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October 06, 2006

Comments

Esau

Nobody beats the virtuous and stoic figure of the patriarch Adama as played by Lorne Greene in the original!

Although, I did catch the commercial where Olmos, who now plays Adama, was reciting his Henry V Crispian Day-like speech as some battle was drawing near.

Gene Branaman

I only got into BSG after season 2.5 finished so I had to wait for the DVDs to come out so I could Netflix them. I just watched the season 2 finale last night.

Wow. This show consistently shows no fear of raising the stakes. They've accomplished the character development & complexity of plot in just over 30 episodes that many TV shows take 3 full seasons to do.

Can't wait for tonight!

LarryD

I haven't watched any of the BSG yet, but one thing I want to know is....when will Dirk Benedict make an appearance, claiming to be the real Starbuck?? Didn't Richard Hatch make a guest appearance during S1 or S2? C'mon, bring Dirk back! :-)

Robert Miole

Heads up, guys and gals. I just watched the first 10 minutes of the premiere online. There's a prolonged sex scene...no nudity. Be forewarned.

Esau

"...when will Dirk Benedict make an appearance, claiming to be the real Starbuck??"

Isn't it interesting that in the original series, Apollo and Starbuck were guys and were the best of friends whereas in the new series, Starbuck is a girl who the new Apollo has (at least from what I've been told) a romantic interest in?

Can't ever see the original characters played by Hatch and Benedict in quite the same way again!

Jeff Miller

It has been a long wait for the new season of BSG. By the way Heroes looks like a real promising SF show. The SciFi channel is replaying the second episode today, though you can also catch it on NBC's web site.

Esau

"By the way Heroes looks like a real promising SF show."

Not to sound cynical, but doesn't this show appear'X-Men'-ish?

Randolph Carter

Heroes is a good show, although it does obviously borrow from "The X-Men" and other comic-books. But so long as there aren't any characters with metal skeletons who sprout blades out of their handsHeroes is a good show, although it does obviously borrow from "The X-Men" and other comic-books. But so long as there aren't any characters with metal skeletons who sprout blades out of their hands, or Cajuns who throw explosive playing cards, I won't call it a "rip-off". It's just part of a "new genre" (mutant super-heroes who team together to save the world, while being hunted by the law).

Though I must admit, the more and more I see of Battlestar Galactica, the more and more I come to dislike it. I mean, I'm not a fan of the original Galactica (having hardly seen any of it, though I do think that Ben Cartwright = Starship Captain might be the most entertaining idea ever), so I'm not really capable of resenting any changes that might have been made for this "remake." Still, I can't seem to see what everyone see in this show. It's sombre, moody and melodramatic; it attempts to deal with serious issues in ways that come off as just being childish; none of the characters seem to have any impulse control, or discipline (despite most of them being in the military); and the show takes itself way, way too seriously for its own good. I mean, something Stargate SG1 is cheesy, but at least it's aware of that fact.

All in all, Battlestar Galactica comes off like a bunch of by moody adolescents' fumbling attempt to create an adult drama. The end result is something like a soap opera in space. The fact that it was shot on a camcorder by a man with the shakes doesn't help it either, nor do all the silly zoom shots, quick cuts, and the complete lack of any real cinematography.

At least some of the acting is decent. Edward James Olmos as Adama really does look like he bears the weight of the world on his shoulders. As always, I'm still ready to give this show the chance to redeem itself in my eyes, but I don't have much hope for its future.

And this ends my anti-Battlestar screed :)

SteveL

If only I could have a Light Saber and a Viper I would be content.

Maureen

Don't be so mealymouthed, Mr Carter; tell us what you really think! :) I can't get into the new Galactica, either. But I just don't watch it, so don't feel so strongly about it.

But that's okay. I'm liking Heroes quite a lot, so far. Also, next week's episode of Doctor Who features the BEST GUEST STARS EVER, as well as tickling my ego by making my fannish speculations part of canon.

Esau

"The fact that it was shot on a camcorder by a man with the shakes doesn't help it either, nor do all the silly zoom shots, quick cuts, and the complete lack of any real cinematography."

