Battlestar Galactica: "Daybreak---Part 1"

The blinding sunlight that poured through every window and doorway in Caprica City provided a stark contrast to the endless blackness that has surrounded the Battlestar Galactica for so long. Much like the lives of our beloved characters before the fall runs in stark contrast to the people that we know now.

Baltar is still as selfish as ever, but he has mellowed and is more aware... not that he's willing to put that awareness into action just yet. Caprica is no longer the supreme manipulator who wields her sexual prowess with perfect precision, but a strong and scared fully-formed woman who has compassion to spare. Lee is not the drunk hot-shot pilot living his life always in competition with his brother, Zak, and always in the shadow of his father, but a capable, intelligent politician who has finally found a calling all his own and a life that depends solely on his own choices. Anders is still floating in a bath after injury, but he's no longer searching for the "perfection of creation". He is the perfection of creation. And he holds all of those answers within him. And Laura? She's been through hell and back, before and after the fall, and while she's no longer the effervescently vital woman she once was, she is the person who has the power to show everyone what needs to be done when the end draws near.

And what about Bill? I got the distinct sense that he was doing his damnedest to validate his resume. Was retirement being forced upon him? Thanks to a comment made by Gaeta during the mutiny, we're presently aware that Bill has been commanding the Galactica for just over seven years. Meaning that his Caprica City meeting had to take place roughly three to three and a half years before the fall. We know that the Galactica was a formidable warrior in its day, but was its planned decommissioning just a formality? Was the Galactica a museum well before it was called upon to protect the remaining survivors of humanity? Was Bill being forced to command a ship that had not a chance in hell of seeing battle ever again before the Galactica and Bill were sent into retirement? If all of this is true, then the fall of the Colonies was the best thing that ever happened for someone like Bill, the ultimate soldier. And he was always going to go down with that ship... one way or another. Looks like both the Old Man and the Old Girl will be going out on a high note.

Much of "Daybreak---Part 1" can be only truly understood in context. Once "Part 1" is paired with "Parts 2 & 3", I think most everything will fall into place. The puzzle will become whole. And the questions will be answered. Though most of mine already have been, I did have one question that has plagued me endlessly. Throughout this entire season, I've been waffling as to who the true "dying leader" is -- is it Laura Roslin or is it Galactica? I think this episode answered my question definitively. While Laura's and Galactica's health has mirrored each other every step of the way (fueling Bill's desolation, of course), in the end, Galactica is their protector, but Laura is their leader. And she made that crystal clear when she stood in the spotlight on that red line. She made her choice -- despite barely being able to stand, walk, or talk -- and in doing so, she set an example for the entire fleet. What I loved most, though, was seeing her on the line. Laura has been on both sides throughout this journey -- the self-sacrificing side willing do anything and everything for the greater good and the self-preservation side wanting to live a little for only herself (and Bill) before death. Laura went starboard in theory only because she no longer has the physical strength to aid in the fight, but she does have the mental wherewithal and will of iron to show the fleet what true leadership is. And in that moment, she finally became their president again. And she was still the woman with whom Bill fell hopelessly in love. Beautiful.

Admiral Adama ended up with a lot of starboard support -- many people who have a personal investment in the safe rescue of Hera -- but much of the fleet, nonetheless, went port-side. And that was a little sad to see. Understandable given that this suicide mission is to rescue one little girl, but still sad. Although, why are there so many people willing to embark on this "one-way trip"? Yes, Hera may be the prophetic "shape of things to come" and she may be a vital member of the ever-dwindling family, but she is only one girl. And the reasons behind this mission are supremely esoteric in nature. Is it that so many people now believe in the blending of the races? Is it that so many people are walking around with the overwhelming sense that the end is coming, so why not? Is it that so many people believe in this family that they have formed and the loss of even one more member would be the devastating straw that broke the camel's back? Whatever their reasons, it's clear that many of these characters have come to the hard-won realization that home is in the people that we surround ourselves with and not in the walls we put up around ourselves. Home is in the people, not in the environment. And Hera -- ignorant of any destiny she may provide or fulfill -- is a young, helpless key component of that home. She must be protected, and she must be saved. And the course of destiny must be altered.

