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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Battlestar Galactica Season 2 for UK Sky People

  
  

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penitentvandal
07:55 / 19.01.06
Sorry to clog up the forum with discussion of only the best sci-fi TV show running at the moment (not that it has much competition), but, after coming across three spoilers in one post down below in the other thread - and I'm not complaining, it's my own fault - I was warned, and BG is that kind of show anyway - miss one episode and you wind up scratching your head all throughout the next (for example, I missed the Kobol/Starbuck decides to go to Caprica episode, so the next one I was like 'what?') - I decided it might be nice for those of us watching it on Sky - which has just got up to 2:2 - to discuss it.

Fuck me, that's the most unwieldy sentence I've ever written. The show is so good it makes me forget grammar.

So: thoughts? Not liking the new opening sequence. They've cut down the explanation of what the Cylons are, and added that cheesy 'looking for a home...called earth' bit, which makes me want to gack, frankly. They've also got rid of the cool bit where they would show you everything that happens in the episode condensed into thirty seconds with the mounting drumbeat, which I thought was ace. Nice to see, though, that they've kept the music. I always liked the idea that this show drew from a much wider musical palette than traditional sci-fi series (i.e. Star Trek, Stargate, and their orchestral scores). That main theme, in particular, showcases that mournful, refugee vibe the show has really well.

Plot-wise, it's interesting that Adama appeared in Baltar's dream, and the whole putting the child in the water has strong connotations - baptism, the Moses myth, etc. I did find myself wondering briefly - again - if Adama was a cylon, but I've kind of junked that theory on the grounds that - unless the humanoid cylons are totally like humans - it would presumably have been discovered during Adama's opeartion.

Also - is anyone else wondering what happened to the bodies on Caprica? Wondering if this isn't how the cylons get the organic material for their ships and the humanoid cylons...will we see some new models appearing this series? And if so, how does this undercut Number Six's speech about human sacrifice to Baltar on Kobol? If the cylons have to kill loads of people in order to power their tech, what makes them any different from the humans? This could be the series in which Six's mystical rhetoric is exposed as hollow and hypocritical - the cylon religion as just a justification for their activities. I'm not sure if I'd like that - one of the interesting things about this series has been the idea that the cylons may, just possibly, have some enlightened reason for what they've done, and if they were revealed as self-serving hypocrites, using their religion to cover up their own evil, we'd lose that - unless something similar happened with the humans and all that 'Lords of Kobol' guff...in which case we'd have the most depressing sci-fi series ever: both sides are revealed as morally bankrupt and the inevitable ending, in which an even more powerful race wipes them both out for the good of the universe, would be welcomed by the viewer as a suicide welcomes death...in some ways, though, it's a measure of the greatness of the series that even such an ending can still be considered possible.

Thoughts?
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
08:38 / 19.01.06
I don't agree about the drums/episode in thirty seconds bit - I'm glad they ditched it, 'cos it could often spoil an episode. In a minor way, but still.
 
First episode seemed very fractured; I guess they put so many cliff-hangers in the last episode of season 1, that was inevitable. I like the way that Tigh's past is being explored more now (especially as it involves Adama's dodgy 'tache ); it was interesting that Apollo admitted that he wasn't fit to wear the uniform, but then claimed that Tigh wasn't either. I initially thought Apollo would take Starbuck's place as Tigh's whipping boy...but if Apollo is as familiar with Tigh's past as was implied, perhaps not.
 
Starbuck and Helo on Caprica...hmmm. I'm sure Boomer's going to reappear there soon. Starbuck's old apartment was kinda what you'd expect, but her art was a bit surprising. Not something I'd have expected from her character.
 
 
sleazenation
09:46 / 19.01.06
I'd have to take exception over two things in the first post - best SF on at the moment? Dr Who.

The preditiction that BSG could be 'the most depressing SF ever' (which i take to mean the one with the most downbeat ending)? What about Planet of the Apes, both the original film and the rest of the cycle? What about Blake's Seven? The concept of the 'hero' was questioned throughout the series and it ends with Avon killing Blake - the remnants of the Federation (who have themselves been decimated in a war with a more advanced alien race) killing the rest of the crew and Avon captured (and presumably killed)...
 
 
sleazenation
09:54 / 19.01.06
BTW have you all been listening to the BSG podcasts from the write/exec producer - they are insightful and by turns annoying as RDM fills in all the blanks that are left by the cuts necessary to make the show fit its allocation running length...
 
