tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post1248378565899719495..comments2024-03-25T19:18:14.047-04:00Comments on What's Alan Watching?: Battlestar Galactica, "Faith": All your Basestars are belong to usAlan Sepinwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388147774725646742noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-71019326138512533132008-05-12T23:26:00.000-04:002008-05-12T23:26:00.000-04:00Oh, man. If it's just Baltar who survives the geno...Oh, man. If it's just Baltar who survives the genocide of the Fleet with Hera and Nicky I may have to stab myself in the eye. He has all the luck in the world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-14352794401740971472008-05-12T15:13:00.000-04:002008-05-12T15:13:00.000-04:00I don't think it's what the writers have planned, ...I don't think it's what the writers have planned, but I like Kristin's Adam and Eve idea. Starbuck leads the fleet to Earth but almost everyone dies before they reach the planet. Baltar rescues Helo&Athena's daughter and Chief&Callie's son, blasts off to earth in an escape pod, and raises them in the Garden of Eden, thousands of years before our today. The two human/cylon halfbreeds go on to populate the earth...<BR/><BR/>DarrenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-79728825925350086222008-05-12T11:35:00.000-04:002008-05-12T11:35:00.000-04:00Nick said...The problem I've had with this season ...<I>Nick said...<BR/>The problem I've had with this season is several storylines are just sitting by themselves and have nothing to do with anything, especially considering the amount of screentime that is being devoted to them, for example Balter storyline has nothing to do with anything it is so irrelevant but yet it has got a ton of screentime especially when compared to storylines that are relevant like the starbuck story and the cylon civil war. ... The writers need to dramatically cut down Balter and Roslin's screentime unless they have a storyarc that is relevant to the show and focus on more immediate and relevant things like they did last night with Statbuck's crew.</I><BR/><BR/>Baltar and Roslin's arcs are not relevant to the show? Baltar and Roslin are two of the most nuanced characters in the show. Baltar sold out humanity by giving Six access to the Colonial defense mainframes, which allowed the Cylons to slaughter most of humanity. Baltar went on to manage to do whatever he needed to do to survive without accepting responsibility for his culpability in the genocide. And then, he not only won the presidency by appealing to the Colonials' desire to get out of the ships and settle on New Caprica, but gave Gina the nuke that not only destroyed Cloud 9 (killing everyone on board), but allowed the Cylons to find New Caprica and collaborated in the occupation. now, Baltar, in either his latest scheme to get by a little longer or in a genuine desire for repentance is becoming a religious leader with a sizable following. <BR/><BR/>Roslin, as the dying leader, is turning her back on the democratic process in order to try and leave the fleet in the best way that she sees possible-- becoming more of a dictator-- even if her motivations are good. That and coming to terms with her cancer. And Mary McDonnell owns the screen as Roslin. <BR/><BR/>While Galactica has spent time on stories that go nowhere (the love quadrangle of doom, "The Woman King," "Black Market"), Baltar and Roslin's stories are nothing if not integral. I am confident that as the season goes on, we'll see how all of the various storylines (The Final Four dealing with their newfound Cylon-ness, the identity of the final Cylon, the Cylon civil war, Baltarism, Roslin succumbing to cancer, Lee and Zarek opposing Roslin's authoritarianism, Starbuck leading the human race to its end, Doc Cottle's hydroponic tobacco farming) will converge. <BR/><BR/>After listening to some of Ron Moore's podcasts from this season along with finishing The Wire season 3 (and listening to David Simon's commentaries and watching The Wire Paley festival panel), it looks like the Battlestar team is working on season 4 as one long story in 20 parts (or one story in two parts of 10 installments each) and that the pace of the story-telling may be more deliberate than in previous seasons of Galactica. Whatever it is, this is the best string of 6 hours since the run in the New Caprica arc from Lay Down Your Burdens to Collaborators.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-54649107304569265652008-05-12T03:55:00.000-04:002008-05-12T03:55:00.000-04:00"...heard of Bob Dylan, but they've also heard of ..."...heard of Bob Dylan, but they've also heard of Shakespeare."<BR/><BR/>My takeaway on this is that Bob Dylan is the last cylon.<BR/><BR/><I>Well, it's as plausible as anything else...</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-85248077907827882452008-05-12T00:20:00.000-04:002008-05-12T00:20:00.000-04:00Count me in as another person who saw Barbara Bush...Count me in as another person who saw Barbara Bush in Laura's mom. <BR/><BR/>Then again, Babs is the mother of the president.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-49587797434612154382008-05-11T20:21:00.000-04:002008-05-11T20:21:00.000-04:00Great recaps/essays by you and Todd. Thank you!Great recaps/essays by you and Todd. Thank you!Mo Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01685367085407381479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-31049633920564456922008-05-11T19:44:00.000-04:002008-05-11T19:44:00.000-04:00"The children of the one reborn shall find their o..."The children of the one reborn shall find their own country" (Kara's kids? Helo and Sharon's?)