The Plan wasn’t necessarily my favorite because I, for one, do enjoy a bit of ambiguity in my storytelling. Knowing exactly why Leoben was obsessed with Kara Thrace doesn’t make it any less disturbing, and how does being shown who Caprica-Six met after talking with Baltar in the miniseries make me despise Cavil more (hint: it doesn’t)? However, I really enjoyed Razor, particularly because we see Admiral Cain’s descent to the dark side, especially if you see the uncut version where Helena loses her entire family in one day during the first Cylon war. We also get to see people outside of the main cast and how they handle the events we’d seen from another perspective previously. It’s one reason I appreciated Star Wars: The Clone Wars; we can actually witness that universe through the eyes of characters that aren’t related to the Skywalkers. Kendra Shaw is probably my favorite character out of this whole thing, and it’s because of the following scene.

Now, I’ve made no bones about the fact I can’t stand Lee Adama, except for a handful of times where he isn’t being a useless cheesestick, but when he is promoted to commander, Lee, in an uncharacteristic flash of intelligence, appoints Shaw as his XO, knowing full well that she has a tendency to be blunt and difficult. And then she became my favorite, because she said this in response to his queries into her opinion of her current situation:

“Fisk was a black market sell-out. Piece of garbage. Unworthy of the uniform. Garner was a martinet who tried to micromanage this ship like it was some bulky piece of machinery … You’re a step up. That doesn’t change the fact that you’re an outsider who was brought in to clean up our mess or the impression that your daddy just gave you a battlestar like he was tossing you the keys to a new car.”

Did I stand up and applaud Shaw for this? Yes. Yes, I did. And if she was a real person, I’d have found her and shook her hand vigorously. Because seriously, Adama? Your son was having serious issues this season: mutiny, depression, attempted suicide, used a prostitute as a substitute girlfriend, was whiny, etc. Do you really think he has any real leadership abilities? I mean, he revenge-marries Dualla (you deserve so much better, my sweet Dee) because Starbuck is an emotional trainwreck and weds Anders (you deserve so much better, Anders)! Does that honestly sound like commander material to you?? So glad that decision doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass when Lee decides that he’s not really cut out for the military and then hands you his wings in a bratty huff, only to later join the Quorum and irritate Roslin with his idealism.

Have I mentioned lately that I really loathe Lee?

Shaw really shows her mettle by the conclusion of Razor, but damn, she was stellar in this very moment.

Art Credit: Wikipedia