This was most definitely a tie. I went back and forth with both* of these for a while but decided that, you know what, I don’t have to choose. This is my blog and my challenge! So without further ado, here you are: my favorite two scenes from the miniseries.

The first scene is when Baltar is framing Doral for being a Cylon agent. The acting from everyone in this bit is just spot on, from Tigh’s smug expression to Baltar’s babbling to Head Six’s amusement/confusion to Doral’s freaking the fuck out. I love watching Baltar, stream-of-consciousness style, trying to figure out a way to throw the guilty scent off of himself, although at this point, it’s simply paranoia since no one has any reason to suspect he had anything to do with the initial Cylon attack.

I have such a hard time trying to view the series through the eyes of a newbie, since I’ve rewatched every episode a ridiculous number of times. I see the sad irony of Tigh being one of the final Five and know that Baltar morphs into a weird John the Baptist stand-in by the end, albeit with his trademark self-preservation instinct intact for the most part. I recognize Doral turns out to be a calculating, bloodthirsty prick that deserves to be abandoned on an asteroid, even if he’s an incredibly pitiable scapegoat in the miniseries (at least until it’s revealed he is actually a Cylon). It’s a bit chilling to look at the show in terms of the whole picture, knowing what supposedly good people are going to be responsible for in the future, but I actually have a greater appreciation for it with that long view.

But anyway, moving onto the second scene. It’s near the end of the episode, just before the big escape/battle from Ragnar anchorage: Adama, Lee, Tigh, and Gaeta are standing in the CIC, discussing war strategy, and Adama, fresh off from talking to an adamant President Roslin, witnesses Billy (yay!!) and Dee flirting at her station. Lee and Tigh argue about leaving the civilians while the military goes to fight the Cylons, and when it’s time for Adama to speak, he goes with, “We better start having babies.” (Tigh’s quip – “Is that an order?” – is one of his best responses ever.) Lee and his father finally start agreeing on things (a short-lived event, because Lee is a whiny brat), and everyone ultimately decides they’ve lost the war and need to think about survival.

Despite the humorous nature of the scene, what really stuck out to me was Roslin’s effect on Adama. Her perspective on the situation is so much more expansive, adaptable, and realistic, and he fights it with his very being up until that very moment. There’s a change in the Commander, where he realizes his petty obsession with revenge could wipe out the entire human race, bringing us back to his earlier speech when the Galactica was being decommissioned. Do humans deserve to be saved? He decided that yes, it does, and then he goes on to later lie to everyone about the existence of Earth, to give them hope.

Alrighty, that’s that! Get ready for tomorrow: my favorite episode from the entire first season!

* I nearly combined all of the bits in which Baltar was talking to Head Six and then was abruptly brought back to reality by some outside force, either by him snapping out of it or by someone interrupting him, but that kind of runs throughout the series, particularly in the first two seasons, so I decided against it. Even though they are so fucking funny.

Art Credit: Wikipedia