 
Evil Scientist
10:37 / 19.01.06
Thank the Cylon God someone started this thread. Nice opening post velvetvandal, plenty to chew on.

Not liking the new opening sequence.

I'm undecided. I much preferred the first season's little tribute to Space:1999. But on the plus side it gives them a little more time for story. Only 30 seconds mind, but that's thirty seconds more cylon action.

if Adama was a cylon

I think they've established from autopsy of the gun-runner in the original tv movie/pilot that cylon infiltrators look human right down to the genetic level. Although they do have enhanced physical abilities. Baltar's cylon detector works by killing synthetic cylon cells with radiation.

Adama could still be a cylon, although I personally don't think so. My money's on the President's aide as a sleeper agent.

Also - is anyone else wondering what happened to the bodies on Caprica? Wondering if this isn't how the cylons get the organic material for their ships and the humanoid cylons...will we see some new models appearing this series? And if so, how does this undercut Number Six's speech about human sacrifice to Baltar on Kobol? If the cylons have to kill loads of people in order to power their tech, what makes them any different from the humans?

I doubt the cylons need humans to power their systems (or rather provide the organic components). Remember there was a decade or so of total silence from cylon space before the invasion of the colonies. Where were they getting their meat from then? Alright the occasional raid would have procurred them a little, but not enough to "grow" a base-star and it's attendant fighters surely?

If they do though, and I agree it's suspicious that all the bodies have vanished, then I don't think they would quite see it as a sacrifice unless it was cylon sacrifice. They're at war with the humans and had no problem nuking the planets in the first place.

Regarding what we've seen so far.

I'm loving the more action-packed second season. The centurions stamping around the Galactica's corridors on Tuesday's episode were a payoff I've been waiting to see. Nice to see that even the centurions aren't unemotional robots, stopping on their way to vent the battlestar's air to kill a few more humans personally rather than just killing everyone at once.

Tigh's continuing to be my favourite character. I liked his immediate knowledge of what the cylons were trying to do. Plus, he can't help but be a prick to everyone but Adama.

Nice moment of Starbuck and Helio sitting in her apartment in the chairs. The first moment they've had to relax since the start of the show.
 
 
penitentvandal
10:27 / 20.01.06
sleaze - fuck yes, forgot about the good Doctor, best hands down, that. Ending of the Chrimbo spesh totally reminded me of the Authority.

I agree it would be teh cheeze if Adama was the unknown Cylon sleeper (and we know there is one), and I like the idea that it's the President's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, just because he's such a non-threatening boy it would be great for him to just suddenly whip out a knife and stab the prez in the middle of a press conference...

...but...

I'm re-viewing the first series as well, and it occurs to me that Adama personally selects Starbuck to be on his ship, doesn't he? Just like he selects Tigh...As Tigh and Starbuck are, with the exception of Dr 'Mad-as-bugfuck' Baltar, possibly the most dysfunctional characters on the ship, isn't it possible he - if he were a cylon - picked them deliberately?

No, hang on, that's stupid.

You know, I hadn't thought about the fact that the basestars are probably organic as well until it was brought up. You would need a lot of material in order to grow one of those. But then there's a lot we don't know about their technology at this point. Maybe they colonised and destroyed some other race we'll encounter later (though the writers would need to be well careful about how they introduced that without buggering up the human/cylon dialectic - a 'lone survivor' would be good, but we don't want a whole bunch of new aliens bopping about). Or, maybe, the Cylon fleet that's been pursuing the Galactica is exactly that - the entire Cylon fleet. We assume, because we've seen they have a lot of ships, and quite a few copies of the humanoids, that they have loads more. But what if they don't? So far we've seen about, I think, fifteen humanoid cylons in total, if you count the amazing cavalcade of Boomers in 1:13. What if that's all there is? How many basestars have we ever actually seen at the same time - three? Maybe that's all they have? Maybe they've slowly, carefully, gathered enough genetic material to build a fleet big enough for the task (and they wouldn't need any special, organic tech besides the lovely Six in order to nuke Caprica anyway), and, now that they have a whole planets' worth of organic material to harvest, they're expanding. It seems possible that some elements of the cylon plan are either worked out on the fly or only used as they're brought on-line - it's interesting that we didn't see them use a breaching vessel until 2:1 - maybe they hadn't produced any before then?

