3 – 14 The Woman King By Luke Hung BSG-R
It’s a Helo episode, which doesn’t upset me. Back in the olden days of Star Trek, ST-TNG, Babylon 5, and many other large ensemble cast shows the writers try to pick an episode every season or so to focus on the less central characters to give them some depth and to satisfy those character’s fans. They fail miserably on most shows, but every once and a while they get it right. Well, to save you the aggravation of wondering, this was not one of those episodes.
We open with a glamour shot of the fleet, we pan through the Galactica which looks beat to hell, which is nice for consistency. Helo is in his quarters, the ever-hot Grace Park lies nearby as his wife. I guess the girls think Helo is hot, but he’s not my type. He seems to have difficulty sleeping and does some paperwork, which puts him right to sleep. We learn thorough some dialogue that the people from New Caprica without a ship live on board Galactica in a tent city called Dogsville and somehow Helo is in charge of this camp. From somewhere, that city is going to gain three hundred new inhabitants. The majority of these new people are Sagittarons who are disliked by the rest of the colonists. The simple explanation is that they are a religiously devout planet (no stereotyping there) whose beliefs and overly pious attitude aggravate everyone else, even more so then the other religious planet Geminon.
Tigh, Dualla and Helo, the next day, make some efforts to sort the new residents. There are flocks of people cued up to enter what only could be described as series of cubicles which double as bedrooms, while a doctor (Roberts) vainly tries to examine them. Dee has to convince some Sagittarons to allow the Doctor to get close enough to touch one or two of them. Dr. Roberts seems to know Tigh fairly well and he discusses with him a coughing illness that seems to be prevalent in the new people. He knowingly tells Tigh to get out of Dogsville as he smells an epidemic coming on. The son of Mrs. King, that woman from the title, collapses as a serendipitous plot point and we cut to the title sequence.
We return from the commercials to find Dr. Roberts and Cottle, along with Adama and Tigh discussing the coughing illness, now identified as Mallorak sickness. Mallorak infection is transferred though just about any kind of contact and is fatal within 3 – 5 days, ouch that’s fast. It is primarily contained among the Sagittarons. Good news if caught early enough it is curable by space penicillin (bittamucin), but Sagittarons’ religious beliefs shun medicine and doctors, much like Scientologists. Okay that was a cheap shot, but I’m still a little annoyed at Tom Cruise. Furthermore, the fleets stocks of space penicillin are low. Adama orders that key personal, read himself, gets immediate inoculations and everyone else only receives medication if definitive symptoms are evidenced.
Back in Dogsville, Helo watches as the Sagittarons try to use Murdock root tea and an incense burner as a cure. Oh my gods, the Sagittarons are channeling my father. To him tea can cure everything. In other news, Roslin informs Zarek that Baltar will have a trial. To wit, Zarek responds with trepidation. He predicts riots, floods, dogs and cats living together and the general downfall of civilization. Tori argues that they have in place several military precautions, but Zarek ignores Tori and remains resolute. He doesn’t think that they will be enough.
Helo in his little office gets complaints in regard to the Sagittarons, the other colonists want them to returned back to where they came for. Mrs. King is among a second group of people in Helo’s office. Initially he misunderstands her but later he figures out that she feels that Dr. Roberts killed her son. She tells him that her son took the medication within the time frame necessary for a cure and he died anyway. Frankly there isn’t a question in my mind that she is telling the truth, we all know Dr. Roberts is a bad guy because Bruce Davidson never plays a good guy.
During a later discussion Dr. Roberts informs Helo about a few other deaths. Helo questions him about Mrs. King’s son but Robert argues that he did everything he could. He also tells Helo that he reminds him of Tigh, which I think he meant as a complement or a warning of how close his is to Helo’s commanding officer. However, that was stupid on multiple levels as nobody likes Tigh and Helo is ‘too’ moral to be afraid of anyone.
In the next scene, way too many cast members are hanging out at the in Galactica bar. You know if there isn’t enough space on the ship for three hundred homeless colonists, maybe there shouldn’t be a bar? They characters talk a little and throw some metal balls at a target. I try to listen but it hurts my ears, at least it’s a mercifully short scene. Blah, blah, blah – minor character development – blah, blah, blah Tyrol hates Sagittarons because they didn’t fight against the Cylons, maybe they shouldn’t get the medicine – blah, blah, blah, Dualla is a Sagittaron. Oh by the way all the girls on the show throw like… well… girls. Ok stupid scene, but I kind of get the point. It is frustrating that the people who benefit from the freedoms you are fighting and dying for refuse to help at all. Worse still, stereotypically, they also tend to look down upon the people who do.
In a slightly related personal story, I have a group of fairly well off friends. We were playing one of those games with cards with questions on them that is supposed to encourage debate and one of the questions was what do you owe your country? The most common answer among my friends ‘nothing.’ Yeah I get it, “we hate the government, we are all individuals, we don’t owe our country our country owes us.” Well I thought that was just ignorant and stupid if that was their honest viewpoint. You don’t think you owe something to the people who came before and will come after to protect the freedoms that are so ingrained in our arrogant entitlement that we take them all for granted. Are you kidding me? Okay I’m going to let it go because this is a BSG-R review. Anyways, Dualla kind of agrees with me but adds on that she doesn’t much like Cottle. Well, I like Cottle so she’s dead wrong there, but Dualla is hot, so if she’s nearby I’m going to agree with her and then tell the truth when she can’t hear me.
