May 28, 2008 11:20 AM
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Tue Feb 9
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The new episode of Battlestar Galactica, "Sine Qua Non," aired yesterday in the UK, and many of you stateside may have watched it on ye olde internets. I won't post a full recap until Friday so that you all have a chance to see and digest, but I will make a few preliminary comments because unfortunately this episode was so full of what the hell that I just can't stop myself from ranting. See, here's the thing: I am used to episodes being bad because the characters were creepy or scenes went on for waaaay too long. But only very rarely am I annoyed about plotholes. I think this week's episode was the first to have genuine problems with continuity and basic plot developments. Spoilers ahead, including the three biggest plotholes (and one burning question about attorney Romo Lampkin's cat).
Here are the three big questions you should be asking yourself after this episode, and not in a "wow it's fun to think about these characters" way — more in an "OK who was smoking crack when they should have been paying attention to continuity" way.
1. Why the hell is Starbuck suddenly in charge of the fighter pilots again? She just about killed everybody on the Demetrius, went AWOL when she should have been meeting the rendezvous, and then did the cylon dance with Leoben. And now she's giving everybody orders and is all cleaned up? Did I miss something or is there a PLOTHOLE?
2. Romo Lampkin, the guy who defended Baltar during his trial for crimes against everybody, is now advising Lee about who should step up as president after Roslin disappeared with the Base Ship. OK, that kind of makes sense. But then he has this hysterical breakdown and nearly kills Lee at point-blank range with a gun. Tense scene, but kind of random. But then, after Lee is sworn in as president, we see Lampkin hanging out with him as an advisor again. So you can attempt to murder Lee but still be his adviser? Plothole or not?
3. Adama decides to step down as Admiral in another WTF move, and then he hands over the ship to Tigh? Right after discovering that Tigh has been doing the nasty with the imprisoned Six often enough that he's gotten her pregnant? DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE????
Extra credit: And now for a very special cat question. We see Lampkin's insanely cute kitty about a zillion times in this episode, looking perky and zoomy. In one scene, Lampkin realizes Lee has to be president and talks to kitty about it. In the VERY NEXT SCENE, he shows up waving his gun at Lee, and shows Lee his cat carrier. Lee peeks inside, makes a face, and says something like, "She's been dead for weeks." OK, WTF here people? Did three weeks pass while Lampkin walked down the hall to shoot Lee? Does he own Shroedinger's cat, capable of being alive and dead simultaneously? Was the cat he talked to in the previous scene a ghost?
And here's the REAL kicker: If Lampkin actually killed his cat, WHY THE HELL DOES LEE GIVE HIM A DOG AT THE END OF THE EPISODE?! The guy is a known pet killer! And a known president-almost-shooter! Plothole or just complete and total madness?
If you live in the U.S., the episode will air as usual on Friday night at 10 PM on SciFi Channel.
Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, at annalee@io9.com.
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