In the first web series of Battlestar Galactica, we are able to start piecing together what has happened since the occupation of New Caprica. As Tigh tries to lead a resistance force against the Cylons, multiple variables make this harder than expected. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica.
[Note: I am not going to break these up by episode. This review will treat all ten webisodes as if they were simply one story.]
You know, for a webisode series meant specifically to tease a season premiere, this was remarkably good for what it was. If the purpose of “The Resistance” was to get me excited for season three…jesus, y’all, I want to see the premiere now. RIGHT NOW. The thought that I have to wait mere hours to watch it physically hurts my stomach.
But I digress. “The Resistance” gives me a hint towards where season three is headed and, like the end of season two, we start off in the future, specifically 67 days since occupation by the Cylons. What I adored about the finale, and what I enjoy here, is that world-building is done in the process of pushing the plot forward. It’s weird to talk about world-building in the context of television. I’m used to bringing it up when I’m discussing books, since the written world has a much larger hurdle to jump for the person consuming the story. The details have to be shared in a much different way than the medium of film, since a lot can be conveyed through camera pans, close-ups, wide-shots, and wordless bits of the script that is impossible to do through literature.
But Battlestar Galactica has spent two years stuck mainly inside hunks of metal in space, and now they’ve got the chance to spread their characters over the grey, featureless landscape that is the New Caprica tent city. Through this, they give us what life has been like for sixty-seven days while under Cylon control. It’s clear now that the idea that the Cylons and the humans could get along for a single episode was possibly the most foolish prediction I have ever given. Oh god, what a ludicrous idea. Why did I even type that?
New Caprica has turned into a tyranny of power. The Cylons attempts to co-exist with humans is a disaster, so much so that Colonel Tigh, working mostly with Tyrol, is building a resistance force to oppose the Cylons. And let me comment on that idea of co-existing. It’s absurd here because it seems there wasn’t even the slightest attempt to do such a thing. The Cylons rule here, make no mistake. It’s not a good sign that the first building built upon arriving was a detainment center. Visually, I couldn’t help but think of Guantanamo Bay, and I wonder if the show will make anymore parallels to that place.
The culture that’s propped up in the city is even worse than what we saw when Baltar was in charge. Baltar’s Head Six seems to have been right: Judgment Day came for the humans, and now they live in perpetual fear of being arrested for any number of things. They have a curfew. They are not allowed weapons. They are forced to integrate. What’s the Cylon’s ultimate goal? What are they trying to accomplish?
We truthfully don’t find out much about what the Cylons are up to that isn’t given to us through the resistance force. And this is what we start with: we know the Cylons have confiscated a large stash of weapons and executed the man who was hiding them, but Tigh and Tyrol were able to save some of them. Simultaneous to this, the humans learn that the Cylons are trying to recruit humans as a police force to replace the Cylon Centurions, apparently as a gesture of good faith. Also HOLY FUCKED UP.
While Tigh, Tyrol, and Cally are all featured heavily throughout this, the writers take time to develop some smaller characters, particularly Duck and Jammer, whose journeys start off disparate and varied, but slowly begin to eerily parallel one another. In this case, Jammer is already part of the resistance, but Duck is reticent about the idea. He and his wife, Nora, are trying to have a child, and they don’t want to risk that by getting involved. Which infuriates Tyrol, who already has a child and a wife, and he’s still choosing to get involved. But this wouldn’t be Battlestar Galactica without a whole lot of moral ambiguity, would it?
SO. LOTS OF UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATIONS. We’ve got weapons to hide! Let’s put them in OUR ONLY SACRED TEMPLE. Jammer is simply not having it. It’s a sacrilege! But there’s nowhere to put them! Jammer is overruled and Tigh wins! Tigh is like the most irritable pragmatist ever, isn’t he? Like, he starts off being right and then you’re like you could be less annoying and then you are just so full of conflicting feelings because you have a nice 0% experience in war and all of this is just so strange to you. And “The Resistance” does a hell of a job conveying this to us. To most of us, this is inconceivable. It is for me, at least. So I can’t put myself into anyone’s shoes at all, and that makes the moral fiber of these people so confusing to me. (That’s a very strange way to compliment this episode, but that’s what I’m trying to do.)
The actions of these characters makes sense when you look at it the right way, and that’s what makes Nora’s death so hard to accept. They needed those weapons, and there truly was no better place to hide them than the temple. But Nora died because those weapons were there, and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Even more heartbreaking…she’d invited her husband to temple that morning, and he refused. DAMN.)
