When I first heard that one of the upcoming shows during BSG’s third season would involve the crew fighting each other in a boxing match on board the Galactica, I couldn’t help but groan in disgust. It sounded as if we were about to see BSG’s version of Spock’s Brain, the extremely silly, so-bad-it’s-just-plain-corny episode of Classic Star Trek. But once I finally saw Unfinished Business, the episode with the boxing, I was completely blown away at how so well-done and mature this was, that it quickly became one of my all-time favorite BSG episodes. Unfinished Business sneaks up on you, lulling you into thinking that it’s just a "filler" episode at first--but then you realize that it’s just as much of a heavy hitter as some of the boxers who spar in the ring.
As Adama explains to Roslin in the episode, the boxing matches are a tradition aboard warships. There’s normally a great deal of tension building up in-between the crew on any given day, with petty arguments running the risk of becoming full blown feuds. The boxing match--or "the dance," as it’s officially called--serve as a way to release the tension and safely blow off steam between the fighters, as well as for most of the people watching the fights. There’s no rank in the ring, and anybody is fair game, as long as they put their dog tags in the box, indicating that they wish to fight. But Unfinished Business pushes things even further by having the boxing match dig up some long buried feelings between several of the BSG characters, revealing some pretty remarkable drama in a riveting and compelling way.
Flashbacks to the New Caprica settlement, before the Cylons landed, show a myriad of conflicting emotions between Lee, Kara, and Dee. And there’s even a surprising build up of tensions between Adama and Tyrol, when the chief requests that he and Cally leave the Galactica to settle planet-side. This is also brought to a head during an engaging battle when Adama not only calls Tyrol out to fight, but also steps up as the true leader that he is. However, the climatic fight between Apollo and Starbuck, along with the revelations of what actually happened between them back on New Caprica, are really what makes Unfinished Business such a marvelous episode. There’s an extended cut of the episode available on the DVD, which offers some great new scenes that show Tigh battling back from his depression in the present day, as well as an explanation as to the thaw in the tensions between him and Starbuck. But regardless of what version of Unfinished Business you watch, it’s still a vastly satisfying episode.