In the webisode series “The Face of the Enemy,” everything is Felix Gaeta and nothing hurts, and then everything hurts forever. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica.
This is a web series. THESE ARE WEBISODES. If this is what this show is offering me as A WEBISODE, then sweet summer child, the episodes that come after this are going to destroy me.
I can’t get over how fantastically written these are, that they feature Gaeta heavily, and that they give us an actual answer to something hinted at the end of season three that had gone unexplained until now. Of course, I’m sure you’re all waiting for it, so let me get it out of the way:
OH MY GOD GAETA KISSED A BOY EVERYTHING IS PERFECT AND I AM SO HAPPY THIS IS WONDERFUL OH MY GOD.
Oh my god, you know…I hadn’t even noticed that tiny look that Hoshi gave Gaeta at the end of “Sometimes A Great Notion,” but now it’s clearly a “GIRL U IN DANGER” look, or maybe a “HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS” look or maybe a “OH SHIT THE OLD MAN’S AT IT AGAIN” look or something. Either way….oh boy, I am so stoked. QUEER UP ALL MY TELEVISION SHOWS, PLEASE.
oh god “The Face of the Enemy.” That title is a goddamn trick, isn’t it? Holy shit, this was…intense. It’s almost like a murder mystery in a strange way, even if that story trope doesn’t totally fit the whole thing. What impressed me most, though, was that this wasn’t a disposable story in the slightest. It felt like a slightly truncated episode, almost as if it was just Gaeta’s plot plucked out. In a way, too, it wouldn’t feel entirely out of place in “Sometimes A Great Notion,” since it deals with how Gaeta copes with the recent discovery of Earth and the continued Cylon alliance. He’s always been the sort of person to surround himself with work, so I wasn’t surprised to see him back in the CIC. The impetus for this all is Tigh’s demand that Gaeta take a week off aboard the Zephyr, which he reluctantly agrees to. He shuffles off to catch a shuttle, has a little mouth hug session with Hoshi (HHHNNNGGGGGG), and then SHIT GETS REAL. Well, it’s actually a fairly slow build to that point, but when hostile Cylon contacts appear in range, the entire fleet makes an emergency jump.
AND GAETA’S RAPTOR IS STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. jfc this show please let like one good thing happen. Ha, what am I saying? This is Battlestar Galactica. This isn’t going to be easy! It’s the first time the concept of the “red line” is introduced, a limit to how far a ship can go before it’s unable to jump back to its previous point. In this case, a lot of the physical factors and logistics of six people being stranded in space play towards the suspense of the entire thing, with the main limiting factor being oxygen.
I’m familiar with the trope in science fiction with characters being stranded and then watching how those people cope with the situation, so for the first few webisodes, this seemed to be following a predictable path. And that’s not to say that this made this terrible or anything. It’s one of my favorite storytelling tropes! I don’t know, there’s something appealing to me about watching society crumble at a micro level when people are faced with their very basic needs of survival, so we see that play out with increasingly more shocking results. But thankfully, that’s not the only thing that the writers give us over the course of these ten webisodes. First of all, I was very pleased to see this same story from the point of view of Hoshi. It’s not often that we get stories told from the point of view of men in a couple in science fiction, and for all the heterosexual stories and viewpoints we’ve seen over the course of three and a half seasons, Hoshi’s is a welcome addition.
On top of that, it’s the flashbacks to New Caprica that most caught me off guard. We have a bisexual character on a major television show, and it’s not played as creepy or deviant and JFC IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL. So much had happened since “Taking A Break From All Your Worries” that I’d forgotten entirely about Gaeta’s side of the story on New Caprica. I was confused at first: why was Gaeta giving an Eight a list of names? I thought he had helped the resistance on New Caprica. As the story unfolds, though, I had to remind myself that virtually nothing on this goddamn show is black and white. Even someone as moral and straightforward as Gaeta had his own demons.
AND THEN ON TOP OF THIS (christ the plots on BSG can be so layered, I swear), there is DEATH. And A WHOLE LOT OF IT. The first to kick the bucket is one of the Eights, who is electrocuted by a set of pliers that had the insulating grip stripped off of it. If you’ll allow me to be completely honest, I genuinely thought that one of the humans on the ship had killed the Eight. The alliance between human and Cylon might be more solid in the administrative sense, but there were bound to be other humans who weren’t entirely into the idea.
