Episode Report Card Jacob Clifton: A+ | 2 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Because It Is Bitter
By Jacob Clifton | Season 4 | Episode 8 | Aired on 05.30.2008
Natalie weeps, in a forest. She sails on the barge with a breeze in her hair; her million sisters welcome her to the shore with kisses. Raven-haired and honey, platinum and gold. A broken New Caprica girl blazes in the light, finally whole; Gina Inviere smiles warmly, and puts strong arms around her: tawny, kissed by the sun. She doesn't shrink from Natalie's touch, or her tears. And beyond them, so much more love: an infinity of brothers and sisters, welcoming her in, applauding her bravery and her strength. Natalie smiles, in a forest. Today was her birthday.
And yet I could look beyond all this,
To a place of infinite beauty;
And I could see the loveliness of her
Who walked in the shade of the trees.
When I gazed,
All was lost
But this place of beauty and her.
THE LITTLE MAN WHO STOOD AGAINST THE MOUNTAINS
Lee stands, bitching on the phone at his poor beleaguered father while the anthill hollers and storms and scatters. Can't Bill see how, with every moment of reticence and arrogance, he's selling Zarek's drama better than the man ever could? "Their suspicions don't concern me." But is this a coup yet? Lee pleads; whether or not Zarek is a shitslice, the Fleet remains, and it needs reassurance, and stability." And since that doesn't really apply here, he qualifies: "Exactly the kind that only its military commander can offer." Bill tells his son to calm the Fleet down his damn self. "That's your job now. You can tell Zarek he can go to hell," he says, and hangs up. One might say that Bill Adama has sort of already lost the plot, but it's a matter of juggling contradictions: who is he, right now? The father of a frightened family? The commander and Admiral of a ruined, limping Fleet? The man who lost his lover before he ever touched her? A father, disappointed as usual in the missteps and mistakes of his children, and the troubles they heap upon his platter:
Athena stands in the corner, afraid, but with her back straight. This is what he will respect: conviction. Luckily, that's what she feels. "Do you hate your people so much that you look for any excuse to kill one?" Obviously not. It's not about hate, it's about love. You pick your side and you stick, otherwise you'll never have anything, no love, no family, no life to call your own. But it starts with love, and with family. With Helo and Hera, and then Adama, and then the Fleet. She's a robot but she's not an asshole, and this is the most robotic thing about her. The only time Athena's ever gotten scary -- I mean head-bashing, face-bleeding, cage-screaming scary -- was the last time anybody threatened her child. It hurt to watch. So did this one. Point being, she's a woman with a list, and she's still enough of a Cylon (and don't tell her I said this) that "Life To Call Your Own" is the last item on it. It's very short and small and she is at a loss as to what she can add to it now, but she's got a list. And her visions are on that list, too, even if you can't see them.
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28Next