That could all be bollocks, though, but I don't remember Caprica being surrounded by basestars, Vogon Destructor Fleet style, in the miniseries. I have to get that, though, because I might have that remembered wrong...
 
 
Evil Scientist
10:37 / 20.01.06
That could all be bollocks, though, but I don't remember Caprica being surrounded by basestars,

I seem to recall quite a few hanging in orbit in the final episode of Season 1 though, when Starbuck flies back to get the arrow she passes at least two near Caprica.

But you're right. At this point we have no real idea of cylon numbers and strength. Considering they used viruses to shutdown the Colonial Fleet, and that their raiders can jump, they could have easily taken the systems with only a small strike force.

That said, they didn't mind losing one so Galacti-Boomer could take her shot at Adama.

Side thought: Cylons are vulnerable to radiation (of the kind produced by a nuclear warhead if the cylon-detector actually works). Yet they're stamping around happily on a post-nuking Caprica. Guess they use different materials in their nukes.
 
 
penitentvandal
07:12 / 25.01.06
Maybe they just have lots of anti-radiation meds and you never see them take 'em... Sort of like you never see people going to the toilet (actually we have seen an episode of Bg where people go to the toilet, but ah, um...).

Fuck me, though, martial law! That's worrying. Even more worrying, Zerek is starting to seem like the last best hope of the situation, unless Adama wakes up.

I like the little signals, glances between people etc that show the crew know what the score is with Tigh and don't like it. It's very clear that he's not paying attention to everything that's going on and then overcompensating later (his two conversations with Appollo, for e.g.). I actually think the writers and the guy who plays Tigh have really got a damn good fix on creating and performing a character who is a total alcoholic, though: the way he seems totally lacking in confidence when sober, taking nips from his hip flask to boost himself up, then veering into total overconfidence when three sheets to the wind (witness his snidey 'see what's become of the president' remark).

On the subject of the Prez, what's with this prophecy thing, then? Is this something she's gotten into since the destruction of Caprica, or is it something she's always believed, even as an education minister (which she was before becoming President, yes? MUST WATCH MINISERIES)? It seemed to me there were two ways to read that: either that she's taken to reading these scrolls as comfort since the attack and has realised they might refer to her, or she's always had an obsession with the scrolls and her entire political career has been driven by the overwhelming religious conviction that she has this great prophetic destiny. Or she could just be exploiting the prohecies to try and build a new power base. Which would make it three ways. Either way, one of the things I like about this series is the way a scene like that is left open - it isn't 'Aha! She is teh prophet!' but 'she might be a prophet, or she might be this or even this! Excellent stuff.
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
08:16 / 25.01.06
vv - as far as I remember, she was always religious, but not to a huge extent. At one point, giving a press conference, she had a vision of a dozen snakes writihing on the microphones; worried, she spoke to a priestess (not sure what her actual title was) about it, and the priestess told the pres about the whole prophecy business - the leader is dying, and sees a dozen snakes, and whatnot. Because her circumstance matched the prophecy, the pres took up scroll-reading seriously, hence she now believes wholeheartedly, and managed to convince Starbuck to go look for the arrow.
 
As for last night's show... the action on Cobol was excellent - although I am pretty sure that there was more than just the one basestar there in the last episode - wasn't there one waiting when Galactica jumped back to figure out where the rest of the fleet had gone? And I agree about Tigh - his lines, his character, and the actor's portrayal are top notch, IMHO. I wonder how Adama's going to react to his declaration of martial law... Zerek seemed to be less of a trouble-maker last night - although perhaps he wasn't meant to be that bad to start off with. Hopefully, now that everything on Cobol is tidied up, there'll be more time to follow what's happening on Caprica.
 