"Galactica has been more than our guardian. She's literally a vessel into which we've poured all of our hopes and dreams. And when she's gone, when we can no longer derive the security from looking out her window and seeing her massive bulk floating by, then this life will be over. And a new life will have begun. A new life that requires a new way of thinking." -- Gaius Baltar

Randoms...

• The image of a shattered and completely alone Laura wading into the fountain seemingly possessed by a force bigger than herself evoked memories of Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" and Sally Field in "Sybil". It was devastating and bewitching all at the same time. And it only made her more impressive to me. In the miniseries, we saw Laura Roslin step up immediately and do what needed to be done, leading the people when there was no other. She was facing a terminal illness and ensconced in the most catastrophic event that humanity had ever seen, and yet she seemed stronger and more in control than any person had the right to be. We now know that it was because she had already lived through her most personal hell. And she came out on the other side, defenses up and prepared for anything life may continue to throw at her. She had already lost everything that mattered -- the fall of the Colonies was just another event in a long line of losses.
• I kicked myself when I saw what Alan Sepinwall noted in his review because I realized that I didn't think of it first (Oy!), because this is it -- it's exactly it:

  "...I began to wonder if maybe the grand plan for these characters isn't quite as grand as some of us want to believe. Maybe the reason that these are the people who have survived everything the Cylons have had to throw at them -- beyond luck, of course -- isn't a matter of destiny, or the work of the Cylon God, or any other metaphysical force. Maybe these are just the people who are gods-damned tough enough to take everything the last four years has thrown at them and keep on going."

• Caprica saw Gaius -- who's apparently Irish we now finally learn, heh -- at his worst possible moment, battering and screaming at his father because his father refuses to play Gaius' game and live the pretense, denying his roots. She then proceeded to infiltrate his life, much in the way that she infiltrated the defense systems. She was blatant in her approach, but she blinded him with humanity, ironically enough. On a second viewing, however, I had the thought that maybe she did no such thing. Gaius' date seemed to notice Caprica but didn't much seem to care let alone address her. What if that's because Caprica wasn't really Caprica at all, but Head Six? What if Gaius put his father in the most magical home ever conceived, not Caprica? Gaius may have already achieved his one altruistic moment, and he might not even realize it. Hmmm...
• The scene between Adama and Hot Dog was touching in that it was the first time in the history of this series that father and son, Eddie & Bodie Olmos, shared a one-on-one scene. Battlestar Galactica truly is all about family at its core.
• Adama told Starbuck, "I know what you are -- you're my daughter. Don't forget it." In that simple yet affecting statement, Adama showed us just how far he's come. His world view is no longer black and white -- human versus Cylon -- and the people that he knows and loves will always be the people he knows and loves regardless of their genetic or mechanical make-up. They are his home.
• "I have to ask him a question. Do you know how to plug him in?" It's all in the delivery and Edward James Olmos owns. That was just funny.

For much of this weekend, I found that the chosen words, "Caprica City Before The Fall", struck me and I couldn't figure out why, and then it finally hit me. Throughout the run of this series, the downfall of the Colonies has always been referred to as "the attack" or "the genocide", but never as "the fall". In our history, we have seen through the ages that dynasties rise and fall on the heels of war. Often, war is inevitable and sometimes necessary, but humanity can never seem to truly learn from it. Humanity is and will always be the most intrinsic victim to war. We perish in the gunfire and the flames and those left standing come out scarred. But we never learn.

Is this final battle really necessary, and if it is, will this be the end of the line? Will those left standing finally learn from their mistakes and apply that knowledge to a future society free from the destruction of war? Will those left standing not only give in to the blending of the races, but embrace it, thereby breaking the cycle? It is only through our knowledge and our practice of that knowledge that we become a worthy species. After this final battle, will this rag-tag fleet finally be worthy of survival? Will this rag-tag fleet finally be worthy of true living? In less than a week, we shall know the answers to these most fundamental questions. So say we all.

Thoughts?