“Deadlocked”

“Deadlocked” is an episode that really had me shaking my head. It was an example of how someone can have the finest of intentions and some really great, intriguing ideas, so much so that a viewer can truly appreciate what was meant, and yet make so many bad choices and mistakes that the episode sabotages all of the good that was meant.

On the surface the episode is about Ellen’s return to the fleet and the shake up of the Final Five aboard the fleet. The secondary tale is about Baltar’s reuniting with his flock of followers.

I’ll start with this simplistic tale. Ok, Gaius has really been completely directionless since his trial ended and this continues in a haphazard fashion. After returning, he finds his leadership of the flock is being supplanted by a disillusioned follower. With help from Personal 6 who makes her return, he is able to compete with her and retain his position.

The fleet is in shambles after the mutiny although you really wouldn’t know it. There are food shortages and people are poor and starving. Things haven’t changed much. But things are now at the point of revolution.

And in the most ridiculous portion of this part of the episode is that Baltar is able to convince Roslin and the Adamas to give him and his followers weapons to protect their food sources they are trying to feed the poor with.

WHAT?! A religious cult, led by a man believed to be the biggest traitor in the history of the fleet, with obviously no military training, is going to be armed by the government and the Admiral? Ridiculous.

Ok, with that out of the way we move on to the real story. It’s a story of shoehorning characters in to fit the plot.

We spent all of last episode changing Ellen from the soulless manipulative drama queen into the new forgiving, loving mother of the Cylon race.

All undone when she finds out that Saul is frakking Caprica 6 and impregnated her. Boomer and her come aboard.

Ok. Stop. How did they find the fleet? If they can find the fleet, what’s stopping Cavil?

They come aboard and Boomer is arrested. Ellen fraks Saul and everything goes to hell.

The Cylons want to leave and take the Final Five and with the impending birth of Saul and Caprica Six’s baby proving that Cylons can reproduce they want to start an all Cylon civilization. As it once was it was to be put to a vote of the Final Five. Stay or go, majority would rule but they would either all go or none would go. Why? I don’t know.

Ok, so getting that out of the way we have unconscious Anders who spouted off about staying with the fleet getting the silent vote of staying. Fine. Saul votes to stay. Fine. Tory votes to leave. Fine. So far that sounds true to character. Then Galen votes to leave.

Huh? Just an episode ago Galen was shaking Adama’s hand, saving the ship they love and rejoining the fleet as the Chief. Now just as suddenly he’s hot to trot to leave. Why? OH because they needed a 2-2 vote so Ellen would be the swing vote.

Ellen soap operas out and works a way to hurt Tigh as much as she can for replacing her with Six. She seems disgusted, saying that they created the Cylons and that they are like children.

She doesn’t seem to remember “The Twist” she did with Cavil, that she mentioned just last episode, now does she?

So her way to hurt Tigh is to vote to go, knowing he loves Adama and won’t leave the fleet. Later on she says she wanted to see if having a son would become first in his life and that he proved her right, that it wouldn’t.

All the melodrama forces Six into miscarriage and into the only real decent moment of the episode.

Throughout the episode it is theorized that Tigh and Six were able to reproduce because Tigh truly loved Six. That was what was always lacking in Cylon reproduction. I’m guessing that Ellen and the others put that in the programming of the Cylons, in order for them to truly learn to be human. It makes sense and honestly is a great idea. Of course it motivates Ellen as since Tigh and her tried to have a baby and couldn’t, she believes that Tigh never loved her and is insanely jealous.

Only problem is are we supposed to accept that he never loved Ellen and that he DOES love Six truly? It’s a bit far fetched considering He made love to Six because he saw Ellen at first. It’s strange to say the least.

In a great moment though as the boy, named Liam, is fighting for his life, it is supposedly Tigh’s love for Six and Liam keeping him alive. Ellen manipulates this a bit. She tells Tigh to tell her how much he loves them and in a great line (and also delivery which only Tigh has truly been consistent with this season) says

Isn’t it enough that I feel it? … I feel it less with words. Just let me feel it and I’ll fill the frackin’ room with it

It’s touching. Tigh claims to love all three and when Ellen tells Six that she’ll be fine and that she’ll let Tigh stay and the three can be a family, Tigh has a moment of love for Ellen and her “self sacrifice”…and the baby dies. Tigh understands what happened and tried to take it back to no avail.

Now did Ellen do that purposefully? To make Tigh love her to kill the baby? I just don’t know.

The ending is also somewhat poignant when Adama and Roslin notice that someone has put up the faces of the Cylons who have died since the alliance on the wall of dead. It brings to focus a subtle flow of the episode which has been that the two races are going to have to blend to truly be at peace. It is a sign of where the show is going to end up it appears. And it is well handled.

However it is not enough to save the ludicrousness of the episode.

C-

Previous – 4.15

Next – 4.17