 
Evil Scientist
10:33 / 25.01.06
I really enjoyed last night's episode. Loved that little moment between Tigh and the President's aide in the corridor.

"Why the hell aren't you in the brig?"

"Umm, because...no-one put me there." (Sort of realising that telling the fleet's commander that is a good way to end up there).

The action on Kobol was nicely handled. Farewell Crashdown, pity you had to go out acting (and looking a little) like Gorman from Aliens. Loved that "last stand" moment as Baltar and the Chief are seconds away from getting chopped to pieces and trying to destroy the dish. That cute little engineer gal is one of my favourite second-tier characters.

It strikes me that Baltar is a terrible liar, but as he's generally twitchy and unstable no-one realises he's lying. Bless his cotton socks.

First time I recall seeing a Raptor actually shoot anything.

Zerek seemed to be less of a trouble-maker last night

Maybe they're pulling a "G'kar" (B5 reference). Make a character out to be a badguy in the first season so his gradual transformation into white-hat is more gratifying.
 
 
Our Lady Has Left the Building
16:25 / 25.01.06
It's more likely that things are so unstable at the moment it's probably a safer course of action to keep his head down, after all, he and Tigh REALLY REALLY hate one another, from what I remember of s.1.
 
 
penitentvandal
20:35 / 25.01.06
Yeah - continuing my re-viewing of season one I've just seen the episode where the Prez gets told about the prophecy again. D'oh.

Zerek is keeping his head down for now, obviously, but you can see that he's just waiting for the right moment to strike. Hadn't made the G'Kar comparison before but yes, there is a similarity if that's where they're going with it.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
20:38 / 31.01.06
Wow, that was a good episode. Honestly, the first one since the new series began that's gripped me all the way through. Lots of things happening! Sneaky 24-style intrigue with lower-echelon characters doing lots of significant looks and knowing comments! Hilarious insights into Colonel Tigh's incredibly healthy relationship with his not at all manipulative or ballbusting wife! Adama - he's back and he doesn't give a toss that his "XO" on the sauce, it would seem! Historically resonant Jack Ruby reference at the end!

The only stumbling block was the discovery of the hidden survivalist community on Caprica... could lead to some well cheesy "we have to help these people" type dialogue... it would have been interesting to watch Helo and Starbuck wander around looking for a working Raptor for the rest of the season, getting more pissed off with and horny for one another. I did like the fact that the heroic woodlands commandos turned out to be an indifferent mid-league (in Starbuck's opinion) sports team... kind of reminded me of the Besaid Aurochs in Final Fantasy X. Is that very geeky or only quite geeky?
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
08:03 / 01.02.06
That's pretty geeky, Canty...but what's worse is I get the reference too...
 
Damn good episode last night. More Starbuck++. And it's great to see Bill back on his feet again, was almost dreading what sort of fuck-up Tigh would make next. I guess Adama's always known that Tigh had a drinking problem, but he didn't majorly fuck-up while Adama was around - it's only now, while Adama was incapacitated, that the shit's hit the fan. It'll be interesting to see how Adama and Tigh's relationship goes from here.
 
Another thing is - Tom Zerek, again. Has his view of the president changed much since he and the rest of the quorum visited her in the brig? Obviously, the prez still dislikes him a lot, but perhaps he'll gain her trust by helping her.
 
Also...what's going to happen on Caprica...? Are they going to just continue the guerilla tactics, or actively look for a vessel? And how long is it going to take for Starbuck to fall into bed with either Helo or the Bucaneers' leader?
 
 
Evil Scientist
09:36 / 01.02.06
Buccaneers = Wolverines (GO WOLVERINES!)

I was a little dispointed at the appearance of other Caprican survivors to be honest (even if it was only 51 or so). The empty cities and pristine forests of S1 were an eerie setting. But I guess that was enhanced by the fact that Helio was alone on a planet of Cylons intent on running him through mazes like a lab-rat.

Felt a bit sorry for poor old Tigh, he's just not cut out for the big seat and he knows it. Hopefully he'll remember to shave now Adama's back.

Liked Zarek helping out the Pres. In his natty resistance fighter leather jacket no less. More than likely he's only doing it in order to ensure his own position is secure, but then he is a politician.

