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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 (UK THREAD)

  
 
Evil Scientist
08:54 / 19.12.06
The first trailers for Season 3 are showing on Sky at the moment so I thought it would be appropriate to get the thread rolling for us backwards hicks who haven't been downloading the episodes. Whilst speculation on information mined from the episodes is welcome, let's avoid spoilers if we can.

I believe the first episode is due to premier on January 9th, and I'm getting all tingly thinking about it.

The teaser trailer I saw looks to be sign-posting the direction of at least one of the story-arcs of the season, that of the human resistance (a storyline also developed in the webisodes that were being broadcast between seasons).

From the mentions of "internment camps" and "disapearances" by Roslin, and the keywords "insurgency" and "suicide bombers" from President Baltar, I have a feeling we'll be having an even stronger War on Terror vibe this season, but now the humans are the "terrorists". Feeding into the Iraq Occupation.

Good stuff coming, for sure.
 
 
Happy Dave Has Left
09:09 / 19.12.06
Damnit, I wish I had Sky. I'm stuck with waiting for the DVDs to come out.
 
 
Lama glama
11:53 / 19.12.06
I've never watched an entire season of BSG in weekly viewings, instead I've stuck with the DVDs and watched them in fairly hefty chunks. That's partially because I came late to BSG fandom and partially because I despise adbreaks. Anyway, this will be the first time that I'm going to watch a BSG season in the weekly format and I expect it to be torture.

I could forgive weaker episodes of season 2 like Black Market and Scar, because they sat neatly in an otherwise excellent season, but I expect I'll be a bit harsher on BSG this year, when episodes stink, because I don't have the possibility to see the next great episode right after it.

I saw the trailer for it the other night and it certainly looks promising. Lots of dark interiors and Baltar hanging about with Cylons which should be excellent fun. I hope that as the season progresses, Baltar mellows out a little and some of the dark humour (and even some of the slapstick stuff) from season 1 returns to the character.
 
 
sleazenation
12:00 / 19.12.06
There is a 10-part set-up cum trailer story for season three called "Resistence" all ten parts are available on You Tube...
 
 
Lama glama
12:09 / 19.12.06
On my glorious 56k modem, I only managed to download the first three or so. They were alright, but featured some of my least favourite fifth tier characters from BSG, so I decided against downloading the rest. I assume that something horrible happened while they were moving the hidden arms cachet, and somebody like Duck got killed.
 
 
Evil Scientist
13:29 / 19.12.06
As the webisodes are available on-line I think we can count discussion of them as non-spoiler ja?

I assume that something horrible happened while they were moving the hidden arms cachet, and somebody like Duck got killed.

One of the later webisodes I saw (out of sequence) mentions Centurions opening fire on people in the temple. So presumably it all does go a little Pete Tong.

I've never watched an entire season of BSG in weekly viewings, instead I've stuck with the DVDs and watched them in fairly hefty chunks.

Unfortunately I lack the patience to wait that long. I've been making do with methodone sci-fi (SG-1 and bloody Torchwood) for far too long and now I need the pure, uncut stuff.

Much as I love re-watching shows on dvd I find I'm always better served by watching them on the telly first (it's how I avoided wasting good money on Season 6 of Buffy).
 
 
Evil Scientist
07:57 / 10.01.07
Well Season Three is off to an impressive start. Where to begin?

On New Caprica things are going from bad to worse. The struggle of Tigh's insurgents against the Cylons is obviously meant to parallel the various WoT situations going on in the real world (especially Iraq). Some of it was a little heavy-handed (the Cylons thinking they have to force Baltar to sign the execution order because they're only "allies" of the New Caprica Government).

Duck's suicide bombing was a pretty powerful moment, made more so for me thanks to the webisodes which show the series of events leading up to and away from the death of his wife in the massacre at the temple.

Brother Cavil's making a play for "most evil Cylon" at the moment. Out of all of the models he seems to take the most pleasure in hurting the humans. But his atheistic outlook serves as a good counterpoint to the religious fervour of the other models.

