Review

iTunes TV Review - Battlestar Galactica 3.12: "Taking a Break From All Your Worries"

Monday, January 29th, 2007 at 5:45 PM - by

Battlestar Galactica 3.12: "Taking a Break From All Your Worries"
Airdate: Sunday, January 28th, 2007

Prior to this episode, I think I was maybe the last person in all of fandom still intrigued by the Angsty Quadrangle of Doom. "Unfinished Business" stands as one of my favorites of this season and the tiny developments of the last couple episodes have been pretty entertaining (particularly Dualla's magical sprouting of a backbone and slapping of doped-up Kara). But if this is the explosive moment in Quadrangle story development that we were building to...eh, never mind. Over it. 

The problem is that Lee and Kara once again decide they can't be together and go back to their infinitely patient spouses and nothing really happens and some guy named Joe builds a bar (what?).

The Quadrangular drama is sort of awkwardly mashed up against the interrogation of Baltar, who is accompanied nearly all the way through by his inner Six. Caprica Six, however, is curiously absent until that tacked-on "bonus" scene. I love Six in all of her impossibly gorgeous forms, but I'm really wishing Baltar also had an inner Three – goddamn, do I miss Lucy Lawless Cylon.

Anyway, Roslin tries interrogating Baltar, which is pretty awesome. Putting McDonnell and Callis in a scene together is always one of the best choices you could possibly make. It mostly just leads to lots of screaming, though, so then they decide to try out some sort of experimental drug to get Baltar to talk. 

Unsurprisingly, drugged up Baltar is not all that different from original flavor Baltar. He babbles a bunch about how he's not really guilty of anything and also says some stuff about the Final Five (by the way, he doesn't seem to believe he's one of them any more).

In a last-ditch effort to extract something, anything, Adama and Roslin send in Gaeta and it actually seems to be going well. Until, you know, Baltar figures out what's up and trash talks Gaeta and Gaeta stabs him with a pen. Baltar survives, of course, and will now stand trial for his crimes and I really wish they could get Tigh to play prosecutor, but I don't think that's going to happen.

This storyline has pockets of awesomeness, certainly – the scenes of Roslin, Adama and Tigh conferring and strategizing are the best of the eppy and putting Baltar back on Galactica is a truly thrilling twist. And yet, I couldn't help but feel that this is all a lot of build-up for the trial, that we won't get to the true meat of this story until said trial gets cookin'. I also wasn't so into all the time spent inside of Baltar's whacked-out head, but you know...that could just be a side effect of me missing his glorious interplay with Lucy Lawless Cylon. Sigh.

Meanwhile, in Quadrangle land, Dualla and Anders tell their respective spouses to just get together and DO IT, already. Well, DO IT again, but this time they have permission. Kara asks Lee if he would still consider leaving Dee and he sort of has an inner freak-out and they both end up back where they started. 

It's dumb.

Dualla, I was really starting to like you, what with the slapping of Kara and the righteous, teary speech you gave Lee in this episode. And then you have to go and ruin it by taking him back just because he cries a little. Bah, I say!

And Lee? God, shut up. You were all earnest and oh-so-ready for twu wuv back when you couldn't actually have Kara. Now you can and you suddenly freak the frak out. I liked you better when you were fat.

As for Sam...frak it, I love him. It seems like they're trying to make him less hot or something by giving him weirdly scraggly facial hair. It's not working. In fact, I find myself rooting pretty hard for him and Kara, considering how true and unashamed he is about loving her. Team Anders! Team Anders!

Anyway, this intense, relationshippy plotline, which began so promisingly, just feels kind of dull and dragged out here. I was really wishing they'd cut away from Lee crying over his ring to, say, an entertaining interlude featuring The Fighting Agathons (pretty much my favorite couple on the show after last week). Or maybe a quick peek at how Caprica Six is doing onboard Galactica. Or, I don't know, anything else.

Here's hoping the trial of Gaius Baltar restores some of that amazing, beautiful forward momentum we had going prior to the holiday break.

iTunes Links

Battlestar Galactica - Series
Battlestar Galactica - Season 3
"Taking a Break From All Your Worries"

Need more? Talk about Battlestar Galactica in our new iPodObserver.com forums.

Sarah Kuhn is an L.A.-dwelling writer with a weakness for block-style action figures, spandex-clad superheroes, and the collected works of Joss Whedon. Her work has appeared in such fine publications as Back Stage, IGN.com, Creative Screenwriting Weekly, and StarTrek.com. You can catch her geekblogging at Alert Nerd and Great Hera!.

Battlestar Galactica Archives.

