#I JUST REALLY LOVE ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER WITH CYLON INTRO

[lyssitalennon]

future daughter: mom, why am I named Julia?

me: bc your dad loves the beatles sweetie

future son: mom, wh-

me: not now All Along the Watchtower With Cylon Intro

[blue-mint-winter]

BSG 3x19 and 3x20 Crossroads part 1 and 2 rewatch

*aggressively puts on All Along the Watchtower (with Cylon intro) on a loop to write this*

This is S3 finale and the most iconic episodes in BSG, in my humble opinion. Certainly the most memorable to me.

Honestly, I was looking forward to this SO MUCH on this rewatch. It has my favourite moments - Baltar’s trial and the Final Five reveal. It’s a turning point. It’s a gamechanger.

Baltar’s trial is pretty much the Lee Adama show. This is about Lee defying his father, defying the president, defying the whole world and speaking the truth. The truth that is so uncomfortable but the truth that humanity needs to hear. This trial was never to judge Baltar, he was already found guilty and sentenced in everyone’s eyes. It’s to pretend they have justice and law, that they are a civilization - but that’s not true. They’re survivors on the run and they bend the law to what is convenient for them. Everyone gets forgiven for their crimes, because if they handed just punishment according to crimes, the Fleet wouldn’t be able to function. They wouldn’t last. Gaius Baltar is humanity’s scapegoat, the one they can put all their blame on, as if killing him would absolve them of their own guilt. I love Lee’s speech in the court so much. Best moment.

The trial is when Lee’s relationships deteriorate and break apart in a cascade effect. Thanks to him, Romo exposes what happened to Ellen - Tigh publicly admits to it. This in turn deepens the rift between Lee and his father to the point Lee resigns and Adama is glad for it. This causes Dee to leave Lee, which only confirms to me that her loyalty is to Adama first and foremost. She can’t be with a man that betrays Adama’s trust, that’s against her code.

The last relationship that’s now officially broken is the one with Roslin. Frankly, I think Lee’s trust in the president was lost in Pegasus arc when he found out about the Cain assassination plan. But practically since Kobol he didn’t have any scenes with Roslin, so they were already in a state of “separation”. I can’t help but speculate that on her side Billy’s death might have something to do with her not trying to reconnect with Lee. She still has some fondness and trust in him, otherwise she wouldn’t ask Adama to make Lee in charge of trial preparations, but in this episode Lee destroys what’s left of a bond between them when he makes it public in the court that she’s taking chamalla again in effort to undermine her credibility as a witness. For Roslin, this is a personal betrayal. For Lee, it is necessary to win the case that’s staked against him. He seeks justice at the cost of his personal relationships, she seeks revenge on Baltar disguised as a lawful verdict.

Roslin still makes the best she can of this secret reveal and declares the return of her cancer in the court. So, her Dying Leader cred is back. Also, Adama knew, because he tried to stop the questioning to protect her secret. I only wonder when she told him, was it on the bridge after she snapped and they had a private talk after that?

Another important point of the trial was Gaeta’s false testimony. Gaeta wants Gaius dead so much that he lies in the court, says that he witnessed Gaius signing the death warrant on NC. Maybe in his mind it’s not that far from the truth, after all Gaius told him that he saw the list and that he signed it, but still Gaeta wasn’t there. He didn’t know that Gaius was forced at a gunpoint to sign it, that he protested. Gaeta could have told the truth of what he knew and it was proof enough, but he wants Gaius 100% convicted so he lied about witnessing the signing. And Gaius’ emotional reactions are just the best.

In the end, Caprica Six wasn’t brought to the witness stand. Roslin realized that after Romo talked to Caprica, she wouldn’t testify against Baltar.

Funnily enough, despite it being Gaius’ trial, he’s the least important person in this courtroom. It’s about humanity looking at itself in the mirror. Instead these episodes mark the beginning of the cult storyline.

