Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Battlestar Galactica S4 E19-E21

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“Daybreak Part One, Two & Three”

As I finished the last write up for Battlestar Galactica S4 E13-18, I had planned on watching the three-part finale as a big movie. I was starting to figure out how long it would take and when I could fit it into my schedule when I realized that I had the time tonight. So I turned to Amazon Prime and continued with the final three episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

I must say I feel as if the show came to an end in quite a lovely way.

The big battle at the Cylon colony was an incredible firefight, and, as I expected, it turned into a “opera house” type situation. I liked the way that resolved itself, putting the people involved in the proper places.

I did find the flashback sections of these episodes to be perhaps more than was needed. It did add some good background to some of the characters, especially Gaius and his father, but some felt superfluous.

The whole Galen Tyrol discovery of Cally’s murder by Tory was shocking , but it was just the way Galen had been portrayed over the series. Hotheaded, angry and reactive, Galen snapped Tory’s neck, which messed up the entire deal between Adama and Cavil. I’m not sure Cavil taking his own life made sense in this situation, but it did bring a resolution to the conflict.

I figured most of the final episode would be falling action, wrapping up the stories and giving us closure for the characters. Laura Roslin’s death was sad and yet beautiful. I was afraid that Adama would do something drastic since he had said that he “couldn’t live without her” earlier this season.

Kara’s return was revealed that she was an angel of some sort, and her just disappearance after a goodbye with Lee was really melancholic. I liked that they did not go into a great detail to explain what was going on with her and this made all the sense in the world.

I am not sure how I feel about the prologue at the end with Head Gaius and Head Six walking around in present day on this new earth. I had guessed that they were in the past of a planet when they arrived, but not sure why these “head” characters were in the present day timeline.

Overall, I was satisfied with the conclusion of the show. It was a fantastic sci-fi show with a lot of faith built into it. I did like how it presented us with the conclusions for the characters, even if some of them were not very happy (Adama, Lee etc.) There may be a question or two that the finale opens that may not make a lot of sense (giving up technology is one…), but there is nothing that ruins the show for me.

Battlestar Galactica S4 E13-E18

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“The Oath”

“Blood on the Scales”

“No Exit”

“Deadlock”

“Someone to Watch Over Me”

“Islanded in a Stream of Stars”

I watched six episodes in the final season of Battlestar Galactica today, completely enthralled by the experience. This has been such a journey, with some of the best characters on TV and an almost impossible storyline to predict.

Admiral Adama has been so up and down over this stretch of time. So much of his shakiness has been because of his drinking. I do not think the show has intended to dive into his drinking, but it is clear that the alcohol has been a problem. It turns Adama into someone that is so different, so angry. He is usually a balanced individual, but when he is drinking, he is anything but.

Of course, he had to survive the coup attempt by Tom Zarek and Gaeta. I gasped when Zarek ordered the assassination of the Council, and it being carried out. It seemed like an impossible situation, but Lee, Kara and the others fought brutally to stop the coup and prevent Gaeta from executing Adama. It was close, but they succeeded. The scene at the end of that episode with a firing squad executing Gaeta and Zarek was rough.

How many times over these episodes did Adama remove his Admiral medals? I do not think this was a strong season for Adama overall.

Galactica is falling apart, and the pain it is causing Adama is adding to his own stress. Adding some Cylon living goop to fix the cracks in the structures was not helping matters and only caused more strife among the people on the ship.

Ellen returned. After she had been poisoned by Sol on Caprica, she was reborn in a Cylon resurrection chamber. She was one of the Final Five, and we learned that they were the five that created the current Cylons. Her arrival became a huge point of contention for Sol. Sam was shot in the head during the battle and wound up hooked up to machines, much like the Hybrid was.

Sol and Caprica lost their baby. He was going to name him Liam. It was a real painful moment and only went to highlight how vital Hera was to the Cylons. Boomer wound up manipulating Tyrol into helping her escape from the brig and she ends up taking Hera and escaping Galactica upon a viper, pretending to be Athena. Not before fracking Helo (still pretending to be Athena) with Athena tied up in the very room watching it happen. The possible retrieval of Hera feels like a major part of the final three episodes.

