Mark Watches ‘Battlestar Galactica’: S04E14 – Blood on the Scales

In the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica, no. just…..no. why. why are you doing this to me. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica.

How are you supposed to produce anything coherent after watching “Blood on the Scales”? I could sit here and I could intellectualize everything in this episode. I could talk about the dynamics of power. I could talk about how the writers of this show utilize audience sympathy to force the viewers to think things they otherwise would find repulsive. I could talk about loyalty. I could talk about survival. I could talk about the fact that this show, after giving us a mid-season finale that seemed to end almost everything we needed from the story, finds a way to continue to crank up the intensity and terror of its plots.

That’s all good and well. I’ve had a lot to say to people I know who have seen this show, but it’s been a very constant pattern popping up: I can’t organize those thoughts. I might start shrieking about Tyrol supporting Adama, and then Aaron Kelly doing the same thing. I might yell about Romo Lampkin helping Starbuck and Anders. I might yell about Anders. I might yell so many things here, and even an all-caps tirade won’t convey what I need to say.

This will.

Dear Battlestar Galactica: 

I love you. I know your time has passed and you have long left the airwaves. I have discovered you later in my life, too late I’d say. But you are here. You are here in my life.

We have our ups and downs. You have ended the lives of people who I held dear. Just the other day, I was thinking of Billy. Oh, Billy. I miss him, but such is the reality of loving you. It hurts sometimes. Well, I suppose it hurts most of the time. 

But I accept that. I accept that this is the nature of what we have. And what we have is a beautiful thing. However, that is not the point of this love letter. There are many things that you’ve done wonderfully, but there are a few things I need to say to you, that I must communicate to you, so you understand what I’m feeling. 

Thank you for Admiral Adama. Thank you for having him resist every moment of Gaeta and Zarek’s joke of a “trial” with anger and rage and wit and beauty. Thank you for the image of that admiral walking through the halls of the Galactica, collecting members of the crew and civilians with him, prepared to take back the CIC and his ship, and it is like the most perfect moment near the end of this series because…oh god, it encapsulates just how much Adama has affected these people. It is making me feel things I hid away long ago. You have brought them back out, and I will be forever thankful. 

Thank you for giving me back the ass-kicking Starbuck I love and cherish.

Thank you for Lee’s grenade trick. 

Thank you for the smirk on Adama’s face when he hears Roslin’s voice.

Thank you for Romo’s neat pen trick.

Thank you for Baltar’s confession. 

Thank you for one of the most brilliant, soul-crushing, and inspiration passages of dialogue I’ve ever experienced, delivered ever-so-perfectly by Mary McDonnell. 

“No. Not now. Not ever. Do you hear me? I will use every cannon, every bomb, every bullet, every weapon I have down to my own teeth to end you. I swear it. I’m coming for all of you!”

I don’t think I have ever loved a couple more than this one. My own parents pale in comparison. I will never love a human being as much as Laura Roslin and Bill Adama love one other because they have set the bar at infinity. 

But thank you for Tom Zarek and Felix Gaeta. Despite that both of them did terrible things in their attempt to right the wrongs they saw in the current administration, I was shocked that when the two of them sat in their execution chairs, I was immensely sad. There was no victory in their death. I did not celebrate it. I did not feel a shred of joy for losing them. Instead, it made me think of the complicated fabric of the political situation in the colonial fleet, and it made me think how you had combined personal, emotional attachment, perspective, and rebellion to craft a deeply complex story of how two men ultimately just wanted to find their place in the world. Was Tom Zarek really the revolutionary he thought he was, or had he given power to others in poorly planned concessions? Did Gaeta pursue the mutiny to give his life a purpose on Galactica?

You made antagonists full, rich, detailed people. You did not demonize them, even if they did things that seemed incomprehensibly evil. You gave them a story. You gave them motivations, emotions, and purpose. 

I love you, Battlestar Galactica. I know our relationship is coming to an end soon, but I just need you to know this.

Yours,

Mark

PS: I wasn’t kidding:

About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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100 Responses to Mark Watches ‘Battlestar Galactica’: S04E14 – Blood on the Scales

  1. Once you start Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you will have to take up polygamy.

    • Mary Sue says:

      Technically, since polygamy is one man, many women (poly – many, gamy – women), it begs the question, do you refer to Battlestars as 'she', much as modern wet Navy ships are 'she'?

      These are the kinds of things I think about.

    • Karen says:

      I am so excited for Mark to start Buffy. ALL TIME FAVORITE SHOW RIGHT THERE.

      I will be fangirling and having ~emotions~ all over the place.

      • dasmondschaf says:

        DITTO. Also I am kind of excited, since while I own the full series, I haven't actually watched the first season in full since I was 11 years old and it was airing for the first time.

        • Karen says:

          I rewatched the first season in August when I got my mom into the show, so I am ready to jump right in with my feelings as soon as Mark starts Buffy! haha. I still might rewatch along with Mark again though because I am of the firm belief that you can never rewatch Buffy enough times.

