In the second episode of the third season of Battlestar Galactica, AHASDKJLFH ADS;FH AS;DFHJDASF;LKJ OH MY GOD HOW DID ANY OF YOU HANDLE WATCHING THIS SHOW IN REAL TIME. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica.
To re-purpose what someone told me on my A Storm of Swords prediction post: sweet summer child, i was so unprepared. This was a season premiere. THIS WAS THE FIRST EPISODE. THERE ARE MANY MORE TO COME and i. i just cannot.
how. This is worse than everything ever and i am ridiculous and hyperbole and
what
what
what the fuck
Every Glorious Thing That Mark Was Unprepared For In “Precipice”
- The nerve that Gaius Baltar has approaching Laura Roslin, detained by the Cylons, and trying to take the moral high ground with her. Oh, no, fuck you, Gaius. THE CYLONS ARE LITERALLY OPPRESSING THE HUMANS. AND YOU WANT ROSLIN TO PUBLICLY CONDEMN THE ACTIONS? oh my god I wanted to reach through the screen and slap the shit out of him.
- The entire NCP arrest sequence, from seeing Jammer prepare for it and clearly act completely conflicted about it, to the actual execution. I thought it was brilliant for the show to actually use night vision lenses to give us shots of the chaos because it not only makes it feel real, but it creates this sense of detachment from the action. Also FUCKED UP. SO FUCKED UP. You detain a woman and leave her child completely alone. DAMN IT.
- Jammer’s completely damaged sense of morals post-raid. Especially the conversation with Tyrol where he tries to sort out how he feels, but Tyrol very plainly states that after this is all over, he wants to hang all the collaborators while he and Jammer watch on. HELLO AWKWARD.
- THE CYLONS CREATED A HUMANOID OUT OF STARBUCK’S EGGS FROM THE OVARY THEY STOLE FROM HER IN “THE FARM.” Fuck you, Cylons. Fuck you. Fuck you. fuck you.
- Sharon is being promoted. BLESS YOU, ADAMA. I LOVE YOU.
- Admiral Adama’s emotional scene with his son where he admits that Lee is right, that what he’s doing is incredibly risky and probably a bad idea, and instead plans to only take the Galactica to New Caprica.
- The existence of a child that might very well be Starbuck’s “biological daughter” or might just be a trick to make Starbuck fall for Conoy. AND I HATE THAT I DON’T KNOW WHICH IT IS BECAUSE IT COULD ALSO BE BOTH OF THEM. oh god my heart can’t handle this.
- Tigh basically yelling at Roslin to SIT THE FUCK DOWN about moralizing war because oh my god it is so awkward.
- KACEY FALLS ON THE STAIRS AND THERE IS BLOOD AND WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON. Oh my god, they are at the hospital and Starbuck grabs Conoy’s hand and PLEASE MAKE ALL OF THIS GO AWAY. ALL OF IT. FOREVER.
- “Frak you, Sharon, you stupid frakked-up toaster. How many times do I have to shoot you anyway?” HOLD ME. HOLD ME CLOSER.
- Oh jesus christ, ANOTHER SUICIDE BOMB. How eerie is that video? That woman just runs into the power station and explodes mid-step. my god what is this show doing.
- Okay. I need to talk about this. badly. Post-suicide bomb, the entire scene on the Colonial One where the Cylons agree it’s time to take much stricter measures to get the humans to fall in line. (Well, except Caprica Six and Boomer, who fully disagree with this.) A number Three passes Baltar a document, asking for his signature, so that they can execute every prisoner they have detained. It took half a second for that to really hit me. Wait. Every prisoner…that’s Cally. That’s Roslin. No. No, you can’t do that. And Baltar says no. Oh, Baltar, you have a lot to answer for, but in that one second, I cheered, “YES. YES. FUCK YES,” at my television. Finally! He was standing up to the Cylons! AND THEN FIVE PUTS A GUN TO HIS HEAD AND STARTS SCREAMING AT HIM AND EVERYTHING IS 100% AWFUL. This scene is unbearable. It terrifies me because for the entirety of it, I believe that they’ll execute Baltar without regret. He is a figurehead. He means nothing to them. And then Caprica-Six tries to take his side, and Five SHOOTS HER IN THE HEAD. HE KILLS HER. They’re going to Box her, aren’t they? This is the worst. This is the fucking worst.
- Baltar signs the document. Fuck everything.
- Cavil threatens Ellen with the detainment/murder of her husband if she doesn’t spy on them and give them information on the place and time of a meeting of the resistance. Fuck you, Cylons.
- Watching Ellen give up her husband and her friends out of desperation just fills me with sadness. Sorry, there’s no doubt in my mind that she loves her husband and I know this is a bizarre way to show it, but she refuses to let her husband be detained or killed again. Though…might he be killed by the Cylons? Whatever, it’s a risk and she takes it.
- Gaeta’s confrontation of Baltar. Angry Gaeta scares me. Crying Baltar makes me sad, in spite of what he’s done.
- ROSLIN IS DETAINED AGAIN. oh my god and Tom Zarek has been in detention THE ENTIRE FUCKING TIME.
- Zarek telling Roslin that he wishes she stole the election. MY HEART SWELLED WITH JOY.