Kara struggled with her discovery from earth of her own dead body. She had no idea how it happened or what was going on. She was not a Cylon as all the models had been revealed (I guess except for Daniel, the mysterious Number 7). She had some connection to a song that her father used to play on the piano for her as a girl, the same song that Hera had written the notes to and that played to trigger the Final Five. How this song works in this story is still a huge question.

Oh, and what a dick move by Baltar to reveal to everybody that Kara had found her own body on earth. He claimed it was proof of life after death. Kara slapped him for revealing the truth as he did, but that seemed out of character. I expected Kara to give him a full on right cross. I had been finding more positives about Baltar over this stretch of episodes, but this made me remember what a jerk he was.

I really liked the alliance formed with the Cylons and the humans, and I also liked how there were plenty of people who found this to be against what they believed.

Adama’s decision to finally abandon ship and give Galactica a goodbye was long overdue as the ship had been dying for much of this season. The moment of Adama and Tigh accepting the loss together was a powerful way to end episode 18.

The final three episodes of the series are a three-part run, and I plan on watching them all together at some time this week. It is entitled “Daybreak” and I can honestly say that I have no real idea how it will conclude, which is awesome. I assume there will be some variation of the vision with Hera playing out at the new Cylon colony, and I have to guess that Cavil will get his comeuppance. I do hope we discover exactly what is going on with Starbuck, and what it means when the Hybrid and Sam referred to her as the “Harbinger of Death.” I do not want Laura to die from her cancer and I would love a happy ending for her and Adama. I do not think that is going to happen, unfortunately.

Battlestar Galactica S4 E10, E11, E12

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“Revelations”

“Sometimes a Great Notion”

“A Disquiet Follows My Soul”

So much is happening.

In Revelations, there is a tense showdown between the Cylons and the Humans. D’anna wants the four of the five Cylons brought to them and Lee wants the Cylons to release their hostages.

The four were revealed to everyone and it led to some major frustration for Adama.

Starbuck, on a tip from Tyrol and Anders, figured out that a specific Viper had a destination programmed into it and she guessed that it was to earth.

The Galactica and the Cylons, in an alliance, found earth only to discover that it was a nuclear wasteland.

In Sometimes a Great Notion, the crew explored the ruined earth.

They discovered that the 13 Tribe was a tribe of Cylons.

Starbuck recovered her own corpse in her own ship, crashed on the earth. What does that mean? What does that make Kara who is living right now? She burned her corpse.

Roslin and Adama both wound up in a downward spiral from the failure of earth. Adama boozing it up and Roslin rejecting her medical care.

Adama, drunk and angry, stormed to Tigh’s room and tried to get him to kill him. It was a tense scene that felt out of place. Adama has been fairly inconsistent during this time. Not sure how this worked.

Dualla goes out and has a great date night with Lee and then kills herself with a gunshot to the head. Wha????

Then we find out that Ellen Tigh was the fifth Cylon. That revelation was fairly flat for me.

Finally, in “A Disquiet Follows My Soul,” more craziness with Adama and Roslin. They end up in bed together at the end of the episode. Hopefully a good Frack will straighten these two up because they are really needed to get back into their roles.

Tom Zarek is back to his machinations and he is teaming up with the angry and vengeful Gaeta. This was after Gaeta had a bitter throwdown with Kara, with neither of them holding back.

Tyrol’s son has a kidney problem and Tyrol rushed him to the doctor. This was where he learned that the little boy was not his son. Cally was unsure who the father was and, after the wedding, it was not Tyrol. I’m not sure why that was done, unless it was just to screw with Tyrol more.

Turns out the father was Hot Dog and Tyrol beat him up at Baltar’s speech that was so much negative and darkness.

Darkness is a good description for these last two episodes.

The Greatest American Hero S2 E7

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“The Lost Diablo”

It has been awhile since I watched an episode of The Greatest American Hero. The second season has been up and down, with some really good episodes and some episodes that I could leave. Episode seven is right in the middle.

