Cinescape's Review for Pegasus

Cinescape has reviewed the midseason finale, Pegasus:

Television ReviewBATTLESTAR GALACTICA - Pegasus Context
Matters Dateline: Saturday, September 24, 2005
By: JASON DAVIS By: Columnist

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - Pegasus
GRADE: A+ Reviewed Format: TV Show
Network: Sci-Fi Channel
Original Airdate: 23 September 2005
Cast: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park
Creator: Glen A. Larson
Developer: Ronald D. Moore
Writers: Anne Cofell Saunders
Director: Michael Rymer

Twenty-seven years ago, Commander Caine was a Colonial war hero with enough medals for his brash behavior to charm a fleet into following him into hell. As Bill Adama says, "Context matters." Taking the original series two-parter "The Living Legend" as a starting point, the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA has created a completely new meal from the same basic ingredients.
Michelle Forbes, always an excellent choice for roles of this nature, makes a menacing turn as the now Admiral Caine. Aided by a skillfully crafted script that places restrained, but narratively loaded, interactions between the Admiral and Commander Adama in sharp contrast to more outwardly disturbing commentaries on the Admiral's character, Forbes attains a depth of character that acting, writing, and directing would be unable to capture on their own. Her XO's revelation that she executed his predecessor in front of the entire crew allows Michael Hogan to employ the horror he so ably brought to bare when Tigh assumed command and the Pegasus XO's sudden downplaying of his "joke" had just the right ring of someone who realizes that he's inadvertently crossed a line in a conversation. These elements of disparity between the two Battlestar crews are only the tip of the philosophical iceberg as far as the episode's concerned.
On the whole, the Pegasus harbors a meaner kind of human, as much removed from the Galactica's crew as they are from the Cylons. The rape and torture of Number Six serves as a benchmark for the savagery of Caine's crew and Tricia Helfer's pitiable performance would have been disturbing enough to warrant the warning that preceded the act concerning Boomer's near rape. From a directorial standpoint, Baltar's discovery of the battered Six contains a number elegant subtleties that do a good job of tying him into the scene. As he and his Number Six approach, their steps become synchronized, almost dance-like in their precision. There is no doubt that the Number Six we've seen all series is fully a part of Baltar and she voices his disgust for him as he views her counterpart's bruised form. Congratulations to the make-up department who economically tells the audience the story of this incarcerated Number Six with a single shot and foretells the likely future of Boomer under Caine's command.
Thematically, the episode could not be stronger. Every moment hinges on its context and President Roslin's revelation that Caine outranks Adama is wonderfully delivered by Mary McDonnell. In this new context, the ally she's earned through so much strife has been militarily castrated, a notion driven home be the reassignment of Apollo from the Galactica. Tigh, as ever incapable of grasping the big picture, believes Caine to be insane, but Adama cautions him not to consider a single action without all the facts. Edward James Olmos turns in one of his strongest performances carrying the weight of military protocol squarely on his shoulders until the context of the story brings him to the same decision his son undertook in the previous season finale. The subtle air of self-loathing that permeates his order to attack the Pegasus is a tribute to the actor and a tip of the hat to the episode's theme. The Lords of Kobol willing, the score for this episode will feature prominently on the next soundtrack compilation--in both defying expectation and counterpointing emotion, it is without equal