          • Jenny_M says:

            I, also, have feelings about Buffy. I am so excited that one of my favorite commenters also has them! Since I know your feelings on Rose Tyler closely mirror my own, I can only surmise that we will share many opinions on Buffy as well. Solidarity, sister!

          • I think I've only rewatched the entire series once (with the exception of the seventh season, I think, because I didn't have it on tape—yes, TAPE), but there are plenty of episodes I've watched more times than I can count. I speak in Buffy. It has permeated my being in ways I cannot even describe.

          • notemily says:

            I am of the firm belief that you can never rewatch Buffy enough times.

            Are you me? Whenever I find out that a random cable channel is showing Buffy, I have to watch it, no matter which episode it is. (Or at least I used to when I had cable.)

      • enigmaticagentscully says:

        I'm thrilled to watch Buffy because I have…wait for it…NEVER SEEN A SINGLE EPISODE EVER.

        THERE I SAID IT. Much though I love BSG, it will be kind of fun to watch along with Mark once more. Shit, I guess I'll have to buy the DVDs now!

        • Karen says:

          I only watched Buffy for the first time 2 years ago when I was 22. LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE.

          • notemily says:

            I watched it for the first time when I was 20. Well, the first episode I ever saw was 6×07, because my (current) roommate (just friend back then) had recorded it to show it to her little sister and I happened to be there when they were watching it. I was… intrigued! So then when I graduated college in 2003, I moved back home with my parents and I was really depressed about not having a concrete future or any direction in my life, and my parents had cable so I watched a lot of TV.

            The FX channel at that point was showing two full episodes of Buffy a day, once every weekday afternoon, in consecutive order. It was literally the best part of my day. I would tape it if I had to go do something else that day and watch it as soon as possible. While I was obviously spoiled for some stuff due to having seen 6×07 already, I didn't care because it was SO GOOD. Life changing experience, indeed.

            Later, my friends and I established a tradition of Buffy Night, where we picked one weekday night when everyone was free and watched some Buffy (usually four episodes, then two Buffys and two of the spinoff once that started). It started as kind of a bet–"let's see how much Buffy we can watch before X date"–but became a way to re-watch the show for old fans and see it for the first time for new fans. It was awesome. Sadly we stopped once we got to season 6 because the library didn't have any DVDs past that point. (This was pre-Netflix.) It sure was fun while it lasted, though.

            • cait0716 says:

              My friends and I did "Buffy-fests" in high school Every time a new DVD set came out we watched it straight through. 18-hours marathons are the best, though they leave you exhausted.

              I started watching when Buffy first started airing when I was 10. So it wasn't so much life-changing as life-forming. I can't wait for Mark to get to it!

        • katherinemh says:

          I like to be at least a little ahead of Mark for his Reads and Watches projects, so I just started it for the first time! I had never seen a single episode ever before either!

        • notemily says:

          I don't know if you have Netflix, but they have all seven seasons available for instant watch. I might almost even recommend that, because some of the DVDs are really annoying–stuff like spoilers for episodes in the menu art, Buffy speaking a line from each episode when you press "play" on it, and really long unnecessary graphics before you get to the actual show.

          • notemily says:

            Although now that I go look at the Netflix page, their choice of photo to put at the top is really weird. It's not exactly a spoiler, but I don't think it represents the show very well.

            For Buffy fans: Vg'f Ohssl, Fcvxr, naq Qnja. Abg Knaqre naq Jvyybj? Pbafvqrevat Qnja qbrfa'g rira wbva gur fubj hagvy f5, vg'f whfg bqq sbe gung cubgb gb ercerfrag gur frevrf nf n jubyr.

        • t09yavosaur says:

          I will be doing the same for once as I have seen a grand total of 2 episodes. I'm hoping Buffy is upbeat enough that I can watch it during the school year. BSG has too much sad for me to watch while neglecting homework.

        • lyvanna says:

          I love that there will be other people watching for the first time along with Mark.

          I've seen Buffy more times than I can count (upwards of 15 times no lie) and I adore it.

      • notemily says:

        joining you in the fangirl corner! <3

    • Dru says:

      I don't know, to me Buffy – and also Firefly – is like a beloved family member, and coming back to it (even with all the things that made me cry) is like getting a big, warm hug.

      Battlestar, on the other hand, is like an epic lover whom I love with the power of a thousand fiery suns despite the hurt and the misery, with whom I alternate between "YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!" and "I HATE YOU WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" (but I stick around anyway, because this show and I are OTP despite my occasional hatred). Because you have to be just a little bit of a masochist to love this show.

      So yes, I would stake my life (ha ha) on Mark ending up loving Buffy very much indeed, but love for it and for BSG can be two very different beasts.

