Pop Vultures

I love Battlestar Galactica with a love that transcends all reason. I love the moral ambiguity, the in-your-face war allegory, the way it makes Armageddon dirty-sexy. Or maybe sexy-dirty. It’s that sort of terrible dilemma that keeps me watching this show, the way no question, even a shallow one, comes with a simple answer. I would watch this show even if nothing ever happened on it, so much do I enjoy the characters and the tone. And that’s a good thing, really, because nothing actually happened on Battlestar Galactica: Razor, but I liked it anyway.

The two hour “event” tells the story of life on board the Pegasus after the Cylon attack. If you’ve seen season 2, you already know what happened, which takes a bit of the suspense away. Instead of telling the story from the point-of-view of Admiral Cain, a new character is introduced: Kendra Shaw. Worryingly, I had to go look that up on IMDB two hours after watching the episode. That could, of course, be early onset senility or some sort of delayed booze blackout, but I suspect it’s because I knew, even as I watched it, that this character didn’t really matter to the series. That fact is key to your ability to enjoy these episodes. If you’re looking for a continuation of the series and development of key characters, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re able to see it as a one-off chance to explore some stories that have yet to be told and build upon existing themes, you’ll likely enjoy it.

I decided to be a bit contrary and fell into both camps. It was good. Really, it was. This show dwells so far within a morality no man’s land that any episode is sure to raise a few questions. Unfortunately, it didn’t raise a lot of news ones. While the Galactica’s story has been that of making difficult choices to ensure survival, the Pegasus’s story was…that of making difficult choices to ensure survival. Of course, what makes it striking is the different versions of survival told. In the initial mini-series, President Roslin suggested that they run as fast as they can and start making babies, whereas Cain simply wanted to survive in order to fight another day. While Roslin’s way sounds like considerably more fun, Cain’s posed the essential question: Are we what we succumb to, or what we choose to fight for?

Unfortunately, these questions were already asked during the Pegasus arc in season two (and reiterated during the occupation of season three), so it feels a bit redundant. We know you’re a deep show. You don’t need to keep reminding us. Now can Starbuck kick someone’s ass, please?

The show did have a few tricks up its sleeve. Michelle Forbes took full advantage of her last chance to play Cain, again portraying a woman capable of murder, one who condones rape and torture, all without descending into mustache-twirling villainy. The real surprise came from Tricia Helfer’s Gina, whose romantic ties to Cain mirror Six’s relationship to Baltar. Unlike Baltar, whose attachment to Six is so great that he continues to hallucinate her presence, Cain punishes Gina for her betrayal in the most inhumane ways possible, thereby setting Gina up to feel betrayed in turn. In the end, that was the story of the Pegasus: betrayal of love, of humanity, of hope. Galactica may be a soap operatic mess from time to time, but they got nothing on that other ship. Betrayal destroyed Pegasus and, when we consider how things were left at the end of season 3, that could be a brilliant setup for the themes of season 4.

The weakness, however, was that Razor never felt as if it was connected to the upcoming episodes. Although it did feature the usual lead characters, their storylines did not progress or develop, which is especially sad when you consider that the show was at its best when Starbuck was doling out a bit of punishment, or Adama was practicing his “severe” expression, or Lee was finding something new to complain about. Unfortunately, for those of us who still find ourselves humming “All Along the Watchtower” when remembering the frakking incredible ending from the last episode, this lack of progress is also a recipe for disappointment. This show is well on its way to “legend” status, and it’s hard to be satisfied with a story story that’s merely really good.

So, yeah, I liked it. I just didn’t really, really like it. The line for partially satisfied fans with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement regarding their favorite show can form behind me.

Tell me, BSG fans: which line are you standing in?