Episode Report Card Jacob: A- | 1 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT The Engine You've Built With Your Blood
By Jacob | Season 3 | Episode 16 | Aired on February 24, 2007
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were engaged in collective bargaining on behalf of the Colonial Worker's Alliance. If that's not the case, then..." Chief protests that the union died on New Caprica, as though her cynical wording weren't enough of a red flag, and that music starts to play in case you were thinking this was legit. "Chief, the workers in this Fleet, they need someone to represent them in their interests. And if this society is becoming truly polarized between an entrenched political class and a disenfranchised underclass, we are doomed." Just in case he's been reading that damned book. "We won't need the Cylons to destroy us, we'll destroy ourselves. The Fleet that arrives at Earth will not represent Colonial society at all. I am willing to fight for that society until my dying breath. I would love it if you would fight for that society as well." Which is dumb on many levels, number one being that you don't have to preserve the horrible judgments and prejudices of "Colonial society" with these numbers: you become something new. She should protect the things that matter: humanity, the numbers obviously, but after that, the things that make us human. Law, faith, all those things that are hard to talk about. All the big stuff. Chief's eyes go lovely and dreamy: "Hmm," he nods. "I will. I will, Madame President. I will." I didn't want to bring up useful idiots with Cally, because I thought I'd get more hatemail about Cally, but: useful idiot. Unions are the same thing as communism, on a manageable level, but don't ever think you're being handed something. She just gave him hush money, but the money is imaginary and useless. "Congratulations on being so much of a pain in our ass that we threatened to shoot your wife. That's how we do. How about that becomes your job?"
Down in the hangar bay, Chief's calling out job orders, on another day. He doesn't give Seelix any orders; Starbuck arrives. "Chief Tyrol?" The last time they spoke, I think, she was opting out of the Circle, which included him not very enthusiastically, and Seelix very much enthusiastically. Chief's friendly with her, but she goes into "nugget"/"you can call me God" mode, and yells at Chief about how one of her nuggets failed to show up for basic flight instruction this morning. Chief's in on it: "I'm sorry to hear that, Captain." Starbuck, our Artemis, asks if he knows where the frack Diana Seelix is, and he calls her up, front and center. She hops right the hell up, and Kara yells at her: "Flight instruction began twenty minutes ago, Seelix! You wanna be a pilot, or not?" Seelix stutters, and Starbuck yells some more, and it's awesome, because we've all seen this scene a hundred times, but not on this show and not with these people, which equals heartwarming. "You will think when I tell you to think, nugget! And you might want to look at the plan of the day, because then maybe you'd know where you're supposed to be! And you might actually get there on time!" They face off; Seelix is beautiful. "And you're out of uniform!" Chief offers to help. Oh, man. I don't know what my deal is. I hate Seelix, and I hate this whole class issue and the deck hands and whatever, aspiration, but this like broke my heart with joy. I have a high need for approval -- so it's awesome how Chief is in on this the whole time -- but a correspondingly high hatred of authority-- so fucking stop yelling at me, idiot -- so scenes like this don't usually get to me. Anyway, Chief pulls out an ensign's pin, to put her in uniform. Seelix thanks him sweetly as he passes his clipboard off to Kara in order to pin Seelix: "You have to be an officer to fly a Viper, you know that." He turns to the deck hands: "Detail! And salute!"