More BSG thoughts

Some additional thoughts:

I was really really bummed that they didn't play "The Cylons were created by man" intro (or whatever) one more time. I don't think Bear even used the "pling pling pling pling" Cylon / Six theme in the finale. Oh, and did they drop "a home called Earth" for the last half of the season? I only noticed in the last ep.

Giving credit where credit is due: Of all the crazy stuff they came up with and tried to make make sense in the final two hours the thing that felt the most natural and satisfying was explaining the Opera House visions that Baltar / Six / Laura / Athena had.

Oh, yeah: Um, where's Xena? The last two hours of BSG ever and she's busy? Huh?

Poor Chief. On every level. You have to wonder what his life was like on Earth One?

Bear McCreary: Take a bow, sir. Your work just got better and better. Looking forward to the Season 4 CD. I sing "Roslin and Adama" to my daughter. (She likes it, but not as much as Beethoven's Ninth.)

I'm listening to the soundtracks for S1-3 and it's helping me remember the good parts. There was some great stuff. The three hour pilot. Starbuck down. The Hand of God. Pegasus. Scar. "One year later". The boxing match. Apollo's speech at Baltar's trial. Starbuck's return. The Cylon Civil War. Earth One. BSG took some stupid turns in the last few years and it was a far cry from the perfect that was the first season and a half. But I'll miss her.

So say we all.

Boom boom boom.

And That, As They Say, Is That

Ok, I've gotten countless emails saying "Where are my BSG reviews?" Wait... Ok, they weren't countless I just hadn't counted them. Um. Three. Whatev.

Where did I leave off? I guess I didn't do any of S4.5. Not great. I might change my mind if I watch it again. I had a much higher opinion of S3 the second go-round. (Except for three or so episodes. Those were still boring as dirt.) I loved the first half of S4. Something about 4.5 just didn't click for me. It wasn't so much that they were making it up as they went along as it was that they were making it up as the went along and it was stupid. There were a couple a serious cop-outs. Nicky not being Tyrol's kid was a real loser moment. Especially since when we found out Tyrol was a toaster Moore assured us that he knew what he was doing and Nicky would be just a significant as Hera. Ah well.

Oh, and for the three people that read this that care? The Final Five aren't immortal. They aren't even especially long lived. They just traveled at light speed for a few thousand years. So for them it was only a year or two. (Months?) Relativistic travel. Go read Speaker for the Dead.

We'd pretty much given up after the episode where Six and iTigh's kid died (keeping Hera special). Or at least I had. The mutiny was ok. The "falling apart battlestar" storyline should have been introduced more gradually. Now we know why they did it but it was still a little too rushed. So yesterday we sat down and watched the last FIVE HOURS of BSG. And were largely un-disappointed. (Unless you're a die-hard Kara/Lee shipper. Sorry, sweetie.)

First off? I want my glowing white spaceships. Grrrr.

It was a bang-howdy finish. And it felt like it should have happened about a season and a half ago. Finding "Earth" actually felt pretty natural. The Hand of God in all of BSG was something that had been sorely missing for a few seasons. As I will constantly grouse about, first season BSG managed to balance the spiritual, the political, and the soap opera with thrilling space action so so so perfectly. It was really missed. It was nice to see the echoes of it here. All Along the Watchtower even felt nicely woven in. Why not?

The big "let's go get Hera" op did not feel anything other than "Heck, it's the end of the show. Let's blow it all up." Sometimes you have to roll the hard six when you know you're not coming back next season.

Nice to see that Wild Bill is still consistently inconsistent. A suicide raptor mission? Who'd be crazy enough to try THAT? Oh, yeah, Wild Bill like nine episodes ago.

Six and Baltar! Yay! I'm a Six/Baltar shipper. Who knew? That was a thread that was never successfully picked up from when Caprica and Gaius met up back on New Cap. It was also nice to see Gaius be smart again. Gaius is supposed to be a jerk, but he's also supposed to be brilliant. They were always much better at the jerk part.

NOT. ENOUGH. STARBUCK. AND. LEOBEN. Come ON! They dropped the ball so much on these two it was like New Years in Times Square. Starbuck meets her destiny and turns out to be an angel and Leoben isn't even there to say "Wow, whatdayaknow?" Bleah.

And the whole Kara Thrace: Harbinger of Doom? Yeah, that was so -- Wait, you can't even dismiss that as "we changed our minds"! They were still nattering on about it an episode ago! How does THAT make sense?!? And how is this the FINAL chapter of the human race?!?

So did anyone else come to the conclusion that Starbuck's dad was the Thirteenth cylon? -- Um, apparently so:

How about fan theories over the show, like mention of a missing Cylon named Daniel? After his name was mentioned, the fans just went wild online. Did you intend for that to happen, and was he supposed to inspire this big fan-driven backstory?

RDM: You know, the Daniel thing is going to be one of the great fiascos of the show, in terms of what fans thought and what the truth was. Because Daniel was not intended to be anything more than an interesting bit of backstory in that episode. And that's how we approached it. It was just a story that Cavil and Ellen tell each other, that sort of goes to the idea of who Cavil was and how deep his resentments were, and his jealous nature - and [we wanted to] do a Cain and Abel allegory. That was all it was. And then after the show aired. I started picking up all this stuff about how fans were obsessing about Daniel and how [people thought] Daniel was Kara's father, and he was the big surprise. I started thinking, "Oh sh-t, slow down people, I don't want you to really get
invested." I usually don't like to go out there and say, "Oh, that's a bad theory," because part of the enjoyment of watching the show is coming up with ideas. But this was gathering such momentum, I didn't want people to be going into the finale and really be waiting for the Daniel shoe to drop, when there's no shoe. It's one of those things where you're inside the show, [and] you look at it, and go one way. And then it's broadcast, and an audience sees it, and then they seize on this piece that you never really anticipated, and then you're sort of amazed. And you're saying, "Slow down, no - come back."

So much for THAT.

The whole "Clyons losing resurrection" plot was still silly. That should have been backed up on disk someplace. Seriously. And WHAT was THE PLAN? Other than a miniseries this fall? If Cavil hated having a human body so much why was he so all-fired hot to get resurrection back? Why not just go back to the Centurions?

But it was really nice to see Tyrol choke the felgercarb out of Tori.

Did Hotdog make it? He'd be the only Nugget that did. EDIT: Looked it up. Well, he wasn't explicitly killed, so I call that a win!

They finally got to kill off Racetrack and Skulls. They even made a gag about it.

"Could we PLEASE not tell her the plan?"

They didn't hook up Boomer and the Chief. Nice one.

I'm glad the Fighting Agathons made it, but I'd have been ok if Helo had bought it fighting for his daughter.

Sam flying the fleet into the sun was a little unsatisfying. Flying off someplace undetermined might have been better. It wasn't a bad send off for the Old Girl as far as it goes, but it was somehow not quite a satisfying as it should have been. But they played the theme. That goes a long way.

