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The Official Battlestar Galactica Thread : SPOILERS
- Thread starter ~Shard~
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Unfortunately, Scifi.com's streaming is even worse on my iMac G5 Rev. A.
Large Flash files are just too much for it - I need h.264/Quicktime video.
Maybe you could get someone to record it for you. You always have insightful comments which I'd hate to miss out on this season.
SciFi.com is a little skippy on my Rev B iMac, but it comes through beautifully on my aluminum iMac at work (not that I'm watching BSG at work or anything
)
That would be pirating, he'd be better off just torrenting it if he was going to do that.
On episode two:
Better! Good enough to hide the fact that all this destiny/prophecy stuff is janking around the characters in some seriously unnatural ways. I can't help but feel that the One True God is actually Moore or whoever is in charge these days (honestly, when will the guy finally pen another episode?), high above, pushing Lee and Zarek together, Helo and Starbuck together, the Final Five, Baltar and Tori, all helter-skelter, because his season four game plan doesn't properly dovetail with the one from season 3. From now on, this stuff about a "plan," a "destiny," blah blah blah is just an analogue for "writer's f***ing prerogative."
That said, I did think the episode was a step up, mostly because the resolution to the cliffhanger wasn't predictable (and what would normally be stupid about it - namely the President missing on the only gun shot - was elided into the cancer/doubt characterization later on). The Final Five plot still seems forced and weird. Their meeting room is like a chorus box - and about as tedious - since scenes in it inevitably involve tense arguments between what would otherwise be random characters. But how could it be otherwise, really? Thankfully their plot has been pushed into Baltar's, who is at least experiencing some sort of transformation.
Fine, fine acting from the primary characters in this episode, even Starbuck who I frequently feel is too flat. Adama and her bring out the best in each other, as their finest scenes in the whole show have been with one another. And of course McDonnell's President is never anything but fantastic, especially when she's given more than plot pushing dialog.
Lee's departure was a non-event because no one gets it, not even him. And because no one has the guts to challenge him, it just seems like they don't really care even though they're clapping and hugging and the music is playing that theme that used to be bagpipes.
The Cylons... are such losers. Their set feels more like a studio than any other because they can only show so many actors in it, and the whole voting/sour loser thing just makes them seem more incompetent than they actually are. I can't imagine these fools undermining the intelligence network of the entire human race and then waging an efficient war from it, not even if I hum their awesome theme tune. But props to the writer for at least making it dramatic. Obviously this will become important to the cycle of life theme, but it was awfully sudden wasn't it (see above, below, and everywhere really)?
I'm glad that we're getting screen time for what have seemed - until now - to be the writers' changes of mind. Roslin's on-again off-again cancer deserves heavy patching if we're going to believe it's going somewhere... it was pleasing to have Roslin at least hypothesize about its nature since that's what we've been doing for the past two damn years. Hopefully that means we're going to get an answer at some point, and that the writers have some perspective about the mistakes they've made (unlike another particular show that was advertised throughout the entire first act by Sci Fi). Of course this is all damage control, but it'd be worse without the retcon in the end.
Now that the writers have taken the gentle slopes of their characters' development and bent them into jagged peaks of death so they can conclude the show, I expect things will get smoother as we are able to ride the wave they've manufactured so obviously. It's a shame it had to be done this way, but it's not like we're watching J. Michael Straczinsky here.
Better! Good enough to hide the fact that all this destiny/prophecy stuff is janking around the characters in some seriously unnatural ways. I can't help but feel that the One True God is actually Moore or whoever is in charge these days (honestly, when will the guy finally pen another episode?), high above, pushing Lee and Zarek together, Helo and Starbuck together, the Final Five, Baltar and Tori, all helter-skelter, because his season four game plan doesn't properly dovetail with the one from season 3. From now on, this stuff about a "plan," a "destiny," blah blah blah is just an analogue for "writer's f***ing prerogative."
That said, I did think the episode was a step up, mostly because the resolution to the cliffhanger wasn't predictable (and what would normally be stupid about it - namely the President missing on the only gun shot - was elided into the cancer/doubt characterization later on). The Final Five plot still seems forced and weird. Their meeting room is like a chorus box - and about as tedious - since scenes in it inevitably involve tense arguments between what would otherwise be random characters. But how could it be otherwise, really? Thankfully their plot has been pushed into Baltar's, who is at least experiencing some sort of transformation.
