Battlestar Galactica: A Disquiet Follows My Soul

January 24th, 2009

Season 4, Episode 12

Disclaimer: Spoilers! The posts covering the last ten episodes will undoubtedly be full of spoilers and are intended for discussion after watching the associated episode. If you’re not up to speed, look away now.

Synopsis

Admiral Adama wakes up and gets to work. Meanwhile, Tigh and Caprica Six look in amazement at an ultrasound of their unborn child. Gaeta harbors some distaste at the prospect of this child being the future of the Cylon race.

At an angry press conference, Lee lets it slip that the fifth Cylon was a woman that “died some time ago.” Roslin is notably absent. Vice President Zarek is annoyed by the continuing alliance with the Cylons.

Adama wants to implement Cylon technology throughout the fleet, which will help them on the journey to find a new, inhabitable planet. Chief suggests the Cylons get a seat at the Quorum in exchange.

Chief is reluctantly told by Doc Cottle that his son is not actually his — Callie was already pregnant by someone else when Chief married her.

Roslin throws all her drugs away, determined to let her illness take its course. Adama asks her to make a public announcement that the Cylon alliance is critical to the survival of the human race.

Gaeta confronts Starbuck about how she once tried to kill him and is now married to a Cylon. Starbuck leaves and Gaeta asks the door be closed.

Zarek tells the Quorum that Roslin and Adama led them to a dead end and they can’t forget the Cylons are their enemies. Lee listens uncomfortably. A decision is passed to keep Cylons from boarding any ship without the approval of that ship’s crew.

Adama awakes and takes some pills before brushing his teeth. He catches Roslin jogging through the ship halls and scolds her for skipping her doctor’s appointment. Meanwhile, Baltar addresses his followers about the disappointment of a broken promise. He starts to blame God for this unjust punishment. Chief, who is listening, realizes Hot Dog is the real father of his son, and attacks him in the crowd. He later enlists Hot Dog watch over his sick son.

Tigh informs Adama that several ships are refusing to let Cylons aboard. Gaeta disagrees with Adama’s decisions. A Tyllium ship mutinies, and Adama releases an assault team. They overhear Zarek talking to the rebel ship. After the ship jumps away, Adama orders the assault team to arrest Zarek.

Adama confronts Zarek in the brig with documents regarding smuggling of goods, exposing him as a corrupt politician. Zarek reluctantly tells him the coordinates of the Tyllium ship.

As several ships confront and recapture the Tyllium ship, Zarek talks to Gaeta about a revolution. Meanwhile, Adama and Roslin lie in bed together.

Thoughts

So Chief’s son is not a hybrid. Well, that clears up that plot point. The only hybrid child is Hera (Sharon and Helo’s child). Although this development is rather soap-opera convenient, what with Tigh and Number 6’s child, there were  too many Cylon-y kids running around, so I am glad one was eliminated.

It seems Gaeta is moving into position as a revolutionary in direct opposition to Admiral Adama and Tigh. He’ll make an interesting partner to Zarek. His change of heart is certainly made more understandable because of his experince in the webisodes where he was nearly killed by an 8 model Cylon. I’m excited to see mutiny among the fleet since I’ve always felt an alliance between the Cylons and humans was an idea most of the fleet would have a very hard time swallowing. This brewing mutiny shows that the writers haven’t forgotten that.

The prospect of the Cylons getting a seat on the Quorum could lead to a situation where history repeats itself. Perhaps the 12 colonies currently in the fleet will tentatively accept the Cylons as a 13th tribe. Eventually, infighting leads the Cylons to eventually break off on their own and travel off to find their own planet, which ends up being Earth. All these reproduction-capable Cylons would come in handy to colonize a new planet.

I’m suspicious about those pills Adama took and his brief aside to Tigh that he doesn’t feel so good. Poisoning, perhaps? Lastly, we finally saw Adama in bed with Roslin. That sucked — I so did not want to see that.

All in all, this episode was certainly less exciting than the one previous, and a bit of a letdown. But the show always has this habit of using a few somber episodes to set up plot threads for a big season / show finale. This being the final season, let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long for some serious, epic stuff to go down.

Next Episode: The Oath
Previous Episode: Sometimes A Great Notion