The fifth episode of season one, “You Can’t Go Home Again,” begins with the aftermath of Starbuck’s disappearance, and focuses, mainly, on the missing, cigar-loving, pilot.
1. The power of one
This entire episode revolves around Starbuck; we’re either with Starbuck as she navigates the moon on which she crash-landed, or we’re with the crew of the Galactica, most particularly Commander Adama and Lee Adama, as they attempt to locate and rescue the downed pilot. She’s the core of this episode, and from what I remember, a core element of this show. Things start off as they should for a hero in a sticky situation; this moon is rocky, barren, and windy, with no sign of shelter. Basically, it’s inhospitable. Starbuck is alone, and she is not waiting to be rescued because that’s not Starbucks style – she rescues herself if she’s not busy rescuing someone else. As she searches the barren moon for means of escape, she stumbles upon the Cylon Raider that incapacitated her Viper. It’s dead. Dead because we find out Raiders are part machine, part living being.
Starbuck speaks to herself throughout her time stranded on the moon, because why wouldn’t you if you’re alone? As a directorial choice, it gives us, the audience, entry into her thoughts and actions. But being stranded alone will do damage to your psyche, and talking to oneself can help ease that strain. Long story short, Starbuck figures out how to work the Raider, including locating its oxygen supply, and takes off from the barren moon on which she’s been stranded. What we find out for sure in this episode, is that Starbuck functions at her best when her life is at its worst. She’s who you want on your side when things have gone to hell.
2. The power of emotion
Starbuck disappears at the worst time, emotionally, for those that matter to her most. She’s just confessed her complicity in leading Zak Adama to his death to Zak’s father who also happens to be her commander. Because of her deep, personal connection to both Adamas, William and Lee, neither will rest until she is found. As we see, they are willing to put the entire fleet at risk in order to find her. Colonel Tigh, and even President Roslin, question both Adamas’ motives once it becomes clear that the two will not give up, even when it’s logical to do so. They can go on and on about this being a military operation, and on and on about leaving no man behind, but it’s obvious to all that their emotional involvement in the operation to save Starbuck has compromised the safety of the fleet, as well as the safety of the entire human race. It takes the President herself, appealing to the goodness and humanity she knows both of these men possess, to get them to call off the search. It almost feels like mom coming home and laying down the law – calling an end to the tomfoolery of those left home alone and to their own devices. As human beings, we’d like to think we’re governed by logic, but the pull of emotion is tough to beat back.
3. Cylon-occupied Caprica
I can barely bring myself to slog through this storyline involving a Cylon copy of Sharon and Helo. It’s rough; more rough than I remember. They’re living in the shelter they discovered in the last episode, and it happens to be located beneath a restaurant of some sort. The only redeemable portion of this storyline is when Helo goes to make some toast…and uses a giant chrome toaster. Some original model Cylons show up at this point in time, chrome toaster time, and believe it or not, the actual giant chrome toaster gives them away; the bread pops up and the Cylons start shooting. This story is obviously the secondary one, and it needs to remain that way.
4. World Building
I’ve focused a good deal on world building in prior episodes, and this episode continues hammering these details home. The suits the Viper pilots wear have become prominent and distinctive. Not only that, we see the tool Starbuck uses to determine if the air she’s breathing is toxic is the same one Helo uses to discover the same thing on Cylon-occupied Caprica. The radio Starbuck wants to use, but is busted in her landing, has been used by other pilots. We find out more about the ways in which Vipers function, and we really dig deep into the intricate ways in which the Cylon Raiders function, thanks to Starbuck’s ingenuity. All of these create a world that is similar to ours, but distinctly Battlestar.
Continued below5. Random thoughts
This was a tightly written episode with one distinct purpose: bring Starbuck home. As a result, it seems I don’t have a ton of things to examine, but over the course of the series, the trope of walking and talking has made multiple appearances throughout the halls of Galactica. It does come across as an effective way of pushing through exposition, while making characters appear busy, and giving us a view of all parts of the Battlestar Galactica itself. The occupants are living in tight quarters, why not show us that. The use of color has stood out, too, in this episode; the orangey-yellow of the moon Starbuck is marooned on, and the twilight-blue of Caprica Helo stumbles into after Sharon disappears.
At the conclusion of the episode, we see a resolution in the conflict between Starbuck and Adama. He has forgiven her. He loves her as a daughter, and the thought of losing her was too much for him to bear, as a father and as a commander. His advice to his CAG, “Get some rest.” But Starbuck can’t rest; that’s what makes her such an effective pilot, and such a difficult person to get along with; her drive to constantly be moving, working, creating, and solving. She’s obviously uncomfortable in her own skin, and she has to get out of it by doing – doing constructively, or destructively.
