Episode Report Card Jacob Clifton: A+ | 5 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Six Of One...
By Jacob Clifton | Season 2 | Episode 18 | Aired on 02.23.2006
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Hell, yes. Nine months ago, the world ends. Gaius Baltar's hot girlfriend Natasi (#6) gets fried in a nuclear blast on Caprica and wakes up in a Cylon birthing tank, assuming that the man she loves is dead -- and is welcomed from her download by Aaron Doral (#5), D'Anna Biers (#3), and...Gaius Baltar. Yep. Lest she think he's a Cylon, though, he reveals that he's not really there, and then acts really cool and sexy and idealized. He tempts her toward sympathy toward humanity, playing on her guilt for using him to engineer their extinction. She is something of a celebrity, for her part in the Apocalypse, and thus unique, which worries D'Anna. A few months later, Boomer (#8) gets Jack Rubied by Cally, and downloads back on Caprica. She's troubled by her experiences aboard Galactica, and over-identifying with her human victims and history, and so D'Anna sends Six in to get her back on track. Struggling with her own emotions, and somewhat swayed by Sharon's -- not to mention by her inner Gaius -- Six realizes that they've been played: they'll more than likely be judged unsalvageable and "boxed," their memories held back in cold storage from download. Meanwhile, Anders and his Resistance buddies plan guerilla attacks, one of which strands him in a carpark with D'Anna, Six and Sharon. Realizing D'Anna's reaction to the threat they represent itself proves the holes in the Plan, they let Anders escape, kill D'Anna, and put their own DEMAND PEACE movement into effect. They only have thirty-six hours before the next D'Anna downloads and hits the alarm. This D'Anna is fantastic, like a deranged Life Coach on Starting Over with access to inordinately large weaponry; this Six is brittle, self-questioning and vulnerable, playing the irritated haunting victim every bit as hilariously and sadly as Gaius back home; this Boomer is strong, smart, complex, pissed and loyal, but bad at screaming. It's beautiful, all of it. On Galactica, Boomer finally gives birth to a daughter, Hera, whom Roslin kidnaps -- involving Doc Cottle in a creepy dead-baby substitution maneuver -- and sends off like a half-robot Moses with a random Tory-approved childless woman. I see that working out well for all concerned. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Nine months ago, on Caprica, the poundy drums were intense indeed. At Gaius Baltar's house, he was megastressed because he'd just learned that, thanks to him, the entirety of humanity was going to be destroyed in a minute. He was freaking out on his girlfriend -- who'd used their relationship to set the whole thing up -- about how she had to have an escape plan, right, because nuclear bombs are all fun and games until you are vaporized into a shadow on the wall and your crops are irradiated for a thousand years. Kind of embarrassed for him, Six explained in simple words that she was a total robot and would just download into a fresh body once she was exploded. Baltar was also going blind at this point due to the bombing, and having a science-fiction porn moment in his own head: "You mean there's more out there like you?" She explained that she was the sixth of the twelve Cylon models, he said he didn't want to die, and then she pushed him to the ground as a nuclear shockwave brought the house down around them.
Today, Six's eyes go all twitchy in a Cylon birthing tank, and her downloaded memories flash across the screen. But it's not just any memories, not her life flashing before her eyes: we see her before and after she killed that baby while wearing a totally fierce violet jacket; kissing Gaius in the Caprica gardens; making love to him in the house. Guilt, love, sex, Gaius. She is the next evolution of the Cylon machine: first comes sentience, then comes self-doubt, self-interrogation, guilt. The drums stop for a second as Six breathes: "Do you love me?" And then they start again, and it's awesome, and Six remembers more sex and more Gaius. If the Six model's need for love can be fulfilled -- and by a human, of course -- then there's got to be more to God's plan. I'm not sure, but I think some of the memories are actually of Gaius and Chip Six on Galactica, but I'm sure that, if that's true, it's just a funny edit and not yet important, because that's a pretty tiny thing for foreshadowing.
Again there is the blast, and again Six gasps in the birthing tank. Her bangs and face are dry, because she's been lying there for a while, waiting to download. She stutters, very confused, and a Boomer in a beautiful dress and another version of Six watch, worried. "I was in a house," says Tank Six. The voice of D'Anna Biers comforts her: "But you're not in a house any longer." Biers smiles down at her: "You're back with us. You've been reborn." Six isn't really there yet, repeating that she has died. It seems very traumatic and not just a little painful. Biers strokes her hair, speaking sweetly and softly: "But that is all over now. You have been downloaded into a new body." The other Six is very professional and put-together, as usual, but weirded out by the spazzing. The reborn Six thinks for a moment: "Gaius. Gaius was in the house." Biers and Boomer look at each other, concerned. "Is he alive?" Six demands. "Is he?" Nobody answers her, but from nowhere there's a gentle "Shhhh." The camera pans up from her panicked face to Gaius, his shit ten times as together as we've seen in a long while. Oh my God! He's a Cylon! "I'm not really here," he whispers. "No one can see me but you." Oh my God! He's a Chip Gaius! Fake-out! Double fake-out! Six lets out a choking chuckle and reaches for Baltar. "Don't let them know," he says. Biers, more firmly: "Six. Would it trouble you if Dr. Baltar were dead?" Six retreats as Gaius murmurs, "If they know how you feel about me, it'll be a problem." Six thinks fast and dials it back: "It would be unfortunate. If he died. He was so helpful." Biers gleams: "Very helpful. Your mission was a resounding success. It completely disabled the colonial defenses." She's so warm, her beaming smile: "The attack succeeded beyond our most optimistic projections, thanks to you." She's so proud. Six just stares.