|
|
|
|
|
While on a patrol, Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) is shot down by the Cylons
and can only just make it to planet Atilla, where he crashlands. Now the
planet is ruled by the Cylons under their silly-looking robot leader
Specter (voiced by Murray Matheson), but Starbuck is lucky enough to be
found by a bunch of human children and young adults led by Kyle (Charles
Bloom) and his sister Miri (Audrey Landers), who lead a guerilla war
against the local Cylons - and are pretty good at it, too. Problem is, the
Cylons hold the kids' father, Megan (Bruce Glover) captive, and they now
suggest to exchange Megan against Starbuck, whom they need to give them
the coordinates of the Galactica. Kyle agrees to it, to Miri's dismay, and
it takes Starbuck some time to convince Kyle that the hostage exchange is
just a trap - which it really turns out to be. But Starbuck sees how
much fight is in the children, so he makes up a plan to take the Cylon
castle and save Megan, despite being grossly outnumbered, and since most
of them are young children, he packs the plan into verse to make the whole
thing a singalong attack. Of course the kids succeed in the end, and the
Cylons take flight, just before he's picked up by Apollo (Richard Hatch)
and Boomer (Herbert Jefferson jr) from the Galactica. Pretty
much a run-of-the-mill "alien world of the week" episode, and
this one, for no reason at all, is stuck in the middle ages, and well, at
least the Cylons look a bit like knights in shining armor. But one can't
but notice how far-fetched this episode actually is, when the force on the
verge of taking over the universe is tricked by a bunch of children - and
it seems that lazy writing has much more to do this than anything else,
where it's really more important that the episode fits the series' mold
than narrative reason when it comes to the bigger picture. Exactly these
shortcomings of course make this episode fun when seen through the lense
of nostalgia - just not great (or even particular good) television no
matter how you look at it.
|
|
|