Battlestar: Galactica 3.11: "The Eye of Jupiter"

Written by Mark Verheiden
Directed by Michael Rymer

Discussing the first half of a two-part story is always difficult. On the one hand, setting up a complicated, massive set of cliffhangers is a difficult but satisfying writing challenge. As many writers would attest, it’s sometimes an exercise of setting up all the pieces without necessarily knowing how it will all work out in the end. It’s also a lot easier to generate tension during the swift escalation of various situations, if the story is handled correctly.

On the other hand, seasoned viewers can become immune to the more obvious attempts at building up a story, and there are a number of pitfalls to be avoided. More time needs to be spent on introduction of the various scenarios to ensure that the escalation and complication of the story makes sense. The greater the scale, the greater the set-up requirements.

In this case, there are so many elements that the pacing is forced into overdrive. Much like “Pegasus”, this feels like an episode that was cut down to size from a much longer version. Of course, that’s always been true of the series: nearly every episode feels like a highlight reel, and you end up wondering what else never made it into the run time.

The result, however, is that some of the plot elements feel rushed, especially at the beginning. Tyrol’s discovery of the Temple of Five is a little too convenient, as is the sudden appearance of another text that explicitly references an object that points to the “road to Earth”. As I’ve said before, in light of “Torn”, I’m surprised that a greater effort hasn’t been made (by the priesthood, for instance) to compile all the references to such things. As it stands, they need to slip in a religious connection for Tyrol (including a hilarious story from his past) to make the leaps logical.

While I still don’t think that the connection between Baltar and D’Anna has been established very well, leaving the personal dynamics of the threesome in this episode a bit remote to the viewer, this opens up a lot of interesting ground for a spiritual connection between Humans and Cylons. Why would the Five, spiritual figures from more than 4000 years into humanity’s past, have a connection to the five unseen Cylon models, who would have emerged less than 40 years before the Genocide?

The Eye of Jupiter as a relic is interesting, but I wonder if the camera kept panning to the star with the nebula surrounding it because that, in fact, is the object in question. Of course, it could be that the star is getting ready to explode, which helps to place a critical timetable on the situation. This seems somewhat contrived, but so do a number of the plot elements. All of them are used to explore and complicate the interpersonal relationships, which is the key to the episode’s success.

Baltar comes face to face with Roslin and Adama, and the results are well worth the wait. Sharon finds out the truth about Hera, and when Roslin reveals her deception to Adama, it drives a wedge between them. The edge that seemed to return to Adama after “Unfinished Business” is evident here, as he plays a bluff that would result in some major deaths if his hand is forced. All of this drives the cliffhanger ending, as one would expect, and the real trick is figuring out how the situation will resolve without killing half the cast. (If the star’s instability plays a part, expect a lot of annoyed fans.)

Another major element of the episode is the relationship between Lee and Kara. Proving once again that “Unfinished Business” was an important episode and not filler, things have changed between them. Kara is taking a great deal of pleasure in fooling around with Lee, who wants them both to divorce their respective spouses to make it official. Kara, surprisingly, takes exception to breaking the “sacrament of marriage”, even though she has little problem tossing Anders to the curb on a regular basis. The scene is a bit ludicrous, but taken in tandem with her out-of-character speech in “The Passage”, it could all be a sign of increasing instability on her part. It wouldn’t be the first time that the writers played out a subtle character shift with forethought (Adama, for example).

The point is that Lee needs Anders to follow orders, and Anders is less than inclined. The two of them are two Alpha males clashing for control and dominance, and the results are not pretty. Even when the dialogue dips into pedestrian territory, the actors sell the conflict with their body language.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the episode is that it’s unexpectedly focused on character. That’s always the case with this show, but sometimes the bigger episodes with a rushed pace come down to the effects sequences. In this case, all the fireworks were reserved for interpersonal conflicts. In essence, despite the wider scope and escalation in scale, this episode has more in common with “Unfinished Business” than it does with “Exodus: Part II”. The trick will be making the resolution of the cliffhanger equally engaging.

(As a sidenote: I also have a podcast associated with my various reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”. Current episodes cover “Battlestar: Galactica”, so it might be something of interest. Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com if you want to listen!)

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10