What’s fascinating to me is how the writing focuses on the parallel reactions of Duck and Jammer. Naturally, Duck is outraged that his wife dies over weapons. I mean…it’s his wife. But Jammer is upset a few days after the attack when Tigh reasons that the attack actually boosted the resistance force. Tigh is practical and, having experience in war, this is how he thinks. Jammer, on the other hand, is distressed by how casually Tigh equates Nora’s death with “success,” raging at Tigh for even insinuating such a thing. Who wasn’t surprised that Tigh called Jammer a crybaby? Yeah, no one was. Ugh, Tigh, someone died. Give him five minutes to be sad before you start insulting him, okay? (Also, did anyone else notice Michael Hogan’s incredibly thick Canadian accent coming through on a few lines?)
Yet when Jammer is taken by the Cylons and Five talks to him, those feelings of regret and terror are exploited. And that’s what the Cylons do, isn’t it? They manipulate humans, prey on their emotions, and exploit them for their own gain. Even this new order of Cylons hasn’t changed their techniques much. Sure, they’re not outright murdering humans on the spot, but how much worse is that than what they’re starting to do here? Jammer, however, doesn’t view things in this way. As Five tries to convince him that there has been good done, he appeals to that confused, morally conflicted side that came out when he resisted Tigh’s own philosophy. If he stops the violent attacks from the resistance force from happening, then his conscience will be satisfied. He’ll save innocent lives.
Of course, this whole dichotomy is a lie, but because Jammer is vulnerable, the idea creeps under his skin. The Cylons are demonstrating here that they have merely found a way to turn humans against themselves. But Jammer can’t see this.
Duck, on the other hand, takes the death of his wife and sees this as a chance to get involved, once and for all. I think his wife’s death plays a large part in why Duck joins the resistance, but does so in a way that is dangerous and risky, since he has decided to infiltrate the New Caprica Police. What does he have to lose? How else can he avenge his wife’s death?
And so these two men, deeply affected by the Cylon occupation, act out disparate ends to their rage and loss. Duck chooses to fight those who oppress him. Jammer, on the other hand, seems to have found his final straw: the plans to blow up a grain silo might harm patients at a hospital across the street, and Tigh has no reservations about collateral damage. We end with the implication that Jammer is headed back to the Detention Center with the keycard given to him by Five. For Jammer, it seems the only moral step. He can’t justify collateral damage, no matter the end goal. It’s too much for him. Duck, on the other hand, believes it’s the only way for him to find peace, and to bring peace back to humankind.
So which one is right? “The Resistance” answers that by telling us it’s the wrong question to be asking.
Oh god SEASON THREE PREMIERE TOMORROW!
So the cylons and humans failed to live in peace and Cally had a son, not a daughter. Man, you're not doing so well with these predictions so far.
Michael Hogan's accent was a bit distracting.
Just a tad. I've noticed it's more obvious when he's extra-gruff or shouty, so maybe it'll be more prevalent during season 3 since he's leading the resistance? I think I'd like that.
I love Hogan's accent. Because it mostly comes out when he's being passionate about something, I think of it as "badass angry Tigh voice."
ARGH, fucking Jammer and his damn yellow fatigues. Of course he meets with Doral, he of the hideous blazers. God, I want them and their wardrobes to burn in hell together. It would be Jammer who would turn, wouldn’t it? And they’re alone in a room, having a morality chat across a table. I really am going to use that in the future as a sign that one of the parties involved is a Cylon. And, yeah, I understand where Jammer is coming from, there has to be some doubt about the resistance's methods, and I like how his and Duck's stories are running in opposite directions, but my irrational hatred of Jammer is making it hard for me to empathize with him.
Aside from my criticism of Jammer’s existence, making explosives near a hospital really isn’t the brightest idea. Tigh, I appreciate your new dockworker aesthetic, but I question your judgment. I suppose that’s to be expected. By the way, where's Zarek? Isn't this right up his alley? Or is he too obvious. Naq gunaxf gb Uhyh'f erpbzzraqrq ivqrbf, V xabj gung Gvtu ybfrf na rlr be fgnegf jrnevat na rlrcngpu sbe shafvrf ng fbzr cbvag. Pna gung cyrnfr unccra fbba? V ybir uvf npprffbevrf.