Is it just me, or is there a bit of frisson between the Pres and Apollo? All the tension of the last few months'll come to the front in some cramped hiding place aboard a junk freighter and she'll ravage her little jet-boy.

...I really need to get out more.

I would presume that Caprica-Boomer is on her way to Galactica, given the mild spoiler on the rather cool Sky ad.
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
10:46 / 01.02.06
Pres/Apollo? Ugh, no thank you! Plus, it'd break Starbuck's poor little heart. I loved that bit in season 1 where she was shagging Baltar and cried out "Oh, Lee!" or something. Heh.
 
 
Evil Scientist
11:23 / 01.02.06
Plus, it'd break Starbuck's poor little heart

Well 'buck's off on Caprica for the forseeable future. She's getting all hot and sweaty with the Buccaneer's captain (Garr matey!). Apollo hasn't had any action at all yet (except some foot action from Mrs Tigh).

You watch, they'll be at it like rabbits by the end of the season.

...or, more likely, they won't.
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
12:23 / 01.02.06
Ellen Tigh will only shag someone if she thinks she can get something out of it. So I think Baltar and maybe Zerek are her most viable targets. Or maybe poor little Billy.
 
Plus, I don't think she'll end up with Cap'n Buccaneer so easy - unless Helo's Boomer shows up, I daresay he'll be after some 'buck for hisself...and, *sighs dreamily*, who could blame him...?
 
 
Evil Scientist
13:20 / 01.02.06
I was talking about the Pres and Apollo. But never mind.

It'll be interesting to see what Baltar's reaction to a preggers Boomer will be, considering his current situation with Six. Is he going to assume the kid is his to defend? Perhaps the kid actually is his (implanted into Boomer before she took the seduce-a-Helio mission)?
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
07:18 / 03.02.06
New ad for Galactica on Sky now - they've replaced Kamikaze by PJ Harvey with Shot by Both Sides by Magazine. Against all odds, there's someone at Sky with good taste making ads!
 
 
Evil Scientist
07:27 / 03.02.06
The only good thing about Voyager on Sky was the kick-ass trailers using most of the Pi soundtrack.
 
 
Mysterious Transfer Student
20:39 / 06.02.06
To the people on the US- or download-oriented threads our posts must look positively stone age. Don't let's let this thread sicken and die through an inferiority complex!

I predict, no, require that now Adama is back, things must get worse and worse. It's an insidious idea in my opinion (and one common to an awful lot of military- or institutionally-oriented SF, and one which I'd like other posters' help in unpicking) that all you need for things to go right, no matter how dire the situation, is for the right people to be in charge. No. A society of fewer than fifty thousand people, crammed into air-compressed and claustrophobic vessels in the profoundly unnatural environment of deep space, under siege from an inhuman enemy, suffering from the titanic trauma and shock of being the last of their race, undermined by rumour and espionage and resource shortages... there is no way that can go well, or even be managed adequately. We need to see more scenes like the sickeningly credible riot in last week's episode, with panicking and poorly-trained people trying to keep order and only making things worse. That's the element of the show that makes it really compelling for me: a vision of a micro-society on the brink of catastrophe.
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
07:24 / 08.02.06
Well, last night's episode was a surprise. The Pres seems a bit shaken by how seriously everyone's taking her whole prophet shtick. And I'm quite surprised by how quickly the whole Starbuck and Helo stuck on Caprica storyline has been resolved - the Cylon doctor (and how many models of human Cylon is that we've seen now?) was unconvincing (if Starbuck's in quarantine, why was he coming and going as he pleased without so much as a gauze mask?), so that pointed towards Starbuck getting out of there quickly, but I was a little surprised that Helo's Boomer showed up in a shuttle of some description. Are they going to trust her enough to bring her back to Galactica? Obviously, their first destination will be Cobol, to fulfill the President's prophecy...and also 'cos it's the fleet's last known location.
 
A nice counterpoint to the action on Caprica was Adama's reaction to Chief's Boomer - he knew and trusted her, and seems to think that the human cylons must have some sort of humanity in them. Helo's Boomer's talk of love and whatnot was also surprising, I felt. Obviously, number 6 spoke about love too, but that felt more like she was using the concept to fuck with Balthar's mind.
 
