Battlestar Galactica - Page 5 - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

mary · 01-17-2009, 11:47 PM

I rewatched earlier....still a great episode.

A few random thoughts...

It was a beautiful episode, but for some reason the shots on Earth reminded me of a Calvin Klein commercial...or maybe Obsession...or something.

Between the prophecy failing (supposedly) and Baltar's "teachings", religion has a very low batting average in the BSG world.

I've read a theory that Ellen is an aged version of Six. I wonder if that would make Tigh an aged version of Calvin. I don't really buy it. I think the ancient/future Cylons actually age.

Shouldn't there be an entire planet of Dylan Cylons?

If the 13 tribes were all from Kobol, and the 13th turned out to be Cylons, shouldn't someone have said, "Hey! Maybe we're all Cylons!"??

I don't think I want them to all be Cylons.

I have no clue where they're going with the Kara story. She's either non-human, or she's traveled back in time and doubled back on herself....or something like that.

The scene where Adama walked down the hallway was pure chaos. Why were people randomnly being beaten....or crouching down...what the hell was that all about?

u2sarajevo · 01-18-2009, 12:03 AM

That was odd.... and the "Frak Earth" written on the wall with spraypaint. Totally weird. I mean, that's a military ship.

Flacolaco · 01-18-2009, 12:42 AM

I watched it again too... What a chaotic, dark and desperate mood... A great episode

nikeball · 01-18-2009, 11:13 PM

a good analysis of the recently deceased "Dee" & more.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/01/18/...did-you-think/

After a torturous wait, Battlestar Galactica is back with the first of its final ten episodes. If you’re not caught up, or not watching the show for whatever reason, I suggest you get on it. Seriously folks, television isn’t supposed to be this good.

The return of Battlestar Galactica reminds us why it’s so often considered one of the best shows on television. When we last saw our heroes, they had landed on Earth together with the Cylons , only to discover that Earth was a nuclear wasteland. It was a typically great (though not entirely unexpected) reveal that left fans speculating for the better half of 2008, and I was glad to see that Ronald D. Moore and crew are plumbing the emotional depths of that discovery for all it’s worth.
For the most part, this episode is dedicated to the death of a dream. The quest for Earth was the driving force for the show since Adama’s rousing speech in the mini-series, and what was once merely a symbol for hope eventually became more of a reality as things progressed. For a show that’s often criticized for being too bleak, the quest for Earth also represented a possibility for the audience that everything may end up just fine for the human fleet.

But of course, that would be far too easy.

In making the discovery of Earth an empty victory, the show pushes its characters to the brink—giving us an episode that accomplishes little plot-wise (save for a few big reveals), but explores some incredibly human reactions to having your hopes and dreams crushed. There’s no character who depicts this better than Lt. Anastasia “Dee” Dualla, who was always my “constant” (to pull a Lost reference) in the show. No matter how frakked up the situation, Dee could always be counted on as being the level-headed voice of reason—which is admirable in a universe where humanity is facing extinction every moment of every day.

She was never promoted, and she only had a few sub-plots of her own, but Dee’s presence in the bridge was always reassuring. I got the sense that as long as she and Gaeta were running things smoothly in the bridge, everything would be “okay”—at least, until the next disaster. Her troubled relationship with Lee Adama fell apart due to his stupidity and inability to love anyone but Starbuck, not by any fault of her own.

She was just an average woman. One who did her duty, and sought out what minuscule bits of happiness she could find. Her sweet and relatable personality, along with her phenomenal portrayal by actress Kandyse McClure, made her one of my favorite characters on the series—so of course she would be the one to put a bullet in her head.

Her death most closely reminds me of a certain major Firefly crew member who meets their end in the last act of Serenity. Once that person died, all bets were off, and nobody was safe. The shock of that death brought a level of tension to the rest of the film that raised the stakes measurably, and I’m confident Dualla’s death will serve the same function. It was the catalyst for some of the best scenes in the episode—Lee and his father at the morgue, Adama’s drunken suicidal confrontation with Tigh—and it will surely have some devastating dramatic repercussions as the series moves on.

Aside from Dualla’s suicide, we also get to see the breakdown of hope and heroism all across the fleet. Roslin is speechless upon her return from Earth, which is just unsettling for a character who generally always knows what to do. Adama falls apart when confronted with Dualla’s death, and shows us one of the characters darkest moments when he confronts Tigh.