Oh, how utterly wrong I was. The flashbacks to New Caprica paint a much different picture: Eight and Gaeta became closer as the two did their best to try and save people who were being harmed by the Cylons under the occupation. So when Eight (in the present) whispers to Gaeta that she knows how to save them, all I could think was GAETA THIS IS A BAD IDEA. What was telling to me was the fact that she seemed to be referring to herself and Gaeta. Only. She wasn’t talking about the whole ship and the other surviving crew members. It didn’t strike me as a request out of trust, as if whatever idea she had she could only initially trust Gaeta with. Still, I initially thought that it wasn’t fair to frame the situation like that. Yes, she still might like Gaeta a whole lot, maybe even love. Perhaps she wanted to rekindle that, and there certainly is a whole lot of repressed sexual tension in these webisodes.
Hell, that sexual tension has a history. We learn the two of them did much more than try to save some of colonists. So was that what she was going after? Was she thinking of that, perhaps thinking that if she could get Gaeta off the ship, she might have a chance with him again? Oh god, the worst part is that I was actually TOTALLY FUCKING RIGHT, but I had the motivation entirely wrong. I thought this was just an issue of Eight making weird choices over her confusing “human” emotions, something she was probably still getting used to. But after Gaeta wakes up from a nap and finds out that the deckhand, Brooks, died of a morpha overdose, that’s when I had to look at the episode differently. How would have Brooks even known about Gaeta’s stash? Eight was the only one who saw him inject himself.
Yeah, it’s right around here that things started to come together and I had to begin to accept an uncomfortable reality: Eight had done this on purpose. But why? Why go to such great lengths to kill people, and why kill one of your own Cylon models??? It’s obvious that she is genuinely trying to get them back to the fleet, too, so this wasn’t a clear-cut case of her simply betraying the humans in order to ambush them or turn them over to the Cylons. Gaeta even tells Eight that he’s seeing someone when she goes in to kiss him, and she still doesn’t back away from using the Raptor’s systems to jump back to the fleet. Soooooo WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.
Again, I love that this is intercut with Hoshi being all worried and adorable. Well….I do realize that might seem a bit ironic or unfortunate to not acknowledge that Hoshi is set up for heartbreak and disappointment by the end of this webisode series. It’s subtle, but his conversation with Racetrack (LOVE THAT GIRL, BY THE WAY) about Gaeta’s moral core is contrasted with what happens to the man aboard the Raptor shuttle. The jump is a success, and as Gaeta goes to wake up the pilots, he finds out their their throats are slashed. WHAT THE FUCK. what the fuck have you done Eight. I mean, there was no fucking hiding it anymore, was there? It was her. It couldn’t be anyone else. I’m glad that the writers didn’t have this plot try to be any more mysterious at this point; instead, we turn to asking these characters why this had happened.
And good god. This series delivers. It delivers an answer, and it is so fucking awful and horrifying: “I know what your Eight did.” Calling all the way back to “Taking a Break from All Your Worries,”we discover what it was that Gaius Baltar whispered into Gaeta’s ear that caused him to stab Balter in the next with a pen. “I know what your Eight did.”
She preyed on Gaeta’s naive sense of right and wrong. It paints Hoshi’s words about Gaeta’s moral center in a new light. Maybe at one time Felix Gaeta was that man, but the occupation on New Caprica uprooted that. The people on those lists were killed. He sent them to their deaths and his own unwillingness to see that reality caused it. And in a horrifying parallel to that very same episode, Gaeta angrily lashes out and stabs the Eight in front of him with a scalpel, killing her.
Is it really in his nature to kill? Was he unconsciously carrying out that desire when he handed over those names to Eight? Even if she was wrong about her perception of him, it sort of doesn’t matter anymore. He does kill her anyway, and in the final webisode, we see how this causes him to break. He tries to kill himself by overloading on morpha, but even when he’s rescued by Racetrack and Hoshi, the incident has irrevocably changed him. I think it’s pretty obvious that he’s broken things off with Hoshi in order to protect him, but I think something else has happened. His harsh conversation with Tigh triggered this anger I’d never really seen him, this disgust with a Cylon he had never demonstrated. Is this Gaeta’s desire to get revenge for what the Cylons did to him, for Eight preying on his moral immaturity? It seems that whatever he has planned is not going to be very positive for the Cylons, especially since it was mention of the meeting regarding the alliance that set him off.
