Battlestar Galactica (TV Series) Kobol's Last Gleaming: Part 1 (2005) User Reviews

Great first part to the season finale

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 19 September 2010]

This was a fine episode with a brilliant opening, as it starts several scenes are inter-cut; Apollo is sparring with his father, Sharon is trying to talk to Helo on Caprica, Boomer is contemplating suicide and Starbuck is having sex with a man who is unidentified till she shouts out the name 'Lee'... and we discover she is actually with Baltar! The main story this week concerns the discovery of Kobol by Boomer and Crashdown. With this discovery opinions about what to do next are divided; President Roslin believes they must send somebody back to Caprica to retrieve 'The Arrow of Apollo' so they can find their way from Kobol to Earth and others think they should settle on Kobol. When an advanced party of three Raptors is sent to survey Kobol it looks as if neither side will get their way as the Cylons are there already. One Raptor is destroyed, one manages to return to Galactica and the one carrying Baltar, Chief Tyrol, Cally and Crashdown is damaged and plummets to the planet below. Commander Adama wants to use the captured Cylon raider to transport a bomb aboard the base star; the president has other ideas for it and tries to talk Starbuck into flying a different, unauthorised mission.

As mentioned earlier this is a great episode, the opening scene brilliantly showcased Bear McCreary's music which has been good throughout the series but really stood out here. The story was good and ended on a double cliff-hanger; what will happen to the people on the crashed Raptor and how will Starbuck get on back on Caprica? With such a fine cast it is hard to single out individual performances but in this episode Grace Park stood out as Boomer contemplated suicide on Galactica and the Sharon on Caprica tried to convince Helo that nothing had changed between them.

Battlestar Galactica - Kobol's Last Gleaming

[Scarecrow-88 · 8/10 · 3 August 2018]

I must admit that I wasn't expecting to see Helo shoot "the other" Sharon Boomer, but considering what the cylons did to his race, it probably shouldn't be too shocking. And having such an intimate encounter, too, adds a particular layer of difficulty as Helo realizes his sexual involvement with a cylon. And on the BG, the Sharon counterpart cannot deal with the troubled psyche and disconcerting, nagging impulse to be violent towards someone she cares about, talking it over with Gaius before trying to kill herself. Tyrol visiting her doesn't help matters as he reminds her of her ensuing isolation, unable to have a decent relationship with a partner of her choosing.

Starbuck sleeping with Gaius but calling out Apollo's name during their sexual encounter certainly increases tensions and ruins the pleasure! Apollo realizing the two were involved and punches thrown between Starbuck and Gaius only makes matters worse. Starbuck tries to apologize but Apollo is quite bothered by knowledge of her and Gaius. This is a running theme on the show...there is something about those in officer positions of specific stature that appears to dispel sexual / romantic involvement. Does Starbuck or Tyrol or Sharon deserve to have a decent sex life or even the remotest bit of romance while serving on the BG? Why is this so frowned upon? If it allows for a little less misery while always worrying about dying at any time, why not have some sort of life that includes pleasure or love?

Locating "Kobol", an Earth-like planet, out of a jump, Sharon (who is just troubled and weary) and co-pilot Crashdown (Sam Witwer) get this info back to the fleet. It offers a planet that can serve the fleet as a source of refuge, water, food, etc. But locating ruins down there, through investigation Roslin tells the spiritual leader, Elosha (Lorena Gale), she believes this is Kobol. The scriptures/texts/prophesies from their history indicates Roslin (dying of terminal cancer) will lead the fleet to Earth, the "promised land". An "arrow of Apollo" is needed so that the prophesy (directions to Earth) can be fulfilled but a jump to Caprica where it is located would be needed, so Starbuck must decide between Roslin's request or Adama's command of her to use the cylon Raider as a weapon against a cylon base near Kobol (another jump by Crashdown, with Baltar onboard, finds the base and a host of Raiders on the offensive in an unexpected attack which causes them to crash on the planet). Starbuck "tests" Adama, asking him how far they are from Earth with him just lying to her due to his unbelief in such a "new home"...this is the deciding factor in her jump to Caprica instead.

Baltar's jealousy of Apollo, infatuation with Starbuck that results in awkward/angered confrontation, learning of a threat onboard Galactica which may have been a significant reason in his desire to trip to Kobol, estrangement with the Six in his mind, and inability to thwart the conversations with Six while trying to maintain eye contact with the likes of Roslin and Apollo (among others); Gaius is such a emphasized character on the show indeed, as he is heavily involved and of great focus. Even in a conversation with Sharon, as Six comments on her weaknesses as a cylon agent, Gaius ends up convincing her to try and commit suicide! In my favorite scene, Baltar, talking to both Roslin and Six, frustratingly balks about how he's used and wants time to himself...his brain is always picked and the demands for his attention seem to give him little time alone.

Other thoughts: it is *always* raining on Caprica, father / son bonding for the Adama men is pummeling each other in boxing gloves, and Adama isn't sorry about lying to Starbuck even as she voices her displeasure with his willingness to do so without regret.

oh my fracking god(s)

[Dimme · 10/10 · 28 August 2006]

Maybe one of the single best episodes of any TV series! All in all season one of BSG is brilliant, every single of the 13 episodes are a testament to the skilled people behind the series. But even in this lineup of episodes, "33" and "Kobol's Last gleaming" 1 and 2 stands out as a cut above the rest. From opening shot to the final sequence, this episode sucks you in like nothing i've seen before.

Everything from score to photography converges into a whole that is larger than the sum of it's parts. One of those rare moments when entertainment truly becomes art. Stunning!

The opening sequence, with it's slow and deliberate pacing makes us aware that we are at a turning point. That something bad is on the horizon. A dark and foreboding feeling sets the mood for an episode that one year and change after it aired still remains the high point of the series!

