Episode Report Card Jacob: B- | 1 USERS: C YOU GRADE IT Can't Stop The Signal
By Jacob | Season 2 | Episode 13 | Aired on January 19, 2006
Gaius leans in to whisper conspiratorially to Laura: "As you know, the Sharon Cylon is of considerable tactical value to the fleet." Without taking her eyes off him, or blinking, or showing any weakness whatsoever -- a rough trick from your deathbed, for sure -- she informs him of the possibility that he's gotten a little too close to his subject. Which is funny, because she's wrong -- he couldn't care less about Boomer -- but more right than she knows -- because he's totally on the Bad Guys' side. Cut to Adama glaring meaningfully. She addresses Adama, noting that it's a difficult issue so she should just cut through it: "Allowing this thing to be born could have frightening consequences." Gaius starts looking freaked as she continues, taking both him and Cottle into the conversation: "For the security of this fleet, I believe the Cylon pregnancy must be terminated before it is too late." I'd like to point out that the "cut through it" phrase is something that she picked up from Cain, and has used several times since -- you can go ahead and fill in the blanks thereafter. Adama gives a token resist, and she looks at him meaningfully: "I thought you of all people would understand, Admiral."
Of the many cheats in this episode, the only one that really bugs me is this, because I think it's not necessary, and actually clumsies things up a little. The real reason the baby's gotta go is the same reason Cain had to go: it's a loose thread that Roslin knows Gaius can't handle. But whereas Cain was capable of blowing up the Galactica and then stripping the Fleet for her own mad agenda, not to mention killing Adama first thing, the baby's primarily a political issue. We're talking about living proof that a high-ranking officer had relations with a member of the army which committed genocide on the human race six months ago. That she is still alive, in a comfy cell on board Galactica, no less, and that every member of the cast, which involves the highest members of both the military and the civilian government, knew about it, which is tantamount to condoning it, and furthermore kept it secret, which is an unimaginable failure of the government and military's fiduciary duty to the people. This is where the peanut gallery thing comes in from before: we're so used to spending our days with these people that we forget the level of power their wield, and that the general populace has no idea about anything that's gone on for the past two seasons. So it's a combination of two combustible political issues (fraternization and a variation on Bartlet's multiple sclerosis) -- and she's going to hand that off to Gaius Baltar? A man whose incompetence runs so deep he can't even go the bathroom without breaking fifteen rules of etiquette?