Sweet summer child, Gaeta, what are you going to do? JFC WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO. Oh god, I really do love this show, but ONE THING HAS TO GO RIGHT FOR THESE PEOPLE PLEASE.
Why am I even asking for this? So unprepared, y’all. I am so unprepared.
I want to date Hoshi. He seems like the nicest person on this show.
What about Helo, he's an all round decent guy too.
Agreed! Though I think Helo might be too tall for me…I'd always be on my tiptoes.
I pretty much just want to date everyone on this show.
Adding Hoshi to the membership rolls of the "Hot Men and Women of Battlestar Galactica" club.
Seriously, this show is freaking ridiculous when it comes to eye candy. For everyone.
Oh well, that's true. Carrying about a box to stand on might get a bit awkward after a while.
Helo’s taken and I would never want to break up that family. But if he were single, he would be at the top of the most eligible bachelor list.
Next is Hoshi, then Anders (except for his hang-up on Starbuck).
The bottom of the list, just so you know, is Baltar.
This! He's so sweet.
Ironic that Hoshi came along with Pegasus (though he seems to have adjusted better than most).
No I want to date Hoshi,
and Lee,
and Baltar,
and Anders…
uh…..
All at once? You dog!
I read that as "I want to HATE Hoshi. He seems like the nicest person on this show". So confused O_O
but yes! he does seem like a really nice guy! He and Helo should get together and bring cheer to everyone
While having the webseries wasn't even CLOSE to enough to tide me over during the midseason break, the fact that it was all about Gaeta made me beyond happy. He's such an interesting character. I love that the show, which could have just focused on the main six (Roslin, Adama, Lee, Kara, Baltar, Head!Six) went so deep into other characters, and not just focusing on their relationship to the main six. Gaeta <333333 forever (and GOD do I ship Gaeta/Hoshi).
Not even close to prepared. At all. Ever.
I skipped the webisodes while the show aired, so when everyone suddenly started talking about Gaeta being gay, I just figured it was some subtext that I'd missed, like Loras and Renly. Nice to actually get that explained at last.
It's also pretty neat to see them repurpose that scene with Gaeta and Baltar, which was originally meant to tie into a subplot planned for season three's second half that ended up being jettisoned, regarding the Saggitarons being much better at farming than anyone else on New Caprica, which ultimately resulted in everyone else ganging up to raid their gardens. The episode The Woman King is the only other remnant of it, which is why that episode sticks out so badly in the show as it exists now.
I think I missed the last webisode in this b/c … wait, what?? *goes to hunt it down*
I've never actually seen all of the webisodes since they're not on the boxset and I couldn't find all of them online when I originally watched or rewatching, just relied on summaries and wiki.
Yeah that frustrates me much. Does anyone know WHY they aren't on any box sets?
I don't think a reason has ever been stated. It would have perfect sense to put them on the boxset for Season 4.5 or the second movie.
My understanding is that it relates to the same IP/Royalty issues that were at the heart of the writers' strike, and that those issues haven't been resolved for the webisodes, meaning that the studio can't release it without paying people money, which they don't want to do.
They're at hulu.com FYI
Thanks but sadly I can't access Hulu. Mauve_Avenger posted links that work for those of us outside the US though.
"It’s the first time the concept of the “red line” is introduced"
Since the Miniseries, that is.
Fun facts: This was the last BSG thing filmed, the same time as the second movie or just after. The pilots who got their throats slashed were runner-ups for parts in the movie. Actor availability caused script rewrites: originally Gaeta's old Cylon lover would have been a Six and his current human boyfriend would have been Narcho (the ex-Pegasus Viper pilot played by Sebastian Spence). Personally, I think an Eight makes more sense than a Six because Gaeta danced with Boomer in "Colonial Day" and Grace Park and Alessandro Juliani work well together.
When downloading 4.12 for tomorrow, try to make sure it says Extended.
Gaeta having a boyfriend was the one thing I knew about this series before I started watching (I'm pretty sure the place I read it seem to imply that he was gay rather than bisexual), but I still really liked the idea of Gaeta and one of the Eights. If I'm not mistaken, in the Boomer-shoves-a-cable-up-her-arm episode he mentioned here (I'm horrible at remembering episode titles), Gaeta was the only person in the room who still referred to her by name.