      • elusivebreath says:

        lol, I have to agree with this 100%

      • notemily says:

        Buffy is definitely more re-watchable for me, because BSG is this PIT OF DESPAIR half the time and it just isn't something I want to come back to all that often. You're right about Buffy being like a big warm hug.

  2. Ryan Lohner says:

    Anders getting a bullet to the brain was forced on the show by Michael Trucco getting into a very bad car accident and suffering a spinal injury similar to Christopher Reeve's. He was EXTREMELY lucky and is now walking again, but without knowing how things would turn out, they needed a quick way to take him out of the action.

    I find it kind of darkly amusing that as soon as the Quorum collectively grows a backbone, they're all brutally gunned down.

    • enigmaticagentscully says:

      Poor Quorum. They were badasses to the last.

    • BklynBruzer says:

      The remarkable thing about Galactica is how many plot points are forced upon the writers by external circumstances, but they still make it all work magnificently.

    • Holy shit! I had no idea. I just saw him on Psych recently, very glad he recovered.

    • @LizatLAX says:

      Actually it's more accurate to say that they remained concerned. He was already recovering before filming started (he walked the picket line during the strike). He's said he told Ron that it wasn't necessary to write around his injury, but that he wasn't exactly surprised to see that he'd been taken out of the action. Certainly everyone was very worried for him, and he beat some amazing odds to come back as fully as he did. The hoodie he's wearing in The Oath is there to cover the scar on the back of his neck from where his neck vertebrae were fused.

      If you've ever seen pictures of the Ferrari, it's frakking amazing he and the driver survived.

      I think it was Verheiden who said that Tigh was briefly first considered as the one to get shot, but it was decided he'd had enough tragedy.

      • Gillweed says:

        Enough tragedy? On BSG? How in the world is that possible?

        *sorry*

      • BSGfan1 says:

        This doesn't make sense to me. I mean the whole thing about it being written around his injury. It happened December 2007 and during the writer's strike. So at least a year before this episode would have been filmed right? Why would they need to write anything around it. Can you guys provide me some links to this? Every article I read said it didn't affect the filming or scripting at all.

    • MelvinTheBold says:

      I find it kind of darkly amusing that as soon as the Quorum collectively grows a backbone, they're all brutally gunned down.

      Of course, the only reason they grew a backbone in the first place is to give Zarek the reason to massmurder them.

      According to the commentary, the script as drafted featured Zarek walking into the quorum room and saying something like "Roslin's run off to the cylon basestar. I'm gonna be president now. Okay?" and the whole quorum basically saying, "Okay!" and then Zarek shoots 'em all anyway. Richard Hatch had to ask the producers to change it because Zarek totally would have waited, like, a week or so to purge them if they weren't openly opposing his rise to powah.

    • Noybusiness says:

      He wasn't exaggerating when he said he was the luckiest man alive in that interview.

  3. Jack_of_Hearts says:

    “No. Not now. Not ever. Do you hear me? I will use every cannon, every bomb, every bullet, every weapon I have down to my own teeth to end you. I swear it. I’m coming for all of you!” – Laura Roslin for president of EVERYTHING EVER

    • Noybusiness says:

      EYE Teeth. It gives it that certain je ne sais quoi.

    • MelvinTheBold says:

      Such a shame they played the last sentence so much in the 4.5 promos that by the time the episode aired it had become a complete Narm-moment without even having happened yet…

  4. Geolojazz says:

    *clap clap clap clap*

    Adama's badassness in this episode is the most epic thing to grace any screen ever.

  5. Mary Sue says:

    Oh, *Mark*.

    I'm a little bit in love with you right now for your Facebook status.

  6. psycicflower says:

    ‘I suppose a long time ago it was architecture. There was a year there where I scribbled floor plans on everything. Dining room table. Patio tiles. Rare books. Drove my parents crazy.’ ‘How old were you?’ ‘Eight. Maybe nine. I’ll tell you one thing though, I had some pretty frakin amazing ideas. Restaurants shaped like food. Top heavy buildings and stairways. Everything had to have a stairway. When it was older it became medicine and then, eh, engineering, photography. I think I would have made a better architect than any of those though. And then I discovered and science and I, I thought I was really, really good at it. Until I met you. ’ ‘Felix.’ ‘No. And please no religion. I’m fine with how things worked out. Really Gaius I am. I just hope, I hope that people realise, eventually, who I am.’
    <img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/xm5nvp.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
    Wall of quoting but I just love it so much. Oh Gaeta, tear my heart out and rip it to shreds while you’re at it. Despite these past few episodes I still love Gaeta. I can hate everyone else involved, especially Zarek, but I just can’t hate Gaeta. Beneath it all he’s still a good person who was trying to do the right thing. He was naive and didn’t think the implications of a coup with Zarek but it harks back his confrontation with Gaius on New Caprica and buying into the dream of Gaius Baltar. Gaeta, when it comes down to it, is an idealist. Always has been, always will be.

