“I swallowed a bug.” - River Tam

By Lisa Fary

I’m so used to being annoyed that when BSG pulls out an episode like this, I’m flummoxed. Being impressed is just such a bizarre feeling.  

Starbuck’s therapeutic crafts exercises proved to be a more substantial activity than scrapbooking (Sci Fi Channel should explore the Starbuck Finger-Paint-By-Numbers Kit as a marketing opportunity. It can include a talking Leoben action figure to whisper positive affirmations as you paint away the stresses of a crappy day at work).  

Chances are, your crappy day at work won’t include a mutiny or Gaeta getting shot in the leg.  Unfortunately, it also won’t include Helo, but sometimes there’s a UPS guy who can fill that role. If you tip him extra, maybe he’ll even say some of Helo’s lines and act all honorable and stuff.  (Their motto is “What can Brown do for you?”)

Your crappy day also probably didn’t include being called the harbinger of death.  I was called a negative influence once by a principal who couldn’t figure out that my “I have allergies and can’t breathe” face was different than my “you’re a moron” face (the curled lip makes all the difference), but that wasn’t as dramatic as Starbuck’s experience with the cylon hybrid.  

Starbuck must have been thinking, So. . . I came all this way to hear your hybrid tell me how much I suck? 

This season, I keep thinking back to Razor, and not the flashbacks because those turned out to be kinda lame.  The original, walking toaster cylon models made an appearance in Razor, and I’d like to know where they are.  Will they be part of the 6+8+Leoben cylon resistance?  Are they included with the liberated Centurians?  Are they part of some other cylon group that will be introduced before the end of the season?  

BSG opened that door - it’s got to go somewhere. Right? 

Then there is Kendra Shaw, the protagonist in Razor.  Why spend all that time on her?  Why would the hybrid know who she is?  

Suppose Kendra Shaw is the final cylon?

Ron Moore has now infamously said that the final cylon is not in that Last Supper photo.  That really isn’t saying much because there are a lot of players on this show that aren’t in the Last Supper photo. Tory, for instance. Tom Zarek.  Ellen Tigh.  Cally Tyrol. Lt. Dualla (who, since Apollo has left her, seems to have disappeared from the show).  Billy, the dead presidential aide cutie.  Dr. Cottle. 

I know there’s talk that Felix Gaeta is the final cylon, but I’m going to come out and say it right now: I don’t think it’s him.  I think it’s Kendra Shaw.  No, I don’t have anything to support it - it’s just a feeling. You know, like Starbuck’s feeling about Earth (except I’m not rolling around on the floor screaming, “It’s not Gaeta!!!” However, I will fingerpaint, because fingerpainting is fun).  

At least, this week I think it’s Kendra Shaw. I may think differently next week. 

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Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her early exposure to classic Battlestar Galactica in 1979 is largely responsible for her lifelong interest in science fiction and her childhood ambition of being an intergalactic space cowgirl.