Wednesday, December 14, 2005

BSG: The Farm, Home pts 1 & 2

Given my crapness when it comes to updating my blog I figured I'd better catchup with my BSG reviews. Season 2 has almost finished its mid-season break, so if I don't do this now, it ain't ever gonna happen.

The Farm
The Farm is the final ep dealing with the trials of Starbuck & Helo on Caprica. The previous ep saw the introduction of a resistance cell, which quite frankly left a lot to be desired. Having joined forces with the gung-ho cell Starbuck is injured and wakes to find herself in a Caprican hospital being tended by a mysterious doctor.

Naturally, things aren't what they seem as we begin to learn that the Cylons are impregnating human women in 'farms' all across the colonies. This plot point isn't a bad concept, but it struggles to keep any cohesion (a bit like this blog), as too much has to happen in a very small space of time. Perhaps if the writers had given this plot a few eps to develop it would have seemed a little more interesting.

Again, the more interesting action is going on within the rag-tag fleet. Adama has finally emerged from his coma to find the fleet in disarray. Roslin and Lee Adama have fled Galactica in an effort to form a splinter group. Their aim? To return to Kobol in order to find their way to Earth. This is actually a pretty gripping storyline as it again illustrates the role religion can play in society. Roslin has now emerged from her role as a weak President into that of a spiritual leader, and her support is far greater than ever before.

The episode is probably the weakest of the season so far. The titular plot is very contrived, mainly due to it being rushed far too much. The interest levels are kept going only by the return of Adama and the rise of Roslin as a religious icon.

The Farm: 5.5/10

Home parts 1 & 2
As the title suggests, this two part ep deals with the re-unification of the characters trapped on Caprica with the two splintered fleets. It brings to an end a nine ep story arc that began with the previous seasons cliffhanger 'Kobols Last Gleaming'.

A still recovering Adama, takes stock of what went wrong while Tigh was in command. Rather than allow the divisions to grow, he chooses to take the fleet back to Kobol in an effort to find Roslin (and his son, Lee). Meanwhile, Starbuck returns to the fleet with Helo and a pregnant Sharon. As expected, some pretty serious tension ensues.

While I do feel that this story-arc has been a couple of episodes too long, the conclusion does not fail to deliver. Adama is a proud man, but he is never more than slightly willing to move on without the third of the fleet lost to Roslin. The eventual discovery of the Tomb of Athena does not offer easy to follow directions to Earth, thus ensuring the show lasts a little longer than 2 seasons!

Some very good performances from Almos (Adama), Park (Sharon) and McDonnell (Roslin) ensure a gritty finale to the very depressing (albeit entertaining) story-arc.

Home part 1: 7/10
Home part 2: 7.5/10

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