
"Seriously, does anyone else smell earth?"Photo: Courtesy of Sci Fi
There are flashier, more compelling characters on
Battlestar, but deep down, the one we most admire is Helo. Noble, loyal, and levelheaded no matter the latest emotional ringer he’s being put though, he’s a good guy who’d make a great leader, except he doesn’t have the ego for it — which, of course, only makes him more appealing.
His steely calm was put to the test in “The Road Less Traveled,” trapped as he was between the increasingly kooky Starbuck and his concerned Demetrius crewmates who wanted to remove her from command. This season has been pitched a little too high emotionally, so it was a relief to watch Tahmoh Penikett (who plays Helo) deliver another terrifically modulated performance, balancing Starbuck’s nuttiness, the crew’s paranoia, and his own doubts about the wisdom of their wild-goose chase to find Earth. The episode was all about how people manage to maintain their basic decency in impossible situations, so who better to shine than the quietly heroic Helo?