In the first episode of the third season of Battlestar Galactica, the Cylon occupation of New Caprica is going far worse than expected. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica.
[Note: Because of its length and the multitude of feelings I have, the premiere of season three is being split into two posts coinciding with each “episode,” despite that it all aired at once. Never fear! I genuinely watched “Occupation” before “Precipice,” so this review was written in that context. Therefore, DO NOT SPOIL ME FOR “PRECIPICE.”Thank you!]
This is how you open a season. I’m actually so happy I did the webseries first because it gives the images and events in “Occupation” such a fantastic sense of context and history. But even if I hadn’t, it’s like like “The Resistance” prepared me at all for the ridiculousness of this premiere. Shit was not real in the finale of season two, and I’m sure I’ll take this back soon, but OH MY GOD SHIT IS SO REAL RIGHT NOW.
What “Occupation” does so well right off the bat is give us a dizzying sense of disorientation. Of course, after the season two finale, we’re left with a lot of questions, wondering what the hell the Cylons are going to do with the occupation on Caprica. “Occupation” takes its sweet time answering that, instead choosing to give us bits and pieces of this new world, confusing us with stories in media res. What’s brilliant, though, is that the episode never flashes back to show us how the humans or the Cylons to go this place after the last four months. Instead, we, as the viewers, must pay attention to catch details and fill in the gaps. Why is Colonel Tigh in a prison cell? What happened to his eye? Who is Ellen having sex with? What is Roslin praying for? Why are Tyrol and Anders creating a bomb? What is Adama planning? And why the hell is Starbuck setting a table while the whole world has gone to hell around her?
These brief images and scenes are then slowly expanded for us, and in the process, we learn just how terribly fucked up everything is. I commented that I thought the show could explore the terror and inhumanity of Guantanamo Bay, and here we get to see how the Cylons are using their detention facility to dehumanize and torture those being held for indefinite periods of time. I assume Tigh got picked up because of Jammer’s influence sometime between the end of the webisodes and the beginning of the season, but I have no idea how long he’s been there. And that’s the point, and I shuddered when Cavil laughed at Tigh, teasing him about the tally marks the Cylons constantly manipulated to give Tigh a false sense of how much time passed. It is unbelievably difficult to look at Tigh, and Michael Hogan deserves all the awards for his stupendous acting in this opening episode. Look at his submissive body language and the way he shakes when spoken to. Whatever the Cylons did to him, they broke him, and that is terrifying to me. It’s even more horrifying when we find out that while one Cavil is emotionally torturing Saul Tigh, another Cavil is having sex with the man’s wife. Ellen is trying to secure her husband’s freedom.
show why are you doing this to me.
The resistance we saw in the webisodes is far more serious and deadly on both sides. Oh god, I had no idea it would reach a level of this intensity. I still feel a sense of rising sadness when I think of how Tigh was treated. To see him leave and rush into the arms of his wife….GOOD CHRIST. Watching Tyrol and Anders set up the G-4 explosive was the only real consolation I got. Could they actually strike back significantly against the Cylons? But how would that work against an enemy who could constantly regenerate themselves with the same memories they had before? Still, it had to mean something when they hurt so many Cylons. Maybe they will…irritate them into submission?
But out of everything, Starbuck’s reveal hit me the hardest. When Conoy walks into the dining room and we see that Starbuck wasn’t alone, we see just what her life has been like. It’s dehumanizing in an entirely different way than Tigh’s because the Cylons have taken her independence. That’s everything to her. They’ve stuck her in a house. They’ve forced her to be “domestic” with a man she despises. SHE IS NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO CUT HER OWN FOOD. I honestly think the scene where Conoy cuts Starbuck’s steak is something that scares me on a guttural level. It feels so wrong to me, so very evil, that it unsettles me at the level of my SOUL. To hear Conoy complement Starbuck’s beauty…I can’t. It’s so slimy. It’s so gross. I wished that the knife was closer. I wished that Starbuck could defend herself and escape and join the resistance forces.
AND THEN SHE STABS CONOY WITH METAL CHOPSTICKS. IN THE NECK!!!! OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK. But the real horror? He tells her that he’ll see her soon, and she tells him to take his time. This has happened before, hasn’t it? As Conoy dies on the floor, bleeding out, she picks up her knife and fork and resumes her meal, blood smeared all over her hands, only a cursory glance at the dying Cylon near her.
And that’s only the beginning. That’s only the pre-credit teaser.
Oh, Battlestar Galactica. I love you so much.
I really do enjoy that most of the opening after this is all through Roslin’s eyes. Thankfully, she’s still teaching, but she’s keeping track of the events on New Caprica. If any character would be keeping a journal or logs of history as it happens, it would be her. It’s as if she’s merely waiting for the day to assume the presidency again, and she’ll use this information to help inform how to press forward. For us, though, it’s one of the best bits of expository info-dumping I’ve seen on television. None of it feels forced at all and we learn detail after detail about the occupation. It’s as if each detail revealed is more horrifying than the last. The insurgent attacks are indeed pragmatically pointless, but they serve another purpose: boosting morale. And that is needed because things are about as bleak as they could be. People are routinely detained for no reason. They have no legal recourse. Many, if not all of them, are tortured physically, mentally, and emotionally. Some die in detention, either the result of their torture or by execution. Some “disappear,” never to be seen again.
No, I really can’t say this enough: It’s really fucked up on New Caprica.
I love that we get both sides of this, and I love that I feel so strongly for the resistance and for Caprica Six and Boomer, who are watching their “plan” erupt into violent chaos. I even feel just the slightest bit of pity for Gaius Baltar, who acts as a figurehead to assuage Cylon guilt, who has no real power and must sit and watch the human race be tortured to death. I haven’t quite forgiven him for his foolish actions that brought everyone to this point, but I don’t like seeing him so defeated.
Yet at the same time, without this, we wouldn’t have the fascinating and horrifying conversations between the Cylon “government” members. I’m reminded of the scenes towards the end of Torchwood: Children of Earth when I think of how the Cylons discuss the humans not as if they’re humans but some sort of unruly pestilence. God CAVIL. CAVIL!!! Best humanoid Cylon or BEST HUMANOID CYLON? He is so much more bitter and cynical and hateful than all the others and even if what he’s proposing is terrible, I can’t deny that I love seeing him on screen. He adds such an intriguing dynamic to the Cylons.