Lee got the short end, as he almost always did. And he was upstaged by Kara the Friendly Ghost, as he almost always was.

The most perfect and natural and easy part of the whole episode was Laura and Bill. (iTigh and Ellen wasn't bad either.) And the dying leader lead her people to Earth. With the help of a crazy maybe dead viper pilot. Bill at Laura's grave was one of the best images of the whole series.

Annnnnnd the Six in Baltar's head and the Baltar in Six's head were ANGELS???? What the frak?

Well, there's still Clone Wars.

30 Years Ago There Were Those Who Believed

Thirty years ago I was wandering through a new mall in a new town (Valley West Mall if I recall correctly) and in the hobby shop I saw new models for something called a Colonial Viper and a Cylon Raider. Being the young lad that had just moved from New England I wondered why fighters from the American Revolutionary War had space ships.

At my grandparents house we gathered at the TV set and watched this new show. "There are those who believe that life here began out there..."

Thirty years later I have to say that it holds up much better than one might expect. The effects are top notch. I remember my mother being somewhat amazed (alarmed?) when I spotted John Dykstra's name in the opening credits and noted that he did the special effects for Star Wars! (Yep. Been a nerd for a looooong time now.)

The THEME! I'd be hard put to come up with a cooler TV theme. Some come close (Wild Wild Wild West). The music over all was quite good. (We'll all just skip over "It's Love, Love, Love". It was the 70's.)

The cast was good. Starbuck was the highlight of the original series, too.

Yeah, it's really hokey. (REALLY.) I guess you can look at it and say "So twelve planets full of humanity are mercilessly slaughtered and then those that didn't die are shoved into a rag tag fleet looking for a place to survive? Sounds like happy Sunday night entertainment to me!" (See "Moore, Ron".) But what really strikes me watching the two hour movie (that ran for THREE hours with commercials - that was a late Sunday night for a fourth grader.) now is that this was a story about The Good Guys facing off against an Implacable Foe who, when offered peace, turned around and visited total genocide (helped by an insidious insider and a credulous political class). This was not only 1978 when that sort of thing was not a popular notion, but on the very night of the signing of the Camp David Accords. Wow. I can see why Moore was drawn to taking a more serious bent with nuBSG. Sometimes I think it would be nice if he took a less "people just suck" attitude.

BSG was our Must See TV for the rest of the season. Yeah, there were some not so swell eps (wait, who gets shot down and has to make nice with the natives this week?). But there was also Gun on Ice Planet Zero and Lost Planet of the Gods (where WOMEN *gasp* became fighter pilots! Yep, moving ahead fast in 1978). Commander Caine was SOOOO much cooler back then. I'm still waiting for the Crystal Ships to show up on nuBSG. And Fred Astaire was Starbuck's DAD!

Thirty years? Well frak, that doesn't seem very long at all.

BSG 412: Revelations

It's over. Well, at least until 2009. Rumors abound that they may be making more movies like Razor. Hrmm.

But for now the cast and crew are having parties and kicking back on the beaches, 'cause they're DONE.

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! Hooooo-gosh, SPOILERS!

Cylons are outed. Earth is found. Gee, it seemed more complicated than that.

See? I TOLD you he should have told Bill.

This had one of my favorite scenes in all of BSG: Lee trying to pull his father back together. I love the character relationships on BSG. Helo and Starbuck. Tigh and Bill. Laura and Lee. But none of them hold a candle to the Adama family. Ok, I'll include Starbuck in that. But father and son... Whoo. Almost all of my favorites are those two. The very first scene of BSG I ever saw was "I didn't know this was about picking sides." (Bastille Day, season 1.)

My other favorite thing in this ep was Tyrol. He is SO relieved that they found him. He's giddy. Aaron Douglas has knocked every pitch they've given him out of the park.

For some reason, I eally dug the costumes at the end (the field jackets). Man, it looked COLD there. Brrrrr.

Starbuck and Sam. Wonder how that's going to go? Oh, just went back and re-watched the end. Not well. (Ok, Kara is less crazy than Tori. Yikes.)

Kind of like the season three ender, this is kind of two episodes. It's the human / cylon impasse and it's finding Earth. They managed to wring every drop of tension they could out of both.

Speaking of Tori, wow, I thought Baltar held a grudge. Laura tells her to comb her hair and stop sleeping with Baltar and suddenly Tori's ready to feed her to the Cylons. Balanced.

The thing that kills me is that they're making the cylon / human alliance work. They really are. Mind you, here in the U.S. we've taken more than a hundred years to get over slavery and the civil war. Wonder how long it takes to get over a twelve planet genocide?

LEE! Aww, I love it when Lee gets to be cool. And why doesn't Starbuck pick up a phone? (Oh! The drama!)

There was a horrible, horrible moment when I was afraid that Starbuck's viper was going to be the fifth cylon. It went along with the silly hope that if it was it would talk like William Daniels.

Then the jump to Earth. Starring Bear McCreary. Ohhh that was good. If you go look at his blog you see that it was every bit the work that it sounded like. They're going to make me wait another year and a half for the CD, blast them.

You just held your breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. You knew this wasn't really the end. There's another ten episodes! I liked that they're not making Earth the end of the show. Myself, after all of this, I need a little more closure than that. (They continue to make BSG the anti-Voyager. Or the Voyager that should have been.)

But tonight you got to soak up some wonderful, wonderful performances. You knew that these people would tell their children "This is when we found Earth. This is where I was. This is who I was." Bill and Lee Adama were in CiC as father and son, with Laura Roslyn as leaders that are and leader to be. Karl and Sharon Agathon were together with Hera. Gaelen Tyrol and his son Nicholas. Kara Thrace held vigil at the wall of the fallen (as did others) with Kat's photo. Sam Anders stood with her. Saul Tigh was alone.

This morning I rewatched the end. You knew it was coming. You knew SOMETHING was coming. And then that long, slow pan over our cast. And it's pretty much the whole cast. Bill looks like he wants to trash his office again. Laura looks like she should have seen this coming. D'anna wants to explain, but can't (she's REALLY dismayed and looks like she feels somehow responsible). Helo and Athena are together. Baltar is alone. Tori reaches out to Sam! (Away, evil wench!) Six goes to Tigh, not Baltar. Leoben looks like a man who has just had all of his faith taken away from him by force. Tyrol is alone as well. And Starbuck looks like she was lied to.

See you next year.




So say we all.

BSG 411 - The Hub

SPOILERS. Good grief, go watch the show for crying out loud! What else do you have to watch? (I have my shiny new John Adams DVDs waiting for me! Huzzah!)

This is almost it. In fact, by the time you read this, it's over until next year. Wonder what horrible cliff-hanging atrocity they'll visit on us this year? (Some of you know. Soon, I too will know. Arrrgh.)

