Battlestar Galactica Cast
© Sci Fi Channel

Mania Grade: A-
Stars: Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos

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"Battlestar Galactica: The Eye of Jupiter"

It’s no secret here at Mania that I am a staunch support of BSG.  It’s not due to any fanboy dedication either, it’s because the series is just so damn good.  The end of season tow through the beginning of season three was some of the most exhilarating and truly dramatic television I’ve seen in years.  The parallels that story arc shared with our real world situation were dynamic and clever while never coming off heavy handed or preachy.  It actually took me back to George Romero’s social commentary on consumerism within his classic film Dawn of the Dead.  Critics and fans talk about Joe Dante’s Masters of Horror installment Homecoming as a watermark in sociopolitical commentary within the horror genre but I have to disagree.  Dante’s story suffered under the weight of the message he was trying to share making the whole thing feel preachy.  The stories in BSG have been more about perspectives, offering the creators’ thoughts about where each side of a situation is coming from.  Regardless of where you stand you can enjoy the series and at the same time it may make you think about the world you live in.  To me, that’s powerful stuff.  With that said, as that storyline ended those ideas have taken a backseat to a few filler episodes tying up some lose ends with characters and such.  The boxing episode, while definitely a filler episode, was nonetheless great as so many storylines were tied up in that ring with one storyline, the one between Kara ad Lee, intensifying.  So now we come to the midseason cliffhanger; The Eye of Jupiter. 

While collecting algae to be processed into food Tyrol discovers The Temple of Five.  It is said that within the temple, the eye of Jupiter will show the way to Earth.  Almost the very minute this information is shared with the Galactica a bevy of Cylon ships jump into orbit around the algae planet.  They meet with the President and Adama to discuss a trade.  The deal they offer is that they will stop chasing the Colonials and they will even give them Baltar back to do with what they will in exchange for the eye.  While they do find the offer tempting Adama decides that giving the Cylons a way to Earth is an impossibility and that he’d rather destroy it than give it to the Cylons.  So Adam tells them that if they make an attempt to take the eye he will launch his remaining nuclear missiles down on the temple destroying it forever. 

The whole thing as it turns out is just a way to get Galactica’s attention diverted long enough for Baltar and the Lucy Lawless Cylon to take a battalion of Centurions down to the planet’s surface and take the eye.  By the end of the episode Starbuck has been shot out of the sky and her husband and Lee are at odds over whether to find her or continue fortifying their positions for the upcoming attack on the temple by the Cylons.  At the same time Galactica is preparing to follow through with the promise to launch the nukes if the Cylons attempt to take the eye. 

It’s a solidly dramatic cliffhanger that looks to lead to some additional character entanglements as Kara’s husband and Lee’s wife are both onto the fact that Kara and Lee have been having some hidden make out sessions.  The episode is exciting and incredibly well acted as usual, but I am left with a few issues. 

First off, the arrow from last year was supposed to point the way to Earth.  It did open up some constellations and they thought they knew what direction to go to get to them but that’s really all that’s been said about the whole thing since then.  I guess we are to assume that they have just been traveling in that direction this whole time but it hasn’t been talked about.  Also, that I can remember they never talked about needing to find this temple in order to get to Earth so I guess it’s just lucky they did.  Once the true abilities of the eye are revealed next year I really hope they find a way to tie it back to what we’ve already seen.  I’d love to see the eye chart a path to other artifacts that will help in the search so our heroes will stop just happening upon these items. 

I’ve always enjoyed the mystical feel of the series, the cross of religion and government and all the problems that come with this kind of crossing.  I’d really like to see the series get back to some of that conflict.  The debates that were a part of those storylines were fascinating.  I love that Adama isn’t a religious person but he gives himself over to faith, more in the president than in the Gods, but he does it nonetheless.  It’s also interesting that the humans believe in “Gods’ that are a mythological here on Earth while the Cylons seem to follow a more Christian faith.  It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out down the line when they finally do make it to Earth.