- Sharon and the troops she brought meet Anders, it’s wonderful, and then AMBUSH. STOP IT, BSG. YOU ARE HURTING ME.
- Jammer sets Cally free!!!!! OMG YOU DO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL CONSCIENCE. also i think Jammer is hot SORRY I DO.
- That ending scene. You are kidding me. KIDDING ME. The execution is real and the people in the trucks had no idea they were going to their deaths. The Centurions open fire on the prisoners as we see Cally running away, getting only a glimpse of the horror on Roslin’s and Zarek’s face. Then cut to black.
This show. This show.
I’m in awe of this premiere. Every idea I might have had about where this show could go, or where these characters might be headed, has been completely altered in just ninety minutes. (Wow, my predictions look AWFUL right about now. My god.) This is entertainment that makes me think, and I am finding that I feel deeply invested in the futures of many of these characters.
But at this point, what I’m most excited about is the fact that I genuinely believe that pretty much anything could happen and nearly anyone could die. That is a really refreshing feeling to have while watching Battlestar Galactica because I feel like I can just trust where this is going. The writing is just so good.
I’m going to shut up and go watch episode three. I NEED TO KNOW MORE.
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/f1cinr.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
(I need to catch up on reviews but I couldn't resist)
Suck on that David Caruso.
omgomgomg I loveloveLOVE the scene with Zarek and Roslin! ALL the awesome in this episode and that has to be my favourite part.
"I wish you'd gone through with it."
"Me too."
Also, does someone have a gif of Roslin slapping Tigh? Because I could really watch that all day. ALL. DAY.
I mean, he had some legit points but MAN is it ever good to see him slapped in the face once in a while. It's enough to make you miss Starbuck.
Think how different everything would be if Roslin had stolen the election. I suppose hindsight is 20/20, though. Even she couldn't have predicted the complete and utter failure of Baltar's administration.
Yeah, you've gotta wonder. I mean, would Roslin have surrendered to the Cylons? Would she have been killed? Although I guess they wouldn't have settled on New Caprica anyway if she was elected.
Or would they? If the majority of the fleet wanted to, could she really have stopped that? After all, they are a democracy and the Quorum might well have forced through the order against her wishes. Perhaps her leadership and good sense would have made New Caprica a better place before the Cylons showed up.
I think since that was the main issue of the election, she probably could (and would) have just declared that the majority clearly wanted to keep searching for Earth. So they'd probably still be on the run and maybe wishing they had settled back on New Caprica. It couldn't have been any worse than this. Who knows, though?
"It couldn't have been any worse than this."
Are you watching the same show as the rest of us? BSG Rule 1: it can always get worse. Corrolary i: and it will do so. Repeatedly.
Well that's clearly why they ended up in this timeline, not that one. 🙂
<img src="http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m593/the_mauve_avenger/RoslinSlapsTigh.gif">
It's been so long since I've posted a gif that I forgot how to do it for a minute.
And I know I have the longer version of this, but for some reason it shows up under my pictures as two copies of the one above. :/
Oh my god I'm literally sitting here watching this and laughing my ass off.
Just…the expression on…Roslin's face…BWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHA!!!! Can't…breathe…
My dad just came upstairs to see what was so funny I was laughing so loud.
The entire storyline with Kacey just makes my skin crawl. Is it really her daughter? Is it her daughter with Leoben? Or is it just some random child they kidnapped from a human couple? I was trying to do the math to figure out if Starbuck's kid could be that old. She'd have to be younger than Hera (unless cylons somehow accelerated the gestation process), and Hera was born just before they found the planet. So Kara's kid would have to be less than 16 months, right? Did that kid look 16 months old? Did I do the math wrong? Are the cylons super advanced? Like, is this a stormtrooper thing (god that movie was awful, sorry everyone)? Or is it possible that this is just some random kid they grabbed? How deep does their manipulation go? It's just awful any way you look at it and gets worse the longer you think about it. I mean, did Kacey really just fall? Or did Leoben hurt her to further manipulate Kara? Why am I think these thoughts?
Chief broke my heart this episode. Between raging at Gaeta and then sympathizing with Jammer. I just wanted to shake him and tell him that he was so wrong, that he had everything backwards.
I also kind of like Zarek now. The fact that he actually stood by his principles, refused to be complicit in the Cylon occupation, and spent 4 months in detention because of it makes me respect him a bit more. I mean, I at least like him enough to hope that he isn't dead.
Zarek's a interesting figure is me because he's simultaneously a man of principle (even back in the Astral Queen days) and an incredibly manipulative, Machiavellian, "ends justify the means" slimeball. I'm not quite sure how they manage to pull off that duality without making him seem schizophrenic, but they do.
"An," dammit, "an." I knows teh Englursh, I swear.
I think Machiavellian is the perfect word to describe him. He has the patience and the vision to be a big picture guy and he manipulates people in order to move closer to his vision of the future. It's interesting how that makes him evil when you don't agree with him and sympathetic when you do.
Good point. What I’ve always found particularly interesting is that Machiavelli wasn’t really making a value judgment of his hypothetical Prince. The primarily negative connotation to the word comes from how such a figure is usually portrayed in fiction. Greel Cengpurgg’f Ybeq Irgvanev vf gur bayl znwbe pbhagrerknzcyr V pna guvax bs bss-unaq – ur’f rirel ovg nf Znpuvniryyvna nf Mnerx, ohg vf cerfragrq nf (zber be yrff) “tbbq.”
