Jammersreviews

Note: This review contains significant spoilers.

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Battlestar Galactica: "Home, Part 1"

Kara, Helo, and Sharon rendezvous with Roslin's fugitive fleet in orbit of 
Kobol, where they prepare for a dangerous mission to find the Tomb of 
Athena. Meanwhile, Adama begins to feel the pressures of a fleet divided.

Air date: 8/19/2005 (USA)
Written by David Eick
Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

Rating out of 4: ***1/2

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
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"Home, Part 1" is about how Adama gradually comes to the crushing 
realization that he has been significantly abandoned -- and that a divided 
fleet is a substantially weakened fleet, in terms of both ability and 
morale.

In the episode's early scenes, he names a new CAG, Lt. Birch (Ben Ayres), to 
replace his son. His selection is based more on Birch's apparent loyalty to 
the chain of command than actual leadership ability. Even Tigh has doubts 
about him. The story drives home the point when Adama holds a press 
conference where he says, "We've lost no one who cannot be replaced with 
someone loyal." Meanwhile, rumors are circulating that Earth is something 
Adama made up. Adama threatens to jail reporters who spread such "slander." 
This is not a fleet that has high confidence in its battlestar commander.

Meanwhile, Roslin heads up the mission to Kobol with Lee serving as her XO 
on the Astral Queen. This is an irritant for Zarek, who really wants to be 
in charge but recognizes that Roslin is the one who wields the power with 
her religious followers who want to find the Tomb of Athena. Zarek's 
right-hand man, Meier (James Remar), readily encourages Zarek to plot 
several moves in advance. Meier reminded me of Gul Rosot from DS9's "Tacking 
into the Wind" -- a man participating in a fragile alliance, just waiting 
for the right moment to upend the arrangement by taking Lee out of the 
equation. Meier seems like more of a wild card than even Zarek, because at 
least Zarek has a sense of political savvy that somewhat reins him in.

Kara, Helo, and Sharon rendezvous with the Astral Queen, and for the first 
time on "Battlestar Galactica," there is no Cylon-occupied Caprica on the 
screen. If there were any questions as to what kind of reception a copy of 
Sharon would get upon returning to the fleet, they're answered here. Lee 
grabs her, throws her against a wall, and presses a gun against her face. 
Roslin doesn't hesitate in ordering Sharon put out the airlock, no questions 
asked, which is as disturbing as it is consistent. Only Sharon's claim that 
she knows how to find the Tomb of Athena puts her execution on hold. Sharon 
is thrown into a cell; to say Roslin is skeptical is an understatement.

With a show like "Home, Part 1," the truth is in the details and character 
nuances. Take, for example, the scenes between Kara and Lee. When they're 
first reunited, Lee spontaneously kisses her, much to (I suspect) both their 
surprise. Later, he goes to talk to her while she broods with her 
Caprica-acquired pyramid ball. The way he playfully taunts her with the ball 
has an unmistakable sibling vibe to it, like two kids on a playground. And 
when he casually tells her that he loves her (again, with a sibling sort of 
throwaway delivery), I like the way Kara turns around and taunts him with 
that admission. The sexual tension is there, yes, but the story doesn't lose 
track of the unique, playful bond between these two characters. (Although 
given how this is played, I fail to see the point of the writers pairing 
Kara up with Anders in "The Farm.")

On board the Galactica, we get two sequences that show how Birch isn't up to 
the job of CAG. (A training exercise with Hotdog and Kat almost ends in 
disaster, and a routine refueling mission is botched.) By extension, it 
shows Adama's own emerging impotence as a leader. When Birch blows the 
refueling mission, Adama's face has never seemed longer. In the privacy of 
his quarters, he sits at his desk and crushes walnuts in his hand, as if to 
release little bits of percolating rage.

The episode has a great scene that works because of its haunting stillness. 
Adama sits in his quarters doing touch-up painting on a model sailing ship, 
and has a monologue to an off-screen listener: "Betrayal has such a powerful 
grip on the mind. It seems like a python. It can squeeze out all other 
thought, suffocate all other emotion until everything is dead except for the 
rage. I'm not talking about anger. I'm talking about rage." The scene is 
entrancing, in no small part because it's so quietly pitched. Edward James 
Olmos plays this monologue with utter calmness and emotional detachment, as 
if Adama has separated himself from his feelings and can contain and 
objectively analyze them. The listener turns out to be Dualla, and her 
unexpected response to Adama's monologue is a terrific moment, because it 
demonstrates her own perceptiveness and doesn't let Adama off the hook for 
his own responsibilities in this mess. "You let us down," she says.

A subsequent scene is also powerful even though it has absolutely no words. 
Adama stands unhappily in a corridor, realizes that the situation cannot 
continue as it has, and decides he's going to take steps to fix it. He does 
not reach this decision easily; you can see the pain on his face. Everything 
about Adama says pain. As Dee said to him, it's time to heal the wounds.

Like most episodes so far this season, there is a major action sequence in 
the final act. I've complained about gratuitous action scenarios on other 
series, but the action works on BSG, because it's not arbitrary and grows 
from a place of good motivation. (It also helps that the action is visceral 
and feels more like chaotic war footage than inorganically inserted 
choreography.) It's established early that the path to the Tomb of Athena is 
likely being guarded by the Cylons, and the action is not simply about 
itself but also about how the characters behave under fire. Lee doesn't 
trust Sharon one bit and acts like a very rabid watchdog; this pays off with 
an explosion that earns Sharon some trust.

Priest Elosha is killed when she steps on a land mine. I would express mild 
surprise at the writers having the guts to kill off a supporting character 
who has been around since the miniseries, but let's face it: She's not going 
to be nearly as necessary as a source of exposition once "Home" answers its 
questions in the second part.

There are a lot of dynamics of interest in this episode. Whether it's Zarek 
and Meier discussing the power of Roslin's myth, or Lee and Kara arguing 
over Sharon's motives, or Roslin using Sharon's love for Helo against her, 
or Sharon telling Helo that it's human nature to be distrusting and 
unkind -- it's all engrossing and we're made to care because we have a stake 
in all the characters.

But the real point here is Adama. Here's a man who has been wounded and 
humbled and is not quite the man he was, and now he has to watch as 
everything around him goes further to hell. Only by making a concession that 
goes against his military hard-line strength can he find a way out of this 
jam. Olmos makes the journey to this realization a particularly interesting 
one, by depicting a man who deep down knows what must be done but has a hard 
time swallowing the pill.

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

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Jamahl Epsicokhan - jammer@...