Lay Down Your Burdens

3x18 The Son Also Rises

2007-03-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

RJL: We all knew Zarek would be right about Baltar's trial, but it is still exciting to see how the ensuing carnage would play out.

First, I'd like to point out that even though Galactica is loaded up with a ton of military personnel it is a security nightmare. In all honesty, I'm surprised that the brig isn't just a roped off area with a sign that says please don't leave. I bring this up because bombs go off everywhere, officers get shot, prisoners get shot and the list goes on. They can't even stop a prisoner from getting shot, so who's to prevent Baltar's lawyer from getting killed? I know that at the end we all learned that it was a Galactica officer who was the cause, but come on... what happened to officer ethics and simple security measures?

Second, I want to take a closer look at the father - son dynamic that comes back from time to time. This time, Adama and Lee are drifting apart again. It is really similar to the conflict between the two when the series started. What I don't understand is why Lee is so adamant on helping Lampkin. It can't be something as trivial like spiting his father, but it wouldn't be out of his character to do such a thing out of spite (marrying Dualla anyone?). I'm hoping that Lee has some close connection to his grandfather or deep inside he believes in the right of a fair trial.

Let's take a look at Romo Lampkin. This guy has got the looks, but does he have the skill to deliver Baltar from his horrible fate? If I found myself needing a public defender, I don't know if I'd want a sunglasses wearing kleptomaniac representing me. So far all we know is that he is very good at stealing, wants to be famous for being the public defender of the most hated person in the entire fleet and he wears sunglasses at night. Every one of his moves has been fairly calculated, but only so far as to make it look like he's playing a game. He is quite capable of getting what he wants, but when that fails to happen he remains unphased. I guess that's what being an exceptional people reader can do for you.

Baltar is starting to look like a caged animal. By the time his trial has begun he could probably be declared legally insane. He's already fairly shaken up by being in the brig for months, but when Lampkin took his pen I think that Balter became a little more insane. What was probably worse for him was the delivery of his pen and note from Lampkin. He ran up to that envelope like a timid squirrel would to a discarded apple core. I'm looking forward to how the Baltar trial plays out. What especially interests me is how Adama will vote in the proceedings. Will he listen to the evidence and give a fair verdict or will he condemn Baltar to the airlock no matter what?

Episode Awards:
Best Part: Anders drinking on the Viper. (Yes, I know it was depressing, but I thought it was well done.)
Worst Part: Adama being picked to be a member of Baltar's jury. (Can we please just once not have someone from Galactica be a part of important legal proceedings?)
Best Scene: Adama's quarters when he's talking to Lee. The smashed wooden ship is still around.

MCC: Bob's covered a lot of goodies, so I'm going to focus on one very mysterious part: Lee's motivation for helping Lampkin. The Lampkin character is very strange... jury's out until Crossroads, but he just feels like a bad Irish Neo named after a Cowboys QB with fumble-itis.

So, why would Lee help him? I point back to Season 1! Bastille Day, near the end, with Lee holding a gun to Zarek's head. What does Lee do? Execute him (which would have been justified, after all)? No... he promises Zarek elections, which Zarek almost swipes. Again, in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Lee sides with the legal president (much to Bob's disdain). Both incidences land him in hot water with the Old Man, but neither of those actions, nor Lee's involvement in the trial, are really out of line with his character. Lee obviously believes very strongly in the rule of law, which he will defend with all his heart. This is just the first time he's directly had to oppose his father (previously it was through a proxy, whether Starbuck or Tigh).
I've always had admiration for Lee's character, because, aside from the Black Market re-write travesty, his character has always been an interesting touch: he doesn't want to be there! He doesn't like the military. I think Jamie Bamber had once said that Lee is a reservist, and I'd like to see this come up more in the show. Lee wasn't meant to be a CAG, or even a pilot. He was forced to by his father, and even though he's good at it, he doesn't seem to enjoy it that much (to the point of suicide during Resurrection Ship, pt. 2).

So what does this all mean? I predict a major schism towards the end of Season 3 between Lee & Admr. Adama. I believe it will be qualitatively different than the split at the end of Season 1, and I might even predict that some major secret or conflict will emerge that will take a lot of repair (perhaps Starbuck-centered?). I guess we'll have to see!

Best part: Romo Lampkin pulling out all the stuff he's stolen.
Worst part: Adama yelling every line.
Best quote: "There is no greater ally, no force more powerful, no enemy more resolved, than a son who chooses to step from his father's shadow." - Romo Lampkin

3x17 Maelstrom

2007-03-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Let's face it. This is a fantastically done episode which needs very little endorsement from me. Now, there might be some (read: a lot) of complaints that Starbuck gets offed or whatever, so let's delve into that.

First, let me quickly gloss over the episode's excellence. This show restores some of the consistent mood (in this case, dread or foreboding) which drapes over the entire show. Recently, this mood has been funky, but the entire time you just knew something bad was going to happen.

The visual artistry in this episode, I think, was the best yet. The effects were impeccable, and just the contrast of Hotdog spinning to see the blue skies versus Kara diving into the rainy depths of the storm to chase her inner demons: fantastic. Acting, also excellent; Kara's mother does a good job, as does Kara, Lee, and especially Adama (I don't know if you've heard, but that model E.J. Olmos destroys in the end was a $100,000 model on loan from a museum-- fortunately insured). The music, too, was just gorgeous. I often replay the end cue over and over because it's just so gorgeous, and the entire scene just hits you on all levels.

Okay, that aside, let's move to Starbuck Speculation. There really only 3 things that could have happened.

1. Kara died. She is either dead or one of the Final Five who will come back.
2. Kara ejected. She was picked up by the Heavy Raider and will come back.
3. Kara survives. She somehow lives in some unimaginable fashion and will come back.

Note all these options have Starbuck coming back. I'm basing this off Katee Sackhoff's comments about her character. I can't wait for Son Also Rises to see the expressions of grief... sad? Yes, but moving nonetheless.

Best Part: Kara & Lee's final exchange.
Worst Part: Kara's visit with the stoned-out oracles. How many of these oracles are there? Was Chief's mom really an oracle? That might explain some things...
Best Line: "You come back!" - Lee, to Kara.
Worst ad-lib acting decision by a quality actor: Edward James Olmos destroy a very expensive model on an acting whim. Poignant touch-- bad for insurance premiums.

3x16 Dirty Hands

2007-02-28T14:26:00.000-08:00

Perspective, perspective, perspective.

Television and movies are all about perspective. In the case of BSG, it's always been the point that characters are moving targets through which we see a tragedy: the destruction of the colonies, the obliteration of human culture, and the near-enslavement of mankind. We see the political (Roslin), the military (Adama), the criminal (Zarek), and the civilian (Billy) all intermixing. Then there's an episode like Dirty Hands, in which the writers present a elegant powerful point... but through a very strange perspective. Let's delve...