So, it was expected, but it was still cool. "Two days ago". We get to see what happened to our wayward babes. The hybrid takes the gang hub hunting. Interesting mission for the hybrid to be on. Wonder what her motive is? Airlock hooks up with old, dead friends. GB preaches to the toasters and then goes to confession. Helo finds the weirder parts of being married to a Cylon. D'Anna gets in touch with her REALLY sarcastic side. Husker doesn't get to finish his book. Jane gets to write some funny stuff for Airlock and GB.

Skipping ahead, they did it. They really did it. They got rid of Cylon resurrection. (Mind you, I'd think they'd be working their shiny toaster butts off to rebuild it, but I'll go with it for now.) And Helo managed to do it. ("You are not married to the entire Eight production line." Hee!) Good for Helo. Yes, you're guilt ridden. Sorry about that. Yes, you're very, very decent. We know that. Congrats on turning down the Eight that isn't Athena.

Elosha! Awesome! (Wish they'd bring back Billy. Maybe on her next vision.) I think that we've seen the end of the show, right here. Galactica is empty because everyone has left (probably for Earth). It's just Bill, Lee, Kara, and Laura. If you watch B5 you probably get this right away. Or maybe not. We'll see next year, won't we?

Laura and Baltar yelling at the hybrid was hilarious. Very Giles and Anya. (It's a Buffy writer, I make Buffy references.)

Mary McDonnell is terrific. The total paralysis she shows when Baltar tells he that he gave the Cylons the access codes. She knows that she HAS to do something. Something awful, irrevocable, and immediate. And she's so overwhelmed by this that she can't even breathe. And then she saves his life. This will be interesting to say the least.

Bye bye red-shirt Pike. We knew you were for it sooner or later.

Um. Did they just kill Boomer?

Three comes out of the box and is mad at everyone. Gotta love that. Baltar used to be that kind of unpredictable. I miss that. We'll see where it goes. Laura the final Cylon: Didn't buy it for a second, Ron. Not in the preview. Not in the show. Better luck next time.

So I wonder when / if they'll start showing a Cylon survivor count? And if all the Cylons are "mortal" now, will they continue to reproduce? There are two-and-a-half human/cylon children now, right? (More if you count Lee. Kidding.)

I'm not sure how Laura thinks that she can contain Three in the middle of a baseship. Seems the odds would be the other way. But that's our girl, always the gutsy move. What's going on with the non-plotting sixes?

Still no Leoben. I cry fowl.

"I love you."
"It's about time."
So say we "awwwwwww".

BSG 410 Sine Qua Non

Look, Ma, LATIN!

Wow. I had an easier time keeping track of this show when it wasn't as good. Huffin' and puffin' to get curren'(t).

SPOILERS. But good grief, I'm writing these so late (and posting even later) that you should be caught up by now. The show might even be over by this time. (I'm a small voice from the distant past and the like.)

So the president and co. have been whisked away on a Cylon basestar. Wild Bill has to find out what happened. The red-shirt from Demetrius finally buys it (under unseen circumstances). Lee becomes president thanks to the return of Romo "Badger" Lampkin. And Husker reads a book.

Nicely done guys. Sometimes it's cool to just let a cliff-hanger simmer. We also realize (She Who is My Wife and I) that we had NO idea who was on the baseship. (I'll still call them baseSTARS thanks much.) We swore up and down that Starbuck was still on board. Guess not.

So we get to see everyone in the fleet do what we did at the end of the episode last week. "AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!" And then we get to see the aftermath of events that we didn't even get to see. With any really cool luck, we WON'T get to see them. Just cause I'm ornery that way. I'd rather catch up to everyone in real-time rather than have the time-worn (oh so worn) BSG tradition of "48 hours ago".

Hey look, Wild Bill is going crazy over people he loves again. I think Laura is the bomb too, but will you stop risking the whole human race for your personal interests? Just saying. I'm looking forward to the episode where it's one of his closest loved ones vs. the safety of the fleet and he actually chooses the fleet. He's like a really stoic version of Helo when you get right down to it. Of course, that one time it would be Lee. Poor Lee.

ROMO LAMPKIN! Huzzah! Ok, how many people do you know that see imaginary people, robots, pets? Not many? Well, on BSG I think that if you're NOT seeing imaginary people (robots, pets) that you're the odd one. I think they could have done just fine without the Fight Club cat.

Dead Natalie. Very sad. If I was a more bitter, petty man I'd say "Here's that mortality you were after!" And there are almost consequences for Athena. Very nearly. So close.

So, did the resurrected sixes, twos, and eights get boxed by the Cavils? (Did Natalie die before or after they found the remains of the hub? Did she resurrect just in time to be blown up?)

There has been a depressing dearth of Leoben in these eps. Are we ever going to see a Simon or a Doral again? Other than right before they say "All Will Be" (heh heh HA HA HA HAAAAA HAAHHAAA!) "Revealed"?

iTigh is acting with his whole eye this ep! Michael Hogan rocks. Still think he should tell Bill. So Admiral Tigh, huh? (And why is he Admiral? Why not Commander? Why is Bill still an Admiral?) And it doesn't seem like the end of the world like last time. Wow. He should still tell Bill. (In case you missed it - and I did - Tigh was wearing his Admiral's pips a couple of weeks early a few episodes ago. Oops.)

Where's Anders? Anyone seen Tyrol lately?

President Leland Adama, eh? Well. This will be exciting. Especially when (if?) Laura comes back. It's interesting the WAYS that the Colonial government is falling apart. Laura does what she wants (and can) for the protection of the fleet and the whole quorum is up in arms. Leaks to the press, disregard for her authority, etc. But when Wild Bill just flat out will not deal with a civil leader (Thomas Zarek) then everyone scrambles to throw the poor sod overboard. So let me get this straight: Laura is president again, not by election, just because she's not the one who dragged them all through New Caprica. Yet despite this popularity, everyone is deeply troubled by her "unchecked power". But when it comes time to put the guy who's really in line of succession for the job, that won't stand. I know it's been a long hard four years, but this is the group that put a school teacher, 43rd in line of succession, in the office of the presidency, not because they were happy about it, but because it's the rules. Now they're going to give the job to Lee "my daddy gave me a battlestar" Adama? I'm a little confused over the will of this people and this legislature.

So Wild Bill isn't going to be Admiral anymore. (Kind of solves the whole "he won't talk to Zarek" problem, doesn't it?) "I can't live without her." Awwwwww. Nice to see Bill in the pilot jammies. "Nothing but the rain." I don't know why that line gets me every single time. Godspeed, Husker.

So say we all. Boom boom boom.

BSG 409 Guess What's Coming to Dinner

Aw, this show just rocks. Fourth season is still (IMHO) firing on all cylinders.

BTW, um, SPOILERS. If you haven't seen the eps, this is not the place
to be looking. Go get the DVDs and then watch the season four eps on Sci-Fi.com. We'll wait. (Sci-fi only has the latest five eps up. Sorry.)

Yes, this will be the third review I'm writing without actually posting anything. Have to fix that. (If you're reading this, I've already posted the other two, problem solved.)

I'm already mocking "All Will Be Revealed" at least as enthusiastically as I did "And They Have a Plan". Just so's you know.

