Battlestar Galactica: Lay Down Your Burdens (1)

April 30th, 2008

Season 2, Episode 19

Battlestar Galactica: Lay Down Your Burdens (1)

Synopsis

With the presidential campaign underway, Roslin and Adama confer on one of her speeches in preparation for a debate with her opponent, Baltar. Meanwhile, Starbuck heads a return mission to Caprica to rescue the survivors she left behind.

Callie wakes Chief from a bad dream, and he goes nuts, beating her up and knocking her unconscious. He talks with Brother Cavil, a priest, as therapy. Chief dreams of suicide. Brother Cavil says Chief is afraid of being a Cylon just like Boomer, and tells him to look to his friends and family for comfort.

Athena and Helo help the rest of the raptors navigate the large number of jumps back to Caprica. After an accidental jump to the wrong location, one raptor discovers a habitable planet, obscured by a nebula which may make it a safe haven from the Cylons.

Zarek advises Baltar to make the planet an election issue, providing an alternative to Roslin’s obsessive quest for Earth. Tory tells Roslin that Baltar’s idea of “laying down your burdens” resonates well in the polls. During the debate, Baltar makes a campaign promise to stop the quest for Earth and instead colonize the newly discovered planet.

Starbuck and the raptors make a final jump and zoom down through the atmosphere to Caprica. Starbuck and a landing party find Anders and the resistance moving through the woods. But the reunion is brief, as they soon come under heavy fire from Cylons.

Thoughts

So, I guess Chief was right, and not going nuts – he really was a Cylon. I guess he started going Cylon batty around now. Brother Cavil (also a Cylon) makes his first appearance.

I don’t think the rest of the crew knew Athena was alive, so her initial appearance is momentarily disturbing. She again inserts a fiber optic cable into her body as in Flight Of The Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Zarek is certainly guiding Baltar into position to win the election. Roslin has no decent response to Baltar’s plan which is a problem of any incumbent – they have defined themselves by actions while in office. Roslin makes some controversial decisions to keep Baltar from winning in the next, and final episode, of season 2.

Next Episode: Lay Down Your Burdens (2)
Previous Episode: Downloaded

Please subscribe to the Webomatica RSS Feed!