Battlestar Galactica 3.18: "Crossroads, Pt. 1"
Airdate: Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Finally, Laura Roslin emerges from the shadow of her last few throwaway plotlines (going to the gym, talking union politics, etc, snore) and towers over The Trial of Gaius Baltar like the steely, presidential figure of awesomeness we all know her to be. I knew Lee was about to get schooled when she took off her glasses. When Laura Roslin takes off her glasses, it means she’s fixing to kick your ass.

So yeah, the trial finally, finally begins. It starts off with the expected Lampkin theatrics and then quickly evolves into something else as Lee gets more and more involved. Oh, Lee. I love you, especially in that dapper new suit, but you are so easily manipulated. For like the eleventy-billionth time in a row, I have to give it up to Bamber, who is incredible here, particularly in Apollo’s tension-filled scene opposite Roslin.

When Galactica first started, I was not so much a Bamber devotee. For whatever reason, Apollo didn’t hold my interest the way some of the show’s flashier personas did. And yes, OK, I got a little more fascinated when I learned of Bamber’s Britishness, but there is way more to my love after this season. Because good goddamn, he’s absolutely rocked this year, starting with the fat suit and culminating with this emotionally-fueled courtroom drama.

Lee’s involvement in the trial leads him into some morally tricky territory, wherein he resigns from the military, exposes Tigh’s constant drunkenness and reveals that Roslin is taking vision-inducing chamalla again. The history between Roslin and Lee really comes out as he cross-examines her and it’s a beautiful, heartbreaking reward for long-time fans. Roslin’s firm, pleading "Don’t do this" brought my quick-beating heart to a standstill. The kicker, of course, is that Roslin’s cancer is back and it’s revealed in the aforementioned "I’m taking my glasses off so as to verbally kick your ass" moment. Amazing.

Meanwhile, the Cylons are still tailing the fleet, Sam is the newest Nugget, and Dualla leaves Lee over his involvement in the trial. Also, there’s some faint, freaky music playing in the background, but only Tigh, Tory and Sam can hear it. Tigh reacts by drinking more and concluding that the music is coming from INSIDE THE SHIP. OK. Tory just goes nuts and stops brushing her hair (naturally, Roslin of the Perfect Hair Wings calls her out on this). Sam hangs out at the bar with Seelix and shares a rather smoldering glance with Tory. Where’s it all leading? Is one of them a Cylon? Are they all Cylons? Is this a mere mind-frak leading up to a Starbuck resurrection? I don’t know, but it’s a nifty tease.

This is a pretty great, packed-to-the-gills outing and two simple scenes make it a classic for me: one is the Roslin/Lee thing I’ve already mentioned way too much here. The other is the unlikely, action-packed pas de deux between Tigh and Caprica Six. When Tigh goes to interrogate her about the Cylons, it somehow leads to HallucinoBaltar showing up and Six and Tigh punching each other. After watching her cower in the corner and mope over Baltar, it’s really sweet to see Six stand tall and fix Tigh with one of her mysterious, piercing Sixian stares. Like Roslin, she gets her dramatic groove back here, and it is lovely to behold.

Anyway. It appears that the "Who’s a frakkin’ Cylon?!?" guessing game has plenty of juice and will keep going and going and going ’til Sunday. So what’s your guess? Is it Tory? Is it Tigh? Is it Adama and also Lee and Racetrack and Seelix and Lampkin’s sunglasses and the paper the BSG scripts are printed on? Find out next week (maybe)!

iTunes Links

Battlestar Galactica - Series
Battlestar Galactica - Season 3
"Crossroads, Pt. 1"

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.