Fine, fine acting from the primary characters in this episode, even Starbuck who I frequently feel is too flat. Adama and her bring out the best in each other, as their finest scenes in the whole show have been with one another. And of course McDonnell's President is never anything but fantastic, especially when she's given more than plot pushing dialog.
Lee's departure was a non-event because no one gets it, not even him. And because no one has the guts to challenge him, it just seems like they don't really care even though they're clapping and hugging and the music is playing that theme that used to be bagpipes.
The Cylons... are such losers. Their set feels more like a studio than any other because they can only show so many actors in it, and the whole voting/sour loser thing just makes them seem more incompetent than they actually are. I can't imagine these fools undermining the intelligence network of the entire human race and then waging an efficient war from it, not even if I hum their awesome theme tune. But props to the writer for at least making it dramatic. Obviously this will become important to the cycle of life theme, but it was awfully sudden wasn't it (see above, below, and everywhere really)?
I'm glad that we're getting screen time for what have seemed - until now - to be the writers' changes of mind. Roslin's on-again off-again cancer deserves heavy patching if we're going to believe it's going somewhere... it was pleasing to have Roslin at least hypothesize about its nature since that's what we've been doing for the past two damn years. Hopefully that means we're going to get an answer at some point, and that the writers have some perspective about the mistakes they've made (unlike another particular show that was advertised throughout the entire first act by Sci Fi). Of course this is all damage control, but it'd be worse without the retcon in the end.
Now that the writers have taken the gentle slopes of their characters' development and bent them into jagged peaks of death so they can conclude the show, I expect things will get smoother as we are able to ride the wave they've manufactured so obviously. It's a shame it had to be done this way, but it's not like we're watching J. Michael Straczinsky here.
Well, Hulu worked a lot better this time around (only a minimal amount of stuttering - I guess watching Hulu on a Saturday afternoon beats prime-time evening), and made me feel better about waiting all day for the torrent to download only to be rejected as full of errors at the end.
It's funny, Marble, that you praised me for my comments, because I don't really have much to say! The plot lines that are being weaved are extraordinarily complex, even by BSG standards (let alone TV standards), with no obvious direction for any of the plot lines to go to. Nothing matches the adrenaline rush of Season 1's finest - it's more reminiscent of the miniseries, which had lots of exposition and discussion in preparation for an eventual payoff.
I was dreading the Cylon scenes (which were dreadfully boring in Season 3 - you know something's wrong when even threesome sex with Six and D'Anna appears to be boring), but the Cylon civil war's got me psyched. They finally do something!
It's too early to say anything else about Season 4, except that I can't wait for next week. Cally!
P.S. Where the heck is Lee going?
It's funny, Marble, that you praised me for my comments, because I don't really have much to say! The plot lines that are being weaved are extraordinarily complex, even by BSG standards (let alone TV standards), with no obvious direction for any of the plot lines to go to. Nothing matches the adrenaline rush of Season 1's finest - it's more reminiscent of the miniseries, which had lots of exposition and discussion in preparation for an eventual payoff.
I was dreading the Cylon scenes (which were dreadfully boring in Season 3 - you know something's wrong when even threesome sex with Six and D'Anna appears to be boring), but the Cylon civil war's got me psyched. They finally do something!
It's too early to say anything else about Season 4, except that I can't wait for next week. Cally!
P.S. Where the heck is Lee going?
Wow.
Galactica's got its guts back in several very important ways. I guess now that they're in their last season they no longer have to protect their characters so much, which is undoubtedly a good thing. It opens up story choices like the one they made in this episode, and allows the show to pursue its style more loyally. There is no question that this is more like it.
I feel shaken, having just watched it, the most I've been since, oddly, the last airlock spacing scene in the show. It feels strange then to have to make my first comment about something as pedestrian as the episode's direction/director. (It was anything from pedestrian, though.) Just stellar compared to the half-hearted wastes of the last season. Anders and Starbuck struggling on the bunk; the rocking, spinning sewage ship; the angles of Starbuck from under the catwalk with Anders; Cally squeezing through the walls of the Galactica; even the baby's hand holding the airlock control panel was poignant and disturbing. The editing was much more concentrated than we've been used to with cut-up "tape" and speed effects used in a way much more subtle and effective than usual. Usually these sorts of tricks are plainly for vanity, and we've seen their gratuitous abuse even on this very show, but the artificial aspects they provided for this episode matched its already artificial and cold quality.
