) No one’s truly 100 percent likable. And even the people you know you should hate, you find yourself … not hating entirely.

Remember back in Season 3 when we found ourselves back on Cylon-occupied Caprica with a resurrected Caprica Six and newly self-aware Boomer? For the first time, the Cylons were humanized and the pain Caprica Six felt over her separation from Baltar was heart-rending.

And Leoben’s creepy obsession with Starbuck was also tinged with love. He didn’t care how many times Starbuck killed him, he would come back for more, convinced he could, in the end, win her over.

Which he did, sort of, this season.

President Roslin has made us uncomfortable in the past – when she tried to steal the election from Baltar – and until Friday, had really been pissing me off lately with her complete inability to cope with the disappointment that was Earth.

When Roslin got off the Raptor upon returning to the Galactica from Earth, her decision not to answer anyone’s questions angered me. Then her withdrawal from everything and decision to allow Zarek to basically hijack the government really angered me. Roslin is fully responsible for the situation we found ourselves in on Friday. Her use of Baltar’s wireless was too little too late.

And Baltar – how often have we utterly hated him, only to be sucked back in, feeling, perhaps, sorry for him? His remaking of himself as a prophet with his flock, even, had him redeeming himself by praying to the One True God to save the life of a little boy. And when the boy recovered from his illness, who among the show’s fans didn’t wonder if maybe, just maybe, Baltar was on to something and actually did have a pipeline to the OTG?

As much as I’d hate to see Adama be killed, I can only imagine how intensely amazing the show would be if they went there. We know that nothing truly will end well. BSG isn’t a happy ending sort of show.

Watch the whole episode here: