Battlestar Galactica Commentary: 4.6, "Faith"
05.10.2008 Preparing to write on Battlestar Galactica episode 4.6, "Faith," I began to wonder why the crew of the Demetrius couldn't trust Starbuck like I do. Around the watercooler this week, I discovered that most Battlestar Galactica fans I know are having trouble understanding why everyone can't trust Starbuck. I thought about it for a while, and came to the realization that the other characters don't know she's one of the main characters. Gaeta and Lt. Pike don't know that they are bit player. They don't see any reason why Starbuck's psychotic opinion should count for more than theirs. Once they think she's crazy they have to make a decision about their survival, so we have a mutiny on our screens. They also don't know that Starbuck is the best thing to happen to geeks since Jeri Ryan's pantsuit joined the cast of Voyager, but that's a whole different subject. And she's a strong female character, a fairly recent development in science fiction television. The other characters, though, can't see our external reasons for trusting Starbuck. All they see is her devolution. At the beginning of Battlestar Galactica episode 4.6, "Faith," Sharon has Starbuck in a choke hold (they must ave been watching re-runs of T.J. Hooker) and Gaeta is spooling up the FTL drive to jump back to the fleet. Anders, God bless his poor, beleaguered Toaster heart, takes up for Starbuck and ends up shooting Gaeta in the leg. After Gaeta is treated, things calm down and Starbuck explains that she is going to take Leoben and a Raptor and go find the basestar. Anders volunteers to go, and Starbuck says that she need Sharon because she speaks Cylon (although they've been speaking English on my TV for four seasons). Everyone agrees, and they set the clock to jump at the last possible second to meet up with the fleet. Why didn't Starbuck just suggest this in the first place? It is in her nature to try to do everything on her own. Roslin has her head shaved. The cancer treatment is nearly done, but it is clearly taking a toll on her. Roslin begins a conversation with Emily (Nana Visitor from DS9, who I haven't seen in a while). Emily is dying, but has had a vision of the river that separates this world from the next. Roslin and Emily begin to debate metaphysics. Emily is unsatisfied with the idea of God or Gods as a metaphor The Raptor jumps into a debris field - what's left of the rebellious Cylon fleet. Its actually a bit beautiful, the Raptor sliding through this exploding field of wreckage with its spotlights on to guide the way. Now the Colonials know the Cylon civil war is real, and when they find the damaged basestar, the scene looks exactly like Starbuck's painting. The Eights have a conference with Sharon, which is fully creepy. They ask her to lead a mutiny against the Sixes. Sharon tells them they are disgusting for switching loyalties. She tells them they can never have love or family if they don't pick a side and stick. They begin repairs on the basestar's FTL system. They plan to integrate it with the Raptor's FTL system. One of the Sixes kills Faralay, so Xena kills the Six. Kind of an odd way to prove cooperation, but it works. Starbuck gets to see the hybrid, who is doing her stream of consciousness thing. They hybrid's lines sounds vaguely like the lyrics to a dance hit. Starbuck is having trouble understanding her. After some gunplay, the hybrid says: "Thus will it come to pass: The dying leader will know the truth of the opera house. The missing three will give you the five who have come from the home of the thirteenth. You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end. End of line." You can unpack that at your leisure. After all that, we hear the most significant revelation of the episode, and the reason it is called "Faith": Adama believes there is an Earth. |
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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Comments [post a comment]
I believe you're looking for either "Jeri Ryan" or "Enterprise" up top there.
I think Starbuck didn't suggest going off on her own at first because she already was off on her own -- that plus her foggy-headedness seems to be the cause of most of the trouble on the Demitrius. The mutiny is like a wake-up call: Oh right, there are other people on this ship with me.
I love the idea that the other characters don't realize Starbuck is a main character. It's an elegant solution.
Posted By:
Newbs [Website]
05/10/2008
3:31 PM
You do not mean Xena. It was a Six without Platinum Hair. Lucy Lawless' character is "D'anna Biers" or Number Three.
The Six in question is almost definitely "Natalie".
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Six_(Battlestar_Galactica)
Posted By:
bob pearson
05/10/2008
5:17 PM
You do not mean Xena. It was a Six without Platinum Hair. Lucy Lawless' character is "D'anna Biers" or Number Three.
The Six in question is almost definitely "Natalie".
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Six_(Battlestar_Galactica)
Posted By:
bob pearson
05/10/2008
5:17 PM
"They also don't know that Starbuck is the best thing to happen to geeks since Jolene Blalock's pantsuit joined the cast of Voyager, but that's a whole different subject."
How can I trust the opinion of someone on a sci-fi show episode review who can't tell the difference between a Vulcan from a Borg or Enterprise from Voyager? For shame.
Posted By:
jack burton
05/10/2008
7:54 PM
I'm not sure where we're going in series 4. Are we getting into false prophet areas (which will be the false prophet, Baltar or the 5th Cylon when he/she come out?) or will the remnants of the fleet be nuked by earth when they arrive (no-one has stopped to think that the 13th colony might not be quite so evolved) or are the cylons just waiting for the human to lead them there so that they can attack earth? So many questions. So many potential answers.
Posted By:
jackie cowper-macadam
05/11/2008
03:20 AM
Hey Jack:
I fixed it, but I do have to take it on the chin for the mistake. I was in a rush to get it online. Thanks for pointing out the error.
Len
Posted By:
Len [Website]
05/11/2008
3:40 PM
"I love the idea that the other characters don't realize Starbuck is a main character. It's an elegant solution."
I don't understand where thinking like this came from. Of course they don't defer to her as a main character because they don't see each other as actors and characters. That information does not have anything to do with the story. If characters suddenly realized who was the main character things would change drastically! For one, I guarantee that Faralay would never have gotten on that raptor to head to the basestar only to suffer the typical "red shirt" syndrome. Extras that knew they were extras would hide in their bunks until the war was over as to avoid the inevitable and obvious death that awaits them. Cylons would stop trying to kill the admiral and just aim for side characters because they would realize that they have no chance of killing him. I hope i have misinterpreted that somehow because I just can't fathom the logic behind it.
Posted By:
Personal
05/12/2008
08:02 AM
Personal:
Yes, I think you misinterpreted. If you consider the converse of the question, Len is really asking why we - as viewers - are much more willing to trust Starbuck than her crewmates. It's partly because we are party to information that they don't have (e.g. that Leoben is telling the truth about the Cylon civil war, or that Earth does exist in their universe). But it's also because we recognize that Starbuck is a main character; we know that she has some sort of integral role to the plot. As viewers we're screaming out to the Demetrius crew to just listen her - sure, she sounds crazy but we just *know* she's on to something. Len was describing why that part is so frustrating for us. It's a testament to the writers, really, that it's so frustrating, because the crew is treating Starbuck exactly as we should realistically expect given the situation.
Posted By:
Mike Brady
05/13/2008
10:03 PM
Since Starbuck has now tried to airlock Gaeta and been the cause of him getting shot in the leg, I'm looking forward to him being less of a side character and taking on one of the "biggies."
Posted By:
M [Website]
05/16/2008
6:47 PM