(way too much on) Battlestar Galactica...

2.20: "Lay Down Your Burdens (2 of 2)"

*** SPOILERS *** BSG SEASON 2 FINALE ***

Cylon Mother Frakkers...

Well! So THAT's how it's gonna be, is it?

Frack.

Frustrating goodness.

What follows is a late late night mess of half-baked meanders and wishful thinking sparked by 90 minutes of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA finale action. I'm still processing, and in the afterglow right now find some great potential in the twists of the story as well as some annoying and disappointing meanness in some turns...

Launch all Vipers!~

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cylon Revolution, anyone...?

No details of the Cylon revolution... Probably just as well, as I'm enjoying imagining a stadium wave-like phenom sweeping the Cylon population of Caprica as the war heros touch heads with their closest Cylon brothers and sisters, Conehead-style, and each of them do the same to their sibs, and so on, and so on, and so on, until it all trickles down via bluetooth to their tin soldiers and flying doggies - the war and occupation was Wrong, go back to doing whatever it is you were doing before.

I wonder what that was, anyhow? First looking to the left, then looking to the right, then back to looking to the left again...?


Anders never mentions his Gildenstern experience in the collapsed underground garage cradle of the revolution, y'know, in the rubble beneath the Cylon (haha) Starbucks? =)

Not that he would necessarily know just what it is he was witnessing, but for frak's sake, at least MENTION it to your Viper jockey girlfriend, why doncha?

I mean, he knew the fembots behavior to be unique and significant enough that he took the time out to ask the Cylon war heros: Who are you? What kind of people are you?

And I think it was Caprica Six who replied: I don't know...

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

One year later...

Hilarious and entertaining that they do it while focused on Baltar, and landing a year in the future, introducing his little harem-cabinet. The jump is a wonderful device, in my nerd mind mirroring the upcoming (or is it already on? I haven't gotten my fixx in a few weeks : P) "one year later" that the DCU is launching in its monthly superhero titles. I think they're also gonna be spitting out an issue a week for a year of a new title, called 52, that will tell the story of that "skipped" year even as the regular books jump ahead and continue month-to-month. Yet another brilliant scheme to take all my money in 2.99-4.99 doses... The bastards.


My passive radar is always up for little hooks from the original series transmogrified and dropped into the current one (as much as fans might frown on the idea, I do think the writers and creators must keep the original near to their hearts). When the prospect of Sharon Jr. became imminent in this season's storylines, I thought about how the baby could be made a significant PARTICIPANT in what was going on in the human and Cylon societies. I really didn't want the child to simply become a football or McGuffin (at least not for more than a couple episodes), but I also didn't want for some unpredictable accelerated growth phenomenon to zippily age and mature the baby into a character who could be tooling around in a Viper w Apollo or losing cubits to Starbuck in hexagonal poker or whatever it is they play.

The only "solution" I could come up with would be what they SORTA did in the half-baked "revival" of the original series which allowed them to introduce Dr. Z. Between seasons - or was there a hiatus? - the show went from BSG to GALACTICA 1980. The show jumped ahead about 20 years in its timeline, when the ragtag fugitive fleet finally finds Earth's solar system. At this point, Apollo and Starbuck are out of the picture. The show did still lean heavily on a Dylan-Brandon combo for its leads. Boxey, Apollo's adopted son, is now a viper pilot, teamed up w some other pretty-boy blond Starbuck-type wingman, and they drop in on earth trying to ready primitive 20th century humanity for the culture shock of meeting their long lost brothers, and the Cylons who have been trailing them. It basically took on the INCREDIBLE HULK/KNIGHT RIDER storytelling archetype, only not nearly as sophisticated or mature (ha!). They'd fly down to Earth (the U.S.A., of course, at least, I don't recall them dropping in on any other countries?) on their flying turbocycles - that's right! *FLYING* MOTORCYCLES! - to make first contact w sympathetic elements in the military or UFO nuts or academics, stumble onto some misfortune of the Earth locals, use their wits and advanced technology to help them out, make a few friends, leave almost no traces, and fly back to Galactica for a laugh with Commander Tighe and Dr. Z on the bridge.


Dr. Z. I'm not up to explaining the back-story of Dr. Z just now, but will say that it's the only memorable episode of the 1980 series. The short of it - he's the love child of Starbuck and an angel. As such, he's gifted w empathic and/or telepathic powers and superior intelligence. I don't know what abilities he got from his angel heritage. Heh.

Yeah, so, I figure, to make Sharon Jr. some kind of real player in things, the story would have to jump maybe a dozen years, at least until just before puberty, when her mutant powers would manifest themselves.

Felgercarb. I was a decade or so off on that one. O well.