Most importantly of all, Tyrol.
<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqnod97YIp1qb78qno1_500.gif">
I swear, it’s more glorious than it was during the finale. Keep it up. It also seems like Tyrol’s changed a bit, so I’m really looking forward to seeing more of him in season three. And I agree, the webisodes have done a good job establishing a tone for the next season (I was thinking refugee camps rather than Gitmo, but it should be interesting to see how it plays out either way.) I'm excited!
So are you watching the first two episodes together, as they aired, or splitting them up?
Yeah, I definitely noticed Michael Hogan's accent here. That's what you get when you film in Canada.
Oh, Mark. Okay. This is not about your review, but I must share my ridiculous story.
First I forgot about the prediction posts, so I watched 3×01 two days ago to prepare for what I thought would be your next review. Then, on the prediction post comments, someone told me you'd be reviewing the webisodes today. So last night, I googled "BSG webisodes," not even thinking that there might be more than one set. Assuming I'd found the correct thing, I hit play. I won't say what I saw, but needless to say that it only took a few seconds for me to realize that I was watching a set of webisodes that take place much later in the show. So I got spoiled and was sad.
And then I finally found the right thing to watch and now all I can say is "WORD" because I'm so morally conflicted, too.
Aww, that sucks.
So, I hadn't seen these until yesterday afternoon (insert rant about their availability and the general fail of the individual region 2 DVDs, no I'm not bitter why do you ask?). It's difficult to seperate the knowledge of what will happen in the season proper from how I view these.
I do love that they continue the tradition of focusing on the secondary and supporting characters, using the really strong ensemble cast they've built up. Especially when it's long-term characters like Cally and Jammer, even slightly newer ones like Duck and Nora are given the spotlight.
While I can't necessarily say I agree with him, I like that they do a decent job of explaining why Jammer makes the choices that he does. His reasons are understandable, the danger to the hospital for example, and you can see why Five's speech would appeal to him. Unless I've forgotten something that may be the longest scene a Five has had in a while (still wearing the ridiculous suit of course).
I did enjoy getting more screentime and development of Duck as well. His interactions with Nora were really lovely and his reaction to her death was heartbreaking. It says a lot about his character that he would work with the Resistance even after Tyrol admitted that there were weapons in the Temple, thus leading to her death.
God the region 2 DVDs.
To this day, I still haven't been able to watch the extended cut for those episodes other than Pegasus. And one of them I would really like to see.
Michael Hogan’s incredibly thick Canadian accent — Hahaha, I love this. His accent is one of the most memorable things about BSG to me for some reason. His accent and bizarre delivery. Michael Hogan, Lords of Kobol bless you.
I love his accent and his delivery for some reason <3 In the webseries, though, I couldn't figure out for the life of me if his accent had always been that strong and what kind of accent it was
Maybe the reason it's so thick is that he now has a NEW CAPRICAN accent.
I think that why Tigh does (more or less) so well here and did so awfully as a leader at the beginning of Season 2 is that no one is complaining about his methods.
When he took over for Adama, everyone was expecting him to be Adama. He’s far too much of a totalitarian asshole to take Adama’s spot and stance. And his autocratic tendencies only heightened tensions.
Here? He’s leading a resistance movement against the Cylons. Anyone who signs on for this knows what they are getting themselves into. He’s the leader of a terrorist cell, every member should respect his right to say that it is his way or the highway.
Furthermore, when he was fighting with Roslin and practically the rest of the fleet, there was still the fear that if they didn’t figure out the right way, then the Cylons would get them. That’s what they were really fighting over – methods to keep everyone alive. Here? The Cylons have them. They’re screwed. His methods literally cannot be too harsh for most of these individuals.
Please don’t get me wrong, I adore Tigh. It’s just that he wasn’t a good fit for leader at the beginning of Season 2 and here he is.
I disagree, at least in the sense that the two incidents are reflective of the same characteristic within Tigh. Tigh's autocratic nature bit him in the ass when running the fleet because he wasn't suited for command. He had the power vested in him by his rank and position, but he didn't have the respect of his shipmates and his crew (to say nothing of the civilians in the fleet). That was a situation where he only had control because of the chain of command, which works all right in a calm situation but isn't so good during a military crisis. The lack of faith the crew had in Tigh may not have immediately manifested as widespread mutiny, but it crippled his credibility. Add to that his overreactions to, well, pretty much everything, and you had a powder keg just waiting to go off.