Ralph, Bill and Pan took the kids on camping trip. However, Bill has a different idea. He had a map for a hidden treasure called the Lost Diablo and he wanted help gathering it up.

There were some silly moments in this episode, including a group of thieves setting themselves up to steal the claim out from under them.

Some of the action inside the cave where the gold was hidden was fairly dumb. There was one bobby trap and the mine was constantly threatening to collapse.

I was a little sad because I always like my heroes to be heroes and when the entire band of bad guys got crushed in the mine collapsing, I really wanted Ralph to be able to save them. Instead, he just left with Bill saying that none of them could have survived.

Not sure what this episode was really about, but it was okay, but not in the upper list of the show.

The X-Files S7 E16

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“Chimera”

We had an episode of The X-Files where Mulder and Scully spent no time together and we actually involved in different cases. Scully’s was just a stakeout that the show returned to for a few scenes, so I would assume that Gillian Anderson had something going on that required a limited film schedule at this point.

However, Scully did provide some great comedic moments in the episode with the boredom and the lewdness of what she had to watch. Mulder, on the other hand, was facing a different type of evil in a neighborhood where one would not expect it.

I did not remember much about this episode but I had things figured out fairly soon into it. At least, pieces at a time. This worked a fairly common thread for The X-Files and the pattern of the episode followed a consistent beat. Those local law enforcement agents always have some secret going on.

There were a lot of things left unanswered (of course, this is the X-Files), but the result of the case still worked well. I would have liked to know how this transformation took place or where it came from…something like that.

Nothing too bad on the episode. It is watchable. It just will. most likely, not stand out in my memory as many other X-Files episodes have done.

Battlestar Galactica S4 E7, E8, E9

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“Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?”

“Sine Qua Non”

“The Hub”

Big things happening in the world of Battlestar Galactica. Everything is amping up for this series’ push to its finale.

  • Lee Adama gets himself appointed interim president after Roslin disappears on the Cylon baseship.
  • Admiral Adama resigns as head of Galactica in order to search for Roslin. Appointed Sol Tigh, one of the Final Five Cylons, in his place.
  • The Hybrid jumped the ship multiple times, on its way to the Hub. The Galactica crew planned on capturing Number 3 (D’anna) and destroying the Hub.
  • They do succeed and destroy the Hub, meaning that there would be no more Cylon resurrections.
  • Baltar is severely wounded and Roslin thinks about letting him die for his punishment. Baltar’s drugged out mind confessed his sins from the start. Roslin saves him.
  • D’anna refuses to give out the names of the Final Five to Roslin. It is her only bargaining chip and she wants to be safe.
  • Roslin is reunited with Adama at the end of The Hub episode and tells him that she loves him. He says “About time.”

Three very impactful episodes. Still not sure how things are going to go. It sure seems as if both sides are ready and willing to stab each other in the back, but the uneasy alliance could lead to a positive result.

Still wondering whom that fifth Cylon is. When D’anna told Roslin that she was one of the five, she did it as a joke, but I am not unsure that it was. Who knows at this point. The number of potential choices are not large and I would think that it is not Starbuck, at this point.

The X-Files S7 E15

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“En Ami”

I was yelling at my screen at Scully to shoot him in the head. They never listen to me when I want them to shoot him in the head. I mean, he was in her car, trespassing… she could have done it and everything would be better.

Smoking Man returned to the X-Files to lure Scully on a trip to collect a potential medical cure to cure cancer. Scully went along with him and got taken in by the con. I’m telling you, shoot him in the head.

While the combination of Gillian Anderson and William B. Davis was spectacular, I am not convinced that Scully would get taken in as easily as she did. I do not think she ever truly trusted Smokey, but she certainly was naive enough.

It was also fairly creepy to have Smoking Man looking at Scully in the way that he was. I would not have gone along with him had I been Scully. I guess she is a better person than I am.

Mulder is on the bench for much of this episode, though he does recruit the Lone Gunmen to try and help find Scully. At the end of the episode, Mulder has an almost disappointed look on his face when Scully had taken him to where CSM’s “offices” were (cleaned out, of course).