Then there is Starbuck, who learns that she really did die at the end of season three, and manages to freak out the typically all-knowing Leoben with the news. I’m actually finding her ambiguous explanation for existing far more compelling than the reveal of Ellen Tigh as the final Cylon (although that will get juicier over time, I predict). Her silhouetted funeral pyre scene where she cremates her own body is one of the most haunting scenes in the series, both visually and symbolically.

I think her existence may have something to do with the fact that the thirteenth colony of Earth was made up entirely of Cylons (another reveal that will end up rewarding us over time). What if somebody translated the Cylon resurrection technology for humans? What difference would there really be between Cylons and humans at that point?

Bear McReary described this episode as “an assault on the psyche” in a recent blog entry, and I would have to agree with him. There is no hope this time around, just our heroes falling and grasping at whatever they can to survive. Dualla’s death won’t be the last, and maybe humanity will spend generations finding a suitable planet to settle, but the recent truce with the remaining Cylons should make things less violent for some time (despite an impending war with the Centurions).

And perhaps eventually, they will find peace.

Flacolaco · 01-18-2009, 11:35 PM

I still find myself in awe of what great tv that was. I wouldn't have believed it until Friday, but it is going to actually be really tough for LOST to top that premier on Wednesday.

Flacolaco · 01-23-2009, 03:38 PM

Time for another round....

Boy, between battlestar, LOST, 24, Fringe and The Office, there is greatness on every damn night of the week now. It's exhausting to be so thoroughly entertained

u2sarajevo · 01-23-2009, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

I still find myself in awe of what great tv that was. I wouldn't have believed it until Friday, but it is going to actually be really tough for LOST to top that premier on Wednesday.

So whats your verdict on this? I say that you would have to be crazy to think the Lost premiere, despite being awesome, was better than what we witnessed on Friday.

Flacolaco · 01-23-2009, 08:25 PM

Yeah I'd have to agree...almost grudgingly.

The Battlestar premier was packed with more emotion, and the sense of closeness to "the end" gives it the edge.

We'd almost have to see what LOST is doing 10 episodes from its swan song to compare evenly.

But surely I do give the edge to BSG in this case.

Let's see what they follow it up with tonight!

Flacolaco · 01-24-2009, 12:09 AM

Wow. The chief got pwned in the face by his dead wife and The President has resigned herself to fading away, while the rest of the fleet wants to take out their anger on "the man".

Thespiralgoeson · 01-24-2009, 12:22 AM

I'm sorry, but this whole sub-plot with Tigh and Caprica is crap. The relationship between Caprica and Gaius was far more interesting. Are they ever going to give us any closure on that anyway?

Flacolaco · 01-24-2009, 12:25 AM

I don't know...the first two episodes have been relatively Baltar free, and that is MORE than fine by me.

Something tells me that the next episode or the one after will be uber Baltar heavy

u2sarajevo · 01-24-2009, 09:00 AM

I'm starting to believe the "Caprica is Ellen" stuff.

I wish they wouldn't go there. It's kind of disgusting. It was bad enough thinking about Saul and Ellen..... But Saul and 6? Please say it aint so (Joe).

mary · 01-24-2009, 12:23 PM

The first scene was rather jarring for me.

Tigh obviously worked through his identity issues off-screen, as I was surprised that he was suddenly happy to father the saviour of the cylon race....or maybe my memory of the first half of the season is just really fuzzy???

My initial thought (and I'm sure this is on a message board somewhere) is that Caprica is giving birth to......

Ellen??????????

Man...talk about daddy issues.....

Flacolaco · 01-24-2009, 02:40 PM

Tigh seemed fine with the baby and happy about it even... "saving the Cylon race" and all of that, but then later when talking about having Cylons install the FTL equipment he scoffed. Didn't he even scoff at forming an alliance with them?

They seemed to have just glossed over the final 5 dealing with the fact that everyone knows about them now. Where do they fit in? Tyrol is having other problems...Tigh clearly still wants to be with the fleet, and is still the XO I guess.

I'm really interested in how Tyrol and Tigh and them remember living on earth...how much do they remember? What's happened to them (or their consciences?) in the 2000 years between? They seemed to have just all moved past that in this episode. They all seemed to have moved on from that fact that Ellen was the 5th as well....just another day....why?

u2sarajevo · 01-30-2009, 08:53 PM

Uhhhhh.....

yay!

mary · 01-30-2009, 10:49 PM

This is fraking stressful.

mary · 01-30-2009, 10:57 PM

no no no no no never never no no

mary · 01-30-2009, 11:01 PM

Well this sucks. I feel like the refs just rewarded Wade a couple of BS FT's at the end of game 5.