In contrast, Tigh on New Caprica is the leader of an all-volunteer resistance force. Nobody would even join the resistance if they didn't respect Tigh's position as the cell leader. And in this situation, he's not acting as an autocrat – although he is nominally the head of the resistance, he certainly consults with Tyrol et al. before committing to any action. What Jammer finds questionable is not Tigh's totalarianism, but rather his ruthlessness (Tigh himself might call it "commitment to the mission"). It is a VERY intentional reference to the cruel calculus that military leaders have to calculate in real occupations: how much collateral damage is worth hitting a given target?
I didn't get a chance to post my predictions yesterday but I too thought there was going to be some coexistence. Heh, oops. I guess I thought Caprica Six and Caprica Boomer would be able to temper the conquering attitudes. BTW, where are they? And where's Sharon?
And yes, yes, yes about Tigh. I'm thinking, "You know, I agree with most of what you're saying, but shut up. You're making me feel awful."
And I was more reminded of the Holocaust and ghettos since that's what I studied at school. Specifically, the French collaborators in the Free Zone.
Thank the gods you're up to new episodes again. I've been itching to break my goal to watch along with you!
Apparently RDM based the Cylon occupation of New Caprica on Vichy France.
What do you mean canadian accent? I thought that was a myth. I mean, I'm pretty sure that except for the french canadian or newfoundland accent, we speak exactly the same as americans.
yeaah, you totally do, eh?
Maybe you do, but all my Canadian neighbours in Ontario had this lovely, rolling way of speaking. And said "house" funny.
hahaaha
hoowse
Is Michael Hogan’s accent naturally that thick? It was SOOOOOOOO distracting but weirdly fascinating. I don’t think I’ve ever really heard a Canadian accent that thick with the exception of obnoxious people mocking it going “ABOOT, EH???” No.
I loved seeing Tyrol and Tigh step up and become leaders. I expected Tigh to turn into a drunk disaster but this seems to be his element. I may not understand or like his decisions, but I know nothing about warfare or leading a resistance movement. It seems his particular type of asshole-ery works in the kind of environment where, instead of running away from the enemy, they have to confront it and cause as much damage as possible, collateral damage be damned.
And all hail Tyrol’s beard of glory!
"And all hail Tyrol’s beard of glory!"
woo first prediction. apparently the only thing that was right.
I get confused at what americans think canadians talk like. Lots of Canadians say "a boat" but I never heard "a boot," ever.
I think most Canadians and Americans speak similarly. The stereotype is that Canadians pronounce "about" as "a-boot" and all sentences end in "eh?" (I think "a boot" came from an exaggeration of "a boat"). I don't think most Americans actually think Canadians speak like that, though (hopefully! that would be bad and embarrassing).
"Aboot" just makes me think of scottish accents. I mean I've seen south park but it just sounds so wrong. But then americans not knowing how to make fun of other countries is nothing new.
So this is kind of off topic, but I was trying to count how many time Baltar has betrayed the human race/done something that led to a cylon advantage or caused major confusion, (so far) and I came up with like….lots.
1) letting six into the defense frame in the first place
2) getting Helo's spot on the raptor, so that he stays behind and is used by cylons (although that has turned out fine and Helo/Sharon are adorable, but still)
3) failing to finish his cylon detector in time to prove that shelley godfrey is actually a cylon
4) giving Boomer the green light
5) setting Gina free to shoot Cain (btw, I wanted her to die but I feel like she would have been one of my favorites if she'd not been in complete opposition to roslin/adama)
6) giving Gina the nuclear warhead (you DO NOT DO THAT, baltar. Haven't you learned anything?)
7) settling on new caprica despite the nuclear explosion and the smart people telling you not to
8) and surrendering to the cylons when they showed up…not sure if it counts as he probably saved lives as there didn't appear to be many bombs and stuff after he did it, but still.
As to the last point, Roslin asked if surrender had been considered during the Cylon attack in the miniseries. And considering the fact that the Cylons marched right into the president's office on New Caprica…yeah, surrender was really the only option at that point.
also, it has to be pretty overwhelming at the time, and the first thing you would think to do would be to comply in order to not be killed.
I think it's a bit strange that within the very first minute of the first episode, Jammer says "the Cylons show up to help us…" seemingly non-sarcastically, and then the meaning of that is never actually explained. I get that it's been 67 days since they came, but I expect there'd still be some people talking about what the Cylons did in those first days of occupation and what may have changed since then, especially among the resistance people who need those narratives to help drum up supporters.
