Imagine awakening from a coma caused by a Cylon you always loved as a daughter only to discover that Roslin and your son escaped from the Battlestar Galactica to a rival Colonial ship led by a revolutionary who conducted terrorism in his past. Adama is still weak and the trauma of being shot, nearly killed, and losing Boomer during his coma after she fired upon you at close range. Adama's son has voluntarily sided with his adversary, and the two of them have boarded the ship under the command of one of the "Quorum of 12", Zarek. Not only that but Roslin, through her orchestrated speech about returning to Kobol so that the gods could lead them to Earth, is able to gain support by 24 ships in the fleet! All these mutinying ships jump to Kobol leaving the Galactica and remaining fleet to fend for themselves. This is heavy, Adama and Tigh, trying to hold together an increasingly deteriorating situation that continues to worsen, realize the gravity of the whole thing...what to do next is perhaps key to all of the fleet's survival, both separated from and still remaining with Galactica. Adama sobbing over the body of Boomer, earlier discussing her with Tyrol as the two try and make sense of how they could love just a machine, are key reasons Olmos was the perfect casting choice for this series. There is real, potent, intense emotion that isn't over the top or overwrought...it hits just the right tone, as he knows exactly how to unveil the agony without any need to over-dramatize what Adama is going through. The eyes well up, his countenance clearly reveals ache, and his face holds as much back as possible...but still you can see behind it all Adama's pain. So when he is alone with the corpse of Boomer, Adama can just release his grief. Adama getting a standing ovation (well, Gaius feigns his, clapping with little seriously genuine enthusiasm) once he returns to the bridge, trying to not get too emotional despite clear evidence that the outpouring of applause means a lot to him, is perhaps one of the few times in the episode that he can feel good about anything. Meanwhile, in Caprica, Starbuck has become sexually (and actually romantically) involved with Anders, agreeing to help his team on a mission when they are attacked by Cylons, resulting in her being shot and awakening in a hospital room, visited by a doctor named Simon (Rick Worthy, very, very good). Simon somewhat convinces her that he's not a Cylon but Starbuck is wise enough not to give him complete trust...it will prove to be a correct decision. Starbuck is told that she should bear children so that the human race can once again "restart" but such emphasis on doing so by Simon becomes suspicious. With an extra cut on her torso that shouldn't be there, and the use of a knockout drug on a consistent basis when not even necessary, Starbuck decides to see for herself when Simon isn't around if he is or isn't part of a Cylon plan...later finding a unit where human females are hooked to a "baby machine" (impregnated by Helfer's Number Six and Simon Number Whatever), Starbuck discovers all too well just what purpose they had for her. A key moment in the episode prior to her revolt and escape, Starbuck is confronted with a past of abuse as Simon questions injuries he found on her, particularly the hands...a reminder of what she has been through up until this point, perhaps used as a means to further reach her manipulatively. Simon doesn't anticipate the glass shard to the neck, however! Helo gaining help from "his" Boomer, telling the resistance human force about the Cylon "farm" where thousands of human females are being similarly treated as the women Starbuck found, couldn't have come at a better time, her Raider halting a major strike out of the hospital. Anders giving Starbuck the Arrow, they agree that she'll return to him someday. Simon had told Starbuck Anders was dead, and now that she learned he was alive must still leave him behind to possibly die.
Review of The Farm