This ep not only had me on the edge of my seat, it had me off of it. iTigh saves the day! Huzzah!

Ok, RDM, the "final four" thing has been a lot more interesting than I ever thought it would be. Especially since you pulled it all out of your backside last season. Kudos.

These episodes are just popping. If they can keep this pace for a whole season we're in for such a ride. It's like the last ten minutes of season 2 ALL the time! They've pretty much chucked the idea of getting new viewers in the last year, so it's ALL for the fans. There's a lot of "connect your own dots" this season. If Tyrol and Baltar are in a scene then it's up to the viewer to remember all of the baggage those two have.

Also, they've gotten back my trust this season that if they don't hit a story every week that they WILL come back to it.

When Demetrius FINALLY jumped and then jumped right into the path of a viper I almost knocked over a table throwing my hands in front of my eyes. THAT's good TV.

The Cylon plots are the opposite of the Cylons last season. i.e. INTERESTING. Every few minutes there's a twist you didn't see coming. And very few of them are stupid. Even better: Just when you think they will be stupid they aren't. Six's double-cross. Well, that's predictable. Wait, Six's DON'T double cross? Whoa!

Laura Laura Laura Laura Laura! They're finally addressing that this isn't a stupid game for power and prestige. Or at least that Laura knows it isn't. 39,673. And FALLING. And Lee seems to be figuring it out again. Go Lee. And the scene with Tory. Heh. Take THAT you toaster!

The show only works best when Laura and Wild Bill talk to Kara and Lee. Seriously. Loved the scenes with Kara and Laura and with Lee and Laura.

It's funny, when they don't use Lee enough I think he's being shafted (and that it's Starbuck's fault). When they don't use Wild Bill I think they're letting him "simmer". Maybe it's because when he IS on screen these days he's kind of a "presence". It's not about him, it's about who he's with. He feels like he's biding his time. It works. Plus they're just setting him up to find out that iTigh is a toaster. Poor Bill. (Three Bills on this show. None have fared too well.)

So the "four" know that the Cylons know that they're there (and now the Colonials do too). And now the Three will out them. So who's going to try and screw THAT up? My money's on Tory. This will get SOOOOOO ugly.

Felix. The latest entry in "TV stars who sing". Nominee for "most messed up man in the fleet" (a favorite against stiff competition). Biggest "Awwwww" moment of the ep: Baltar looking in on Felix. SOOO much better than when Laura ignored Lee for a season and a half.

Hey look! It's ADxA! Don't blink or you'll miss her.

Not enough Leoben for my taste. But he's on a MISSION, so that's cool.

Now THERE's a cozy crew on the basestar. I'm sure it will all go well.

It's a basic rule: Don't give a Boomer a firearm on Galactica. But it was a nice moment with Athena and Tyrol. Tyrol has SO much dignity (in a don't mess with me or I'll kill ALL of you! kind of way) these days. Poor Natalie.

"JUMP!" See ya in two weeks, suckers!

Oh, and by the way, SO SAY WE ALL. (Boom boom boom.)

BSG 407 - The Road Less Traveled

SO SAY WE ALL!

Arrgh! A week behind! It's Firefly all over again. (But catching up fast. I'm as up to date as RDM's podcasts and he gets PAID for this!)

BTW, um, SPOILERS. If you haven't seen the eps, this is not the place
to be looking. Go get the DVDs and then watch the season four eps on Sci-Fi.com. We'll wait.

This season is doing a pretty good job of keeping all the balls in the air. We don't touch on everything every week. (Look, an Adama-free episode!) But it keeps you wondering what's going on elsewhere while not boring you with what's going on in front of you.

So, Leoben has shown up with Starbuck three times before. The first time (Flesh and Bone) was awesome. The second time (NewCap) was boring. The third time (bye, bye Starbuck) was pretty cool. I was afraid we were getting into an even / odd thing. Nope. This was AWESOME.

Leoben done right is one of my favorite characters. The coolest thing is that you're never really sure what HE believes. And this ep added an edge of desperation to my favorite toaster. So you REALLY can't tell who's playing who. And forget about Kara and Lee and Anders. Bring on the Cylon v. Cylon rivalry! Whoot!

The Tyrol story is very low key, but it's becoming the most compelling of the Four Cylons story. He's one of the two Four that we've known the longest. And he's not Tigh. (Still mostly not buying iTigh. More in a moment.) And he's the most likely to be all at sea about being a Cylon. Tory is crazy, I honestly don't care about Anders that much. And iTigh has his own set of issues.

So Tyrol and Baltar is a very interesting combination. Especially given Tyrol's faith background.

Baltar and the Baltarians. Not even hating this arc. Which surprises me. But that's ok. A sincere Baltar is a terrifying force. Wonder if they'll ever bring up that GB shot Crashdown? Or that he GAVE A CYLON A NUKE?

iTigh: They should have given him more of this kind of a hook from the beginning. He's got Ellen back. Kind of. At this point I can buy that he'd sell out all of the humans and the toasters too if he can have that. But it took a bit of a jump to get here. He should have told Bill.

Hey look, Helo is making a not so touchy feely stupid decision! (He's wrong, because it's Starbuck, but I'm all for this one.)

Cliff-hanger! See you next week!

BSG: 406 Escape Velocity

So say we all. Really good. Some great scenes. Good pace for the series this season. Written by Jane Espenson and directed by Eddie Olmos. Good times there. Always a laugh riot when Eddie's directing.

SPOILERS! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!

First off, I love that Bear McCreary has re-purposed the funeral theme from Act of Contrition (better known as the season one opening titles) as Lee's theme. Maybe he did it a long time ago and I'm only just now noticing. The music has been top notch. Bear's been working hard to get to this.

So the Cylons are all crazy? iTigh, Tyrol, and hoooooh-boy Tory. All nuts. (Is Tory seeing things? Or is she just a sociopath?) Anders (I'm still going to call him #4, yes I know that that's a Simon) seems fairly stable other than that whole Starbuck thing. But anybody hanging around with Kara looks sane by comparison.

Almost no Starbuck! Yay! No Cylons. Booo. No "I'm so bitter" Gaeta. Awwww. The Demetrius' token red-shirt sees another day.

Laura's my favorite. Even more than iTigh. (Have I mentioned that I'm not buying for a MOMENT that iTigh hasn't told Wild Bill? Not even for a SECOND. Is it his programming? Well then they are just machines and they can all be turned off. That was easy. Remember when Six snapped a baby's neck right before calling down multi-planetary genocide? Wacky fun.)

Anyway, Laura. Whoo-doggy. "I'm dying and I'm going to make sure the human race is ok no matter what." Huzzah! Even if she's not The Dying Leader she is totally THE Dying Leader. This arc more than ever convinces me that her cancer remission was just because the show went for a season longer than it was supposed to. Now we're back on track. "I need you to know what I like." Awwww. "I want HIM to see ME." Yaay!

