Battlestar Galactica Reviews: Six of One (Episode 4.02)

Reviews:
Episode Name: Six of One
Episode Number: 402
Written by: Michael Angeli
Directed by: Anthony Hemingway
Original Air Date: 4/11/08 on SciFi Channel
Review Posted: 6/9/08

Review of Episode 4.02:

It wasn't until we watched "Six of One" that we realized how little the storylines had actually moved in the season premier. With all the action, the only real revelation had been the Cylon Raider seeming to recognize Anders and then retreat along with the other Raiders. The bits about Kara and Baltar were simply the logical conclusions of the plotlines setup in the season three finale. Even Lee's move wasn't surprising since he nearly made that move all the way back in the first season.

This episode did prove far more intriguing. We got far less Baltar and none of his harem except some doe-eyed looks in the mess. One exception of the one scene were we got two Baltars for the price of one. It was amusing and even harkened back to the sexed up Baltar of the first season although we weren't as interested in his second scene with Tory since she hopped in bed with him only two episodes after she had been going at it with Anders. We know we were supposed to be intrigued by the idea that Baltar might be the Final Cylon and even might have an idea that he knows about Tory's identity, but we're not buying it since it's been teased for quite some time.

We got tired of Kara's ranting and raving fairly quickly and were happy she was immediately relegated to the brig, but even attacking several Marines and pointing a gun at the President only earns Kara a day or two in the brig before she gets her own crew and ship. As interesting as the character was when she was introduced in the miniseries, we've grown tired of how contrived her storylines end up. For a show grounded in realism, Kara has often been involved with very unrealistic or melodramatic storylines. Adama's initial reaction to get physically violent with Kara makes sense because of his feelings for Roslin, but by the end of the episode all is forgiven and she's not only turned loose, but given a ship and a crew.

We will admit to thoroughly enjoying the scene between Lee and Kara, which was probably their best since the second season. If their relationship had been portrayed more like that last season, it would have been a whole lot more watchable. Lee's other scenes were bordering on melodramatic and actually felt like a send off for a character who is leaving for good when we know Lee will be back on board to at the very least visit his father. Lee did even share a moment with his estranged wife which made it clear that she was done with him with her curt good-bye.

However, the real refreshing development in the episode was development of dissention between the remaining six Cylon human models. Boomer reappears for the first time since getting her neck broken during Athena's rescue of Hera. While Athena chose to turn against the rest of the Cylon race, Boomer has chosen to go against her model in supporting Cavil's decision to lobotomize the Raiders. Natalie takes the equally extreme action of removing the inhibitions that prevented higher reasoning in the Centurions and then stands by while the Centurions gun down the leadership of opposing faction. We just don't think it's going to end up being a good idea to turn loose higher reasoning and independent thought to walking arsenals that the human models have been treating as their lapdogs. We're hoping that this will be major storyline during the season and not be quickly resolved and dropped in an episode or two.

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