<BR/><BR/>I thought it might refer to Baltar's acolytes following his spiritual "rebirth." Shades of the Israelites in the desert, maybe? <BR/><BR/>Having the Centurion independently shoot one of the Eights was another reminder of the Pandora's Box that Natalie/Six opened. The Eights were right about the Sixes being out of control, with regard to unleashing the Centurions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-37938198075123040832008-05-11T19:06:00.000-04:002008-05-11T19:06:00.000-04:00I've loved every minute of this season. As the end...I've loved every minute of this season. As the end credits pop up each week, my husband and I both exclaim aloud, completely surprised that an entire hour has passed.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00806449586505280425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-53997261516996161472008-05-11T19:00:00.000-04:002008-05-11T19:00:00.000-04:00"A dying leader will know the truth of the opera h...<I>"A dying leader will know the truth of the opera house" (Roslin, obviously)</I><BR/><BR/>I'm not so sure - it could also be Baltar.<BR/><BR/>He has had "opera house hallucinations" too, if I remember correctly. He has been a leader on New Caprica and is a new (spiritual) leader at the moment, only gathering more and more power.<BR/><BR/>It certainly wouldn't surprise me if Baltar is killed/dies before the end of the series (in fact, it would suprise me more if he doesn't die).qrterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10028863153825150258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-29387944557723350192008-05-11T17:30:00.000-04:002008-05-11T17:30:00.000-04:00I'm right here with you, kenrick.In one word for t...I'm right here with you, kenrick.<BR/><BR/>In one word for this episode, I'd go with tedious. The Cylon God vs. Kobol gods has always been the weakest part of this show. Way too much of that here. <BR/><BR/>Plus, like Starbuck I had way too little patience during the scenes when the hybrid is talking nonsense. Couldn't disagree with Alan more. Worst episode of the season.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-43250831867243571692008-05-11T13:59:00.000-04:002008-05-11T13:59:00.000-04:00Did the Natalie/Six execution make anyone think "L...Did the Natalie/Six execution make anyone think "Lawrence of Arabia?"<BR/>Except for the number of shots, of course...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-64782984448014266592008-05-11T12:22:00.000-04:002008-05-11T12:22:00.000-04:00Wow, so I guess I was one of the few who thought t...Wow, so I guess I was one of the few who thought the Roslin scenes were utterly boring and made the episode feel like it dragged on for hours?<BR/><BR/>There better be some payoff.<BR/><BR/>But I did enjoy the basestar storyline a lot more than anything else so far this season.<BR/><BR/>There better be some consequences for Anders shooting Gaeta in the knee. I did like how it was Anders who comforted the dying eight and not Athena.Kenrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06346565881555687494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-66111785879041178632008-05-11T11:17:00.000-04:002008-05-11T11:17:00.000-04:00For a second I thought Laura's mom was Barbara Bus...For a second I thought Laura's mom was Barbara Bush. I guess we know who she represents on the political spectrum. :-)Nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11317568565085893849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-59431894481046993082008-05-11T10:54:00.000-04:002008-05-11T10:54:00.000-04:00Did anyone else think that Laura's mother looked a...<EM>Did anyone else think that Laura's mother looked an awful lot like Barbara Bush?</EM><BR/><BR/>No. I thought she looked EXACTLY like Barbara Bush.<BR/><BR/>Thank God for Tivo, because I had to stop and take a break every few minutes. Just overwhelming. This episode was so much better than the norm, it made me wonder what happened. I looked up Seamus Kevin Fahey, and he's been a writing assistant since last year and this was his first script for the show. The kid's got it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-81240179118332430272008-05-11T09:36:00.000-04:002008-05-11T09:36:00.000-04:00his was a really good episode - as I don't get Sci...his was a really good episode - as I don't get SciFi at home, I watched it on hulu yesterday. Even watching on the laptop, there were a few times, during the scenes between Roslin and Emily, when I had to turn away for a second or two. I haven't seen this directly addressed anywhere, so I'll being it up here. I'm guessing, here, that the hybrids are a development of the early experiments Adama witnessed in his Razor flashback. If this is true, what is the significance? Is this an indication that the Cylons <B>need</B> some qualities, which are only available in humans, to perform functions as basic as controlling their base ships?MikeDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09197648601087930224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-71808790099300121492008-05-11T07:38:00.000-04:002008-05-11T07:38:00.000-04:00I think Baltar's recent religious experience and R...I think Baltar's recent religious experience and Roslin's possible acceptance of it is vital to the story. In fact, I'm pretty certain it is a huge piece of the final end to this show.