You know, they really need to stop with the silly 'They have a plan.' It's quite obvious they don't have a plan, and that's fine, but I see no point to pretending otherwise with the opening montage.

A painting of Baltar for the President's bathroom. How cute. We learn that Adama has been in the service 45 years...that's pretty ridiculous. Even the most senior officers in the service are lucky to get to 35 years, and Adama was Commander Adama when the war started two years ago. Unless the Colonials run things very differently, allowing officers to serve into their late 60s seems implausible.

The Cylon decision to place centurion heads on their Raiders seems more than a little odd to me. You would think that a race of machines would put more effort into function rather than form. Someone named Bulldog has apparently escaped the Cylons via a captured Raider, and, naturally, he knows Admiral Adama. In a universe where all but 41,000 humans have been wiped out, it's amazing how many of them know each other.

A brief flashback to before the war shows Adama took on a secret mission, on which he brought this pilot named Bulldog. But the question remains, how was he captured, and how did he get out? Interesting...it sounds like the SciFi channel bleeped out a curse. Apparently Bulldog was on board a base ship that contracted the virus. According to him, he killed a D'Anna model with a blow to the face, then presumably hijacked a Raider.

So Adama was on a black ops mission against a Colonial outpost mining tylium on a planet near the Cylon armistice line. Bulldog was shot down by the Colonials, Adama didn't detect an ejection, and so he left. But that's not what really happened, and Roslyn knows it, but Adama won't tell her the truth, asking her to trust him to fix his mess.

Meanwhile it would appear D'Anna is having bad dreams. She's trapped on board Galactica and is eventually killed by security. Which awakes her in bed with Baltar and Six.

Adama goes to see Tigh, who was his XO during this mission. Apparently Adama did something to betray Bulldog, and Tigh urges Adama to tell him before he finds out some other way. Probably a wise course of action, but it seems safe to assume Adama won't take the advice. Nice to see Tigh again; it would be nice to think that he might someday come back from the hell he finds himself in, but to Galactica's credit, it generally doesn't take the easy way out when it comes to its characters.

And we're back with Tigh, who apparently still lives on Galactica. Poor bastard, he's holding onto a negligee Ellen owned. And, naturally, enter Bulldog for a drink. Adama needs to talk to Apollo, presumably to tell him what happened with Bulldog. Galactica was Adama's retirement after the mission on the Valkyrie. And Tigh is going to tell Bulldog the secret, whatever it is. Tigh is clearly very bitter with Adama. Adama shot Bulldog down himself in order to prevent the Cylons from detecting his mission to try and determine the likelihood of a Cylon strike. The fleet suspected the Cylons were out there, but didn't know for sure. Adama was sent out with the Valkyrie to try to find out. Adama was to escort a stealth vessel across the armistice line to feel out the Cylons. Bulldog was 2km past the armistice line when an unknown vessel damaged the stealth vessel. Rather than go after the ship and risk starting a war, Adama ordered the vessel destroyed before Cylon vessels could intercept the ship. Adama didn't want to believe that the ships detected on Dradis were Cylons. But Adama now blames himself for the attacks on the colonies, by breaching the armistice line and confirming the Cylons' fears that humanity would come looking for them again. Apollo attempts to defend Adama, but Adama notes that while he may have been only one man, it only took one to start the war. An interesting twist, as it suddenly suggests the Cylons might not be the monsters they appear to be. On the other hand, they were already seeding the Colonies with sleeper agents long before the mission.

Six knows D'Anna is having bad dreams. Six is concerned they're about Baltar, but D'Anna fears it's something much more important. It appears she then orders a centurion to kill her so she can download, having seen something between life and death.

Starbuck figures out the two Raiders sent after Bulldog were intentionally letting him escape. She informs Tigh. Meanwhile, Bulldog cold-cocks Adama and starts cursing him out for betraying him. During the cursing he admits the Cylons left the cell door open for him to escape. Tigh comes to the rescue, pointing out to Bulldog that the Cylons probably let him go on the assumption he would kill Adama. How they knew he would do that is an open question, of course, but Galactica rarely closes all the open loops. Tigh gives a great speech about pain and fighting uselessness. Most impressive, and just maybe, the reappearance of Bulldog will be the cue that helps Tigh start recovering.

Adama submits his resignation to Roslyn. "We can't run away from the things that we've done." Did Moore think of this years ago when Adama first said that, or did it just all work out? 'Medal of Distinction'? Who thought that one up? Roslyn tells Adama his penance will be to accept the medal on behalf of the fleet. An interesting punishment, although I think it's more fitting than it might first appear. I can imagine being given a medal for something I don't think I deserved, and wearing it would be a rather painful reminder of my failings.

Bulldog is heading to another ship to recover. Doubtless he has a lot to work out after three years of captivity, but it's somewhat surprising to me they wouldn't want to keep him around, given their dire shortage of pilots.

Tigh shows up at Adama's quarters. Adama wants him back in CIC, but Tigh says he can't. Adama asks if he's going to explain what happened to Ellen, and they take a drink together. That, I imagine, would be an even more painful thing than receiving a medal you don't merit.

An interesting episode. Mostly character-driven, which is a big help. While the revelation Adama led a mission that broached Cylon territory was a little iffy, it drove a pretty good story, although, as is usually the case, it really needed a little more time to play out. Overall, though, this continues the strong third season, something I'm happy to see.

Posted at November 17, 2006 08:00 PM

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Posted by: Elais at November 17, 2006 10:00 PM

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