The story itself was pretty hidden under this return to style, but it didn't cop out, which alone makes it a bold step back to form for the confident Galactica of old (which is to say, S1). There were some problems, such as the gap between Tory's characterization between this episode in the last, which was minor enough to explain away as "off-screen development." Then there was the annoying surprise that half of the Galactica bridge crew are along for the ride with Starbuck and Helo. Fixing these first confusing moments with them on the sewage ship would have been easy if the whole crew were given a line or a shot of explanation in the last episode. That way it might at least make more sense that Adama's trust in Starbuck extended to encompass the lives of all these people he cares about. Then again, as has been pointed out, these are people who aren't exactly doing much on Galactica at the moment except occasionally disobeying orders. Maybe it's punishment.
I've just got to say: you know someone's going to die when they start getting sentimental flashbacks from earlier in the series.
Lee was handled better than I expected. The plot developing with him and Zarek is interesting, and unpredictable. The two of them in the empty conference room was a pleasantly oblique bit of writing, with less on-the-nose ink than has been in the Galactica pen of late. Tory's new character is interesting too, since it casts into doubt the idea that the final five is there to protect the fleet. And also interesting is where Tyrol might go from here.
So in all: "interesting" describes it well. It was a very very good episode, especially if one looks at it relatively. If they can keep this sort of suspense going (even if they don't kill a new character every week) they'll have made up for a lot of lost time and effort.
Galactica's got its guts back in several very important ways. I guess now that they're in their last season they no longer have to protect their characters so much, which is undoubtedly a good thing. It opens up story choices like the one they made in this episode, and allows the show to pursue its style more loyally. There is no question that this is more like it.
I feel shaken, having just watched it, the most I've been since, oddly, the last airlock spacing scene in the show. It feels strange then to have to make my first comment about something as pedestrian as the episode's direction/director. (It was anything from pedestrian, though.) Just stellar compared to the half-hearted wastes of the last season. Anders and Starbuck struggling on the bunk; the rocking, spinning sewage ship; the angles of Starbuck from under the catwalk with Anders; Cally squeezing through the walls of the Galactica; even the baby's hand holding the airlock control panel was poignant and disturbing. The editing was much more concentrated than we've been used to with cut-up "tape" and speed effects used in a way much more subtle and effective than usual. Usually these sorts of tricks are plainly for vanity, and we've seen their gratuitous abuse even on this very show, but the artificial aspects they provided for this episode matched its already artificial and cold quality.
The story itself was pretty hidden under this return to style, but it didn't cop out, which alone makes it a bold step back to form for the confident Galactica of old (which is to say, S1). There were some problems, such as the gap between Tory's characterization between this episode in the last, which was minor enough to explain away as "off-screen development." Then there was the annoying surprise that half of the Galactica bridge crew are along for the ride with Starbuck and Helo. Fixing these first confusing moments with them on the sewage ship would have been easy if the whole crew were given a line or a shot of explanation in the last episode. That way it might at least make more sense that Adama's trust in Starbuck extended to encompass the lives of all these people he cares about. Then again, as has been pointed out, these are people who aren't exactly doing much on Galactica at the moment except occasionally disobeying orders. Maybe it's punishment.
I've just got to say: you know someone's going to die when they start getting sentimental flashbacks from earlier in the series.
Lee was handled better than I expected. The plot developing with him and Zarek is interesting, and unpredictable. The two of them in the empty conference room was a pleasantly oblique bit of writing, with less on-the-nose ink than has been in the Galactica pen of late. Tory's new character is interesting too, since it casts into doubt the idea that the final five is there to protect the fleet. And also interesting is where Tyrol might go from here.
So in all: "interesting" describes it well. It was a very very good episode, especially if one looks at it relatively. If they can keep this sort of suspense going (even if they don't kill a new character every week) they'll have made up for a lot of lost time and effort.
