BG-14: Baltar's Escape

[Flamingo Girl]

The Council of Twelve decise to assign a watchdog over Adama who continually second guesses every descision he makes. The captured Eastern Alliance crew (from "Greetings from Earth"), Baltar and the Borellian Nomen (from "The Man with Nine Lives") escape the Colonial Prison Barge and proceed to capture the Council of Twelve, Boomer and Sheba, thanks to the interference of the watchdog. A dangerous rescue mission is formed by Apollo and Starbuck.

Series stars; Richard Hatch as Apollo, Dirk Benedict as Starbuck, Herb Jefferson Jr. as Boomer, Lorne Greene as Adama, Terry Carter as Colonel Tigh, Maren Jensen as Athena, Tony Swartz as Jolly, Laurette Spang as Cassiopia, Noah Hathaway as Boxey, Sarah Rush as Rigel, David Greenan as Omega, Anne Lockhart as Sheba, Jack Stauffer as Bojay, Larry Manetti as Giles, Ed Begley, Jr. as Greenbean, and John Colicos as Baltar.

Guest starring Ina Balin as Siress Tinia, Lloyd Bochner as Commandant Leiter, John Hoyt as Sire Domra, Robert Feero as Bora, Anthony De Longis as Taba, Lance LeGault as Maga, and Ron Kelly as Reese.

(Thanks to Michael Faries Battlestar Galactica.com)

[shiningstar]

I definately MISSED this one! I can't wait till I can see it!

The Bad guys shine in this one!

[Belloby]

This is my favorite Baltar episode. Boy, is he made an idiot in this one!

[Doctor Salik]

Is this the last we see of the Nomen? They don't appear again, do they?

[shiningstar]

I just saw this one on DVD. I loved IT!

A tense episode with an interesting and curious enemy alliance and conflict between the military and civilian government of the Colonials highlight this one.

The Nomen were as scary and as formidable as the Cylons. Lance LaGault is awesome in his role.

The plot twists right up until the end are well-done and paced. Tigh's big moment comes with his "Adama, I'm in Command. LAUNCH!"

The Cylon punching out the control panel is funny, setting up Starbuck's great line "It was his idea." Baltar's "Oh no, not you two again," when he is captured as well.

[shiningstar]

He sure was ..... especially when you consider that
his Makeup was glued to his face and it must have been
HELLISH to act in this stuff!

**1/2

A reasonable stopgap episode...

[shiningstar]

Originally Posted by originalsinner

The Bad guys shine in this one!

I just saw this one and the bad guys certainly do SHINE

[shiningstar]

Originally Posted by ViperTech

A tense episode with an interesting and curious enemy alliance and conflict between the military and civilian government of the Colonials highlight this one.

The Nomen were as scary and as formidable as the Cylons. Lance LaGault is awesome in his role.

The plot twists right up until the end are well-done and paced. Tigh's big moment comes with his "Adama, I'm in Command. LAUNCH!"

The Cylon punching out the control panel is funny, setting up Starbuck's great line "It was his idea." Baltar's "Oh no, not you two again," when he is captured as well.

I always LOVED his Acting. He's a great actor and certainly PROVED
it acting in BSG!

[launchcruiser7]

one of the best of the bunch love the nomen basis for KILGONS? best showing of the idiot concil best gag not you two again wonder what happened to the destoryor and lunar 7 think this is more proff that the show was canciled before the show celestra top three one parter and best two part what if of show cylons and destoryers did the colonials give vipers to terra holding rear guard launchcruiser7 100 vipers readyto launch battlestar forever have a cool one on generalmayhem

Originally Posted by ViperTech

The plot twists right up until the end are well-done and paced. Tigh's big moment comes with his "Adama, I'm in Command. LAUNCH!".

[Eric Paddon]

The most tolerable episode of the Terra Trilogy thanks to Colicos' presence and also the fact that it's credited to Bellisario instead of Larson from a writing standpoint.

The downside is that this is the only episode of the series where the Council goes from being misguided to out and out stupid, and it really weakens the series as a whole IMO. Sire Uri in Saga was a formidable adversary type for Adama when it came to clashes with the Council but this time they're being drawn as cartoon idiots for the heck of it and that just doesn't work IMO. Why is the Council so determined to treat the Alliance prisoners with kid glove VIP treatment? They would have had to be blindly stupid to not understand the implications of what was reported to them about the destruction of Paradeen, unless they're all so pissed off over the events of "Greetings From Earth" that they're not going to believe anything Apollo and Starbuck say. (Speaking of which, it's a serious continuity lapse to not have Council members established in previous episodes like Sire Geller return this time out).

[Senmut]

I think one reason for why the Council behaves this way is that they are in essence the same bunch who got the Colonies into this mess in the first place. A bunch of old men, used to wealth, comfort, and easy authority. The hardships of life abaord the Fleet, especially since Apollo et al stripped Uri of his luxuries, don't sit well with them, showing them to be a bunch of selfish politicians who miss power. They sulk and whine for their lost power. They chafe under Adama and he galls them. So, when they encounter an advanced Human civilization, they selfishly assume that it's goals and needs will mesh with their own, regardless of what anyone, be it the scientists or Warriors might say. Ignoring the report of A & SB, they show their deep down contempt for the military. They have the conceit of those who assume that any and everyone is reasonable, i.e. thinks the same as they do, and will talk in good faith. It is only Adama's deep and near-immovable reverance for the Colonial system of freely elected government that keeps him from pulling a Cromwell, and ruling by personal fiat.

