Battlestar Galactica 3.14: "A Day In the Life"
Airdate: Sunday, February 18th, 2007

Ya know, I would normally be all for a slice o' life type of episode -- a small, quiet thing dealing with our Galactican's various dilemmas during this Cylon-free period. But this one feels stitched together from discarded B-plots, rightfully deleted scenes and Adama's old mustache hairs. It also boasts one of my least favorite stock storytelling devices ever, but we'll get to that in a sec.

So first of all, Chief and Cally are having issues, which means it's the perfect time to trap them in a leaky airlock together! Sadly, hilarity does not ensue. Instead, they are released into open space and saved by Sharon, who does a bang-up job with the ol' raptor. The rescue part is pretty cool, actually -- go, Athena!

I guess the marital strife sort of explains Chief's sudden metamorphosis into a drunken asshole these last few weeks, but it's hard to get too invested when we haven't really seen them fighting prior to this episode. Chief slurrily confiding in Lee does not count. I may have teared up a little when Chief pressed their baby's tiny hand to the ailing Cally's, but this storyline needed more attention if it was expected to have true impact.

Meanwhile, Adama celebrates his wedding anniversary by having pseudo-psychological chats with his ex-wife, who I guess was kind of a jerk. Never say the admiral doesn't know how to party! This little twist prompted my viewing companion to grumble, "So does everyone on this show have an imaginary friend?"

This is, in fact, the least favorite stock storytelling device I was referring to earlier -- when a character works out Their Issues via a little help from either an unlikely ally or a hallucino version of a loved one. It's the reason why I will never believe Buffy's "Conversations with Dead People" is the frakkin' masterpiece some fans think it is -- sending The Slayer to therapy with a vampire was all tell, tell, tell.

"Show" is much more powerful. The hallucino thing works with Baltar and Six because it actually illuminates the overall storyline. It doesn't work here because it's basically just a bunch of psychobabble, and it makes the Adama plotline feel completely disconnected from the rest of the Galactican world.

The one positive thing is it leads to some actual forward motion in the Bill/Roslin lurve and you know I am all about that. It's good to know that they both still think about the halcyon days of smoking pot and wearing red on New Caprica.

Oh, there's also some business about Lee being involved in the upcoming Baltar trial. Eh? Oh, and one of the pilots has a particularly pervasive crotch itch. Eh?! Will this be Important Later? Did I doze off and miss how it was Important Later?

In order to show you the crotch itch part, they cut a decent little scene involving Gaeta and Dualla talking about how much time Adama and Roslin are spending together, wink wink. The look of pure disgust on Dualla's face makes the whole thing kind of awesome and I wish they'd left it in.

Anyway. This second batch of eppies isn't quite blowing me away the way I want it to, but I'm clinging to hope. After all, we've still got the big trial and some Starbuck-heavy stuff and maybe an explanation of that one guy's crotch itch! I'm ready to be wowed, OK?

iTunes Links

Battlestar Galactica - Series
Battlestar Galactica - Season 3
"A Day In the Life"