Battlestar Galactica & Caprica Reviews

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BSG TOS 1978 - Season 1 - Episode 17

BSG TOS 1978 - 1x17 - The Man with Nine Lives - Originally Aired: 1979-1-28

My Rating - 4

Fan Rating Average - 4.68

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Synopsis
Film legend Fred Astaire plays Chameleon, a con-artist on the run from a group of humorless nomads, the Borillian Nomen. He masquerades as Starbuck's long-lost father, and may indeed be. [DVD]

Problems
None

Factoids
- Starbuck, an orphan, has no idea how old he is.

Remarkable Scenes
- Starbuck on "TV" talking about his history.
- The revelation that Demitri really is Starbuck's father.

My Review
An interesting look at civilian life in the fleet, and the Nomen were also a nice idea, but the episode seems to drag. We do get one nice tidbit in that this con artist really does turn out to be Starbuck's father, so the episode isn't a complete waste of time; I thought it was kind of nice that in the end Demitri decided it was best not to tell Starbuck the truth fearing Starbuck really will give up on the military to play catch up with the old man.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From hugo on 2011-09-09 at 1:53pm:
    I loved the Nomen - I hope we get to see more of them, and that we get some more nuances glimpses of their culture. The BSG response to TNG-era Klingons. Otherwise - mostly bottle episode, but with some new interesting settings - such as the passenger shuttle and the nightclub/casino.

    Too bad that Sheba got to play stupid again - I would love to see her take more command.

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