Who knows exactly how much of this entire trip was true? I am not sure whether CSM told Scully anything that was true and not part of his manipulation. Why does he do this? He just tossed the disc with the info into the water.

Scully could have avoided all of this with just one (or maybe a couple) shots to the head. When will they finally take my suggestion?

PS- I should say that I love William B. Davis’s performance as CSM, and I don’t really want him shot in the head. Just his character.

Battlestar Galactica S4 E4, E5, E6

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“Escape Velocity”

“The Road Less Traveled”

“Faith”

Battlestar Galactica continues with its final season as some of these characters are going through some serious issues, especially those we have learned are Cylons.

Chief Tyrol went through it hard after Cally’s death. He was angry and responding violently. Part was the grief over his wife’s death and part of it was his continued confusion over his own truth.

Sol was having internal struggles as well. He would go down to question Six in the brig, looking for answers to his own self-image questions.

Kara has been acting crazy as captain of this mission to head to try and find earth. The stress and anxiety played havoc with his behavior and the support of the crew that went with her. However, picking up Leoben, who claimed there was a Cylon Civil War going on. Starbuck took a few of her crew (after a very tense mutiny) to the Cylon base ship looking for an alliance.

She found out from the Cylon Hybrid that “Thus shall it come to pass. The dying leader will know the truth of the opera house. The missing three will give you the five who have come from the home of the thirteenth. You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end. End of line.“

Baltar is another character going through it in this run of episodes. He had become a religious leader, speaking about a different, single God. Many of the people aboard Galactica would be listening to him. He had some trouble with Tyrol too.

Roslin’s cancer is moving forward, but she had a conversation with another patient dying of cancer that allowed her to refocus her ideas. Roslin has been a character that has felt inconsistent this season, but I do like the relationship between Roslin and Adama.

Kara seemed to be back in control after a successful trip to the baseship. I’m not sure how this is going to go over with Galactica.

Goosebumps: The Vanishing E4, E5, E6, E7, E8

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“Monster Blood”

“The Boy Who Cried Monster”

“The Girl Next Door”

“Welcome to Camp Nightmare”

“Invasion of the Body Squeezers”

After being very impressed with the first couple of episodes of this Disney + show, I binged the remaining episodes today. Overall, I would say that I liked it more than I expected, but there were some bumps that did not have anything to do with a goose.

What I liked. I enjoyed the ensemble cast. The young actors all were very likable and did a strong job with the material given to them. Considering some of the material was wildly odd, the actors should be considered a major positive. I especially found Devin, played by Sam McCarthy to be a standout. The chemistry between the young actors worked quite well and definitely was a huge plus to the series.

Of course, David Schwimmer was excellent too. I bought him in every weird moment, even as a disembodied head.

The mystery was compelling and the missing brother from the past was a good hook to bring us into the story. It did form together well with the characters involved.

What I did not like as much: The story did feel as if there were plenty of plot holes in it. If all of the people were changing into the alien bugs who had been in the cocoons, why did David Schwimmer not change? Some of the things that happened seemed to be happening because the script said it, and it did not always make sense.

The whole flashback to the alien ship episode was a bit much for me because I did not care about these characters at all. When the ensemble that I had been following was involved, I was much more engaged.

I am also not 100% sure I know what the resolution was, or how they figured it out. Again, some of the writing felt uneven.

At the end of the day, I think I enjoyed this one more than the other Disney + Goosebumps series starring Justin Long and I think this does a decent job of providing an intro to horror for a younger crowd.

Silo S2 E10

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“Into the Fire”

The ending of Silo season two made me think of the ending of LOST season 3, where Jack said “We have to go back!” That moment was such a mind-f that no one was expecting it. That is how I felt when suddenly, the end of Silo seemed to be in a different time before the silos were built.

It led to us seeing where the Pez dispenser came from. It was such an unexpected twist that it was wild.

Both sides of the storyline this year came together in some great scenes.

