Jammersreviews

Note: This review contains significant spoilers.
 
-----
Battlestar Galactica: "The Eye of Jupiter"
 
While on a planet-based resupply mission, Tyrol discovers an ancient temple
that is said to contain the Eye of Jupiter -- an artifact that supposedly
points to Earth's location. A standoff ensues when the Cylons jump into
orbit and demand Adama turn the Eye over to them.
 
Air date: 12/15/2006 (USA)
Written by Mark Verheiden
Directed by Michael Rymer
 
Rating out of 4: ***
 
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
-----
 
There's a part of me as a reviewer that wants to forgo star ratings on
episodes like "The Eye of Jupiter." This is act one of a two-act play. BSG
as a series is a combination of serialization and episodic that normally
allows for an episodic review treatment, but then I get cliffhangers like
this and I'm left in the position to comment on a story that has no ending.
 
I suspect this is why reviewing individual episodes of "The Wire" or "24" --
as much as I enjoy those shows -- would be impossible or, at the very least,
highly frustrating. Who wants to read (let alone write) a review of a
chapter of a book? Fortunately, BSG is generally episodic enough, but that
doesn't help me for episodes like "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1" or
"Exodus, Part 1," so I end up with long-winded digressions like this.
 
Then again, there are also cliffhangers like "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2"
and "Pegasus" (and to a lesser degree "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2") that
left me hanging and yet also completely satisfied. Perhaps it was the sheer
confidence and riveting nature of the storytelling -- something shows like
"The Eye of Jupiter" lack. Perhaps that's the problem: "The Eye of Jupiter"
is lacking something. This is certainly the best episode of BSG since
"Torn," but that's not saying much since this season has slipped a bit. As a
hiatus-entering BSG episode, this is the weakest yet -- although,
admittedly, the competition is tough.
 
Part of the problem with the episode (and the season since "Torn") is the
slow but implacable nature of the mythology storyline. I've been getting the
sense lately that the entire history of "Battlestar Galactica" and the
placement of all the characters -- humans and Cylons -- has been preordained
by some higher power and is written somewhere in an ancient text or on a
stone tablet. Are the characters playing their preordained roles in a
predetermined script? Do they have free will, or merely the *illusion* of
free will?
 
That the series is willing to pose philosophical questions like that is to
its credit, but I can't shake the feeling that the writers increasingly rely
on the metaphysical as a crutch. The whole plot of "The Eye of Jupiter"
hinges upon the fact that the humans and Cylons have found a planet at
precisely the same time, in a coincidence that is either a predetermined
Grand Plan by a Higher Power, or the writers falling back on God as a way of
contriving plot points. The higher power is apparently Ronald D. Moore.
 
The episode continues from the events of "The Passage," with Galactica in
the middle of a joint military/civilian resupply mission on a planet rich
with algae that will replace the food supply. While on the planet surface,
Tyrol follows a gut feeling and walks toward a mountain and finds a massive
temple that must be, according to the ancient religious texts, the
4,000-year-old Temple of Five, constructed about the time the mysterious
13th tribe left during the exodus from Kobol. They apparently settled here
for a time before eventually settling on Earth. The Temple of Five is
supposed to contain an artifact called the Eye of Jupiter, which, like the
Arrow of Apollo, will supposedly point the way to Earth. Whether it actually
points to Earth or merely points to another pointer depends, I guess, on how
many seasons this series runs before it ends. Why the 13th tribe left such a
confusing breadcrumb trail I leave for you to decide. Did they want to be
found at all? Perhaps only after a certain amount of work.
 
About this time, four Cylon basestars jump into orbit in what can only be
described as divine timing. As you will recall from "The Passage," they
learned about the Eye of Jupiter because the Hybrid told Baltar exactly what
he needed to hear in order to put the pieces together. Without the Hybrid,
Baltar wouldn't have put it together, and without Baltar, the Cylons
wouldn't have put it together. Baltar's presence on the basestar cannot be
an accident; it must've happened for a capital-R Reason for him to fulfill
someone's capital-D Destiny. At one point, the Hybrid looks right at him and
seems to call him "the chosen one."
 
Baltar still fears he may be one of the remaining Final Five Cylons, which
no one has seen. If he is a Cylon (and that remains to be seen) could it be
that these Final Five represent some sort of balance in the duality of the
game? They are not with the Cylons nor with humanity. Perhaps they are God's
prophets/pawns as allowed to exist on the chessboard. (Final Five, Temple of
Five -- coincidence? I wouldn't bet on it.)
 
Adding yet another coincidence-of-the-divine: This all happens at a planet
whose star, according to scans, is imminently going to go supernova ("Could
be tomorrow, could be next year"), meaning this is the one and only chance
anyone will have to retrieve the Eye. What are the chances that humans and
Cylons would all happen upon this soon-to-be-extinct planet simultaneously,
just in time to retrieve from it what they need?
 