V cersre gb guvax bs Ybeq Iragvanev nf ynjshy arhgeny, engure guna tbbq. Pregnvayl abg rivy gubhtu.
Irgvanev’f haqretbar n genafvgvba bire gvzr, fgnegvat bhg nf n snagnfl-fgnaqneq pnpxyvat qrfcbg glcr, naq tenqhnyyl zbivat gbjneqf gur “tbbq” raq bs gur fcrpgehz nf Cengpurgg tbg n orggre unaqyr ba gur punenpgre. V thrff V jbhyqa’g pnyy gur Irgvanev bs gur cnfg qrpnqr’f jbegu bs Qvfpjbeyq obbxf n “tbbq thl” cre fr, ohg uvf ehyr vf pregnvayl cerfragrq nf nccebkvzngryl oraribyrag, naq qrsvavgryl n tbbq guvat sbe gur pvgl birenyy.
Nqzvggrqyl, gung’f va pbzcnevfba gb fhpu fgreyvat crefbanyvgvrf nf Znq Ybeq Fancpnfr, ohg fgvyy. 🙂
Okay, I’m still only through Guvrs bs Gvzr (reading them chronologically because I’m like that). So I actually haven’t read any from the last decade. I can see that trend so far, though.
Ah, damn – sorry if I inadvertently spoiled that for you. 🙁 In fact, since I’m really hoping for Mark Reads Discworld at some point, maybe I should just stop talking Irgvanev for the time being…
Just a quick HELL YES for Mark Reads Discworld.
Nf sbe Irgvanev, V’q chg uvz nf Ynjshy Arhgeny gbb, jvgubhg tbvat vagb jul. Orpnhfr, jryy…
Bar guvat V ernyyl ybir nobhg Irgvanev vf ubj fybjyl uvf punenpgre vf erirnyrq guebhtubhg gur pbhefr bs fb znal obbxf. Rirel gvzr V guvax V unir n unaqyr ba uvz, ur fhecevfrf zr.
Mark is going to read Discworld at some point! So, just to be safe because of how this conversation started, I rot13'd everything about Irgvanev, nobhg jubz V nterr jvgu lbhe nffrffzrag. V yvxr uvz zber guna V cebonoyl fubhyq 🙂
I can't wait for Mark Reads Discworld, but OMG, how long is that going to TAKE?
And, the above mentioned character goes back and forth from my first to second favorite character in the series. This may say something about me. Right now he's currently first, though.
FOREVER. Nah, it says on his suggestion page that when he gets to Discworld, he'll think about doing smaller series within the whole, and he chooses which series to do based on his interest and us yelling at him. So if we keep having lots of excited rot13 conversations about Discworld, maybe it'll happen sooner!
I love a lot of characters in this series, but I never waver on my favorite. She's what I aspire to be one day. Whfg tbggn jbex ba zl urnqbybtl.
I'd be totally fine with book reviews for Discworld, rather than chapter-by-chapter (especially since Discworld books don't actually have chapters). One question that would come up at that point, though, is which books he should read, and in what order. Chronological or by "sub-series"? I know that waiting for him to get through "Colour of Magic" and its ilk when there's SO much more to talk about once we get to (and beyond) the "Mort" era will be… difficult, as a fan.
That's actually a really good idea. Maybe we can convince him to do read them on the side like he's doing with ASOIAF. People have suggested that he split it up into subseries, and I guess he'd start with whichever one we beg for or what interests him the most.
Actually, I think the sub-series order is probably a better idea, esp. since the early Discworld books aren't really…..the greatest of the lot, let's leave it at that.
Like you said, there is so much more to those books, and it seems a shame to waste time when there's an easy way to just go straight to the awesome bits while still making sense of things and not missing out on the story along the way.
I don't really mind. I read Discworld more for the language and satire than for mind-blowing plot and character developments. 🙂
No, your math makes sense to me. Either Leoben is lying, the casting director decided an older kid was easier, or Kacey is Renesmee. You're right, it does get worse the more you think about it.
Yeah, way to make me think Zarek isn't all that bad, show. Now I've gotta worry that they're gonna kill him off.
My niece, who looks and acts exactly like Kacey (down to the same babble-language) is 21 months old. That said, she's getting to the age where she's saying words ("Mom," "Up," "Mickey," and particularly "nom," because her stomach is a black hole), and Kacey isn't shown saying anything, which makes me suspect that the casting director might have thought that an older girl would be easier to work with.
First rule of television: Don't work with children, don't work with animals. Between Kacey and Jake, this episode breaks that one pretty neatly, just because the whole 'abandon all old sets, build new planet' thing wasn't enough of a challenge for the crew.
tbh I like the dog better, at least Jake doesn't make me squick.
Oh my gosh, I never even thought of Leoben purposely making her fall!!! I assumed it was an accident, and then thought it was a little too coincidential and predictable for this show. arrgh now I'm thinking dark and scary thoughts.
My heart is filled with so much glee at her now being Sharon Agathon. *squee* they're married, it makes me happy. Bill's continuing faith in her, Tyrol standing up for her and Anders hugging her when she arrives on New Caprica make me even happier. On the other hand: Dee, Lee and Tigh can all kindly shut the frak up with the "OMGWHUT Why is SHE going?!" crap. She's helped save humanity how many times now?