  • I was right about Walker and the others setting up Bernard, although, I have to admit, mid way through the episode, I was not sure if I was right. Loved the scene between Walker and Bernard that confirmed the plan.
  • Juliette coming over the hill as the whole of silo 18 was preparing for force their way outside was as dramatic as it could be. It was one of the best moments of the show.
  • Again, it may just be me, but Juliette writing “Not Safe. Don’t come out” and showing it on screen as she did reminded me of “Not Penny’s Boat” by Charlie on LOST. Yeah, I know I have LOST on the brain.
  • The Algorithm is strange. It said that Camille could stay but Sims and his son had to leave. Why? Solo kept saying that his mom did not come back when they went to deal with the Safeguard. Is this tied together?
  • The scene where Juliette let Audrey have it for her treatment of Eater, whom we learn has a named- Hope. This was awesome because I have thought Audrey has had something shoved up her butt since the minute we met her.

Last week I believe I stated that ep. 9 was my favorite of the season. That is no longer accurate as episode 10 was just completely awesome from the beginning to the weird flashback at the end. The fire that seemingly consumed Juliette and Bernard, the rebellion’s ‘end’, and everything else.

Silo has done a tremendous job of providing specific details and answers to mysteries while keeping plenty of them active to keep the audience guessing. Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Robbins were outstanding all season long with a special shout out to Steve Zahn’s Solo who may have been the best character we have met so far. Zahn’s performance was special and his bond with Juliette was incredible.

Season three looks to have a ton of surprises in store, and I cannot wait to see where this sci-fi series takes me. Apple TV + has yet another epic series on its hands.

Goosebumps: The Vanishing S1 E3

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“The Haunted Car”

I watched the third episode of Goosebumps: The Vanishing series on Disney +. I will admit that I did not like this one anywhere near the first couple. Still, this was entertaining enough and still does have moments that I really enjoyed.

I was not a fan of the whole haunted car bit during this episode and the character of Alex has not been the one that I have embraced at this point. Since this was a major part of the episode, that pulled down the episode itself.

Everything with David Schwimmer as Anthony and Sam McCarthy as Devin with the mysterious plant/animal creature and the vines was great. I do wish that they would just talk to each other. That is a horror film trope that I wish would not be here in this series. Hopefully, it will not be too many episodes because if they get together, they may be able to have more success than they are having separately.

Trey is back. Not a fan of this character, but I was not supposed to love him. He seems like he has been through it and Anthony’s discovery of and caring of the boy when he did showed a strong side to Anthony. It will probably lead to them bonding at some point.

So while I still liked this episode, it is definitely my least favorite of the season so far. I hope it continues to elevate the Anthony story since the haunted car took a header into the water.

Skeleton Crew S1 E8

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“The Real Good Guys”

Skeleton Crew came to a rip-roaring conclusion with the eighth episode of the first season that saw a big time happy ending and some very stressful moments.

Skeleton Crew has been a joy all season long, and the last few episodes have been filled with action and tense drama. Jod showed his true stripes and took up the mantel of the real villain of this season. Jude Law was sensational in this role, creating a real horrendous human being while still being charming and enthralling enough to wish he would make the right decisions. His past was driving him to this grand theft attempt and, for me, his actions were irredeemable, but when everything was obviously over, he threw aside his blaster.

What a great episode for Wim, who had been having so many troubles all season long. He had his dreams shaken by the realities of the galaxy, but he never completely gave up his hope. Wim was an absolute standout in this episode and the image of Wim standing with the lightsaber was epic.

It was nice when Wim’s father finally began listening to him. The parents played a huge piece in the story with Wim and Fern.

Our young heroes truly stepped it up. KB was awesome as she was able to pilot the Onyx Cinder back up past the barrier to get a message to Khym to send help… it the form of X-Wing fighters.

Oh, and by the way… was that Luke Skywalker????

I never once believed that KB had crashed the Onyx Cinder and had died though. That beat of the story was clearly not in the cards.

I am a little underwhelmed with the final few moments. I wanted more and I needed to know what the kids were going to do, what Jod was going to do etc. I needed more falling action after the huge climax. That is a minor complaint, but I just wanted to know what was next for these characters that have been such a wonderful group for the past eight episodes.

Skeleton Crew delivered some exceptional Goonies in Star Wars action and was one of the best Star Wars Disney + shows, right up their with Andor.

