Battlestar Galactica & Caprica Reviews

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BSG TOS 1978 - Season 1 - Episode 13

My Rating - 6

Fan Rating Average - 4.96

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Synopsis
Surrounded by Cylon warships, Commander Adama reluctantly joins forces with the foolhardy Cain in a desperate surprise counterattack. [DVD]

Problems
- You've got to wonder how they were able to parachute into the city without their shuttle being shot down.

Factoids
- When Pegasus fires her missile, the footage used is actually real life footage of the Command Module separation from the final extraction stage of NASA's Apollo moon missions.

Remarkable Scenes
- The precision strike on the Cylon base.
- The Cylon Imperious leader visiting the Cylon base.
- Apollo: "Did you find the control center?" Boomer: "We found it all right." Sheba: "Where?" Starbuck: "There!" Explosion ensues.
- Officer aboard Pegasus: "Sir, long range scanners picked up an unbelievable number of enemy craft on their way." WTF? An "unbelievable number of enemy craft?" How extremely unprofessional!
- Apollo confronting Cain about his death wish.
- Cain going on his suicide run.

My Review
Part two, while strong compared to most BSG 1978 episodes, is weak compared to its predecessor. This episode revisits the BSG 1978 cliche in which a new habitable planet must be in each new episode and some dangerous mission must be performed there.

Unfortunately here Cain is depicted as a foolish war monger, determined to strike back at the Cylons at all costs. Any number of better strategies could have been concocted for this episode to preserve both the Battlestars and make Cain a regular cast member. But sadly, in 1978, reset button syndrome affected a great many TV shows. At least we get to keep Sheba around.

But I get the feeling there was pressure to eliminate the Pegasus from the story because the show is named Battlestar Galactica, not Battlestar Pegasus. A silly reason to hinder the story and a mistake repeated in many science fiction shows. Most notably, Star Trek Voyager repeated this mistake with the Equinox.

As annoying as it is to lose the Pegasus, the episode was still a pretty decent ride, way above BSG 1978's average. And Cain's noble sacrifice was fitting, if overall a poor decision for the show in the long run.

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