But I know I can’t ignore that he wants to further oppress the humans and now we see how the new “plan” for the humans, the one created by Caprica Six and Boomer, just simply didn’t work. While I don’t deny that the two probably had good intentions to bring humanity to the light of God, here’s a fantastic example of how good intentions kind of mean jack squat when the end result is…well, this. This is how they bring God to humans? Through detention, violence, interrogation, murder, and fear? Oh, hello there, IMPERIALIST PARALLEL. What are you doing in my Battlestar Galactica? Making a point about how proselytizing through violence is ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING?
The bulk of this is told through the eyes of the resistance, though. We see how it’s starting to chip away at Cally and Tyrol’s relationship. We learn that the Cylons RIPPED TIGH’S EYE OUT. We learn that the police force hinted at in the webisodes is real and is about to have their first graduation ceremony. And that the resistance wants to ATTACK THE POLICE FORCE. I thought it was super obvious that the source inside the Baltar was Gaeta because…isn’t he the only person who works with Baltar? Thankfully, the episode didn’t keep this a secret for very long. The information he provides to Tyrol and Tigh is what prompts the idea of the attack on the police graduation. The hints in “The Resistance” to the moral opposition of violence during wartime are now brought to fruition: Tigh wants to kill Gaius Baltar and as many police officers as possible. This time, it’s Tyrol who has reservations about killing people who aren’t implicit in the destruction of humankind. He even resists killing Baltar for a moment. Why kill other humans? Why kill their own? Shouldn’t they focus on the Cylons? But Tigh relents. Not only does Baltar deserve death for what he brought to New Caprica, but this is war. I found it interesting how the writers put Tigh in this position and how no matter our reluctance towards the idea, we can at least understand why he is so determined to carry out this mission. Tigh has fought in war, and the reality of it is that people die, sometimes by your own hand. Tyrol doesn’t like it, but what can he do?
It also explains why Tigh is so offended by the assertion that Anders makes that Adama won’t return to them. Adama is not just Tigh’s best friend, but the best military officer he’s ever met. The man keeps his promises and understands his duty. He would never just leave them all behind. Anders is quick to point out that WEEELLLLLLLLLL, he and his people did sort of get left behind. It’s not the same situation, but I understand the comparison. But can they depend on a man who has been silent for over four months? How much longer must they wait?
Tigh awkwardly brings up Starbuck’s detainment, and Anders admits he’s heard nothing, and this is when we cut to her in her new “apartment.” Conoy has returned. For the fifth time. Meaning that Starbuck has found a way to kill him five times in four months. Oh my god, Starbuck. We find out why Conoy was looking for Starbuck at the end of “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II.” She was to be part of fulfilling Conoy’s “vision” of the future where the two were together and in love. More than anyone else, her plan for integration into the Cylon lifestyle and their religion is more aggressive and immersive. Conoy wants Starbuck to find why she has been “suffering” for so long. Look, I don’t care, THIS IS DEEPLY UNSETTLING TO ME. I hate it so much and I want nothing more than Starbuck to find a way out of this cell. Yeah, IT’S A PRISON CELL. SHE’S BARRED IN. oh my fucking god.
When we finally switch over to the narrative perspective on the fleet, I realized we’d gone a very long time in just one location. Usually the show switches perspective every five minutes or so. I liked that the writers gave these stories so much space, especially since there was so much to tell after the end of season. Now, before I give my one sole complaint about “Occupation,” I must say that I am very satisfied with this show’s continued dedication towards realism. The fleet lost most of their good pilots, and if we’d seen the Pegasus and the Galactica with flawless crews, operating in perfection with perfect plans for rescue and absolutely no strife at all, I would have called bullshit. It’s the most sensical explanation for why Adama hadn’t led a rescue expedition to New Caprica: the fleet is a hot mess.
And I even get what they were trying to say about Lee. He had given up. He had resolved himself to failure and cynicism, and that’s reflected in his physical depiction. So I don’t think that this is anyone on the show trying to be offensive or anything, but I think there’s an unfortunate implication in making Lee fat, which tries to say that people who gain weight aren’t healthy or qualified. Now, yes, I don’t think that is what anyone on this show is trying to say, but it was a thought I couldn’t really ignore. And as someone who has struggled with my weight for years, it was just…awkward? I mean, look, even beyond any of my own hang-ups, you can tell it’s just Jamie Bamber in a fat suit! It barely looks realistic!
Anyway, what I do like about this is how little faith we are given. The fleet is disorganized, lacking proper pilots, and awash in fatalist dejection. The pilots can’t even get basic training exercises done correctly. How are they supposed to rescue the people left behind? Adama and Lee clash on this very issue, and the one thing that does give me hope is the fact that Tigh is right: Adama is not going to leave them behind. Yes, Adama is frustrated by the fact that he’s dealing with a subpar crew, but he and Dualla seem to be the only people who haven’t resolved themselves to submission to reality.
Thankfully, with the help of Gaeta and his glorious head of hair, Tyrol is able to make contact through the right frequency with the fleet and HOPE. THERE IS HOPE! Because this shit is bleak, y’all, and I will cling to whatever hope I can find. Just when I have hope that the people on New Caprica can be rescued, the day of the New Caprica Police graduation has arrived, and the assassination of Gaius Baltar is still a part of it. Tyrol becomes insistent that now that they’ve made contact with the Galactica, the attack attempt on the graduation ceremony might be a bad idea. Tigh refuses to back down except if they learn that Baltar won’t be there.
In a frustrating parallel scene that shows us that Baltar truly isn’t going to be there, Tyrol just barely misses Gaeta as he rushes to tell him that Baltar decided not to show up. And all the hints throughout “Occupation” about Duck being dedicated enough to pull off an attack finally makes sense.
He’s a suicide bomber.
but. but. but. BUT. But he’s going to fail, right? Someone will stop him, right? How is he going to get past the security at the entrance? Did he really join the NCP just to blow them all up? I mean, this won’t really happen, right??? Right?? Haha. Ha. Ha.
“I’ll be seeing you soon, Nora.”