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BradC said:

member since 29 Apr 2005 with 80 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:24 pm

In the bonus scene, when Caprica Six was talking about someone that was thrown out of the airlock, who was she talking about? I rewound and listened to it several times and couldn't make it out. Was she referring to Dean Stockwell's character? I was wondering if she was referring to that guy they threw out of the airlock after they left New Caprica, when they were rounding up the Cylon collaborators. The way it just ended on that line, I thought maybe she was referring to him, and it turned out he was a Cylon. And if that dude is a Cylon (what the heck is his name? he worked for Chief on the flight deck), then, you know, WHAM, he must be one of the Final Five. Okay, that wouldn't make much sense, but, again, the way it was delivered, I thought it was supposed to be a Big Revelation.

Anyone?

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Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 999 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:53 pm

They're talking about the guy Starbuck interrogated, right? Anyway, best line of this review is "I liked Fat Apollo better". Classic. And where are all Sarah's fanboys that were crying here last week?

And how did Sundance go?

And what do you think of this "Final Five" thing? Anyone think they'll be revealed the last week of March and play in some weird kind of tournament with Duke losing to UCLA in the end? How the hell does that work anyway? Maybe in the first round, two teams take on one team in the first game? That doesn't seem fair to me.

One more thing... The image quality on the iTunes Store download is so much better than SciFi channel on cable for this episode. I may not even bother watching on Sunday nights anymore.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:21 am

I'm really not trying to be a hater, but I really find these articles to be oddly written and generally unhelpful, leaving me to wonder at their purpose. If they are meant to be a coherent synopsis of the episode, one which would help someone thinking about buying the episode (who hadn't already watched it) make their decision, then I don't see how that could possibly be accomplished. If they are meant to simply be gushy fangirl posts suitable for a general access message board, then I'm missing the point. I guess the bottom line is that it doesn't seem like it even belongs on the list of news stories on macobserver.com, at least in its current form.

Brad C said:

"In the bonus scene, when Caprica Six was talking about someone that was thrown out of the airlock, who was she talking about? I rewound and listened to it several times and couldn't make it out. "

In the 12th episode of the first season of BSG (Flesh and Bone), after the "cylons look like us" secret gets out, a Leoben model is found in the fleet. This is the same model who was at Ragnarok Anchorage during the premiere miniseries, and also more recently the model who kept Starbuck a prisoner and fucked with her head in the first few episodes of this season. Anyway, long story short after he plays mindgames with starbuck for awhile Roslin does her "I'm the leader of the pack" routine and has him tossed out an airlock, after promising not to do so.

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Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 999 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:49 am

Good gods guest. Do they have to bolt down the furniture when you come into the room? Is your Terminal open right now? I wish you could answer no to both, but am aware of the sad truth. Ms. Kuhn can write. If you can't figure that out, you like totally need to get out more.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:38 pm

Its funny how you start a post "I'm not trying to be a hater" and yet you immediately receive hate, not any kind of defense or counterpoint outside of "Ms. Kuhn can write". I wasn't challenging her ability to use a keyboard to create sentences in the english language, but the style she is using in her posts. As to the sad truth, all I know is that I always see your name posting on nearly every thread on the macobserver and ipodobserver domains, so you obviously get out (or at least away from the internet) far less than I.

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Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 999 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:36 pm

OK, Mr. guest, if we're gonna play that game... You post here way more than anyone else. Go count 'em buddy. You contradict yourself and even argue with yourself. What I'm saying, and I know I speak for 99% of the crowd here, is that Ms. Kuhn's summaries are great. They are great because they add something beyond a silly recitation of facts. If you want facts, watch the frakking show ("WTFS"). If you want to be the most interesting BSG conversationalist at your company's water cooler (or school's drinking fountain as the case may be), then work some of her material into your schtick. You can't go wrong!!

Anyway, Mr. guest, your mission is to try to see the passion that goes into these reviews. It might help if you take off the black trenchcoat and put on a light blue or bright yellow sweatshirt. Also, off with the Hush Puppies and on with some dunks.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:32 pm

Sigh- can't speak for anyone else, but I find Sarah Kuhn's writing style to be funny, fresh, and irreverent. I guess you either 'get it' or you don't, and if you don't there are plenty of other sites you can go to to get BSG synopses from.

Go Sarah! Don't change a thang, girl.

.

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DaiMac said:

member since 29 Jun 2001 with 952 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:30 am

Alright Bosco, I bothered to go into the forum screen (won't accept my password from the news page, hence the two guest posts) so I could respond as myself. It's really wasting my time to even post again, but Steven Colbert's guest is boring me so what the heck.

I guess what I was mainly complaining about in my first post is that I don't see the need for this, or any other TV reviews, to appear on the macobserver.com front page. I understand that they need filler occasionally when news is slow, but I just don't see how it's appropriate to what I thought was that site's topic. Maybe I'm just too old school mac user, I only got a mini because it came as a promotional rebate with my iBook in '05, I just want mac news and even ipod hardware and software news, but TV reviews are stretching it. I've been on this site for awhile, I like their news presentation for the most part, I just wondered how this, and frankly other show reviews, fit on there. I know I'm "technically" on a separate site with this thread, but thats a very thin distinction.