The Starbuck/Leoman storyline is downright creepy. But you gotta love her knifing him in the neck and then sitting down for a bite to eat whilst he gets himself resurrected. Not sure if Caycee is a new model or a genuine hybrid yet, but the fall seemed way too convieniently placed to be genuine (Simon uncovered her previous abuse injuries whilst he held her at the Farm on Caprica) they could well be using her fear of becoming an abusive parent to break her (remember that the Cylons believe that love is the missing component that will allow them to breed successfully).

Meanwhile on Galactica.

Apollo's fatsuit is a little unconvincing, but I'm prepared to overlook it because it's a bloody interesting path to take his character down (especially when everyone's so damn chiseled). Adama needs to lose the 'tache though, tis rubbish.

It was great to see Boomer back in uniform and finally becoming part of the crew (even to the point that the marines and crew she goes down to New Caprica with seem to have no problem taking orders from her). I'm wondering if her "sister" (the original Boomer) will turn on the rest of the Cylon's too?

More info on the Centurions, they're intentionally "dumb" so they don't rebel. Interesting, I wonder if someone will try and break their programming and turn them on the humanform Cylons (Brother Cavill's machinistic outlook could push him to ally with his steel brothers-in-arms).

Eep, the Pres and Zarek facing down the barrels of a firing squad. That's a cliff-hanger! (But at least Cally got away).
 
 
h1ppychick
14:46 / 17.01.07
Still enjoying this muchly - you've gotta love a blonde Xena. However, there were a couple of continuity things in last night's episode that confused me.

In the original cliffhanger bit, Cally is by herself and still scrambling down away from the rest of the detainees & Cylons when she hears the gunfire.

In the same timeline (when regarded from Tyrell's viewpoint), he's got to her and pushed her to the ground before the shooting begins.

There's no indication that the location is anywhere near where Sharon Agathon has landed/ the second exchange of fire with a couple of other centurions. This just struck me as a bit of a cockup.

Secondly - not really a continuity thing per se, however the baby Hera is the first human-Cylon hybrid, who could only be conceived through love, etc etc, when Sharon & Helo were roaming Old Caprica. Caycee (or however her name's spelt) could only have been 'conceived' at some point on from when Starbuck was held in the breeding farm on Old Caprica, which is later. Firstly, how could they make a viable embryo if there's some sort of mythical need for 'love' between the two parents (definitely not present on Starbuck's side)? Secondly, why does Caycee look so much older than baby Hera? and Finally, why are the Cylons still going batshit over Hera as such a 'special' child if they are purportedly chucking out bouncing hybrid babies at the end of the farms' production lines?

A couple more things whilst I'm thinking about it. The original Boomer, who is now one of the 'cabinet' that's running the Occupation alongside Caprica Six, was portrayed on Old Caprica as retaining her 'humanity' and personality, yet doesn't seem to have any problem at all supporting the proposed executions. Also, both she and Caprica Six were trapped in the garage with Anders after the explosion on Old Caprica, and knew that he was one of the resistance. How would they not conclude that he is one of the insurgency leaders on New Caprica (assuming they've taken any sort of census or inventory of the human population)?

This is all a bit nitpicky, really. As I said above, I am really enjoying it still. However for some reason, everything that's been happening since the decision to create a colony on New Caprica at the end of Season 2 seems a bit like a dreamstate to me. It's the casual "one year later" and leapfrogged character development/discarded plot threads that makes it seem so unreal to me, I suspect. All the marriages and so on.

Is anyone else expecting for Pam to wake up and find Bobby in the shower?
 
 
penitentvandal
19:39 / 21.01.07
God, I hope not.

I think Caycee will turn out to be another cylon model of some kind, maybe a prototype or something the skin jobs have cooked up; although it would be cool if one of the...twelve?...cylon models was a child, Caycee = KC; an acronym, not a number, and all the humanoid cylon models are assigned numbers.
 
