Episode Report Card Jacob Clifton: A | 3 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Admiral Cain, She Dead
By Jacob Clifton | Season 2 | Episode 10 | Aired on 09.22.2005
Roslin, Cain, and Adama retire to Adama's quarters and start drinking, which is what I would do. Roslin gets all questiony, and it's kind of cute. Cain explains that -- for lack of a better plan, or in supreme hubris -- they've been tracking a Cylon Fleet. After figuring out that the Cylons were jumping to systems with natural resources, Pegasus decided to get ahead of them by scouting the systems themselves, so that they could do some guerilla shit on them. Somehow, this led them directly to the Galactica, but I can't remember the last time they jumped, so maybe they're talking about the Caprica system. Adama's impressed but a little thrown by the idea of one Battlestar throwing itself against that particular shiny brick wall over and over. Roslin asks how they survived the attack on the Colonies, and Cain makes her best face in the episode: sad, scared, broken, and proud. You haven't heard the story yet, but you know the story already, just from that face. Cain gets herself a drink.
Speaking of drinking, Tigh is meeting with Fisk, his opposite number, in the very appropriate Tool Room. Fisk very much enjoys the moonshine, and they marvel over how Galactica has managed to survive, tough old bird that she is. Fisk hits a bit too close to home about Galactica's decrepitude, and Tigh stands with a stinkface. Then it becomes a kind of "joke," as he says that Fisk will have to skip this round. It's a nice introductory scene, and Tigh's a great foil when you need to learn a whole lot about somebody, because he's all about reacting, which is hard to do as an actor. Fisk and Tigh both laugh, because they are drunks of a feather.
Cain tells the story: they were docked at the shipyard for Scorpion Fleet. "Scorpion," by the way, is pronounced like the most hateful animal ever created, instead of slant-rhyming with "Geminon" like the rest of the Colonies, which is good because that would sound idiotic. They were about to retire the ship for a three-month overhaul, and everybody was getting stuff together for shore leave. In case we ever get a bead on the differences between the Colonies, I'll note that Cain was planning on going to Tauron. Sounds about right, no offense. Roslin's sympathetic, as you can imagine. There were five ships, including two Battlestars, that got hit in the nuclear attack. The acting here is really amazing, because Cain's in it, for real: she's stayed in that moment this whole time, since the massacre, even more than our guys have. Horrible. Cain immediately ordered a jump to...nowhere, she explains crazily, and Roslin looks at her like she just figured out that this bitch is nuts. It's amazing how horrified she is by this blind jump. Adama commends her on a "gutsy move," but again, his whole life is mental blind jumps like this, followed by propaganda and lying, and it's what makes him cool. Roslin looks over at Adama. She's really not cool with that little part of the story. Cain doesn't have the heart to keep talking, or to go over Adama's own story -- framing it as an "I'm not going to make you go through with this right now" -- and asks him to send over his logs "when he gets the chance." At Adama's military "Yes, sir," Roslin finally gets it, allowing it to be explained to us who didn't get it before. She covers her look of shock and loss, which Cain picks up on, in the coolest way possible: "I sometimes forget about the rules of military protocol." Adama lays it on the line for Roslin, saying that Cain's now in command of the entire Fleet, although you know she's like, "But really, I just want command of the military ships." Cain's kind of relieved that she doesn't have to go there right away, and pleased that Adama just bluntly okayed the whole thing. She tells Roslin to trust her, adding, "While the chain of command is strict, it is not heartless." She turns to Adama: "And neither am I." Which remains to be seen. Cain: "This is your ship, and I have no desire to interfere with Galactica's internal affairs." Which remains to be a total lie.