    Obligatory Starbuck is a badass love
    <img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/ofal4z.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
    And Roslin/Adama love
    <img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/wtshm9.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">

  7. psycicflower says:

    ‘I suppose a long time ago it was architecture. There was a year there where I scribbled floor plans on everything. Dining room table. Patio tiles. Rare books. Drove my parents crazy.’
    ‘How old were you?’
    ‘Eight. Maybe nine. I’ll tell you one thing though, I had some pretty frakin amazing ideas. Restaurants shaped like food. Top heavy buildings and stairways. Everything had to have a stairway. When it was older it became medicine and then, eh, engineering, photography. I think I would have made a better architect than any of those though. And then I discovered and science and I, I thought I was really, really good at it. Until I met you. ’
    ‘Felix.’
    ‘No. And please no religion. I’m fine with how things worked out. Really Gaius I am. I just hope, I hope that people realise, eventually, who I am.’

    <img src="http://i43.tinypic.com/xm5nvp.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
    Wall of quoting but I just love it so much. Oh Gaeta, tear my heart out and rip it to shreds while you’re at it. Despite these past few episodes I still love Gaeta. I can hate everyone else involved, especially Zarek, but I just can’t hate Gaeta. Beneath it all he’s still a good person who was trying to do the right thing. He was naive and didn’t think the implications of a coup with Zarek through but it harks back his confrontation with Gaius on New Caprica and buying into the dream of Gaius Baltar. Gaeta, when it comes down to it, is an idealist. Always has been, always will be.

    Obligatory Starbuck is a badass love
    <img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/ofal4z.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
    And Roslin/Adama love
    <img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/wtshm9.gif&quot; border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">

    • bearshorty says:

      The scene between Baltar and Gaeta is one of my favorite scenes. When Baltar tells him "I know who you are", it just makes me want to cry. It was even worse watching it a second time. Such a perfect scene.

    • hassibah says:

      Best scene in the whole season. Seriously!

    • Brian Fowler says:

      Gaeta is the most interesting case of "break the cutie" ever. I really mean that. He has a complete heel turn, but he's still likable.

      The 3 episode mutiny arc is, as I keep saying, my favorite part of the series, and Gaeta is a huge part of the reason why.

  8. enigmaticagentscully says:

    This isn't really directly related to the episode but these days whenever I read a new review I just can't help thinking…

    Buuuuu zl tbq, gur svanyr naq jung unccraf gb Ebfyva naq Nqnzn vf tbvat gb SHPXVAT QRFGEBL ZNEX. V zrna…V jnf n pbzcyrgr fboovat jerpx naq guvf vf uvf *svefg rire fuvc.* Ur ybirf gurz fb zhpu naq rirel gvzr ur fnlf vg zl urneg oernxf n yvggyr zber orpnhfr nyy V pna guvax bs vf:
    "V ynvq bhg gur pnova gbqnl. Vg'f tbaan unir na rnfgreyl ivrj. Lbh fubhyq frr gur yvtug gung jr trg urer, jura gur fha pbzrf sebz oruvaq gubfr zbhagnvaf. Vg'f nyzbfg urnirayl. Vg erzvaqf zr bs lbh."

    In other news, that scene with Baltar talking to Gaeta before he's executed is one of my favourite in the whole show. The acting there by both of them is just perfect. :'(

  9. enigmaticagentscully says:

    Also, Romo Lampkin killed a guy with a pen. While his hands were tied. And then he referred to the guy as his pen pal.

    Just thought that needed it's own comment.

  10. stellaaaaakris says:

    What did I ever do to you, BSG, to make you think I deserved to be treated this way? Why must you make everything miserable? I'm trying not to be too angry with you, because I know you're re-ending soon, but oooh…I am giving you some serious side eye right now. If you kill any member of the Fighting Agathons, I'm warning you right now, I don't think I'll be able to forgive you.

    I kind of assumed Gaeta was going to die after some comments about the webseries. People were saying how Hoshi was supposed to be Narcho (who I have no memory of before these last 2 episodes) originally and I thought that Gaeta probably would die then, otherwise the change would make no sense because there would be no ~glances~ so that plot line would have to magically disappear. But the Maelstrom comments also made me think Katee Sackhoff wouldn't be returning for a good long while so I didn't take my reaction seriously. And now I am sad. Gaeta was such an idealist and he told the fighters to hold their weapons and wouldn't risk the fleet (and I disagree, Roslin, I don't think that was exactly cowardice on his part but it was proof that he truly did care for the people.) And ugh, again, he was an idealist. And my heart.

    The only thing that kept me from crying at the end was concentrating on how terrible Lee's hair was. It was really, really bad.

    But you know who had really great hair? Tricia Helfer. Shocking, I know, but it's so pretty and deserves it's own comment.