The opening scene between Gaius and Laura is so awful ("Nobody's been tortured" yeah you stick with that denial there Gaius) but I do love the similarity to the scene between them in Bill's quarters in Lay Down Your Burdens II, the attempt to get the other person to agree to something that will benefit the person asking. Plus it's more of Mary McDonnell and James Callis, they're always awesome together.
"Read it later. Sign now." As tense as the surrounding scene is Lucy Lawless' delivery of that line makes me flat out lol every single time.
I thought it was brilliant for the show to actually use night vision lenses to give us shots of the chaos because it not only makes it feel real, but it creates this sense of detachment from the action. Also FUCKED UP. SO FUCKED UP.
I specifically remember there being notices for disturbing content at the end of the ad break just before that sequence during the original airing and BY GOD IS IT JUSTIFIED.
I love that they got married! All the happy! And it's nice that Sharon has allies outside of Helo now.
Yeah, thank the gods that happened or there wouldn't be a single ray of sunshine anywhere in this episode.
I just. This entire Starbuck storyline is getting to me on a painfully visceral level. And it's so well written and acted (ALL THE AWARDS! ALL OF THEM!) but oh my God, it's so painful and triggery and I am glad we're watching this one episode a day so that I can take the time between each episode to intellectualize the whole thing instead of letting it get to me emotionally like I would if I were marathoning it.
That ending, though. Oh, God. I watched this with part 1 before you even did your prediction post so I've been waiting SINCE THEN to watch the next episode. The wait has been PAINFUL.
Same here on the waiting. But finally, tonight, I can watch the next part. And we're having steak for dinner, my favorite. YAY!
This entire Starbuck storyline is getting to me on a painfully visceral level.
Me too. All of it, every last bit, just makes me want to puke and then run away. That whole situation is painful because it'd be any woman's worst nightmare (it's most def. one of mine). And it's particularly hard to see because it's Starbuck.
Yeah, I'm also terrified for these characters and I have no idea what's going to happen to them. I just need to watch more and hold my breath and hope that my favorites survive (please don't hang Gaeta). This premiere was pretty dark and exciting, so yay?
Dammit, Baltar. At the beginning, I wasn't sure whether he was only rebuffing Roslin's claims about torture to maintain the moral highground, or whether he's in denial about it because he can't admit what he's done to humanity. Probably the latter, but it was still a really intense scene. I almost feel bad for him.
And wtf is going on with Starbuck. I figured that they stole her eggs, but that was barely two years ago! I know, I know, kids are cast at ages that they're easy to deal with, not as a reflection of their characters' ages, but I still refuse to believe that kid is hers on age grounds. It just seems like the next step in horrific psychological torture. Does Starbuck even have any idea how much time has passed? And way to use this poor kid, Starbuck's or not, in your frakkin mind games, Leoben. Really, you guys are the epitome of goodness and morality.
Then there's Roslin. I refuse to believe that she's going to die, but I'm still scared for her. I can't believe it's been nearly a week since I watched this episode. NEED MORE.
I looked it up. The actress was 2 when this was made.
She was really good though, regardless.
Mark, I am sitting here with the biggest grin on my face. I'm grinning because I love how much you love this show. And your love is reminding me all over again why I loved this show sooooo much.
And you are still NOT FRAKKIN PREPARED. In fact, I will go so far as to say you will never be prepared.
EVER. And this show makes that a beautiful state of existence.
To the very end, NO ONE was ever prepared. *sigh*
I hope Mark has a box of tissues on hand, though, because I'm pretty sure he'll cry at some point. Or multiple points during the next season or two.
BZT V PNA'G SENXXVAT JNVG SBE GUR ARKG RCVFBQR
ZNEX'F URNQ JVYY RKCYBQR JURA TNYNPGVPN QBRF GUNG GUVAT FUR QBRF LBH XABJ QNZA JRYY JUNG V'Z GNYXVAT NOBHG
…Oh yeah, this episode was awesome too. So many acting props to James Callis, whose continually incredible performance as Baltar too often gets overshadowed by the distaste we (are supposed to) feel for his character.
Baltar was/is my favorite character on the show because he is so complex. He could have been a caricature in a lesser actor's hands but Callis is just brilliant.
Oh, Baltar is a straight-up slime in Season 1 but I think by Season 2, most people had noticed how utterly frakking brilliant James Callis is because that's the season in which Baltar gets a little more complex.
BSG just has an amazing cast, really – every single one of the regulars just brings it, and considering how large the cast is and what minefields their characters are, I am AMAZED none of them was ever nominated for an Emmy – it's just pathetic and says more about the Emmys than about BSG.
Actually, I forgot to mention this last episode, but the idea of Roslin as a schoolteacher again is really hilarious to me. Considering everything she's done so far…as a kid I'd be terrified in her class. Misbehave in her class and you could be facing the airlock!
I'd do my goddamn homework on time, I'll tell you that.
It's a good thing there are no airlocks on the planet. She's probably thought up an equivalent punishment by now, though. I'm sure she has a very well-behaved class.
