The Captain's Hand (217)

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

Interesting ep. I give it a ***.

I want someone to command the Pegasus for 3+ episodes, 3 commanders in like 7 episodes, that's kind of pathetic.

[saxamoophone]

Hahahaha,

I'm thinking Pegasus might go KABOOOM before the season's end :-p

Of course Lee won't be on it at the time!

[titans]

Hahahaha,

I'm thinking Pegasus might go KABOOOM before the season's end :-p

Of course Lee won't be on it at the time!

bite your tounge! "The Beast" is here to stay! Nothing can stop her. Not Cylon Nukes, not a revolving door at her Commanders position...NOTHING!!

LONG LIVE THE BEAST!!!!!!

[Fahtdaddie]

Good episode. The promotion of Apollo to Commander caught me off guard - didn't see it coming. I loved the battle scenes. Just enough to get a feel for it, but also not enough to put the show over budget.

One thing though: The parallel of the fleet's political situations (the abortion issue, the "we're losing our rights and becoming ike the Cylons/terrorists" stuff) soured me on the writing of this episode. The struggle for political power in the fleet could have taken a different and much more intelligent path rather than taking a rehashed present day pro- or anti- choice/Iraq War rhetoric story line. I understand why it was written like it was, but I just want to be entertained.

Note to Ronald Moore: You are SO much more intelligent than the typical Hollywood crowd. You don't need to get into the present day "Republican vs. Democrat" Patriot Act debate with this series. I am probably like a lot of the people watching the show. I need an escape from the political climate of the day. Battlestar Galactica provided that for me - until tonight.

PLEASE don't let me have to watch the news at 6 and then have to hear it all again at 10:00.

Just a thought!

[The Shadow]

This is my favorite episode by far out of every single BSG ep EVER!!!!!!

The promotion came SO UNEXPECTED!!!!!!!! I saw the promo pictures and thought that the picture with Lee and Ad. Adama was just Adama promoting Lee to Major, NEVER THOUGHT COMMANDER!!!!!

Commander Adama.....has a nice ring to it......do hope that he will break the curse......kinda like Harry Potter....you know... like when the Defense of the Dark Arts teachers always leave or die after one year. Maybe that's why Adama decided to put Lee in charge, hopefully to break the curse and actually give Pegasus a Commander who will at least survive......hopefully.....counting the number of close calls Lee's had this season......he MIGHT just go next..... that would be a total devestation to the fleet.....Ad. Adama is just going to break down and be in total shock and then we will all die!!!!!(no not really )

[the fifth man]

well, it certainly was an intense episode. of course, aside from the action, there was the political intrigue as Baltar makes his big play. it's going to be a big build up again to the season finale.

I certainly agree about the build-up to the season finale. Baltar definitely is becoming darker and darker.

Personally, I'm still having a little bit of a hard time dealing with the fact that Lee went from Captain to Commander in the span of one ep. It boggles the mind. But good for him. At least now we know Pegasus will have a steady Commander for while. Lee isn't going anywhere.

[titans]

AWSOME episode! Pegasus kicks Cylon butt!! The revolving door at Pegasus CIC continues, and BALTARS A PIMP!! AWSOME!!!

[Paramedic0480]

Definitly one of the best episodes since the mini series, i thought the hand of god was one of the best of the first season and This definately stood out as the best thusfar of season 2. i was caught offguard about Lee being promoted to Commander of Pegasus, what a great twist though, it'll be nice to hear "This is the commander" again. The producers continue to defy what everyone think is going to happen and puts the unexpectedly unexpected into this episode adn the season. Looks as if 2 battlestars are going to be searching for a home together. All in all a 10/10.

[tucker9477]

well, titans, it seems your ever growing hatred for lee continues. everyone has to have a skill, i suppose... i'm just afraid the latest promotion of the man you love to hate will shave years off your life... keep strong, my i-bro!

[Vienna_Smiles]

Good episode. The promotion of Apollo to Commander caught me off guard - didn't see it coming. I loved the battle scenes. Just enough to get a feel for it, but also not enough to put the show over budget.

One thing though: The parallel of the fleet's political situations (the abortion issue, the "we're losing our rights and becoming ike the Cylons/terrorists" stuff) soured me on the writing of this episode. The struggle for political power in the fleet could have taken a different and much more intelligent path rather than taking a rehashed present day pro- or anti- choice/Iraq War rhetoric story line. I understand why it was written like it was, but I just want to be entertained.

Note to Ronald Moore: You are SO much more intelligent than the typical Hollywood crowd. You don't need to get into the present day "Republican vs. Democrat" Patriot Act debate with this series. I am probably like a lot of the people watching the show. I need an escape from the political climate of the day. Battlestar Galactica provided that for me - until tonight.

