Cast
James Callis as Dr. Gaius Baltar
Edward James Olmos as Admiral Adama
Mary McDonnell as Laura Roslin
Katee Sackhoff as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
Jamie Bamber as Lee "Apollo" Adama
Michael Hogan as Col. Tigh
Tricia Helfer as Number 6
Grace Park as Sharon "Athena" Agathon/Boomer
Tahmoh Penikett as Helo
Aaron Douglas as Galen Tyrol
Kandyse McClure as Anastasia "Dee" Dualla
Alessandro Juliani as Felix Gaeta
Synopsis
Adama and Roslin turn their attention to interrogating Baltar, while Apollo, Starbuck, Dualla and Anders deal with their collapsing marriages.
High Points
- Roslin's first attempt at interrogating Baltar
- Baltar's incoherent ranting about guilt and betrayal
Low Points
- The Starbuck/Anders/Apollo/Dualla love square had to be resolved at some point, but it felt a bit distracting and dull set against all the excitement of Baltar
The Scores
Originality: To be honest there isn't anything particularly original here. It's interrogation drama and romantic reconciliation done very well, but in ways we've all seen or read about. Four out of six.
Effects: There aren't many effects in this episode, barely even any space shots, so it's hard to rate them particularly highly. What we do get is good, of course. Four out of six.
Story: It felt in many places like the romantic second plotline was just a distraction from the main event with Baltar, Roslin and Adama. It was important, but Baltar was simply too compelling to leave much interest for Starbuck's various inequities. Four out of six.
Acting: James Callis had a hard role this week but handles it very well. Mary McDonnell, though, was particularly superb in her shouting and ranting during Baltar's interrogation. Unfortunately I didn't feel that we were treated to similar quality from Jamie Bamber's Apollo. Five out of six though, because Callis and McDonnell were so good.
Production: The new bar set is superb, and the editing during Baltar's scenes was particularly effective. Five out of six.
Emotional response: It's a shame about the emotional downtime between Baltar scenes, but the rest of the episode is a pile of emotional tension. Even the romantic subplot resolves to an emotional response at the end, so perhaps it's not a complete loss. Five out of six.
Overall: This would have been superb if the juxtaposition of the two plots wasn't so jarring. Unfortunately both had to happen at the same point in story-time due to previous events, but perhaps the episode structure could have eased that a little somehow. As such, four out of six.
And so Taking A Break From All Your Worries gets a grand total of thirty-one out of forty-two.
