Jammersreviews

Note: This review contains significant spoilers.

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Battlestar Galactica: "Flight of the Phoenix"

A Cylon computer virus begins taking control of the Galactica's systems as 
Cylon forces close in on their position. Meanwhile, Tyrol decides to build a 
new fighter from scratch as a project to distract the crew from its 
troubles.

Air date: 9/16/2005 (USA)
Written by Bradley Thompson & David Weddle
Directed by Michael Nankin

Rating out of 4: **1/2

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
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"Flight of the Phoenix" is a decent episode that could've been better. There 
are good moments here that are heartfelt and nicely performed, but they 
don't quite pay off and the episode never really comes together into 
something truly cohesive. It instead becomes a victim of its own split 
personality. This is by no means a weak episode, and I liked it more than 
"Final Cut," but I'm scoring it a near-miss.

I think the main hang-up is that the jeopardy plot and the human story don't 
seem like they're a compatible fit. They tend to get in each other's way and 
might've been better suited alongside different subplots, or perhaps on 
their own. The stories feel crammed to the very last second into a limited 
amount of screen time that does not seem adequate to hold all the intended 
beats and nuance. Here's an episode that needs to breathe but is so pressed 
for time that it cannot.

In plot A we have a Cylon computer virus that is running rampant on the 
Galactica, and in plot B we have Chief Tyrol undertaking the construction of 
a new stealth fighter from scratch, which is his way of giving himself and 
the crew something to focus on besides the unremitting doom and gloom. Plot 
A is technical, plot B is emotional, both have their good qualities, neither 
has very much to do with the other, and neither quite pays off to full 
effect.

We do have a number of good character-oriented scenes, including the early 
bits where Helo gets the cold shoulder at the card game from the other 
pilots. It's a case of guilt by association: He shared a bed with a Cylon, 
so he has therefore been compromised. Racetrack in particular shows a major 
attitude. Starbuck stands up for Helo, because she went through a lot with 
him, but for those who weren't there, Helo is about one step up from being a 
Cylon collaborator. What's lacking in these scornful pilots is a sense of 
empathy. I suppose empathy is hard to muster when a lousy card game is the 
high point of your day.

On the flight deck, Helo and Tyrol get into a heated brawl over Sharon, 
which continues to be an intriguing love triangle of the most uniquely 
screwed-up kind. What's interesting to note here is that these two share an 
understanding that Sharon is not simply a Cylon traitor, but also an 
individual who was (and still is) important to them. Cally gets out of the 
brig, and we can see that the once-close friendship between her and Tyrol 
has been left in ruin by her actions.

Morale on the ship is low. Gaeta shouts at Tigh in full view of the CIC. 
Racetrack, for the second episode in a row, comments about not being 
particularly worried about dying. Roslin visits the doctor, only to get bad 
news: She has mere weeks to live, a month at best. There's a scene later 
where she returns the book she borrowed from Adama all the way back in 
"Water" (Adama gave it to her as a gift at the time, saying, "Never lend 
books") and you can't help but think that she's putting things in order in 
anticipation of her own death. It raises the interesting question of what 
exactly is going to happen to Roslin. Are the writers going to find a way to 
save her, or are they truly going to carry through on this apparent death 
sentence? I await a brave and sincere answer.

When the Cylon computer virus strikes, we learn that it has been lying in 
hiding since it got into the networked system in "Scattered." It has since 
been learning and adapting to the computer systems such that it can take 
control and turn the Galactica's systems against the crew, but I question 
the strategy effectiveness of such a brilliant virus to first announce its 
intentions by dropping hints such as knocking Dualla out of her chair with a 
"Star Trek"-style exploding console, or shutting off the oxygen in the 
firing range.

