Battlestar Galactica: Final Season

[Jason Becker]

Yep, another season of Battlestar and another round of the BSG haters coming out from their rocks to telling us how every episode is worse than before...then again for some reason they keep watching the show since they seem to know how each one is so bad...

[Nathan Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Hugin

What would have impressed you? Nice meaty space battle, a couple nasty hand to hand beatdowns, Baltar hilarious as a newly minted messiah, plus what's shaping up to be a fun Cylon civil war (a shooting war this time, not just factions bickering over policy details).

I don't know. Once upon I time I really thought the show took itself seriously. This just seemed ridiculous to me. I kinda gave up on the show during 3rd season - so I was trying to give it a fair shake. I'll still probably check out the next couple of this season and see where they go with the Kara arc, if nothing else.

[XPav]

Oh come on, you're going to watch all the episodes. Just admit it. All of U H8Rs!

[MikeJ]

Originally Posted by Zylon

So... a disintegrating Raider smacking into a huge ship causes the entire thing to blow up, but a warhead hitting a flimsy outer section of another ship doesn't even punch a hole in it?

I thought the warhead did punch a hole in the ring, but didn't disintegrate the whole thing. This sort of thing isn't entirely predictable. The warhead might have passed through to the other side of the ring before it exploded, thus wasting most of its energy. With the Raider, there's always the 'golden BB' effect, where a relatively small amount of damage in the wrong spot can set off some volatile stuff, like what they use for fuel in this universe.

[dermot]

I really enjoyed this episode and the space battle at the start was awesome. I'm really excited about this season now - can't wait to see the second part next week. I just hope that RDM and co. have the balls to let some of their main characters die without a Starbuck-style resurrection.

When Adama asks Kara if she's suggesting that he go to the president and tell her that they have to change course because Kara has a 'feeling', I did have hope that the she'd say "well, it wouldn't be the first time you've done something daft like that Bill!".

Oh, and did I miss something? I don't remember seeing any non-Galactica Cylons so I'm not sure where you guys are getting the Cylon civil war stuff from. Or are you just surmising that the Galactica Cylons are going to remain at war with the other Cylons?

Ohohoh! The Gaius 'Jesus' Baltar stuff was interesting but I'm not sure that his situation has really changed that much from when he was on the Basestar - he's still basically living in a harem albeit one that's no longer accompanied by a horrible horrible porno-jazz soundtrack. I just hope that the child's recovery turns out to be coincidental; I don't think I could stand the kind of pseudo-spiritual waffle that Baltar being a healer would entail.

[Rollory]

Originally Posted by dermot

Oh, and did I miss something? I don't remember seeing any non-Galactica Cylons so I'm not sure where you guys are getting the Cylon civil war stuff from. Or are you just surmising that the Galactica Cylons are going to remain at war with the other Cylons?

The preview. "Stop lobotomizing the Centurions!"

[LesJarvis]

WOW! That was a seriously hammy episode. I liked it, but yeah. Hammy.

[Woolen Horde]

Originally Posted by dermot

I really enjoyed this episode and the space battle at the start was awesome. I'm really excited about this season now - can't wait to see the second part next week. I just hope that RDM and co. have the balls to let some of their main characters die without a Starbuck-style resurrection.

Dude, it's the final season, and the producers know it. There is no tomorrow. There will be no movies. There is no holding back. From what I've read, yes, people are going to die and stay dead. Shit is going to go down.

[SmokeyNecrosis]

They are making this stuff up as they go along. The 5th cylon makes no fraking sense and I dont think there is any rational way they can explain it.

Plus, I dont think the 4 were switched, or even the 5th. At the end of the 3rd season, when they figured out they were cylons, Chief makes a point of saying, and we have been from the start. It is awkard language and I think it was intended to dispell the "we were replaced" on New Caprica theory.

Tigh is one of the most angst ridden self loathing charachters any any series, with serious human "issues", including substance abuse. Bad cylon programming....and it takes away from the human aspect. Somehow knowing he is a cylon and then having him agonize over killing his wife takes away from the human drama. Or maybe that is the point, they are so human as to be indistinquishable, including allowing himself to become a cuckold to his wife, a booze hound, and at points just a miserable human being err.. cylon.