 
Lama glama
22:32 / 21.01.07
I suspected throughout much of Exodus Part 1 that Kaycee was a Cylon model. She could quite simply be there to control Kara with her cute smiles and..er, tumbles down the stairs. I don't know though, there are a few problems with Kaycee being one of the twelve models.

First off, why? What's the point in going through so much effort to manipulate Kara with a child cylon? Is she that important to Leoben and the other Cylons? Could Leoben be trying to create another genuine Cylon/Human hybrid with Kara, by establishing a loving familiar unit with her and Cylon Kaycee and then having a real baby with her?

Another problem is, of course, the actress playing Kaycee will age fairly rapidly, like Walt in Lost and will need to be written out. I suspect that Kaycee might be written out, regardless, in a couple of episodes time. I fear that she may very well go the way of Boxey.

Other than that, it was a fairly enjoyable episode. There were a few continuity errors that annoyed me a little bit..especially the Cally stuff. In the previous episode, she was running downhill, through forestry. Cut to this week, and she's going uphill through a rocky area, not to mention Tyrol suddenly appearing to tackle her safely to the ground.
 
 
Evil Scientist
08:45 / 22.01.07
Curious moment in last week's ep with Number 3 in the Colonial temple speaking with the priestess.

We've seen the Humans having prophetic dreams and visions before under the influence of the commala root, and we know that the Cylons also have some kind of mystical link. But this is the first moment where there's an indication that it isn't a case of one or the other side's religion being right. If a Colonial priestess can act as a messanger for the One God of the Cylons then there is a possibility that both sides are right (or maybe seeing different aspects of the same thing).

Some pretty grisly moments for the humanforms in the ep too. Cavill being left to die slowly after the ambush and having to open his artery with a bottle cap. Three getting knee-capped by Sharon.

What's the betting Baltar will stay behind rather than escape with the rest of Humanity? Or will his guilt drive him to surrender to them for judgement (ie firing squad)?
 
 
Lama glama
20:16 / 22.01.07
Balthar's main motivation throughout most of the previous seasons have been self-preservation and self-promotion. He loves being seen as a hero by other people and in fairness, sometimes this has positive outcomes. However, it's more often than not, a combination of these two traits that defines Balthar.

Now that the possibility to be seen as a hero in the eyes of his people is definitely gone, considering that most people regard him as a traitor complicit in the Cylon occupation, the prevailing force will be self-preservation. I don't foresee him going back to the fleet if they resume the quest for Earth, at least not in the short-term. Maybe he and Caprica Six will depart together, distinct from the Colonials and the Cylons. Regardless, whatever Balthar does end up doing will be entirely in his own interests.
 
 
Evil Scientist
14:14 / 24.01.07
Cracking episode last night. Plenty of boom-boom and a damn fine resolution to the New Caprica arc.

Hell, I think we all knew Pegasus was going to come riding to the rescue all guns blazing but that didn't distract from the sheer force of the space battle. The final moments of BSG's sister ship as it ploughed into a basestar took my breath away.

Ramming speed! Oh yes.

The resolution of the Casey/Starbuck story was surprisingly simple. Sometimes one just overthinks these things.

I felt sorry for Tigh. Everyone cheering Adama whilst he walks away to mourn his wife (I half expected it to be a final reveal that he'd only drugged her until they got out so she'd be protected on Galactica).
 
 
h1ppychick
14:29 / 24.01.07
I liked that last point of yours too. Everyone else is looking all shiny, shaved and hopeful, and in contrast there are pointed lingering shots on Tigh - a broken, one-eyed man, and Starbuck - devastated by the con that has been played on her and the reality that the extra dimension that she thought she'd found was a complete fabrication.

I also found interesting, though I'm not sure I quite believe it, Lee's overt declaration of affection for Dualla. It was always portrayed previously as a relationship that he drifted into through expediency and which was only legitimised because his subconscious/undeclared preferences didn't pan out.