And we end with Duck exploding. And this show cannot go back on what it’s done. and. and. I just.
what have I gotten myself into
The lyrics to "A Distant Sadness", sung my Raya Yarborough, aka Mrs. Bear McCreary:
A distant and familiar sadness calls to us
As if carried on the wind, like burning sand
Brothers and Sisters, away, you endure
Stranded on our own land
A memory etched into soul and skin
Leaves a scar that never heals
Our family is strong, but scattered
Across the stars and fields
We will not abandon you
We will not forget you
We will return for you
GORGEOUS.
And here's her singing it live:
[youtube 32mEB3kgBaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32mEB3kgBaw youtube]
What a freaking talented couple, eh?
[youtube qsvpvqvApKo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsvpvqvApKo youtube]
This is not a fan video. This was posted ON THE OFFICIAL SITE. And every line is sheer brilliance and I basically used this song to title my LiveJournal posts for the rest of the run.
I LOVE this video! I guess you've been avoiding posting it because of Tigh's eyepatch?
On that subject, I can now repost this comic with no spoiler warning!
http://theslackerz.com/index.php?Page=69
Is Tigh's eyepatch in it? All I know is that I posted it on LJ when I made my premiere post (which I won't post now because it covers both episodes), so I knew it would be safe to post now. I have been waiting to post it because I LOVE IT SO MUCH.
I mean, "I love your slanted walls in your A-shaped halls"? MADE OF TOTAL WIN.
Well, only for like a second at 2:16 but y'know, spoilers and all I suppose.
Actually there is about half a second of footage from a future episode on there but it's so innocuous I doubt it matters. 😛
I just recognise the scene because I'm a huge nerd and it's one of my favourites – Mnerx gnyxvat gb Ebfyva nsgre fur guebjf uvz gb gur tebhaq gb nibvq orvat fubg qbja va 'Rkbqhf Cneg Bar'.
The best part of that comic is the "Cylon Plan."
YESSSSSSS it's finally not a spoiler any more!
My favourite bit: BECAUSE THEY ARE COMPLETE DICKS. ("Stop nuking yourself! Stop nuking yourself!")
Well, that and the 2-step Cylon Plan.
That video is beautiful. Just…just beautiful.
This is amazing! "I love your bluish glow and your drunk XO…" 😀 😀 😀
This is also probably the most footage of the old show I have ever actually seen.
I saw the pilot once…oh god, so much fail. I'm sitting there thinking, how did anyone think to ever attempt a rescue of this and make it into an amazing show? You can see the pieces they took for the miniseries, but….it was painful.
WHAT WAS THAT EPISODE. WHAT JUST HAPPENED. A;LKDJFA;SKDFJA. OH MY GOD, DUCK, ALKSDJF;AJKF D: D: D:
This episode is filled with ALL THINGS TERRIBLE, so let’s try to be optimistic and think about the good things, shall we?
1. THANK THE LORDS OF KOBOL, THE SEVEN, THE OLD GODS, R’HLLOR, DUMBLEDORE, WHOEVER that Cavil is NOT in charge of things. Lolol let’s just bring the humans down to a “controllable number”, like 1000! WHAT.
2. Sharon and Adama are friends!
3. Gaeta is a BAMF per usual
4. Fat!Lee and Pornstache!Adama are alive and well
….that’s about it. I CAN’T BELIEVE THE CYLONS REMOVED TIGH’S EYE!!!! Could you imagine if someone ripped your eye out with a spoon or something AND THEN SHOWED IT TO YOU??!! AND WHAT IS CONOY DOING WITH KARA?! Is he going to turn her into a Cylon? Can you do that? Probably not but EVERYTHING IS SO CREEPY AND TERRIBLE
con't
I really, really wish we could have seen Caprica!Six and Boomer “convince” the Cylons to leave the humans alone, because I am just so confused. It seems like all the Cylons minus those 2 have no intention of treating the humans any differently than before, so why don’t they just box Caprica!Six and Boomer? I guess maybe because they’re heroes it might cause an uprising within the Cylons themselves, but do the other copies and the Centurions genuinely think they’re being friendly? Slightly OT, but do the Centurions actually have free will? I know I keep bringing this up, but I still don’t understand the relationship between the Centurions and the Copies. It seems like the Centurions are beneath the Copies, but do they enjoy living like that? I feel like their life with the Copies isn’t really any different from what living with humans must have been like, except they are now part of the ruling class.
The difference that Caprica and Boomer made is that now the cylons aren't trying to kill all of the humans, just control and subjugate them. Which clearly has worked out very well.
It's not so simple as that. There are a LOT of conflicting impulses happening here, between characters and within characters.
1) Caprica Six and Boomer have reconciled their Cylonity and humanity, and want to establish a true peace between the two peoples.
2) The other Cylons, for the most part, revere these two as heroes, and are therefore convinced that extermination of the humans was a mistake.
3) However, there remains a great deal of tension among the Cylons about the humans, who they still view as extremely dangerous. CapSix and Boomer are really the only two Cylons who actually consider the humans equals, and as influential as they are, they can't just merge their entire mental makeup with their fellows (it's strongly implied throughout the series that you can duplicate a Cylon mind, and even share memories, but that individual Cylons are true individuals – this isn't a hive mind).
4) At the same time, the humans absolutely still hate and fear the Cylons. Whatever the Cylons may have intended upon their arrival, the humans naturally view the occupation negatively, and almost immediately begin resisting as best they can.
5) Where there is resistance, there is necessarily reprisal.
6) Where there is reprisal, there tends to be further resistance.
7) Both resistance and reprisal tend to be difficult to formulate as "proportional responses." Sooner or later, one or both sides will begun to "go too far."
8) And once one side starts going too far, the other will begin (over)extending its reach as well.
9) And there you have it: what was intended as a peaceful occupation has now degenerated into a shooting war.
(Parallels to a certain Middle Eastern occupation that occurred concurrently with the production of this show should be considered HIGHLY NON-COINCIDENTAL.)
Excellent analysis.
well said! I can't find a non-spoilery applause gif so please accept these happy pokemon!
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v603/sqwonk/pokecheer2.gif">
(Parallels to a certain Middle Eastern occupation that occurred concurrently with the production of this show should be considered HIGHLY NON-COINCIDENTAL.)