Sucks.

Sucks.

Sucks.

Flacolaco · 01-30-2009, 11:08 PM

frak

me.

I'm glad they followed last weeks dribble with that kick assery right there. The sh%t just did a swan dive right into the fan and splattered all over the place. Talk about a game changer. That might warrant a second viewing.

Did they really kill Tigh? Or is he coming back resurrection style with his frakking Cylon wife?

Thespiralgoeson · 01-31-2009, 06:25 AM

That was one of the best episodes of the show to date. I'm not surprised, as I noticed at the beginning it was directed by John Dahl (The Last Seduction, Rounders, Joy Ride). But, damn... this is crazy. Gaeta's always been a sneaky little sh*t. They should've blown him out the airlock when they had the chance. They've gotta take the ship back. They've just gotta.

Flacolaco · 01-31-2009, 02:58 PM

Where is u2?

I am interested in your take, u2.

nikeball · 02-01-2009, 03:38 AM

I feel sorry for the people who have not witnessed the greatest of BSG. I just watched..what a fraking great episode.

Underdog · 02-01-2009, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikeball

I feel sorry for the people who have not witnessed the greatest of BSG. I just watched..what a fraking great episode.

I haven't even watched an entire commercial for the show, but this thread has piqued my interest - I'm gonna wait for BSG to complete its run and watch the entirety on DVD...

u2sarajevo · 02-02-2009, 10:42 AM

Well.... we had a bit of family stress on Friday night so I wasn't able to watch it then. But we did sit down to it last night.

I don't have to say it was awesome because those of you that have seen it know that already. I went to bed after watching it and I think my mind went through the possible ramifications of where we stand now. I can't stand Gaeta. Are you serious dude? I so badly wanted Starbuck to make it to the CIC and end his miserable existence. And spiral is so right.... how many of us wanted him to be sucked out an airlock when they got off of New Caprica? I know I didn't, but now I wish they had.

One things for sure though I always wanted Starbuck to kill Zarek when she had the chance on the prison ship years ago. I wish she would have.

Actually no I don't... because then we might not be where we are today which is 7 episodes left of a show that has been totally turned upside down in a matter of a few episodes.

That whole Anders scene ticked me off to no end, and I just loved Starbuck when she told Adama they weren't his men anymore... that was great drama. I wondered what was going to motivate Roslin to get out of her pity party mode.

I am gonna rewatch this at lunch today, because I feel certain I missed something important.

I loved the scenes with Baltar. He is such a pathetic man.

Flacolaco · 02-02-2009, 10:46 AM

Baltar was cracking me up...He was like "Umm..heeyyy...yeah baby, look, I gotta run, boo. I'll call you later though, you know, for a booty call but I gotta look out for #1 if you know what I mean..."

Can I watch these newer ones on the internet somewhere without having to download them? I have it at home but I forgot to bring it and a lunch time viewing sounds like a good idea.

u2sarajevo · 02-02-2009, 10:52 AM

hulu.com

edit: and apparently scifi.com as well.

Flacolaco · 02-02-2009, 10:54 AM

Oh right...I forgot BSG is under the long NBC/Universal arm. Thanks.

u2sarajevo · 02-02-2009, 06:02 PM

So what was going on with Felix's half leg? Why was he rubbing it and looked in pain when he was getting Zarek out? I have a feeling there might be more to that.

nikeball · 02-02-2009, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

So what was going on with Felix's half leg? Why was he rubbing it and looked in pain when he was getting Zarek out? I have a feeling there might be more to that.

I thought in the first episode.. Gaeta was waiting to get treatment on the leg by the doctor.. or get the prosthetic leg adjusted.. but he kept getting bumped back so Cylons could get treated. This was the straw that broke the camel's back and turned him to a life of crime.

u2sarajevo · 02-02-2009, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikeball

I thought in the first episode.. Gaeta was waiting to get treatment on the leg by the doctor.. or get the prosthetic leg adjusted.. but he kept getting bumped back so Cylons could get treated. This was the straw that broke the camel's back and turned him to a life of crime.

