Review: The Woman King
Written by Michael Angeli

When're we gonna get to Gaius' trial? Geez.

Of all the misleading episode promos, the one for The Woman King takes the cake as one of the worst. Literally 90% of all trial related content was shown in the promo. Suffice it to say, I was more than a little surprised when the episode turned into a Helo murder-mystery instead.

In episode 3.14, The Woman King, a group of displaced Sagittarons are brought aboard the Galactica. Placed in command of their care, Helo (Tahmoh Penikett) grows suspicious of an anti-Sagitte civilian doctor who may be killing his patients. Alone against the world, Helo is forced to fight for truth, justice, and the Caprican way.

Expecting the start of Gaius Baltar's expectedly turbulent trial, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed when the episode turned into a Helo one-off piece. But that said, by the end of it, I did warm up to plot.

Helo has turned into the black sheep character of the Galactica. After getting rescued from his major plotline on Cylon-occupied Caprica, the character has wandered through a bevy of different roles. He's been it all from raptor pilot to Cylon lover and even XO of the Galactica. But now it seems he's become the show's conscience. Which is all well and good, I suppose...considering Apollo--Galactica's previous moral compass--has been sullied by hookers, infidelity, and a deathwish.

Oh, and good gods, who would have thought that Tigh could become even more of a bad-ass? His racism against the Sagittarons aside, the man knows how to take a punch. And admitting he was wrong for doubting Helo took more character than most people could dream to have.

Although it was nothing like I expected, this contemporary look at racism in space was certainly better than I thought it would be. It was nice to see Tahmoh take a leading role in an episode again, and, above all, I was glad to see the Starbuck/Apollo love-triangle kept to a background bare minimum.

Rating: 7.5 / 10

The only thing tougher than a Cylon is Colonel Tigh's jaw.

~Khyron, 2007