Monday, March 26, 2007

Just when it starts getting good again...


Alright. I was tempted, but no semi-naked pics for my Battlestar Galactica post today (sorry Firecracker George). Instead, I found this one of Starbuck and Starbuck enjoying drinks at Starbucks on some random blog from my Google search. I'm actually hoping for a good Dirk Benedict cameo on the show at some point before it ends. What does that guy do for work these days anyway?

Anywho, the season finale of Battlestar Galactica played out just as the spoilers revealed. Even though I cheated and knew what was going to happen, I think last night's episode was awesome. Not having any new episodes for ten months, though, will be painful, especially with the direction they went with the end of this season.

I know Wander mentioned once early on in the beginning of the series that he had his own theory about the overall direction of the storyline. Is this shaping up like you thought?

Don't know if everyone has seen last night's episode yet, so instead of revealing a bunch of spoilers as I share my thoughts, I'll revert to invisotext mode:

  • Anyone else think the revelation that Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, and Tory were sleeper Cylons was a bit of misdirection? Seems a bit farfetched to me that six models (if you include Sharon) would have ended up on the Galactica, considering it was scheduled to be decommissioned when the series started. What would the Cylons have had to gain by placing them there? My bet is there will be a bigger revelation regarding the Final Five next season, and that these four aren't Cylons at all. Perhaps Laura Roselyn is one of them, although how could that be if she's got cancer? And why didn't any of them come up positive with Baltar's Cylon test back in Season One?
  • I feel a bit embarrassed that I've always thought of "All Along the Watchtower" as a Jimi Hendrix song, when in fact, Bob Dylan wrote it and sang it first.
  • I wasn't really getting into the whole trial of Baltar storyline, but I thought they wrapped it up well last night.
  • For some reason, the ending where all the pilots are scrambling to get to their Vipers, and Lee ends up grabbing his gear to jump into the fight with them seemed like something out of Robotech or some other similar anime series, which for me, is a good thing. The more I think about it, Battlestar Galactica is almost like a more grown-up, live action version of Robotech. No wonder I like it so much.
  • Starbuck's still alive? I guess we'll see next season. Maybe she's become embedded in Lee's mind like Six is for Baltar. Now that would be an interesting twist. Another example of good misdirection, though. Ronald D. Moore's podcast went on and on about how the cast was sad and almost in mourning when they filmed the episdoe where they had to "kill off" Starbuck, and even the internet was abuzz with reports of Katee Sackhoff being kind of pissed off that she was supposedly written off the show. Guess this was all planned, knowing that most BSG watchers are total nerds with no lives that spend way too much time on forums and blogs. Hmmm...sounds familiar.
  • The end where they zoom out to Earth gives me the impression that the writers are going to get focused next season, and move this journey along. Perhaps next season will wrap it all up? That would be a great finish. I'm not sure it can quite last for a full five seasons.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I must say that while the end of the last season and the beginning of this one was pretty lackluster, the last few episodes of this season made me remember why I like this show. Back to the mythology and the chase by the cylons.

**SPOILER**
As far as it being convenient that all of the models would be on a ship about to be decomissioned ... they did destroy all the colonies with complete surprise. What makes you think they could not orchestrate that.

Is Starbuck the fifth of the final five? What is your theory on an earthly song being used to bring out the final cylon models? Have the cylon's already found earth, or have they just intercepted our radio waves.

Great episode, but really ... why do we have to wait so long. Also, I am in agreement that I can't see this going past this next season. If they try to stretch it out past one then I might once again forget why I liked the show.

Swany said...

I don't think the Final Five were planted by the Cylons, like Boomer, set to be awakened at a specific moment in time to complete a mission. Perhaps it was the proximity to Earth that started up the music in their heads. I'm guessing they're all hybrids somehow descended from an ancient line of Cylons that no really knew existed.

Starbuck isn't one of the Final Five--that would just seem too easy. I was speculating Laura Roselyn was, and that her realization of knowing she's a Cylon (thus "killing" her humanity) is what the scriptures meant about a leader who would guide them to Earth, but would not complete the journey. However, the fact that she was in that dream sequence over the last two episodes chasing Hera around is starting to make me think she's not one of the Five either. Six clearly saw Laura in the dream, but later also saw the hooded Final Five.

The Adamas clearly can't be one of the Five, unless Lee is a hybrid, which I guess is possible.

I'm not putting too much stock in the use of the Bob Dylan song as some direct link to Earth. I think it just had some appropriate lyrics that fit with the show. I guess you could speculate they were radio transmissions from Earth that traversed the universe, but why wouldn't Galactica or the rest of the fleet have picked them up, too?

Maybe the Final Five are actually descendents of Earth. Earth developed to the point of creating Cylon-like beings, going to war with their creations, and then destroying Earth in the process. Some survivors fled, eventually arriving where the 12 colonies were to start the whole cycle over, creating technology that would eventually destroy their own worlds, and forcing them to flee. The end of the show will be the fleet arriving to an Earth that over time has recovered from nuclear fallout over thousands of years. The song that the four hear in their heads is somehow imprinted in their minds, so they hear it as they near the home of their ancestors. I'm just brainstorming.

Anywho, there's a lot of questions that must link up somehow. What was this connection between Starbuck and Leoben, and how did she become destined for greatness? Why is Hera so important? What's up with Baltar's inner Six, and Six's inner Baltar? What is the connection between the polytheism of the humans and the monotheistic beliefs of the Cylons? "This has all happened before, and it will happen again"--what does that mean? Who is the fifth member of the Final Five, and how does all of this relate to each other?

I'm hoping this truly does get wrapped up next season. I still feel a bit of let down with shows like Twin Peaks and The X-Files that layed out a bunch of similar questions, but never really tied it all up in the end.