4.12 A Disquiet Follows My Soul

This episode had the hallmarks of being a more introspective ‘reset’ episode to counter the barrage of revelations and surprises from the previous season opener. And yet, quietly, this episode delivered its own share of zingers that will surely resonate for the remainder of the entire show.

First up, Tyrol is not the father of his child! Well, I guess some people might have seen that coming. The importance of Tyrol’s child (tellingly I can’t even remember his name!), when compared to the importance of Hera, has never been made a big deal of. That was fine when Tyrol was considered human, but after he was ‘outed’ then his child should have come under a lot more focus.

That spotlight has been switched off, as Hot Dog turns out to have been the father. Presumably this happened on New Caprica, during the time period we didn’t see. It’s hard to know if Callie had been unfaithful, or if she had got pregnant shortly before her and Tyrol got together. It probably doesn’t matter either way, but given Tyrol’s new-found allegiance to his Cylon heritage it might be another shove towards him rejecting humanity.

It did come as a jarring moment, that Tyrol was suddenly speaking on behalf of Cylons to the fleet, and calling them ‘his’ people. It felt like his character had undergone a major transition we had not witnessed and I’m not sure it went over altogether believably. In the same respect, Tigh has also undergone a shift that felt a little jarring. Holding hands with Six whilst they looked at their unborn child on a monitor – given the last time we saw him he was wading out to sea and learning that Ellen was the Final Cylon this was a shift too severe.

It’s obviously the way his character was headed, and Tyrol – I just think perhaps one or two scenes for both of them to be breaking in this change wouldn’t have hurt. Either it was a problem with time available, or the insinuation was that quite some time had passed since the previous episode and we’ve been left to fill in the blanks. In that sense, I suppose, it works.

Laura, meanwhile, has got over her foetal-style surrender and switched it for liberation. Gone is the burden of being the dying leader and now she has turned her attentions to her own mortality and, quite understandably, hoping to find some measure of happiness with the time she has left. Adama, also, by the end of the episode has reached the same realisation about the time he has left with Laura. The closing image of them finally together, happy and content, is tinged with a melancholy regret that it probably should have happened sooner.

It also, I think, shows Adama in a position of weakness that looks set to be exploited by Zarek and Gaeta.

The opinion of not joining up with the Cylons was a fairly-argued point, I thought. Given the Cylons had been mortal enemies of the humans, and practically obliterated their species, for the majority of the human race to want the right to distance themselves and their ships was an understandable one. These people haven’t met the Cylons like we have – they are just a faceless enemy. The right for the captains to decide whether they had their FTL drives upgraded or not was taken away, and it did make Adama appear distinctly dictatorial.

A disquiet looks set to follow, with Gaeta marshalling a faction to potentially turn mutinous and hoist Zarek as their new leader. Given Adama, at this moment, appears to be in a position of weakness then I think Apollo especially, and potentially Starbuck, will need to make themselves available to support him. Quietly, the stage is being set for something seriously dramatic.