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Ongoing Battlestar Galactica thread of doom.

"Final Cut." It partly fills time and saves money, but it also introduces Xena and moves the story forward. Kind of a sad episode, knowing how things end. Saw "Gran Torino" in the theater. Enjoyed it. But then my roommate had it on Netflix and there's so much more when you know the ending. Cat. Felix. Dee. More that I can't think of. All gone eventually. And the most gratuitous use of the 1978 theme that I've noticed at the end of the "documentary." Oh, the feels.
 
Oh, and a quick note: After Caine's death, Adama should move his flag to the Pegasus. It's a newer and better ship. It isn't like Adama only knows older ships; he got transferred there as a kind of sunset/punishment command. For that matter, when they go after Hera, they should leave the Galactica and take the basestar. Better element of surprise; ship's in better shape. The only reason they don't do that is because the show is literally called "Battlestar Galactica."
 
OK. Had something. And something else. Forgot the something else. But then I remembered it. Or did I? Maybe I had THREE things I wanted to say, forgot 2 of them, remembered 1 and forgot ...OK, never mind. I'm getting confused.

My point is, one thing we haven't mentioned is how important the "...Previously on Battlestar Galactica..." openings are. They do a wonderful job of pulling back into our memories the important bits of past episodes that we need to interpret what the current episode is about. And possibly the opening montage hints at what will happen in an important way too, although that is so fast and almost subliminal that I can't form an opinion on that. But the ...Previously...bits do a bang-up job of setting the stage for the next episode.

The other thing is, after Caine is killed and Adama is promoted, the logical thing is for him to take command of the Pegasus. For that matter, the logical thing is not to put his son in charge of the more powerful ship. He should take Pegasus and put Tigh in command of Galactica. Adama and Tigh work well together, they can work even better together if Tigh has his own battlestar. He says he doesn't want it, but he doesn't want to be "top dog." If Adama is on Pegasus and Tigh has Galactica, Adama can continue to grow and develop Tigh--who isn't as bad a commander as he (and his wife) thinks he is. For that matter, when they attack the Colony, why go in the dying Galactica? Why not jump into Cylon space in a Cylon basestar. It's gotta buy you some time before you start getting fired on. Maybe Anders can shut down the Colony hybrid before any shots are fired. Why sacrifice Pegasus at New Caprica? Why not abandon Galactica (which has just sustained major damage with its atmospheric jump and all the attack) and move the flag to Pegasus?

But of course the name of the show is "Battlestar *Galactica.*"
 
OK. Remembered the other one. "Sacrifice." When the terrorist realizes she's been duped by Adama with the Boomer corpse for revenge she...wants to kill Apollo's date, Dee? Why? Why not kill Apollo? Or Ellen Tigh? Why pick someone that, for all she knows, Admiral Adama doesn't even know? The only reason is because that gives Billy a reason to do something that will get him shot.
 
On a completely unrelated note, something made me think of Dualla as "Sweet Dee" and now I want an "It's Always Sunny on Battlestar Galactica" series: "The Gang set off a Nuke on Cloud 9."
 
I may be reading too much into this and it was just a way to keep within a cable TV budget and have antagonists that are able to display emotions and be relatable, but as I was looking at my aging face in the mirror this morning, deciding what to do about a zit or something, I found myself thinking "the things I do to keep this meat-machine going," and wondering if that was a message of this show--that all bodies are machines, when it gets down to it. They're just a way for your brain to move around, have input and output, and interact with its surroundings. And taking a step farther, the brain is really just a machine to hold memories, experiences, and knowledge. And what's *in* the brain, when it is all said and done could be considered your soul.

I mean, none of that is new to me; it's a philosophy I've been entertaining for some time. I won't go into more detail here, but the point is that I'm not aware of anyone* else professing it before this.

*OK. C.S. Lewis. He said something along the lines of "You *have* a body, you *are* a soul."
 