[Brian Rubin]

I personally loooooved the episode, and am excited to see where this is all going. ;)

[Dean]

Remember the cylon brain person in the goo said, "Don't trust Kara Thrace" or something like that in Razor.

But was it saying that because Starbuck is right and will lead them to Earth, or because she's a plant and won't.

We say Starbuck blow up, now she's back. The only reasonable explanation is that she's a cylon. We will find out, I guess.

Also, I seem to remember there were 12 episodes filmed before the strike and then we have to wait for the real end, right? So this is Season 4.0 and we'll get 4.5 in the fall or something. Or have I remembered wrong?

[Woolen Horde]

Originally Posted by Dean

Also, I seem to remember there were 12 episodes filmed before the strike and then we have to wait for the real end, right? So this is Season 4.0 and we'll get 4.5 in the fall or something. Or have I remembered wrong?

This has been announced, it's official, etc, but first 10 episodes of Season 4 in 2008. Last 10 in 2009. Prior to the writers strike, Sci-Fi had been flirting with the idea of splitting the final season between two years to help with the costs (amortize the budget over two years rather than one). But the writers strike really was the tipping point, since it delayed production on the last 10 or so episodes for four months.

I've also heard that the final season is pricier than the other ones, which is why Sci-Fi wanted to split for budgetary reasons. It would make sense, since they're building to a climax. Imagine what last night must have cost.

[Houngan]

I've caught up with the entire series over the last month, and it's holding up well. A good balance of wagon train, touchy-feely, and surprises to keep me interested. Plus, it's a good show that is made by the SciFi channel, which deserves credit right there.

I'm not a fan of the last four cylons, since Tigh did seem to age and has been known to Adama for waaaay too long to fit comfortably in the chonology. I can write off the song as something that slipped through whatever wormhold Starbuck went down, although why that would trigger them is a bit iffy.

For the uberplot I'm not to worried. Kara is the prophesied one, not the president. The cylon plan is still a mystery, and I agree that it is likely because the writers don't know what it is, either. Other than that, everything is just a collection of events, psychoses, etc. The only hard weirdness was around the nebula, and we can just say that obviously the 13th tribe had some sort of wormhole tech based on the teleport chamber from Kobol.

H.

[Chuck Jordan]

Originally Posted by Houngan

I'm not a fan of the last four cylons, since Tigh did seem to age and has been known to Adama for waaaay too long to fit comfortably in the chonology.

But their physiology is close enough to humans' that they're indistinguishable to any of the doctors on the Galactica. Close enough to get impregnated by a (presumable) human and deliver a baby, or to impregnate a (presumable) human. Apart from whatever it is that makes their spines glow and their eyes turn red and lets them hear Hendrix covers, they've got human bodies. So why wouldn't they age? That's not even a design flaw -- if you can be resurrected after a death from natural causes and not just a violent death, then there's no downside to having a body that gets old.

Plus, if my ciphering earlier in the thread is right, then the chronology of Tigh & Adama still works:
1) Adama discovers cylon/human hybrid experiments
2) The ship takes off and the armistice starts
3) Some group of Cylons -- either the "rogue" ones from "Razor" or the ones that we've seen in the rest of the series -- makes the Tigh model
4) Tigh meets Adama around 10 years after the war ends
5) They grow old together.

Originally Posted by Houngan

The only hard weirdness was around the nebula, and we can just say that obviously the 13th tribe had some sort of wormhole tech based on the teleport chamber from Kobol.

What teleport chamber from Kobol?

[André Costa]

Are Cylons supposed to be able to reproduce? Because you know, Chief has a kid with Cally, right?

[Athryn]

Originally Posted by André Costa

Are Cylons supposed to be able to reproduce? Because you know, Chief has a kid with Cally, right?

.....

So did Boomer. :P

[André Costa]

Originally Posted by Athryn

.....

So did Boomer. :P

I meant the males ones ... since it seems that both models are able to do it, where are all the baby cylons?!

[Alan Dunkin]

I don't see why not; the biology still has to be essentially the same. If they didn't have DNA or didn't have the normal bodily processes, they'd be obvious giveaways. I'm not really sure if they ever fully explained the differences on any given level (they probably won't).