"Flight of the Phoenix", pre-callsign Athena.
Jane Espenson said he had probably been in more relationships with men than with women.
I don't download the episodes; I watch them via Netflix.
Well, if it's not Netflix, you may have to download. It should say whether it's Extended.
Not *on* Netflix, I mean.
I found a download that works. To download for free, you have to wait 45 seconds for the "Regular Download" button to appear. And there may be popups while you're at the site.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TUTN4OFR
Not to be 'that guy' but isn't posting links like that kind of dangerful, now that the US is putting the SOPA through and closing down websites over linking to material?
Hadn't heard about that. Is it even piracy (it doesn't label itself as such)? But really, what a stupid act. What they need to do is de-criminalize it, because it's so ubiquitous and always will be.
I like that Hoshi is his boyfriend, because they're both technical/communications guys. GEEKY LOVE.
Can we have a Hoshi appreciation post? He's always in the background but he's just so wonderful. He deserves love too.
I love Hoshi! He just seems so stable out all of the characters. And earnest. And I love him fighting to take out that shuttle and just jump randomly in space hoping that the universe will lead him to his love. Swoon worthy.
Ok, now I'm really mad that these webisodes weren't included in my DVD set. Is there a place to view them online? (Not Netflix, actually online). I'd like to see them.
I have to say, as cool as it is to finally get a bi character and a gay character, it's a touch disappointing that their relationship was relegated to the webisodes. It would have been nice to have some hint in the episodes that actually aired on Sci-Fi (I don't remember if it comes up in the remaining episodes), since casual viewers aren't likely to seek out the webisodes. I didn't even know they existed until this blog started.
USians can watch it on Hulu; the rest of the world? I have no idea.
Thanks!
I watched them on Hulu. I almost watched these first instead of The Resistance, which is also on there, but I noticed the air date. I was very relieved I didn't have to search for these webisodes, unlike the Razor Flashbacks.
Thanks. I did have to search for the other webisodes in my DVDs, because they were not on reasonable discs. But these just aren't included at all. I wonder why.
I found them on Hulu.
It is unfortunate that the relationship didn't make it into the series proper, but Alessandro Juliani actually played Gaeta as gay for almost the entire series. It was widely held speculation in the LBGT community, and he's since confirmed in interviews that it was an intentional choice from the beginning.
Try going back and rewatching the first three seasons from the point of view that Gaeta is in love with Baltar. Once it was pointed out to me, it seemed impossible to see it any other way.
I totally agree about Gaeta and Baltar. That's always how I've read it, and it really does make sense. I feel like not only did Gaeta fall in love with/have a huge crush on Baltar Season 1-3, but Baltar was aware of it.
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* abgr gung gurer'f bar bgure gvzr gung Onygne unf gevrq gb vagreirar va guvf jnl – jvgu Guerr, uvf sbezre ybire
I agree that Gaeta is head over heels for Baltar in the first season. I just wish the subtext had been elevated to text. It's a bit like finding out that Dumbledore was gay after I'd finished the series. Yes, it recolors how I read the books, but I'd have liked it to be clear on the first reading.
But we can't have that! BECAUSE OF THE ~CHILDRENS.~
I've always read it that way too. He hero-worshiped Baltar and I think part of that was attraction. Kind of like–heh–Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Here's this smart, charismatic, attractive dude and you feel really lucky to be working with him, but then he turns out to be not so great after all.
Interesting comparison!
Also, I always thought that's what Baltar whispered into Gaeta's ear–something about how he knew Gaeta was in love with him. But this web series disproved that I suppose.
Oh Gaeta 🙁 We finally get a story that focuses on him and it's full of HORROR AND TRAGEDY.
Well not entirely full. Hoshi gets a share of the spotlight and is completely charming. His reluctance to stop looking for Gaeta despite the constant reminders of how unlikely it is that the Raptor can be found and little gestures like getting Gaeta the Morpha at the beginning (probably not the best thing he could have done in the long run but the thought behind it is sweet) just make me love the character so much. He's so sweet and loyal. I also love his dynamic with Racetrack. Even though we've never seen them interact before they already feel like they've been friends for a while.
