Unspeakable technology gremlins mean I haven’t actually seen this episode yet, so I can’t write a review. However, we’re sure you’re all eager to discuss it, so here’s the place to let your feelings known. A review will be forthcoming just as soon as the gremlins have been suitably dealt with.
Deconstruction
One thing that’s not being said this season is "So say we all". Every plot point so far is about isolating every single character, human and Cylon alike, into their own little miserable little cocoon. It’s depressing, even for Galactica.
This had better be a "darkest before the dawn" setup when suddenly, the stirring rays of the Sun as it shines through the thin skin of Earth’s atmosphere brings tears of joy and jubilation to those in the fleet as they enter orbit of their lovely new home… oh, wait. This is Galactica.
See you on our side of the screen next week.
Re: Deconstruction
True, it proabably ends with the Galactica destroying the Earth. But I hope against hope that the "rays of light" you talk about manifest themselves out of Starbuck’s character arc. It does feel like it could go that way, but then again the show’s never really done that before.
That said, I really liked the handling of Cally’s story this week, it was haunting….
Re: Deconstruction
The final shot of Cally’s frozen face was very haunting.
I think if just a few of the colonists manage to survive we’ll have enough light for this show.
Something we haven’t done in here yet. It’s still premature, but just going on gut feelings, who among the main characters does everyone think is likely to survive the end of the series?
I’d wager the survivors will include Lee and Dualla. Anders and Helo might make it, along with Athena and a Six or two. I see everyone else either killed in the line of duty (Saul, Adama, Tyrol, Gaeta), offed as a matter of final justice (Baltar, Tori, Caprica Six, most of the Cylons), or casualties that move the story along (Starbuck, Laura.)
-Joe
Re: Deconstruction
My vote is that Starbuck lives…. As for everyone else…I’m not so sure.
Re: Deconstruction
It looks like the writers are breaking down old alliances, associations, and assumptions and creating new ones. The characters are being pushed to their limits so we can see their true mettle.
-Joe
Re: Deconstruction
One thing that bugs me is that the backstories of the "four" are unraveling. The Cheif’s story is completely destroyed as of this point. Sure his story going forward will be interesting, but everything that’s happened to him so far has been washed away with this episode.
I can imagine myself watching this series back on DVD someday (depending on how it ends) and I just know that my reaction to Tigh and the Chief’s back stories will be "meh, who cares."
Ouch
This wasn’t an easy episode to watch. A lot of stuff I really didn’t like happened.
Did anyone else think that Cali’s descent into madness was a bit.. forced? I mean, were there ANY previous indications of it at all?
I was always hoping the Fleet Cylons would somehoe help unite people rather than kill them. Cheaf is going to be pretty damn mad.
Oh and so much for the Cylon Civil War…
Re: Ouch
I think this is their way of letting the actress off the hook so she can be free to go work on other projects.
Re: Ouch
Which is surprising considering that they’re on the last season. It’d better be a good project :)
Re: Ouch
Well, she was an little used secondary character, having to be on call means she gets very little work on the show and has to say no to anything good that comes along (leading roles, etc), so since the BSG people are good folk they’ll kill off a character if it benefits the actor/story.
And that was good drama, you gotta admit. So I approve, whatever their motives.
Re: Ouch
I just have to say that the president’s assistant creeped me out. Can we assume that she’s taken the baby somewhere?
Re: Ouch
I’d assume she gave it back to the parent and everyone just thinks Cali just offed herself. After all, she was going to do that anyway.
Re: Ouch
Oh, I think the Cylon Civil War is far from over.
Also, I hope that when Galactica meets up again with the lobotomized raiders, it’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel. There has to be a loss in capability in making your fighters less capable of thinking.
Re: Ouch
My question: was the former aid always this Machiavellian, and she’s eliminating a threat who is also potential competition, or are we seeing some hidden Cylon side of her?
Re: Ouch
My vote goes for the Cylon programming kicking in.
Chief Tyrol didn’t exhibit the Cylon super-strength when he was in the ring back in the boxing episode, yet that backhand set Cally half way down the bay. The only consistent explanation for that I can think off is that the Cylon programming must be active for the additional abilities to work. My current theory is that the Human-Cylons are not just Hybrids, but two separate organisms fused together; a human body over a Cylon chassis that can take control when required but is otherwise dormant and undetectable.
Re: Ouch
Until the backhand, I was in the "they’re just brainwashed" camp. But there’s no way a human could do that. Now, we are certain that at least Tori is a Cylon (or on some serious steroids).
Re: Ouch
Actually, a human could. People are incredibly strong, but they only use 1/4 to 1/3 of their muscle fibers at a time. Given the right chemical trigger, a person can use all of their strength at once. I can see her being able to deliver that kind of blow, but I also think that if she pulled it off, she’d break a few bones in her own arm doing it. I didn’t see her hurting any, so I’ll sit myself in the "Cylon" camp. :)
Re: Ouch
I get the distinct feeling that Tori is just using being a Cylon as an excuse to be evil. A sociopath is a sociopath. I’d bet at least one of the five (Saul) is true to their better human nature all the way through this. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Tori is the only one who turns murderous, even though she looks to be trying to sway others to her ways in the coming episode.
I am waiting for a Tori versus Caprica Six catfight.
>:)
-Joe
Re: Ouch
That is, if that 6 survived the Cylon inter-Model hostilities, I’m sure they’res heavy raiders to rely on in a case like that, but it looked like she’s dead for good, except in Baltars’ head.