"I'm not suggesting anything, Maya. If I want to throw a small child out an airlock for passing notes, I'll do it."
You need to stop picking shows for which you will never be prepared. Because BSG will always manage to pull something on you.
The whole Kasey storyline creeps me out so much. Like, we knew Kara never wanted kids and now here's this one sprung on her and she gets hurt and *shudders*
[youtube Ymwf2ucOfQ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymwf2ucOfQ0 youtube]
Because more Bear McCreary = more love.
Bush Is Bad, You Guys! Seriously!
It was really, really lovely to hear my beloved prologue music again. They changed the visuals, but they were appropriate changes. But, God, I love that music.
The first act started out pretty strong. I think Starbuck killing Leoben and then quietly sitting down to eat dinner with one blood-stained hand was the best part of the episode. And…I mean both episodes. Because that scene wowed me and made me think, "Okay, maybe this show can woo me back." It helped, of course, that they used "Passacaglia."
For the larger part of the remaining hours, though, I was both annoyed and uncomfortable with the RIDICULOUSLY BLATANT parallels with the Bush administration and the current political environment. Yes, I know the show has been doing this for two years, making commentary on the world we live in, the dark side of the world we live in. But at this point, it's become a really depressing Daily Show. If I wanted to watch the news, I'd watch the news. Suicide bombings? Check. People being led into detention camps with bags over their heads? Check. President denying any reports of torture? Check. Everything being done in the name of God? Check. I'm fairly stupid and apolitical and don't pay attention to current events and even I could see it.
And speaking of seeing, file this under Things I Don't Need to See: Ellen Tigh having sex with Dean Stockwell. Although Ellen got some extra layers to her character in these episodes, so that was nice. She's now a Cylon-frakker.
I love Cavill, though. I really, really like that all the Cylons have very distinct, different personalities, and the clashes among them were highlights, especially because you get cute shots of the multiple clones. But they also highlighted a basic problem I had with the finale. What the frak are they frakking doing? They decided to subjugate the human race…in the name of God? If, as Cavill says, they're here to bring the Word of God, why aren't we seeing any preachers or churches or proselytizing? What does God want for the heathen human race and their Lords of Kobol? I don't understand! I also liked that Six and Eight have retained their "Downloaded" experience and are trying to bring a more enlightened "Um, maybe God doesn't want us to KILL EVERYONE SO MUCH" point of view to the table.
I do wonder about Caprica Six, though, who proclaimed her love for Baltar and then got SHOT IN THE FUCKING HEAD. Was she an anomaly? Will she be reborn just as she was? Do the other Sixes love Baltar? Someone needs to punch Doral in the face for killing Six like that, because you DON'T DO THAT.
Speaking of things you don't do: IS EVERYONE FRAKKING MARRIED NOW? Lee and Dualla got married? Sharon and Helo got married? Okay, that one I buy, but I'll miss hearing them say "Sharon Valerii," because that was a cool name.
Then there's Starbuck's baby, or whatever that is. Because the Cylon-human hybrids are the shit. This creepy arrangement with Leoben is…creepy. He's very patient, too, after getting killed five times. You'd think he'd take the hint. Starbuck's not going to love you, dude. Except when the kid trips and falls or something, and she squeezes your hand because children make the ovaries pulsate.
Gaeta got pretty cool, too, being the Mysterious Informant That Couldn't Possibly Be the Human Closest to the President. Okay, I didn't guess it was him until he started running like hell through the streets of New Caprica, which was a cool scene.
You know, a lot of shit happened in these two episodes. They packed them full of lots of intertwining, complicated subplots.
Also: Lee got FAT, yo. I was not even prepared. Poor Jamie Bamber. Look at that gut!
So. I appreciate what they're doing here. But I don't love it. This isn't the show I signed up for, you know? I liked it more when they were on the run from the Cylons. And I understand that they tried to shake things up, and I will admit this is the ballsiest show on television. And this whole resistance thing and human revolution thing could be very, very cool. But this show hasn't wooed me back just yet. I still like it. I think. I know I'm supposed to, after all. The show is still a phenomenal technical achievement; I love the production value, the look and sound of the show. And I want to see what's going to happen and where this story is going. I don't know. I don't deal well with change, and this is a big change.
Oh, Battlestar Galactica. I love the slanted walls in your A-shaped halls. I…wish we could see them again.
If you're uncomfortable with the political allegories, at some level this show may not really be for you. It's sort of like "The West Wing" – sure, it's enjoyable purely on the level of character interaction and dialogue. But unless you're willing to engage at the political and philosophical levels as well, you're going to tire of the show quickly.
In the case of BSG, it should once again be noted that it was made in the mid-2000s, and MUST be viewed through the unique lens of those times (it feels weird to phrase it in such a past tense-y way, but things really have changed a lot in the past five years). BSG continually confronted really controversial topics in REALLY controversial ways, at a time in this country when the perspectives it dared to explore were virtually verboten. These things that one might consider "ridiculously blatant" as a post-Obama viewer in 2011, I considered extraordinarily brave as an anti-war liberal staring horrified at the news every night in 2006.
I wrote that post when the show aired originally. It was ridiculously blatant then, too.
*shrug* I disagree. Or rather, I disagree that the blatantness was ridiculous: IMO, it was something that needed to be said, and I was elated that Ron Moore said it.