Once again Grace Park is AMAZING. She manges to make the two eights sound different while still being similar. The way Sweet Eight (at least that's what Jane Espensen called her) becomes a lot less sweet and more unsettling after the reveal that she's the killer, it's not a complete change in characterisation but her expressions and tone become a lot darker and more serious. The flashing light over her face during the reveal is so damn creepy.
I always love getting to see more of the background characters and Hoshi is just wonderful and sweet. He seems like the best boyfriend ever.
FotE was written by Jane Espenson and Seamus Kevin Fahey.
Jane Wrote for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Torchwood: Miracle Day, as well as many other shows. Fur Jba n Uhtb sbe n Ohssl rcvfbqr fur pb-jebgr. She also won the Streamy Awards Best Writing for a Dramatic Web Series for this (BG:FotE).
She joined Once Upon A Time as writer and consulting producer after the pilot.
Jane is good.
<3 Jane. So freaking much.
She also worked on one Game of Thrones script (The Golden Crown, for those who've seen the show), though I don't know how credit gets parceled out in an adaptation like that.
And she has a web series called husbands that is worth checking out: http://husbandstheseries.com/
I think my favorite (silly) thing about Jane Espenson is that whenever I see an episode written by her, I get to say, "Ooh, it's a Jane Espensode!"
lol This. I do the same thing!
Doing this from now on. PUNS = AWESOME
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Znlor V’z orvat hasnve, gubhtu.
Not at all. here is an interesting article where fur qvfphffrf ure jbex ba Pncevpn pnyyvat vg “ure ovttrfg zvfgnxr”
“Rfcrafba gbbx vg va fgevqr naq fnlf fur ernyvmrf gung gur qrznaqf bs orvat n fubj-ehaare fgergpurq ure novyvgvrf. Nf n frys-cebpynvzrq pbageby sernx, fur sbhaq gung fur jnf pbagebyyvat nyy gur jebat guvatf”
Fur’f n orggre jevgre guna fubj-ehaare, naq V guvax fur’f fvapr yrnearq sebz gur zvfgnxrf fur qvq znxr ba Pncevpn
Rot13'd this and the previous comment in the thread for expectation spoilers.
That's cool. I like that she can actually admit mistakes. So many writers and showrunners in this business seem to have huge egos and never think anything they do is a mistake. I like that she says she's still learning.
I lurve everything she does.
Jane also had a huge part in the remake of Fright Night. I know, I know…so many folks hated it. I actually enjoyed the hell out of it. (Colin Farrell is a tremendous vampire.) But the mainest thing is this: I will take shirtless David Tennant in guyliner & leather pants any day of the week, thankyouverymuch.
I love Jane Espenson. Also I thought at first you said she won the "Steamy Awards" so I was like "what, for best sex scene?"
I love how everyone watching this show makes the progression from "Wait…which one is Racetrack?" to "LOVE THAT GIRL!"
Because really. RACETRACK FOREVER!
It took me a long time to realize that she and Kat were different people.
Yes, even though they fly completely different spaceships. Also one of them is dead.
I used to mix up Racetrack and Seelix all the time.
And have different hairstyles, facial features and skin tones.
RACETRACK PARTY!!
When I first watched this, back in the day, I think my overriding thought was, "No, Gaeta! What are you doing?"
Now, watching it again after all this time, it's "No, Gaeta! What are you doing?"
Oh Felix…Felix?? What are you doing….?": Gaius Baltar.
Links for the webisodes:
Hulu link. Playback should be automatic unless you shut it off, so you don't have to go the the spoilery section below to click for the next episode. Between the episodes is an endscreen with spoilery screencaps for recommended videos (all from this webisode series, though, I think?), which lasts for about seven seconds.
From a Battlestar Galactica Community video page. Unfortunately, the link defaults to the final season videos, so to avoid spoilers you have to scroll down to the options below the video player and click on the correct section without looking at the sidebar. Fortunately, this time the relevant webisodes have their own section, so no worries about spoilers on that front. Playback's still weird, and the video's more grainy than the Hulu ones, but it also includes the Jane Espenson commentary versions.
When I watched it on Hulu, I had to turn automatic playback off because it wasn't giving me the episodes in order. It was kind of weird, to be honest.
I just remembered. When the third webisode "aired", I saw a lot of people on the Syfy board go "Huh? Athena just got killed?!" 'Cause apparently they couldn't tell the difference between the Cylon pilot uniform that Hard Eight was wearing and a Colonial pilot uniform. Then again, it's the Syfy board.