So should imagery and plot points very closely resembling stories of Vichy France.
You gotta love Cavil's suggestion to just execute Baltar though. 😛
I have a soft spot for Cavil because he seems like the least sanctimonious Cylon – he hates the humans, and doesn't care who knows it.
I do love him as a character 😀 He says the most terrible things so casually too! But I’m really REALLY glad he’s not in charge of things. There probably wouldn’t even be a show anymore because all the humans would be dead.
I love Baltar's reaction to Cavil saying they should execute him. "What…. what??"
I like that Cavil is a snarky atheist who puts finger-quotes around the word "God." But he's still an asshole.
I forgot to mention Sharon and Adama! That was also a moment of relief during this episode. I'm glad they're on good terms now.
You don't even comment on Sharon's scene!
what have I gotten myself into
This is BSG, just when you think you've adapted to how bleak it is everything gets much, MUCH worse.
Having not seen The Resistance before I watched this the episode did a really good job of establishing how utterly horrible life on New Caprica had become. Now that I have seen them Duck's role in this story has a much deeper impact than it did when I barely knew him and Nora was just a name he mentioned.
The scene between Sharon and Adama is a really interesting one. Both characters have lost children, albiet at vastly different ages, which adds an interesting undertone to their scene. It also demonstrates just how different things are when Bill is willingly seeking her out for company. That there's no guards present and the cell door is left ajar show how different her status is now. Bill at least doesn't seem to view her as a threat anymore. I will say that it's disappointing that we went from her fury in LDYBII to her apparently having moved on from that, with the actual process off screen.
This episode introduces, imho, the best and most heroic character in the whole of BSG: Jake the Dog. WHO'S A GOOD RESISTANCE HERO? *coughs* well he is.
another Cavil is having sex with the man’s wife. Ellen is trying to secure her husband’s freedom.
That scene fills me with so mch DO NOT FUCKING WANT because HOLY SHIT DO NOT WANT OH GOD MY EYYYYEEESSSS, fhofrdhrag eriryngvbaf whfg nqqrq fb znal zber yriryf bs JEBAT gb gung jubyr fvghngvba, zl tbqf.
"Let's execute Baltar!" "What?!" makes me lol every time. Dean Stockwell and James Callis need more scenes together.
Urg, I always skip the scene with Ellen having sex with Cavil because it squicks me out so much. It's such an awful thing to have to do – forced to have sex with someone you really hate to save the life of someone you love.
So much love for Ellen in this episode, I love how her character has developed so much.
I love that Sharon's cell is furnished now. I mean, she's still living in a glass box, but she has a comfy couch and a decent bed and tables and books. It's such a huge difference. And their scene is wonderful
Where the hell did they get a dog? Has he been on the ship since the attack? Is he the only dog? Or is there another dog, so they can continue the species?
We had the same questions about the dog lol
OH MY GOD it never even crossed my mind that all the animals ever are dead o_O Well, maybe not all. Were there birds in any of the Caprica scenes from the first 2 seasons? I hope they can find Jake a mate. A universe without dogs is a universe not worth living in 🙁
I guess it's not unreasonable to assume that there was one dog on one of the ships that survived the attack. Maybe someone was moving house and taking their dog with them or something.
Awwww it would be really sad if there was only one dog left though! After all, it's said that the face of Boe will tell his final secret to a wanderer. To the man without a home. The lonely dog.
or…did I get that a bit wrong?
THE LONELY DOG. SPINOFF PLEASE. *colbert hands*
He was on A ship the whole time. Not the Galactica. Someone was travelling with their pet when the Cylons attacked. No one saw it coming, so there's no ark.
Man, where's Noah when you need him?
I will be so sad if there isn't a dog somewhere out there to continue the species. It's like Appa and Momo potentially being the last of their kind. Can we clone the dog? Make dog cylons?
The dog cylons were created by man.
They sat.
They stayed.
There are many copies.
They would like a walk.
ROFL that is awesome!
<3 times 1000
Man, this show would be SO AWESOME…
Oh God, does this mean I have to wait until TUESDAY to watch the next episode? I don't think I can stand it! I was so glad that this episode showed all together because shit is getting real all over the place! I think everything I want to talk about is in the next half though. *sits on fingers*
Or worse…do we have to wait until WEDNESDAY, now that we have Fringe back and Doctor Who ongoing?
I just want you to know that my eyes see "Conoy" but my brain reads "Leoben". Because who the hell is Conoy? Has he ever been referred to as anything other than Leoben in the run of this show? Thankfully I have that automatic translation down now.
Man there's a lot in this episode. From Kara's domestic hell (I also squirm when Leoben cuts her meat for her. And more when she thanks him) to Tigh's missing eye to Cally and Tyroll's marital stress. I just feel so bad for Cally, completely resigned to the fact that one of these days Tyroll isn't coming home.
I like that everyone wants Baltar dead, yet he still manages to stay alive.
Ubj vebavp gung Gvtu, Glebyy, naq Naqref ner yrnqvat gur erfvfgnapr. Qb lbh guvax gur jevgref xarj ng guvf cbvag?
Yes, in "Flesh and Bone" he was called Leoben Conoy.
I must have missed that.
Baltar always manages to stay alive. That's what makes him Baltar.
I just want you to know that my eyes see "Conoy" but my brain reads "Leoben". Because who the hell is Conoy?
This.
Even though I've gotten use to it, I just REALLY wish Mark would call him Leoben, that's what he's referred to as 99.9% of the time in this show.
Me too. He is Leoben.
Though I do find it interesting that Mark is getting it into his head that he is called Conoy while we all have Leoben in our heads.
Maybe he'll change his mind. Lbh xabj, nsgre ur'f guebhtu jvgu 3k04. V xabj gung'f jura zl perrcl borffvba jvgu gur qvfgheovat Xnen/Yrbora qlanzvp phyzvangrq.
