Episode Report Card Strega: B- | 20 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT Let Baltar Be Baltar
By Strega | Season 1 | Episode 11 | Aired on 2005.03.18
Cut to the Colonial One, where the Prez is listening as McManus declares, "Every delegate she's chosen so far has been a Roslin crony! It's a puppet Quorum, okay?" He describes the Prez as a "power-mad schoolteacher." Now it's Sekou's turn to interrupt, and he points out that only half of the Quorum has been selected so far.
Back to Briefcase Guy, who's loading ammo into a hidden compartment in the briefcase. On the radio, McManus says that the Prez's advisor, Wallace Gray, is "the power behind the throne" and will hand-pick all the delegates.
Cloud 9. Playa and Sekou both defend Gray. Sekou says, "He's helped Roslin regulate the internal economy, make sure vital food and medical supplies were fairly distributed." McManus calls Gray "a fatuous gasbag," and adds that he and the delegates are all corrupt and evil and smell funny.
Back to the Colonial One. The Prez sighs, "Freedom of the press..." and switches off the radio. Wallace Gray arrives, cheerfully identifying himself as "the 'fatuous gasbag.'" The Prez greets him with a kiss on the cheek, and asks if he likes being a celebrity. Gray says, "I love it -- they'll probably be calling me a fascist next." Welcome to my world, dude. The Prez replies, "No, I'm the fascist. You stick with being the gasbag." It was mostly the delivery, but heh. Billy pops in and tells the Prez that she needs to hear something. He flips the radio on as McManus announces that the Sagittarons have chosen Zarek as their delegate. D'oh. And I'm confused already. Is the Prez appointing delegates, or are they elected? They must be elected, right? So was the stuff about her picking yes-men a conspiracy theory, basically? Or was she "suggesting" nominees to the different populations? I appreciate that they're throwing a lot of information at us as efficiently as they can, and it's pretty impressive when you look at how much we get in just the teaser. But maybe another pinch of exposition somewhere would have clarified a few things. So anyway, Zarek's a delegate. The Prez moans, "I should have seen this coming." Gray and the irritainers on the radio take turns explaining Zarek's history to any new viewers. Except for McManus, who snaps, "Wrong! He was a victim of the government, held on trumped-up charges." The intercom/phone buzzes, and as Billy answers, the Prez guesses that Adama's calling. Sure enough, it's Adama, who wants to know if she's heard the news about Zarek: "We can't allow a terrorist to sit in government." The Prez calmly says that she doesn't want to make Zarek into a martyr. She throws in, "Sagittaron law allows a prisoner to regain his citizenship once he has served his time." Adama probably knows that, but we can't make the reporters deliver all of the exposition. Adama says that he can refuse to give Zarek security clearance to visit Cloud 9. The Prez firmly says, "The last thing I need is for you to start acting like my own personal goon squad. We need to let this play out." She hangs up, and listens as McManus announces that Zarek's about to make a statement.