Apollo looked somehow chunkier a year older. Not bad. I like Starbuck better w short hair. At the wedding of Starbuck and Abercrombie, do you suppose Apollo spoke now, when everyone else would rather he held his peace? Sad, that. Let it go, man...

And she was all into Apollo's brother to begin with!

Moustachioed Adama. Not bad.

Gaeta looks to be a bit of a tool, being Gaius's whipping boy and all.

The Chief as union leader... His fist pumping and rallying his fellow workers, with his expecting Cally by his side... that felt like a memorable scene from some famous gangster/political film, didn't it?

I dunno about his inspirational speech about throwing your bodies into the works of the machine. Crayzay extention of metaphor there, no? Wonder if Zarick comes round threatening to break his legs, hrm?

A little creepy, putting the Chief and Cally together only AFTER he gives her a sound out-of-his-mind beating... HONEYMOONERS-esque... only, no laughtrack w your domestic violence...

Right. I'm totally reaching now, just for entertainment value...

Ummm... there's entertainment value, isn't there?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dean Stockwell, Cylon padre...

Was great seeing him show up on BSG. Was it just QUANTUM LEAP's Al that built up his sci-fi entertainment cred? He's definitely got Hey-It's-That-Guy! status, but I see him on screen in BSG and he feels like a sci-fi heavy to me, an anchorman, y'know? Like seeing Nimoy, Shatner, Boxleitner, or Bakula, y'knkow? Michelle Forbes demonstrated that sort of presence as Kane. And Richard Hatch brings it pretty hard w his Zarick. I was very pleased to see him Cylon up, and *loved* how he nonchalantly handles every bit of his outing as a Cylon.

When Galactica preacher is led down to the brig to meet his Caprican brother, did I hear an ARRESTED DEV Buster Bluth greeting? - Hey, brother! =)

Where did the preacher twins go? Was Roslyn's suggestion to blow them out an airlock to meet their Cylon god taken as an actual order?

That the Caprica preacher was all up on the revolution, but BSG preacher wasn't, shows that skinbag Cylons who are out of contact w other Cylons have only their own will-slash-programming to guide them. There could be Cylons out of the loop, or separated from the mainstream of their society... living among the humans, or Cylon Family Robinsoning it somewhere remote... up to who-knows-what...plotting terrorist attacks... homemaking... babymaking... programming video games... blogging...

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rambling questions and thoughts...

One year later, are there any skinbags living among the New Caprican settlers?

Is Baltar taking those pills to keep Number Six out of his head? Was he able to do that before? Maybe he's having nightmares...?

Where's Helo's Sharon? Are we to believe she's a hater? Helo's on the bridge of the Galactica. Does he keep her on a PDA in his pocket? Would she want to rejoin the Cylons? Couldn't the other skinbags living in the fleet have saved her baby?

Why'd the Pegasus Six get all seducy with Baltar just that once? Did she hope to convince him to not settle humanity on New Caprica? She wasn't Baltar's Number Six, after all. She didn't have feelings for him except perhaps for gratitude (or resentment?) for her recovery and escape. Was she *giving* him something? Biological? Viral? Cylon? She seemed to be ready to off herself regardless of Baltar's first executive order.

I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see her DO something with the Cylon sympathizers. Turn the movement into something more religious or cultish, y'know? Actually make some human converts with Cylon teachings. And then, at some point, have to confront the Cylon heros and their conclusions about the war, religion, and humanity...

Was Pegasus Six's original Cylon programming at work when she offed herself? Knowing that humanity wouldn't leave the protection of New Caprica's sensor-scrambling cloud, and not knowing anything about the revolution among her people, she blew the nuke to signal the Cylons...?

Did anyone else get a whiff of "Mirror, Mirror" ambience in the characters and scenarios and mood of the finale tonight?

I'll spare you any detailed tangent recollections of the shows, but what's going on with BSG reminds me more and more of bits of the GUNDAM and ROBOTECH Japanese animated series.


Why'd the Cylons come looking for humanity after deciding they should just on about their being-the-best-machines-they-can-be...?

I gotta cogitate some more on that... Too much, y'know? Selfish Cylon heros wanted to be reunited w the humans they miss and love... Maybe they see a danger threatening the humans and arrive to protect/guide them for their own good... Perhaps they still haven't figured out successful procreation... Maybe, with the help of a form of fusion, they've discovered how to turn human beings into efficient power cells?

Yeah, gonna hafta let that brew a while...

Humans mounting a resistance in a society controlled by an alien species with a dark agenda... Hrmmm... Is this gonna turn into V? =)

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Longshot...