As super creepy as Leoben/that situation is I can't help but be drawn into it and want to see more. They have amazing chemistry and it's so conflicting lol *is probably weird*
They confuse me, too. I want to see more of them together, but I really want Starbuck to get away from him. The actors have amazing chemistry and it makes me feel kinda squicky, too
lol I know I shouldn't ship them but I can't stop myself. Damn their chemistry! Like he said that he loves her and I believe that he does but that love is totally fucked up and obsessive. Kara had been there for 4 months, I wonder if she started to feel anything for him, very unwittingly? It looked like she was leaning up for a kiss when he got up, saying he was going to bed D:
Agreed. This relationship is so so wrong (and it's nowhere near the scale of "so wrong it's right", either) and yet there is huge appeal. Katee Sackhoff and Callum Keith Rennie and their chops help. 🙂
Haha, oops, I watched both episodes, so I will do my best not to spoil!
Oh man, Tigh. I inadvertently saw that he lost an eye because of a screencap on Hulu, but I didn't realize I'd find out how and why so soon. The bright lights (I assume 24 hours a day in gulag fashion) and screwing around with his calendar were terrific touches of the psychological torture he must have endured. And he certainly seems more radicalized after being released. And then there's Ellen, who I pity enormously. I'm angry for her. Were the sores above her lip supposed to be signs of an STI to show that she's not the only one Cavil is using this way? It's grotesque if that's what's happening. I sort of hope it's just a skin disease going around because they're living in a hellhole. Nyfb, orgjrra gur Serapu Erfvfgnapr lrfgreqnl naq jung Gleby fnlf nobhg Tnrgn va gur arkg rcvfbqr, V'z greevsvrq gung Ryyra jvyy or gerngrq yvxr gur Serapu jbzra npphfrq bs pbyynobengvat jvgu gur Anmvf. V ernyyl, ernyyl qba'g jnag gung.
Related to Ellen, oh god, Starbuck. This is just sick and terrible. And how can she ever be free if he's obsessed with winning her over, and can be reborn in perpetuity? The only way looks to be to end the occupation of New Caprica and get her as far from him as possible. Or box that version of him.
I also really feel for Caprica Six and Boomer, because Leoben, Cavil, all of the other Cylons really, seem to be doing their damnedest to abuse the humans. How can their plan succeed?
On the positive side, I'm glad to see Gaeta's still alive. I was worried about him. Other than that, this show has become unbelievably dark.
Bu, Ryyra…
Ellen looked more like she had been punched in the face to me.
I thought it was a bruise at first, but the close up looked bumpy and rashlike, and I thought STI because of the immediate context, and then an infection (staph, but anything really) because they're in a nasty hellhole. It could also just be flaky make-up since the artists were obviously working overtime on Lee's belly.
This all just makes seasons 1 and 2 look like happy fun times, doesn't it? It's so bleak and dystopic now that it feels almost like it's slipped into an alternate reality. Everyone is married. Everyone looks different (Gaeta and Tyrol look more scrumptious than ever, though). Lee looks like Captain Kirk. Starbuck is living a nightmare creep-fest of domestic horror. Baltar is the worst president who ever presided. My dearest wish is that somehow, they will all be rescued, and things will go back to the way they were. But I just don't see how that can possibly happen.
mmm, Gaeta's longer curls. I loves them.
Baltar, on the other hand, hit his hair peak awhile ago. Dude's edging into Severus Snape territory with that greasy look.
Tigh is missing an eye??
Chris must have built a time machine to keep him from seeing a penis.
I… I'm so confused.
Then you should be watching Parks and Recreation.
Tigh is missing an eye??
Before this episode was even done airing, my friends and I started referring to him as "Colonel Tgh."
I won't say much because I watched both episodes together and I don't want to accidentally spoil something from the second half, so I'll just keep my comment centered on Starbuck.
That is the single most disturbing thing I have seen happen to a fictional character on a TV show. I couldn't even tell you why. It just gets to me on a basic level that I can't explain. Surely, Tigh having his EYEBALL RIPPED OUT should be worse. Surely. But somehow, it doesn't affect me as much as seeing what the Cylons have reduced Starbuck to does. It's just…so wrong and I could barely stand to watch those scenes. Gah. Show. You are sick and twisted genius.
I'm with you on the Starbuck thing, so much worse than what the others are going through. To be trapped in a house with only a guy you despise as company…forced to act out his creepy domestic fantasies…
It must be so hard for her to see the explosions outside and hear Leoben complain about 'insurgents' and know that there are people out there fighting until they can't, just as she wishes she was. To be trapped and completely helpless and in the dark about what's happening out in the world to all her friends. That is some serious psychological torture, and the worst part is he's not even trying to hurt her. He seems to genuinely want her to be happy there and that just makes it all the creepier.
Urgh, yes to everything you both said.
He seems to genuinely want her to be happy there
And this is why the Cylons are fundamentally creepy to me : a lot of the ones we've seen just don't seem to get that shit like this is wrong.
Whether it was Sharon on Caprica talking about how the women in the farms could be hooked up with "someone they liked", or Leoben and his apparent inability to comprehend the idea that forcing an unwilling woman to play house with you is not going to make her want to do it no matter how nicely you decorate the place, or even the Cylons on New Craprica not quite comprehending the fact that people whose race was wiped out by you are probably still mad at you for doing it and not interested in playing nicely and living as second-class citizens……..they just don't get it.
I spent a lot of time this season mentally yelling at Cylons, in case it wasn't obvious. *sigh*
But somehow, it doesn't affect me as much as seeing what the Cylons have reduced Starbuck to does.
You and me both. To take the single most vibrant character of the entire ensemble cast, someone who sets so much store by action, and take away her ability to act and force her to do some awful roleplay of the kind she openly rejected just a season ago (when she told SImon the doctor she was a Viper pilot and didn't want babies)…..it strikes a little too close to home.
And it's worse because every time she accomplishes a victory of sorts (killing him), another him just pops up and takes away her weapons. And considering what's coming next, if I believed the gods existed I'd be screaming at them on her behalf. I mean, how much is one person supposed to take?
I started watching BSG thanks to my amazing bf who nagged me to death until I finally gave in. It was the first show I was completely unspoiled about, and the tension while watching every single episode (except Black market naq gur bar jvgu gur xvyyre qbpgbe) physically hurt. But this episode was definitely the worst.
