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In the two-part episode "Razor," Battlestar Galactica revisits the Pegasus during two crucial periods previously unseen on the show: its initial crises after barely escaping the Cylon destruction of the twelve colonies and their fleet, and the days immediately after Lee Adama took command of the troubled battlestar.

Cast and Creators

Production
Written by ... Michael Taylor
Directed by ...

Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Executive Producer ... Ronald D. Moore
Executive Producer ... David Eick
Director Of Photography ... Stephen McNutt
Production Designer ... Richard Hudolin
Wardrobe Designer ... Glenne Campbell
Visual Effects Supervisor ... Gary Hutzel
Art Director ... Douglas McLean
Production Manager ... Wayne Rose
Editor ... Tim Kenzy
 
Cast
Admiral William Adama ... Edward James Olmos
President Roslln ... Mary McDonnell
Lee "Apollo" Adama ... Jamie Bamber
Kara "Starbuck" Thrace ... Katee Sackhoff
Number Six/Gina ... Tricia Helfer
Sharon "Athena" Agathon ... Grace Park
 
Guest Stars
Admiral Helena Cain ... Michelle Forbes
Col. Fisk ... Graham Beckel
Kendra Shaw ... Stephanie Jacobsen
Young Adama ... Nico Cortez
Doral ... Matthew Bennett
Jurgen Belzen, XO ... Steve Bacic

Raising Cain

Ambitious young officer Kendra Shaw has only just reported for duty aboard the Battlestar Pegasus under Admiral Helena Cain when the Cylons suddenly attack. When a recon mission confirms that the colonies' destruction, Cain vows revenge on their inhuman enemies.

Ten months later, Cain is dead along with two unloved successors; the new commander, Lee Adama, urgently needs to reestablish order and pride. Busted to kitchen duty with a reputation as a frank-talking troublemaker, Kendra Shaw has been shunted aside by Cain's replacements, but Lee realizes allowing Shaw to carry on Cain's legacy as his executive officer will help rally the crew. Unfortunately Shaw makes sparks with another tough-talking officer, CAG Kara "Starbuck" Thrace.

Shaw, meanwhile, is haunted by memories of Cain's increasing ruthlessness, which created a crisis of loyalty among her devoted officers. When Cain's XO refuses to engage the Cylons when hopelessly outnumbered, Cain shoots him in the head in the middle of the CIC and immediately replaces him with Col. Fisk. In a starker betrayal, Shaw unmasks the admiral's close friend Gina as a Cylon; Cain orders the "thing" humiliated to make her talk. Cain's order to raid a civilian fleet leads to the executions of ten resistors.

In the present, Lee Adama's Pegasus is attacked by old-style Cylons, which Admiral Adama realizes are the guardians of a legendary human hybrid experiment he once witnessed during the First Cylon War. Lee Adama must order Shaw and Starbuck on a mission to rescue captured humans and nuke the experiment once and for all.

Command Decisions

When the Galactica reencountered the Pegasus back in season 2 of Battlestar Galactica, the slow realization that Admiral Helena Cain had begun to make morally questionable decisions created a host of practical problems for then-Commander William Adama, his son Lee, and Kara Thrace. Over three dark, fast-moving episodes, William Adama realized his commanding officer was a threat, and enlisted Kara to perform what turned out to be an aborted assassination. (Cain was then killed by the copy of Six who had masqueraded as Cain's girlfriend, Gina.)

Events moved too quickly back then for the Adamas to explore the darker mystery of how Cain had lost her ethical center. Now a two-part episode prefacing the upcoming season 4, "Razor," fills in many of the gaps of two crucial periods in the Pegasus story: Cain's command following the Cylon destruction of the colonies, and the early days of Lee Adama's command of the Pegasus as he tried to return the battlestar to functionality. Over the course of several well-crafted scenes, destruction, reversal, and betrayal scar Cain, remolding her from a brusque but compassionate commander with a ready smile to a flint-eyed weapon of revenge: a razor, forged by battle, purged of inhibitions that cause hesitation and defeat.

Even more tragic than Cain's devolution is Kendra Shaw's need to follow her commander down the same path, against her better judgment and with her eyes wide open. Shaw's sober descent seems to reflect the toughness needed to survive the Cylons, contrasted with the mission-threatening hesitation later shown by Lee Adama.

Battlestar at its Best

"Razor" is the latest example of how the creators of Battlestar Galactica possesses a peerless ability to weld superior writing, outstanding production values, and some of the best acting on television to create programming too good to be ignored. Seldom has such a difficult assignment -- explaining the descent of Admiral Cain and examining her legacy -- been so satisfyingly accomplished. A cipher has been decoded, shedding light along the way on the difficult decisions made along the way by everyone from William Adama to the copy of Six planted on Pegasus as a computer tech.

The direction by Félix Alcalá, who also directed the Emmy-nominated season 3 two-parter "Exodus," deserves special praise. To provide unblinking revelation of Helena Cain demanded the brilliant direction achieved by Alcalá, who also unmasks not only Kendra, but the regulars as well. Alcalá is particularly good with Lee Adama, underlining how his emotion and inexperience weaken him as a commander.

Michael Taylor, who also wrote another gap-filler, "Unfinished Business," crucially provides masterful dialog to signal these characters' transitions. Lines like Cain's "Sometimes we have to do things we never thought we were capable of," usually reflecting a character's growth, take on disturbing new meaning here.

The story is superbly acted by Michelle Forbes (someone give her a series right now), Stephanie Jacobsen, and an incandescent Katee Sackhoff. The dynamic between Bamber and Olmos has never been better, setting the stage for the Galactica's final journies in season 4.

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