The first time I saw this (first few eps caught in the 1st season to satisfy curiousity), it seemed like a rather poor attempt at trying to give it some sort of documentary-ish feel to it. Sometimes, it did more to detract from the scene rather than add a realistic feel to it since the 'silly zoom shots, quick cuts' you mentioned became too erratic at some instances. It would really make it difficult on trying to focus on the scene when all hell seemed to be breaking loose with the camara shot.

While this method might seem to aim at addding that bit of documentary-like reality to the show, or add some specific dramatic effect to the scenes, the scenes themselves may be better served if there was at least some control, some level of restraint in not overdoing this kind of thing because, really, it almost seemed to make a viewer want to scream for some Dramamine!

Puzzled

I don't get that channel. This is just wrong. Who will tape Sci Fi Fridays for me?

LaSalle

I have never really followed this series at all ... the original with Lorne was a people who eventually found earth ... this series they're wearing suits and dinner dresses?

No thanks

Michael R.

"... this series they're wearing suits and dinner dresses?"

I found it highly amusing that one of the resistance members was wearing a M-65 Field Jacket. I guess they happened to find an Army surplus store on New Caprica, eh?

Rosemarie

+J.M.J+

Well, they didn't lay off the sex and I admit I hated this episode. I guess shows which depict a toddler bleeding from the head have that effect on me (seeing as I'm a mother with two toddlers). That's the last thing I needed to see before going to bed. The series is just too dark for me; the heck with it!

In Jesu et Maria,

Sifu Jones

I think, regarding the "moody adolescents' fumbling attempt to create an adult drama", it should be remembered that most of the viewpoint characters ARE moody, barely past adolescence (early 20's for most when the series started), and are purposely seen as fumbling about themselves. And if you don't think professional military types can be immature and lose control of their lives, well . . . let's just say I know plenty of good soldiers from both stripes.

Adama, Roslin, Tigh, and even Baltar have a completely different set of adult problems that the "young" guys and gals don't have to concern themselves with, the main difference being the younger Adama, who plays with the viper pilot crowd, but now has command of a starship.

One thing this show does, wisely, is have large gaps in time pass without explaining everything that happens. That gives the viewer a much better chance of suspending their disbelief over a "sudden" personality change. Sure, it seems sudden one week later, but in show-time, it's been two months. Season two ended with "one year later", and season three started four months after that! All the younger set now seems quite a bit more grown up, overall.

The one major downside is the reliance on sex to drive the plot sometimes. On the one hand, this is much better than random sex for the sake of it, like in most other shows. On the other hand, sex drives the plot sometimes. But, without giving spoilers, let me say it could be handled a lot worse. Like Jimmy, I hope they find a way to dampen that aspect, but unfortunately I don't expect it to go away.

Sifu Jones

To address Rosemarie:

SPOILERS BELOW!


The sex scene was definitely no good, but at least it was depicted as negative and ultimately useless. Still, as always, they could have gotten the point across without all the sight and sound.

As for the bleeding toddler, I too got the willies, and my wife almost cried! My own daughter had a major bleeding from the head not so long ago, and it was very similar. In that instance though, I thought their depiction was masterful. It did just what it was supposed to do: make us feel terrible for this child who, in all probability, is an evil computer baby. I mean, if they could so easily create a human-cylon hybrid, why all the nonsense about the importance of the Boomer baby?

Anyway, my money is on the cylon "father" having injured the child on purpose, to make Starbuck get attached to her.

But to each their own, within reason. I hope you find another great sci-fi you like!

R James

Can't wait to see this. But on a general level, Could Baltar be a Cylon ?

I never considered Baltar as a Cylon ... but now I'm not so sure.

Three things
1. The Doc on Galactica has dismissed the possibility of a chip in Baltar's head (unless Cylons have a way of hiding it beyond detection)

2. Baltar keeps seeing Six. Either he's hallucinating or he has a link to her.

3. Remember the two part intro when Caprica is destroyed. There's a scene of Baltar crouching behind Six as the blast hits his home. The next scene of him is when Helo & Boomer lands on the field where he's with some of the survivors. So how did a human survive that blast? Six was obviously downloaded to a new body. Could this be when the first cylon Baltar was activated and planted with the humans?

RJ

Jimmy Akin

I have to say that I was very, very turned off by this episode. Not only was the sex superfluous, but it was handled in a manner I found absolutely disgusting and offensive. I'm angry about what they did. There was no excuse for this.