Haha, actually when she got killed was when I realized it WASN'T Athena because I was like "they wouldn't just kill her off like that."
Yay! More Gaeta is always good! I'm under the impression that we saw his…distrust towards Cylons in an earlier episode, didn't we? I might be confusing that with, well, everybody else and his anger at Baltar.
Grace Park was amazing here. I always think she's great, but I'm so used to seeing her playing Athena or Boomer, who has some real similarities with Athena at times. But this Eight was so very different. I am impressed.
But, not going to lie, I totally misunderstood what was going on in this episode. At first, I thought Gaeta attacked everybody while in a trance, kinda like Zoolander, but more serious. Like River Tam, there we go. And I thought Eight was whispering, "I won't tell anyone", implying that he did something bad.
Why is this show refusing to let me understand what's going on? But Hoshi is adorable and I'm glad Gaeta has a new BFF (last F not really needed) in the CIC now that Dee isn't there.
I've never seen the extended version of 4.12, and I currently do not have access to the box set (yes, I own the box set, it is just in another state right now, so logistics fail on my part). So does anyone know where I can get the extended version? Or, is Mark definitely reviewing the extended version in the first place? Does it really matter?
I mean, I assume there's wonderful character content, and I plan on watching the extended version next week actually when I'm at home, but are there any plot differences that could be shock me? Should I just not come here tomorrow and see y'all on Friday?
I found a download that works. To download for free, you have to wait 45 seconds for the "Regular Download" button to appear. And there may be popups while you're at the site.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TUTN4OFR
It kills me that the webisodes aren't on the DVDs, because as you said this is basically an episode. And a fairly IMPORTANT one, as it freakin' answers questions about that big unexplained Gaeta/Baltar moment in S3.
Oh Gaius, you are never ever the innocent one. But the great thing is that is that you're rarely the only one in the room who's made horrible mistakes. The interesting difference is that you're generally the one who's the least in denial about your physical and psychological self-interest/self-protection and selfishness.
I've always thought that were was an element of homoerotic subtext there with Gaeta & Baltar and now that we have canon!bisexual Gaeta that clinches it for me. My personal canon for that relationship includes unresolved sexual tension gone sour.
I remember the show runner saying in a few interviews that there were definitely gay people in the Colonies, that the BSG universe contained homosexuality, but that they just hadn't figured out where to show it. But since I'm a bitter cynic, I never got my hopes up. So I was pleasantly surprised that they finally delivered in these webisodes. And I think on… was it the podcasts? It was mentioned a few times prior to "Face of the Enemy" that a couple of the writers had Gaeta being gay as their personal canon.
Trivia: Commentary on the webisodes reveals that originally Narcho was Gaeta's boyfriend but then scheduling conflicts made them change it to Hoshi. Both are good actors and Hoshi was great in the webisodes, so the switch certainly wasn't a disaster. However, I kind of wish they'd been able to keep Narcho. (One reason being that I just simply had a stronger awareness of Narcho's identity — he had stood out for me more in the series as a supporting character, though that's totally a personal thing). Nyfb vg jbhyq unir svg fb jryy jvgu gur zhgval rcvfbqrf, nf Anepub xvaq bs npgrq nf Tnrgn'f evtug unaq zna.
I love these webisodes so much that I wish the writers had been able to add them as a whole regular episode. The building dread, the tension… SO GOOD. The psychological tension as Gaeta is forced to face the truth he's been hiding from, and seeing it splinter him. *shivers* And really, it isn't just the pen-stabbing scene that we get answers for, but it also provides context for Gaeta perjuring himself during Baltar's trial as well (man, at the time I was so horrified and disillusioned — 'Gaeta, how could you?! Not Gaeta, of all people!' OH HOW LITTLE I UNDERSTOOD. I WAS NOT PREPARED.)
The little bit we got of Tigh was marvelous too. I feel like the confession to Adama & the revelation of Ellen has given him measure of peace. It seems to have lifted a bit of the weight off his shoulders. When he was like, "son, it's not a punishment" I was all <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 (HOW MUCH HE HAS CHANGED SINCE EARLY S2, BEING A CYLON IS THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO TIGH EVER LOL) And then when Hoshi was asking to search for Gaeta, I felt like Tigh was thinking of Ellen there…
THIS. Is why I asked back in the ye olde days (aka before you started Season 4) if you'd be watching the webisodes.