Goosebumps: The Vanishing S1 E1, E2

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“Stay Out of the Basement Part I”

“Stay Out of the Basement Part II”

I was not that interested in the new Goosebumps series on Disney +. I had watched the previous one a couple of years ago, and I liked it enough, but it did not blow me away. It was clear that this was going to be a new cast in what appeared to be an anthology type show starring David Schwimmer of friends fame. I had a moment to watch episode one Sunday night so I gave it a shot.

Holy cow! I was knocked over with the show. I was able to watch episode two tonight and things only got creepier as the show seemed to go full Audrey II.

I loved these first two episodes. I was completely invested with the new characters and the new scary story.

It kicked off with a flashback to a group of kids who disappeared and were assumed to be dead years before. One of those kids turned out to be the brother of David Schwimmer’s character, Anthony. It is a family mystery that is still very relevant for them.

Anthony’s twin children, Devin and Cece, came to visit him for the summer, kicking off plenty of weirdness and wild encounters. Devin has had several issues immediately, trying to impress an old friend/flame, Frankie. She was dating Trey, a real jerk of a guy who lived across the street from Anthony’s place and kept parking his car in his driveway. It was a deal he had made with Anthony’s mom while she was there. Unfortunately, she has been taken to a home with dementia.

The family element was stronger than I expected with the actors involved playing things deeper than a show like this would normal have. Schwimmer was excellent with the sadness and the confusion on how to deal with the problems he is facing.

Anthony is a botanist and that leads him to find a spore (or so he thought) on his brother’s clothes, which had just now been released by the police. That spore turned out to be an animal and a carnivore. So Anthony did his best Seymour Krelborn imitation and started feeding it dead mice from the pet store. Guess what… it started growing. Feed Me Seymour.

Trey gets eaten too… or transformed… or something.

All of the episodes are currently on Disney +, but I do not have the time to binge the rest. Maybe some time in the next week I will get to the remainder of this show, and I am excited because I really liked the first couple.

The X-Files S7 E14

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“Theef”

There were a lot of controversial themes hidden in this X-Files episode. Okay, maybe not that hidden, but when the story swings on the choice of a doctor to end the suffering of a patient who could not be saved, it can create a lot of intrigue.

Picket Fences dealt with the concept of Euthanasia several times, but one would not expect it to appear on an X-Files episode.

The episode also featured “hexing” which seemed to be a backwoods form of voodoo, including the voodoo doll, called a poppet which was how the episode villain was using this pwoer.

The villain, Orell Peattie, was played by Billy Drago, and he was excessively creepy. He played the father of the girl who had been given the excess morphine by the doctor, Robert Wieder, played by James Morrison. Both of these actors did a great job in the episode.

The only issue could see was making Orell Peattie apparently not very highly educated, making the whole character a stereotype. The misspelling of the word “thief” being the title of the episode and something written after his victims.

I do not remember watching this episode when it first aired in 2000, but I did enjoy this one now. As I said, there were several themes in this episode that could be looked at deeper yet including not only Euthanasia but also modern medicine vs. practical magic.

Scully keeping Mulder on his toes is a fun moment in this overall creepy entry.

Battlestar Galactica S4 E3

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“The Ties That Bind”

It is pretty clear that they are into the final season of Battlestar Galactica because major stuff is going down.

The Cylons are fighting within themselves and it sure seemed as if John Cavil (Dean Stockwell) set up the whole group of his opposition to be killed. I’m not sure how that will go over, but it sure looked that way.

Cally discovered the truth about Tyrol. She thought he was having an affair with Tory Foster, but she discovered that they, along with Tigh were Cylons. What did she get for her trouble? A trip out the space vent. Of course, this was after Cally was preparing to kill herself and her son by doing the exact same thing.

Cally had really lost herself the last several episodes and this was the final straw.

Is the show trying to make us dislike Laura Roslin? The show seems to be making her less like a president and more like a tyrant lately. And she is anything but forgiving.

This is really getting dark and I do not know where it is heading. I am trying to keep any spoilers for what’s coming up next away to ty and keep the suspense up.