Great episode to watch premiering in HD. Yikes.

--- Alan

[Supper's Ready]

Originally Posted by André Costa

Are Cylons supposed to be able to reproduce? Because you know, Chief has a kid with Cally, right?

Perhaps a "true" human is necessary for conception. The fertility experiments we saw on (old) Caprica would tend to indicate that Cylons can't do it on their own.

[russellmz00]

Originally Posted by Supper's Ready

Perhaps a "true" human is necessary for conception. The fertility experiments we saw on (old) Caprica would tend to indicate that Cylons can't do it on their own.

the secret ingredient is love.

i assume the "teleport chamber" mentioned earlier was the fancy map room on kobold that showed the stars from earth's view.

[Incendiary Lemon]

I loathe the sleeper cell cylon plot but Baltar was fun to watch. I loved his side look at the altar where he mutters "right..."

[jerri blank]

Originally Posted by Incendiary Lemon

I loathe the sleeper cell cylon plot but Baltar was fun to watch. I loved his side look at the altar where mutters "right..."

Baltar is annoying, but he's always good for a laugh. Sometimes BSG could use a little comic relief.

[Quaro]

The Baltar stuff is a little annoying from a plot point of view, but the actor pulls it off so well it's hard to complain.

[ColonelT]

Wasn't Galactica suffering from overcrowding last season? Would there really be a "compartment no one uses?"

[Houngan]

Originally Posted by Supper's Ready

Perhaps a "true" human is necessary for conception. The fertility experiments we saw on (old) Caprica would tend to indicate that Cylons can't do it on their own.

Now that they've revealed a male cylon who bore a child and female cylons who bore children, there's really no biologically reasonable way to suggest they can't have children. If the DNA can merge and the womb is viable, you've got a baby.

H.

[Jamie Madigan]

Originally Posted by ColonelT

Wasn't Galactica suffering from overcrowding last season? Would there really be a "compartment no one uses?"

Yes. It's cunningly hidden behind a door.

[Woolen Horde]

Originally Posted by ColonelT

Wasn't Galactica suffering from overcrowding last season? Would there really be a "compartment no one uses?"

*shrug*, it's a monstrously huge ship. Each of the flight pods is twice the length of a Nimitz-class carrier, and those can fit 5,000+ sailors. Galactica's crew was never more than 2,000. Then there's the main hull, which is almost a mile long. I just figure this is one of those "deep in the bowels" sorta compartments that no one ever bothers with.

Notice the door also said "dry storage". Fanwank it. Coulda been a compartment for canned food, and as they consumed all of it, they opened up a new space.

On a side note, I've always noticed that they've gone out of their way not to ever show the engine compartment or the engineering crew. I think they've only said the term "chief engineer" once throughout the entire show. I think Moore wanted to stay as much away from Star Trek as possible, or at least the cliches of Star Trek, like "if you have a starship, you must have a chief engineer".

[Zylon]

I'd like to think there's going to be an explanation forthcoming regarding why there's a secret society of single sexy Baltar-worshippers holed up on the Galactica, but somehow I doubt it. Moore's proven himself to be irritatingly fire-and-forget when it comes to his wackier plot turns.

[Alan Dunkin]

Well they showed the engine room of the Pegasus, but that could have been filmed in a boiler room for all we know.

--- Alan

[Woolen Horde]

Originally Posted by Zylon

I'd like to think there's going to be an explanation forthcoming regarding why there's a secret society of single sexy Baltar-worshippers holed up on the Galactica, but somehow I doubt it. Moore's proven himself to be irritatingly fire-and-forget when it comes to his wackier plot turns.

They've more than hinted at it throughout the second half of season 3. Baltar wrote his manifesto while awaiting trial and it's smuggled out. There's a bunch of civies on board now, too, cause they lost ships on New Caprica and during the radiation passage.

Deduce the rest. Baltair's groupies all seem rather young. Hot, but yes, young. Younger people tend to get disillusioned with the world, and I imagine that these youngsters are more disillusioned than most seeing that the "old gods" got them genocide and a running-for-their-lives existence. Bingo, here's Baltar, who has managed to survive against all odds and who offers a new god.