By Kenn Gold

 Depression has been running rampant in the colonial fleet during the second season of Battlestar Galactica.  It was somewhat alleviated in “Flight of the Phoenix ” with the group effort led by Chief Tyrol to build the Blackbird.  However with the destruction of the vessel in “Resurrection ship part 2”, Apollo was forced to eject into space.  As he floated, watching the battle between the Battlestars and Basestars unfold in the distance, and his remaining air leaked out thru a hole torn in his space suit, Apollo made a conscious decision that he didn’t want to go on.  He chose not to answer the Galactica’s calls to him, and made a conscious decision to give up.  He only survived by the happenstance of the Raptor coming up on him in the nick of time.

In “Scar”, it’s Starbuck’s turn to battle with depression.  Her drinking has increased to a point where she takes herself out of flight rotation because she is hung over, and thus effectively sentences a newbie “nugget” pilot to death.  Later, as she is confronting the Cylon raider nicknamed Scar in a head on game of chicken, she decides that there is no point in going on, and thus also makes a conscious decision to die, if even for a moment, before changing her mind at the last possible second.

In “BlackMarket”, we learn that a large part of Apollo’s despair is fueled by his rejection of a girlfriend who was pregnant with his child, and who soon after died in the Cylon attack.  Kara is having problems dealing with the broken promise to return for Anders who she left stranded on Cylon occupied Caprica in “The Farm”.   Thus, it is the betrayal of love that drives two great warriors, who perhaps embody the best hope for humanity, to the point of simply no longer wanting to be a part of the battle, or even to the point of choosing to die.  The poignancy of their depression is illustrated in the drinking session when Starbuck comments to Apollo that neither of them will see Earth.  They keep going out again and again, until one bad day, they will not return.  Apollo says that he forgets the faces of those who died, and Starbuck can’t even remember their names.

These two attempt to find a temporary respite from their own depressions in a sexual liaison with each other.  But the sex act itself becomes yet another battle, and further example of the love hate relationship that these two friends have between them. 

As Starbuck talks to the Cylon Boomer, we learn that Raiders too reincarnate, and see further example of the change in Cylon tactics, in that they will no longer attack in such a way that there are mass raider casualties.  Scar has reincarnated at least a dozen times, each time becoming angrier because of the bitter and painful memories of death.  We see the real difference between (or perhaps similarities between) human and Cylon as Boomer asks Starbuck if the fleet wouldn’t choose to do the same, rather than losing their newly trained pilots.  Starbuck comments that sometimes she looks at Boomer and has problems remembering what she is.  At times, she sees the naïve scared young girl who was her friend.  The point of exactly what Boomer is  becomes clear, as she reaches a comforting hand towards Starbuck, only to have the Marine guards spring to attention with rifles drawn, having interpreted her movement as a threat.

The major drawback to this episode is yet another overuse of the back and forth time, foreshadowing that has been a mainstay of the last three episodes.  It didn’t add much to this episode, and if anything is annoying.  Hopefully we can see some linearity for awhile, and this will go back to be used occasionally rather than becoming a part of every future episode.

The breakout performance of this episode is Kat, the stim-Junkie viper pilot from Final Cut.  Kat rides Starbuck throughout the episode, criticizing her every decision.  In a heated moment, with the two going at it one on one, we learn that it is Kat’s fear that drives her.  She punches Starbuck in the face when Starbuck tells her that is what is motivating her.  In a surreal moment, we see Kat at the memory wall, placing a picture of the girlfriend of a dead pilot on the wall.  In fact, the show opens with Kat trying to remember the name of the dead woman, and Starbuck saying it isn’t important.

Kat is cocky and self assured, much as Starbuck was before her current state of depression.  Though Kat ultimately makes the kill and removes the scourge of Scar from the battle, she gives no credit to Starbuck.  Though, in fact, it was Starbuck, who upon deciding that maybe she does want to live, leads Scar directly into Kat’s line of fire for the attack.  Kat doesn’t quite know what to do with her new found competence, and does not handle it well.  She is an easy character to resent and to dislike.  Though the actresses that plays her is great in the role, and hasn’t been utilized much at all in previous episodes.  Hopefully, this is only the beginning for Kat, and we will see her mature in coming episodes.  And with any luck, Kat is not just becoming prominent so that she can be killed off in an upcoming episode.

The final toast scene is one of the best sequences in the entire series run of BattleStar Galactica.  It starts with Kat taunting Starbuck, and demanding that her glass be filled.  Starbuck does fill her glass, and tells Kat that she has earned it, but then changes the toast to honor the fallen dead.  It’s if she suddenly comes to the realization that the names of the dead are important.  As she recites the names of each fallen comrade, the camera pans over the faces of the crew, as they realize that they two have forgotten.  When Starbuck finally falters, and can remember no more names, Apollo saves her by adding “For all of Them”.  Adama completes the toast with “So Say We All”.  This moment alone is memorable in all of the series, and is a strong reminder of what these characters have lost, in their struggle to go on.