Thoughts on Pegasus

The only thing that keeps going through my head is "Jeez, we have to wait until JANUARY!?" I am sure many of you are thinking the same thing.

I could really feel this show pulling me in two different directions. On the one side is the Galactica with its happy go lucky atmosphere where everyone stays true to the idealistic views of duty and honor and family. On the other side is the Pegasus where a good Cylon is a dead Cylon, everything is black and white and the ends always justify the means. It is interesting that all this time, we thought we had an accurate picture of what a post-holocaust survival situation would be like. We didn't realize what was missing until the Pegasus showed up.

I like this episode because it feels real in a way that none of the episodes have. The Pegasus is a ship that we wish in our heart of hearts never exists... but we know that it does... and a part of us wants to forgive them because in the end every Cylon deserves what they are getting. Remember that little girl playing with her doll in the mini-series? The one in the ship that gets left behind and a missile slams into it as the fleet jumps away? The Cylons killed her... they killed everyone on that ship. Remember those nuclear warheads going off on Capirca?

The Pegasus is like Col. Jessep from a few good men:

"Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You?... I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to."

Metaphor and analogy aside, I guess I am saying that in a fully rational world, I can understand the role that Admiral Cain and the Pegasus play. They are the dirty side of war... the harsh... cruel... dehumanizing side... and although a part of me deep down wants them to exist... I really, really hate them for it.

That is what stands out to me the most... how much I just despise Admiral Cain and everyone on board the Pegasus. In the episode Final Cut we saw a nice little propaganda film put together that showcased the nobility of the Galactica crew. I am sure you could make an identical video about the Pegasus... about the hundreds of Raiders they have destroyed... the countless sacrifices they have made. Everyone on that ship is equally a person... with a history... a family... Like the Galactica they are doing their job against hopeless odds. They thought they were the last ship in the fleet and yet they continued to fight (on offense) against the Cylons. But it is easy to forget these things, especially when they come into our house (this show) and treat the characters we know and love like second class officers.

This is another interesting dynamic. Remember, the Galactica was set to be decommissioned. It was an old ship full of a third-rate crew... a collection of disciplinary problems, wash-ups and reserves. The Pegasus on the other hand is a top-notch technological marvel, staffed with probably one of the most hardened and talented crews in the fleet. It is an Admiral flag ship. For you Trekkies, Pegasus is the Enterprise NCC-1701-E while the Galactica is NCC-1701-B.

Of course, Enterprise comparisons aside, the Pegasus sure as hell isn't any starship we know. It is one hell of a dark place. With rumored shootings on the bridge for a single disobeyed command, sanctioned rape of enemy prisoners, and zero tolerance tribunals, it is no wonder the crew is a little hard to love. The contrast is stark when compared with Galactica.

Honestly though, I don't think you can blame Galactica for becoming as soft as it has. The mediating factor in all of this is the Colonial fleet. The Pegasus has been able to go it alone and concentrate on maximizing their military impact. The Galactica, on the other hand, is responsible for the lives of over 47,000 civilians. This naturally makes the entire operation much more community focused. The elements of democracy pervade all ships, both military and civilian. For proof you only have to look at the relationship between Roslin and Adama. He use to be a much harder "military" man and has definitely softened his touch to allow the virtues of human society to foster within such a hopeless situation.

If you think back to a conversation Baltar had with Number Six down on Kobol, she said that humanity's desire to kill is what makes them human. The Pegasus fulfills her observation, but Adama and the Galactica disapprove it equally showing compassion towards Sharon and a genuine desire to allow the virtues of a free society to persist... even when the easier path is martial law and armed force.

In the end, I really liked this episode. It made me think a lot over these past few days about the different sides of the war against the Cylons. The truth is that we hate the Pegasus, but part of us needs it to exist. We love Galactica, but only because it is an idealized vision of how we wish the world should work. The most interesting part is that when faced with a vision of how the world is, we hate it. In science fiction, reality makes the best enemy.

Principal MVP of the week is Edward James Olmos as William Adama. He gives some good monologues about the role of a soldier, but when pressed too far, his idealism and loyalty lash out. The scene where he throws down and launches the fighters gave me goosebumps.

Secondary MVP of the week has to go to Michelle Forbes as Admiral Cain. They couldn't have casted someone who I disliked more. Every moment she was onscreen I cringed. Being that I am a "Star Trek" guy, I also enjoyed seeing a familiar face.

Additional Resources

• Official episode synopsis
• Podcast commentary with Ron Moore
• Battlestar Wiki Pegasus page

Comments

[The Box]

Holy Frak!

I screamed in excitement and frustration at the cliffhanger.
This episode was good.

Stuff I liked:

NEVER THOUGHT I’D SEE SIX SHOCKED. Mind you, I think this raises all sortsa questions like are the cylons not aware of each other’s assignments i.e. which agents are on which ship?

