Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 Blog
October 26, 2009
Season 2. Episode 15.
“Scar”
49,593 survivors. This episode focuses primarily on Kara “Starbuck” Thrace. The fleet is mining ore in an asteroid field while being frequently attacked by a mysterious Cylon Raider known as “Scar”. The guerilla tactics used by Scar have killed already killed several rookie Viper pilots that were guarding the mining ships. Kat challenges Starbuck to be the new “Top Gun” by killing Scar. But Starbuck has other things on her mind. She is unable to convince the Admiral and the President to return to Caprica with the plan to rescue Samuel T. Anders and his group of rebels. This throws her into depression. She tries to convince herself that he is dead.
Later on, Kat scolds Starbuck for being late for a mission briefing and for the death of BB and Jo-Jo. Kat claims that Starbuck’s bad judgment killed them. When Kat and Starbuck are on a mission to snuff out Scar, they see something in the asteroid fields. The excessive space junk makes DRADIS useless. It turns out to be Scar that is following Starbuck. Kat pursues, but she can’t get a clear shot. Eventually, Starbuck baits Scar to follow her. She tells Kat to take the chance and kill Scar. Kat kills Scar, and she later on gets the “Top Gun” mug, with Starbuck acknowledging. The episode ends with Helo and Starbuck training in the gym with each other and talking about Anders. Helo assures Starbuck that she did the right thing to let Kat take the kill instead of sacrificing herself in the suicide run. She now has something to live for: Anders.
Starbuck is a great character, and Katee Sackhoff does an excellent job portraying her, but this episode does sit well with me. My main problem is with the pacing of this episode. The focus on Starbuck’s problems with Scar and Kat thrown in is very messy. Scar is the Cylon Raider that she “fixed” in season one, but now has come back to haunt her. Kat is the Viper pilot who wants to be noticed, and she does it by scolding her CAG Starbuck. And Starbuck is the one being subject to all this, so why isn’t the episode interesting? Well for starters, I cannot stand Kat. Her character is very envious, and that just seems so out of place, given the situation of the kind of world they now live in. The problem with Starbuck being unable to rescue Anders is interesting as it causes drives her to change. But the episode is inconsistent. In one moment the focus seems to be strictly on Starbuck, but then in comes Kat and her annoying complaining. I do like the way how other characters, e.g., Adama, Apollo, Valerii, and Helo, are in some way tied to Starbuck’s problem. Despite the tedious and uneventful scenes that are littered all over this episode, the best scene is the one where Starbuck and Helo are training, which happens to be the last scene. This episode could’ve been more effective in examining Starbuck’s depression. I have to rate it a two out of five.
Location Viewed: My room
Source: Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (Blu-Ray)
Time viewed: 9:00PM-9:50 PM
