Battlestar Galactica: Downloaded

Eric: As I've said before, I have a love/hate relationship with your idea of Cally being a Cylon. I kinda like this idea of Gaeta, but, I don't know. I hope that some of the Cylons remaining in the fleet are NOT sleeper agents, but are well aware of their mission. I suspect that if any of the recurring characters are, they'll be the sleeper type like Boomer was.

Yeah, I don't like the new aide either, but its almost a little too opportunistic. I mean, did the Cylons expect that someone in the Presidential line of sucession would survive the attack?

Furthermore, if there are six more models that are in the fleet, those were great odds for the Cylons.

Just saying...

A few random comments:

1) I totally get Lee and Dee. It's not a HEALTHY relationship. But I can get what is going on. Lee is the "little prince," King Adama's son. He both uses his heritage and bites the hand that feeds him. He is Prince Hal, soon to become Henry V. But he needs tending to -- emotionally, sexually and ego-wise -- and Dee is a good trophy girlfriend. (Kara and Lee, on the other hand, have a really rich, complex relationship. K is L's brother's girlfriend. Practically, his sister-in-law. But he is also one of the few people who get her, can handle her and isn't intimidated by the tough flygirl act.)

On the other hand, Dee is struggling with all she lost. ("Lee, you have to stay. You really have to stay.") Remember on the very first series episode she is looking for her lost relatives. Her dad never spoke to her again after she enlisted. (That's gotta hurt.) Little Prince Lee is perfect for her. She gets instant family, including, of course, the great father of them all, Adm. Adama. Then there is loss of Billy, and the guilt over that. And the trauma of how Lee and Dee came together. You forget couples that share emotional experiences together early (such as life-and-death hostage situations) bond very quickly. So, that's my take on Lee/Dee. (Even their names are alike.)

2) Baltar survived the nuke that destroyed his house because Six shielded him from the blast with her body! Come on, guys, you see it every week. She saves the man she loves (and knows she will be downloaded). That's the whole point.

3) So far I don't much care for D'anna the cylon. Lucy Lawless is not very subtle. She is playing it like a villian with a capital V. Leobon is a more sinister character, in part because he doesn't hide that he is frakking with you.

3) My favorite supporting characters: Doc Cottle (love the smoking sight gags), Calley (when asked if she can fire a weapon, she said, "I just enlisted to pay for dental school") and my No. 1 favorite supporting character ... (drum roll, please) ... Lt. Gaeta. Talk about quiet competence! I loved his interview with D'anna about taking up smoking to help the stress, but it didn't. He plots the jumps. He yelled back at Tigh's unfairness. He came up with the way to get back to the fleet after a bad jump. Ron Moore, please, give this man more screen time! At least give him some more back story.

4) Who might be sleeper cylons? No way it's Baltar! That would just frak too much up. If you are looking for a jump-the-shark sign, I say it is the day they make Baltar a cylon. Calley would make a good cylon (as I have previously said). Lt. Gaeta would make a great cylon; he is certainly efficient enough. Ellen Tigh would make a great cylon, but some explaining would have to occur about how that could be possible. And my No. 1 pick for sleeper cylon extraordinaire: Roslin's new aide, whatever the frak her name is. She is in a good place to do harm and she comes off as not very human anyway.

'Nuff said (for now).

not helping the stress.

While I wouldn't go as far as to say Grace Park carries the show, I will definately agree that she doesn't suck at acting, at all. I think there is a reason for using the voice she did in her apartment scene.

For sure, she is an important part of what makes this show good; playing two different yet similar roles ain't no easy go.

On a completely last-week's comments related note:

So, I've been in the midst of a S2 West Wing rerun marathon, and each of the "Previously Ons..." have been edited from their original showing. Not so much as to be redubbing in new information (and I again point to ER reshooting scenes with new actors as the paramount of the edit), but little tweaks that completely change meaning of the scene.

I guess maybe we've never really noticed it before, but I'm getting to the point where I don't know tjat BSG is any different from other dramas, and shouldn't be beat up on for the same.

Tim: Dreamboat? :) Obviously your dream, not mine.

Dorv: I know. It is like a challenging chess problem isn't it? And as a chess player, I love challenging problems, and this is a doozy. It could be 6 was needed as a trusted liaison. And it looks like even the cylons are not immune to splintering factions within themselves. Therefore, these factions do not want their own agenda known to the others. The Baltar in #6's head for example, seems sympathetic to the humans, and if he is a cylon, he is definately going against the grain of the others. He has planted insurrection in 6's mind, on Caprica, and when you think of it, the Baltar on Galactica was always fervently trying to save Sharons baby. Is there a power struggle higher up? We do know that Dreamboat and cap 6 are human sympathisers but of course they are only lower level cylons. My thought is a higher level authority is pulling some strings. I realize Dorv, that all this is probably whistling in the wind but they are musings I thought I would share and see what you fellows thought.

