We all have scars. Physical ones and psychological ones.
1. The past
The past looms large over the entirety of this series. Obviously. The human race has been decimated over a short period of time and forced on the run. The past is safe. The future, dangerous and unknown. This episode takes a familiar path in terms of set up and flashes back a few days, and then to the present. All of our characters are struggling with demons from the past, recent past, and not so recent past. Starbuck is struggling with having left Anders behind, and not just having left him, but also struggling with her feelings for him. Apollo confesses to Starbuck he can’t remember the faces of pilots long gone, and Starbuck can’t remember the names of those pilots, nor can many of the remaining pilots, it seems. What is the past in wartime? The forgotten face of a newbie pilot from a few weeks ago? Or a life lost a year ago?
2. Who’s smoking the cigar this time?
Drinking to excess, missing missions, getting into arguments with her pilots, getting into physical altercations with her pilots, trying to have sex with her CAG in order to forget her feelings. Battlestar has spent a good deal of time building Starbuck up into an almost untouchable pilot; one that gets into impossible situations and through a myriad of impossible, and reckless maneuvers, gets herself out of those impossible situations. We love her. We want her to succeed. But here, in this episode, she’s torn down. She’s imperfect. She has scars, she is afraid. Kat challenges Starbuck here and shows herself to be a competent, and possibly better pilot in this episode if Starbuck continues down her self-destructive path. The two are in direct competition, but Kat is afraid as well. Afraid she’s not as good as Starbuck. Afraid she’ll let the fleet down. Kat and Starbuck take Scar down together, and as a result Kat is overjoyed and she shows it. Starbuck, on the other hand, is emotionless. She knows what Scar went through, to be reborn and to be filled with bitter memories each rebirth. They were one and they same. Gender roles are swapped in this episode, and in this series, and I am here for it. This Starbuck and Kat rivalry is one usually reserved for two men; even Starbuck’s entire self-destructive free-fall has man written all over it, and I love that a woman is given this complexity to work with. It’s what I loved about this series to begin with.
3. A study in contrasts
To continue with the contrasts in genders from above, Apollo is continually the cool, calm, and collected one in his relationship with Starbuck. When he comes upon she and Kat, post fist fight, he’s cooler than ice. Starbuck’s attempt to sleep with Apollo fails because he tells her to slow down and she won’t. When she confesses she’s hung up on a dead guy, he sees right through her and tells his pilot she’s fine with the dead guys, but it’s the living ones she can’t deal with. And then she slaps him. Then she kisses him. COMPLEX STARBUCK. These are struggles typically reserved for men, but she’s got ‘em bad.
4. Best friend in a romantic comedy
And the award goes to…Helo. This is another trope thrown on its head in this episode. Helo is thoughtful and supportive of Starbuck as they’re sparring on Galactica and she talks about her feelings for Anders. She confides in Helo about how before Anders she never would have thought twice about dying, while essentially playing chicken with Scar, but, as Helo recognizes, now, she has something to live for.
5. Hitting you right in the feels
Battlestar is real good at this. And Starbuck is real good at stealing the spotlight. After Kat outshines her and steals her cup, Starbuck dedicates the toast to all of the pilots they’ve lost, and lists their names. I guess she does remember them. Starbuck is the heart of this series, and she is here. Maybe it’s those physical and psychological scars that make her so relatable. So say we all.