I also thought it didn't make sense that so many people would go along with Starbuck. It must be a set up for something later, e.g. Galactica destroyed, and that ship the only survivors.
And why couldn't Cally have told someone about the conspiracy! D'oh.
As for the Cylon disunity, they are becoming too human in their ways. The whole thing just becomes like a battle between two groups of humans which isn't as interesting as man vs. machine (well, it's as interesting, but there are plenty of other treatments of it).
And why couldn't Cally have told someone about the conspiracy! D'oh.
As for the Cylon disunity, they are becoming too human in their ways. The whole thing just becomes like a battle between two groups of humans which isn't as interesting as man vs. machine (well, it's as interesting, but there are plenty of other treatments of it).
Crazy show last night! Poor Callie! But I knew we were in for some craziness for sure. This episode just had that feeling to it from the get go.
Good riddance to bad rubbish! Now someone just has to throw Roslyn out an airlock too.
Sad that I have to wait for more Baltar / Caprica headgame goodness.... But I enjoyed the episode. Although I didn't exactly understand how Lee's concerns were a point of order....
Now someone just has to throw Roslyn out an airlock too. Sad that I have to wait for more Baltar / Caprica headgame goodness.... But I enjoyed the episode. Although I didn't exactly understand how Lee's concerns were a point of order....
There's something major there. The look that Centurion cleaning the blood gave to camera said it all. The skinjobs are going to be running from the Cylons themselves soon enough. Not to say what will happen to Six on the Galactica if she does become that last of her model. The Final Six has a double meaning there.
It's getting good
Wow. Solid episode, and quite intense. Marble's post summarized my thoughts and feelings well - this is more like the old BSG that I know and love. Great writing, high drama and a kick-you-in-the-balls ending that doesn't pull any punches.
It will be very interesting to see how Tyrol handles everything, how Tori will explain things (if she does at all!) and how this will change the perception of the final five as "protectors". The Anders/Starbuck scenes were great (especially liked the shot of Starbuck flooded in yellow lighting on the catwalk) and the Lee-Zarek situation has some real potential - I think it will resurrect the "alternate" view (or dark side, if you will) of Rosalyn which was touched on at the end of Season 2 (the rigging of the election) but which has, for the most part, laid dormant since that time. She isn't the all-knowing, incorruptible, honest heroine which she is sometimes given credit for and it will be nice to see what comes of this new Lee-Zarek-Rosalyn triangle.
And lastly, obviously the whole Cylon civil war matter will develop further. I'm curious to se how things play out - not only between the skin jobs themselves, but also between the skin job and the Centurions, now that they have been given "free will". All of this has happened before and all will happen again - this phrase has so many possibilities in this context when considering man versus machine, master versus slave, human (or human-like!) versus machine...
Looking very much forward to next week now - this last episode has definitely left me wanting more!
Great writing, high drama and a kick-you-in-the-balls ending that doesn't pull any punches.It will be very interesting to see how Tyrol handles everything, how Tori will explain things (if she does at all!) and how this will change the perception of the final five as "protectors". The Anders/Starbuck scenes were great (especially liked the shot of Starbuck flooded in yellow lighting on the catwalk) and the Lee-Zarek situation has some real potential - I think it will resurrect the "alternate" view (or dark side, if you will) of Rosalyn which was touched on at the end of Season 2 (the rigging of the election) but which has, for the most part, laid dormant since that time. She isn't the all-knowing, incorruptible, honest heroine which she is sometimes given credit for and it will be nice to see what comes of this new Lee-Zarek-Rosalyn triangle.
And lastly, obviously the whole Cylon civil war matter will develop further. I'm curious to se how things play out - not only between the skin jobs themselves, but also between the skin job and the Centurions, now that they have been given "free will". All of this has happened before and all will happen again - this phrase has so many possibilities in this context when considering man versus machine, master versus slave, human (or human-like!) versus machine...
Looking very much forward to next week now - this last episode has definitely left me wanting more!
According to the mpaa or whoever is in charge it is pirating. So if you're gonna break the law then I say get the higher quality version without the annoying ad's
Poor Callie.
The 6's, 8's, and 2's aren't stupid. I bet Boomer's playing Cavil.
Starbuck got everybody! Who's left on Galactica Dee, Hot dog, and Racetrack?