LAURA rounds down to 30,000! When I do that I get grief. But otoh I
figured out that she was wearing a wig. Which she was also wearing in
the Cylon Opera House in her / Six's / Athena's hallucination. Ooooo.

"He thinks he's doing the right thing."
"Of COURSE he does. He's LEE." - Awesome!

Mr. Adama Goes to Caprica seems to be going well. He hasn't gone TOO Helo on us yet. I'm sure he will. The Quorum meets on Colonial one? I guess, since Baltar blew up Cloud Nine and nobody CARES.

Speaking of NOBODY CARES: WE know who four Cylons are. Does anyone else? Remember when that used to matter to people? What's the average size of a fleet ship? How much room does anyone really have to move around? What do these people do with their time? I think most people living in a police state would be positively MOBILE compared to this gang.

Tyrol. Has anyone else noticed that he looks like Orson Welles? Especially when he gets all CRAAAAZY looking. So this will be interesting. I hope he's not just back at his job next week. That's season 3 thinking, that is.

Baltar's back and now he's a prophet. I love how weary/resigned he's become to Six. I don't even think she can convince him to do things with sex anymore. They've become very companionable. (What's going on with the Cylon fleet? Huh? HUH?)

Maybe it's just because of the confines of a TV show, but for twelve planets of people there seems to be a remarkable unity of religious faith. (They argue about HOW they worship but never WHO.) These people have been crammed into ships for years now and this is the first time such a conflict has come up? Nobody has noticed that it's just because it's Baltar?

Nice excuse to get Ellen back. Also a great bit where iTigh tells Tyrol that it's never going to get better. Nice.

Btw? iTigh? TELL THEM.

Next week: Leoben! Yaaaaay! Don't screw this one up like you did on NewCap guys. Don't bore us.

Boom boom boom.

BSG - The Ties That Bind

SO SAY WE ALL. AGAIN. Seventeen to go.

BTW, um, still SPOILERS. If you haven't seen the eps, this is not the place to be looking. Go get the DVDs and then watch the last three eps on Sci-Fi.com. We'll wait.

A pretty great episode. I'm hoping that this will be more like season 1 and something will come of this and not like season 3 where nothing would. (It's not a Lee story. Those evaporate faster than Ambrosia in vacuum.) It's been four days and I have to admit I'm still a little numb.

Cut to the chase: Go back and watch the miniseries where Wild Bill runs into his wayward deck crew who are sneaking about wanting to give him a retirement present. They are all dead.

Prosna died in the first attack on Galactica when EyesTigh had to vent the air to keep the fuel tanks from exploding.










Socinus died on Kobol. (Way to go, Crashdown.)











And now Cally. Very sad. (I didn't know her maiden name was Henderson.) I always liked Cally. A lot of people wondered at her marrying The Chief right after he broke her jaw. If he had been AWAKE when he did it I'd have been in that camp. (Now why anyone would marry STARBUCK is another matter...) I liked the two of them together. They felt a lot more solid and real than he and Boomer. One of my favorite moments in s3 was when Apollo asked Tyrol if he ever though about Boomer and he said "no", drank his drink, and walked away with a look of "viper pilots is DUMB". Other than being a toaster the Chief is a stand-up guy. Which is why he needs to tell people he's a toaster. Especially now.

She Who Is My Wife is impossible to write TV for. She knew what Cally was going to do the moment she grabbed Tyrol's keys. Then she knew what Tory was going to do the moment she got the baby. I'm fast but not that fast. (But I figured out The Prestige about an hour before she did.)

Alright, Saul. TELL PEOPLE. Tell Wild Bill. Let HIM figure it out. Galen? Your wife is dead. Why? Because one of you toasters is a might touchy about your secret and is getting into "the sensations". TELL PEOPLE. I'll hate all of you fraking skin jobs, I swear I will. Helo will no longer be my BSG punching bag. iTigh should know better. If you'd asked him a year ago to lay down his life for the fleet he'd have done it without blinking his eye. He tried to, more than once (no, not the blinking). And Athena is not only still free, still trusted, but she's off on a super-secret mission with Starbuck. Get some balance, people.

If it comes out that Tory killed Cally, and if it doesn't change Tyrol's mind BIG TIME, I give up. (I won't of course. I watched Black Market and still came back.) I want this to be the tipping point. If it turns out to be Tory vs. iTigh and Tyrol, bring it. Mind you, they did a great job of making it very possible that no-one except Tory will ever know. Cally was crazy and suicidal. I'm ok with that too, actually. (Let's just waltz past the idea that Tyrol's key wasn't on the inside of the airlock and that Tory now seems to know her way around a battlestar better than iTigh or the Chief.)

Oh, if you're going to drop an in-joke like "Weapons locker 1701-D", don't do it when the nerds are supposed to be caught in unbelievably high dramatic tension. It's distracting.

You know, I NEVER liked Tory. I used to just hate her because she replaced Billy.

Every decision made by any half-way responsible person in this fleet should begin and end with "There are 40,000 people left in the entire universe and we are being pursued by an implacable foe that will stop at nothing less than our destruction." Anything past that is details.

Which brings us to Lee and President Bush- er, Rosilyn. I had a moment of hope that Bush Derangement Syndrome had left the show for a while. No such luck. I have to admit that Laura's directive (or whatever they called it) is totally in character. Never let another Baltar trial happen. Ever. Mind you, Tom Zarek didn't want to have the trial to begin with. I LOVE seeing her and Lee knock heads though. I want to see a scene with just the two of them where they have out everything that's happened since Kobol. I want to see how much they used to adore each other.

The problem I have is that all of the rest of the Quorum and the Press (weren't they all supposed to get JOBS after Dirty Hands? And what did THEY do on New Cap?) seem totally agog at the idea of paranoia and security. FORTY THOUSAND PEOPLE LEFT. Someone snuck a NUCLEAR WEAPON onto Cloud Nine a year or so ago, remember? (Gee, THAT guy ought to go on trial.) "But what will our society turn into?" You know what? Worry about that when there are eighty thousand people left. (And why isn't anyone having babies?) This is frontier life. Go listen to Representative Adama's speech again from last season. I'd like to see how ANYONE is accepting that Roslin is President again. The only way that can be pulled off is if she is liked and trusted. (And she's a PRESIDENT, so how can THAT be?) Otherwise she just kind of waltzed in and got appointed. Again. And was Lee just appointed to 1/12th of the legislature? Because the man who argued Gaius Baltar free sure wasn't just elected. So I would think that the power structures in a rag-tag fleet such as this would be more... Fluid. So Laura resorting to legal subterfuge would be pointless and impossible to enforce.