I apologize if anyone thought I was trying to attack Ms. Kuhn or her writing directly, I guess its more a case of me not being the audience for this type of article than anything else. I hate 80% of all TV, the other 20% consisting of BSG, DailyShow/Colbert, various cartoons and basketball. Look at the site www.televisionwithoutpity.com if you're not already familiar with it, this is a venue for the type of review Ms. Kuhn writes, and as such I avoid it, I guess I just want TMO to stop mixing these walnuts into my nice smooth Mac news ice cream.

Also Bosco I'm 6'8" tall, it's a bit difficult to find black trenchcoats that size (at least at anything resembling a reasonable price). I do have plenty of Duke blue shirts and sweatshirts though, looking forward to Feb. 7, although it's gonna be rough if McClure can't play. Heck, Virginia is gonna be rough wed night, especially since they need a win.

Alright I'm done, probably won't bother to post again here, will just remember in the future not to click on these links even (perhaps especially) if its BSG-related.

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Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 999 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:57 am

Hey, just talking a little smack. All in good fun. I think "the reason" for the TV reviews is that the shows are available on iTunes Store. In fact, the video quality on the iTunes store downloads is much better than watching it in SciFi channel on cable, so it's even more relevant. Shame that iTunes store doesn't have HDNet, because there is a hilarious show starring Denis Rodman called "Geek to Freak" coming on mid February. See Mark Cuban's blog for a sample.

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Bryan said:

member since 11 Jun 2001 with 7331 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:15 am

TV reviews have a strong tradition on the Internet, and with iTunes and iPod being a huge part of what Apple is about, they make a fine fit for iPodObserver.com. From my perspective, having an iPod is just as much about what you put in your iPod as what you put your iPod in, on, or through.

The point of a quality TV review is to dig a bit deeper into a show -- to explore being a fan of the show a bit deeper.

Do they necessarily belong cross-linked from TMO? That's subjective, of course, but the very interesting thing is that I've received precisely two complaints about them from people who didn't see the need for them. More importantly, it would seem that a lot of TMO (and iPO) readers also like science fiction, because the reviews have done very, very well. Even the Degrassi reviews (not Sci Fi, and not an obvious connection to Mac users) get more readers when we cross link them at TMO.

They are certainly, however, not filler in any way, shape, or form.

Again, from my perspective, having an iPod is just as much about what you put in your iPod as what you put your iPod in, on, or through. So far, the vast majority of our readers seem to agree with that thought.

And in the meanwhile, Sarah's writing knocks my socks off.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:28 pm

Sarah- I agree that the 'BSG love quadrangle' is kind of dumb, but only because the execution thus far has been botched so badly that we, the viewers, don't much care about it. In earlier seasons the sexual tension between Lee and Kara was palpable and somewhat cool. But the story has been so tortured and badly-executed of late (Kara sleeps with Lee on New Cap and then freaks and marries Anders the very next day? Lee and Kara finally decide to cheat but there's no real build-up or time spent on it, and they get caught almost immediately?) that you might as well stick a fork in this plotline... its done.

To be fair, I think the performances in this latest episode almost made me care about the quadrange again. Almost. Lee's crying over his marriage wasn't really pathetic, it was more like a 'too little, too late' humanizing of his emotional side and investment in Dualla... would've been much nicer if we had seen this long before he decided to cheat. Then his cheating would've actually meant something. As is, we've always thought of Dualla as the 'booby prize' Lee got when Kara spurned him for Anders, and it hasn't been until this eppy and Dualla's speech that we've been given much reason to believe otherwise.

The opening of Joe's Bar was pretty cool, actually, and it'll be nice if more scenes are shot here... new sets are always good, and it gives characters more chances to interact drunk. And of course the interrogation scenes with Baltar were classic, and is his continuing denial of responsibility. All the screaming was a bit much though... should've been used more sparingly, and built to more slowly. Subtle it wasn't.

Still, we're on track for 'The Trial', and knowing Ron D. Moore's love of history, I'm sure there's going to be a distinct Nuremburg vibe to it. And I love the Final Five subplot, since I'm pretty sure the glowy figure Number Three was saying sorry to was Colonel Tigh.

Season 3 may yet get back onstride, if only it can avoid a lot of pointless one-off episodes. This one tried to be a nice mix of the (great) core story arc and the (usually not good) side stories, and it would have worked better if the side story hadn't been so badly botched up to this point.

Give it a B minus, with things looking up starting next eppy.

.

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