Adama's first real act of idiocy begins here

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 17 March 2018]

BSG is always an exhibit of how and when a government or leadership should bend, and sometimes it gives us a clear illustration of what happens when a leadership falls apart completely.

In a way, what happens in this episode began in this country on January 21, 2017. A good leader will not divide his constituents, but unite them. And Adama manages to piss off a lot of people here, as well as begin a process which ultimately destroys the frail government of the Fleet. Two previous episodes, "Bastille Day" and "Colonial Day", deal with questions about how a government which is on the run should actually be governed while staying safe from an enemy which constantly attacks. And just after the framework and ideals of that government were set into place, Adama begins to tear that framework apart, piece by piece. Just like what is happening in the US, with constant deregulation and removal of protections that have prevented another recession, as well as other laws that had prevented the mentally ill from obtaining firearms, or even protected our Forests from being chopped down, or from Oil Pipelines dripping oil into Native American Burial Lands.

The leader of the fleet is actually President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) who was already on one film (Independence Day) where a President took active and total command of all military decisions. But she is depicted as a wise and spiritual leader, who does have faults but ultimately makes correct decisions about how to survive. In direct contrast to our current leader who has no such qualities, in fact who is a lot like the way Balthar is depicted as leader. Motivated by Selfishness, a Kleptocracy. Roslin ran a true democracy. The Fleet is actually a "Republic", each ship represents a particular tribe of people. But to govern such a ragtag fleet, democracy has to be used, the same way a group of quasi-independent states have to be governed.

Adama is supposed to defer to the Authority of The Office of The President. Here, the President has a valid (but crazy) idea about direction, yet Adama wants to dismiss her idea, and her Authority, and when he does so he keeps on moving in the wrong direction.

This does not all occur within this one episode, this is just the start of an arc that deals with these issues, it is as if the producers of this show wanted us to see, just how bad it could get. And bad it does get.

This is not the only time idiocy rears it's ugly, orange head in BSG. This is just the first time. And each time it happens, it takes at least three episodes to resolve it. Kind of like real life, where a national mistake is taking so far, two years to resolve.

BSG is about politics as must as it is about anything else, mirrored here are our own mistakes, our own idiocies. And it is not only the Fleet, or Roslin's government that makes the mistakes, or even Adama and Tigh. The Cylons make their mistakes too. And the more we learn about the Cylons, we see they have the same divisions as The Fleet does. They have their own Tom Zarek, in the form of Brother Cavill.

Religion is none too popular a subject these days, yet this episode shows that sometimes, there is value in Scriptures. Faith is supposed to be a comfort, and here, Roslin finds a clear direction while she is comforting herself with her religion. This is the way it should be, Faith comes in to play when a people are oppressed, when a person is struggling. Faith should not normally ever be used to lead a whole nation, or to dictate morality to a nation. Because Faith is a personal matter. Sometimes, one person who has Faith, will find a solution for something through that Faith. As Laura does here. But this is the exception, just to show that sometimes, a good decision can sometimes come through Faith.

Adama's reaction is the Skeptic's reaction. When he should have had more of a believer's reaction. Because there is a time for Faith, and a time for science. And a time for both, together, which is a common theme in this show, Faith and Science are integrated.

These episodes of BSG speak about these things, about faith vs skepticism, about atheism vs religion, about the different ways Leaders have led this country. BSG has had them, even "prophesied" them before they happened in our country. Ultimately, life is a balance of these things. And this particular episode starts a deep reflection of our own situation. If we had only listened.

Leadership Divided

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 14 September 2008]

Starbuck has one night stand with Dr. Baltar, creating tension with Apollo. Meanwhile, Boomer and Crashdown find a habitable planet with ancient ruins and people conclude it is Kobol. President Roslin has visions with the pictures of the surface of Kobol due to the drug camalla and Elosha gives a religious interpretation to her visions based on the scriptures. Commander Adama sends three raptors to research the planet, but they are surprised by a Cylon starbase and the raiders destroy raptor number three, the number one crashes on Kobol and the number two jumps back to Galactica. Adama plots a scheme with Starbuck to lure the Cylons using the raider they have but President Roslin convinces her to jump back to Caprica to retrieve the mystic Apollo's Arrow to help her to lead the survivors to Earth. Meanwhile Boomer tries to commit suicide in Galactica while her clone is shot by Helo in Caprica.

In this episode, the incoherent President Roslin gives sign of insanity jeopardizing the rescue mission of the survivors in Kobol following her intuition based on religion and dividing the leadership of the survivors in a moment of danger. I really do not like this character and consequently the parts of this series where she participates. Meanwhile Boomer in Galactica has existence crisis and shows suicidal tendencies. In Caprica, the other clone is in love with Halo. The jealousy of Apollo is quite ridiculous, giving a connotation of soap-opera to this episode. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Último Vislumbre de Kobol – Parte 1" ("The Last Glimpse of Kobol - Part 1")

Kobol's Last Gleaming: Part 1

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 13 March 2021]

There are some good ideas explored in this episode. Adama has been found out by Starbuck. He does not know the direction to Earth.

Eventually others will realise this and Adama's authority will be undermined.

Meanwhile President Roslin has a hallucinatory vision due to her drugs. A sign to get to Earth. After being turned down by Adama. She convinces Starbuck to jump to Caprica and retrieve a mystical artefact.

It is very important to realise that religion plays an important part in Battlestar Galactica. They may travel the stars but they do not necessarily believe in logic. I am sure this is something the Cylons want to explore.

Once again now Vice President Baltar is the weak link. These imaginary conversations are getting irritating. They should be consigned to deep space.