Starbuck being trapped, forced to look at the man who's torturing her every single day, worse thing I ever saw. I liked the strong resistance force, and although I'm not a fan of Tigh, I really felt sorry for him. But suicide bombers- not cool show.
Vf nalbar ernyyl fdhvpxrq bhg ol Ryyra/Pnivy guvat nsgre frrvat gur jubyr fubj. V pna vzntvar ubj zhpu ur rawblrq frrvat ure yvxr gung. Vg'f whfg jebat. (V nyfb fubhyqa'g hfr jbeq "jebat" va ebg13 orpnhfr vg genafyngrf nf n fjrne jbeq va zl ynathntr :P).
Also, Gaeta, I love you more and more every day.
Just one more thing, look at what I've found on my friend's fb profile today. I didn't even know she's BSG fan and I love her even more now.
<img src="http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/News/nerds-preview.png">
I love that comic! It makes me a little sad though. I can't help thinking "catch me! I'll talk to you about Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica and the ninja vs pirate debate! Your nerdyness makes you even cuter!"
…but that's just me, talking to cartoons. 0_o
Same here. I would NEVER walk away after guy uses Helo line. My response would probably be "Really, let me feel those arms then". I have never seen arms more perfect than those gracing Helo. True story. 🙂
I don't know, Anders gives him a run for his money…
QUICK, LET'S GET THEM IN A ROOM TO COMPARE!
i want to live in that room.
Please. Me too.
Except, well. I'd gladly switch for a room with Starbuck.
So does that mean you haven't seen the Bamceps yet? 🙂
(well not right now, since it's Fat!Lee time, but Jamie Bamber was in tanks often enough before)
naq gur bar jvgu gur xvyyre qbpgbe
Htu V erjngpurq gung gur bgure qnl, V jnag gung ubhe onpx.
Naq lrf, Lrf LRF gb orvat rira zber fdhvpxrq ol ryyra/pnivy. VG'F FB JEBAT BA FB ZNAL YRIRYF!
Daggits were ordinary dogs. Muffit was a robotic replacement for a daggit.
So Jake is a daggit. But not called by that ridiculous name.
Battlestar Galactica: Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does.
In a good way.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItGotW…
If you dig to deep there are some BSG spoilers 🙂
Oops, yeah I guess I should have said: SPOILER WARNING FOR ALL OF TV TROPES.
I take that as a kind of a given because of the inherent nature of the site, but if you've never been there before, just be careful for anything you're currently watching!
OMG just when I think I might stop SOMEONE has to come along and post a TV tropes línk. Thank you, life missed, I never knew you.
I've reached the Insult Backfire and Fantastic Racism. Dude!
Battlestar Galactica: Welcome to the show for which fandom and masochism are basically synonymous.
accurate.gif
I actually didn't watch Due South until after all of BSG, plus Callum Keith Rennie's unbearably creepy run on 24 (in the same season as Katee Sackhoff, though sadly they never had a scene together). So it took me a while to adjust to seeing him as a regular, nice (and much younger!) guy, when for a lot of people it was the other way around.
man, what is UP with his ridiculous accent in Due South? I thought that was the way he actually talked until I saw him on BSG.
I don't get this co-existence thing, I just figured Six/Sharon wanted to find their baby, or have some ulterior motive. Six should know about the baby, no?
But if all the cylons want to breed with humans so bad, that would have been way easier to pull off without going to war and trying to wipe them out.
So what's blondie's deal? Why is he so damn forgiving? Like seriously him being so upbeat and blase about being repeatedly violently killed is somehow 100x creepier than everything else put together.
I can see why we had to move on and it's inevitable that he would start to deteriorate but man I'm going to miss the sassy Baltar we had in the season finale. I just imagine he spent the last year sending the mining ships on missions to find him cocaine.
And yes holy shit Gaeta's hair is gorgeous.
No way could I get myself to watch any less than 3 episodes in a row last night, so I'm keeping my mouth shut.
Haven't read yet but I just wanted to say that I have been desperately waiting for you to get here since you started BSG.
My theory about Cylons in general is that they really don't have much in the way of emotional intelligence until they get away from all their fellow models and into the world, and start interacting as individuals. And then they mature fast. But before that, it's not that they can't feel empathy and compassion (well, some of them, anyway. Not so much Cavill), but they're like little kids or, at best, whiny teenagers about it. And it's not always obvious, because of course in physical and mental terms they're adults. But they don't have any depth, at first.
I think the Occupation is totally symptomatic of this, with the vast majority of the Cylons thinking, well, apparently killing all humans was wrong? It seemed like the right decision at the time but we aren't terribly happy now, and Caprica Six and Boomer are telling us we should feel bad about it. So we'll have peace! Of course, we have to be in charge of that peace because humans are mean, but we're sure they'll settle down and accept that this is best for everyone. It's like a bunch of eight year olds trying to plan a utopia – no matter how bright they are, there are just all kinds of things they never accounted for, and why are people so difficult and unreasonable?
And I think pretty much the same thing is happening on the micro level with Leoben and Starbuck, because I do believe he wants her to be happy. He's given her all the comforts of home! He's making sure she's safe from the other humans. And since she's self-destructive, he won't let her have the means to hurt herself. Surely, soon she will love him. He just has to wait, and be nice to her, and the outward appearance of being a happy couple will become the reality. It's really got some awesome creepy resonance, because it's so 1950s gender roles meets Stockholm Syndrome meets "The Yellow Wallpaper," and to take away the free will and ability to fight of Starbuck of all characters is an especially nasty bit of psychological torture. Because as she once said to Helo, she fights because she doesn't know how to do anything else. That's who she is. And now she can't, and what does that leave for her?
One of my friends always says that she feels about Leoben kind of the way she'd feel about a cat who's just constantly killing things and bringing them in the house and setting them proudly at her feet. And it's gross, and omg the poor bird/mouse/fish/whatever, and why do you keep doing this?! No! Bad! ….*pets*
…I kind of feel that way about all the Cylons. I can't help it. I just love them. They are all my favorites.
And since she's self-destructive, he won't let her have the means to hurt herself.
Or kill him, for that matter. The first time I watched Occupation, I got the distinct sense that every time she killed him, he discovered one more potential murder weapon to deprive her of – I'm guessing she used a metal knife and fork on a previous occasion, which is partly why he doesn't let her handle her own sharp eating utensils.