NEVER THOUGHT I’D SEE BALTAR ACTUALLY ADMIT HE LOVED SIX.

WE’RE BACK TO THE GRITTY BRUTAL NATURE OF THE MINI SERIES AND THE FIRST SEASON. Sharon’s near-rape was horrifying to watch. The ‘racist’ atmosphere of human hatred towards the cylons rearing its ugly head made for some pretty tense moments.

CONSEQUENCE RETURNING. I’d begun to fear the ‘reset button’ effect. But when Admiral Cain read through the litany of offenses Adama let slide, I smiled. This universe has consequences.

Stuff I didn’t like:

THE NEW MUSIC. I swear, if the reunion scene where Cain came on board went any longer, they’d have thrown in a guitar riff to join the modern drum beats. Also, what’s with the old western guitar twanging in that scene with Baltar and the abused cylon prisoner.

THE CAIN VS ADAMA CAMERA WORK. The handheld camera work that has been their signature added to the realism of the show. It was fresh. The ‘standoff’ with both of them having words on the phone was a bit too Michael Bay for me. Swirling ‘carousel’ shot and all.

Anyhow.
It’s gonna be a long, long wait.

God I love this show!

[Trapper Markelz]

The Box - Ha! Yeah I totally blocked out how bad that music was when writing this entry. For a show that is KNOWN for such great music... it stood out horribly.

I also agree that the scene where Baltar professes his love for Six was very surprising and powerful. Great work by James Callis in this episode.

[SuperTroy]

"The Galactica, on the other hand, is responsible for the lives of over 47,000 civilians. This naturally makes the entire operation much more community focused."

I call bull. The Galactica has done some pretty questionable things themselves (as the scene between Cain and Adama in Cain's Wardroom should have shown) Don't Like Lt. Frost's Gang Rape and torture of the Six model on Pegasus? How's that much different than Starbuck's really brutal torture and interrogation in "Flesh and Bone"? Or the President's subsequent execution? Think the cylon's deserve respect for their "Human Rights"? How's that square with giving Cally a pass for murdering Boomer?

In fact IMO, you could go through the litany of things that make us dislike Pegasus and find something equally disturbing in the Galactica's history.

But we're privy to the context. Like Adama said, "Context matters" We don't know a hell of a lot of context around any of these incidents.

Just saying is all. Still was one of the better episodes of the series.

Minor prediction: The Mystery Cylon Ship is somehow connected with the title of the next ep.

[Trapper Markelz]

SuperTroy - I think we can agree that even though Adama's record isn't perfect, when compared to Cain's initial contact with the fleet, he is much more compassionate and has only grown more so over the second season. The characters are a product of their experiences and I think it is safe to say that they are all maturing as the situations they encounter change their outlooks.

I totally agree with you that the Pegasus isn't as far from Galactica as we would like it to be. I think that is why as a viewer I am so repulsed. What Admiral Cain says about the Galactica is true... and as someone who cares for the crew of Galactica, I don't like to be reminded of that.

[Jarisha]

The Box asks why Cylon agents don't know each other's assignments. For the same reason human agents aren't told about other human agents: in case one is captured, the others aren't put at risk.

I agree about the music, although I thought the music during the discovery of Pegasus was appropriate: hopeful and celebratory. Which makes our disappointment that it's not just one big happy event all the more powerful.

Headline: We've finally seen the face of god!
(The Cylon's god, anyway.) Some of my previous observations: the "Lords of Kobol" were probably supercomputers that created Humans to be servants. Humans rebelled as the Cylons have, and destroyed all but one "Lord". This explains several things: why Cylons worship one god vs gods; how Cylons "evolved" so hugely in 40 years; why Cylons keep saying that it's all happened before; etc.
The mystery ship is where this supercomputer "god" resides. It's probably also where all of the human-like Cylons are built. It's also the key to how the next episode is likely to play out.
Whenever something happens that just can't be easily undone (Adama launching an attack on Pegasus), the only thing that can "solve" it is a rapid expansion of conflict. In other words: the Cylon fleet will discover the Human fleet immediately. After all, if an old ship like Galactica had a Cylon tracking device, why wouldn't the Pegasus? And we have no idea if they found all of them, do we?
Both Pegasus and Galactica will be forced to give up their face-off to deal with the threat. If you remember the original series, you can guess what's likely to happen from there: Cain will forego any semblence of concern for the civilians and attack the godship directly, while Adama will give up the attack (against orders) in order to defend them. What happens to Tyrol and Helio and maybe Baltar? Well, the writers haven't avoided splitting up the crew before, so they won't now. They'll end up on a very damaged Pegasus; Cain will be either forced to accept their help or too injured to be in charge. Baltar might even be on board (we don't know for sure where he is).
There are other more remote possibilities I'll mention here, because it's fun to speculate. What if Cain's people are all lying: they ran away. They're scared to death of the Cylons (who've been chasing THEM, not the other way around). Cain's like a bully that's trying to prove she isn't scared. If so, then maybe they still have the virus on their ships? Maybe Adama suspects this. Maybe he can use it to shut down Pegasus' vipers? That would be fun, wouldn't it?
Another possibility: Cain's second in command has seen what happens when you let her get a drop on you. So he's secretly prepared a "first strike" against her by recruiting other key personal. He would then use this face-off as a chance to arrest her and take command.
Yet another: she'll slap Adama down, arrest him, and only the Cylon's attack (and Galactica's crew's refusal to obey anyone but Adama) will force her to release him. If this happens, it could still play out as I speculated before, with a damaged Pegasus and Helio and Tyrol either escaping or helping the survivors.