On a lighter (or at least less deep) note, from the scene where the Galactica Brother Caville gets arrested because of the arrival of the Caprica Brother Caville, imagine how much it would suck to be identical twins. "WE'RE IDENTICAL TWINS! I SWEAR IT! DON'T PUT US OUT THE AIRLOCK!"
 
Yeah, this is going to be my last run through for awhile. For all the good bits, it's getting to be a slog. Athena just rescued Hera. So I'm looking for where we find Earth and then the runup to the finale and realizing Starbuck's still gotta die, come back, and spend an interminable amount of time mucking around on a garbage scow, painting murals and pining for her Cylon boyfriend. Anyway, speaking of Athena rescuing Hera, there needs to be a BSG drinking game. Drink every time there's a triumphant return and then everyone freaks out because they've brought along a Cylon. Drink every time Adama makes a decision and then after much soul-searching and dramatic music, he changes his mind. I'm sure there are others.

On a different topic, when the show was in production Moore made a point of how Voyager stayed pristine throughout the series. And he made a valiant effort to avoid that with BSG, although at some point it went out the window. The number of times someone gets shot or gets covered in dirt, blood, paint, slime, vomit, etc. How many uniforms are there on the ship? For that matter, where'd they get uniforms for Kat, Hotdog, and the rest of the new pilots? Where'd Chief Tyrol get uniforms as he packed on the pounds throughout the series? Early on, Tigh was rationing his whisky. Later everyone is drinking all the time. Not only were they able to scrounge materials to build a cell for Boomer, but they were able to repair it after Athena smashed it up. Still, it was probably easier on the continuity people. Can you imagine if they'd really stuck to it?
 
Drink every time there's a shootout or other conflict and Starbuck shows up with a gun in each hand, a couple spare guns for those around her, and enough extra mags to keep everyone in ammo for the duration.
 
I was disappointed today by peoples inability to not be dicks to other people, on a.BSG model Facebook page, where people only like the old show, and actually drove off some involved in the making of the new show. I fear the hate and disrespect in America to apposing views is now so mainstream, that people can't even be civil when talking about two versions of the same show.

Where the sheer notion of not being a dick is taken as an attack on their liberty.
 
whisky said:
I was disappointed today by peoples inability to not be dicks to other people, on a.BSG model Facebook page, where people only like the old show, and actually drove off some involved in the making of the new show. I fear the hate and disrespect in America to apposing views is now so mainstream, that people can't even be civil when talking about two versions of the same show.

Where the sheer notion of not being a dick is taken as an attack on their liberty.
Click to expand...

Well, that's Facebook for ya.
 
Ooh. A week or two back, I was watching the episode where Cat dies and thinking it was foreshadowing of Starbuck's death; how she chooses to sacrifice herself for the good of humanity. But as I watched, I realized it was at least as big a part her solution to being revealed and discredited and thinking she's lost Starbuck's respect--she'd rather die than tell Adama she's a fraud. So she goes out a hero.

Just finished "Maelstrom" tonight. So good. Sackhoff's performance, the direction, Angel Leoben, the oracle, Tigh and the rest of the CIC's reaction to Apollo's radio report--but particularly Tigh. Hogan does great with just a stare. Adama flipping out and trashing the model. Just top notch all the way around. And I realized Cat's death was foreshadowing in another way: Starbuck chickens out and won't stay with her when she dies. The best she can do is smuggle her a lethal dose of drugs and leave her to die alone. Adama comes to be with her 'til the end. So it's huge that she opts to go back to be with her Mother in the end.

Coming into the home stretch. Baltar's trial and rebirth as a spiritual figurehead, the Final Four, finding Earth, the dying leader learning the secret of the opera house.
 
It's just awesome, the acting Michael Hogan does with just an expression. He's almost a better actor when he *isn't* saying something than when he has dialog.
 
For various reasons, I missed the end of "How I Met Your Mother." And now LaffTV (where do they get the names for these extra broadcast channels?) is running it.

For six hours, 9-midnight, Saturday & Sunday.