For now, I wonder how the pres is going to get on on Cobol. I doubt they have any military capabilities (I think Galactica was the only military vessel to survive the initial attack), and there may well be Cylons remaining there. Will Adama relent and join them? Will something magic happen when Starbuck arrives with the arrow? And is Starbuck going after the Arrow of Apollo really just a convoluted metaphor for her trying to get into Apollo's pants?
 
 
Evil Scientist
13:50 / 08.02.06
(and how many models of human Cylon is that we've seen now?)

The Doctor makes it five infiltrator models in total now.

1) The lovely Six.
2) The fella who gets spaced after interrogation by Starbuck.
3) The equally lovely (and occasionally naked) Boomer.
4) The fella who was abandoned at the end of the pilot, spends a lot of S1 chatting with Six on CoC.
5) The doc (who I'm sure I've seen in the background somewhere on the fleet.

(if Starbuck's in quarantine, why was he coming and going as he pleased without so much as a gauze mask?)

Speaking as someone with a little experience of barrier nursing, it's not normally necessary to wear a mask or anything as long as the nurse/doctor washes and changes their clothes before interacting with other patients.

That said, as soon as he said that Mr Dreamy Pyramid Captain was dead I knew it was a fake.

So now we have the reason that the Cylons aren't destroying the fleet (and they've had plenty of opportunities). Those evil space-monsters want our womenfolk!
 
 
Our Lady Has Left the Building
14:32 / 08.02.06
They want wombs!

It's a few weeks ago for me but ISTR while watching it with the commentary that Ron Moore said something along the lines of "We didn't expect or intend for the audience to think for a minute that Starbuck's really in the situation, as presented. Everyone will know the Doc is a Cylon, so it's more about what it reveals about Starbuck's character."
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
07:33 / 09.02.06
ISTR...? Wossat, then?
 
And, yeah...it probably is more interesting for us to know the *real* situation and see how Starbuck figures it out and reacts. The official site has some transcribed podcast/interview type bits and quite thorough summaries on it (obviously, they're well ahead of Sky's showing), which was very helpful, as I wasn't able to make out Simon and number 6's conversation in the hospital - they'd taken more a biopsy from Starbuck's ovary than actually yanked the whole thing out to bung in a test tube.
 
Oh, and velvetvandal - you happy to have the 30-second summay back?
 
 
penitentvandal
20:13 / 14.02.06
Oh, yes indeedy...

I was looking at the list of cylon infiltrator models there, quite a nice summary, though I call 'em...

1) Six
2) Head-fucky guy
3) Boomer
4) Corporate-lookin fellah
5) Doctor bloke

Interesting the girls are the only ones we have names for, isn't it? Not that six is much of a name...

Aren't there supposed to be something like seven cylon models? That means two left...one who presumably is the last sleeper in the fleet and one other. Mind you I'm probably wrong about that, there's probably like sixty gajillion models. Hell, the series will end like the Twilight Zone spoof on Futurama, with a guy going 'it turns out they're all Cylons!' in a flat, bland voice.

It's interesting the cylons are so interested in reproduction, though. It suggests they aren't as invincible as they seem (mind you, so does the fact they can now be taken out by fire extinguishers and shards of glass...by the end of the series I fully expect Adama to rid the galaxy of cylons by using Mallet's Mallet). Reproduction is only necessary as a way around the problem of biological death: reproducing allows the genetic code of the species to live beyond the death of its carrier. Does that mean the infiltrators have a finite lifespan? Will they age? If they're so like humans I can't see how they won't; perhaps, as Boomer's falling in love indicates, they made the infiltrators a little too human.

Oh, look! Adama's going to get the fellowship back together. So much for the Galactica/Rings analogy I was going to outline...

Alright. Briefly:

Caprica Boomer/Helo = Frodo/Sam (loving couple trapped in Mordor)

Zerek = Boromir (well-intentioned, but you know he'll betray them in the end)

Tighe = Denethor (you watch, he's had his taste of power, he'll want it back)

Lee = Aragorn (son of the rightful king, obviously)

Adama = Theoden (aging leader, tired of war)

Prez Roslyn = Gandalf (mystically inclined, only a few believe her)

Baltar = Smeagol (he wants to be good...)

