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Rating: -
Apollo and Starbuck are playing a game of triad against two fellow warriors, one of whom is called Ortega. It is similar to hockey, where the players are heavily padded and body checking is an integral part of the game. It gets extremely rough, with Ortega taunting Starbuck and blocking him after the play is over. Starbuck retaliates, starting a fight that leads to both of them being kicked out of the game. The tension continues, with a shouting match taking place between the two in the hall.
Starbuck gets cleaned up in a hurry in order to meet with Cassiopea and is seen running away from the showers. Later, Ortega is found murdered and it is determined that Starbuck's laser pistol was the murder weapon. Starbuck is charged with the crime and placed in the brig. Brock Peters guest stars as the chief "opposer" and is rigorous in his prosecution. Apollo volunteers to defend Starbuck with the assistance of Boomer. At first they have difficulty finding any evidence to support Starbuck's claim of innocence, but at the last minute they cook up a scheme to manipulate Baltar to aid them. They suspect that the culprit is Karybdis, Baltar's former pilot and the one who sabotaged the defense computers the night the Cylons attacked. In order to save his own life, Baltar assists Apollo in capturing Kraybdis.
I consider this to be one of the better episodes of the series. Brock Peters does a good job in playing a prosecutor and Dirk Benedict is credible in losing the arrogance that Starbuck usually projects. It also helps explain some of the incongruity of the ease of the success of the Cylon attack. If the colonies had been in a very long war against the Cylons, then the major planets would certainly have much better stationary defenses than were demonstrated earlier in pilot to the series.
Rating: -
Only memorable for its ordinariness. Yet again our hero has been accused of a crime he didn't committ. Fine for a one-hour drama set on Earth, but out in space anything can happen. Anything. Wish the writers had explored their imaginations a little more for this one.
Rating: -
The less said about this one, the better. How many times have we seen one of the main characters accused of a crime he didn't commit? They're out in space, they can meet anything, anyone, that the writers can come up with....and they do a story like this.
Rating: -
Murder On The Rising Star is a standard murder msytery - Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) is seen in near-constant fights with a bullying rival, Ortega (Frank Ashmore), who is later found shot to death with Starbuck's gun; Starbuck is thus arrested and put on trial.
The basic plot is pretty standard, but the episode adds a good twist; the actual killer is a man who turns out to have played a major role in the Final Destruction, and who is hiding in the Fleet under an alias. Apollo (Richard Hatch) and Boomer (Herb Jefferson Jr.) must enlist the aid of Baltar (John Colicos) to help flush out the true killer.
The entire cast gets put through the emotional wringer thanks to Rod Holcomb's excellent direction. Starbuck all but falls apart in the arms of Cassiopeia (Laurette Spang), and later threatens to shoot Apollo in a mad attempt to flee into space in a viper.
Such excellence in acting and direction infuse a standard plot with good new energy, and make for an entertaining episode.
Rating: -
That's probably the best way to sum this one up. It's very well done for a murder mystery, but Battlestar Galactica had much more potential story premises than this. There's nothing bad about it, but nothing great either.
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