Battlestar Galactica 3.15: "Dirty Hands"
Airdate: Sunday, February 25th, 2007

Hey! Chief is back. I'm thrilled, as the drunken Pod Person Chief of the last few eppys had me dazed and confused - so dazed and confused that I didn't realize the itchy pilot from last week's outing was Hot Dog. Do you think Kat left him a not-so-lovely parting gift? Ew. I just grossed myself out.

Moving right along! This week, Chief gets an inside look at the crappy working conditions on a Tylium refining ship, which leads to a few insights regarding class concerns in this evolving, wartime society. He tries to bring these concerns up with Adama and Roslin, but they crabbily point out that there's a war going on and everyone has it bad.

When some poor kid (he's not a farmer!) gets his arm partially chopped off, Chief goes all Norma Rae and calls a strike and gets thrown in jail and then Adama threatens to shoot Cally (eh?). But Chief gets to meet with Roslin in the end, and they have some cocktails and decide that Chief is forming a union.

There's good stuff in here. I like the intense focus on Chief, much as I appreciated the quality time with Helo a couple weeks ago. And exploring a key issue such as this is a Battlestar specialty.

There's a "however" in there, though, and here it is: I don't completely buy Roslin and Adama's reactions in this episode. I think the other side of the issue - that this is a time of war and survival of the human race supercedes all else - did need to be voiced, but the execution here feels a bit mouthpiece-y, a little phoned in and a kind of out of character, particularly for Roslin. Luckily, McDonnell and Olmos could probably sell me Uggs in 90 degree weather, so you know, they work it.

I will say that I love the whole Seelix thing without reservation. Seelix (which sounds way too much like "Neelix," which makes me wonder if she's going to name herself Morale Officer and go around being useless and forcing people to eat Eskarian eggs) is the chosen background character of the week who gets to further illustrate the episode's moral dilemma. She wants to be a pilot, and they won't let her, because they need her doing grunt work. But then at the end, she gets to be a nugget - Ensign Seelix!

Everything about that last scene is perfect. I love Seelix's little smile as she runs off to pilot training and I adore Starbuck's smirky snort-laugh and prickly camaraderie with Chief. Go, Ensign Seelix! I'm a sucker for stuff like this, and it elevates this eppy just a bit for me.

Oh, there's also Baltar shenanigans. Whilst rotting away in jail, Baltar has started his own 'zine. But instead of lists of his favorite sexy Cylons and solipsistic concert reviews, he's including write-ups of his thoughts on humanity's class issues. Some folks are thinking he makes a lot of sense. It's all leading up to the trial, which will happen someday, probably, maybe. Right?

Overall, I'd put this one in the middle of the pack: it's a decent stand-alone with a few hiccups and a nifty, Seelixy sub-plot. Still, I'd really like the arciness of the early part of this season to return - the excellent momentum they had going has kind of vanished, and I'd love for it to come back.

As a final sidenote, I may not have spotted Hotdog last week, but wasn't that Nina from The 4400 as one of Seelix's knuckle-draggin' pals? What the frak is up with that?

iTunes Links

Battlestar Galactica - Series
Battlestar Galactica - Season 3
"Dirty Hands"