The questions at hand are labor and education. The labor part is obvious; throughout the episode we are presented the exemplar case of the refinery ship which is manned by grunts in manual labor garb. Of course, to tell their story, the writers chose the main-character equivalent of this motif: Chief. This is reasonable, of course, given that Tyrol mainly labors away in the BSG hangar bays. The secondary reason given for his involvement was his previous experience on New Caprica as an union head.

I think this would have worked very well had the New Caprica storyline been fleshed out more (and, by extension, Chief's role in the unionization on the planet). However, the major blunder of Season 3 was fleeing New Caprica so quickly-- Exodus, the most powerful episode, should have been the mid-season finale! This would have given more time to develop Starbuck's imprisonment, Chief's new life, the Tighs, and in general the powerful allegory of enslavement and occupation. And, it would have allowed the weaker episodes to be rolled together into tighter stories, such as Torn and Collaborators.

This overall weakness aside, what were the strengths of the episode? For one, it addresses the powerful issue of social mobility which was first brought up by Tom Zarek in Colonial Day (I think Zarek should have had a role here...); why does the gardener still garden in this post-apocalypse? But one important thing, which R.D. Moore brought up while planning the show, is education. They showed education on New Caprica-- Roslin was a schoolteacher again! But in space, are there schools? The main force for social mobility in real-life is education, but there is no mention of this in the episode! Roslin & Adama take a rigid stance on social mobility, and admit the system is flawed, but offer no solutions. Why?

I beliefe it's a misstep in perspective. The episode is completely focused on Chief (like The Woman King was the "Helo" episode, The Passage was the "Kat" episode, etc.), which means it must engage the material from Chief's perspective. This perspective is a mid-level one: he's not a high-minded politikos, but not some lowly civilian nobody. It's also extremely narrow: Chief fixes thing and helps other people who fix things. On Kobol, his skills, loyalty, and strength were extremely effective as a direct counter to Brother Cavil. But here, as in Eye of Jupiter, the perspective is narrow and bizzare.

What are the implications of making this a "Chief" episode? Lack of long-term solutions. It's a manual labor problem with an education solution, but because Chief is used to fix it, the solution is manual labor based. This is a perfectly fine solution, but in the future it'd be informative to see the other side: education. This isn't as cinematically pleasing as men-at-work, but it is a huge issue in the fleet.

Now, I've been accused of excess negativity in this blog, which is partly due to my nature and partly due to the episodes. Long-term, I plan on returning to the first two seasons to review some of my favorite episodes. I foresee that readers will think these reviews to be sickly sweet. But I'd like to point out some great things about BSG that I think we take for granted.

The dynamic action choreography is simply stunning, and is on par with 24 and the other great "action" dramas on TV today. The opening sequence is mesmerizing and reminds me of great sequences in 33 and Exodus, where the simply physics of inertia is transformed into an engine of tension. Fantastic. The acting is also fantastic all around. I'm amazed that even though the writing is sometimes subpar (Adama's speeches?) the actors focuses the dialogue through the character lens and creates a perfect illusion. Not since Rome and The Office (BBC) have I seen actors work like this. Finally, the production values are still unmatched on TV today. The flaw of Star Trek, Stargate, etc. is that the explosion and laser are the coin of the realm. In BSG, a simple image of a lonely pile of tyllium tells a complete story of urgency, desperation, weariness, and labor.

Images like this, despite all my criticism, set BSG apart from 99% of the junk on TV. That one image contains more narrative than a whole season of Enterprise or Stargate Atlantis.

Best Part: Opening Raptor flight sequence.
Worst Part: Baltar's crappy Aerelon accent.
Best Quote: "This is a mistake... I'm not a farmer!" - Danny
Most awkward presidential interaction: The current president (Roslin) ordering a cavity search of the previous president (Baltar).

C-Bucks or C-Box

2007-02-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

Note the chatbox on the right sidebar where you can leave messages and chat.

3x15 A Day in the Life

2007-02-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

RJL:

Is anyone sensing a theme? I've noticed that every single person on the show who is married has serious marital problems. I think the only people that have stable marriages are the extras who say things like "My wife needs medicine!" or "My husband is sick" and inevitably their marriage is shattered because a main character shoots them or lets them die.

So, on to Adama's marital strife and ensuing divorce. I find it slightly scary that Adama has internalized his former wife so well that he can have intimate conversations with her. His ritual of pulling out the wedding photo is kinda creepy, but it does show his love for his former wife. I like how through this dialog in his mind we see how Adama works internally. He memorizes his enlisted aides; he prides himself on being a good leader and decision maker. Again, we find out that he is human and not as untouchable as some people consistently see him. Another high point is that through these 'fights' with Caroline the audience learns that Adama is incredibly critical of himself. This entire portion of the show, while odd, was very informative about Adama's life and inner workings.

Now lets talk about how this episode sucked.

First, the airlock ordeal was so staged. None of that story line seemed convincing. Let's think about it for just one second. Two main characters are trapped in an airlock within the first three minutes of the episode. In order to save them, Adama comes up with a incredibly risky plot to save them. Through some fancy flying and a whole lot of magical luck for three other main characters, Chief and Cally get rescued. The two good parts about this section of the storyline were Chief's marriage was saved and the technical discussion about the problem was kept to a minimum. Other than that it was nothing but canned lines and magical plot devices to save them. Had this been BSG of seasons past, two of the five present main characters would have died in the rescue and some of the debris from the airlock would have destroyed a civilian ship.

Second, is the budding relationship between Adama and Roslin. If you know me then you know I can't stand our de-facto leader of the Colonies. Again, let us think about this. We have the President of the Colonies and the Admiral of the fleet who want to hook-up. Whatever happened to no workplace relationships when the human race is at stake? Also, this is beyond creepy. I know some people might argue that this is in fact 'cute' and 'inevitable' but no, it is completely avoidable. I have faith that Adama is strong and can avoid being caught in a relationship with that woman.

Third problem is the constant use of main characters in story defining moments. Specifically, is Roslin's choice of Lee for tribunal leader based simply on the fact that his Grandfather was a lawyer. Why can't BSG save money on hiring actors to play crappy doctors in previous episodes and put the money toward finding a temp actor to play this role. Or just put Gaeta in this role. He'd get the job done. Or Billy, yeah... resurrect Billy to do this. He'd be a phenom at this position.

Sigh, I guess onto the Episode Awards:

Best Part: Helo talking to Hotdog prior to Lee's CAG briefing.
Worst Part: Watching Adama and Roslin 'fall' in love.
Best Quote: "It would be easier to hate you" - Adama
Magical physics defying moment: Raptor getting hit by a blast door and still staying in relative position for a successful rescue.