Re: Ouch
Isn’t Caprica Six in Galactica’s brig?
-Joe
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Oh right. I’m getting my Cylons confused. It’s been so long ;-(
Re: Ouch
She did seem to relish being evil. Since she’s fallen in with Baltar, perhaps he’s changed her way of thinking (What if Baltar’s God is really the devil?). Or, perhaps she just has a Baltar in her head now, too.
Saul is so stubborn and duty-bound, you may be right. He’d defy his Cylon self to the bitter end.
Re: Ouch
Agreed.
I was thinking of the same diversionary tactics used in Razor. The rebel ships jump in to spring the trap, in the meantime the bad guys’ resurrection ship is six jumps away, and much less protected.
A few nukes and a few hundred non-lobotomized raiders later, we have one less rogue eight, and significantly fewer Cavells and Dorals to attend the next Cylon party.
Or this could be a counter-ploy to unbox the threes on the resurrection ship.
Either way, there’s no fat lady singing sad Cylon songs yet. :)
-Joe
Re: Ouch
Madness? I think that’s a little strong. You’ve got a new mom being kept awake by a crying baby and by a not-unreasonable suspicion that her husband is having an affair…therefore not sleeping. Up until she find out her husband’s a Cylon, I don’t think anything she did went beyond normal stress response; after that, well, I can see how most anyone could go for a murder/suicide.
BTW, I now want to punch Ron Moore in the face for what he’s done to a character I really liked. I wanted to do the same thing to JMS several times during the run of Bayblon 5, so I mean that in a good way. :-)
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Lemme guess, Marcus and Talia Winters??? ;-)
Oh, and back on topic. I don’t think its much of a stretch for the person who shot Boomer to go nuts when she finds out
that her husband and baby are Cylons.
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Poor Susan when she breaks after Marcus’ death. That is one of the most heart-wrenching scenes I have ever seen on television. :(((
It STILL makes me very sad.
And the flip of Talia from sweet to evil bitch. AUGH! Again, poor Susan. :(((
-Joe
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She said it herself: she married a man that nearly broke her jaw.
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Clearly, Tori seemed to be enjoying the moment, but I think maybe part of what got her going after Cally was a very strong sense of self-preservation. She couldn’t let their secret out, no matter what.
It follows a thought I had after these 4 were revealed: why is it that 3 of them were the leaders of the Resistance on New Caprica, going against the known Cylons? Again, strong sense of self-preservation, I think.
Of course, the other character on the show with such a strong sense of self-preservation is Baltar, and we haven’t had a good "Baltar is a Cylon" discussion in a while. =)
-cb
weapons locker
The weapons locker was a nice homage (and ironic, given that I don’t ever recall seeing [and GR would probably never have] a weapons locker on TNG’s Enterprise).
weapons locker 1701D
I have a vague memory of people going for the large rifle phasers in a locker…
Re: weapons locker 1701D
I know it happened in at least one of the movies, but I’m having a hard time recalling an episode where they used heavy weapons. Memory Alpha says that Type 3 phasers were seen in DS9 and Voyager, but not TNG.
Re: weapons locker 1701D
IIRC, we did see one in "The Mind’s Eye".
Re: weapons locker 1701D
Episode: 02.01.88 "11001001" #116 41365.9
The Bynars take control of Enterprise.
Picard and Riker enter the weapons locker, after Picard uses his voice ID.
P: This way
R: That’s toward Engineering?
P: Yes, Verify containment and set the auto-destruct.
Re: weapons locker 1701D
Never underestimate the recollective powers of geeks in large groups. ;)
I hope they clear up the loose ends.
There better be an investigation into Cally’s death. There is a lot of evidence that would be hard NOT to trace back to Tory. The baby, the fingerprints, heck why aren’t there security cameras on Galactica around the hatches? You don’t need networked computer systems for that. I dunno, I’m sure either they’ll ignore it or I won’t find the explanation believable. One thing is for sure, Tory won’t get in any real trouble. I loved BSG, I’m just having trouble with the believability lately. It’s delving into the land of soap opera multiple crippling acute amnesia cases and irrational character choices. Really, if you think about it they do use amnesia kind of a lot between Starbuck and the cylons… and probably other things I’m forgetting. :)
Fresh-from-the-grill Cylons, etc.
I’m pretty sure I remember an episode back in Season 1 or 2, when Baltar first completed his Cylon-detection device – remember that thing? (It was supposed to show green when someone was a Cylon.) He tested himself and sure enough, green came up; but he was positioned so that only he (and the camera, of course) could see the result. He turned and said, "It’s negative. I’m not a Cylon." (Or words to that effect.)
Granted, it’s been confusing since then because we’ve seen dozens of story line branches wherein Baltar was still apparently a clear member of the human race. Not the least of those instances was his imprisonment onboard a Cylon ship. Evidently the intent is to keep us guessing until the very end.
I think the show will likely end with BSG finding Earth, but Earth will still be in a prehistoric period – perhaps with homo sapiens only beginning to make an appearance. I hope we get to glimpse whatever that kind of end would be like.
Clues? Another board’s view
I must admit, I missed Orion.
Re: Clues? Another board’s view
Wow. So did I. Layer upon layer here. If I had to guess, I’d say Starbuck is painting the SOL as it destroys Cylon base stars. Which would mean…Galactica settles Earth and lives happily ever after due to "divine" intervention??