Jared Weber

Jimmy: I've not seen any BG but, having heard a bit about it, I'm tempted to watch just so I can root for the Cylons. I had the same reaction to Matrix 2, when the human race turned out to be a bunch of sl***.

Scott W

I loved the original as a kid even though I was oblivious to the Mormon elements. I watched a few of the new ones when they were on a network. They didn't make me want to get Sci-Fi. Too much po-mo cynicism.

Bubbles

Sex scene = superfluous? Well, except for the betrayal of self, husband, and humanity dynamic it sets up in Tigh's wife, while Tigh abandons his humanity in favor of hatred. I think it was supposed to be disgusting and offensive. Furthermore, I think the Dean Stockwell model doesn't get anything out of it other than the knowledge that he's degrading a human, and perhaps developing a mole into the "insurgency."

Meanwhile, the parallel set up between Tigh and Starbuck is to me, compelling. Tigh has embraced the hate and is willing to to take the "by any means necessary" road to hurt the cylons while Thrace, who wants to kill the little toaster-toddler (or maybe she just wants to want to kill it) is incapable of denying her humanity that way. Part of this show's subtext has always been that we aren't even fully in charge of our own bodies, much less our own fate. Starbuck may resent the hell out of the fact that she's being jerked around by her heart, she may even begin to hate "the gods" a little for it (and good for her), but she's not stupid enough to try cutting her own heart out so as to maintain an illusion of personal control.

Tigh is exactly that stupid, and so is his wife. Tigh is sacrificing the integrity of his military service, so as to perpetuate the illusion that he is continuing to serve; Tigh's wife is sacrificing the integrity of her love for her husband, so as to perpetuate the illusion that she is 'loving' her husband.

Starbuck regards killing cylons as an easy thing - she regards them as "its" not hes or shes. She is on a collision course with the realization that they can be just as human as any other person, and that just as she learned in childhood, such 'humanity' can be an evil, hateful thing worthy of nothing but death. Her faith in divine providence will not survive this, nor should it.

Puzzled

One of the series' Big Questions is "what is it to be human." The new human cylons shouldn't be automatically dismissed as computers, just because the humans call them 'toasters.' They are indistinguishable down to the cellular level, have no obvious computer components, and apparently, can interbreed. And the show keeps telling us that all of this has happened before, again and again. Are the 'humans' human? Are the cylons cylon?

Haran

Did they just do in this Premiere Episode what I think they just did?

I just could not believe it!

I know that from the first few episodes of the series that I was able to catch of this remake of BG when it first came out, it seemed to cater to the baser elements of secular society in terms of their lust for sex and violence by this show's indulgent showing of gratuitous sex and so forth in order to attract a greater viewership, but this was just inexcusable.

This premiere episode actually went as far as to justify the vile actions of the terrorists in our world and their usage of suicide bombers.

It seemed to suggest that so long as the cause is jusitified, terrorism is fine and necessary.

Even when Baltar had asked then President Roslin to stand by him to put down this kind of action by the resistance fighters because of the innocent casualties that came as a result of the suicide bombing that happened sent by the side of the resistance, Roslin's action seemed to suggest that their action was but a heroic act in the face of oppression. All hidden agendas aside and the fact that Baltar is scum and his motivations of course was most likley motivated by selfish reasons, to say the least, the cryptic and hideous message that's being implied here is that terrorism can be a heroic act, which, in all actuality, is twisting truth and calling evil 'good'.

I don't know if this was purposely done to stir up controversy for the show just for the sake of motivating a greater audience for the series, but this was all too dispicable and I hope there comes a torrent of complaints about it or, at least, that it starts to sag in the ratings and fall out of favor by the vast majority of its current viewership until it dies and gets cancelled, should this continue to be the stuff that makes the series.

Mary Kay

I've never seen this tv show, but does the character Starbuck (or his or her family) own a coffee chain?

Br. Francis

"I've never seen this tv show, but does the character Starbuck (or his or her family) own a coffee chain?"

-I was wondering the same thing Mary Kay!