3X14 The Woman King

2007-02-21T11:05:00.000-08:00

MCC:

The Woman King was one of those one-hitters that Sci-Fi orders up. This style of episode is not BSG's strong suit (see Black Market), and I think it's this trend that is giving weight to the idea that BSG has, if not jumped the shark, gone significantly downhill.

Frankly, I would agree. The third season, in my mind, has been an immense disappointment. Complicated character development and story arcs have been dumped in favor of the Star Trek "weird happening of the week": viruses (twice now!), probes, eyes, temples, nebulas, etc. What happened to that supremely moving New Caprica storyline? Was Ellen Tigh wasted so that we could see Helo bullying around the natives? And now I'm confused-- I thought the Sagittarons were political activists, but the writers have pigeon-holed them as the religious element-- wasn't that the Geminons? What's going on?

As for the actual episode... I have to say they did an okay job with the material at hand. I think the producers are realizing that Tahmoh Penikett, the actor who plays Capt. Karl "Helo" Agathon, has only two faces: seething martyr face and seething "Sharon" face. Therefore, he can only do things when they relate to arguing with his wife or staring down moral corruption. So, better retcon him into some moral corruption! The writers seem not to trust themselves or Tahmoh, and they thus artificially insert him into ridiculous positions. For instance, I'm disappointed that, several times this season, the "last time on Battlestar Galactica..." has featured material that never aired. They could have filmed those scenes specifically for the new episodes, for all we know.

The episode answers a few long-standing questions-- at least partially. We now know that there is another Doctor besides Cottle, although previous episodes imply that he had to work the entire fleet. Secondly, we know that Galactica has been miraculously resupplied since Black Market with things like medical supplies (perhaps by Cylons on New Caprica?). Finally, we know that refugees cramped into small spaces can catch diseases. I've noticed that, except for Farscape, no sci-fi show usually shows people with colds or the flu; they're either in perfect health or have some ridiculous disease that turns them into spiders.

Is it me or should this episode be renamed "A Measure of Salvation, pt. 2?" Disease strikes unfriendly group, someone wants to let the disease ravage that group, Helo steps in drastically to stop the disease. Replace "Cylon" with "Sagittaron" and "Adama/Roslin" with "Dr. Robert" and "Lymphocytic Encephalitis" with "Mellorak" and you pretty-much have the same episode. It's frankly pretty standard-fare stuff. A far more interesting result than expected would have been to have Dr. Robert not killing Sagittarons, despite his ethnic hate. That would force Helo to renegotiate his own moral standing in the face of failure. In other words-- have the good guy deal with losing for once and replay A Measure of Salvation but put Helo clearly in the wrong. Helo's interactions with Mrs. King were as standard as they get: grieving vengeful mother converts military guy to take her side and crusade for justice. I'm pretty sure I've seen about 90 Star Treks with this crappy storyline. But, as you know, this can't all be pinned on the writers and producers. Sci-Fi probably demands stand-alone episodes, which are hard to write.

Oh Billy! alert: Sadly, I think this would have been a great episode had Billy been around. I know that sounds ridiculous, but Billy's quiet righteousness plays much better than Helo's stomping. Billy would have been an ideal person to run the refugee camp as well as respond to a moral dilemma (can you tell I liked the Billy character?). Helo was written to survive on Caprica. Now that he's on Galactica, the writers better come up with something better to do with him.

A few amusing things about this otherwise ordinary episode:

1) Did they name the Dr. have Dr. Robert from that Beatles song?
2) Why did Dr. Cottle have Dr. Robert's medical files? For fun? For safekeeping? For Helo to have a standoff with Cottle?
3) Why did Dualla see Robert and not Cottle? Aren't there regulations for this sort of thing?
4) What kind of disease "starts in the kidneys and attacks the immune system?" None, as far as I can tell. Lympocytic Encephalitis also made no sense. The writers need a doctor.
5) Where did these refugees come from? Some other ship? A writer's convenience?
6) Why didn't Dualla have more to say about her own people? In Bastille Day she had some strong feelings... but now she just thinks her people are stupid? Zah?
7) What are people eating on Galactica? Algae, right? Can we show someone trying to eat some processed algae, please?
8) Where was Tom Zarek during all of this? He is Mr. Sagitarron, the Vice-President, and Sagitarron's Colonial Representative. And where did Zarek get that suit, by the way?
9) And where was Roslin during all of this? She's the President isn't she? An outbreak of deadly disease should be worth a visit to Galactica, no?
10) Can we please keep track of where we are in space? I can see it now-- four episodes from now, without any prior mention, the fleet will suddenly arrive at the next checkpoint to Earth. Tada! Oh and the Cylons will be there, and there will be confrontation, and someone will die/be seriously wounded. Check please.

I'm really hoping for something more creative here...

Taking A Break

2007-02-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

Don't forget, due to the emergence of Evil Rex last Sunday, there was no BSG. Next week's episode, The Woman King, will air next Sunday per usual. See you then?

3X13 Taking a Break...

2007-01-28T23:31:00.000-08:00

Taking a Break broke a lot of BSG conventions, and I want to examine some of the ways it does this, and why this makes this episode such a dramatic success.

1. No one dies. Sounds odd for Battlestar, but no one that I can recollect bites the dust in this one (although Baltar gets close several times). A lot of the drama of Battlestar is sometimes dependent on people dying (Billy in Sacrifice, Kat in The Passage, Elosha in Home, Cylons in Downloaded, random helper-characters elsewhere) and the fact that the writers managed an entire dramatic episode without reverting to people dying is remarkable. Someone reminded them that things like marriage, divorce, and personal grudges often are as dramatic as life and death.

2. Tensions are personal. What do I mean? Much of Battlestar's drama is focused on larger struggles: Adama vs. Cylons, Roslin vs. The Law, Baltar vs. Conscience. However, this episode I feel was really anchored by two main personal struggles: Lee & Kara, and Baltar & Roslin. The cutting between these two threads was mostly a success, although I will say that the show needs some editing assistance for the remarkable inconsistency between scene lengths. That aside, I found it wonderful that the show generated such powerful emotions with acting. Jamie Bamber in particular does an excellent job (except for his bad "drunk" acting). His performance in the hallway after losing his ring is reminiscent of the best acting of the series (Kara & Adama in Act of Contrition). Somehow, since the first season the drama has become more and more dependent on...

3. Special Effects... or the lack thereof. Most of the drama thus far (except for the excellent episodes on New Caprica) since Season 1 has revolved around major battles (Kobol's Last Gleaming, Resurrection Ship, Exodus). The other episodes without battles have often been considered failures (Black Market, Torn) or dependent on some real contrivance (Hero, A Measure of Salvation). However, except for some unnecessary trip-outs in Baltar-land, this episode avoids the explosions and gun-battles, and space scenes. In fact, the only space scene in the entire episode is a dreamy introductory zoom, which has the sanguine quality of the slow zoom-outs of Galactica from Scattered. Although the director and producers were unable to sustain the dreamy-quality of the lullaby of the beginning of Taking a Break..., I'm impressed.