[Eric Paddon]

Originally Posted by Senmut

I think one reason for why the Council behaves this way is that they are in essence the same bunch who got the Colonies into this mess in the first place.

I don't buy that argument because remember, other than Adama, this is *not* the same group responsible for the Destruction because those people are all dead. We'd have to assume a stereotype about all people from a particular class to think they all act that way out of instinct and to me, that isn't a good mindset to establish within Galactica. Their misguidedness in Saga, WOTG and to a lesser degree GFE can be understood, but in BE they are behaving like total idiots to serve the role of a stereotyped group of buffoons, and the only explanation to explain this sudden attitude IMO is that they're all ticked off over how they were treated by Adama in GFE, which in fairness they do have a right to be partly upset about.

[Senmut]

Ah, yet again you are wrong, O BaseShip Breath! By this bunch, I am talking about that generation, those who have served in whatever capacity, in the Colonial government prior to the Holocaust. They are of a mindset, and I am not afraid to see it as a thing of their class. Like people who still believe and think as if Jim Crow were still a reality, or Communism was still the shining path to the future, or whatever. As a group, and they are for the most part "elder statesmen", they hve not truly changed, inside. Perhaps, after BE, they did. We certainly didn't see any more Council stupidity after that. True, it was only a few eps.

[BRG]

Back on form! A fine episode, 3 out of 5.

Yes, it was the best Baltar episode, and Colicos delivers another standout performance. In the most cunning of cunning plans, Baltar skillfully brings 3 differant parties together to bust out of prison. Not only does he sucsefully escape, but he also takes the Galactica landing bay, and holds the Council hostage. But for the fact that Wilker had dismantled his Cylon pilots, and some quick thinking by Apollo, the chances are that he would have got away. In any event, the Eastern Alliance & the Nomen both escaped thanks too Baltar.(although the Alliance ship was carrying a tracking device)
So I think we should still take our hats off to Baltar.

And while I agree that the Council acted in an unbelievable manner in this episode, it did raise an important point about Adama's position. No one elected Adama as President, so at witch point does he return power to the civillian govenment and return to his role as military leader? I liked the way he strongly told Apollo & Starbuck of the military's responsability to follow the orders of the elected government. Spoken like a true soldier!
BRG

[kingfish]

I was watching it the other day. It would be the last we saw of Commandant Leiter and the Nomen. One of the original plotlines was to have Apollo and Starbuck dress up as Alliance robots as mentioned in the synopsis on back of the VHS. This wasn't achieved and Wilker managed to reprogram the Cylons.

Starbuck: And I thought I was hard on them.

Baltar would not escape. The Eastern Alliance was allowed to go because the Colonials placed a homing beacon on the ship to track it to Terra. Colicos was a plus to the series as I can see as an adult. As a child I hated the character of Baltar. This showed that Colicos was doing his job in the role. Colicos hailed from Canada as did Greene. They stared in a play together.

One other plus was Greene and Bochner's scene together at the beginning of the episode where Adama manages to get Leiter to admit to the strength of the Alliance. He catches himself and adds, "The Galactica is but one ship." I would have loved to see a battle between the two forces but the budget wouldn't allow. By now Galactica was headed towards the abyss but none of the stars knew it, if Larson did he kept it a secret [The Sciography special].

[Spike The Cylon]

The one thing I've never undrestood about this episode is why is Baltar treated as a trustee? Yopu'de think he'd be the one prisioner that would be in solitary.

[Eric Paddon]

It could well be though, that helping (albeit reluctantly) to save Apollo from Charybdis ended up getting Baltar out of solitary and at least got him the freedom to mingle amongst the rest of the prison population.

[Fragmentary]

He might have just been a fine cook.
All that time on a baseship, surrounded by Cylons, he might have had to fix his own meals.

part II of III in the TERRA story arc? it always felt that way to me. all thrre eps were good, even if they had some less than stellar moments. But they really did build on the Greetings from Earth ep and created an excellent lead into Experiment in Terra. has anyone ever considered though that the Galactica may have led the Cylons right to Terra's doorstep?

[Croft2018]

The Eastern Alliance crew, Baltar and the three Borellian Nomen hatch plans to escape from the Prison Barge.

More silly politicking and Baltar at his most weaselly with the council taking back (from Adama) the emergency powers granted him after the destruction of the colonies. Siress Tinia (Ina Balin) is the new council representative on the bridge which pisses off both Adama and Tigh. However, it's very watchable and at least more even in tone than Greetings from Earth.

Ron Kelly is back (after Greetings from Earth) as security guard Reese. The Galactica's landing bay must be cold because Tinia has a right nipple on.

[Eric Paddon]

Revisited this one today. One thing that was never made clear was just why did Baltar think it was important to have his centurions and his fighter back when he could have just as easily left on the Alliance Destroyer with the others? (Yes, I know. We needed to have him in a position to be caught again at episode's end for purposes of story convenience!)

The only "logical" explanation I can think of is that Baltar felt he needed his centurions and his fighter to help him establish his bona fides with the Alliance leadership as a way of showing them the larger forces that existed in the Universe, and thus in the event the Cylons ever reached that region of space, the Alliance would know how much they'd need Baltar as any kind of go-between (that's how Baltar would have been looking at things).

[Senmut]

Sort of a technologytransfer?