Obviously, the Cylons also want the Eye. Baltar negotiates an uneasy
temporary truce, which leads to an entertaining scene where he boards the
Galactica with Cylon representatives to negotiate with Adama and Roslin. To
call his reception chilly would be an understatement. Baltar's attempts to
explain himself have an amusing desperation; he wants to be greeted as
someone who has done his fellow humans a favor by tempering the Cylons'
response, but no one comes with thank-you cards. Roslin is so disgusted she
walks out of the room. Cavil's negotiation tactics include throwing in
Baltar as a bonus. "Definitely worth thinking about," Adama muses.
 
The truth of the situation is that it's a stalemate. The Cylons want the
Eye. The humans want the Eye. The humans can't bring the Eye up from the
planet without being attacked. The Cylons can't attack Galactica or go down
to the planet to retrieve the Eye because Adama has promised that he will
nuke the entire continent if they do. The Cylon answer to this depends on
which Cylon you ask. Cavil argues that they should just destroy humanity and
be done with it; to hell with the Eye. D'Anna argues that the Eye is too
important and they can't risk losing it.
 
One has to ask about motivation. D'Anna is clearly personally motivated
beyond the Cylons' general goal to find Earth before Galactica does. It has
a lot to do with her need to transcend ordinary existence and have a higher
purpose: She believes that she and Baltar are fulfilling a larger destiny. I
enjoyed the irony of Caprica Six, who brought Baltar into this inner circle
and now suddenly has found herself on the outside of it.
 
So, yes, there's a lot going on here. Fortunately, the writers have somehow
not lost sight of characterization amid the densely plotted mayhem. For
example, we've got the ongoing soap opera of Kara and Lee, who are now in
the middle of a sexual affair that might be one of the worst-kept secrets in
the fleet. Dee obviously knows. Anders obviously knows. Lee thinks perhaps
divorce is the answer. Kara cites religious sacrament as her reason why she
can't get a divorce. Lee cites guilt as his reason why he can't keep
cheating. What's a married couple (who aren't married to each other) to do?
 
Kara's own lies make a mockery out of the very marriage she claims to be
sacred, but never mind. More to the point: This plot has turned a solid (if
complicated and often strained) relationship between two characters into a
shallow and fairly lurid mess. (This love triangle actually involves four
vertices that aren't all connected; maybe it can be called a love "Z.") And
yet I can't turn away from this train wreck: There's a scene where Anders
confronts Lee, and his dialog is perfect as a man of reason who just wants
his wife back: "I'm not stupid. I know my wife. I know what she's like. You
think you're the first?" Watching the priceless look on Lee's face, you can
see that might be exactly what he thought, and that he hadn't considered
otherwise.
 
There's also something nice about Tyrol, the guy who was raised religious
and had always as a youth somewhat eschewed it, now finding himself facing
his faith in a way that he probably never expected to -- standing in the
Temple of Five and looking for the lost Eye of Jupiter. Cally notes his
reverence for this temple. Meanwhile, everyone's strapping explosives to its
walls preparing to blow it up in case the Cylons arrive. You do what you
have to.
 
Most notable of all is the scene where Boomer-Sharon comes aboard Galactica
and finds herself face-to-face with Athena-Sharon and lets the cat out of
the bag: The Cylons have her daughter Hera on their ship. It goes without
saying that Adama and Roslin would eventually have to face the deception
they engineered in "Downloaded," and that day has come.
 
What's most noteworthy about "The Eye of Jupiter" is that it has these
character moments even among the 12,000 plot pieces. What's a bit
frustrating, however, is that even major bombshells like the revelation of
Hera's survival only make for half-formed emotional payoffs, because the
episode is too busy supplying all this new information but not playing out
any of the repercussions. That's for the next episode, I suppose.
 
Until then, we have lots of setup, the placement of the various characters
on a chessboard, and the cliffhanger. A Cylon Heavy Raider filled with
Centurions, which was snuck in under the radar, has landed on the planet
surface to engage Lee's troops and obtain the Eye. Lee prepares for a ground
assault and orders Anders to lead a civilian defensive unit, which Anders
refuses. Kara takes a Raptor on a reconnaissance mission and is shot down.
Meanwhile, Baltar and D'Anna head down to the planet, calling Adama's
nuclear bluff. But is it a bluff? Adama prepares to release nuclear
warheads. I'd say the chances of that are slim to none, but he sure looks
like he's ready to.
 
Look, this isn't "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 2." Few cliffhangers could be
as satisfying as that one. But this is an improvement over recent BSG fare,
and an entertaining management of plot. If it doesn't have an ending and I
have no idea what to make of where it's going ... well, isn't that the
point?
 
-----
Copyright 2007, Jamahl Epsicokhan. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this article is prohibited.
 
Jammer's Reviews - http://www.jammersreviews.com
Jamahl Epsicokhan - jammer@...