Overall, what are the things I really liked and disliked?

I loved the scene of Roslin handing Baltar his glasses, and I thought the flashback was appropriate given the distance between the scenes. However, I did not enjoy the Roslin hallway-jaunt with Baltar-- the entire sequence was poorly directed and unnaturally acted. Roslin shouldn't be angry and yelling; her anger is more a slow-burn fierceness. Tigh or Adama should have been given Roslin's part.

I loved the torture of Baltar, mainly because of the cuts between Baltar in the dark water, and the dazed Baltar spilling beans. James Callis is (sorry E.J. Olmos) the finest actor on the series, and Callis convincingly portrayed a man on the verge of guilt, but still tainted by his personal inability to take responsibility. I could have done without the ret-conned explanation about the drug; I don't think it's that unbelievable that Adama (or better yet, Cottle) would know of a drug that causes anxiety. However, the fact that an aging museum-ship would have an advanced prototype torture-drug was far more unbelievable.

I loved the domestic drama between Kara & Lee. Yes, I've been complaining about this because it's been squeezing out other people's drama, but I feel this was a satisfactory, if temporary, solution. It was also the non-obvious solution that offered some insight into Lee & Kara (and to a lesser extent Dee and Anders). The easy solution would be to have Lee & Kara get together, then do a couple episodes of their bitter relationship, then do a couple episodes about them breaking up-- a huge drain on the other characters. This resolution gives Lee some salvation for his past deeds, while straining Kara as a moral character. The episode also strengthened Dee as an independent character (I've pointed out in past posts how she's often just hanging around, while only once previously referencing in Home, pt. 1 how she's ignored because she's perceived as quiet). Finally, the episode gives some sympathy to Anders as someone who recognizes that he's ultimately just a cog in some larger destiny.

This was an excellent episode overall, with excellent acting, with spotty but overall welcome direction, editing, and writing (did you realize that Kara & Lee only speak once the entire episode?).

As for Baltar and Gaeta? I suspect Bob may have some things to say about that...

3X12 Rapture

2007-01-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

If you missed 3x11 Rapture, you ca find the full episode here, courtesy of sci-fi:

Michael's Review

A good episode, I'll say! All our readers probably know that I haven't been impressed with the 3rd season as a whole. This is partly the fault of the 1st two seasons, which were mostly superb. However, I was impressed with Rapture in general. Here's why:

Hera returns. I'm glad they finally reintegrated Hera back into the story arc, since she's so damned important. Adding the Sharon vs. Boomer tilt was very interesting as well. The way they got Hera back (Namely having Helo put one in Sharon's chest) was very creative and emotionally powerful. Plus the fact that Hera is ill makes me feel that there will be more Hera struggles to come, hopefully with some payoff of discovering why she's so important (when they described her illness, I first thought she had sprouted a rocket launcher on her belly).

Xena leaves. I'm glad they boxed the Xena Warrior Princess model. Her religious goo was getting annoying (although hilarious: centurion-mediated suicide anyone?), and she was making Baltar turn one-dimensional. I'm hoping that Baltar's return to Galactica will add some needed wrinkles back into his character. The loss of D'anna also brings into play the further disintegration of Cylon society: one model down, 6 to go. I have to wonder: if Sharon can detect when resurrection ships are nearby (she didn't blindly download, I hope...), will this be a great recon method for the fleet? Anytime Sharon senses that she could download, the fleet is in danger!

Lee/Kara/Dee/Anders continues. I'm glad they're concentrating on this story-arc. It's the emotional 600 pound gorilla in the room that trumps all other storylines (more later about this), and it needs to be dealt with immediately. Sending Dee to find Starbuck (and Dee's subsequent pimp-slap of Starbuck) was classic. Starbuck's reunion with Anders (and Lee's angry Dee-hug) was also classic, although I'd ask the producers to stop making all the emotional scenes happen on the hangar deck upon returning from a mission (Exodus pt. 2, The Passage, etc.). I'm sensing they'll wrap this up soon, most likely with some Anders-death. This makes me sad because...

Lee sucks. Yeah. As a person, as an officer, as a husband. As a person, he's a cheater, emotionally confused, and a bad, bad tactical decision-maker. "Ok guys, the plan is to sit in a hole in a circle and pray that these Cylons do exactly what I think they will. Let's ignore the fact that they're strong, agile, and smart and assume that they'll walk straight into our trap. Then let's use some detcord to take out one, but no more than one, Cylon. Then we'll fall back to our "hole" position and sit there getting picked off until Chief has a revelation." You're fired buddy. And your crappy jealousy-hug of Dee was just bad. Really bad. I had props for Lee after Resurrection Ship, but no more. No more.

Kara sucks. Yeah. As a person, mostly, for what she did to Lee and what she's currently doing to Anders (getting him killed, eventually). Anders is one of my favorite guys on the show because he's just a regular-joe who is forced into impossible situations but wills his way out. Kara and Lee are well-trained, talented, and just utterly lucky thus far. Kara's morpha-induced trip-out in front of Dee was one of my favorite moments of the season (mostly for the slap it caused).

Now, some things that are still bothering me. The nuke-threat was an empty cliffhanger. No one could really believe that Adama would nuke Chief, Kara, Lee, Anders, Dee, and a dozen other people. Besides the moral issues, this means firing half the cast. Question mark? This made the cliffhanger very forgettable compared to the fantastic (and quite believable) Pegasus showdown last season (which did culminate in fighter-fisticuffs, mind you). Second, what happened to the emotional storylines? Every single one since the season has completely disappeared except for Kara and Lee. I'm sick of Kara and Lee. Let's deal with it and explore other characters. What's with Hera? Why aren't Adama and Roslin an item already? What's with Baltar (anything will do)? Is Chief a character anymore? Does Tight do anything anymore? CIC and the ready-room needs to be thinned out (hint hint). By bringing everyone onto Galactica, we've overcrowded the locale with too many storylines and not enough time to tell them all (so they've focused on the previously mentioned gorilla storyline).

I'm hoping that after 3X13 Taking a Break... the producers will take a break and realize that multiple locations = diverse storylines = well-rounded characters. They did a bad job this season squishing everyone onto the same boat after the Exodus; time to spin out the chafe. My last complaint is that BSG is getting too much like Star Trek in the "danger" it generates. Not too many episodes ago, every BSG moment was about survival. Things blew up on the ship, and people died. Every threat meant the loss of the entire fleet. Now the producers and writers have reverted to the Star Trek model on which a huge number of Star Trek shows (notably Voyager, Enterprise, and tNG). What's this model?