Six in Baltar's head = Gollum (...but she won't let him)

And...er...that's it.
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
07:27 / 15.02.06
I dunno, I'd put Tighe as Theoden, purely because Ellen (Mrs Tighe) is such a good fit for Wormtongue. I don't think Tighe would really try to overthrow Adama without some form of prompting from Ellen.
 
Anyway! Such over-geekery aside...last night's episode, I thought, was a good combination of action and scene-setting - next week we get the big pay-off - will they find the map, how will they use the arrow to get it, will Boomer betray them, and how much will Adama compromise to reunite the fleet. The fire-fight on Cobol was pretty cool - priest-lady accidentally getting blown up, some nice Starbuck - Apollo interaction, and Boomer proving herself to some extent.
 
The other Starbuck - Apollo interaction - when he snogged her, told her he loved her, was nicely done, there's definitely something there...but half of the time, Starbuck seems to treat him like an annoying sibling. I wonder how long it'll take Starbuck to forget her little buccaneer friend back on Caprica...
 
I think Boomer, for the moment, is the most interesting character - how autonomous is she, and how much control does she really have over her own actions? There's a lot we don't know about the human cylons, in terms of how their brains work - Boomer claimed, that "it doesn't work that way", when the President commented that their conversation was probably being relayed to the Cylons as they spoke; yet, when Dr Balthar was threatening to let Chief die on Galactica, the other Boomer was able to tell him that there were eight Cylons on the fleet. And also, when Boomer shot Adama, she didn't seem to be in control of herself - I think afterwards, she was asking what happened - but then again, that might have been a virus or something implanted when she was on the Basestar.
 
President Roslin is very closed-minded about the human Cylons, but those that have spent time with them - the Chief, Helo, even Adama - will concede that they have emotions and personalities, while Roslin dismisses it all as software. Perhaps Boomer will turn out to be the key to finding Earth, and will change Roslin's mind...
 
 
Evil Scientist
07:32 / 15.02.06
Aren't there supposed to be something like seven cylon models?

Twelve in total, if the message left by a mysterious someone in Adama's quarters at the end of the tv film is to be believed. So that leaves us with another 7 to be revealed (and I happen to know that at least one more model's identity is uncovered this season).

I was reading on the wiki that the thinking behind this is that the Cylons looked at Humanity and said "Wow, there's really only 12 of you."

The 12 infiltrators are supposed to be the 12 different archetypes of Humantity. Or something.

Good episode last night. Ending slightly spoiled by Sky, but hell we knew Adama was going to bring his people back together didn't we?

I really like the way Cylons, even the infiltrators, are percieved by the Colonials. The President ordering Sharon chucked out of the airlock because she's just a "toaster". No wonder the Cylon's revolted if even a liberal lady like her thinks of them as non-sentients.

Thinks...Count Iblis (the Galacti-verse's Satan, ably played by Patrick McNee) was supposed to be responsible for the Cylon revolt in the original series. I wonder if an iteration of him will be turning up? The Cylon god perhaps?
 
 
penitentvandal
09:03 / 15.02.06
I was reading on the wiki that the thinking behind this is that the Cylons looked at Humanity and said "Wow, there's really only 12 of you."

The 12 infiltrators are supposed to be the 12 different archetypes of Humantity. Or something.

Hmm, very Grunt Monsoon, that.

So, at this stage, most humans fall into these categories, plus another seven:

1) A sexy chick
2) A weird bloke who fucks with your head
3) A clingy oriental woman
4) A boring bloke in a suit
5) A sinister doctor

Those other seven models are going to have a lot of ground to cover if they're to account for all personality types...On the plus side we can look forward now to a round of 'Which Cylon Infiltrator are you?' quizzes, if they aren't out there already.
 
 
lonely as a cloud...
09:47 / 22.02.06
Last night's episode was, IMHO, the best so far this season. Balthar's discussion with number 6 - when she convinced him he was actually mad - was quite amusing, although the lack of a chip in Balthar's skull was odd - I think myself that it may have been an implant in his spine, or maybe he is just bonkers.
 
