The Road Less Traveled - Episode Review

BSG is hitting it's stride now: This episode has Leoben showing up at the Demetrius. Kara had been stymied, the crew in near-revolt over the weeks of failure and her seeming mental disconnect. She decides to take a Viper outside and senses the presence of Leoben, who suddenly appears in a badly-damaged Cylon heavy raider. He docks with the Demetrius and our star-crossed, doomed lovers are reunited ... ... but it doesn't feel so good.

He helps Kara with an art lesson. Anders is mystified as to what he should do but acts the ever-loyal husband.


Leoben tells her the crew doesn't trust her (duh) and that she needs to go with him to a Base Star and speak with the Hybrid there. He convinces her. Kara pleads. Kara orders.
Gaeta says NO.

Redshirt gets all macho and begins to agitate against Kara's leadership. A female crew member doing recon on Leoben's vessel gets killed when it blows up and we have our climax to end Part I.

Poor Leoben gets beat up ... by everybody it seems.

Subplot has Tyrol cracking up, contemplating but unable to go through with suicide (his baby, Nicholas, seems to want to hear Baltar on the radio !?!?). Tory talks to Tyrol in the air-lock where he considers that she was murdered, not knowing it was Tory who spaced Callie. She lies to him and begins to push him that they have a special fate and need to live up to their special abilities - quite Machiavellian in her tone. Hopefully they are not setting up a showdown between Tory and Tyrol in which he kills her - it is already too obvious if they are, and it contradicts the evolution of these characters' psyches. Tyrol already made it clear he never wanted to be with Callie, that he "settled," so revenge-murder will feel false. So the knife he holds in the BSG Last Supper image must be for someone else. Later, Tyrol goes to hear Baltar and Baltar singles him out from the crowd and reaches out symbolically - which evokes a throat-choke in response - this scenefelt forced - a pretext for: Later Baltar goes to visit Tyrol in his quarters and is more heart-felt and impassioned in his plea and admits to "terrible crimes" and Tyrol hears and responds. This is the best scene by Aaron Douglas (Tryol) the whole series thus far - he played it beautifully - really captured the combination of desperation/rage/contempt. Due to Baltar's ever shifty eyes, we have to assume the whole gambit is to land someone "of consequence" to count among his flock.
End Part I
(Part II looks awesome - finally the Hybrid is central to the story)