<BR/><BR/>When there are so many mentions of 'the gods' and 'the one true god' plus many Biblical similarities..I don't think it was just for fun that they added this layer to BSG. It is important. It will have meaning.K J Gillenwaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12023089365553324315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-76032618953358104812008-05-11T02:38:00.000-04:002008-05-11T02:38:00.000-04:00Yes, Alan, I'm satisfied. ;-) This was the best e...Yes, Alan, I'm satisfied. ;-) This was the best episode of the season, for all the reasons you suggested.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08038629195561926390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-58484062480201090222008-05-11T02:24:00.000-04:002008-05-11T02:24:00.000-04:00michael, I very much disagree. Athena was not read...<B>michael</B>, I very much disagree. Athena was not ready to go against Starbuck from the very beginning. She was ready to go against her after 58 days of The Crazy and then recklessly planning to jump them all into a possible/likely trap. Also, the situation with the eights was completely different. No one forced them to vote against Cavil. They made a choice and they didn't like the outcome so then they wanted to blame it one someone else.<BR/><BR/>And while I'm talking about Sharon again (she's my favorite character, by the way), I'm just going to say that I really, really hate Seelix. "Yeah, let the cylon go"? Frak off. She's like the replacement Cally.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15758923671028899249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-66264218365524406652008-05-11T01:49:00.000-04:002008-05-11T01:49:00.000-04:00Did anyone else think that Laura's mother looked a...Did anyone else think that Laura's mother looked an awful lot like Barbara Bush? It was kind of distracting to me.JakesAlterEgohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05099695249686972253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-90790959773504348572008-05-11T01:46:00.000-04:002008-05-11T01:46:00.000-04:00I was blown away by this episode. I can't remember...I was blown away by this episode. I can't remember the last time I cried watching television, but Roslin's scenes made me lose it.<BR/><BR/>I usually love Baltar and Tyrol, but I was very relieved they did not turn up (besides Baltar's beautiful orations playing in the background). I need a break from them.<BR/><BR/>I'm sure this was an intentional parallel, but I was struck by how hypocritical Athena was for criticizing the 8s' "mutiny" when she was ready to go against Starbuck from the beginning!<BR/><BR/>The moment between the 6s was heartbreaking.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06595253772380762153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-37561172398379265642008-05-11T00:35:00.000-04:002008-05-11T00:35:00.000-04:00I just go with the flow and trust that RDM will le...I just go with the flow and trust that RDM will lead us to the promised land. Knowing that it's in a serial format, I don't expect instant gratification at the end of every episode. However, this one did provide steps forward in the progression of the plot. I too think that Roslin may end up being the one, but nonetheless, enjoyed her scenes this week. It was nice to see Nana Visitor again, since I probably have not seen her since DS9.Nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11317568565085893849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-78493346265333341802008-05-11T00:24:00.000-04:002008-05-11T00:24:00.000-04:00Umm... Baltar and Roslin aren't relevant to the sh...Umm... Baltar and Roslin aren't relevant to the show? Is that sarcasm?Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15758923671028899249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-44126602901454982532008-05-10T23:59:00.000-04:002008-05-10T23:59:00.000-04:00The problem I've had with this season is several s...The problem I've had with this season is several storylines are just sitting by themselves and have nothing to do with anything, especially considering the amount of screentime that is being devoted to them, for example Balter storyline has nothing to do with anything it is so irrelevant but yet it has got a ton of screentime especially when compared to storylines that are relevant like the starbuck story and the cylon civil war. they wasted 2 weeks on Tyrol-Callie borefest which did not add anything in moving the story forward, it was arguable just filler. I admit that last night was a great episode but even last night they wasted time on Rosalin. Rosilin storyline to me was like Jack's appendix surgery on Lost... boring. The writers need to dramatically cut down Balter and Roslin's screentime unless they have a storyarc that is relevant to the show and focus on more immediate and relevant things like they did last night with Statbuck's crew.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-12378931847662436602008-05-10T23:08:00.000-04:002008-05-10T23:08:00.000-04:00Todd VanDerWerff sounds like he's gonna orgasm wit...Todd VanDerWerff sounds like he's gonna orgasm with every recap of this show. Yeesh.<BR/>Oh yeah, I thought the episode was pretty good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-35337044882042474842008-05-10T21:32:00.000-04:002008-05-10T21:32:00.000-04:00"The children of the one reborn shall find their o..."The children of the one reborn shall find their own country" (Kara's kids? Helo and Sharon's?)<BR/><BR/>I took it to mean the One. As in the One of the remaining Five.<BR/><BR/>And, looking back at the First Hybrid's comments, the One almost has to be Roslyn.Chuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15694071061222666196noreply@blogger.com