BSG: 33

Yes, we're tired. Yes, there is no relief. Yes, the Cylons keep coming after us time after time after time. And yes, we are still expected to do our jobs!
-Colonel Tigh

The first episode of BSG proper is a dark tour-de-force, aptly demonstrating exactly where the show is going to go, and how the show is going to work for at least the first season.

For all intents and purposes, there are three major stories unfolding: Helo and a Boomer clone on Caprica (which I'll ignore for now and instead cover all in one go once the story comes to some sort of conclusion). Baltar continues to have conversations with Six, which chronicle his slow conversion into either an instrument of God's will, a helpless pawn in Six's game, or some sort of self-actualization. And of course, Galactica must deal with Cylon threats pretty much every week.

This time, the threat comes every 33 minutes, hence the title of the episode. The crew is worn out after five days of constant attacks. The Cylons show up, the fleet jumps, 33 minutes pass, repeat. Until one time it doesn't. They left behind one ship, the Olympic Carrier, by accident. This time, 33 minutes come and go and nothing happens. Then the Carrier shows up, 33 minutes pass incredibly quickly, and the Cylons show up. Just to drive the point home, it's suddenly revealed that there are nukes on the Carrier, and so Starbuck and Apollo, jacked up on stimulants, are ordered to destroy it, despite the fact that there are almost certainly civilians aboard.

Let me just get the two minor quibbles I have with this episode out of the way first. One, as I already mentioned, the 33 minutes between the Carrier's reappearance and the Cylons' arrival seem to elapse much too quickly. Two, very little is made of the fact that the pilots are, as Starbuck says, "on drugs." Given the confrontation between Lee and Kara, you'd kind of think that that was going somewhere.

Now let me move on to the things I like. One, the confrontation between Lee and Kara. Of all the things in this episode, that scene is probably my favorite. She doesn't want to take the stimulants because they'll mess her up. Lee's a by-the-book officer who knows better than to disobey an order, and his orders are to get Kara to take her drugs. (It kind of comes back later, in that Kara pauses significantly before firing on the Carrier. Lee's no happier about that order, but he does as he's told with less hesitation.)

Oh, second, the destruction of the Carrier. There are less than 50,000 Humans left in the Universe. Every single remaining life is extra-precious. But Roslin and Adama know that they can't risk the entire fleet for the sake of the 1,300 on the Carrier. They don't know for certain, but the evidence strongly suggests that the Cylons are tracking that ship, or someone on it. And then suddenly it's got nukes. So that ship has to be destroyed, along with everyone aboard. The stakes are simply too high to do otherwise. But it's not sugarcoated; both Apollo and Adama argue that the burden of responsibility is on them, and the Carrier's destruction gets mentioned again in the following episode.

Third, sometimes the Baltar/Six stuff doesn't seem to tie in quite so nicely to the main plot, but it works really well here. Someone aboard the Carrier seems to have knowledge that could expose Baltar's (accidental) role in the destruction of Caprica; when the Carrier goes missing, Six claims that Baltar has been saved by God. Baltar doesn't believe her; the Carrier reappears. Baltar repents; Roslin gives the order to destroy the Carrier.

There are a lot of wonderful little character touches as well, like Tigh giving up his ten minutes of rest because Adama's too tired to remember whose turn it is. Or Chief Tyrol, who's given so little to work with, but does a fantastic job showing just how tired and frustrated he is. Or Dualla, trying to track down any surviving members of her family. The extended cast size is just about manageable, so these tiny little scenes help the audience remember who these people are and help flesh out their characters.

Frankly, if you count "33" as the proper start to Season 1, then it's the strongest single-episode introduction to a television show I've ever seen. If you don't, then it's still the strongest "episode right after the season opener" I've ever seen. Can't say much more than that.