You are right about that... but that's not the straw that broke the camel's back. For that refer to the webisodes. They are on scifi.com.

u2sarajevo · 02-07-2009, 10:13 AM

Well that was interesting. I was thinking (hoping) that the internal strife would be an issue throughout the remaining episodes. It got wrapped up nice and neatly (too neatly really, I mean not a single fire shot when Adama retook the CIC?). I guess they had to show some sort of opposition though and they accomplished that.... you don't become friends with the enemy without ticking off some of your constituents.

I was very glad to see Zarek go. And that's sad that Gaetas leg stopped hurting at the end.

Next week... the return of the 5th and final Cylon. I wonder if all this time she knew she was it.

Flacolaco · 02-07-2009, 11:40 AM

Ok...having the whole quorum executed...that was hard core. Right then I thought "wow, Zarek's gonna die very soon"

And he did.

Too bad about Gaeta...I mean he deserved it, but what a weird journey he had. I need to watch that conversation with Batlar again. I feel like I missed something.

Good episode, I enjoyed these last two immensely, but..uhh...what are we working on now? Where are we going with this?

u2sarajevo · 02-07-2009, 03:55 PM

That was hardcore. I was thinking this show is dark now. We got some redeeming grace out of this episode at the end, but I was enjoying the darkness I must admit (maybe a bit too much).

Where do we go? We need a home, right? Don't know if you saw the preview for next week but they intimated that Ellen knows something we don't yet. I imagine it has something to do with a home.

They never showed "Earth" from far enough where we could identify it (we being the ones living here). So I'm thinking we might not have actually seen Earth yet? I don't know. Also, we haven't seen Cavils crew yet. I have a feeling Ellen has to be with Cavil. He must have been hiding her since she was downloaded after New Caprica death.

Flacolaco · 02-07-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

Also, we haven't seen Cavils crew yet. I have a feeling Ellen has to be with Cavil. He must have been hiding her since she was downloaded after New Caprica death.

Wow. Good thought about Ellen being with them.

And yeah I should have mentioned that...we have to hook back up with that evil bastard. I like that character anyway. Very sinister.

Ninkobei · 02-07-2009, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

Well that was interesting. I was thinking (hoping) that the internal strife would be an issue throughout the remaining episodes. It got wrapped up nice and neatly (too neatly really, I mean not a single fire shot when Adama retook the CIC?). I guess they had to show some sort of opposition though and they accomplished that.... you don't become friends with the enemy without ticking off some of your constituents.

Agreed. This whole series of events could have been dragged out for a month and I would be completely fine with it.
I'm going to convert some Lost buddies to Battlestar if I can.. Right now Lost is blow-your-mind, but none of its current Drama tops battlestar. Galactica has peaked I think..

Thespiralgoeson · 02-07-2009, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninkobei

Agreed. This whole series of events could have been dragged out for a month and I would be completely fine with it.
I'm going to convert some Lost buddies to Battlestar if I can.. Right now Lost is blow-your-mind, but none of its current Drama tops battlestar. Galactica has peaked I think..

Honestly I think it peaked in season 3, but that's just me.

Flacolaco · 02-10-2009, 02:38 PM

Oh yeah...what was the significance of the huge tear in the engine room wall that Tyrol noticed at the end?

u2sarajevo · 02-10-2009, 03:50 PM

Not sure... but remember one of the snippets posted on the youwillknowthetruth.com? Admiral was brushing his teeth or something and noticed a much smaller tear on the upper part of his bathroom wall. So that is obviously going to play a part, the ship falling apart or whatnot..... if indeed that is what is happening.

Flacolaco · 02-14-2009, 02:59 PM

Lack of comments in here.... I assume that's because you're all about as speechless as I am about that inundation of information we received in that one.

I definitely need to watch it again...today.

They practically revealed the whole damned history of everything last night.

Thespiralgoeson · 02-14-2009, 07:49 PM

Interesting stuff. I'm not sure I got it all though. And frankly I'm not sure it was a good thing to reveal so much. I kinda liked not knowing. I'm don't really like the idea that Cavill knew the whole time who the final five were and orchestrated their survival. Although I guess it does sort of explain why he held a higher position over the rest of the cylon models. And I think it's kind of odd that Gaius has pretty much faded into footnote. Through the first three seasons it was really harped on that he was very special to the Cylons and that his destiny was intertwined with theirs. Wasn't he supposed to be the "chosen one" or something? Seems like the writers just sort of forgot about him.