It’s hard to remember what happened in this one specifically because the first 3-4 episodes of the season are all kind of running together in my mind. I’m burning through season three like wildfire. CAN’T STOP WATCHING.
Gah, Leoben is a CREEPY CREEP FROM CREEPYTOWN. WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH KARA YOU CREEPER. *shudder* I truly think being held against her will, especially in that creepy-ass fake home setting, was harder for Kara than anything that could have happened if she was down on the ground fighting. I love that she kills him, repeatedly, knowing he’ll just download and come back, but still doing it just because she can. The shot of her sitting and primly eating her dinner with his blood still on her hand? Scary awesome.
I remember knowing Gaeta was the source from the moment they said it was someone close to Baltar. Hmmm, who could it be? Either Gaeta or one of the cylons. No, really, I LOVE this part. (I have more to say on this, but I’ll save it for next episode.)
Yeah, Leoben is pure creep, and squick, and ALL THE HORRIBLE THINGS.
That dollhouse he's got her in, it gave me nightmares for days, and we haven't even SEEN just how bad it gets, yet.
my sicilian uncle, a very classically masculine, head of the family type, who prefers boom bang movies like die hard and platoon, watched the first segment of this episode, ending with starbuck killing leoben with her chopsticks, and he said, "dang. that girl is cold," and walked away. he said later it was too violent, which im sure was sarcastic, but still HILARIOUS. john mcclane aint got NOTHIN' on starbuck!!
These are my silly thoughts, after spending the day incomprehensibly tired but having to be at work anyway:
Ellen and Cavil frakking is just gross. Ew.
Naq vg'f rira tebffre jura lbh ernyvmr (n) fur perngrq uvz fb fur'f onfvpnyyl uvf zbgure, (o) fur perngrq uvz va gur vzntr bs ure sngure, naq (p) UR XABJF NYY BS GUVF. *fuhqqre*
TIGH. Or should I say "Tgh"?
Vg'f fnq gung Ryyra jnf senxxvat Pnivy va beqre gb trg Gvtu bhg naq gura yngre ur onfvpnyyl xvyyf ure sbe vg. Fvtu, gubfr gjb ner fb gentvp.
I love Scruffy Tigh in his cap and coat and bandage. I dunno why, I just do. I had a bunch of LiveJournal icons of him back in the day.
"insurgents" eh? I kinda see what you did there.
"Today is Mars' Day." HEY WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THAT OVER ON MARK READS.
I love Cavil using finger quotes for "God." Cavil, you may be an asshole, but you're an entertaining asshole.
"Let's execute Baltar." "What? What?!" Oh James Callis.
"It's not like they welcomed us with… with…" Yeah Cavil, it's not like they greeted you as liberators, right? I see what I did there.
I feel bad for that dog. "What happened to my bowl? Hey!"
God, Leoben is SO CREEPY. He's like the worst stalker ever. You can't even kill him! He'll ALWAYS COME BACK.
One of my problems with Lee and Dee is that I've never really seen them be happy together for more than, like, one scene.
And of course we have to show Lee eating to show how FAT he is. Ugh. Why, show.
The dog is like WTF THAT WAS WATER IN MY BOWL
….aaand that's it. That's all I got.
These are my silly thoughts, after spending the day incomprehensibly tired but having to be at work anyway:
Ellen and Cavil frakking is just gross. Ew.
Naq vg'f rira tebffre jura lbh ernyvmr (n) fur perngrq uvz fb fur'f onfvpnyyl uvf zbgure, (o) fur perngrq uvz va gur vzntr bs ure sngure, naq (p) UR XABJF NYY BS GUVF. *fuhqqre*
TIGH. Or should I say "Tgh"?
Vg'f fnq gung Ryyra jnf senxxvat Pnivy va beqre gb trg Gvtu bhg naq gura yngre ur onfvpnyyl xvyyf ure sbe vg. Fvtu, gubfr gjb ner fb gentvp.
I love Scruffy Tigh in his cap and coat and bandage. I dunno why, I just do. I had a bunch of LiveJournal icons of him back in the day.
"insurgents" eh? I kinda see what you did there.
"Today is Mars' Day." HEY WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THAT OVER ON MARK READS.
I love Cavil using finger quotes for "God." Cavil, you may be an asshole, but you're an entertaining asshole.
"Let's execute Baltar." "What? What?!" Oh James Callis.
"It's not like they welcomed us with… with…" Yeah Cavil, it's not like they greeted you as liberators, right? I see what I did there.
I feel bad for that dog. "What happened to my bowl? Hey!"
God, Leoben is SO CREEPY. He's like the worst stalker ever. You can't even kill him! He'll ALWAYS COME BACK.
One of my problems with Lee and Dee is that I've never really seen them be happy together for more than, like, one scene.
And of course we have to show Lee eating to show how FAT he is. Ugh. Why, show.
The dog is like WTF THAT WAS WATER IN MY BOWL
….aaand that's it. That's all I got. Maybe I will have something meaningful to say after I take a ten-hour nap.
TIGH. Or should I say "Tgh"?
My friends and I started calling him "Tgh" while we were watching the episode for the first time. We had to pause the TiVo because we couldn't stop laughing at ourselves.
I'm not quite sure why the Lee eating thing is problematic, partly because of two things:
1. This isn't his normal condition (how I miss the Bamceps!). Lee in regular, pre-New-Craprica mode spent a fair bit of time keeping himself fit – jogging, boxing, the weight room, not to mention Gods know how many hours flying Vipers – for the sake of not spoiling, I'll say I guessed that he hadn't been doing much of any of that for some time now, which leads me to ….
2. I seriously, seriously think he's depressed, and that he was depressed for a while before the Cylons came along. I know fat!Lee is funny to a lot of people, but to me he just seems sad – and sometimes, speaking from personal experience, depressed people do gain (or lose, depending on which way the beast has got you) weight. It's a bit like he just gave up even trying, and the weight gain etc is symptomatic of that.