A) Find a planet.
B) Send down 4-5 major characters to explore it.
C) Endanger 1-4 of those major characters.
D) Have everyone work to find a too-convenient solution.
E) Flee unharmed as the planet explodes.

Compare this with the BSG Season 1/2 model.

A) Something threatens the survival of humanity.
B) A huge chunk of the ship/fleet blows up.
C) Panic ensues.
D) Adama leads the crew to some miraculous recovery.
E) The fleet scurries away badly wounded and must recover.

Finally, Jason totally called the Eye of Jupiter on Kara's wall. Now that we know this, I'll open it up to speculation about Kara. Cylon? Human? Hybrid? Earthling? Enlightened One? Crazy? And who was in the 5 (not the T-Mobile 5)? How did Chief find the Temple? Who did Xena apologize to? Many unanswered questions.

Bob's Review:
This is more of a rebuttal to Mike's review rather than an actual review.

First, Lucy Lawless' character dying off for now is a significant change. I'm not a big fan that she's going away. I always carried an impression of "Shoot first; ask questions later" from her character. That was personified clearly in her decision to launch the raider squadron toward the planet. I liked how she moved the Cylon story along because it was curious that the seven Cylons that the humans and the audience know don't even know who the final five are. She was the only character trying to discover that. She also added a different dynamic to the Baltar-Six relationship which helped build Baltar as a character.

Next is Mike's comment about how the cliff hanger was really not much of a cliff hanger at all. Yes, in most senses, the audience knows that Adama wouldn't truly blow up the planet and that Moore wouldn't kill off at least five major character and two or three minor characters in one wild shot. Or would Adama really pulled the trigger?! Something I learned in a very interesting political science class is the use of nuclear destructive force as a coercion and deterent mechanism. The human fleet found a marker to Earth. The Cylons held it in as something of conciderable value. In this situation Adama had to make a very clear and credible threat to prevent the Cylons from using this marker. When the Cylons attempted to call his bluff he had to prove that this was not something he would just let slide. What Adama had to prove was, as Kruschchev put it "if you send in tanks they will burn... our rockets will fly automatically" (Life Magazine, July 13, 1959 p 33; as taken from Arms and Influence, Thomas C. Schelling). This puts the decision to destroy the artifact in the hands of the Cylons, which Lucy Lawless' character almost confirmed. Had this been a true automated process, with no intervention, and the single Raider was allowed to land we might truly be short five major characters and a human fleet without a clear guide toward Earth. I thought, after conciderable deliberation that Sci-Fi or whoever does the previews could have done a better job on defining the preview and making it more 'cliffhanger-ish', but an excellent story tool anyway.

The 'shake and bake' storyline production line is something of a concern, but you have to remember who's producing the show. Ronald D. Moore was a producer for a number of Star Trek episodes, so this style is bound to show up once in awhile. I like how in the podcasts he discusses this and makes it a point that BSG is something of a different beast and how he wants it to focus on more hard hitting stories. Mike's point about the early BSG story models were much more focused on a very clear issues regarding the survival of humanity and the resolutions often had devestating costs associated with them. One thing about the more recent episodes that I've noticed is that the fleet really is decimated and there isn't much more you could possibly do to it before it just becomes Galactica, a refueling ship and Colonial One. (Aside: Well, Colonial One could go become a Cylon ship for all I care because Rosalyn is still upsetting me but more on that another time). What is different in the recent episodes is that the fleet hasn't really encountered the Cylons since the great escape from New Caprica. The human story has had to deal with how humanity is progressing in this state. The biggest change comes with the Galactica in control of something the Cylons want and can't necessarily take away easily. I think that the story has changed in that regard, but the story will return to the epic style that it was once known for as the season progresses.

Organization

2006-12-30T15:52:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,
Not to usurp Bob, but here's the new schedule:
There will be a BSG marathon all day January 15th. On January 21st (Sunday), the new season begins. Episodes now air Sundays at 10PM EST/9C. On the west coast, it should be Sunday at 10PM. And we'll make sure LDYB has organized posts after every episode. See you in January!

Midseason Reviews (Season 3)

2006-12-29T23:01:00.000-08:00

Bob's Midseason Review:
Let's get to it shall we?

I think that this season started off a little slow with Occupation and Precipice (3x01 and 3x02, or the 2hr season premiere) but quickly jumped back to what was expected of the show. On the other hand, as we approached the mid-season finale the episodes slowed down considerably.

I had a couple of problems with the season premiere. I was trying to get a couple of new people hooked on BSG, but these two episodes banked heavily on the fact that you knew what was going on and you had at least seen the end of season two. In addition, the episodes were slow even for me. I wanted some sort of movement in the story rather than just a view of what was going on. The full year jump into the future from the end of season two to the start of season three did justify some sort of situation portrayal beyond the ten three minute webisodes, but I still felt that there could have been more done in the time frame.

Now, jump ahead to Exodus I & II. Now that is was I like to see from BSG. I still watch Exodus II just because it is that awesome. These two episodes made me appreciate the show more because I'm a huge fan of these underdog operation where it the fate of humanity rests on actions happening against the odds. I had to convince my latest BSG addicts to see past the season premiere have them watch the next two episodes because they represent what the series is better than the season premiere.

As the season progressed there was an overall slowdown in the tempo of the show. The couple of standalone episodes (Unfinished Business and Hero) added to character development, but didn't really do it for me, but that isn't to say that there weren't episodes that continued to remind me why I come back week after week. I thought that both Collaborators and A Measure of Salvation were solid shows that left me wanting to watch again next week.

Eye of Jupiter makes me feel that the next half of the season could be great. I like how the story has moved so far and at a couple of points this season I even thought that Roslin was within the realm of a good person. Who knows what could happen next...

Bob's Mid-season Awards:

1. Best Episode: Exodus II
2. Best Character: Gaeta (Collaborators? Yeah that's right...)
3. Most Interesting Plot Twist: Baltar becoming closer to D'Anna
4. Bob's Personal Hero: Bill Adama (Who's willing to Nuke a planet? That's right... For further interesting reading on these sorts of use of force decisions read Arms and Influence by Thomas Schelling).
5. Most angry moment with Roslin: TIE! Her decision to authorize using the Cylons as a bio weapon and her quote "I'm ready to go now" in Exodus II.

Michael's Midseason Review:

In addition to J's fascinating discoveries (see above), I'd like to add this: I think this is a season which is superficially worse [note the tragic abundance of sci-fi gobleygook] but somehow still deeper than the last ones. I think the first couple of episodes were really, really great, leading up to the Exodus two-parter. The relationships they established, the changes that happened, were all just fantastic.

