Final 18 minutes on Season 2, Episode 20 & Thoughts on Season 2

As I said last week, I decided to write my thoughts on the final 18 minutes of Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2 separately from the rest of the episode, as it feels almost like an entirely separate episode, and is much closer in style to (I imagine, since it is probably setting things up for) season 3.

Final 18 minutes of Season 2, Episode 20: Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• Of course Gaius would have a self-portrait in his presidential office.
• Adama with a moustache, and smoking without filters.
• Kara with long hair. And married!
• Kara and Tigh hugging.
• Laura as a teacher! (I wish I had students who were as enthusiastic about homework as hers.)
• Apollo looks a lot more than a year older.
• The skinjobs are always so well dressed.

Quote

• Head-Six: "Judgement day."

Thoughts on Season 2

On the whole, I didn't think season 2 was as strong as season 1, but I did enjoy where it took the story and how much character development there was. My two favourite episodes were Final Cut (episode 8) for being in such a different style from the others and Downloaded (episode 18) for the insight in to the Cylon psyche, and Caprica-Six in particular. On the other side, however, was Black Market (episode 14) which just felt completely out of place, seemed to bear no relation to the rest of the story being told and introduced too many new characters who turned out to be completely inconsequential (at least so far - I'm hoping Siobhan and her child don't return).

The characters who I'm most enjoying remain the same as at the end of season 1 (Gaius, Kara and Laura), but the character I most miss is certainly Billy. I hate them for killing him off. Six is by far my favourite Cylon; I just can't get enough of Gaius and Head-Six's interactions, though now with Caprica-Six reunited with Gaius, things should get really interesting.  I'm starting to find Sharon a little annoying, but I still enjoy and understand the necessity for her role in the story. I hope her presence really pays off in season 3.

Probably my absolute favourite thing about this show at this point is the suspense of not knowing who all the Cylon models are. We are now aware of 7 of the 12, which means we've only had 2 new ones revealed since season 1 (Three and One). Unfortunately, I think I've been spoiled on one other, so I hope that one will be revealed soon, though I somehow doubt it. Watching this show a few years after it being aired means that whenever I need to look up something about an episode (like the title, the name/spelling of a character or location or the name of an actor) I run the risk of being spoiled on something, and this is what happened for this Cylon model; I got too excited in Wikipedia and clicked through one too many links!

At roughly half way through this show, I'm happy to say that I love it and am really intrigued to see where it goes from here. See you in season 3.

Thanks for reading!