Anyone else catch a funny, knowing, almost smirk of a look on Felix Gaeta when he turned to live Tighe alone w the Zephyr ballots? Sure, from the get-go he was something of a nerd fanboy of Baltar, but would he really be happy about being able to turn the Presidency over to him? Hrmmm... He gets to play Gaius's whipping boy and whore wrangler a year later. I suppose that could be a motivator.

Perhaps he's a Cylon? Either way, Cylon or Baltar sycophant, think maybe Felix was bluffing to draw Tighe, or any possible conspirators in that chain of custody, out? If you called the whatever officer of the Zephyr that day and asked about misspelled candidate names, would they know anything about it? Or maybe he just wanted to create enough doubt about the ballots that there would have to be a recount or second election that could be pushed to Baltar's advantage? He just happened to hit the jackpot?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Longshot...

I thought maybe the show would DROP the Cylon threat for a season, just show us how humans can be a much worse enemy to humans than Cylons. Go a little Space WEST WING, or perhaps some New Caprica SHIELD action? Maybe have the odd skinbag or twelve trying to make good on New Caprica, a la ALIEN NATION...? But, hardships of humanity living day-to-day... I suppose you can just tune into the news for that. So, they skipped it and rejoin the story when the Cylons return. Still...

What if...?

Did anyone else feel a little bit of DEADWOOD in the crowded muddied streets and alleys between the tents, shanties, and grounded spaceships of New Caprica? Scans revealed something like no (limited?) animal life, right? For a second or two, I was really hoping for the potential for some FIREFLY coolness, seeing sheriff Starbuck herding cattle w the help of a trained/converted Cylon fighter, y'know?

That would also sort of be an adaptation of an old school BSG episode.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

How many Cylons...?

Have we seen six models, or seven? There's Number Six, Sharon/Number Eight, that smarmy PR guy, the black doctor from the Farm on Caprica, Lucy Lawless, and Preacher Stockwell.

The smarmy PR guys is NOT the same guy that Adama takes on in the ammo depot in the pilot, right? He's a copy of the dashing religious Aussie type that Starbuck gets to interrogate, right? AND he's the (resurrected) Cylon who shows up in Anders's tent looking for her in the finale, no? I kinda remember that that Cylon got under Starbuck's skin a bit.

My memory for the first season is already slipping in all kindsa ways, bleah.

I keep picturing the Aussie guy in a Hawaiian print shirt.

How many skinbags are there? Are new ones being created/born? What have they got for memories when they do that? Do they age?

I really wish they aged, cuz then it becomes possible that we could've seen the same model at different ages and believed them to be completely different, y'know?

Oh - I can't believe they went and skipped a year without doing my twin story!! Frack.

So tired...

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Baltar's Number Six...

Not that it matters after the revelation that Caprica Six has her own Baltar figment, but in regards to Baltar's little Six - how could a figment of his imagination proselytize to him in the name of a Cylon god he consciously knows nothing about?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Contingency plan...?

When the Cylons arrive at New Caprica, do the Battlestars and the fleet have a particular destination to jump to? A secret cache of Cylon-Colonial weapons, ships, soldiers, and pilots? The Colonial fleet and military have been holding back, pulling a "if hours were days" or whatever it was that Spock pulls on Khan in WRATH, y'know? Or something much akin to red and blue squadrons, under the orders of Apollo and Starbuck, do in the old school BSG pilot.

The Colonial fleet encounters these carapacetic dudes what run a mining colony and casino on a human-habitable planet. The civilians and civvie government are ready to stop here and settle down w the friendly Ovions party insects. They plan a big celebration on the surface to honor the military and commemorate the end of their flight. At the festivities, however, Apollo and Starbuck notice a lot of unfamiliar Colonial soldiers, many of them in ill-fitting uniforms. Well, when the Ovions finally reveal that they're in league w the Cylons, the humans are sure to be decimated, their miliary forces lured into the casino trap planetside. However, the reason all those unfamiliar flyboys were at the celebration to begin with is that Adama had the real military hiding out elsewhere on the surface, along with their Vipers and weaponry, laying in wait for the Cylons to spring their trap! Cuckers!

Wow. That's it, isn't it? I mean, that could really be it.

New Caprica is the Ovion mining and casino planet. It takes a year instead of a few days or weeks. And the hidden reserve of military might could be anywhere FTL-able. Where exactly they'd get the new soldiers is kind of fuzzy, but maybe they rotate offworld in a way that doesn't seem too conspicuous. OR... A sympathetic Cylon has helped them build a droid factory, a Cylon bakery...?


Okay, maybe it's crazy talk...

Well, MORE crazy talk...

But I like it.

Geez. I gotta get a life.

Keep on keepin on~