After re-watching Exodus Pt. 2 on my flight to Shanghai I realized how much emotional baggage the producers managed to generate (a good thing). However, I'm not satisfied with the resolution to those emotional afterthoughts. I remember after Pegasus (last year's mid-season cliffhanger) I was screaming at the TV, but this year I was pretty "meh" about it. However, I think my opinions about this will change as more time lapses.

Basically, I think the producers squandered the emotional coinage they earned up to Exodus Pt. 2. Collaborators was necessary, but Torn was pretty bad. The Galactica storyline was repetitive and clichéd; coming from what I consider the series' best moment ever (Exodus Pt. 2's Hangar Bay Scene), Tigh & Starbuck's road to recovery was... well... boring. They basically sat around and complained. Meanwhile, I think that the Basestar storyline, while more conceptually (and visually) arresting, was far too lean in it's presentation. Relying mostly on long-winded dialogue-less cuts and fades, the producers seemed to get a little too laid-back here.

Finally, my main beef: the abandonment of BSG's excellent episode strategy: 2 and 3-episode arcs with some 1-episode knockouts smattered about. Most of what I think are the best episodes are those that resolve emotional tension built up from previous episodes: 33, Act of Contritions (from the Starbuck/Adama Family tension from the Miniseries), Kobol's Last Gleaming Pt. 2, Scattered (from Kobol's Last Gleaming), Resurrection Ship Pt. 2, Exodus Pt. 2. Note the abundance of "Pt.2"s on my list.

This season started out with that gorgeous strategy leading up to Exodus Pt. 2 but has since used a bunch of stand-alone episodes with very loose threads (the Cylon Virus, who was on New Caprica and who was in the Penthouse Galactica) to tie them together. Worse, the show has moved away from complex emotional relationships, with few exceptions (Lee & Starbuck, Laura & Adama). Remember the first two seasons? The Sharon/Boomer Helo/Chief battles were just a beautifully done, heartbreaking thread. Adama & Lee's reconciliation stretched out for the better part of two seasons, and Starbuck's relationship with everyone just ebbed and flowed. But now things are settled seemingly one episode at a time (apparently catalyzed by boxing). Have we heard anything interesting about the following characters recently?: Chief, Helo, Adama, Laura, Tom Zarek, Dualla, Cally, Tigh, Anders, or Gaeta? Have any of them been given emotionally weighted lines (minus Adama's long-winded speeches), or has the latter half of this half-season been one big Lee & Starbuck panic-orgy? Compared to the backstabbings, betrayals, mending, and loving that happened in the first 2 seasons, the past few episodes have been pretty lacking, no matter how many times they can rewrite Adama's past.

My final grief: this show has gone too sci-fi. I know that sounds weird for a sci-fi show, but BSG's bread & butter were the survival issues we could all relate with: the fleet out of water (Water), betrayal and guilt (Act of Contrition), black market activity (Black Market), evil what-if's (Pegasus), media biases (Final Cut), oppression and occupation (Occupation). But recently the issues have been pure crazy: killer downloadable Cylon viruses, Earth-originating space probes, algae planets, the Eye of Jupiter, baseship Minority Report pilots, the "Five," the "chosen one," etc. etc. etc. The last 6 episodes have had more crazy than the entire preceding episodes combined. Despite how deliciously good BSG remains, I hope the producers either start trimming the nuttiness, or somehow build it toward some ridiculous climax. Or both.

1. Best Episode: Exodus II
2. Best Character: Anders (poor guy). He's basically excluded from the military hee-haw, and yet, when he's called upon to do something, he gets it done. He's able to fight while remaining morally strong, without being overcome by morality (like Helo) or appearing heartless (Roslin). His leadership skills, while dealing with Kara's idiocy and the demands of pressing civilians into service, are remarkable.
3. Most Interesting Plot Twist: Lee & Starbuck's sham marriages
4. Most annoying: Cylons have a horrible weakness for... lymphatic encephalitis?
5. Best moment: Galactica's freefall and Pegasus' rescue.

News....

2006-12-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

Hi all! First of all, thanks for reading. According to Bob, people actually read this thing. I encourage you to comment, email, and stalk (just Bob) us, because that'll encourage us to post MORE (and in my case, be more incendiary).

Two quick notes: BSG will be returning in January but at a new time: Sundays at 10PM EST. We'll try to report more details later. Secondly, this blog is getting a facebwang from webdesigner extraordinare Justin. So if you thought we looked ugly now... ;)

3x11 The Eye of Jupiter

2006-12-18T02:19:00.000-08:00

J: This episode was interesting, and a good cliffhanger to split the season. I will write up more thoughts tomorrow at work, but for right now check out this thread: http://forums.scifi.com/index.php?showtopic=2258006.

Why should you read that ? Well it seems that the "Eye of Jupiter" was painted on Starbucks wall on Caprica.

Is she the chosen one ? Is she one of the last five Cylons ? Is Baltar not special and is just flipping nuts ? Wow so many questions.

3x08 Hero

2006-11-26T12:31:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start of with my opinions and observations of the first few minutes during the chase. It is still surprising to see that Helo is still the XO, Cat is flying a Viper on essential missions and that the size of the fleet is considerably smaller than I remember. With that in mind, on to the review.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode. The concept is a little out there, but after seeing Baltar being taken prisoner it isn't out of the ordinary to see someone else also imprisoned. In addition, the backstory was also compelling and involving. Adama did truly believe that he could have started the entire war and the downfall of humanity. Bulldog was also a believable character, even though he was a little insane.

Lucy Lawless' dreams are wierd. To see that she envisions herself walking on Galactica is crazy and foreshadowing perhaps? Her entire "lets look at the period between life and death" phase is a little creepy, but it does push the Cylon story forward.

Adama's problems and the fact that he lied to protect a mission (or inadvertently cause more problems) makes our hero a little more human. The black ops mission to ascertain a possible Cylon strike turned into preventing the Cylons from discovering that they had violated the treaty. Tigh's character has also taken major turns against Adama. I can't believe that Tigh would be the one to tell Bulldog that Adama shot him down. But Tigh in the end saved the day. Not only that he saved the day in uniform.

Apollo telling Adama that he was just one man on one mission; just one man reminds me that Adama really is human in the end. This in some sense makes his award a little less meaningful. But Roslin is right, the fleet does need a hero, especially in times of need.

-Bob

I'll chip in my two cents here. My two main points are on Bulldog and Adama, who--as Bob mentioned--form the heart of the storyline.

The inclusion of Bulldog was a bit of a shock, from a conceptual point of view. Coincidentally, some random guy that Adama knew years ago shows up in a Raider? Very convenient for the writers. As a character, he's pretty weak-- he's mainly a brute-force pawn, and his role in future storylines seems unclear (if he has a role at all... where does he fly off to at the end?)