The scene in the firing range, by the way, doesn't work. It starts with an 
apt moment where Lee is blasting the hell out of a target with Sharon's face 
on it, but then it turns into ho-hum jeopardy with Kara laughing deliriously 
because of oxygen deprivation, Lee collapsing to the floor, and then the two 
of them rolling around on the ground trying to shoot holes in the door to 
escape. There's little suspense to a scene like this (gee, y'think they'll 
survive?), and I was not able to suspend my disbelief enough to see this as 
anything but actors doing their best to convey a strange (goofy?) situation.

The computer virus strikes me as a little too much like a Trek sci-fi tech 
device to be used so urgently. Like the Borg, it learns and adapts and is 
evidently implacable. This is not unique to "Battlestar." Not that it's a 
huge problem, but it feels like plot rather than story or character, and 
this series is more interesting as story/character than as mechanical plots.

The effort to eradicate the virus brings all the major minds to the effort, 
including Baltar, who is, refreshingly, employed without the presence of 
Six. The way the problem is eventually solved -- amid a countdown scenario 
before a Cylon fleet swoops in and destroys the Galactica -- involves 
Sharon's Cylon tech knowledge being tapped after Adama comes to the 
difficult decision to try trusting her as the defector that the Galactica 
crew is not particularly ready to accept her as. Adama comes to this 
decision only after a crucial scene where he confides in Roslin -- a scene 
that indicates that their relationship is indeed very much repaired. She 
recommends that he trust or distrust Sharon based on "common ground," and 
the common ground Adama uses is the common desire to live.

Sharon is brought to CIC where she has a plan to stop the Cylon fleet while 
Gaeta wipes the Galactica hard drives and reinstalls from backups, which is 
perhaps the most straightforward and believable solution to the problem that 
could've been written. Sharon disables the approaching Cylon fleet by 
cutting into her hand and inserting a fiber-optic cable into the vein in her 
wrist, and sending a virus back to the Cylons. This hits maybe a little too 
close to Locutus-of-Borg territory; I found myself MST3K-ing Data's line: "I 
put them all to sleep."

The writers need to be careful with how the human-looking Cylons can 
interface with technology, lest Sharon become the equivalent of Seven of 
Nine, whose nanoprobes became an all-too-handy and overused plot device for 
the "Voyager" writers.

Similarly, the writers also need to be careful with how bull-headed they 
write Colonel Tigh when he's being a skeptical hard-ass. There are perhaps 
too many scenes in this episode where, for the sake of adding conflict, it's 
clear that he's taking the losing side of what would obviously solve the 
story's problems. Conflict makes good drama, but making Tigh too 
transparently wrong doesn't serve the character or the audience. I did, 
however, appreciate a scene where Tigh was willing to listen to Tyrol's 
plight, and the nice touch where Tigh takes a jar of alcohol as if it's his 
prerogative.

Tyrol's storyline is a nice example of finding hope in a desperate 
situation, and I appreciated the way members of the crew were initially 
skeptical but slowly came around and rallied around his project. 
Unfortunately, this story doesn't segue smoothly into and out of the other 
plot involving the computer virus and Cylon attack fleet. It feels rushed, 
particularly at the end, where the story picks up the human threads in haste 
after the technical threads have been resolved.

The key emotional moment in the episode comes when Tyrol's new fighter is 
unveiled and christened at a ceremony that *almost* really works and is 
wonderfully performed ... except that logically it doesn't quite add up 
because there's no scene that adequately sets it up. Quite simply, I was 
puzzled by the fact that Tyrol and the deck crew decide to name the ship 
Laura in Roslin's honor. It's a moving gesture, but for me it had a slight 
head-scratching effect, because we've never really seen that there's a bond 
between the deck crew and President Roslin. Certainly there *could* be, but 
we've never been given that sense on-screen, so this scene doesn't quite add 
up or pay off.

Which is too bad. I certainly like the intentions here, and it's wonderfully 
staged. It reminds us that this series can be sentimental despite the 
darkness and despair. But it also seems like there are scenes missing from 
"Flight of the Phoenix," and without those scenes it's not quite complete.

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Copyright 2005, Jamahl Epsicokhan. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this article is prohibited.

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