There was a lot of pounding upon one another in "Escape Velocity." Literally-- Marines vs. Baltar, Caprica Six vs. Tigh, Fundamentalist religious group vs. Baltar's harem, Baltar vs. a Service to the Gods (more trashing than pounding) and figuratively--the Prez's histrionic verbal assault on the Quorum of 12 in regard to her opinion vs. theirs to freely assemble, and finally and most powerfully, Chief Galen Tyrol's mental and emotional pounding upon himself in a stellar performance by actor Aaron Douglass. Whew! Did I miss anyone?
Gaius believes that he is perfect as are each of his followers~
Some points to note:
Did Chief sabotage Raptor 289 or did he merely frak up? Regardless, the crash-landing of Racetrack's raptor, Cally's "suicide," and Chief's discovery that he is a Cylon propelled him into a tirade in Joe's Bar--directed at Commander Adama--in which, among other things he complained of having been saddled with Cally with "her boiled egg eyes and cabbage smell." Harsh. He also got himself fired as "Chief." <sad>
No news on Boomer or Natalie, but next week's preview indicates that we may be given a clue.*
*(Preview after the jump)
A favourite visual moment was Chief working in the middle of the night with the metal face mask down, completely submerging himself in machinery. This spooked me as there was a lingering camera shot in which Tyrol's welding helmet suggested a Centurion and I wondered if Chief had physically morphed into something horrible...
Chief Tyrol speaking during his wife, Cally's funeral service~
The Tigh/CapricaSix and Baltar/HeadSix juxtaposition of the bloody faces was another excellent staging of scenes loaded with meaning, in Escape Velocity. Both were looking for absolution, both were washed in their own blood.
The way that HeadSix physically picked Gaius up from the deck as he sputtered blood begging, "I wanna stay down. I really wanna stay down," and shoved him at the Marines was one of my favourite moments visually so far this season. I'm not sure if this means HeadSix is real but it did provide one of few lighter moments in this episode.
Gaius disrupts a service to The Gods~
During a meeting of three of the four Dylan Cylons* in Tyrol's quarter's, baby Nicky cried out with Chief dad ignoring him and commenting that he must need a diaper change. Col. Tigh barely hesitated to go to the baby's aid, changing Nicky almost immediately and calming the baby. (*pictured after jump)
A fan quote about the scene from the Television Without Pity Boards:
You know Tigh's secretly a baby whisperer. Or maybe babies just know to shut up when Old One Eye is around.
Good one!
Laura Roslin has taken on both Helena Cain's hair (in wig form) and the late Admiral Cain's
attitude of having nothing to lose. Seems like the harbinger of further scary moments from Madame Prez.
Admiral Adama and President Roslin after one of her cancer treatments~
Adama reads Searider Falcon to her, which has some deeper significance to both of them, just like Love and Bullets in the previous episode: "I wasn't afraid to die. I was afraid of the emptiness that I felt inside. I couldn't feel anything. And that's what scared me. You came into my thoughts. I felt them. It felt good." This is emphasized by the fact that he closes the book and recites the passage, almost as if the words are his. It is also possible that the passage has additional significance for Adama, since by his admission he normally stops reading after it. Battlestar Wiki
Colonel Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan) turned in yet another Emmy-worthy performance wherein he spent much of the episode confusing Caprica Six with his dead (by his poisoning of her for treason) wife, Ellen.
Ellen Tigh as Caprica Six as envisioned by Saul Tigh~
The pas de deux reaches it's pinnacle with a S & M tinged beatdown that Tigh willingly takes from Caprica with her straddling him, pausing, him asking for more and instead of punching him in the face yet again, she realizes what she actually needs to do is make out with him...and they kiss. /end scene
The actual last frame of the episode following Gaius's "everyone is perfect" speech to his followers (see first screenshot):
Both Cylons: Head Six and Tory the Prez's assistant, look on as Baltar finishes his "I am perfect," speech to his followers~
S4E7: "The Road Less Traveled" Promo
The Dylan Cylons
Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos) President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) Captain Kara Thrace "Starbuck" (Katee Sackhoff) Captain Lee Adama "Apollo" (Jamie Bamber) Dr. Gaius Baltar (James Callis) Six (Tricia Helfer) Lt. Sharon Valerii (Grace Park) Colonel Saul Tigh (Michael Hogan) Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol (Aaron Douglass) Lt. Karl Agathon "Helo" (Tahmoh Penikett) Samuel T. Anders (Michael Trucco) Felix Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) Anastasia Dualla (Kandyse McClure) Cally Tyrol (Nicki Clyne) Tory Foster (Rekha Sharma) D'Anna Biers (Lucy Lawless) Tom Zarek (Richard Hatch) Brother Cavil (Dean Stockwell) Leoben Conoy (Callum Keith Rennie) Aaron Doral (Matthew Bennett)
Comments