    Kara and Romo are helping Sam! And Romo attacked a guy with a pen. Guess he learned something from Felix. And Adama's supporters becoming more numerous after every corridor. And Kelly! He had a change of heart – sort of. At least an internal conflict. I love internal conflicts. And Hot Dog doesn't want to shoot down Roslin!

    This is ridiculous I know, but when Tyrol was squatting through the vents (not crawling on his stomach), the first thought that came to my mind was he reminded me of River Tam after defeating all the Reavers in Serenity. I'm not sure where that image came from, but I was probably just trying to find this to distract myself from all the misery.

    • NB2000 says:

      And Hot Dog doesn't want to shoot down Roslin!

      Yay for Hot Dog!

    • robin says:

      FYI, Narcho is one of the pilots from Pegasus. He was the face of Pegasus for a couple of those viper fights that they had with Galactica. Since then, like Racetrack he's been in the background of assorted pilot scenes with lines here and there. I'm guessing that they originally had him paired with Gaeta in the webisodes because it gives Gaeta a direct Pegasus connection to supplement the Pegasus crew involvement in the mutiny episodes. It would give Gaeta clout/believeability with that contingent of the fleet, even though Gaeta's been in the Adama in-circle for so long & connected with Baltar. (But imo it still worked out perfectly fine with Hoshi, though I guess continuity would have been a tiny bit better since there's more Gaeta-Narcho interaction post-webisodes.)

  11. NB2000 says:

    Oh Gaeta 🙁 His final conversation with Gaius about wanting to be an architect just breaks me. Restaurants shaped like food DO sound amazing damn it! That moment in the CIC after the FTL goes down where he just knows that the mutiny is over. He doesn't have to say anything, it's all in his expression. Alessandro Juliani is amazing.

    Zarek…I don't think I've ever really liked him as a character, as I said when he was introduced I've always had the feeling that everything he did had the undercurrent that he was just after power. The execution of the Quorum, as irritating as they could sometimes be, was just the step too far that made me hate the character. Having said that, part of me is sad to see him go in a "He's been here since the beginning! OMG the show really is ending!" way.

    So even in the middle of a major Fleet crisis Gaius finds the time to sleep with a Six. I do like that he's there to support Gaeta during his final scenes, even attending the execution, that relationship has been through so much and it's nice to see it get acknowledged once again.

    Starbuck and Lee being badass and hilarious…I think that pretty much says it all. They are being awesome and sibling-y again! Yay! And then Anders gets shot and everything is horrible. Do love Romo Lampkin deciding to help her in the end. Also "I don't suppose anyone's going to feed my dog." hee.

    "I have Hera!" Oh Caprica Six, I don't know why but that line of hers always makes me giggle. Hera's quiet little "Ouch" while looking at her injured daddy is somehow cute and incredibly sad at the same time.

    • psycicflower says:

      I love how Romo Lampkin makes sure to get his sunglasses back from the guard who stole them after he stabbed him. Can't have Lampkin without his shades.

  12. Noybusiness says:

    Mark, the comment you made for "A Disquiet Follows My Soul" about there being no Head Six makes it clear that Netflix doesn't have the Extended Editions of the Season 4 episodes. You'll have to download the Extended 4.19 and the Extended Finale if you want to see them. Remember, the Extended Finale is all in one part, not three. Please reply here to let me know whether or not you are going to do this, and also if you want help finding the downloads if you are. (You could also buy the Season 4.5 set, but I assume – perhaps wrongly – that you don't want to spend money)

    • Noybusiness says:

      Just to be certain of clarity: only 3 episodes have Extended Editions ("Disquiet", 4.19 and the Finale)

    • Noybusiness says:

      No, no, no! I meant 4.18, not 4.19! There's an Extended 4.18!

      Episode 4.19 is part of the Finale along with 4.20/21, and that's all one part in Extended form. Extended 4.18 is a different episode. The 3 Extended episodes are 4.12 ("Disquiet"), 4.18 and the Finale.

      How could I make such an error!

  13. Ryan Lohner says:

    Something to remember about Tyrol in this episode is that he spends the whole time having no contact with Adama or the other anti-mutiny people. So his disabling the FTL at the end was just something he figured he needed to do completely on his own.

  14. Dru says:

    Oh, Mark. I remember when you posted somewhere in a review wishing for more of Felix Gaeta/episodes centred on him, and all I could think was,

    BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, BECAUSE THIS SHOW WILL GIVE IT TO YOU.

  15. Gillweed says:

    Oh god, this episode killed me.
    I loved Gaeta, and I was hoping that Zarek would come around after things on New Caprica, so this whole mutiny shocked me, especially since I haven't seen webisodes on my first watch. I will miss you Felix, and your amazing singing voice and pretty face. I just wish there was at least some "Gaeta's lament" in this episode, it seems fitting.

    [youtube NY3gY48pxjA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY3gY48pxjA youtube]
    I didn't get to praise it on your review of Guess who's coming for dinner, and it's my favourite piece in the show.

