3.1 Occupation

A new series of Battlestar Galactica starts and ain’t it just happy times all around!? Well, no. Quite the opposite. As the title suggested, we are plunged into the thick of the Cylon occupation of New Caprica after it has been in force for around 4 months. In all that time the Galactica nor the Pegasus has been back, so the remainder of the human race have been dealing with some pretty tough times.

On a small scale we saw Tigh, now with one eye missing, battered and imprisoned. His wife was riding Cylon Al in order to obtain his freedom (though it was unclear whether Tigh would have been freed anyway). Meanwhile, Starbuck was a captive housewife to a Cylon she keeps on killing, and he keeps on coming back, sure that he will eventually make her love her.

Apparently the Cylons’ agenda, instead of slaughtering the human race, is to re-educate them about the one true God, to take them under their wing and show them the true way so they can live in harmony. Basically, they are to be the masters of the human race. There are certainly Nazi elements at play, not altogether subtly when the Cyons are creating their own police force out of humans. . .

Luckily the human race has a resurgency movement, headed by Tyrell and Anders fighting the fight. Without them this episode would have kicked off with a level of despondency that would have been way too depressing. As it was, they eventually managed to receive codes that put them in touch with the Galactica, so some form of rescue operation can be put underway. That’s really the only light at the end of the tunnel for the whole series so far!

On Galactica, and Pegasus, things aren’t going so well either. Adama has taken to bonding with Cylon Boomer (an odd couple if ever there was one), and Apollo has gotten fat. I couldn’t decide if he looked ridiculous or not with his fat face and body. I thought the body part looked a little silly, but the fat face make-up was decent. It’s certainly not a direction I would have expected him to take – and I can’t quite decide if it’s a character progression I can fully buy into.

I’ll reserve judgement on that front.

The episode ended on a total downer, naturally! With the suicide bomb plot going ahead despite Gaius not attending the ceremony. Apart from the ginger guy that perpetrated the act I believe the only casualty was Gaeta (of people I know); unless he isn’t actually dead and decided to duck out at the last minute. Given how grim this whole episode was, though, I doubt it!

If first impressions are any indication then Season 3 is going to be hard-going, gruelling stuff indeed. I’m up for that. The show has taken a brave new direction and tone here, and that’s to be applauded.