I didn't think Adama would give in to the president so easily - he has compromised quite a lot, and, though the President Roslin having convinced him to abandon the colonies thing might explain it, I don't find that satisfactory enough. Also, Adama and co. caught up with Roslin's crew on Cobol a little too easily; there were a few corners cut (also at the end, when they went from the tomb of Athena to the press/conference room on Galactica in the blink of an eye) in this episode, I thought. The pay-off when Adama embraced his son was worth it, though.
 
And Boomer; still, as I mentioned above, possibly the most interesting character in the show. The 30-second summary bit at the start of the show showed her pointing a gun at Adama - I feared the worst, and given her covert meetings with Zerek and his associate, it looked like she would do something stupid. She proved me wrong, to my joy - although I was very surprised that no-one seemed to call Zerek on his friend's attempted assassination. Boomer claimed that she was acting of her own free will by not shooting Adama - but then again, she could be programmed to do that.
 
So, from next week on, they actually have a real long-term goal. And Balthar is set up to be Helo and Boomer's babysitter - I kinda suspected that the child number 6 referred to so much would be Boomer's.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
07:32 / 27.02.06
So does anybody else reckon that if and when they do find Earth, it's going to be a not-quite-still-smoking ruin, complete with a broken Statue of Liberty on a beach somewhere?
 
 
penitentvandal
09:02 / 27.02.06
Well, its going to be full of Cylons, isn't it? Including whoever programmed them...

Or, the Cylons are going to get there at the same time as the humans - or be there waiting for them - either because they knew the humans would go there or because the Cylons are searching for earth too for some reason.

At some point, they have to make a point about religion-as-programming: the humans being programmed to run for earth in a crisis because of their religious beliefs, the Cylons with their belief in a single god which, clearly, is part of their own, literal, programming. Having them turn out to be going after the same thing would be a neat illustration of that.
 
 
Evil Scientist
09:55 / 27.02.06
Interesting question. Do the Cylons actually know where Earth is? If so, it's not beyond possibility that they sent a few basestars that way to nuke the crap out of it. Or to over-run it.

However, I don't think they do know where it is. They would have needed the Arrow of Apollo to access the information on Kobol, which they didn't even bother removing from the museum on Caprica.

The end of the Pilot episode seems to suggest that their main reason for chasing the fleet is to ensure the humans don't come back some day with revenge on their minds. Boomer suggested two weeks ago that, if the fleet does head for Earth, then they're going to pay a hefty price.

Perhaps there's a reason why Earth was separate from the other colonys.

Regarding last week's episode it was nice to see Six acting "human" for a change rather than spouting endless religion. She could still be an hallucination though, Baltar's subconcious grasping on the "angel" explanation rather than accepting his own insanity.

How did he know a cylon/human hybrid baby was on the way? He didn't, he's just incorporating it into his psychosis. Six was referencing the baby as theirs, right up until Boomer revealed she was preggers, then Six started saying that Boomer was the vessel for the child.

I think it may turn out to be somewhere between insanity and implant.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
12:01 / 27.02.06
Interesting question. Do the Cylons actually know where Earth is?

That's not really what I was getting at - I was wondering whether the twelve Colonies might actually be colonies of Earth, an Earth that was abandonned long ago due to becoming uninhabitable... Of course, I realise this contradicts the Colonials' scriptures, and I've seen relatively few episodes of this show, so it may have been contradicted more substantially.

Again, this might have been covered in an episode I haven't seen, but velvetvandal, I really don't want to believe that the Cylon's religion is the result of their "programming". I prefer to think it's just something they've developed, aggressive monotheism as a natural response to knowing they are both different and isolated from the "Twelve Tribes". There's only one true God, and one true chosen people, and we're them.

Don't know if anyone noticed, but I'm pretty sure Boomer quoted directly from the Bible as we know it during 'Home'? Could be relevant to both issues...

Also worth noting that Boomer seems to be lying about how much she remembers from the Boomer who was on Galactica - she tells Helo she can't remember shooting Adama, but knows that Adama asked the other Sharon's frakking CORPSE "why?"!
 
  

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