Yay for Adama moustache-death!
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
07:48 / 25.01.07
I wish Olmos was my real dad.
 
 
h1ppychick
10:53 / 25.01.07
If he were, you might get a gig as a Viper pilot too!
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
11:17 / 25.01.07
Oh, and by the way, I totally buy that Lee has an insane amount of affection, even love, for Dualla, and that he means every word he says when he says it's an honour to serve with her and to have her as his wife.

Dot dot dot.

It's not her he wants, though.
 
 
penitentvandal
19:26 / 26.01.07
The end of the last episode brought back memories, for me, of visiting Pere Lachaise cemetery, Paris, and checking out the WWII/holocaust memorials there. What looking at them brought home, for me, was the different experience the continental European countries had of the war to us - they were invaded, occupied, and had to fight as partisans, guerilla resistance, whatever, while we were able to use our superior air power to see off the Nazis*.

Seeing the contrast between Tigh and Adama in those last scenes brought that home again. Imagine you're a resistance fighter, you've been tortured, you've endured crazy situations, you've had to make tricky decisions, betray friends to aid the cause, you've hid out, you've starved, you've bled, and you've crossed the line from soldier to criminal to terrorist in the cause of fighting the enemy; you've fought the kind of war no-one should ever have to fight - and then these brylcreem boys sweep in all smart in their uniforms, liberate you, and get all the pops. You need them, you couldn't have won the war without them, you're glad they came, and yet...you've seen things those people wouldn't believe. That's gotta make for some kind of disconnect.

I don't think Tigh will wind up hating Adama, after all he hero-worships the guy, dodgy moustache and all, but it'll be interesting to see what divisions develop between the resistance guys and the flyboys in the coming weeks.
 
 
penitentvandal
19:28 / 26.01.07
*Apologies for grossly over-simplifying the European conflict of the second world war, btw.
 
 
Evil Scientist
06:28 / 27.01.07
I don't think Tigh will wind up hating Adama, after all he hero-worships the guy, dodgy moustache and all, but it'll be interesting to see what divisions develop between the resistance guys and the flyboys in the coming weeks.

It'll be interesting to see what Laura "Thanks for the help rogue Cylon now out the airlock with ya!" Roslin makes of Boomer being out and about (I have a feeling that a year of being Hera's guardian may have softened her aggressive stance towards all Cylons slightly).

I'm hoping that this season opens up Cylon society to us as well what with Baltar and C-Six presumably fleeing with the other Cylons back to their fleet. I suspect we'll start to see divisions appearing between the "Caprica" faction and the more aggressively anti-human models such as Cavell and the 3's (with the 5's and Simon's in the middle).
 
 
Lama glama
22:45 / 06.02.07
Soo..

The cylons (or at least Number 8) enjoy naked tai chi. I was really looking forward to seeing beyond Baltar's room in the Cylon Basestar, and well, I got it in spades this week.

The expanded Basestar has some elements that are interesting and unique and some that I found just absolutely cringeworthy. Naked tai chi rooms and pool-people snatched from Minority Report make me question the producers sanity, while the Cylon's projection techniques and the over-all aesthetic of the interiors are wonderful.

So, why don't the known models mention or travel with the other group? Are the producers and writers working on the fly, or do they have an actual reason in mind? If I were to guess, I suppose the unknown models refuse to chase the Humans and remain on the original cylon home-world, while the known models continue the pursuit in the hopes of finding Earth for themselves. It seems nice and neat this way, if a little boring and would probably mean that we wouldn't be seeing any of the other models.

