Plot; Starbuck is sent on a long-range recon mission, but when his Viper is stolen he finds himself locked away in a long forgotten penal colony.
With the previous episode being Apollo-centric, I'm not surprised that the focus here is on Starbuck. Whether to appease fans or appease the actors I'm not sure, but it helps to keep things fresh because the characters are so very different. Here the lovable lothario gets to have a little fun with the 'ol "one guy, two dates" scenario, then he mixes with the colorful characters of the Proteus penal colony. The latter is where the episode really shines, because as such the plot and the action here are so-so.
Among the prisoners are some sorta-kinda familiar faces like James Whitmore Jr. (son of the elder James Whitmore and now a very prolific and successful TV director), Ian Abercrombie ('Seinfeld's' Mr. Pitt) and Arlene Martel (perhaps best known as Spock's bride T'Pring from the 'Star Trek' episode "Amok Time"). All of them bring a nice bit of zing. Mixed with a breakneck pace, it's all almost enough to make you forget how weak the episode is otherwise. Almost. - 6/10 - Starbuck's retrofitted Viper is given a female AI (C.O.R.A.) with a display quite similar to that of K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. Of course both 'BSG' and 'KR' were created by Glenn Larson, who never met an idea he didn't re-use (see; the streaking red light of the Cylons).
With the previous episode being Apollo-centric, I'm not surprised that the focus here is on Starbuck. Whether to appease fans or appease the actors I'm not sure, but it helps to keep things fresh because the characters are so very different. Here the lovable lothario gets to have a little fun with the 'ol "one guy, two dates" scenario, then he mixes with the colorful characters of the Proteus penal colony. The latter is where the episode really shines, because as such the plot and the action here are so-so.
Among the prisoners are some sorta-kinda familiar faces like James Whitmore Jr. (son of the elder James Whitmore and now a very prolific and successful TV director), Ian Abercrombie ('Seinfeld's' Mr. Pitt) and Arlene Martel (perhaps best known as Spock's bride T'Pring from the 'Star Trek' episode "Amok Time"). All of them bring a nice bit of zing. Mixed with a breakneck pace, it's all almost enough to make you forget how weak the episode is otherwise. Almost. - 6/10 - Starbuck's retrofitted Viper is given a female AI (C.O.R.A.) with a display quite similar to that of K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. Of course both 'BSG' and 'KR' were created by Glenn Larson, who never met an idea he didn't re-use (see; the streaking red light of the Cylons).