Written by: Michael Taylor
Directed by: Edward James Olmos
Starring: Michael Trucco, Donnelly Rhodes, Kerry Norton
Rating:
The One Where: Baltar takes a trip...
Synopsis
They’ve opened a bar called Joe’s on Galactica. That’s handy for Apollo and Starbuck: both their relationships are at breaking point, with their partners saying “Just get the hell together if you want to!”Roslin orders the Doc to dose Baltar with hallucinogenic drugs to make him talk. While under, Baltar mentions the Final Five, and confesses that he’s not sure if he’s a Cylon.
They put Gaeta in with Baltar to win his confidence. But Gaeta’s got other plans... He stabs Baltar in the neck with a pen – but Gaius survives.
Roslin decides that he should be put on trial.
Review
An episode directed by Commander Adama himself! He does a good job on what’s very much an actor-focused bottle episode, with lots of great tête-à-têtes. In particular, there’s a lovely, claustrophobic feel to the scenes where Starbuck and Anders have whispered discussions about their failing marriage in their bunk. The “Baltar takes a trip” subplot could have been terribly cheesy, but James Callis’s acting (magnificent as ever) and the simple presentation (Baltar imagines himself in water, in the dark) mean they pull it off.
You’ve gotta laugh when they put a security camera in Baltar’s cell, though – it’s as obvious as a turd in the snow, and it defies belief that they don’t already have CCTV everywhere!
Dialogue
A toast from Tyrol: “To marriage: why we build bars...”
Ian Berriman