Much better executed, I feel, was Adama's background. This episode answers a lot of questions (along with Scattered) about Adama and Tigh's origins within the fleet. It seemed strange to have a powerful commander like Adama rotting away in a Museum, given that he's experienced, effective, and not really that old. However, the incident with the Valkyrie helps explain what happened to Adama (I personally loved the flashback scenes). This adds a new dimension of complexity to Adama's character.

I hope they do something with Bulldog, so he won't be a throwaway character. If not, I hope they resume character development on a lot of other characters who have become pretty stale (Starbuck, Helo), neglected (Chief, Sharon), or simply messed up (Tigh, Roslin, Baltar).

-Michael

A chance to get caught up...

2006-11-21T18:26:00.000-08:00

The next Galactica episode will not be until December first so this will give me time to write another review (seeing as how one of my cohorts is MIA posting and the other is in DC).

Here are my goals for the next three or so posts:

1) Get a review for 3x08 up for people to comment on.
2) Get a review for the season so far up.
3) Post my opinions on the idea of podcasting in regard to Galactica and TV shows in general.

If there is something that you'd like seen let me know.

Comments to posts

2006-11-19T17:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so I just noticed that a number of comments were blocked for moderation. I got them posted, sorry for such late responses on them.

Hopefully, those people who made posts won't be mad...

3x06 and 3x07 Reviews

2006-11-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a combined review of the last two weeks.

Here is the review of 3x05, Torn:

First off, I can't get enough of the Cylon Basestar. The holding cell for Baltar is on of the most surreal sets I've seen. Everything is so cold and metallic around him, except for the end table and the daybed. If you listen to the podcasts, Moore is right in the fact that no matter what the Basestar looks like it will never live up to what is in our minds. The current method of showing of what Baltar sees, or rather how he sees the ship, makes it a believable set. Another striking scene is the first appearance of the Basestar control room. All of the fades and cuts help immensely with keeping the surreal, daydream motif.

The Baltar story continues to be a little insane. I'm curious to see what the writers have in store for him, mostly because I'm so confused as to how he will rejoin humanity, if ever. He continues to do only enough to stay alive, without ever allying himself outright with either Cylon or Human. It works day by day, but he's digging a huge hole for himself.

As for life on Galactica, the striking division between those who were on New Caprica and those who remained with the fleet makes for a great episode. Starting out with the renaming of Boomer to Athena: the jokes about what to rename her were good, but that scene quickly tanked into depression. Especially with Tigh's description of the sacrifices the people on New Caprica made in comparison to those of the fleet's. It is hard to watch both Starbuck and Tigh act with such counterproductive attitudes among people that they were once dependent on. Adama is right in stating that they both know better, but the feeling remains. This is one point where the producers and directors were too heavy-handed. Every cut to Tigh and Starbuck were nearly identical, sitting in the mess and complaining.

The best scene, in my opinion, was when Adama put it on the line with Starbuck and Tigh. He was right for doing so, but his method was intense. In any case it was probably hard for Adama to do this because he had two of his closest colleagues disrupting his ship when they should have been stepping up to unite everyone.

Quote of the episode: "I am a trained scientist!" - Baltar.

3x06: A Measure of Salvation

Wow, all I can say is: who put Ms. Morals in charge? Chen has a number of issues with this episode that he will voice, but to start off all I can say is wow. I don't know if I fully agree with her straight-faced response on using the Cylon prisoners as weapons. Some of this has to do with my intense dislike of Roslin, but in this case it goes beyond just trivial dislike.

First off is the ethical dilemma. I have a problem with just deciding on the extinction of an entire group simply on a whim because they are out to destroy you. It is the ability to rise above such inclinations that make humanity stronger and better than that. In Roslin's defense, she did live through the occupation on New Caprica and revenge is on her mind. And it is also fair to say that the two people who argued against this course of action were not in the same situation as she was.

My rebuttal: I (Chen) have a huge problem with the overarching moral standards in this episode. Ignoring the fact that if the Cylons were eliminated the show would end, Helo is an idiot. While I admit that by conventional standards, Helo acted morally, since when does BSG feature conventional anything? The central question, of course, is "When is genocide justified?" If your answer is "never," you're a pretty good human being. But imagine if the race you're committing genocide on has already committed practical genocide on your race. In addition, you have a slim hope to rebuild your race, but that other race keeps trying to obliterate you (darn). "But they tried to live with us on New Caprica!" says Helo. You're right Helo. Also, Tigh's eye was lost just because a Centurion tripped... yeah.

This isn't about vengeance, even for an obviously bitter Roslin. It's about survival. You could argue that you would lose part of your humanity, part of your soul, but it would be a moot point because no one would be left to make that argument! This is Roslin's argument, and it is a sound, if corrupt, one. Given the choice, I would gladly sacrifice a part of my soul to preserve all of humanity. And I pray that all other humans would as well.

3X05 You! Get in the airlock...

2006-10-30T20:40:00.000-08:00

Well, interesting stuff last week. Jammer bit it even though he saved Cally. We quickly learned that both Tigh and Starbuck are fracked in the head. And who would have thought that temporary president Tom Zarek would have authorized the Justice Committee?

Roslin is back in power... big surprise there... Oh well, for someone who was all about dumping Cylons out airlocks she has a real hard time with collaborators getting the same treatment.

Again, mad respect for Gaeta. It takes a lot to stand tall even while being accused of being a collaborator. I think the best part of the episode was when they had him in the airlock and didn't beg or give in. He could be my favorite character after this episode.

Another very intersting side story at the moment is Baltar's on the Basestar. He really is living in limbo, especially because the cylons aren't even sure that they want him there. His character is bound to change significantly this season, especially because he is isolated from humanity. Even if he does rejoin the dregs of humanity, he will certainly take a lot of flak for promptly surrendering to the Cylons and being the puppet president of the occupation forces.

-RJL

Well this certainly was an interesting episode. It's my humble opinion that the writing in BSG is slipping a bit, with a lot more cliched lines and stupid one-liners than in previous seasons. This episode was a little better, mostly because of lines given to Tyrol and Gaeta (who, I agree with Bob, may be the man).

All I have to add to Bob's assessment is this: Tom Zarek was right. Yes, Roslin did go through with the secret tribunal and then authorize the fleet to enter "forgiveness mode." But Tom Zarek was 100% right in using his ruthlessness to mete out rudimentary justice while maintaining Fleet unity, and the show portrayed this very well by first giving us a surprisingly lax Zarek in resignation, then building towards the cut-throat Zarek we're used to. It wasn't pretty, and at times it was downright wrong, but like Starbuck said, someone has to pay. There have to be consequences.