Seconded. I was glad these issues were on TV and in the news because God knows they weren't in the actual news.
Thirded, if that is even a word. I didn't find it ridiculous at all, either – it was good storytelling, and the fact that it paralleled a real-world situation didn't put me off.
Ron Moore did make mistakes/bad decisions during the course of the series (and I have spent hours on lj crying and railing about those mistakes), but this storyline isn't one of them.
I liked the show … regardless, in a manner. By that I mean, I didn't necessarily see it as a political parallel but as good storytelling on its own, especially the philosophical stuff.
For some reason with this episode, it always takes me until the moment Gaeta sees the trucks rolling off to remember how it ends. It's a very "oh right FUCK" moment and it happens every time. I was watching it with my parents once and it was the first time they'd seen it, and given that this realization hit me exactly like that, I spent most of the last few minutes of the episode hiding my face. And then the end hit and they WANTED TO KILL ME.
But things I can finally say!:
– The scene in Colonial One is one of my Favorite Things. It's really wonderfully acted and designed, given that it's one of the few we've seen that is predominantly about Cylons and Cylon interaction. But they've built up the drama enough that you totally believe they could and would kill Baltar, especially once they JUST SHOOT CAPRICA UGH. But I also like the smaller hints they give about the Cylons, like Boomer commenting that humans died in the suicide bombing and One retorting "Who gives a frak about that part?," and their making a collective decision.
– I can call the Sharon up on Galactica Sharon Agathon now! I am kind of super excited about this. It cuts down a lot of hassle. And also, though I kind of suck at shipping when it comes to this show, the exception to that is Sharon/Helo because I Love Them. But I do also really love her little exchange with Adama about trust. It really touched nicely on other aspects of the episode, such as Lee trying to dissuade Adama from going back to New Caprica to the general arc of what's happened there. Trust is about putting your interests in another's hands, even though you can't know for sure that they'll do what's right by you. And sometimes that may really end up being awful for you (or you may be the person who messes up and lets someone else down), but you also can't operate if you're only distrustful and/or self-hating. It just won't work – you'll have to eventually afford trust to others and yourself again.
Or everything could just be awful. That too.
re: Sharon – YES!!!!! And soon we'll be noyr gb pnyy ure Nguran gbb 🙂
"I, Sharon Agathon…" I literally jumped out of my chair and did a happy dance the first time I saw this moment on television. They're married! She's part of the Colonial Fleet! EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL.
For like two seconds, of course, because this is Battlestar Galactica. When good shit happens, you just know that HORRIBLE SHIT is on its way. I feel so sorry for Gaeta in that moment where he confronts Baltar, because you can just see that he realizes everything is falling apart. He's already been disillusioned with the Baltar administration by this time, but it looks like his heart can still break. Poor Felix.
Also, look, it's a return of Shut Up, Cally! The Series. Seriously, I don't expect her to be warm and loving towards Boomer, what with the whole Cylon occupation and all. But she is just so UGLY here, just nasty and jealous ("If you can't help me, go away and leave US alone!") and generally icky. I dislike her so much.
I'm no big fan of Cally either and I love Boomer, but I find it harder to hate her for being nasty to Boomer when she's the prisoner and just got locked up away from her son. 'Specially considering the whole Cylon occupation thing was partly Boomer's idea to begin with.
It's pretty low on the scale of ick considering the other things people and Cylons are up to here.
One of my favorite convention stories is how terribly awkward it was for Kate Vernon to shoot those scenes with Ellen on Cavil, because her partner being Dean Stockwell was bad enough, but then, to make it worse, part of the time it wasn't even him but some random stand-in dude that she's grinding on. it's very funny, and you should all seek it out after you watch the whole series.
Anyway, it's all just miserable on New Caprica. And yet I somehow manage to make Kara's situation even worse in my head — like, I'm convinced Leoben pushed Kacey, even though it seems to be just an accident. poor Kara, that is some messed up, bleak stuff.
her partner being Dean Stockwell was bad enough
<small voice>I've always thought Stockwell's kinda attractive.</small voice>
I'm sorry. I'll let myself out now.
So much for my HTML-fu. I WILL LEAVE.
I'm just relaying the gist of it (she wasn't … um, thrilled, lol). I suspect he might look a little different when you're supposed to be simulating sex with him. 😉
That has to be the most awkward thing ever, agreed. I have great respect for actors' professionalism!
Right after this one, I was completely predicting that Casey was another Cylon model, and probably the leader of them all, just because it would be really cool to see the ultimate badass villain in the body of a little girl. I mean, she cracks her head open the second Starbuck isn't watching? That seemed quite suspect.
It's also important to remember what was happening in the world at this time. People knew about Abu Gharib, and American forces were under heavy scrutiny as to how far they would go in the Middle East. And then comes BSG, portraying its heroes as people under the thumb of an all-powerful invader, reduced to suicide bombings as the only way they can strike back with any effect. My brain hurt then, and it hurts now.
Anyone know a good place to find icons of that episode (or on another note, of Starbuck/Leoben in general)?
Want to know just how awesome Bear McCreary is? This is what you get when you ask him to do a Christian song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CC2skFNaQc
I love that song so freaking much.
Oh this episode.