Going off on THAT tangent: I'd like to see what the rest of the ragtag looks like. So far there have been no riots (unless they run out of food or martial law is declared, even then it seems pretty calm). People seem to be getting along pretty well for having been crammed into tiny spaceships for several years with only a short break outside for disease, starvation, and cylon occupation. So, all things considered, these people seem to be GOOD. It's not a fleet of Kara Thrace's. (Oh, sorry.) It seems pretty clear that the Galactica doesn't have marines scattered around the fleet keeping order by force. Of course, we never SEE these people. We only see the selfish and the stupid. I'd like to see more about how these people have adapted. What THEY think of their leaders. Maybe Laura's got a second honeymoon for having brought them through Caprica. Even more so for Admiral Adama. But how seriously do they take their "elected" government? 40,000 people. Some of us have worked for COMPANIES bigger than this. I can't imagine that the same government set up to manage twelve PLANETS would be as effective on this scale. Certainly not more effective. I just think that this "fourteen layers deep" legal intrigue with Laura's directive seems like overkill. Everyone in the fleet is at most only 39,999 people from the president (approximately).

Gotta say, I loved Wild Bill reading Airlock one of her trashy Raymond Chandler (IN SPACE) novels. Very sweet. Then we had the big chewing out scene about WB sending Starbuck off. I'd love to see this divide grow. She Who Is My Wife would hate that. She's the biggest Laura / Adama 'shipper out there. (Don't even get her started on Lee and Kara.) But I want to either see them have to argue to a consensus about something, or go back to something more like first season where they had to dance around each other a bit, because neither could run the fleet without the other. And I'd TOTALLY love to see the Laura was right all along. Right now she says "JUMP!" and Bill growls "whatever" and then he does it. But it's not boring and not out of character, so cool deal.

Speaking of our wayward babes, out on the less-than-rag-tag expedition ship Demetrius, Starbuck is going crazier. I don't like her. Let's just be clear on this. I have no reason to like her anymore. (But I still love iTigh. Funny, eh?) I think her crew is awesome though. What a crowd. Good grief! Can Felix get anymore bitter? Obama would be saying "Dude, lighten UP! It's not SO bad!" Who's the "unknown guy"? Should I recognize him? And if not, shouldn't he be wearing a red shirt? Or are they just going to kill Seelix to keep us guessing? HEY! Where's Hera?!? (And where's ADxA?)

And the Cylons are at war. WOW. So, did they kill off ALL of the Sixes and Eight's except for the ones on the Big G? THAT would be wild. So how long until they unbox the Three's?

A Baltar Free ep. Interesting.

I have NO idea where this is going. In a better world, RDM would. But it's great so far.

Boom boom boom.

BSG - Six of One

SO SAY WE ALL! (This post has NOT been spellchcked)

BTW, um, SPOILERS. If you haven't seen the eps, this is not the place to be looking. Go get the DVDs and then watch the last three eps on Sci-Fi.com. We'll wait.

Ok, 18 more episodes like that and I'll call BSG the greatest TV show ever. If they can keep it up I'd say that RDM and Co. have gotten a much needed breather and may have even looked back at last season and seen where they went wrong.

I mean, wow. WOW! First we have Starbuck telling Laura EVERYTHING that we (I) said when Kara showed up babbling and Laura was ignoring her. "Why am I crazy and you're not?" Then my wonderful hero, the harder than nails Laura Airlock Roslin (more later of course) says "I don't care" and still tries to shoot SB in the head. THIS is the show that I love. It's about what people DO. It's about what people CHOOSE. And it is rarely about what feels good. (They seem to be making people vaguely accountable for what has happened before. I hope this trend continues.)

I'll interrupt my gushing to note the last error that needs to be corrected. Put Airlock and NFL in scenes together again. With NFL's newfound political career (Zarek? Ha! That answers my question from last episode) this seems more likely. I want to see them toe to toe again.

Aiiieee! I just had a horrible thought, that is most likely not true. Is Lee being shuffled off the show? That send off was awful big! I'll need to go watch next week's trailer again. I'm all cold just thinking about it. I'm assuming that they're just re-writing the show on the fly (and doing a good job of it) and moving Lee into another role. But if not... Brrrrrrr.

ANYWAY, back to the gushing. After the greatest Kara / Airlock scene ever we have the greatest Wild Bill / Airlock scene ever. (I think there was a terrific Kara / Wild Bill scene in there too.) WB and Airlock get to have it out. The biggest thing that I like about this episode is that it really feels like the writer's are finally remembering stuff. (Got to go look and see who wrote this.) Laura as the dying leader. Going back to the myths that used to wander around the fleet daring people to believe in them. WB getting to admit how lost he is and how much he hates this myth stuff even when it turns out to be true.

Baltar: Is he really believing what he says these days? Is that possible? There was a podcast last year where they asked all the cast who they wanted to play other than themselves. They all said Baltar. James Callis said he wanted to play Six... So he could have scenes with Gaius Baltar. Seems RDM took this to heart. Wacky stuff. (Is it just me, or has James become a lot funnier looking since the miniseries?)

Cylons! Last season's Cylon stories were pretty boring. These are possibly more cool than the Galactica stuff!

And since BSG in 8 minutes was so cool, they've done THIS (I'm not sure how this widget thing works, find the recap):

Next up, The Ties that Bind. And then I'm caught up! (Except for Razor.)

Boom boom boom.

Wow. Bill's blogging again. Must be new TV on.

The short of it: Good solid season opener. Looks like they're laying some groundwork. Looks like Zach is a Cylon. (EyeTigh: DAMN!) (That's from the brilliant BSG in 8 minutes - posted earlier. I need it to be my error sound on my computer.)

Here's a quick rundown on the popular Tallguy character abbreviations (that I find funny at least):

• RDM: Ronald D. Moore - producer
• Wild Bill: Admiral William Adama.
• iTigh (formerly EyeTigh): Col Saul "Toaster's a Poppin'" Tigh - 'cause he's got one 'i'.
• NFL (Non-Fat Lee): Lee Adama
• Brett: This is a new one. I've decided that Sam "Toaster's a Poppin'" Anders is Brett Favre. Heh. If he gets a Cylon number he can be #4. Bwahahahahaha. Yeah, I'm running with that one.

They DON'T have a frakking plan anymore, eh? Nice that RDM finally admitted it.

Starbuck is back. And showing an alarming obliviousness, she thinks she's only been gone hours even though her hair is WAY longer. Wild Bill thinks he's got it all under control, even though this is Kara "Hey, remember the time we used half our fuel looking for you?" Thrace. I think Laura remembers. Regarding her potential toasterness Our Heroes seem to be doing enough to look good but not enough to be effective. (RDM has been hanging with TSA! ) If it were me? No way I'd trust her. But the fleet hasn't been that kind of paranoid since Kobol.

Wild Bill: He's a little lost here. Wants to be the rational man, big on security. But it's Kara. He's always in trouble there. He's going to be really bummed when Zach comes back and he's a toaster.

Laura: I'd be far more in favor of her hard as nails (where did they get all the nail polish three years after the holocaust?) attitude towards the craziness of Kara if this weren't the woman who sent same said crazy pilot in a stolen Cylon ship back to Caprica to get a museum piece. And set off a political coup in the process. Yeah, that Laura. So Kara can feel the way to Earth. You're hanging with 2 1/2 toasters in an imaginary opera house. Deal.