So, thanks to Lee Gaius is found not guilty by the judges. But he’s completely alone. Romo refuses Baltar’s offer to work together (he’s looking for a new minion after he lost Gaeta, plain and simple). Lee and Romo both leave Gaius - they defended him not because they like him, but for their own reasons. Instead, Gaius is taken by a group of women, one of them asked him to bless her son before. This marks the beginning of the cult of Baltar storyline XD Basically, this is a situation in which unintentionally Baltar’s developed a group of devoted followers, who he thinks are crazies, but he owes his life to these people. The man has so much luck, maybe they are onto something with his “holiness”.

But that moment when Romo leaves behind his cane. He was pretending to be worse off than he really was just to get Lee to help him with the case XD. As he said, he learned everything from Joseph Adama, who was not a honest man like Lee.

I liked that moment when Roslin figures out Adama voted to release Baltar. He let her down, but she forgives him. What’s good is that Adama’s principled moral side awoke after a long slumber this season and he actually listened to Lee, despite being at odds with him.

The fleet is approaching the Ionian Nebula, but the Cylons are on their trail. This begins a series of mystical happenings. Roslin, Sharon and Caprica Six all share the same visions about Opera House and Hera. Helo senses that a storm is coming (similar to how in 2x20 Sharon felt that something dark was coming). There’s a power outage in the whole Fleet and the Final Five hear the music and awaken. And Kara returns from the dead and knows the way to Earth.

“It’s in the frakkin ship!” - another iconic moment XD

Tigh in this episode is forced to talk about Ellen’s death, to remember her, first by Caprica Six, then in the trial. He goes back to drinking and can’t be the XO for a while, but after the truth is out, he’s still got Adama’s friendship. The revelation that he’s a Cylon only makes his determination to be Saul Tigh, colonial officer, even stronger. He chooses his identity as human and to stand by Adama’s side.

Tory who comes with him to the bridge and declares herself for the president, is his opposite in my opinion. She’s been sick and out of sorts, snapping at reporters. She was always such a background character, her only identity was as Roslin’s right hand woman but now she’s faling at even that. What’s worse, Roslin’s clearly going to replace her if Tory doesn’t get a grip. No matter all they went through together on NC. What a contrast to Tigh-Adama unconditional friendship. So, Tory being one of the Five is a big thing for her character, puts her in the spotlight. I think maybe she still has some remnants of loyalty to Roslin, but she’s for now following Tigh’s lead. Her identity as a Cylon doesn’t change anything, instead it’s a secret she has to protect - so she has to maintain her cover. And being close to the President is crucial for that.

Then we get Tyrol, who accepts being the Cylon - because he suspected it for a long time. Ever since Boomer, he was afraid he was a Cylon too. He must have examined everything he knew about himself and his past in detail. He even wanted to kill himself because of this strong suspicion. Now he knows for sure, and it must be a relief to him. No more uncertainty. Anyway, he still built a life for himself despite the suspicion, the confirmation of it isn’t going to change that.

Sam is the most in denial. After Kara’s death, he was just turning a new leaf, he’s training to be a pilot now, he even has a fling with Tory (! I didn’t remember that at all). But he wants nothing to do with other Cylons, not after everything that happened. Btw, he did say to Kara that he survived Caprica and she came back for him for some higher reason. Well, he was right, just not in a way he suspected or ever wanted.

As an aside, Seelix got a crush on Sam, she was getting closer to him. She was visibly upset when she saw him with Tory.

Anyway what I like about that final sequence with the Fleet arriving at the nebula and Cylons catching up to them is not just the identity reveal of the Final Five. It’s also Lee who sheds the skin of a lawyer and dons the pilot uniform. He resigned from military, he was not called for duty, but he still went to do what he’s good at, what’s needed at the moment. It’s who he actually IS, his identity - a pilot. And then he finds Kara.

The end with zooming through the galaxy to show Earth can’t be more clear about their destination. It’s shown right there, they are going to our Earth.