Battlestar Galactica season 1 episode 2 review: Water
A devastating crisis depletes a precious resource of the fleet and Boomer is both villain and hero...
2. Water
Just as the crew of Battlestar Galactica survive one problem, up comes another. This one kicks off just a few days after the events of 33, and finds what should be a routine transferring of water to one of the ships in the fleet going horribly wrong. One big explosion later, and Galactica has lost a sizeable chunk of its water supplies, putting a different kind of ticking time bomb over the entire fleet.
The BSG version of Boomer soon understands what’s wrong, when she discovers explosives at her feet, and then works out that further charges are missing. She panics, confiding in Tyrol, fearing that she will be suspected as a Cylon agent. I really like the character of Boomer here, too. I love the fact that she’s no idea that she’s what she fears the most, and look forward to seeing just how this is going to pan out.
Back to the main narrative, though, and the search begins to try and find fresh supplies of water. The fleet has to move to emergency water rations, which once again brings conflicts and unhappiness to the fore (and that feeling of hopelessness is still underpinning the show), and thus Raptors are sent out to find fresh supplies.
This, as Tigh remarks, is the proverbial grain of sand on the beach, and things aren’t going well. Inevitably, it’s Boomer who eventually discovers water, but then has to wrestle with the fact that she doesn’t seem to be able to pass the information on. She finds a missing explosive by her foot, and once again turns to Tyrol to dig her out of trouble.
Back on Galactica, the episode also spares some time to address the conflict between Commander Adama and President Roslin, with the former laying on full pomp and circumstance for the benefit of the latter. Nobody’s comfortable with this, and it’s only when Apollo explains to Roslin why he’s done it, that she seems to appreciate the gesture. She also offers Apollo a job, helping her understand the military, which he accepts. That’s bound to cause trouble.
Ultimately, this is the episode where Adama and Roslin conclude with some certainty that there’s a Cylon on board Galactica, and thus they press Dr Baltar for his Cylon detector, assigning him Gaeta to help. Instead, Baltar gets distracted by a card game, where he promptly earns Starbuck’s winnings from under her nose.
There’s a fresh thread left hanging too, when on Caprica, the other version of Boomer, along with Helo, pick up a brief transmission. This, they conclude, means that there’s another Colonial somewhere nearby, and off they set to find them.
This was, once more, a terrific episode, and one that refused to release the grip of gloom and doom. Next up, it’s Bastille Day…
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