Hey, now that I look back on it, was that the most brilliant resolution to a seemingly unrelated plot ever? (Helo and Sharon on Cap getting picked up by Starbuck who is looking for the arrow of Apollo) Or at least close? Ahhh, that was writing. Now they would say "You know, we're just tired of it, it's not going anywhere. So they dream that they're at Woodstock and wake up on Galactica and everyone is like, Whoaaa." Love you, RDM. Mean it.

Baltar is interesting again! Still not smart (remember when he used to be smart? Like, "greatest mind of our time" smart? Like, invented a Cylon detector that he then threw away?) but at least interesting. He knows what he's accountable for. An interesting thing is that I don't think they will ever be mad at Baltar for the things he's actually done: not explaining how the colonies were attacked (he had one line about it last season: Treason implies intent), letting Boomer get past his effective Cylon screen, shooting Crashdown, and, oh yeah, GIVING A CYLON A NUKE. That last one is really problematic. I've seen the publicity shots of Baltar, so I kind of know where this story will lead. Again: interesting. At least they're giving James Callis something to chew on this year. (Other than Tricia Helfer and Lucy Lawless.)

I've dimmed a bit on iTigh's whole "That's the man I want to be!" speech. If he was all that worried about shooting the old man in the head, he'd tell people! Especially since four "people" on the fleet know that one of their viper jocks got freeze-framed by a raider. (It takes two months to train in raptors AND vipers, eh? Shiny.) The four of them are no better than Gaius fffRRRAAAAAAAkking Baltar (said with an iTigh growl).

iTigh has never been known for self-inspection. We don't know enough about Tori. #4 can be kind of squirmy. I guess the Chief has been through enough "YOU'RE A TOASTER! *WHACK*" sessions. And Cally would kick his butt more than a little. But no-one said being chrome was easy. Give it up, guys. There's less than 40,000 people left! Hey, Chief. Remember when you were keeping secrets about Boomer? How'd that work out?

So Starbuck is setting up the whole "toasters are people too" plot. She makes #4 uncomfortable with her talk of killing genocidal robots. So he can't say who he is. Awwwwww. A witch hunt isn't bad if they're actually witches! (Of the "I'll get you my pretty!" variety, not the Rosenberg type.) (Wait, that was a reference to Willow Rosenberg, friendly witch on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, executed for being traitors to the USA. I can see the confusion.)

NFL has a new job? Wait, who in "the government" is going to offer Lee "I sold Laura Roslyn down the river" Adama a job? Again: Remember when Lee and Laura talked to each other? One of the balls that got seriously dropped and I so miss from season 1.5. The big MOMENT in the court room would have been devastating if they had actually maintained that relationship.

Speaking of heart to hearts: Every time they lock up a toaster the toaster gets a new best friend. This time it's Laura and Six.

Six is SO much more interesting than the Six in GB's head. Although it seems GB's Six is becoming more like the real one and less May West on Acid. Maybe GB has grown. Naaahh. Again - Tricia Helfer: What a find. They hired a model and got an actress. Good on you, RDM.

I didn't want Helo thrown out the nearest airlock this week, like the traitorous hippie he is. That's always good.

Athena talking to #4 and the chief was nice. The Unknown Four (the UF?) don't know that even the Cylons don't know who they are, I guess. It'll be a mighty fine shindig all round when that comes out.

So next week we see the toasters (the ones not flying vipers) again. Hmmm. Ok. "WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAAAAAYYYY!"

My prediction: Baltar will be the only one to make it to Earth. Maybe Baltar and Hera.

Boom boom boom.

BSG Top 10

Saul Tigh, keeping it real.

What the Frak is Going On

I was going to try and cut together my own one of these. This is better and WAY funnier. And I don't have to do it. Nice. "Sorry Boomer."

Tigh in '08

Ok, seems I'm not the first to think of this. Good, I don't have to put it together then.

TEEENY BSG News

Remember the note (in the mini-series) that told Adama (Wild Bill) that there are twelve cylon models? (Wow, I remember when that was interesting...) Well, Ron Moore recently said they won't have time on the show to tell us who did it. It was Baltar. Thanks, Ron. Heh. They still have a plan, right? RIGHT?

Coming Soon(ish) - BSG!

Well, here's a nice little article about the new Battlestar special that they'll be running November 24th.

‘Razor’ tells the story of Lee Adama’s first mission as commander of the Battlestar Pegasus and will reveal the story of how Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes) served her ship during the original Cylon attack on the colonies.

Interesting. There's a trailer up at Sci-Fi Channel, but they make it really tough to link to. Don't want to spread the word or anything. Nice to see Cain back. Heh. (Goes screaming into the distance.)

No fresh word on the DVD for season 3. Word HAD been August some time. But it's been oddly quiet. I've heard more on the soundtrack (which my brother will be delighted to know will have "All Along the Watchtower" - hee). But no date for that either. What's with these people?

How about that iCorder, eh?

BSG - Crossroads pt. 2

Well. I mean... Um...

Yes, there was much cheering at the Tallguy household. You knew that. My Kid Brother IMed me at some unlivable hour to indicate he was was not happy about Jimi Hendrix... IN SPACE.

I thought the trial was perfect. I think Wild Bill said it back in s2 - "Nobody gets a free pass" (or words to that affect - I'm not looking it up). And by the looks of it, GB isn't going to. "Your new life," the creepy people said, leading him off to... GB has to be thinking "What, another one?"

Lee. Ahhhhh, Lee. I hope you continue to get to have good shows now that -- ah, but more on that later. He was wonderful. He made me cheer. He argued (passionately) for the wrong man for all of the right reasons. And he convinced the Old Man. "Forgiven." Wow. (SWIMW doesn't care, because-- ah, but more on that later.)

Felix! Felix you sneaky, lying, conniving. MAN was he enjoying that. He didn't care if it worked or not. This was catharsis for him. This was demon purging, pure and simple. No, not even that. Felix looks like he thinks he's damned anyway, so he can say or do anything to put GB to rights. Wow.

AD-not-A is being used rather sparingly, don't you think? After walking out on Lee last week? How will she react to-- ah, but more on that later.

The Cylons. First of all, four not five. I won't leap to conclusions as to the fifth. They have to hold that card. Second, seems a little too pat. I'm not quite buying that it means what we're supposed to think it means. And if it does, does that mean that baby Tyrol is as special as Hera?

BUT. EyeTigh got to make that SPEECH. Oh my gosh. Between that and Lee, that sums up the show at its best. And then everyone mans their posts. Even Lee.

We're on the road to Earth. So say we all.

Starring Katee Sackoff as Starbuck. Well, you have to admit they gave us fanboys a good run, don't you? As soon as the unknown DRADIS blip winked out, I knew it was either Lee being taken to Kara, or it was Kara. I know it's only been two weeks, but oh we missed her. With the blown out over-white looking viper, I'm still thinking the white ships from the 1978 BSG.