Meanwhile, back in the Colonial fleet, the producers are frantically hitting the reset button on a lot of their plot threads. Lee is skinny again, Kara has short hair again and apparently sorts out her emotional issues by simply hugging Kaycee (who gets a speaking role!). Everybody seems hugely accepting of Athena/Sharon in the viper's den, which I find hard to accept, and Gaeta is (understandibly) accepted back into the loving arms of Adama and Roslin. Everything seems all nice and status quo-ish again, which is a little irritating considering the promising start to the series, where it seemed that the characters would go in new and interesting directions. Even Cally is back working as a deckhand and everybody seems more than eager to slip back into their previous roles on board Galactica. Granted, the one year later gimmick was a bit tenuous to begin with, but an immediate return to the (almost) status quo is a bit disappointing and seems to indicate that the producers and writers had little confidence in the direction that was seemingly promised in webisodes and the opening episodes of this season.

Granted, Tigh is all unhinged after poisoning his wife and I foresee him involved in some sort of mutinous plot later in the season..

Still though, a nice little episode with a promising enough cliff-hanger. I hear there are some real dud episodes coming up, so we might as well enjoy it while the quality is high.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
23:23 / 06.02.07
Yes, let's enjoy it whilst feeling a sense of impending doom and pessimism on the basis of some rumours, as indeed all television must be enjoyed, or rather, endured!

Ahem.

I think having a naked Boomer in is actually a nod to what we saw of basestars in season 1, remember? Presumably the Cylons don't actually need to wear clothes, especially since they can 'project'. But I think what we're seeing now is the gradual humanisation of the Cylons, not in a narrative sense, but in an actual, cultural sense: the differences between the different models have become more acute, as have the differences between some individual copies of models - if it could happen to Athena, it could happen to any of them. And so they start to develop human modes of dress as more than just camouflage, they start to even think about human names - Six may refer to "the one you know as Leoben", but creepy dude has never given us his number, so in a sense, he may as well be the one he knows as Leoben, too (and you can bet yr ass whatever he's calling himself, he's doing it cos God told him it was important for his destiny).
 
 
Evil Scientist
12:50 / 07.02.07
Hrm, my previous post was gobbled up by the unreliable internet at work.

The discussion of the other five models is interesting. Makes me think they're either rogues or failures. At least one of them may well have gone "native" whilst infiltrating humanity.

This could answer a question that's been unresolved since the pilot movie.

Who left the message for Adama saying there are twelve models?

Answer; very possibly a rogue model.

Baltar's ability to project, coupled with his lack of vulnerability to the ancient probe makes me wonder if Hera actually is the first Cylon/Human hybrid.

Apollo's sudden return to "ab's of steel" was a bit of a reality breaker for me (I know, I know, it's sci-fi but still). Liked the naming of Athena.

Everybody seems hugely accepting of Athena/Sharon in the viper's den, which I find hard to accept

I disagree. She's obviously built up a lot of credibility with the crew during the year orbiting New Caprica. She's gained the respect of Adama (who, let's not forget, was calling her a "thing" during Season 2). I think the fact that the marines followed her orders without question on NC also underlined that the Galactica crew have come to accept her more.

Even her naming, although most of the suggestions were insulting they had the smack of friends being offensive in the way that friends can be.

It was a good way of distinguishing her from Boomer too, something which has needed to be done (I've been calling her Sharon and the original raptor pilot Boomer).
 
 
Lama glama
15:30 / 07.02.07
She's gained the respect of Adama (who, let's not forget, was calling her a "thing" during Season 2)

That's exactly what I was trying to get at, although I don't think I expressed it particularly well. The Viper and Raptor pilots aboard Galactica and Adama's acceptance of her is what I find hard to accept. I know that a year has passed, a year where Tigh and Kara have befriended each other and where Adama let a caterpillar fall asleep on his upper lip, but Athena must have done something spectacular in order for Adama to stop calling her a thing and allow her to wear a colonial uniform again.