Where to begin? "That '70s Show" is on from, like, 8-9. 2 episodes right around dinnertime. Dinner and a cocktail. Just about perfect. But "...Mother" doesn't come on until *9*. So I've got to kill an hour before that. Tonight I watched "Crossroads, Part 1," which is why I'm rambling on here. And "...Mother" is episodic/has arcs just enough that you can't just watch 2 episodes and catch the others the next time around (which also ties in to BSG)--even if they didn't stick a teaser of the next episode in the last ad bloc--"We finally meet The Mother?! I guess I can spare another half hour." But the final crime is, for some reason, just as they got to the last season, they're just jumping around in the rotation. 3 weeks ago they were moving towards the wedding. 2 weeks ago they were back just after Barney and Robin had broken up. Last week they were back to the wedding season (and rerunning some eps they showed 2 weeks earlier). Now they're on an episode after Robin and *Ted* had just broken up and Marshal and Lily were just engaged. *banghead*

On top of that, for some reason I was frikken *starving* tonight, so I watched me some BSG before "...Mother" came on. Now I'm contemplating more BSG, given they're showing a season I've already seen (speaking of which, I think I've seen fucking "That 70's Show" more times than I've seen "Happy Days." Give it a rest, Laff). I'll probably pass on it because I drink the entire time I watch TV and I'm just going through more whisky than Colonel Tigh on this go-through.

Anyway, I think this is the first time I've gone through the series, beginning to end, in order. Saw the mini on DVD before the series came out. Caught a few Season 3 episodes when they aired (and geez, it's bad enough to try to get into the show then, given how slowly new eps came out--and that I'd missed everything between the "So say we all!" speech and New Caprica. Then the series finale was on in the back bar of the theater in Portland where Katee "Starbuck" Sackhoff was for an event. I got there maybe a half hour before it started and got at the end of a line around the block and found out 5 minutes later that they were at capacity, but technically, I was in the same building as Starbuck when they showed the final episode.

Anyhow, I found out CometTV was showing the series and came in at Season 2's "Black Market." Watched through to the end before catching Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2. Then I caught "Razor" (which isn't in the Comet rotation) and "The Plan." After that I'd just enjoy an episode if it happened to be on, out of order. This is the first time I'm starting with the Armistice Satellite and going through to Head Baltar and Head Six wandering around early 21st Century NYC. And I gotta say, it adds a whole new level to these episodes where the Final Four finally realize their natures. The head music is so much cooler and spookier instead of just confusing. I know who Anders and Tori are this time around. I appreciate Tigh much more. It's all very good.

On a boring nerd note, as someone who builds TV replicas, the Galactica sets are very good. And as I said, Hogan's reaction shots are very very good, but watching the "IT'S IN THE FRAKKING *SHIP*" scene, you can clearly see the seams in the formed concrete-looking shapes of the bulkhead where you can clearly see that it is milled wood, heavily painted. Gives me an entirely different idea for the basement than TARDIS and/or sex dungeon. But I digress.

****

Oh, and on completely unrelated notes, I don't know if I mentioned it earlier in my 'Trek jabs comparison, but Dee is the hot black girl communications officer. But they give her so much more depth than Uhura got (to be fair, TV's come a long ways since the 1960s). And it's like they really make a point of having scenes in bathrooms and/or on actual toilets, given that we never see a bathroom in 'Trek. Finally, the LCD displays on the wall in Adama's quarters are really nice. For that matter so is the DRADIS. They do a worthy successor to the Okudagrams of TNG that are more in common with the 'gate dialing computer in SG-1.
 
Yow. The end of Crossroads, Part 2. From the power outage to the Final Four reveal to the Return of Starbuck, it's just...like sticking a 9 volt on your tongue to see if it's good--only it's really the 110 volt power to the lightswitch. [And instead of it being your tongue, it's your dick.]

It's going to be very hard to take a break for 2 hours to watch "Razor" instead of diving right into the final season.
 
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