Minor nit - So, we're launching everything we have, and someone takes a viper MK II and leaves MISTER Adama a MK VII? Ah well, it was good to see him marching off to the fight.

Other minor nit - in all the CiC LAURA is the first to notice DRADIS contacts? Guess Felix and Duala have had a rough week.

MAJOR nit - Two Thousand Fraking EIGHT! No scotch for you, RDM! Get back to work!

Bring it on. Ah, I still love this show.

BSG - Crossroads Pt. 1

Ok, so I’m way late. I know this. By the time I post this, many of you will know how the whole thing turns out (until next season). Can’t be helped.

There has been some contention in the Tallguy household. I’m on Lee’s side (mostly) and she’s in the Duala camp. My opinion is this: If you’re going to have the trial, have the trial. And all it entails. There is a very strong case (Mr. Zerrick) not to have the trial. I understand that. But don’t kinda have the trial. You also have to go with the conceit that it makes ANY sense for Lee to be there. Part of that argument goes to “there aren’t any lawyers left” that was kind of glanced at at the beginning of the ep. So I might not agree with what Lee is doing, but I get why he’s doing it, and I even think it needs to be done.

What does The Law look like in this “make it up as you go” society? Did existing Colonial law make any provisions for the commander of a battlestar to wield so much power, co-equal to the President? My youngest brother and I were discussing why Now isn’t as good as Then (1st season) and one of the conclusions is that we are too familiar with the Big Powers now. The story is no longer about The President, it’s about Laura. The politics that were so omnipresent first season are almost non-existent. Ah well.

“It’s in the fracking SHIP!” Ah, when all else falters, there is EyeTigh. Being his EyeTigh-eyist. He’s just awesome. Bill and Saul is the great unbreakable love on this show. And I don’t mean that in any way nasty. They have the strongest, truest bond of anyone else. I’m probably referencing the original series too much, but I’m thinking the phantom signals are from Earth. Or at least leading them to Earth.

Laura’s got the cancer back. (What do the Cancer-planet people think of this name? Are they offended? That’s one of the Twelve, yes?) Sign #1,246 that we are in the home stretch next season. Earth, here we come! I loved the kamala exchange between her and Lee. If they had actually continued to show that she and Lee even KNEW each other after Kobol, I might have taken her side. I think she only adores “Captain Apollo” when it’s convenient.

Gaius Baltar: Still so so so lost. RDM made the comparison between GB and Manson, in that they are monsters with a following. I don’t buy that. You can be distanced from Manson. Nobody that was on New Caprica can be distanced from GB. I’m not accepting that he could even be liked, let alone loved.

Lamprey continues to be likeably dislikeable. Being Mark Sheppard doesn’t hurt. One wonders what Laura WOULD have done at New Caprica. We’ve seen her blink in the face of impossible odds before. I don’t think she would have risen up against the Cylons, but I don’t think she would have allowed the insurgency to start either. I wonder if any of the witnesses (Felix? Where are you?) will mark that GB signed the death warrants with a gun to his skull? It’s interesting that he’s being tried (I think) for all the wrong crimes. I think his worst crime was after the election and before the occupation. Again, just me.

Sam is out making the rounds. It’s what Kara would have wanted. Kara was crazy, Sam. In case you missed it, the implication was that he and Tori were involved.

First we don’t like Tori because she’s not Billy (remember Billy? Duala got him killed) and now we don’t like her because she’s going after (one of) Kara’s man (men). And she’s Hearing The Music.

Wild Bill. Sorry, I’m with Lee on this one. Have the trial or don’t. But you still don’t get to call it off because you don’t like how it’s going. Has Lee ever lied to him? (Have to think. I’m sure there will be some glaring instance of it that will be promptly emailed to me.) Kara did. That got to slide. They’ve had more than their share of disagreements, but come on! If Lee says he didn’t know about Ellen (and how on Earth would he?) then he doesn’t. So Bill gets to be a cranky old cuss (and not in a good way) and Lee takes the whole fall for it. Nice.

Next week! Well, last night! For me, right after I post this! THE END OF THE SEASON. As much as I tire of the end of season cliff-hangers, I have to admit, nobody does it better than BSG. So say we all.

BSG - It's the LAW!

The Son Also Rises

Now this is BSG firing on all cylinders. And they FINALLY wrote a really good Lee episode! It's been since, what, Captain's Hand?

After the GREAT scene with the Adama's, SWIMW grumbled "They killed Starbuck just so they could have that scene, didn't they?" I said no, but it was a great bonus. I was really worried that they were going to have to skip past all of this kind of thing. Or Bill looking at Kara's file. (I laughed when the first thing that jumped out at you was "DISCIPLINARY ACTION".) Or any of the bits with Anders. I really thought we would never see Sam again.

AND they introduced a great new character AND did a great story. BSG used to do this pretty effortlessly and consistently. Heck, we used to have to cut away to Helo and Sharon every week.

Lee - oh, THIS is the Lee that I missed. "Serial Contritian" (or however that's spelled). That's our Captain Apollo. Who's heart didn't break when he called Racetrack "Starbuck"? (I know, it was supposed to, but just because it's manipulative doesn't mean it isn't good.) And it's nice to find out that his relationship with Grandpa was just as confused as the one with dad. I would have liked to see what's going on at home with ADA in the Starbuck aftermath. But they kept a lot of balls in the air this week, so I've got to forgive a couple.

WildBill - Wow, I've missed the Father / Son dynamic that was a cornerstone of the show. I've missed seeing just how crazy Bill is about his boy. One of the high points of the series was when they had just about wiped out the fleet looking for Starbuck and Apollo asks WildBill "What if it was me?" And WB looks at him and says "How can you ask me that?" It's also great seeing (still) how WB totally unable to let Lee know how crazy about him he is. And how much Kara's death is killing him. Run with it, Eddie!

Badger! Ooooh he was good! He was a rock star! I can't wait for the next two eps if they have him in it. I hope they think twice before killing him off for good. (Three times, I guess. He was supposed to die THIS week.) I loved seeing how he played everyone around him, probably not even knowing he was doing it. I take that back. He ALWAYS knows he's doing it. He's like Gaius Baltar, only only without the innocence. The scene where we see Baltar furiously searching for SOMETHING, then see Badger totally USE Baltar's pen against Six, ooooh. That was masterful. The sun glasses were a major affectation, but gosh they worked. At first I thought the Joseph Adama connection was a tad reachy, but it worked out very quickly. Poor Jamie Bamber, sitting in the room with James Callis and Mark Shepard, wondering "How come *I* have to have the fake accent?"

Gaius is getting interesting again. He's moving into his new kind of crazy. He really truly feels he is the wronged party and is willing to play that to the hilt. He's kind of bewildered at why he is where he is. Which is hilarious.

Six - well. Is that the luckiest piece of casting ever? They cast a model and they got an actress. She really is one of the great suprises of the show. I've said it before. I'll say it again.

Not enough EyeTigh. Looks like that gets fixed next week.