Maureen

"Starbuck", both in the original BG and this one, is a literary reference to the quiet First Mate in Moby Dick. (It's a real old Yankee surname, apparently.) Of course, neither Starbuck on the Galactica seem at all like Mr. Starbuck, and I think that's the point; it always seemed like a pulp hero's name more than his.

Chris Carter's use of Starbuck as a nickname for Scully was much more traditional; she was a bit like Mr. Starbuck, in keeping Mulder sane.

(Whether or not Scully and the current Starbuck are anything alike, I leave as an exercise for those who actually watch the show!)

Mary Kay

Br. Francis, thanks, I wasn't the only one.

Maureen, thanks for the explanation. I can see that I really do need learn about the classics. One wonders where I've been to be so out of the loop on both contemporary and classic stories.

Sifu Jones

Well, having gone back to watch earlier episodes, let me point out that the eary sex scene between Baltar and Starbuck was just as disgusting as the one between Ellen Tigh and "Brother" Cylon, but at least in the latter case, the whole point (as Bubbles said) was that it was supposed to be disgusting.

Point being, if one could stomach the first season sex, there should be no additional issues with this one. Obviously, neither scene needed to be there, just saying I don't think the entire show should be thrown out on the basis of a recent scene when an older scene, which has been "accepted", was as bad or worse.

Regarding the bombing, I think the problem may be that people may be seeing what they're afraid they will see. In other words, we conservatives are partly justified, partly paranoid, about liberal attacks on things we hold dear (not making a "support for the war in Iraq" point here, just speaking in generalities). It's easy to see the suicide bombing as another Hollywood liberal attack on the military, or conservative views, or whatever.

I don't think that's what they were aiming for, though.
That key scene between Baltar and Roslin was great TV: they both seem right, and yet they're both wrong on important points.

Or remember the abortion episode? Pro-life Adama, pro-choice Roslin, the unexpected outcome . . . this show is all about doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, or the wrong thing for the right reasons. As my wife said after one episode, almost no one is this show is completely good or evil; that's part of what makes it compelling.

Gene Branaman

"It seemed to suggest that so long as the cause is jusitified, terrorism is fine and necessary."

I didn't get this at all. Not at all. The suicide bombings were, IMO, depicted as replusive. As repulsive as the sex between Ellen Tigh & the Stockwell Cylon. (What's his number, BTW? Have we heard yet? I didn't think so.)

Putting things into perspective, there are under 50,000 humans left. Some will do as Tigh has done &, under the circumstances the humans find themselves (routine torture, turning their own against them, undermining their government) & resort to inhuman tactics. Some will to as Lt Gaeta & become a spy. It's a desperate situation that's juxtaposed with the newly soft Appolo who almost seems ready to write off the humans on New Caprica, later brought back to his senses by Adama.

Yeah, the sex was repugnant. But I've found all the sex on this show to be so. It's all animalistic urges. At least the characters we've been led to believe are really in love have gotten married - you have to admit the writers/producers made a point of putting that into the script for the Starbuck/Sam, Tyrol/Cally, & Apolo/Dualla pairings. I found that telling. Not that it makes the fornication any more acceptible. But it does contrast nicely with Baltar's disgusting promiscuity.

And I'll had it to the show for tackling some difficult issues like abortion & suicide bombings & not making the character's choices easy. Roslin was definitely shown to question her stance on abortion. Tyrol was shown to be a disenter on the issue of suicide bombings (if I recall correctly). Despite the sex, I found the episode fascinaging.

But I can't wait until they get back into space!

Gene Branaman

Sorry, that's "fascinating."

Dave Mueller

Wow! I can't believe that you guys watched the same episode I did! I thought it was absolutely awesome, 10 out of 10, possibly the best episode yet...despite the sex scenes, which at least were depicted as negative.

Carolyn

My husband and I have been watching Season 1 on DVD and while he's seen nearly all the episodes up to this point I've seen only bits and pieces of Seasons 2 and 2.5.

We watched Friday night, and I thought it was very dark. (I was also half-asleep and under the weather, so that may account for that reaction, in part.)

While we'd prefer that the sex be less graphic, we don't think it is necesarily gratuitous. It is just ugly. There's nothing romantic or the least bit unifying about it. As is the writers' point I woudl think.

I do think it's among the smartest shows I've seen.

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