Jammersreviews

Note: This review contains significant spoilers.

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Battlestar Galactica: "You Can't Go Home Again"

When Kara goes missing on a desolate planet, Adama orders a massive search 
operation with a scope that threatens to compromise the fleet's defensive 
position.

Air date: 2/4/2005 (USA)
Written by Carla Robinson
Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

Rating out of 4: ***

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
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"You Can't Go Home Again" tells the story of a battle between personal 
feelings and implacable logic. The situation indicates there can be only one 
logical outcome. Because the outcome is so seemingly inevitable (and because 
there's a time limit involved that could end up putting everybody at risk), 
you would think logic should easily win the day. But the logic here is 
battling some very strong feelings -- which happen to belong to the 
commander of the ship.

The search has begun for Starbuck, whose Viper went down on a desolate 
planet during an engagement with Cylon Raiders. The odds of finding her 
aren't good. President Roslin calls Adama to wish him the best in finding 
his missing pilot, despite the odds. "Frak the odds," Adama responds dryly. 
"We're going to find her."

Since I haven't mentioned anything about it up to this point, let me take a 
moment to discuss the fictional expletive "frak." At first, I didn't much 
care for it. Considering how this series goes out of its way to exist in a 
relatable world and avoid distracting sci-fi oddities, the use of a 
fictional swear word seems to go against that intention -- and at first did 
little more than pull me out of the reality of scenes. Personally, I'd 
prefer real profanity (or even the milder TV alternatives) to silly, made-up 
words. But I have to also admit that the word has sort of grown on me as the 
show has gone on. (I read in one of Ron Moore's blogs that the word is a 
holdover from the original "Battlestar," and I guess some nods to the 
original series aren't a bad thing.)

Back to the story. Adama's loss of objectivity starts almost immediately, 
but isn't initially a problem since it serves as an added motivator for him 
to find his missing pilot. It's as the story progresses that Adama's stake 
seems increasingly personal, less objective, and more risky. Adama and 
Lee -- who both regard Kara as family and also as their last link to Zak --  
team up to become a two-man force whose personal interests in saving Kara go 
far beyond anyone else's. "We aren't leaving anyone else behind," Adama 
explains. The notion of leaving no man behind is a familiar military 
concept, but it's not really about that here, because under extreme 
circumstances, Galactica has already been forced to do far worse than leave 
people behind.

In this case, Adama can argue strategic risk versus benefit: It's unlikely 
the Cylons will notice their patrol has gone missing for at least a few 
days, and Starbuck has only 40 hours of oxygen. This gives the search 
parties 40 hours to look for her.

It's not an easy rescue operation. The planet's environment is unforgiving, 
offering poor visibility and causing rescue ships to break down quickly and 
forcing them back to the Galactica. The search area is massive. The odds 
simply aren't favorable (but frak the odds).

On the planet surface, Starbuck limps along the barren, sand-blasted terrain 
until she happens upon the Cylon Raider that she downed in the engagement 
that led to her crash. Starbuck hopes that maybe she can help herself rather 
than wait for rescue, and attempts to take control of the Raider.

Here we get some solid sci-fi elements. After opening the bottom panel of 
the Raider, Starbuck finds the interior of the ship is a melding of 
technology and gory organic components that are practically still pulsating. 
There is no pilot. In other words, the Cylon Raiders are actually a type of 
cyber-organic Cylon. The story suggests that they fly themselves. If so, 
this one is brain-dead. Starbuck hopes she can fire up the engines and fly 
herself off this rock. No points for guessing if she's successful.

The living, organic space vehicle is an interesting, albeit not new, take on 
the plot line of the hero commandeering a foreign vehicle. It's particularly 
appropriate here: Since the Cylons are a species that evolved from 
mechanistic robots to a flawless human imitation, it makes sense that their 
ships would blend technology with the organic. Eventually, Starbuck is able 
to tap into the ship's oxygen supply in lieu of her own depleted oxygen 
tank. She also plugs the holes in the ship, in a manner that either I don't 
understand or am correct in saying they would not likely stay sealed in the 
vacuum of space.

Aboard the Galactica, the Ticking Clock for the search operation has 
expired, and Colonel Tigh recommends that since Starbuck is likely without 
oxygen and dead, the fleet should jump before a Cylon base ship shows up and 
wipes them out. There's a rare moment where Adama raises his voice and we 
realize that Olmos' performance is usually so calm and controlled that when 
he does get worked up, it's all the more surprising. Subsequently, Adama 
relieves Tigh from duty for speaking up against the continued search 
operation.

What's interesting here is how Adama is clearly not making the logical 
military call; he's making an emotional -- and personal -- one, at the 
possible expense of the fleet. He's hoping he can still rescue Starbuck, and 
he throws all kinds of resources into it: fuel reserves, rotations of Vipers 
until a third of them are broken down and in need of repair. Strategically, 
it's the wrong choice. Finally, Roslin has to force the issue and comes 
aboard the Galactica to confront Adama. It's perhaps a telling sign that 
Tigh briefs Roslin on Adama's state of mind, essentially allying himself 
with her for a confrontation.

That confrontation is where implacable logic steamrollers Adama's and Lee's 
cause. At a certain point, one pilot is simply not worth putting the future 
of the entire human race at risk. Roslin offers an argument that is simply 
irrefutable: "If the two of you of all people can live with that, then the 
human race doesn't stand a chance." This showdown, which Adama thought he 
could win because it's "a military matter," is completely neutralized by the 
facts.

What's somewhat puzzling about the way this unfolds is exactly what Adama 
and Lee were thinking before Roslin argues the cold, hard truth. It's not as 
if they are blind to the odds or the dangers. Indeed, it seems to me that 
Roslin only tells them everything they've been aware of the entire time. 
Perhaps it's just a matter of needing to be called on their actions, 
revealing their motivation for what it is -- personal feelings rooted in 
hope and unacceptable risk.

I guess there's something inherently human about hope standing its ground 
against all reason. This is demonstrated in a low-key but emotionally potent 
scene where Lee asks his father if he would do the same for him as for Kara. 
Adama's response is heartfelt and simple: "If it were you, we'd never 
leave."

On Cylon-occupied Caprica, we get a little bit of action/adventure as Cylon 
sentries shoot up the place where Helo and Boomer are staying, and in the 
aftermath of the chaos Boomer is missing. Is this relevant to anything else 
going on in the episode? Not in the slightest. But it does keep Helo's 
storyline alive and not forgotten, and proves to be one of the more 
entertaining executions of this isolated plot thus far.

By the end, of course Starbuck will be rescued. The plot is a foregone 
conclusion. It's to the credit of the writers, however, that this plays out 
with humanity, feeling, and genuine satisfaction. There's a sequence where 
Apollo goes up against Starbuck's Raider, thinking it's an enemy ship. This 
is an action scenario that doesn't forget that the pilots are human beings 
as opposed to action props. Could Starbuck really learn to fly an enemy 
vessel so skillfully this quickly? I have my doubts, but they're not too 
important.

This is a story built not so much on what happens but who is involved and 
the relationships between them. By the time Starbuck is returned to the ship 
and lying in sickbay, the reopened wounds from "Act of Contrition" have been 
forgiven, and we see how these people care about one other. That's the key 
to the episode, and one of the keys to what will make this series 
successful.

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Copyright 2005, Jamahl Epsicokhan. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this article is prohibited.

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