User Reviews

Despite being ordered to break off their relationship Boomer and Chief Tyrol are continuing to sneak off for their illicit assignations. On the way to one such meeting Boomer leaves a hatch door unsecured and a Cylon agent is able to access the ship's munitions and sets off a bomb killing him and three people. Commander Adama orders the Master at Arms, Sergeant Hadrian, to investigate. Her enquiry takes her to the hanger deck where each of the crew give a different account of where the Chief was; they may have just been trying to cover for his affair but in the process they have cast doubt on whether or not he is helping the Cylons. Since the agent was a copy of a known Cylon Adama and the president reluctantly come to the conclusion that it is time to tell the fleet that there are Cylons that can pass for human now. As Sergeant Hadrian's inquiry progresses starts to go after just about everybody; even after learning they were just meeting for an illicit affair she thinks the Chief might be as traitor and goes so far as to suggest Commander Adama himself might be some how involved as he kept secret the fact that Cylons have human versions and turned a blind eye to Tyrol's affair. Back on Caprica Helo and Sharon are reunited but only after Sharon has been badly beaten by other Cylons to make her capture look more realistic.

This episode may have lacked dramatic space battles but it did start with a bang when the Cylon agent Doral blew himself up. The tension was maintained by increasing the sense of paranoia after it became known that Cylons look human; Sergeant Hadrian's inquiry turning into a witch hunt was the prime example of this but not the only one. The story back on Caprica remains interesting; at times it seems as if Sharon is really falling for Helo even though this Sharon is fully aware that she is a Cylon. The acting was good through out as I've come to expect from this series, the characters might not be the nicest people in the universe but they are believable.

So much is in disarray thanks to a cylon agent suicide bombing a section on the BG, with lots of results that cause further strain among not only those on board the ship, but with the President and civilians on the other Colonial ships. With a tribunal turned loose to investigate an open hatchway (tied to a secret sexual meeting between Chief Tyrol and his superior, Sharon) and challenging Commander Adama's reasoning behind keeping mum on human-looking cylons. Roslin is not exactly well-pleased with the situation, of just learning about the cylons and having to unleash this news on their remaining colonists in a press conference, knowing panic and paranoia will infect the 48,998 or so folks, as trust wanes and speculative eyes/minds wonder who is human and cylon. This episode really evokes this pervasive anxiety, fear, dread, and suspicion so prevalent and far-reaching. I felt you could sense that there is absolutely no relief or relaxation in sight, no way to just allow the defenses some time to power down. It is almost always high-alert and lingering tensions. With Adama's security looking faulty and penetrable, the knowledge of cylons in human form provoking new worries (like waiting on them to attack out of jumps isn't already cause for concern!), Adama's senior officers at odds with each other or acting in ways that aren't encouraged (Tighe/Starbuck not getting along, Tyrol's crew lying for him as he sleeps with Sharon despite being told not to, etc.), the tribunal that leads to Adama and his investigative Sergeant ordering the guards to stand the other down, and the investigation into the open hatch closed despite questions that the wrong person is in the Brig leave us not feeling exactly comfortable in what internally these surviving colonists and officers are up against going forward. Gaius dealing with the idea that the suicide bomb was meant for his office (while working on the means to uncover spy cylons) while his mind continues to torment him in the form of Helfer is also a sub-thread that does tie into the overall arc. His visit to Starbuck was interesting to me as he seems attracted and captivated by her, while she is nice to him and all. But Helfer is always around so that isn't exactly easy going. Officers reacting quizzically to Gaius "talking to himself" cracked me up. But Helo in Caprica monitored by the cylons as a Sharon duplicate is sent to manipulate him for their own purposes still leaves me a bit distanced. I need to see this fleshed out more before I personally invest in it. It does take us to the planet where human civilization once thrived before cylons executed them.

Chief Tyrol and Boomer have an love encounter covered by Tyrol's team and Sharon leaves one hatch open, giving access to the Galactica's arsenal. A copy of the Cylon Doral finds a breach in the security system of Galactica and blows up the bombs tied to his body, killing three humans and leaving thirteen wounded persons. Commander Adama decides to make public the information that Cylons now can resemble humans with the support of President Roslin, bringing mistrust, paranoid and panic to the survivors. Sergeant Hadrian is assigned to investigate the case and bring the suspects to an independent court. She finds inconsistencies in the testimony of Chief Tyrol and his crew about where he was during the bombing. Meanwhile on Caprica, Helo seeks out the other version of Boomer, playing like a puppet to the Cylons.

In "Litmus", the survivors are finally informed that the Cylons can mimic human form. The story is not bad, but the greatest problem with this series is the characters, most of them unpleasant and without any charisma like for example, President Roslin, Sergeant Hadrian, Dr. Gaius Baltar, Colonel Saul Tigh and others. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Tribunal" ("The Tribunal")