As good as the before-its-time, sadly not fully realized Battlestar Galactica - which improbably & incredibly helped redirect & shape my life afterwards - was, it was crystallized in this episode. I recall the chills that the revelation of Count Iblis's true self brought on, the horror & heroism of Apollo's self-sacrifice and, most indelibly, the tearjerking scene of his rebirth. That alone stands as the series' finest moment, so beautifully presented (like watching the inside of 1 of my specialty white cakes, without the milk chocolate frosting, I had begun making only the year before) & the peerless haunting & joyful music that was the apogee of Stu Phillips's compositions. I was already in tears throughout, but really went to weeping (getting misty-eyed even now) when Starbuck was moved, blinking his own orbital wetness with a shaking voice, to offer "whatever you want from me, you can have." What fans of this program - which, goofs, recycled footage, disappointing story dips & all, that miserable DEboot years later couldn't hold a burnt match to even this 1 scene - were not likewise thus weeping as at the passing of Serina? Only not from depressing grief but from heartbreaking yet uplifting joy when Sheba ran to embrace the restored Apollo with that music raining down on their hearts & souls? Sensitively directed - something a celestial sellout named Gee Lou Kiss hasn't a prayer of coming close to duplicating - acted throughout with drew-us-in sincerity & breathtakingly scored, + a should-have-anticipated ("perhaps we can give you a beginning") yet wonderfully surprising twist ending, this episode in its entirety, part of yet separate from its 1st chapter, is the fullest realization of all that Battlestar Galactica intended & hoped to be. Outside forces radiating negativity - a slew of monkeysuited shortsighted pennypinching bean counters presaging the coming of that stinking Mouse - might have doomed the Galactica's epic journey, but before that plug was pulled some very interesting & impactful scenarios made their way onto the (small) screen & into filmed immortality. This here ironically "tail end" segment is Simply The Best of them all, & that I owe my changed career choice which has defined my life ever since is something that pathetic remake - along with EVERY Star Trick variation over the last 43 years - hasn't a whisper of a rumor of the same kind of inspiration to anyone. Captain Apollo & Commander Adama (along with Baltar & Sire "Montrose" - another dreadfully plain Terran moniker like "columbia" - & we don't know how many others) - smile down among us eternally from their celestial perches, & those who have been able to appreciate it have been enlivened & enriched by this "galactic" experience.
Review of War of the Gods: Part II
