Spoiler warning, fyi.
From a reader:
Bah. You’re right. The episode was terrible, but it could have been SO good.
Reworked a bit, it could have been the source of substantially more drama and a much less contrived debate. Remove Athena’s immunity to the disease, assume she didn’t contract it from the infected baseship, and fast-forward to the moment they discover the asphyxiated Cylons in the final act. A new option suddenly becomes available: infect Athena and shoot her on the spot.
Now, that’s a debate worth having. I can’t believe we actually wasted air time arguing Cylon “genocide.” That’s not where the crux of the argument should have been. It should have been placed directly on whether Athena should have been sacrificed for the humans’ greater good, despite her repeatedly demonstrated human loyalty.
Me: Yeah, also, if they’re so concerned about genocide, can’t the humans still hold this disease over the heads of the Cylons? They could tell them that if the Cylons ever come near humanity again, they’ll infect the whole cylon race with this disease. Then, at least if the Cylons keep coming they’ve asked for it.