I agree that he's depressed (he was kind of suicidal in that one episode), and weight gain could be a symptom of depression. But I do have a problem with the stereotype that fat people are constantly eating. People are fat for all sorts of reasons, and not all of them involve overeating, but on TV (and in other media) it seems like that's ALWAYS the cause. Which has the net result of shaming fat people for daring to eat food in public, because OMG DON'T YOU KNOW EATING FOOD MAKES YOU FAT.
late to replying to this, and I see your point about tv being mean about fat people in general, but in this specific case Lee's getting fat probably is because he overate/comfort-ate his way through his depression (it's what happened to me a few years ago). I mean, yes I know people are fat for lots of other reasons but I really, really doubt that Lee's current state could have been credibly explained by another physical disorder that sprang up in the course of just about a year.
I'm assuming it's worse because he's getting no help for the mental issues, stuck out in space like that.
Also, this is from the Wiki under Questions:
– When did Number Three reveal her Cylon nature?
– Who is Pegasus’s CAG?
– Are the Cylons continuing to pursue the Fleet? If not, why not?
– What events lead to Sharon Agathon’s change in behavior over time? How have she and William Adama been able to develop a friendly relationship?
– How did the New Capricans obtain steak?
HOW DID THE NEW CAPRICANS OBTAIN STEAK. Obviously the most important question!
Made a minor edit (I'm sure you can figure out what it was).
That's fine; the reporter was right, I should have been more careful.
Oh, Mark. You are SO FRAKKING UNPREPARED FOR THIS, there is no way for ANYONE TO EVEN BEGIN. And I'm really curious to see how you're going to take it, because this show, as it is now, is going in a new direction and some people weren't quite so happy about that. As for the prediction about not liking two episodes, you'll only know when you find out, but that was how many I found my own feelings lukewarm towards, so…..but I think it's safe to say you are going to be left completely hollow and devastated (if not actually in tears) by the same thing – 2 things actually – that did that to me, so there's that too.
And OH GODS LEOBEN IS CREEPY. IMPRISONING SOMEONE AND WAITING FOR STOCKHOLM SYNDROME TO SET IN =/=LOVE. EVER.
Did I miss something somewhere? Why do you call Leoben "Conoy"?
Not speaking for Mark, but his full name is Leoben Conoy.
Strange. I've watched the whole series twice, and never noticed him having a last name. *shrug*
I thought I remembered it being mentioned in the mini-series.
Everybody who knows all these Cylon names is doing way better than me. I never picked them up at all. I've been calling them Six, Eight, Wormy Guy Model, Violent Guy Model, Lucy Lawless Model, Black Doctor Model and Priest Model.
ARGH! Who linked to that fanfic "Benevolent Siblings"? Didn't you say it was spoiler-safe after Season 2? Because I'm pretty sure it just spoiled the shit out of me.
Googled the fic and according to the date of the post it was written and posted after S2 but before S3. I think you're fine.
So where the fic "reveals" someone as a Cylon agent, I should take that as an AU imagining rather than canon? The introduction did say it's set directly after Final Cut but I wasn't sure whether it was *written* before S3 and I was freaking out. (Turns out avoiding BSG spoilers on the interwebs is HARD! Who knew?)
I know who all the cylons are so I'm avoiding confirming/denying anything, but I feel safe in assuming the cylon "reveal" in the fic is simply a guess, and it comes off tongue-in-cheek at that.
Cylon identities were kept a big secret by the production crew and I don't remember there being spoilers floating around (at least, not as early as when that fic was posted). Whether or not the character in question turns out to be a cylon, I have no reason to believe the author of the fic had any sort of actual knowledge about that at the time of the fic.
Consider yourself unspoiled.
Whew! Thanks.
"Adama is a cylon."
– Yrbora Pbabl, frnfba bar.
While watching the episode on the day it first aired, my friends and I started calling him "Colonel Tgh." We had to pause the TiVo because we were laughing so hard at ourselves.
My spouse pointed out that the initials for Gaius "Weasel" Baltar are GWB. 😛
But that's not his middle name! His middle name is 'Frakking'. </oblivioustometaphor>
Bahahahaaaaaa.
Spouse and I have a game where we invent a new middle name for Gaius every time he appears onscreen, but we're a handful of episodes ahead of Mark so a lot of those would be spoilery and I can't share.
Oh my's, this episode has one of my favorite moments of the entire series — the moment when it's clear that Adama and Sharon are now close, and that she's his one confidant in a sea of incompetence and misery. I love more than words that the show doesn't try to talk away how this happened, that it was just inevitable given enough time and isolation that Adama would warm to Sharon again. [Happy sigh] I love it when all my favorites love each other too.
Of course, that's about the only bright spot in an incredibly dark episode. But people, Sharon/Adama friendship counts for ALL the positives, infinite positives. So really, if you count by weight instead of number, this is overall a positive episode.
Just kidding. This episode is so distressing. I don't even like to think about Starbuck's situation. It hurts my heart to see her being tortured like that. I love that she keeps killing Leoben, even though he comes back again. Never give up, never surrender!
I think there’s an unfortunate implication in making Lee fat, which tries to say that people who gain weight aren’t healthy or qualified.
Yes, yes, yes. I hate Fat Lee because I think it's 1) fatphobic, and 2) comes off as the comical fat guy trope a little bit, too. I think the latter relates to Jamie Bamber not actually being a fat man and carrying the 'weight' really awkwardly.
Also, can we talk about how everyone is in such terrible situations, but think of the poor people that came from Cylon-occupied Caprica. They had survived alone on Caprica for like a year – civilians turned into guerrilla war vets. They are finally given hope when they are rescued and brought to Caprica. Then, they are thrown right back into another occupation.
That fat suit is just ridiculously bad, too. It's like they weren't even trying. I am completely incapable of taking any scenes with Lee seriously as long as he's going to be in that stupid thing.
"But he’s going to fail, right? Someone will stop him, right? How is he going to get past the security at the entrance?"
Kind of surprised, frankly, that the Cylons don't have any little bomb-sniffing robots. Would have saved them a heap of trouble. Let that be a lesson to you, Cylons!
This episode. Bloody hell what a season opener. Amazing. Just…the feeling of disorientation at the opening, the sadness and bleakness throughout. So stunning.[youtube F6M85I8hhUU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6M85I8hhUU youtube]
This song fits the human's situation to a T, I think.