PLEASE don't let me have to watch the news at 6 and then have to hear it all again at 10:00.

Just a thought!

I've noticed the political undercurrent running through this series and have laughingly dubbed it "Ron Moore's political moment" of each episode. Beginning with this episode, we are witnessing the tying of religious fundamentalism to the cylons (AKA-modern day terrorists) via the upcoming elections.

[somedude]

How exactly were the Raptor pilots killed? It looked like someone unbuckled them from their seats, then shot them in the head?

Garner was a good guy, just the wrong person for command. Awesome episode!

[anotherquestion]

How exactly were the Raptor pilots killed? It looked like someone unbuckled them from their seats, then shot them in the head?

Garner was a good guy, just the wrong person for command. Awesome episode!

The cracked canopy windows were kind of a clue to me that it was hostile raider fire.

Most raptors are not armed, right? Boomer bugged out in the mini, for example, because she was in a Recon raptor. I think most are used for recon (since they have FTL drives) and search and rescue.

[anotherquestion]

I've noticed the political undercurrent running through this series and have laughingly dubbed it "Ron Moore's political moment" of each episode. Beginning with this episode, we are witnessing the tying of religious fundamentalism to the cylons (AKA-modern day terrorists) via the upcoming elections.

I think there are prominent non-Cylon religious fundamentalists clearly visible among the Colonials, most notably the uncharmingly named Geminese. These were a political core group for Roslyn in her prophetic phase, now they are a volatile element, forcing her to take positions against her personal inclinations.

Roslyn always remains pragmatic and is a compromiser, something offensive to fundamentalists of all stripes.

I personally like the political undertones, they have the RDM twist to them, so they are evocative of current controversies, but with a different spin. The loss of personal rights, in this case, was directly tied to the survival of the human race. The decision was buttressed by science (in Baltar's study), not ideology. The "reactionary" cause was advanced, but no faction achieved all it sought out.

Baltar again does what he does best--betrayal. After clinching the argument for the ban against abortion by his gloomy anti-Malthusian study, he abjures the logical conclusion and instead panders to the faction that would react most vociferously against such a measure. In this sense, he is betraying science itself as well as Roslyn. I don't know why people keep wanting to ally with him, now Zarek gets in line to be shafted like all the others.

[somedude]

The cracked canopy windows were kind of a clue to me that it was hostile raider fire.

Most raptors are not armed, right? Boomer bugged out in the mini, for example, because she was in a Recon raptor. I think most are used for recon (since they have FTL drives) and search and rescue.

I saw the cracked canopies, but the shot looked too 'perfect'. Just two bullets through the windshield, one each into the heads of the pilots?

I think the Raptors are armed, (remember Lee took out the Cylons using the Raptors' front guns in Fragged), but just not optimized for anti-air warfare, or ever intended to mix it up with Raiders.

[LoneStar1836]

I saw the cracked canopies, but the shot looked too 'perfect'. Just two bullets through the windshield, one each into the heads of the pilots?

I think the Raptors are armed, (remember Lee took out the Cylons using the Raptors' front guns in Fragged), but just not optimized for anti-air warfare, or ever intended to mix it up with Raiders.

Yeah, that did look a little too perfect but it appeared that some Raiders were laying in wait and strafed them as soon as they jumped in. Raptors aren’t generally armed, but they do have the option of carrying a missile payload like in "Fragged". Even if they were armed, I doubt they would have had the opportunity to defend themselves since it was evidently a trap.

RE: the political overtones. I think RDM does it pretty tastefully though. It hasn’t been that heavy handed for my taste. Yeah, I notice it, but it hasn’t turned me off to the show, and he’s made no attempts to hide the fact that he would be including parallels to the current political climate.

Anyway as far as the episode goes, I enjoyed it.

It had predictable bits as far as the action part of the episode goes - the obvious Cylon trap, the commander sacrificing himself - but the character bits were great. Nice to see the Chief again, and Baltar’s bid for the presidency looks to make for an interesting race. Great scenes for him tonight, especially how he cut Roslin's throat at the end.

The way they seem to be going through commanders on the Pegasus, I don’t see her lasting much longer. Not that I don’t like the extra story potential that the ship provides, I’m just not sure yet how I feel about Lee being stuck in command of the ship for a protracted period of time. Not that there isn't story potential there as far as character growth as well as conflict. I don't know. Just seems rather abrupt that he goes from being a Captain to Commander in such a short period. Maybe this will get him out of that funk he's been stuck in lately.

At least it will get him away from Dee so you can't go wrong there.

Great episode except for that nauseating opening bit.