| By Eric Goldman, tv.ign.com,
on 06-12-2006
|
Favoured : 122 |
Battlestar Galactica: "Unfinished Business" Review
An interesting but flawed episode finds members of the Galactica crew boxing each other, sleeping together and getting stoned. Well, the new Battlestar Galactica can now definitively state something else the original 1970's version couldn't: Apollo and Starbuck did it! This week's episode was essentially a character study, with the modern day scenes taking place over the course of just a few hours, while flashbacks filled in some key moments from New Caprica we hadn't been privy to before.
A big question lingering since last season's finale was what exactly caused such a big estrangement between Starbuck and Apollo during the missing year of time the series skipped over. The answers were found here, as we saw the events surrounding a ground breaking ceremony on New Caprica, in the earlier days of the occupation.
Some strong material occurred here, as we saw the Galactica crew in a state we rarely see them in; Optimistic. The jump ahead in time picked up with most of the characters already in one form of doldrums or another, and then the Cylon occupation made things all the worse. But here, we saw that even those against settling on the planet had dared to hope for the best at first, or as Roslin and Adama discuss, had at least decided to try to enjoy this time away from war as long as they could.
But for Kara and Lee, things get very messy, as a drunken encounter leads to them finally sleeping with each other, even though Kara & Anders and Lee & Dualla are in the midst of serious relationships at the time. In the afterglow of sex, Lee joyfully (and nakedly) screams that he is in love with Kara, and gets her to do the same; albeit one could wonder about her turning it into a third person statement, by yelling, "Kara Thrace is in love with Lee Adama." The two decide they will tell their respective lovers about what has happened and that they have decided to be together.
Except the next morning Lee wakes up alone, walks back into camp and receives some stunning news from his father; Kara and Anders just got married. With Anders unaware of what occurred, Lee, hurt beyond belief, storms off, and back to Dualla. And thus a rift is born…
In the present, the story followed boxing matches between the Galactica crewmembers, which brought a lot of bad feelings to the surface. In a powerful sequence, Adama challenged Chief Tyrol to fight. As we learned, Adama had gone against his initial misgivings and granted Tyrol and Cally permission to leave Galactica when their baby was on the way. Adama had his own anger issues over Chief wanting to leave in the first place, and more so, he wanted to get a point across to the crew, which he delivered in a speech, after Chief rather brutally beat him, thanks to Adama goading him on and sucker punching him. As Adama explained, it's one thing to feel like the crew is family, it's another to let them get so close that you aren't doing what is best for everyone's safety, and he wouldn't let it happen again, as he did when he allowed people to leave Galactica on New Caprica.
The episode culminated in Kara goading Lee into a fight, where the two viciously attacked each other, only to end up in a cathartic, bloody embrace, declaring how much they'd missed each other. Anders stormed off, having seen enough, while Dualla sadly watched her husband share this uncomfortable and intimate moment with another woman.
There were a few things about this episode that made it not quite gel as well as most. Some of Adama's actions seemed uncharacteristic, such as when he seemed utterly blind to the deep distress Lee had over the news that Kara was married. Even if he didn't know there were issues there before, the look of shock and near nausea on his son's face was obvious. Also, it's a bit hard to believe Adama would sanction this sort of flight club on his ship in the first place. As we're well aware, the fleet needs every soldier and pilot it can get, yet here the crew are allowed to have these major fights that could seriously injure or impair people who may be needed to fight the real enemy at any moment.
The other big issue of course is the way this episode colors Kara, Lee and their relationship. It's part of Kara's basic design that she's messed up and has issues, and we wish she wouldn't so often go to an ugly, defensive place, while understanding why she is the way she is. Lee's been a bit more problematic, because the writers haven't seemed to be able to get a hang on what exactly his issues are, since his suicidal moments in "Resurrection Ship Part II" last season. This episode presents the two of them as people who cheat on those who love them and trust them, and more so, it ends with a montage of moments of the duo from throughout the series that seem to be playing things as a rather "great love" moment. But it's kind of hard to really root for them at this point, given what we just saw, not to mention their relationship has always been more interestingly muddled, because it seems both potentially romantic and also has a sibling vibe to it at times.
Then there's the issue of Dualla, who has been a frustratingly incomplete character for awhile. Most of the time it's impossible to gauge what she's thinking or what motivates her. She had a great moment here, as Anders says it looks like Kara and Lee are trying to kill each other, and she knowingly replies, "One perspective." But wait, what did she know? Did she ever suspect Lee had feelings for Kara? The cold, "it's her" way she referred to Kara in the season two finale made it seem like she knew more about the rift between Kara and Lee then the events we're shown her would lead us to believe.
However, the big saving grace for this episode was a potential couple much more easy to root for: William Adama and Laura Roslin. We saw the two spend a wonderful, casual and laid back night together on New Caprica… Really laid back as it turned out, as the two got stoned together, on what apparently was some primo New Caprican weed! Seeing the two of them relaxing and looking up at the sky together was a wonderful moment, and no doubt many fans were yelling, "Kiss her!" at Adama. From what we saw, nothing occurred between the two that night, but one never knows… Perhaps another flashback is in store?
IGN's Ratings for Unfinished Business
Rating Description
out of 10 click here for ratings guide
7.5 OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average) Source Link: http://tv.ign.com/articles/749/749023p1.html Submitted by Zipper Talk about this article on our forum: http://galacticabbs.com/index.php?showtopic=784
Last update : 06-12-2006
|
|
|