I'm glad you're watching the webisodes. We're all glad you're watching the webisodes.
I wasn't that into the webisodes, as I just didn't feel like I ever understood what Sweet Eight's motivations were in the end. However, the thing that really bugged me is something I seem to interpret differently from most people, and maybe I just am COMPLETELY OFF and I would like that because I don't like how I took it, but –
I got the sense that Gaeta is just gay, not bi. Which like, I wouldn't care about that alone, but while I was watching these I at first thought "YAY A MAN BISEXUAL CHARACTER!" because most bisexual characters are either a) very attractive women who only have "serious" relationships with men, or b) villains. Or both. And there just aren't a lot of bisexual guys represented generally. But when Sweet Eight at the end says something like – I think it was "I'm a Cylon. And a woman" and then how he didn't fall for her, but for the hope that Not All Cylons Are Evil and That Things Could Work Out and everything, I took it as meaning he wasn't really attracted to her at all, just the idea she essentially represented. Which – again – on its own I wouldn't care about, but with a line that was essentially "Gaeta you're into guys so how could you be into women too" – that's pretty bi erasing. I might have really read it wrong, though.
I’m a queer guy who’s usually oversensitive, if anything, to bisexuals getting erased, and that line was about 50-50 for me. (Grace Park uncharacteristically flubbed the reading of it, IMO.) Maybe the emphasis was on Cylon in that sentence, maybe it was on woman, shit, maybe it was on the and.
Sigh. I really wish BSG had done a better job with non-heteros. (I only watched the first few episodes of Caprica, but V gubhtug yv’y Nqnzn’f tnl zbofgre hapyr jnf njrfbzr. Qvq gurl shpx gung hc, gbb?)
you're right about the line reading, btw. I've always heard it with the emphasis on the "and" — Cylon AND a woman (to me implying that she wasn't just a woman but a Cylon so that was different), but who knows I guess… Not the greatest line delivery… /:
(Jane Espensen has clarified that he's bi though he's been with more men. But that's just the word of the author, and we don't have to consider it canon. I generally go with personal read of the text above anything the writers says.)
I wondered if that's what she meant by that too. It's not just you. I also don't fully get what her motivations were either.
Every time you talked about how perfect and beautiful Gaeta was, I had to bite my tongue. I wanted to say – JUST WAIT MARK. HE'S BISEXUAL. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.
Grace Park officially has chemistry with… mmm…. everybody.
I have a long and crowded awesome list for these webisodes:
Gaeta! Although I think Felix Gaeta translates to “unable to catch a break” in Colonialese. Poor guy can’t even go on vacation without it turning to disaster and pain.
Hoshi! I think he gets to say more here than he has in the entire series so far. Honestly, before this he stuck out in my mind primarily because his name rhymes with Yoshi. 😛 But come to find out he’s a totally sweet, loyal BF and an awesome person, and why has me not been featured more?
Racetrack! I love that she was so patient during the search. And oh, she had bet on Gaeta and Hoshi getting together. She’s awesome.
Grace Park! She gives us two new characters who are completely unique from each other and from every single one of her characters so far.
We have a bisexual character on a major television show, and it’s not played as creepy or deviant and JFC IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL.
THIS. I was happy when Gaeta was revealed to be queer, but I was thrilled when he was revealed to be bi and it wasn’t turned into an “issue”, or the writers going “Oh look how BOLD and EDGY we are.” IT’S JUST WHO HE IS. Where do I leave my offerings of thanks to the TV gods?
“I know what your Eight did.” OMG this reveal. It’s love that it’s still kind of ambiguous. At first I was sure that Gaeta really had no idea what Eight was actually doing with the list, but what she said about him ignoring what was happening right in front of him, as well as the fact that he attacked Baltar for that makes me think that he DID know on some level, but was convincing himself that she had actually helped the prisoners, and Baltar making him face that reality is what drove him to try to kill him. And the awful irony is, that after everything that happened in Collaborators, it turns out, he HAD helped the cylons after all. (Even though it was a little heavy handed, I love the symbolism of the blood of the pilots on his palms.) And now I’m afraid of how jaded this experience had made him, about himself and about the cylons, and about whatever he’s going to tell Adama. Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Oh, right. Battlestar Galactica.
