Episode Report Card Jacob: D | 1419 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT BattleNoir Redactica
By Jacob | Season 2 | Episode 14 | Aired on 2006.01.27
Outside, Fisk and Baltar have made apparently close friends, which makes total sense. They've both got beef with Madame, even though there's a misogynist undertone with Fisk that proves Cain went completely Clytemnestra a long time ago. He wonders if Roslin's always so "right in your face," and Baltar allows as how her "last-minute resurrection" has proven invigorating. I believe and expected it, but what we got in that office seemed like classic Roslin to me; we have to assume that a lot of her worse days weren't shown, I guess, since they're not the most thrilling television. Or because this entire episode seems to think that women are all frail neurasthenics without independent will. Fisk loves being treated like a person, and wonders aloud to Baltar whether Roslin even honestly believes her "made-up plans and regulations are going to change anything." He has a point, but also an agenda, given his body-language comfort with the black-market concept. "As if we don't have enough to do," hums Baltar superciliously. Honestly, what is it that you do, Gaius? Build mystery machines that don't work, invade people's personal space in bathrooms, shoot military officers from behind, and masturbate in public. Sorry if the burden of governance is going to cut into that busy schedule. He tips his hand a bit here: "Madame President sets a great prestige by her office," he self-indicts deliriously, "and Adama supports her, at least for the moment." Fisk: "Well then, so do I, just for the moment." They discuss the cigars Fisk had delivered to Baltar recently, which were much enjoyed, and Fisk takes off, looking forward to their next meeting. I love this story -- I've missed schemy political Baltar, and Fisk is just the right balance of powerful and outsider to really connect with it. Too bad he dies two scenes from now.
Cloud 9, Siobhan's suite. Apollo flashes back to his EVA, and then a breakup with a heretofore unknown girlfriend back on Caprica. If you're keeping score, that's not one but two girlfriends we never heard about before. Apollo looks at Siobhan through her vanity mirror as he dresses, and then notices a bottle of antibiotics on the dresser. "I...got them from a friend," Siobhan clearly lies. Her roughly six-year-old daughter Paya (that's three made-up but extremely important spec script-esque characters, ten minutes in, two of whom speak not a single word the entire time), to Apollo's not-quite-stepfatherish but definite boyfriend-to-a-single-mom delight. Paya's fairly sketchy about him, and not just because they look roughly the same age. Rebuffed for a handshake, he digs around for a "special surprise," and I have to say that Bamber (the father of three daughters, for what it's worth) is really, really good at acting with children. You can feel the disappointment and yearning to connect with this little girl, and the pain at her complete lack of interest. Apollo pulls out a deformed dolly with one eye, and Paya utters a tiny screaming gasp before running away. Nice. As a familiar moment in anyone's life, it's pretty devastating, even given my low tolerance for Lee Adama's constantly cracking heart. He gives a nice mix of "well, that went fucking poorly," with top notes of "my stupid doll sucks, and I suck" and all that. Siobhan smiles apologetically, and Apollo is sheepish and sad. Siobhan covers nicely that it was just a surprise for Paya, and they stand about awkwardly. "Look," he stammers, "I'm not sure when I'll be able to make it back." Ah, the old story of the military man forced to occasionally abandon his loved ones for the duties of his career. Siobhan touches his lapel lovingly, and then they both stand there for a second before he remembers, and awkwardly dives for his wallet. Ah, the old story of, um, the man deathly afraid of intimacy who has to rely on prostitutes and their kids for proxied emotional connection. That old Rockwellian chestnut. Siobhan: "Um, I'm gonna have to ask for an extra hundred, since you spent the night." Apollo smiles and pays up. An editor somewhere decides to cut to Paya watching this heartwarming display of capitalism in action.