Gaius, you pathetic sna — OMG they're going to shoot Gaius. THEY WILL TOTALLY DO IT. OMFG.
Cally screaming. Sweet Jesus, my heart. SO hard to watch.
ASJAJHDJGAHHDGASHFASDGFAG WTF LEOBEN. THAT IS NOT A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION. THAT IS A CHILD. YOU DON'T USE A CHILD TO PROVE A POINT. Yet more fodder for my theory that Cylons have nfc how humans really work.
How come Hera is so much smaller than Casey if they should be about the same age? Shouldn't Hera be almost two now? (This was according to my on-the-fly calculations at the time. I think I had some of the time-lapses between seasons wrong. I'm still not sure how it works.)
What's this? Tom Zarek acting like a decent human being instead of a snake in the grass? Will wonders never cease.
I think Roslin and Zarek and everyone know what's going to happen to them. When you've been detained without charges or representation by a brutally oppressive regime and loaded into a convoy of trucks, it's not for a picnic.
Jammer! OMG. He's going to be killed for this. They will find out and kill him. He's trading his life for Cally's.
HOLY SHIT THEY JUST KILLED LAURA ROSLIN. THEY KILLED MY PRETEND WIFE. NOOOOOOOOOO.
ASJAJHDJGAHHDGASHFASDGFAG WTF LEOBEN. THAT IS NOT A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION. THAT IS A CHILD. YOU DON'T USE A CHILD TO PROVE A POINT. Yet more fodder for my theory that Cylons have nfc how humans really work.
Cylons are dicks. But then, I'd have said you also don't "make" someone love you by SHUTTING THEM UP IN AN APARTMENT-SHAPED PRISON AND FORCING THEM TO BE IN A PRETEND-RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU and then waiting for Stockholm Syndrome to set in (*pukes*).
How come Hera is so much smaller than Casey if they should be about the same age?
Hera's probably approaching 18 months now, but I always thought Kacey was too big to have gestated and grown to that size in just about the same time (Sharon was pregnant before Starbuck got caught in the farm).
Since I've been so busy with school, I haven't been able to comment at all really, but I had to make time for this episode. Since I've been so short on free time, I haven't been able to catch up on Doctor Who either, so I forgot you were doing a DW review yesterday instead of BSG. After watching THIS episode, you can probably imagine how horrified I was when I realized that in order to not get ahead of you, I would have to wait an entire extra day to see what happened next. Oops.
I did a lot of IRL shouting/talking to the screen with this one. Random offspring of Starbuck and creepy cylon dude? "OH FUCK NO." Six getting shot in the head and Baltar actually signing his name? "SIX!!! GAIUS WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE!?" Starbuck plying right into Conoy's hands near the end? "NO! STARBUCK, STOP THAT! YOU ARE SMARTER THAN THIS!" This show is starting to get to me.
During that whole truck ride with the prisoners, I thought for sure they were going to be okay. Roslin would do something incredibly awesome and something would happen at just the right time and everyone, or at least most everyone, would escape. NOPE.
All I have to say about the ending is this: NOOOOOOO, ROSLIN!!!!! Why are my favorite characters always the ones that have bad stuff happen to them?
(okay so bad things happen to everyone in this show, but still, why Roslin? :'( She's too awesome for this!)
Also, I really want to know what the hell is going on with the Six in Baltar's head, and the Baltar in Six's head. For a while I thought she actually really was some kind of weird psychic link to Caprica Six, but after they revealed that Caprica six has a head-Baltar (who acts completely different) and that she actually wanted peace between cylons and humans, things got a little weird. The Six that got shot in the head wouldn't have told Baltar to sign the document any more than the real Baltar would have been trying to make Six feel bad about killing humanity.
So I actually have THOUGHTS about this episode.
First of all, about Starbuck and Kacey. Ok, so obviously this is an incredibly fucked up thing to do to Starbuck. She already has ISSUES about having children, and having her body used against her consent. I tend to think Simon was right in "The Farm" when he says that possibly she is afraid of having children because of the abuse she experienced as a child. But she definitely doesn't want a child, even OUTSIDE of a fucked up imprisonment situation in which surgery was performed on her without her consent. And she tries pretty hard not to even acknowledge the child as a human, or a person, not to mention her own child.
Until the accident when Kacey is injured. And then, it's like her worst nightmare has come true. She has a child, and the child is injured because of something she's done. So these events play directly into Kara's deepest emotional reactions. Which is why I've never really been able to buy that it was "an accident." It's way too convenient, and works out too perfectly for Leobin. I have to think that he somehow set up the accident, even possibly pushed the child into the floor. (Though she doesn't seem scared of him later, but there's got to be a way around that. I mean, for all we know there are secret passages and shit in that apartment building set up specifically to play mindgames with Kara. )
And by the way, as someone who emphatically does NOT want kids? This is a freaking nightmare. *shudder*
Secondly, re: Baltar. I never had much sympathy for Baltar throughout the run. Mostly, he either pissed me off or annoyed me. But this episode is when I started to feel sympathy with him. The scene with the death warrant….How else could he have reacted. As self-serving as Baltar is, there is something he will not lower himself to. Even when you put a gun to his head. I don't think he really would have done it until Six is shot. At which point he is so scared and shocked that he can't help but sign. And really? Would ANYONE have actually continued to refuse in that situation? And then to see how devastated he is afterwards. It changes his character and my emotional reaction to his character from this point on.
