User Reviews

Helo has been put in charge of the refugees living on Galactica; they are suffering from over crowding and an infection has broken out; to make matters worse most the Sagittarons refuse medical treatment for cultural reasons despite the fact that the disease is fatal. When one of them approaches Helo and claims that Doctor Robert has killed her son he is initially sceptical; after all they won't take the medicine, she insists that he had gone for treatment but the doctor said they came too late. Helo raises the possibility with the senior staff but they don't believe a word of it; especially Col Tigh who is an old friend of the doctors. Eventually Helo confronts Dr Cottle with evidence that the vast majority of Sagittarons treated by Dr Robert die but even then he is unconvinced. When Dee, herself a Sagittaron goes to see Dr Robert Helo rushes to her and finds her in a bad way leading to a confrontation that will see either him or the doctor arrested depending on who Dr Cottle believes. Away from the main plot Zarek is warning the president that giving Baltar a trial will lead to trouble in the fleet and Sharon tries to persuade the captive Six into testifying against Baltar.

This episode suffered from a common flaw amongst stand alone episodes; namely the fact that it deals with important situations and characters that have never been mentioned before and are unlikely to be mentioned again, another flaw is that Helo once again makes a contentious decision that once again turns out to be right; it would make his character a bit more interesting if he had to deal with the consequences of a bad decision for once. I still like the character and think Tahmoh Penikett does a good job in the role... I just wish he wasn't right all the time!

This was an exciting stand-alone episode. I usually find the stand-alone episodes quite disappointing (e.g. 'Scar' and 'Black Market') as they often force characters into uncharacteristic roles in order to drive an unnecessary plot. However, I felt that Helos attitude was consistent with his character and the newly-introduced characters were interesting. It was also a very good way to show us what the Sagittarons are like and how people perceive them. Unlike 'Scar' and 'Black Market', this episode really does add to the Battlestar 'Universe' and it develops some of the minor characters in substantial ways. It is not a throwaway episode but it's certainly not the best episode (it doesn't compare with the 'Pegasus' episodes from Season 2). It is well-acted, well-written and suspenseful.

Kinda weird with everyone seemingly ok with Sagittarians dying. Except for Helo who seems to be the most empathetic character in the show. He seems to be able to look at other people's situations and sympathize. A voice for the underdog.

Adama forgot that the buck stops with him. He completely ignored Helo's concern. Tigh is back to being a major a**hole. I was surprised at Cottle's attitude. He's generally a likable cranky character. But here he was right up there with Tigh.

The Sagittarians are religious nutbars. We have them today in our own very real-world society. As much as people may not be able to stand them, that doesn't mean they deserve to die. Helo gets it. It's odd no one else does, not even his own wife. She should have been just as empathetic as Helo, given her race.

Bonus, barely any Kara and Apollo in this episode. Apollo the most boring character on the show, and Kara, who is an idiot most of the time, and their domestic abusive relationship are a drain on the show. It was great having an episode focusing on other characters. That was refreshing to me, especially to get away from those two. Also, I find Helo has been overall one of the most likable characters on the human side. I like that guy. His centric episode was pretty good. 8/10

First of all, do not be fooled by the people giving this 1*. How can they claim this is the best show on television then give one of its episodes 1/10? Utter nonsense. This episode has a predictable yet still entertaining premise. Whilst we do not see much of Apollo or Starbuck in this episode, Helo does an excellent job of keeping things entertaining. Now this episode does step outside the main plot for approximately 42 minutes of your time, but its pivotal for character development. Adama realises once more he can trust Helo to make conscious decisions and being that he is an important pilot, this is essential to the fleet.

The episode is by no means stand out or jam packed with excitement, but it is a decent standalone story.

Battlestar Galactica is unquestionably the best show on television, and I look forward to new episodes with unreasonable anticipation. "The Woman King" is a shitty episode that does NOT continue with ANY meaningful BSG storyline, is embarrassingly poorly written, and just sucks. It's completely centered on Helo's crappy job and you never see Lee or Kara or ANY CYLON, while Roslin and Adama get one or two scenes each that both include cringe-inducing dialogue. Remember all that cool stuff that's been happening in previous weeks about the Cyclons and religion and Kara's destiny and Starbuck/Apollo's doomed marriages? None of that is even mentioned. Baltar is never seen, only mentioned.

Skip this one, if at all possible. If you've already seen it, try to forget that you did. This one's a stinker, a clunker, and whatever awful thing you can thing of. Incredibly disappointing.