I'm sure they'll get around to showing us this, I suppose. I highly expect one of this year's plot threads to centre around Adama and Tigh's growing rift and how it affects various members of the crew associated to each character. Tyrol, Tigh, Starbuck on one side, with Athena, Lee, and Adama at the other. I know we had a plot like this last year with the Pegasus stuff, but a lot of people seem to agree that it was resolved a mite too quickly. I'd really like to see something similar with characters we've gotten to know over the past two years, as opposed to a bunch of assholes introduced in a two-part episode and rarely referenced afterwards.
 
 
Lama glama
15:32 / 07.02.07
Who left the message for Adama saying there are twelve models?

It was God!
 
 
Evil Scientist
17:02 / 07.02.07
Nah, it was his moustache from the fuuuutuuuuure!
 
 
Evil Scientist
11:08 / 14.02.07
Wow, good episode.

Although they're going a little too heavy on the deus ex cylonica for my taste (Apollo's rapid weight loss, and now Athena's highy convenient immunity).

I found Athena and Helio's discussion about her reaction to the attempted genocide to be very moving. The development of both Boomer and Athena have been strikingly good throughout the seasons. Unsurprising that Helio out of everyone isn't prepared to see a sapient species wiped out, he's one of the few who see Cylons as something more than machines (I'm not certain Baltar does, but Adama's probably harbouring a secret belief in this direction).

Baltar's flagrently going to become a hero for the Cylons. Eventually becoming Athena's opposite number (human who has the respect/loyalty of the Cylons). Xena's reaction to his declaration of love was somewhere between confusion and hope that she can get something she so desperately wants.

Of course Caprica may have something to say about that.

Final point. Loving that Raptors are now being used as more than scout vessels.
 
 
h1ppychick
21:39 / 04.03.07
So, I'm presuming that you're all still watching but are reviewing the US thread for post-air discussions rather than adding anything here? That's what I've been doing.

Reaction to last week - a very well done episode, I loved the boxing setting and the backstory was skilfully introduced. It smacked a bit of pandering to the fans, however. Whilst I, probably like most people, have a not-so-secret squidgy desire to see Kara and Lee together, the realisation of that made me think of Moonlighting and the fact that that totally jumped the shark after Maddy and David got it on. I'm hoping that the BSG writers have a bit more class and can maintain the interest in those relationships.

Loved the Bill Adama/Laura Roslin naughty kids behind the bleachers stuff. Regarding his boxing match, I felt that it might have been more interesting if Adama had been portrayed as wanting to pummel the shit out of the Chief for his 'betrayal', without then being given back the moral high ground with his speech to rally the crew. Righteous Adama lives on, unfortunately.
 
 
Evil Scientist
08:36 / 05.03.07
I think the question I wanted answered most by the end of the show was this:

If the Dance is there for people to clear the air and basically have a structured "safe" place to beat the hell out of each other, then who out of Helio and Apollo called the other one out, and why?

Adama and The Pres getting all romantic gave me a little smile. In a show so rife with inter-personal conflict it was nice to see a couple of people just snuggling without something terrible happening seconds later.

I kind of wanted Dualla to be the one who stepped up to Starbuck and took her on. Yes, in the context of the show, it was better (kinda) for Apollo and Kara to go at it and hopefully resolve their issues. But Dualla's got to be feeling like she's going to get "Billy'd" in this situation.

I think this Starbuck/Apollo thing does need to get sorted sooner rather than later. The "unrequited/constantly getting fracked up at the last second" relationship cliche in tv tends to weary me anyway. At the moment I just want this to be some kind of resolution.

I should mention that I'm still up for discussing the show as it airs. Reading what other people said about it on the other thread is all well and good, but I enjoy chatting about what I've seen so far (also there's extreme spoiler risk over in the US thread by it's very nature).
 
 
penitentvandal
10:00 / 06.03.07
They. Are. Idiots.

No-holds-barred boxing matches between crew members on the most important ship in the fleet and no headguards? Fuck off! Don't come complaining to Baltar when the fucking one-zero-one-zero Centurions manage to out-think your brain-damaged arses, you goddam macho morons! Fucksake!
 
  
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