Another issue: 6. If Baltar is on Pegasus when all of this goes down, the Pegasus 6 (P-6) might help him survive. It's possible that the six in Baltar's brain (as I said before - not a "chip" but a reprogrammed portion of his actual brain) will be able to share knowledge with the P-6. Could B-6 actually download itself into P-6, giving Baltar an actual, physical 6 to call his own? Will she treat him nicely? Ah... maybe. But there's that whole S&M thing they have going, and P-6 is going to have some "issues" with Humans. So I would expect a little rough stuff, either way. :)

[John]

The Pegasus shows how far the Galactica has come because of civilian influence. It's no coincidence that the crew named their colloborative, creative effort the "Laura." Did Starbuck brutally interogate her Cylon? Yes. Did Adama brutally kill a Cylon in the mini-series? Yes.

But over time, Laura Roselyn (representing the civilian branch) has changed Adama and Galactica, to where Adama is now _protecting_ a Cylon.

What numbers did the Galactica and the fleet keep? The number of people left in the fleet, on Roselyn's board. What does the Pegasus keep track of? Enemy kills. It's a difference of priorities.

The Pegasus _is_ the Galactica, without the civilian influence over time. In the mini-series, Adama was rarring to do just what the Pegasus was doing. Like Cain, he was questioning how a secretary of education could be president. This episode is really a way to say, "These characters have changed -this much- over the last two seasons."

Brilliant, methinks.

[SuperTroy]

{quote}I think we can agree that even though Adama's record isn't perfect, when compared to Cain's initial contact with the fleet, he is much more compassionate and has only grown more so over the second season. The characters are a product of their experiences and I think it is safe to say that they are all maturing as the situations they encounter change their outlooks.
{quote}

True but I kind of wonder if that isn't the point that RM is trying to hit us over the head with. I can't help but wonder if there isn't some "context" behind much of Cain's actions and the actions of the crew of the Pegasus.

For example, take the shooting of the XO. What if it was more than a simple case of cowardice (itself a court martialable event in certain circumstances) on the PegXO's part and a case of an outright mutiny.

Or even less excuseable but still interesting... I've noticed that the spoilers about this episode were saying that PegaSix was responsible for the deaths of much more of the crew than the 7 or so acknowledged in the episode. In the hundreds. If an enemy agent who was responsible for the deaths of a few hundred of my fellow crewmates..... Well, I can see where the unexcusable could easily become the commonplace.

In fact I'll even go out on a limb and say that other than capping the XO and the Rape/Torture of PegaSix, every action undertaken by Cain and the Pegasus Crew makes sense given the point of view to someone who hasn't been with the Galactica and the RTF from the get go.

Lee has been in open rebelion against his military superiors. Doesn't matter if he was right, in sane times, he shouldn't be allowed near a piece of military equipment again. For example.

Ditto Starbuck. Ditto the Chief. Ditto Tigh. Hell Ditto Adama, Too.

And that's why I love this show. There are no easy answers.

[Carlos]

Jarisha,

good theories, except for the one about Cain actually being a coward on the run. That one doesn't fly. Her crew are obviously battle hardened fanatics and mean business.

I don't have a problem with the music in Pegaus. In fact I prefer it to the usual BSG fare. The camera swirling during the Cain/Adama standoff was perfect too. The problem with Michael Bay is he doesn't know when to stop. Will Smith gets out of car, camera swirls. Will Smith loads his gun, camera swirls. Will Smith looks up from his burger, camera swirls. In Pegasus, the camera pan was effective in conveying the tension of a situation spriralling out of control. I thought the entire episode was magnificent.

[Eric J]

As far as the crew of the Pegasus knows, they are the only surviving humans, and don't appear to have enough women on board to even make an attempt to repopulate the race. (Or are all the women other than Cain sequestered in the ship, being impregnated in a bizarre parallel to the Farm on Caprica (and in a way to the treatment of P-6.) I'm not sure we can estimate what kind of an effect that isolation has had on the crew of the Pegasus.