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‘A fair few problems.’ I could agree with that.
Right, my computer go asplode last week, so I’ll be unloading two weeks’ worth of my bullshit Galactica ramblings at once. Sorry, everyone.
Okay, so, last week. The One With Lucy Lawless. Gosh, it was a bit meta, that twist, wasn’t it? Documentary-style montage of heroic, rousing, militaristic etc bullshit, intercut with everyone on Galactica watching it, all welling up and wibbly-chinned and yay us. The theme from the original series is to signify to us that they're being fictionalised/cast in a story? Why not, because then: cut straight to a viewing screen on Caprica with the Cylons watching it like producers watching the rushes. Not only have the Cylons effectively helped put the fleet back together, they’ve given the human race’s self-image a tweak in order to achieve it. I mean, wow.
So. The whole ‘rag-tag fleet struggling against massive odds’ narrative is being created around the human race? Oh, maybe I am just reaching, but I’m going with this reading because I like it so much. It just seems so, like, timely.
Arghhh, problems with this episode - well, surely there’s the total wtf-ness of any civilian being allowed to step onboard Galactica, and being given unlimited access to the entire ship, without first going through the Baltar Test or even being accompanied by a minder. It’s very strange that the whole ‘Cylons can look like anyone!’ theme, with all the society-crippling paranoia that could involve, has now been pretty much dropped to give more room to the ‘Cylons can look like Boomer!’ theme. I’d like there to be an ingenious plot reason for this (Adama knows Lucy Lawless is a Cylon! He’s playing a cunning double-bluff/rolling a hard six!), but dammit, you just know it’s a bit of a blunder by the writers.
Then, yeah, there’s the ‘Cylon raiders as signal relay’ thing. Which I like, because it would mean there totally *is* some kind of Cylon force which is close enough to be contacted by Cylons throughout the fleet, ie they know *exactly* where the human race is at all times/ties in with my entire theory. So, relaying the hospital footage of Boomer, I get. But then, how do the Cylons manage to get a copy of the entire film back to Caprica? The news that it was broadcast across the fleet, fine. But the entire film, when two raiders are necessary to relay a short burst of footage? Hrmm.
...Er, rather like sleaze said, in fact. It seems to kinda trip over itself, that bit.
And then, this week: wow, what a weird episode. A good weird, mostly. Really like the whole letting-go-of-old-life to engaging-with-new-life thing, with the journey to Earth being more about the mental/social adjustment than yer actual physical journey; not so keen that that transition is then represented by the A Team-style building of a rather rubbish-looking spaceship. But, yay, because we’re back to the frazzled nerves and, er, sparky sexual tension, ie the whole shit! our entire species is on the brink of destruction! We should fuck but we haven’t got time! dude! vibe of the first few episodes of Season 1. Yay. And, given all the frustration in this episode - they're all talking about sex or casting meaningful glances, but no-one's getting any - I’m not so sure that the scene at the end of the episode, with all the jocks and pilots and alpha-girls discharging their weapons into a load of helpless Cylons, was supposed to look like such a normal and well-balanced and appealingly human response to the situation. More like: Nerve-busting tension is established among all the pilots; opportunity for release is, like, duly presented by the Cylons.
...I’m reaching again, I know. I’m just saying. But we already know they have *no* intention of destroying the child, that the child is part of the greater Cylon plan - whatever Boomer says about that - and that this ‘omg the Cylons have found us/caught up with us!’ thing is surely bunkum when the Cylons in the fleet are able to summon up a couple of raiders to run errands.
There were certanly more problems this week, though. Like, how long did that entire spaceship take to build, from start to finish? I can accept a bit of a gap after the Cylon ships are destroyed, but at the start of the episode we hear how Laura’s got ‘weeks, a month at the most’ to live. So, they designed and built a new ship in less than a month. Hrm. Okay.
Also: wot no Six this episode? No Six-style advice for Baltar as he helps with Galactica’s Cylon-related computer problems? Nothing at all? I can’t remember ever even seeing a Sixless Baltar before, let alone when he’s offering advice on something vitally important like this. Doubly weird when the one other on-board Cylon that we know about is fully involved. Bit of a glaring omission though, so mmmmmaybe we’ll be revisiting these scenes at some future point and find out what was happening in his head when he was turning away and sweating and looking worried every time we cut to him.
And again, re: final shot, I’m left wondering what the status of Baltar’s Cylon detector actually is. IIRC, he says he missed detecting Boomer, but got around that by claiming he had only used an early version of the test on her - so, is there now a version of the test that is believed to work, or have they dropped the project completely? Is there no programme of testing on Galactica, if only for key personnel?
And season-ending cliffhanger next week, you say? So soon? I wonder what the big cliffhanger will be.. |
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