I finally got around to downloading the latest few episodes of Battlestar Galactica from iTunes over this past weekend. After watching the episode Maelstrom, in which BSG’s Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) is thought to have died, I can now report to fans – it just ain’t so.
Late last year, Battlestar Galactica writer-producer Ron Moore announced that a major character would be given the kiss of death toward the end of the third season. The senseless demise of Starbuck in the episode Maelstrom appears to have satisfied Moore’s description, but in light of BSG’s overarching story narrative, the death of Starbuck truly makes no sense at all. Indeed, from a ratings perspective, since the show has already been renewed by the Sci-Fi channel for a forth season, viewers might well question the economic wisdom of axing such a popular and central player in the BSG ensemble.
Back in December, I reported to MND readers that the story arc of Battlestar Galactica (in stark contrast to its campy 1980s predecessor) was written deliberately as a thoughtful and well-planned space opera with aspirations of contemporary political and social commentary. In particular, BSG’s story lines routinely parallel current events like electoral politics, war and terrorism, as well as modern social concerns like religion, faith, the occult, and even transhumanism.
So when I read about Moore’s plan to bump-off a major character, I opined openly that the one-eyed XO, Saul Tigh, was the most likely candidate for the big sleep.
Earlier in the season, Tigh was indirectly condemned by both Admiral Adama and President Roslin for orchestrating a string of horrific suicide bombings on New Caprica. Tigh’s execution of his own wife as a Cylon collaborator, it seemed it me, was the final seal in his moral disfigurement.
Yet, in Maelstrom, the writers would have us believe that Starbuck killed herself like Ophelia in jackboots in the wake of her failed love affair with the married Captain Adama.
Nice touch, Mr. Moore, but, as you can see by these captured stills, there is good evidence to believe that Starbuck lives.
Exhibit 1 (above) is a still taken during Starbuck’s ominous descent into the atmosphere of the planet on which she supposedly died in the episode Maelstrom. My iTunes counter shows the still was taken at about -5:08 minutes. The camera is focusing on Starbuck’s gloved hand reaching for the eject lever of her viper.
Exhibit 2 is a photo taken at -4:02, and clearly shows THREE space craft in the frame. Captain Adama’s ship is in the foreground, and, well in front of him – for a split second – the camera clearly shows TWO space vehicles in the distance. If one of those vehicles is Starbuck’s viper, then the second vehicle must be the Cylon raider she was supposedly tracking.
Exhibit 3 is the script itself, which is littered with hints and directions from beginning to end – including Captain Adama’s quick dismissal of a search and rescue mission, as well as the Cylon’s much heralded interest in Starbuck’s ‘destiny’ as a baby-making machine in the service of the Cylon fatherland.
I don’t know now if the BSG writers intend to bump-off the morally tainted Saul Tigh by season’s end, but reports of the death of Kara Thrace have certainly been exaggerated.
Battlestar Galactica airs Sunday nights on the Sci-Fi channel, and is available commerical-free through iTunes. The season finale will be broadcast on March 25, 2007.
