Episode Report Card Jacob: A+ | 2 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT When The Know-Nothings Get Control
By Jacob | Season 3 | Episode 7 | Aired on 2006.11.10
"They prayed on the infected ship," Apollo says, fighting Roslin on the "stay alive by giving over intel" issue. "Karl's wife said it was something called the Prayer to the Cloud of Unknowing, whatever the hell that is." Two things here: number one, it's a reference to an old religious text, and you know how much I love those. It's about what you think it's about: the veil, or "cloud of unknowing," that exists between us and God's true will. (I'll spare you my thoughts on how that connects to the whole Cylon persona/vapor-condensation thing the Hybrid was talking about.) Its use here is pretty inspired, considering that Cylon existence, as could be inferred from a race of robots, is predicated on information: even their concept of reality is constellated in terms of moving information around, bringing last week's forest into this week's conversation and so forth. So to look beyond the veil, to see the place beyond resurrection, true death, and see only "unknowing," well, that defines God. You can look it up -- it's about as interesting as most old religious texts, which depends on you -- but here's the prayer that serves as prologue: "God, unto whom all hearts be open, and unto whom all will speaketh, and unto whom no privy thing is hid. [The very definition of Cylon existence, separately and together: there's no sense of privacy with the Cylon God because there's no such thing: the unique circumstances that brought about DEMAND LOVE were a mutation, that changed everything.] I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee, and worthily praise Thee. Amen." Asking for God to cleanse your very intent. That's huge, in the Cylon mindset. And the human one, sadly. (The second thing is: Sharon, Eight, Athena, Boomer -- she became "Karl's wife" the second she wasn't rhetorically helpful. Inside him and in the conversation, she can't be a part of this story Lee's telling.) "She said they only use it when they're facing an imminent death that is final, no possibility of downloading." Which, Roslin points out, has no bearing: "Doesn't mean that one of them won't jump at a second chance."
In the Galactica interrogation room, there's Simon in chains. Simon is black, and he's chained up. I'm just saying. His speech is difficult, because he's dying. He halts and coughs and sniffs and chokes, but he keeps talking. "It infected everything. Baseship. Centurions. Raiders. Until we were finally abandoned by the other Cylon ships." Apollo asks why they wouldn't just put the sick basestar under quarantine and look for a cure, and Simon -- the one who voiced the consensus, remember, that there was no cure to be found in science; I thought at the time it was picoseconds of calculations being done by the Cylon as a whole, and he just voiced it -- breathes hard. "Fear of spreading the disease. They told us that there was a bioelectric feedback component to the pathogen. It corrupts how our brains manage our immune systems. If one of us dies and is resurrected, the disease will follow, infecting the resurrection ship and the Fleet." Wow, it was like Snow Crash; at least they brought it back to something like a biological basis. We've got diseases that fuck up brains and diseases that fuck up immunity; I'm sure we have at least one that does both. Maybe it's like Huntington's. Simon spills that they were sent to the Lion Nebula by Dr. Baltar, and everybody goes nuts. Helo in particular, but also -- aww -- Gaeta: "Baltar? Baltar's alive?" At least he didn't call him Gaius, dude. Simon nods, as well as you can when you're wearing a leash and collar. "Baltar is on our baseship. He's helping us find Earth." Adama figures it out, that he's doing the same thing Gaeta did on Galactica, using the nav charts and the map from Kobol. Simon coughs, laughs, chokes: "We want a new beginning. Much like you." Find the one tribe you didn't already fuck over, and give it the -- what, fifteenth? -- college try, eh? Cool. I like this. The idea of the universe turning into a giant sequel of Cannonball Run where they race the robots for Earth was not the most exciting possibility last week, but this has potential. Cottle takes Simon back to the infirmary for his "cure," and as he's leaving, Apollo starts to laugh. Not a jubilant or very excited laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. Adama asks what the hell is so funny, and the horrified and proud little Adama explains: "I think I just thought of a way to solve all of our problems. To get rid of the Cylon threat for once and for all. We can wipe 'em out. We can destroy the entire Cylon race."