    I was horrified when Anders was shot down, honestly after everything he's been trough, I was not expecting that.
    And all my love to admiral Adama. Words can't describe how much I love that man, so maybe a picture can:

    <img src="http://img.myconfinedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/tdomf/112901/team%20edward%20olmos%20shirt.jpg"&gt;

    BSG is the most awesome show ever, I swear. And I found this couple of days ago, I'm not sure I've seen it here before. Enjoy the awesomeness:
    <img src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/imagebuzz/terminal01/2009/12/3/17/evolution-of-the-cylon-26092-1259880969-2.jpg"&gt;

  16. BSGfan1 says:

    Gaeta's last meal is with Baltar. Nothing is more appropriate. My gods, I love this scene so much. I just cried and cried. "It stopped" ..oh Felix what have you done:(.

    Gutted.

    • MelvinTheBold says:

      First time I saw this episode, the last meal was even more sad because I totally thought it was an imagine-spot, Gaeta going a little bit 'Owl-Creek-Bridge' as he's facing the firing squad. The way it's edited, it's almost feasible, and it just helps make you even sadderest. (which is a real word, though it's rare in general usage due to there not being much not on BSG that it can be applied to.)

  17. bookyworm says:

    One excellent thing about this show is that (nearly) all of the characters are badasses in their own way, so that you have tons of awesome characters but it doesn't get boring.

  18. Karen says:

    Andeeeeerssss!!!!!! HE CAN'T DIE. HE'S TOO HOT TO DIE.

    It's always been obvious how much Sam loves Kara, but Kara's feelings for Sam aren't always easy to see. But when faced with losing Sam for real, I think Kara's emotions come to the surface. Their marriage had a lot of problems (…obviously), but Kara really does love Sam.

    • psycicflower says:

      I had completely forgotten that Anders got shot in this episode. You probably could have heard my gasp and NOOOOO around the world. I just love him and them so much.

    • bookyworm says:

      Agreed. Maybe if it had been shown more clearly earlier the love triangle stuff might have been less annoying.

    • klmnumbers says:

      Yes yes yes. This is exactly how I feel about them. She had been pushing him away so much and using him as a physical reality check when needed. He had always supported her no matter what. Kara's reaction to Sam's shooting absolutely broke my heart and made me really, really OTP them.

  19. Suzannezibar says:

    Oh Mark. This is a beautiful review of an utterly ….oh, I don't even know what adjective to use to describe this episode. Thank YOU for putting into words everything that makes this show incredible.

  20. Jenny_M says:

    I think Roslin actually says she will come after them with her own "eye teeth" which are your canines and somehow make that speech even more amazing.

  21. monkeybutter says:

    You made antagonists full, rich, detailed people. You did not demonize them, even if they did things that seemed incomprehensibly evil. You gave them a story. You gave them motivations, emotions, and purpose.

    Well said. I'm gonna miss Gaeta. Even though I wanted him to fail, and die even, in his coup, it was amazing watching him and Zarek carry out their plot. I feel like I knew where each of them were coming from, and the force of their characters against Adama and Roslin was exciting to watch. God, Roslin's threat? Awesome. I felt giddy seeing Starbuck and Lee walking around, kicking ass, and Tyrol on his lone mission, and Baltar's confession to six and chat with Gaeta. Baltar never has a bad confrontation scene. Everyone was perfect in these episodes. These will probably be my favorites of the entire series.

    Kelly's moment in the corridor made me think of Private Gomer Pyle (looks and position-wise, not mentally), and I briefly hoped that Gaeta would find and break the wooden ship, a major perk of being the frustrated, despondent CO of Galactica.

  22. Lissa says:

    Thank you for ending it the way you did.

    I truly love both Zarek and Gaeta as characters, and I really, really think they had some points. After everything they lost- after everything the Cylons did- they are expected to turn around and work with them and suck it up and like it? As an objective, omniscient viewer, the alliance between the humans and the rebel Cylons is the right thing to do. But if someone killed my husband, my boys, my parents and siblings, almost all of my friends, and just about anyone I'd ever known, loved, hated, talked to…. Yeah. Good luck telling me to sit down, shut up, and work with them four years later. The violence of what they did is wrong, but the intent behind it… twenty five of the thirty five remaining ships were ready to follow them for a reason. Adama's got some major problems on his hands.

    (Zarek had a point, too. If you don't want him President, don't make him Vice President. He had a right to be pissed as hell when he wasn't allowed to assume office in Sine Qua Non, and he had a right to be angry that Roslin would neither step up and lead or step down and let him do his job, and if the show wants me to believe he's been ridiculously corrupt while he's been VP, then they need to show me that in between the Circle and now.)

    • Sean Murphy says:

      Heck its not even four years later for the characters as the show's seasons did not represent a year at at time, its more like 2 or ( including the year in Baltar's hair) and that doesn't even take in to account the occupation of new caprica, and all the other time's the cylons have tried to murder them everyday since then only to have "um we had a falling out with our siblings can we be friends with you now!" and expect the humans to be all "sure! why not?"

