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Five Thoughts on Battlestar Galactica‘s “Colonial Day”

By | August 19th, 2018
Posted in Television | % Comments

What’s more dangerous than war? Politics. At least that is what this episode, “Colonial Day,” posits to its viewers. Adama doesn’t even appear for more than five minutes in this episode. That’s how war light, and politics heavy this episode is.

1. “A new era is about to dawn.”

I’m going to try something different and use quotations from this episode as my five thoughts. This quotation spoken by Tom Zarek. Remember him? He is the terrorist/freedom fighter/former Starbuck, depending on your point of view/age. In this episode, we have a political meeting of the twelve colonies called the Quorum of Twelve, and Zarek has been nominated to represent his colony: Sagittaron. He states that he will fight for the poor and the weak, not the rich and the powerful. A real man of the people.

2. “Don’t underestimate Zarek. He’s charismatic and knows what buttons to push.”

Lee Adama isn’t dumb, and he’s seen Zarek operate, in person. And boy is he right here. Zarek uses his position at the Quorum of Twelve to declare that the fleet needs a vice president, because what would happen if President Roslin was killed? Would they wind up with a military dictatorship? And so, Tom Zarek sets himself up perfectly for nomination for VP. What a guy.

3. “You’re not interested in in the citizens; you just want power”

Lee Adama is getting a lot of play in this episode. He’s been fairly underused, more so than I remember in this series. Maybe his story becomes more developed in later seasons, since I remember him being a major player. But, back to this quotation, Lee knows Zarek and calls BS on his statement about how the humans of the fleet need to think about the group, not the individual. How they need to “free themselves from the past and act as a collective.” Borg-style? Hopefully not. It’s not always easy to separate politicians from their message, and Lee is able to do that here, he knows the truth behind the message, but not everyone does, and that’s why Zarek is dangerous.

4. “We must survive and we will survive, and we will through the qualities that have made our colonies great: courage, truth, justice, liberty, the firm and deep resolve to make ourselves better, not just for ourselves, but for our children.”

Believe it or not, Gaius Baltar is nominated for the Quorum of Twelve as the representative from Caprica. And believe it or not again, Baltar utters these words while being interviewed by the press during this quorum. Roslin is listening, and she is listening. Balatar is a charismatic speaker, and the people like him, and so he is the answer to her prayers; she asks him to run for VP, and he agrees, in a bathroom. It’s a great scene. And guess what, Baltar wins the election. But, if we’ve learned anything about Baltar so far in this series, it’s that he’s almost as dangerous as Tom Zarek.

5. “The devil you know.”

It’s as if this saying was tailor made for this episode. Commander Adama pops up at the end of the episode to express his misgivings about Baltar as VP, and Roslin utters this, perhaps cliche, quotation, but it fits…perfectly. We get a number of excellent, and quotable one liners here, as Adama tells Roslin, “Politics, as exciting as war, and just as dangerous,” and Roslin replies with, “Though in war you only get killed once.” Ouch. These two know the way the world works, and are just trying to play the game. They’re the good guys, so we hope they win.

This episode is one that keeps you on edge; it’s plot driven and moves quickly. The enemy here is not the Cylons, it’s other humans. Items to enjoy: Commander Adama dances, yes dances. It’s like seeing your dad dance, and it’s wonderful. Also, the flirtation between Starbuck and Apollo hits a higher level…we get to see Starbuck in a dress. Yup, a dress. This episode is a respite from Cylon attacks, but I’m sure it won’t last. Oh, also, there’s a bar brawl.


//TAGS | 2018 Summer TV Binge | Battlestar Galactica

Liz Farrell

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