The only president worth celebrating is Laura Roslin

After last week's afterschool special on racism and mutant mischaracterization (and lazy writing), Battlestar Galactica showed a return to form last night. Not a classic episode by any means, but I think it sits well with me given the lowered expectations I had coming off a truly horrible outing plus the soul crushing promise of an hour with Cally and Chief trapped in an airlock.

Fortunately, we didn't spend the entire time with the increasingly annoying Cally. Look, I think Nicki Clyne is cute as a button. And I actually liked Cally in her earlier incarnations as a grease smudged deckhand who joined the fleet to pay for dental school ("I want to be a dentist!"). She was even spunky when she chewed off an ear during an attempted rape, and played Jack Ruby on Boomer 1.0. But for the past year or so she's grown unbelievably whiny and hectoring, and completely oblivious to the peril the fleet faces each and every day, to the point that I can barely distinguish between her dialogue and the mewling infant she usually has around her. Would I have been unhappy if Raptor crew pulled a Bill Buckner and let her just slide off into space? Er, no. Then one day Mookie Wilson and Athena could have shown up at card shows together on New New Caprica.

And I've read conflicting reports on this. The facts generally support the theory that you can survive without a suit in space for a matter of seconds and survive. What's not clear, however, is what happens with the lungs. I was under the impression that you had to exhale and void the lungs of oxygen in such a scenario to avoid complications from the depressurization. Yet other sci-fi shows make it clear that you "hold" your breath or use an oxygen tank. (2001: A Space Odyssey started the original debate). Perhaps I'll check out the Georgia Tech football message boards to get a definitive answer.

Despite the fact that Cally lives to whine another day, the SFX for the rescue attempt were top notch. And though I missed Gaius and the Cylons (get on with the frakkin' trial already!), there were other interesting points:

OBE = Overcome By Events. I instantly thought of another term, FUBAR, and then chief used that about 20 minutes later. Funny.

Mary McDonnell and EJO just rocked the "flirty" scenes with President Roslin and Adama. Clyne's acting seems even more junior high production of "Our Town" when compared to these two heavyweights doing a lot with a little.

Mrs. Adama was played by Lucinda Jenney. Whodat? Recently, she was the small town sheriff on one of the Keppler episodes of CSI, and the mom of the kid who snuck the cocaine into the country on day 3 of 24.

It's interesting that Roslin still holds Lee in such high esteem. Originally, he was the stick up the ass, by the book paragon of virtue. Evidently, Roslin didn't watch "Black Market" or troll the BSG boards to read what people think of the "quadrangle of love."

Maybe it's just me, but if I was working in an airlock and there was the possibility of a leak, I'd pull a Barney Stinson and just "suit up" anyway.

Skiffy's commercials for Fire Serpent. From the mind of The Shat -- starring Xander and Chakotay? So bad it's good, or so bad it's really bad?

As Joss Whedon is to dads, Ronald D Moore appears to be to moms.

Overall, a return to sure footing and a solid B.