217 - The Captains Hand

Summary
A stowaway in a cargo container arrives on Galactica seeking Doc Cottle. The stowaway is 17 year old Rya Kibby seeking to exercise her legal right to an abortion. This causes a major political and religious mess as the fleets pro-life Gemenon faction threatens Roslins political base when it demands she condemn the practice of abortion, declare it illegal and return the girl to her parents. Roslin does so, but only after granting the girls wish and giving her asylum. The fall out from this decision, based in part on the need for the human race to give birth in order to survive, creates a division in the fleet and leads Baltar to launch his own surprise bid for the presidency in the upcoming elections.
Meanwhile, while undergoing training exercises in a region of space that causes communications problems, a pair of Pegasus Raptors respond to a garbled distress signal and promptly vanish. Recently promoted to CO of the Pegasus, Commander Barry Garner struggles with the differences between commanding a BattleStar and running the engine room. Adding to the tension is the battle of wills between the "by the book" Gardner and the "seat of the pants" Starbuck. This battle is only made worse by the arrival of Lee Adama, with the fresh rank of Major. As the strain of command begins to be too much for Garner, his desire to save his missing people causes him to disregard the advice of Apollo and Starbuck, as well as disregard the orders of Admiral Adama. Jumping the Pegasus to the suspected location of the missing Raptors, he finds them, their crews murdered. Before the crew can react, 3 Cylon BaseStars jump in and proceed to disable the Pegasus's jump engines. Unable to handle the strain, Garner relinquishes the bridge to Apollo and heads to the engine room to try and save the ship. Between Garners heroic sacrifice that brings the ship back online, and Apollos keen tactical sense, the Pegasus is saved and rejoins the fleet. Afterwards, Admiral Adama promotes Lee to Commander of the Pegasus.

Review
Overall, a nice tight episode with two story arcs that didn't detract from the other. The question of abortion rights considering the situation in the fleet brings some serious social questions to the front. At what point does the right of the individual overrule the rights of the species to survive? Roslin's forced to choose between her own beliefs and the human races need to reproduce and replenish it's numbers. A hard decision is made, with no one coming out unscathed.
The Pegasus arc was excellently done as well. Starbuck's heat with Garner was definitely a clash of styles, with Starbuck facing the double challenge of being the outsider. Apollo faces the same problem when he attempts to relieve Garner of command when the later disobeys orders and puts the ship at risk. Thankfully for the crew, the marine guarding Apollo allows him to return to the bridge where Garner was obviously losing his control of the situation. Lee's promotion at the end was an unexpected touch. While I understand the intent, I think it might have been a bit premature as Lee's presence on the Pegasus bridge during the situation was less than a commanding one. It will be interesting to see where this goes since it's been demonstrated that the way you get demoted from command of the Pegasus is to die.


Unanswered Questions:
What will become of Lee's new budding relationship with Dualla?
How will the crew of Pegasus react to the promotion of Lee to command?
How will Col. Tigh respond?