      I believe in moving past things in general but it can't be applied here as what the Cylons did was too massive and too recent, plus there are no Cylon civilians, they all took part in the murder and genocide of 20,000,000,000+ people.

      As loath as I am to Godwin, (especially for a comparison to a fictional event but I am not knowledgeable enough to come up with a different historical comparison) it would be like if the Nazi's wanted to go live in Israel ( if that is too much mods can delete this paragraph if they prefer)

  23. guest_age says:

    I find it so painful that I wanted more Gaeta and the second the show started giving it to me, I kept shouting at my screen, "NO! NO! I TAKE IT BACK! STOP THIS! NOOOOOOOO!"

    Everything hurts in the best possible way. And I genuinely believe that the scene between Gaeta and Baltar right before Gaeta is executed is thus far my favorite scene on the entire series.

  24. robin says:

    Sometimes the quiet moments are the most powerful on BSG — like that fantastic scene between Gaius & Gaeta. Beautiful…

    And then we have Roslin being a complete badass. THE SPEECH. *flails*

    One subtle thing I loved was how the Cylons on the baseship were also visibly shocked & saddened by Adama's believed death. They've developed a sincere respect for that man.

    Roslin on the baseship was such a mind-f*ck in general — ordering around the Cylons, solving communication problems with Two…

    It makes the line from Adama gain more significance than flippancy — they gave comfort to me. Even if Adama just meant to be inflamatory, I felt like in the second he said it he also realized it was also true. The "enemy" HAS given the Adama contingent comfort. Throughout the seasons, the loyalty and support of Athena, of Tigh, of Tyrol… now the Rebels offering them improved technology. And if you look who was on the Adama side of the mutiny, it was half Cylon lol. If we consider Kara something unknown… Lee, Baltar, Romo, and Kelly (half-way) are the only humans fighting on Adama/Roslin's side. (with poor Helo down on the count)

    The massacre of the Quorum was the most shocking part of the episode for me. I fully expected Zarek and Gaeta to go out (though I expected suicide tbh) but the Quorum… seeing that line crossed was so horrifying. It's even worse in the deleted scene where you see them all gunned down in detail.

    • kristinc says:

      "It makes the line from Adama gain more significance than flippancy — they gave comfort to me. Even if Adama just meant to be inflamatory, I felt like in the second he said it he also realized it was also true."

      Yeah. Jacob at TWoP (I've been reading the BSG recaps over there in the last week or so since I finished the series) thought so too, like actually saying it was the moment when Adama really made the connection for himself that he needed to make. He points out that Athena kept Adama sane when he was stuck in the sky in a half empty battlestar for a year, and Helo loved her, and he sort of learned from their insistence on both loving him. I agree, I think Adama had a revelation in that moment where it all became clear to him.

      • robin says:

        I also feel like maybe he tries to cover it up too the moment that he realizes, but I hope not that much. Well, at least I know he can't repress his ~feelings~ about Tigh — I feel like he and Tigh both realize just how MUCH they love each other in this episode was well. THEIR FRIENDSHIP IS SO MAGICAL.<3 <3 <3

        • tanbarkie says:

          My Little Cylon
          I used to wonder what friendship could be
          My Little Cylon
          Until Saul Tigh shared its magic with me

  25. klmnumbers says:

    Anders and Gaeta are my two favorite characters on BSG (I know, what??). So, this episode is really difficult for me to watch. I'll wax poetic about Anders on another review.

    Gaeta, to me, is one of the damn most tragic characters in this show. He has done his duty since day one. He has saved their lives countless times, and the system has never trusted nor rewarded him. I'm constantly brought back to the episodes with the Circle judging those who conspired with the Cylons on New Caprica. Gaeta wouldn't even beg for his life because he knew that it wouldn't matter. Nothing he did seemed to have any effect anymore.

    So, I understand why Gaeta does what he does. I really do, and I was honestly pretty much on his side to a degree for a lot of the resistance. But the moment that he ordered the execution of Adama, I was done.

    So, goodnight sweet prince, Gaeta – you tragic, beautiful man.

  26. Sean Murphy says:

    The scene where Zarak has the Quorum gunned down because they voted against him, has always made me think back to the start of the season when Natalie did same to the Cavils, Simons and Dorals (plus boomer) and yet we the viewer are meant to view the rebels as "hell yeah you go guys!"

    Also I always found the growing crowd in the corridor to be extremely cheesy in how over the top it was. And one of the few times the show became simple, it was a "these are our righteous Heroes!" moment when before the show would present everyone as grey. Plus I was firmly on Gaeta's side since I had long viewed the Roslyn/Adama administration as tyrant rule due to their various actions in seasons 3 and 4. Never on Zarak's side if that distinction matters though

  27. katherinemh says:

    I didn't watch BSG while it was airing, but I saw commercials for ~THE FINAL SEASON~ all the freaking time. And it was always the same one, with a close-up of some lady in glasses (who I assumed was the Big Bad) yelling, "I'M COMING FOR ALL OF YOU!" Finally getting that quote in context was epic.