Starbuck ain't finding earth. I thought she would at first, but then I realized that's Seelix and not Racetrack on her crew. And Racetrack finds everthing. She found water, she found Cobal, she found New Caprica, and she found the Lion's head nebula with that infected base ship. Granted 3 out of the 4 times either Boomer or Athena was with her, but she is the constant. I repeat, Racetrack finds everthing. It quite rediculous.
The 6's, 8's, and 2's aren't stupid. I bet Boomer's playing Cavil.
Starbuck got everybody! Who's left on Galactica Dee, Hot dog, and Racetrack?
Starbuck ain't finding earth. I thought she would at first, but then I realized that's Seelix and not Racetrack on her crew. And Racetrack finds everthing. She found water, she found Cobal, she found New Caprica, and she found the Lion's head nebula with that infected base ship. Granted 3 out of the 4 times either Boomer or Athena was with her, but she is the constant. I repeat, Racetrack finds everthing. It quite rediculous.
Originally, I was ticked off when I saw the previews, and realized that Callie was probably going to die. Then, when Tori talked her out of it, I thought, well, thank god, she's going to be okay. Then, when Tori punched her, I knew it was going to end badly, but I totally understood what they were doing.
What do you think Tyrol is going to do when he finds out that Callie DIDN'T commit suicide, but was murdered by Tori? That will probably come out during some cruicial point, and I would not put money on Tori surviving.
The whole point about Callie not telling someone about the conspiracy, is that she still really loved Tyrol. After the initial talk with Tori, she had accepted that Tyrol was a cylon, and was willing to face that. I think she didn't go running to Adama immediately partly because she was just so confused partly because of not sleeping well for weeks (because Tyrol had been acting so oddly), and because of the anti-depressants. Maybe for just a few minutes she just couldn't handle everything. Tori took that opportunity to talk her back from pushing the button, took the baby, then removed the threat that Callie posed (although I am not sure Callie would have betrayed them). I doubt Tori is sane anymore. You see a lot of glimpses of the madness in her. I think she thinks that Baltar is the final cylon, and you know that she sees herself as more perfect than humans due to things that she says.
Anyway, can't wait for next week!
What do you think Tyrol is going to do when he finds out that Callie DIDN'T commit suicide, but was murdered by Tori? That will probably come out during some cruicial point, and I would not put money on Tori surviving.
The whole point about Callie not telling someone about the conspiracy, is that she still really loved Tyrol. After the initial talk with Tori, she had accepted that Tyrol was a cylon, and was willing to face that. I think she didn't go running to Adama immediately partly because she was just so confused partly because of not sleeping well for weeks (because Tyrol had been acting so oddly), and because of the anti-depressants. Maybe for just a few minutes she just couldn't handle everything. Tori took that opportunity to talk her back from pushing the button, took the baby, then removed the threat that Callie posed (although I am not sure Callie would have betrayed them). I doubt Tori is sane anymore. You see a lot of glimpses of the madness in her. I think she thinks that Baltar is the final cylon, and you know that she sees herself as more perfect than humans due to things that she says.
Anyway, can't wait for next week!
I'm a hard core BSG fan and I thought the last episode was terribly cliche and just sucky. How they portrayed Callie as a suicidal drug addict that would kill herself and her kid was disappointing. Also the way that Starbuck is going in circles in the garbage ship painting crap on her ceiling and having sex that looks more like a boxing match is just dumb. I feel as if the writers are just stabbing in the dark. The strange thing is that BSG TOS had similar problems near the end of their run.
Gotta disagree with you on all counts. Cally's been a fiery one from the start - remember that she bit off a chunk of a would-be rapist in Season 1 and went Jack Ruby on Boomer, making her possibly the biggest Cylon hater from Galactica. (Exlcuding Pegasus crew...) Finding out your husband is a Cylon and possibly part of a Cylon conspiracy and that your kid is half-Cylon is about as bad as it can get for Cally (well, at least until she was shoved out the airlock).
Most everybody's either off their rocker or close to it at this point - being in space for that long with little hope and lots of casualties will do that. Compound that with coming back from the dead and having everybody give you the evil eye, or finding out you're a Cylon, or raising a wailing kid in a warship with no relief from military duties, and you got buckets of drama in the right hands.
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