I love that in Colonial society sexual orientation is a complete non-issue.
Yes, like I love the way BSG portrays gender relations in the Colonial military. It really struck me early on how much no one every acts like there's any difference between the men and women soldiers. It's not that you get moments like, "hey! we now see that women can be competent too!" It's completely like there's no distinction made. You see them washing their faces together in the bathroom, no segregation, you see Starbuck able to stand up and box against the other men without anyone finding it weird, you see the women taking the same risks & holding authority and just… it's nice to have it matter-of-fact and non-issue.
I like that they call the female officers and the President "Sir."
I was wondering, because Hoshi seemed to hesitate a bit when he was telling Tigh how much Gaeta means to him and why he has to go search for him. He never actually comes out and tells Tigh that they're in a relationship, and I was wondering if this was because there's some sort of stigma. But it could have been that he was just embarrassed to be getting so emotional in front of the XO or whatever.
Hmm, I mentioned she won an award, but not the episode. Hmmm. Oh well.
My reasoning is that it still sets up expectation because it's not like she wrote all the episodes. So when there's an episode with her name attached to it, there's the possibility of wondering if this is the ~award-winning~ episode as you watch, thereby changing the viewing experience.
Or I'm being picky. Like I said, I think it's borderline but I'd rather take more caution than less.
I never saw this webisode until now and ZOMG I loved it!!! Gaeta and Hoshi are just so adorable and I LOVE that he's bi! 😀
I can't wait for more!
WHY aren't these on the Blu-rays? DAMN YOU, SYFY!
So, I've only been able to watch half of these, due to internet limits I'm living with at the moment. I'm actually not sure I EVER saw these, since I just watched through the dvds before. *sigh*
This is why I hate things like webisodes and online-only content, because I feel like if you have something you want to say with your show, SAY IT IN THE SHOW, don't make people search for it. And then it doesn't get put on the DVDs or BluRay, and it sort of gets lost because it's not part of the official episode order.
You know, we talk about how the Cylons are individuals, and whether they're "humans." And we're accustomed to thinking of that issue in terms of Cylons acting out their humanity — i.e. Athena chooses to makes huge sacrifices for the fleet. But when a Cylon does something despicable, like genocide or torture or oppression, we tend to lump that in the Cylons acting as a unified group of robots box, and we don't put the deaths/torture/oppression on the head of any individual Cylon (why not, by the way).
In these webisodes though, we're seeing a direct example of an Eight acting "human" and "individual" in the darkest possible way. Murder, betrayal, selfishness. It is the other side of human behavior, and it's nice to see the show embracing the individuality of evil as well as heroism.
It reminds me of the Doctor Who episode "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood," in which the Doctor tries to convince the humans that they have to be "the best of humanity." There is also a worst of humanity, and just as humans are capable of behavior all over that spectrum, so are Cylons.
This series could also be called "Just in case you thought Gaeta had a shred of happiness left in him, we're going to squish it like a bug."
Wait, didn't they jump beyond the red line like… YEARS ago? Literally? Wasn't that like the first jump they made? I don't get it. Or is it like the red line is relative to your ship only?
Goddamn neutrinos, fucking everything up. (I have no idea if a neutrino could fuck them up, but my Smart Roommate tells me neutrinos can pass through ANYTHING so I like to think of them going around and stirring shit up everywhere all the time. Sort of subatomic trolls.)
In the New Caprica flashbacks, I kept expecting Gaeta to say "the list is an absolute good. the list is life."
Aw, Hoshi loves Gaeta because he's Lawful Good. I like that they had the same jobs on their ships–right? Hoshi was the Pegasus Gaeta? Am I right here? I wish the guy playing Hoshi were a better actor, though.
Wait, so ONE of these things is a painkiller and TWO is a lethal dose? That's kind of a fine line to walk, dude.
Aw, when Gaeta is like "because you're a Cylon, sir." I'm like GAETA NOOOOO. Just because one Eight was an asshole murderer doesn't mean they're all like that! We've seen BOTH humans and Cylons act appallingly over the course of this series! STAY GOOD GAETA. Poor Gaeta.
And poor Hoshi as well. 🙁 I just want them to be happy and have kisses and geeky communications-officer love. BUT THIS SHOW WANTS TO CRUSH MY DREAMS AND KICK ALL THE PUPPIES.