. Which is why I've never really been able to buy that it was "an accident." It's way too convenient, and works out too perfectly for Leobin.
Seriously, I never bought it either. Just like I didn't buy the idea of this kid, and who can blame Starbuck for being repelled by the idea that this was done to her? If the kid isn't really Starbuck's biological daughter, it makes absolute sense that Leoben will stop at nothing to use it so he can get the reactions he wants out of Starbuck (in this case, specifically playing on her own childhood abuse issues to soften her up).
And by the way, as someone who emphatically does NOT want kids? This is a freaking nightmare. *shudder*
You said it, sister. That whole storyline just makes me want to run SCREAMING away from the screen with my ovaries somewhere safely out of the way.
Who knows where I could find the extended version for 3×09?
I'm from Europe, so basically, frak you, region 2 DVDs.
Yeah, aside from Starbuck's baby which was pretty WTF, this is pretty much what I expected to see this season and that's not a bad thing at all. Though actually in retrospect, I don't know what else I could have expected to come out of those farms.
Again though, what is that Sharon/Cally scene. Seriously? With everything that's going on they're still trying to make Sharon out like she's just trying to be nice and has nothing to do with what's going on around her and Cally's this 1D racist ass? I get it writers YOU LIKE HER, but there's a context here and you shouldn't be ignoring it.
This comment is probably loaded with dramatic irony but whatevs, these are currently my impressions.
It’s funny how the most horrifying thing in this show so far, in my opinion, comes in the form of a cute little kid. Not that Casey herself is scary, but the way Leoben is using her as a way to weasel his way into Kara’s mind. Ugh. And if she IS Kara’s child, that’s just even more horrible, because it conforms that they did take her ovary, and used for something she didn’t know about or agree to. But that’s the thing- I don’t see HOW she can possibly be Kara and Leoben’s child- there’s no way she’s younger than Hera, so if she’s older, shouldn’t SHE be considered the first human/cylon child?
Did anyone else catch the irony of D’anna getting all judgmental over Caprica Six committing “The first act of cylon-on-cylon violence”, but when Caprica opposed their decision, they shot her in the had to shut her up? That whole scene on Colonial One was interesting, really. Obviously cylons have a “congress” that consists of all the models we’ve seen(why DO only seven participate, though? Are they the “main” cylons? WHERE ARE THE OTHER FIVE?), and that the models can read each other’s minds to some extent. And I did feel sorry for Baltar there, despite myself. It’s obvious how much he hates what he did, and I think he’s finally gotten some perspective and started to care about things beyond how they affect him personally.
“I wish you’d gone through with it.” “Me too.” Wow, am I actually starting to like Zarek, just a little bit?
CALLY!!! RUN! RUN LIKE THE WIND!
OH CRAP WHAT JUST HAPPENED.
Did anyone else catch the irony of D’anna getting all judgmental over Caprica Six committing “The first act of cylon-on-cylon violence”, but when Caprica opposed their decision, they shot her in the had to shut her up?
That does fit with her claiming humanity doesn't respect life while preparing to shoot Anders back in Downloaded.
Exactly! She gets the most hypocritical lines.
About Kacey – I know, right?!!!!!! This is the part that had me the most squicked and wanting to puke, because it's just so easily a part of any woman's worst nightmares – being forced into a "marriage" and a kid YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CHOICE IN.
I went through it the first time thinking "there's NO WAY the kid is really ovary-product, between gestation and everything else she looks too old to be it." But the horror is that Kara is falling for it, UGH.
Okay, finally going to catch up on BSG for reals! HELLO HERE IS MY COMMENT NOBODY WILL EVER SEE.
"Nobody's been tortured!" Oh Gaius, do you really not know? Maybe he thinks of it as "enhanced interrogation methods."
Baltar has always followed his conscience. If by conscience you mean the Six in his head. (Does he still see her now that his actual Six is back?)
"We're evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go." That cracks me up. Tigh, I see occupation has made you into a poet.
I actually think Tigh is more comfortable here, fighting the occupation, than he ever was as XO. He knows where he stands with the Cylons. Also, it suits his bleak, nihilistic personality. He doesn't care if he goes down fighting them, because he has nothing to lose.
I have a lot of trouble watching the scenes with Starbuck and the little girl. 🙁 It's just such a horror story. "Yeah, we stole one of your organs and used it to make a person." It fills me with dread just to think about. Makes my stomach drop.
I like to think that I wouldn't sign the execution order, that I'd let them kill me, but how the fuck should I know how I'd behave with a gun pointed at my head. Anyway, maybe Head Six is right, and he should live to fight another day. As if Baltar ever did any fighting. Okay, live to smarm around and be self-centered another day, then.
YAAAAY SWEARING SHARON INTO THE FLEET! AND HER NAME IS SHARON AGATHON BECAUSE THEY GOT MARRIED HELL YEAH!
Ellen is another person in an awful, awful position here. 🙁 EVERYTHING IS AWFUL AND NOTHING IS OKAY.
And then we see that Leoben's plan WORKED, and now Kara is HOLDING HIS HAND, and things are just WRONG and DO NOT WANT.
Yeah, this entire episode was unbearable.