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The Cylons guarding in BSG: Six of One(2008).
© Sci-Fi

Mania Grade: A
Series: Battlestar Galactica
Episode: Six of One
Starring: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackoff
Written By: Michael Angeli
Directed By: Anthony Hemmingway
Network: Sci-Fi

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BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Six of One

It’s about time the thematic element of “this has happened before and it will happen again”, come into direct play for the Cylons. It seems that the raider’s meeting with Anders in the season premiere prompted an evolution in the Centurions. They begin developing higher brain functionality, becoming more than simple machines working for the advanced models of Cylon. Right away, Cevil wants to lobotomize the Centurions forcing the evolution to stop. Isn’t this the same issue they have with the humans from Caprica? Yes, it is happening again but for the Cylons it may be coming from an unexpected enemy, themselves.

The Cylons outnumber the humans - they have better technology and weapons, but this sudden divide between the different models may help explain why they can never seem to get the job done when it comes to stopping the humans or at least getting ahead of them. Sure, there’s plenty of unrest among the humans, but they are used to living with unrest, the machines expect order and work the best in that situation.

The tables seem to have turned for Adama and Roslin and it does pose an area of concern for the development of these characters. Roslin started this series as a representative of the religious beliefs of her people and she followed those beliefs through space dragging the caravan of ships along with her. Adama was always the voice of logic, the military man not willing to take chances with his ships and people on what he considered wild goose chases with only religious writings as evidence. Now, even though Roslin continues to see miracles all around her she seems to have looked away from the potential miracle that is Starbuck. Roslin is dying again so if the series led her character on a bitter path of rejecting her religious beliefs I could buy her resistance to Starbuck more. At this point, she just seems to be stubborn. Adama has changed throughout the seasons accepting that things happen that he can’t always fully understand, even if he still doesn’t buy the whole religious prophecy stuff. Adama’s eventual decision on how to handle Starbuck makes the most sense. The chips are down and Galactica can’t afford to let any potential solution to their search fade away without some investigation. 

The four Cylons continue to meet in secret with the goal of finding the fifth Cylon. Why are they so certain the fifth one is a part of their group? Could the fifth one not be on the Cylon base ship? At any rate, they are looking and they believe that Baltar may hold answers whether he knows it or not. So, Tory is asked to take on for the team and in the end she doesn’t appear to be too disappointed. What would the repercussions be on their group if Tory were to fall in line with Baltar’s religious zealots? The connection the five Cylons have to Baltar, if he himself isn’t one, may be more important than you think. Baltar is preaching the religion of the Cylons, the idea of only one God.

There’s a great deal of setup in this episode, preparing for the adventure that is yet to come. Starbuck is on her on in a ship that recycles waste; the Cylons are at the beginning of a Civil War; and the four Cylons are on a search for the fifth. Set up for such complex and epic story is necessary even if it feels a bit anticlimactic in comparison to other episodes in the series. This episode wasn’t action packed but it was dramatic: Lee Adama leaving the military for a political career is an apt evolution of his character and the scenes made for palpable drama, especially between him and his father and between him and Kara. So, while this episode isn’t much of a space opera, it is necessary viewing. The groundwork has been laid for some fascinating storytelling over the remainder of this last season.