Let's think about a situation like Vichy France, or hell even occupation-era America (occupation by the British, mind you). When the shots are fired and the peace accords signed, does life simply go on? Could you look your fellow man in the eye even if he put on the Vichy uniform, or fed and housed the British? The fundamental question is whether you can blame a person for fending for their own interests versus some overriding national cause. It's a difficult question, and I applaud BSG for trying to address it. Tigh's tirade about his eye was correct, even if he targeted it to the wrong collaborator.

What would you do if America was occupied by terrorists, space aliens, or supermutants? I think most people would say that this is why we have the 2nd ammendment, so that we can bear our arms against the occupation. But do yourself a favor: look in the mirror tonight while you're brushing your teeth and ask what you would really do. Fight, sacrificing limb, life, and loved ones? Collaborate, trading shame for survival? What factors would influence your decision? We invite you to comment...

-MCC

3X05 Preview

2006-10-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

What do we know:

There will be some sorta secret court system to bring collaborators to justice.
Jammer, Gaeta, and others could possibly be executed
Pegasus is dead (sorry Mike, but it's true).

What I'm posing as possibilities (ranked in order of highest probability...):

90%- Jammer gets brought into the 'court' and gets saved because he saved Cally.
87% - Adama steps into the secret court system and ends it like he did the other court system in Season 1 (which was awesome).
74.5% - Starbuck talks to Anders and continues to be confused about the world.
60% - Lee promptly gets demoted and assigned to CAG duty finally taking it away from psycho-chick Kat.
40% - We find out the Starbuck's 'kid' is in fact a cylon and shoots Adama.
20% - Tigh gets a cyborg eye as well as a few additional upgrades and becomes Adama's right hand man again.
11.1% - Starbuck and Tigh have a heart to heart, realize that they should let bygones be bygones and that the only way to move on from New Caprica is to be friends.
9.21% - The Cylons reassemble Pegasus and destroy it again just to prove to Chen that the ship is in fact dead.
1.98% - The secret court drags in Roslin, convicts her of being Roslin, and puts her through the airlock.

Off Topic: Merch Review

2006-10-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone I'm Jason, or "Jay". I have something sorta off topic, but I thought was neat that I wanted to talk about. If you goto a Walmart or any other fine toy store there is something neat related to Battlestar. In the action figure section mixed in with all the "Titanium" series die cast Star Wars models you can find something interesting: BSG diecast models! I scoured the local Walmart here to find a small selection of toys: the Viper MK VII, Colonial One, and a Raptor. I chose the latter and thought I would present a short review. Overall the model is solidly built and fairly well painted. It is about three inches long in length. Its made of solid metal except for the whole engine / rear stabilizer section which is soft plastic. It comes with a base, and for only $4.95 it's a fairly nice little model.

3x03 Exodus Part 2

2006-10-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

Let's get this party started right...

I'm Robert and I will also be contributing my comments/opinions (however ridiculous they may be) to this blog. In that respect I hold some strong opinions regarding a couple of characters. Laura Roslin is one of those characters. I hope that I may one day find the literary inspiration to properly express my 'humble' opinions of Laura "Ex-President now I'm a school teacher turned rebel without a cause" Roslin.

So, on to the review of the episode:

I was sorta disappointed with... the 'spoiler' given in the preview when Lucy Lawless announced that "Two battlestars have jumped in" even though they were decoys and it was pretty clear that only Galactica was going to show up. In the end you had to expect that the Pegasus was going to show up one way or another. As for the episode as a whole it was fufulling in most regards. The strategy for getting the civilians off the rock refered to as "New Caprica" was reckless, but effective. Who didn't love the scene where Galactica is falling from the sky and dumping a wing of vipers in to the air?

I'm a big fan of Gaius having to own up to some of his major failings as a person. In some ways that makes him a stronger character because he is human to a fault. Gaeta confronting him drew out the humanity a little more. Also, mad respect for Gaeta stepping up to be the informant.

Now, my latest rant about Ex El Presidente Roslin...

It all started when the shooting began. As she's being evacuated along with Zarek to a near by ship she stops and says "My ship's up there" refering to Colonial One. Nothing says power hungry like trying to rig an election and calling Colonial One your ship. What makes things even worse is after the shootings over and most of the people have been evacuated she slowly walks toward the president's chair sits down and says "Ok, I'm ready to go." She really thinks that the world revolves around her...

I was also disappointed in Anders for his choice in 'best shooters' and for taking a coffee/smoke break while Starbuck is dealing with Leoben. Where the shooters might not have been his fault, he could have attempted to keep up with Starbuck in her rescue mission of the little girl.

The conclusion of the episode was emotionally bittersweet, which was very well done. Having Adama come back and rescue everyone was heroic and the cheers reflected that. But in the end it was clear that he was the only hero and everyone else realized that. You could argue that Lee the Hamburgler (yeah, I had to steal that from you Chen) was equally a hero, but we all know he needs some serious attitude adjustments. It was also awesome to see that Admiral Adama shaved the 'stache.

The next few episodes should prove interesting and help explain exactly what the hell happened on New Caprica for an entire YEAR.

FAQ

2003-03-12T04:58:00.000-08:00

Who are you knuckledraggers?
Jason Andrews, Michael C. Chen, and Robert Lucero--originally all from Albuquerque, New Mexico, but currently New Mexico, California, and Washington.

What's BSG?
BSG stands for Battlestar Galactica, the titular ship of the show Battlestar Galactica. This series, named the best show on TV by many critics (like Time magazine) has garnered many awards, including a prestigious Peabody. Although a "reimagining" of the 70's show, it's very very different.

I'm so lost...
No worries. These primers will help you catch up if you're too lazy to watch all the episodes. However, there is no replacement for watching the actual episodes.

Will this blog spoil the episode?
We assume you're all caught up on the episodes as of 12:01AM, EST. From there on there will be chock-full-o-spoilers. Buy them on iTunes, get the DVDs, or watch SciFi Sundays at 10PM EST! Don't blame us if we spoil the episode!

You guys are nuts.
We have our own opinions, which probably aren't exactly your opinions! Not everyone wants to see Roslin dead (Bob...) or something. Just be nice.

Do you guys listen to the podcasts/watch the scifi.com videos/read Ron D. Moore's blog?
We won't assume you've listened to the podcasts, or watched the online specials-- although we most likely have. We'll try to link to podcasts, but you can always go to scifi.com to check it out.

Didn't you watch the original BSG?
Not that we'll admit.

Can you send me an episode that I missed?
We don't have episodes to send you, or soundtracks to rip for you, or anything else that would violate international copyright law and make NBC Universal angry.

How often do you update?
We'll update as often as possible. Expect the most activity right after an episode and right before the next episode. When the show is off-air, we'll foster "other" forms of discussion.

Who's saying what, anyway?
Our posts will probably involve contributions from more than just one of us. So we'll try to mark which opinions belong to whom, etc.

Are you a cylon?
No, Imperious Leader.