Now for some inexplicable reason Sharon goes to see Cap-Six in jail. I guess the reason was to show that Sharon is kind of nice and on some level wants Cap-Six to betray Baltar. Whatever, during this conversation Holo-Baltar pops in and badmouths humans. Sharon zips off to fly and Cap-Six continues to talk to Holo-Baltar. Roslin and Tori who happen to be watching this whole scene wonder who Cap-Six is talking to. Well aside from the funny visual of Cap-Six making out with air that was a waste of my time.
In Dogsville a riot breaks out focused on Dr. Roberts. Ironically they are pissed about sub-standard medical care, which they are religiously opposed to receiving it. Oh, I bathe in the hypocrisy of these ‘religious’ Sagittarons. Helo and the marines scramble to save Dr. Robert, who is at the center of the attack, after Helo and the bunch of marines storm in and rescue Roberts. After listening to multiple allegations of inappropriate medical conduct, Helo questions Roberts. I don’t think he was too harsh, but I can easily see how a professional would be offended by Helo’s questions. Roberts basically tells him to f-off and Helo runs to Popa Adama, Uncle Tigh and Doc Cottle.
Neither, Adama or Cottle are buying what Helo is selling. Adama rattles off about ten things he considers more important that the Sagittarons and calls Helo’s accusations unfounded. We all know Helo is right because if he wasn’t there wouldn’t be an episode, but given the situation he did get dismissed pretty perfunctorily. Tigh later intercepts Helo in the hallway and defends his friend Dr. Roberts. However neither Helo or Tigh can play nice and ultimately Tigh takes some pot shots at Helo’s wife earning him a punch in the face. I guess everyone gets hit in the face now and again. Tigh gets some great lines, or maybe it was great delivery as he sneers and walks off.
Meanwhile Sharon has been pulled off her CAP mission to tend to her child who now is sick with Mallorak’s. Roberts gives Hera a dose of the drug and we all watch nervously. Does Helo’s kid who is half Cylon get medication or does Roberts stiff her as well? Roberts hands Helo a knick-knack of King Jr. so he has to return it and get another opportunity to get a dose of Mrs. King’s bitterness. Helo can’t figure anything out and has to ask King some more questions and she says she didn’t think anyone had enough hatred in his or her heart to kill a sick boy. Yeah killing a sick boy, that is a full measure of hate.
Now Helo spreads the King bitterness to his wife and questions whether or not he’s getting crappy duties cause he’s married to a Cylon. Best thing about this scene is the bruise on his hand from punching Tigh. Sharon basically treats him like a baby, which is the way he is acting and Helo storms off. He ends up in Cottle’s office where he somehow gets access to all of Roberts’ records. Roberts’ Sagittaron patients have a stunningly high mortality rate of 90%. Which belies two questions, which of the ultra religious Sagittarons are actually visiting a doctor and if you are murdering an entire race of people don’t you think you would fudge your records a little? Before we can wonder about that too long Cottle wanders in and busts Helo.
Helo tries to show Cottle his data, but Cottle again stops him cold. Helo ask for an autopsy on the King boy, but Cottle counters that he already done one. Oppsies. Well that’s a period on the end of that argument. I was wondering why everyone was so willing to ignore Helo, an autopsy would be a good reason. Yes, by this time in the episode we all know it a red herring but lets attempt to suspend disbelief here. Now Duallla visits Doc Roberts, well if Hera didn’t get dead Dualla probably will. Mrs. King sees Dualla being treated by Roberts and she runs to tell Helo. Why I don’t know, but it works within this stupid plot. Helo rushes out against the wishes of his wife who tries to turn this episode about her and being Cylon. That is an episode I would have enjoyed. He against all possible logic makes a ridiculous scene rushing to Dualla’s side. She doesn’t look all that great, but she definitely isn’t dead… yet.
Roberts walks in and orders security to remove Helo. Dualla not knowing what is good for her reinforces Roberts’ order. The ever-present marines begin to remove Helo when Colonel Tigh and Doc Cottle arrive. Cottle now admits he didn’t do the autopsy until after Helo demanded one and he found that the King boy and several other Sagittarons not only didn’t get the cure but were also poisoned. Roberts now knowing that the gig is up confesses to withholding medication from the Sagittarons. “Why waste time, and meds, and space on them when all of those resources could go to those who really deserve it? Who gets the medication when there's not enough to go around? The Sagittaron who won't even raise a finger to save his own race, or a Viper pilot?” Not a completely rational argument, but not as irrational as Davidson played it. He also says that he didn’t poison Dee, because she is one of the good ones. Good thing Cottle did the autopsy cause there really wouldn’t have been any evidence.
Wrapping it up, Tigh tells Helo to arrest Roberts, which should have be triumphant ended up being forced, Adama apologizes for getting it wrong, and Sharon gets a kiss. Wee.
Overall the episode was a C-
Acting: C, Davidson was actually pretty good, but his character was just too pathetic. Pennikett was pretty good as well, but his character didn’t make much sense and it frustrates me when characters are right when they act in an irrational fashion. The roles for everyone else were pretty small to warrant a comment.
Plot: C-, Well that wasn’t a good episode. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good. Some points made very little sense. If this guy was killing a bunch of Sagittarons following the destruction of the Colonies, don’t you think he would have been a little better covering his tracks? Also everyone was so willing to ignore and vilify Helo, maybe they don’t like the Sagittarons, but Helo, come on somebody would have at least listened politely.
Action/Episode Energy: D, The episode was plot driven, so there wasn’t any action. There was very little tension either because you knew damn well who was living and who was dying. The only question was when Davidson was which main character was going to be at risk when Dr. Roberts got caught and there was no climax to the conclusion I was just bored.
