I owe a couple of decent posts about these episodes, which were chock full of good stuff and a few things that resonated with some my own recent experiences.
Who votes for Romo Lampkin as the fifth Cylon? Or maybe it’s Romo’s cat, who apparently only Romo can see (just like Baltar sees the Six). The Romo’s perspective, the cat is clearly in his room while he and Lee Adama discuss a search committee for a new president (Roslin is missing). But Lee never sees it, and even trips over an empty food dish.
And here’s a question. If Tighe is a Cylon, how did he and the captive Six manage to conceive? Isn’t that something Cylons aren’t supposed to be able to do?
And, Sine Qua Non, which first aird May 30, is the episode where Admiral Adama clearly declares is love for Laura Roslin, who is his “Sine Qua Non” — as Romo describes it: “Those things we deem essential without which we cannot bear living, without which life in general loses its specific value and becomes abstract.”
Of course, the admiral’s feelings are intensified because Roslyn has disappeared with the rebel Cylon base ship, and there is even evidence that she might have been killed in a horrific space battle. But Adama doesn’t lose hope. Instead, he gives up his commission — “I can’t let her go. I’ve lost my objectivity” — and orders the fleet to continue its search for Earth without him.
He decides to wait at the BSG rendezvous point alone in a raptor, and when Lee asks why, the admiral says, “Because I can’t live without her.”
I know how he feels.
“The Hub,” which aired June 6, takes place during the same time period as “Sine Qua Non,” but all we see is what’s happening on the rebel Cylon base ship. This episode contains what are probably two central plot developments for the entire BSG series. The first is the destruction of the Cylon resurrection ship. Without that ship, the Cylon “skin jobs” can no longer regenerate. That makes them as mortal as humans.
The second key development is Roslin’s personal revelation that life just isn’t worth living without love. Although her cold, heartless approach to politics and her presidency is one of her strengths, it’s also a weakness. Faced with a choice to allow a wounded Baltar to bleed to death, Roslin realizes that “all you need is love” and desperately works to save his life.