What I'm Watching: Battlestar Galactica (Razor)

Battlestar Galactica: Razor (C+)

What a supreme disappointment! Reading several reviews, it would seem that most diehard BSG fans enjoyed the episode, but I cannot in good conscience agree. The flashback scheme of the two-part episode only works well if it is providing any previously unknown information or telling a compelling story. In this case, new character Kendra Shaw is wholly uninteresting, and there is only one minor interaction between Lee and Kara, which should have taken up a much larger portion of the episode, especially given the tension they had and the declaration of love they made to each other on New Caprica. We know from the very beginning that every regular character on the show has to survive, and there are precious few cast members in this TV movie anyway (Adama, Lee, Kara, and a cameo by Roslin). What we do learn in this film is very little and not terribly exhilarating. Cain is in no way a sympathetic character because she advocates destruction and suicide over militarily intelligent strategic thinking. Shaw goes over the edge and follows her blindly, or worse, becomes her, but she dies without ever appearing in any of the regular series episodes so her sacrifice is truly in vain. The revelation that Cain and the Six onboard Pegasus were lesbian lovers come out of left field and does not add much to the story. This presentation even lacks a climactic scene where Cain talks to the Six about how hurt she is and then tries to hurt the Six herself instead of just letting the torturer rape her. The hybrid Cylon experiment would be interesting, if it was covered more deeply and used somewhere else in the series. The brief surprise appearance of the Cylons from the original series is fun but seems unwise, as that show is almost universally hated and considered to be irreproachably awful.

Worst of all, the title seems forced. The razor Cain carries around with her and then gives to Shaw makes for a slightly decent but not terribly impressive metaphor. This two-hour special does not serve as an effective bridge between the third and fourth seasons of “Battlestar Galactica” but rather gets me more excited because I know that the fourth season will go forward in time rather than flashing back to events that have been explained. The promo for season four is awesome, and I personally cannot wait until March (!) when the show returns for at least the first part of its final season. I believe ten episodes out of twenty are filmed, and I personally do not mind if the series is split between two years in its presentation. I say that now, but I am hopeful that the mid-season finale next May makes me regret that statement.