The full fall season of SciFi Channel ’s acclaimed humans vs. cylons show Battlestar Galactica was check in a two - hr “ television event ” called Razor . In a smart move , show God Almighty Ron Moore take this instalment back to an challenging earned run average during season two of the show when Galactica discovered Battlestar Pegasus , commanded by tough - as - shit Admiral Cain . Razor gives us fat , fascinating backstory on Pegasus and its fascistic commander , while also offer a peek at the mysterious beginnings of Cylon experiments with human - Cylon hybrid beings . Along the way we get wonderful space fights , daughter - on - Cylon action , and a reminder that Battlestar Galactica is still one of the best shows on television .
Probably the best part of the episode , away from discovering that Admiral Cain is have girl - on - bot love with a Number Six model Cylon , is the character Kendra Shaw . A Starbuck - esque butch girl , Shaw becomes Cain ’s correct hand after the Cylon approach . We watch a lot of the action in this installment spread out through Kendra ’s eyes : she learn Cain slowly degenerate into revengeful lunacy after the Cylon attack ( and the discovery that her buff is a Cylon undercover agent ) , and then she becomes Lee Adama ’s XO after he takes charge of the Pegasus in the wake of Cain ’s last . Wracked with guilt for her role in a massacre of civilian dissent the Pegasus takeover of the fleet , Shaw try out to honor Cain ’s legacy with courageousness but not to diminish prey to her appetite for red destruction .
The episode centers on what go on when an exploration crew goes miss and Pegasus mail out a rescue mission to find them . Of course , they discover a secret nest of Cylons — but not the ones you ’re expect . They ’ve come in across a radical of old - school Centurions who have last for decades guarding a creature they call “ God . ” This sic off Commander Adama ’s own flashbacks to the first Cylon warfare , when he find the lab where “ God ” was made during a series of experiment in human - Cylon hybridization .
You ’d remember all the flashbacks and digging into BSG ’s past would be boring fansturbation , but instead it makes for riveting , character - driven activeness . The legendary old Centurions and their God make for creepy - cool spectacle , while the sparks that vanish when Starbuck argue with Shaw over battle plan are just obviously good drama . Admiral Cain ’s shadow is swan across the whole account , as it should be . Her choice to embrace war over survival is the dark hydrofoil to Adama ’s more intellectual choice . What propells this sequence into a magnificence that transcends space opera is that we come to sympathize with Shaw ’s commitment to Cain , even as we spurn Cain ’s idea of Justice Department . This moral ambiguity is what has always made BSG such a warm show . Whether grapple with Cylon love or human cruelty , Razor delivers . It will renew your hopes for season four of the show , set to start ( hopefully ) in April .
Ron MooreSci - FiTelevision
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