Tim: Not on the same page as you as far as Baltar being a Cylon. Why did Six even need to be with him on Caprica then?

I've thought about it alot to, but can never justify that question.

E: I have toyed with the idea that maybe Baltar is the cylon #1 sleeper model. If that were so, maybe Baltar did die after all. He then could have been "brought back" with some selective memory erasements and sent to the Galactica to further the Cylon plan (whatever that is). The cylons could have somehow placed the haunting of #6 in his mind, in his new body. It would explain how he survived at least. I know, there are a million holes in this theory (ha ha!). But what a bummer e! If I were Baltar I would have much rather have Sharon in my head! I like Dr. Who but I think I will wait and get the episodes on dvd. How about that! I never knew Lucy Lawless was on the x-files.

E: I'm with you... I think its pretty fishy that Baltar survived the explosion while Six did not. They seemed far enough away to avoid the radition, but obviously not the shock wave. This begs the question that if this Baltar is the same (and not a Cylon/Cylon hybrid/whatever other theory out there) Baltar that we saw in the first couple of scenes of the MS, that means he either left Six to die, or was already dead. That must have been a tough thing to do emotionally, in spite of the HUGE tension between them after Six's revalations. I would have liked to have seen that (I'm sure the left it ambiguous for all the right reasons, though.

Nope, don't watch Dr. Who. Maybe I'll give it a shot now that its on SciFi. I downloaded the torrent of the first episode of this latest version, and hated it. I've heard that it REALLY picked up after that, so maybe its worth a shot.

Hush (The quiet episode of Buffy) was pretty darn good. Wheadon sure can bring it when he wants to (Hush, the Body, Once More with Feeling, Smile Time of Angel (one of the funniest episodes of television EVER) though he can bite it hard too.

Tim, yes I did confuse you and Dorv. Sorry about that. You guys may be right and there may not have been any race issues with regards to the Dee/Lee relationship. Race issues are one my interests to the point of wanting to, if I ever get the time, do some research into it's subtle nuances and how social expression of it has changed in the US and Europe and the world in the past fifty years or so.

I also wanted Dee and Billy to get together as I thought they would make a good couple. But I still don't consider any one relationship on this show to be worth so much attention and felt that it was getting it because of race more than anything else. I did not mean to imply that there were any race issues brought up directly. I did not consider the eggshell situation and did not mean for anyone to feel unconfortable. I normally feel very confortable with any subject and tend to forget that most people don't.



Yes, Lucy Lawless was in the latter part of the X-Files. She played the second "super soldier" after David Duchovny left the show. She did not use her normal speaking voice so the accent and tone of voice was pretty much the same as on Xena. It's all a matter of me getting used to it as I do like her from an intellectual point of view.

I see the character of Lee as one who has gone through some serious trauma and is therefore a bit wooden from shock, instead of a badly acted character. I hope he will grow into a more rounded character or be killed gloriously well, though I think that's highly unlikely.

Dorv, thanks for reminding me of Buffy. I have to buy all the DVDs so I can watch all the episodes again in ten years or so. One of my favorites in that series was the one where there was no sound at all until the very last minute or two as well as the death of the mother. If I had endless money I would just hire Joss and tell him to produce whatever he wanted as I have loved Buffy and Firefly and liked Angel. There are so many great shows I just know I'm going to love seeing again in ten or fifteen years.

The West Wing is another matter as I like some of the show. I wouldn't say I like it as much as Buffy or BSG though. And that scene with Adama getting shot is still one of my all time favorites as it was completely unexpected and, thereby, exiting. For a very long minute there I thought they where actually going to kill him.

Have you guys seen any of the episodes of the new Dr. Who, which will begin airing this month? It seems to be well regarded, but most UK sfi leaves wanting.

To be honest one of the things I do like about BSG is the whole Cylon model/rebirth thing. It allows one actor to display different facets of a "single" character which is just great. I loathed the Clark Kent disguise but I was floored by the portrayal of bulnerable/traumatised 6 and how Baltar brought her back. Balthar showing up as a figment of 6's imagination is just priceless as it shows the other side of the coin that he has been suffering with all this time. The glowing back thing clinched it for me though.

Yes, how did Balthar survive? It would be nice if they clarified that one.