    • BSGfan1 says:

      OMG I totally remember the ads. And people rather made fun of it because they thought it made her sound cartoonish. But the whole scene was brilliant.

  28. VoldieBeth says:

    Roslin is amazing. Period. Love her. Oh and who else do I love? Adama of course! Storming the CIC with more followers joining him ever corridor, fraking amazing!! One of the best episodes ever!!

  29. Noybusiness says:

    Oh, fun fact. The Six that Baltar sleeps with isn't named onscreen, but according to Michael Angeli she's called Lida.

  30. Noybusiness says:

    Is it wrong that I want them to use Centurions to guard the mutineers on the Astral Queen, and have Seelix and Connor insult them one too many times and wind up as a couple of bloody smears?

  31. ChronicReader91 says:

    Oh noes, I fallen behind on my BSG watching!

    Hahaha, is that from your real Facebook page, Mark? That is beautiful.

    It’s amazing that after all this time there are still moments that truly shock me on this show, and the massacre of the Quorum was one of those. Zarek lost even my vaguest, “well what he’s saying does have some merit” support with that.

    Anders! I was sure he was going to die. At least he's still alive for now (I think?) but I wouldn't count him as safe yet. Oh god, Kara’s reaction… look, Kara/Lee has it’s attraction, but is there any doubt after this that her heart lies with Sam? And yay for Romo reluctantly Doing the Right Thing. Hell, just yay for Romo being in this one. 8)

    “NO. Not now. Not ever. Do you hear me? I will use every cannon, every bomb, every bullet, every weapon I have down to my eye teeth to end you. I swear it. I’M COMING FOR ALL OF YOU!” Ladies and gentlemen, LAURA. FUCKING. ROSLIN. It’s hard to decide whether this or the Team Adama march to the CIC was the pinnacle of awesome for the episode.

    I knew the outcome was inevitable, but that didn't make it any easier. 🙁 The scene between Gaeta and Baltar just about destroyed me. And: “It stopped.” Well hello irony, my old friend. Thanks for making this even worse than it already was.

  32. notemily says:

    This is a quote from Richard Hatch about the mutiny episodes, found on the BSG wiki:

    Zarek and Gaeta can only go by what they’ve experienced in the past, what they’ve seen. And in reality, the Cylons are so unpredictable, and they’re programmed in such a way, that how in the world can you ever trust anybody that’s killed millions of people? If you’re a released Cylon drone warrior who’s been programmed to kill, with all of the power and technology that they have on the ship… They could very easily have decided to wipe out the humans. The writers could have just as easily gone the other way, where you kill Gaeta and Zarek, and at the end of the show the Cylons turn on the humans. And then you would’ve gone, “Oh my God! We hated Zarek and Gaeta and what they did… but they were right!”

    Yeah, that kind of ambiguity is why I love this show.

    See, I knew Hotdog wouldn't join in this fuckery.

    Who's the brig rat? OH, it's Kelly. He's there because he made bombs. I forgot.

    SAM NOOOOOOOO

    Lololol I love you Romo. I GUESS THE PEN REALLY IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD EH

    "Then cut off my legs." ILU Gaius.

    "I have to go back." WE HAVE TO GO BAAAAACK!

    HELL YEAH TIGH <3 (when you see him pointing a gun at wossname's head after the execution of Adama is ordered)

    I love that Zarek thinks telling Laura that Adama's dead will break her, but instead it just pushes her You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry button. <3

    "I'M COMING FOR ALL OF YOU!" I remember seeing this clip a lot in promos. President Airlock at her finest!

    I knew Tyrol was going to do something badass and technical, but I didn't remember what. And then he takes out the FTL drive WITH HIS BARE HANDS. HELL YES.

    I've become obsessed with ordering glasses online ever since I learned how ridiculously cheap and easy it is, so all I can do every time Roslin's on screen is stare at her glasses. They're pretty sweet.

    Gaeta seems at peace, finally. Talking about restaurants shaped like food. Ha, he reminds me of that guy on How I Met Your Mother who wanted a restaurant shaped like a cowboy hat.

    Gaeta and Baltar 🙁 🙁 🙁

    And thus ends the Tragedy of Felix Gaeta, one of my all-time favorite Galactica storylines. Also, good riddance, Zarek. I never liked you.

  33. lastyearswishes says:

    Oh Anders. ;_________; He is my favorite, I was dreading this episode.

    So many bad asses on this show though, man, it warms the cockles of my heart~

    ALSO. This post is brilliance. I totally support your relationship with BSG, Mark.

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