I like how in the plan to create explosives in the grain storage tent, the first and only point made against it is that a hospital is nearby and not, you know, that it's apparently the grain storage tent and therefore a major source of food for just about everyone. (Though according to Doral there are farms–I involuntarily jumped when he used that term, esp. given the "where humans and Cylons are working together" part–producing food outside of the main tent-city-thingy? So it wouldn't be an irremediable loss, I guess.)
Also: Tyrol got the news of Jammer's release from the detention center from Boomer, which probably means that he's become friends with the main copy we saw in "Downloaded?"
yeah, I never got how Tyrol is somehow friends with Boomer considering their current positions and the fact that he's married. I would think he would want nothing to do with her at this point.
I didn't remember it until just now, but I'm guessing Boomer knows that Cally is the one who shot her, as well. And Tyrol definitely knows, so at least one side of that friendship is steeped in the awkwardness of that particular aspect of their history.
Yeah, I assumed they ended up friends- I wish we could have seen their reconciliation! There goes one of my predictions (albeit the REALLY BAD ONE so no big loss)
When I first saw these webisodes, I swore it was the first time I had ever seen Jammer. I don't know why I had never noticed him during the original run of the show — he's so obvious in his yellow jumper, but he never registered in my mind, except as "random deckhand #4." My husband got great pleasure out of putting in the season 1 DVDs and pointing Jammer out in like every single episode.
I maintain that he was retconned back in to make me look bad.
I still don't know what you guys think a Canadian accent sounds like, because all the impressions I've heard americans try to do of them sound horrible. Is it anything like how Kat talks?
Nope. It's exactly how Tigh talks. Eh.
Really, Tigh actually sounds really american to me. Or do you just think the canadian accent = the usage of "eh"?
No, there's a genuine difference in pronunciation. The classic example is the word "about." The stereotypical Canadian "aboot" isn't really the most accurate way to write how it sounds to American ears – "a-boat" is closer, I think. Americans, in contrast, tend to pronounce it "a-bowt" (as in "ow, that hurts").
Another common pronunciation quirk that I hear a lot from my Canadian friends is pronounce "process" with a long "O" sound ("PROE-cess"), whereas Americans pronounce it with a soft "O" ("PRAW-cess").
lol yeah I said that above abt "aboat/aboot. " I definitely think there's a canadian accent (that not all canadians have) and american accents vary of course. Tigh to my ears doesn't really have one(or not a really strong one,) to me he sounds like he should be in a cowboy movie, I dunno. It's kind of hard for me to look up video now without running into spoilers so yeh.
Of course, there is a handy single word that expresses the concept of "cowboy movie," and that is "western." I hate my brain sometimes.
Tigh sounds like he's from Northern US, like MinneSOH-ta or WisCAHNsin, or MichigANN. which is exactly how I talk, and I can tell you, it's different from the rest of the US. So, I don't know how people talk in Canada, but I think he talks with a northern US type of accent, which, geographically, is very close to Canada.
Well a midwest accent is still an American accent-not the most common one but it's American. The Canadian accent, which not everyone has, is a little differerent, but now that you mention it I can see how people would conflate the two.
Clearly, watching the first two episodes of Season 3 before watching this was a reeeaaaallllyyy bad idea. Basically I can’t think of anything to say that isn’t a spoiler. 🙁
I thought I had watched these before, but I was apparently thinking of some of the other webisodes, because I had never seen these before. These were a really nice "prequel" to season 3, and I do wish I had seen them before the actual season.
V jnf fb fhecevfrq gung Wnzzre jnf npghnyyl cneg bs gur erfvfgnapr. V fgvyy pna'g oryvrir gung ur jbhyq gura tb wbva gur cbyvpr. Vg fbeg bs punatrf uvf jubyr fgbel sbe zr. Orsber V gubhtug ur whfg wbvarq hc bhg bs anvirgl, naq V thrff ur fgvyy qbrf, ohg vg srryf yvxr ur fubhyq unir xabja orggre.
"The patients will have to take their chances."
So, the message I'm getting from this webisode series is "war makes everyone into an asshole."
fabuloso tiramam mi doveexpes te oluzar ditidamo reiria. abicerd te gentinho amamia nos puder o entemeo ssestamo fricio bien.