Farmer!Baltar

Ok, does anyone else remember when SkyOne had a profile on Baltar, about how he had been from a little farm town, and how folks were always wondering whether it was canon or not?

I guess I'd just always wondered about that profile. I was excited. 

Way back when I read that I couldn't really see it in Baltar. But I think it works: Baltar has always been more secretive and paranoid than he probably needed to be IMHO. Instead of admitting flat out that a cylon spy had tricked him from the start of the attack, he feverishly covers his involvement up, convincing himself that he'll be strung up for having the slightest cuplability. He's compulsive about hiding himself behind walls of lies and deceptions. So maybe it all stems from an obsession to cover his past as a a farmer's son. 

But it does seem a little unrealistic that no one ever knew this about Baltar. I mean, the man worked close to President Adar: I assume there would have been a thorough background check. But, whatever. 

I'm not surprised that Baltar would pull this card out now. He's always got a bag of tricks. 


More Chief = Hurray

I love it when Tyrol takes charge. He's so got the make of a leader. I love that he and Helo have been growing as characters and finding their voices. 


Strike or Mutiny?

A lot of the "angry masses" episodes seem to pop out of nowhere - all of a sudden there are disgruntled civilians flipping out about housing, policies, food, whatever. 

But I think this was the first one that didn't feel forced. The shuffling of civilians into jobs working beside military personnel has to be building to this - so it made sense. But it brings up a good question: is most every worker in the fleet under military authority? The society essentially has the same goal: running around from the cylons, going where Adama and Roslin say to, etc. There don't appear to be any real businesses, or significant civilian jobs. Everyone is providing a vital service, and can be accused of harming the survival/function of the fleet. 

And we've seen inklings of a class system in the colonies. We know there were problems in the past. So that worked nicely.

I wish this had been explored more and pushed to its limit: the ending tonight was waaaaay to tidy for such a nice start. I loved the early scene when Roslin and Adama tried to pressure Tyrol: there was a great irony to them saying 'Tell those kids to suck-it-up, everyone works hard!' as they supped their wine in Adama's posh quarters. Also liked the little side story with the young farmer architect kid, and the unfairness of his situation. 

But in the end thigs were wrapped up too nicely: Roslin sits down with Tyrol and says 'oh, I'm really on your side' as the whole strike was a misunderstanding and not a result of her and Adama's policies. And while it was sweet to see Seelix get the viper job, I doubt it was representative of most other folks stuck in the same jobs. This could have been pushed further, and in the end it wasn't allowed to merit more than a side episode.

Still, one of the better episodes this season IMHO.