Lol, that's Hot Dog!

(LOL) That's hilarious Tom. Well, we have been around since the very beginning of BSG, and I guess I feel like we have a kind of....seniority, I suppose. But hey! You have been around too, so make the most of these final episodes. When BSG is over, I'm going to miss reading the posts of my friends and all the commenters as much as I will miss the show itself. Always thought BSG brought out the best in the commenter's posts.

You guys should really get a (chat) room...

I think I always knew that Dorv. If you were ever to stop razzing me, I'd think you were mad at me! That is what adds the element of fun to posting! Thank you my friend.

Bsgfan....thank you. You are thoughtful as usual. Patcharin had her baby shower Sunday. You should have seen her....a glowing happy mother-to-be. I wish it were possible to invite all my online friends to our house to celebrate with me. I would even buy Dorv a drink and give him a cigar! (lol). (due date is Feb.25!!!!!)

You know bsgfan, since I am writing, I've been thinking about the discussion about Cally and Tyrol's situation with the child. You and Dorv are both right. Each of them would have been better served by fessing up their secrets. I understand though, the underlying fear of consequences both of them must have felt, and the repercussions thereof. But I think their marriage would have survived, because Cally, afterall, did not cheat on him. And if Tyrol would have been on the level with Cally, she might not have been killed.

To all the BSG fans out there, the Feb. issue of sci-fi magazine has an excellent feature about discussion of the final ten episodes and the movie (that will be out after the end of the season). Most of you will probably get all this information somewhere online though, but I always enjoy having the old-fashioned book or magazine. I'm not as high-tech as my pals, like, for example say Dorv or Akbar, but either way, any source of reading about our favorite show is just capital!

"A moment from now, I die, and my consciousness is transferred into a new body, and I wake up a day from now in a hospital bed, with full memories of every moment until that in which I ceased to exist. Is the person typing these words the same person who wakes up a day later in that bed? Or is this person still dead?"

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Seems like someone's been reading some P. K. Dick - not that I disagree with any of your analysis though. My guess is you're likely not very far off from what we'll eventually find out. Too bad the end is coming faster than any of us really want it to...

Not that its a bad idea, its just that speculation that Adama and not Laura Roslin was the dying leader is not a new idea. Its been speculated on this blog in particular for at least a couple years. It is interesting to see the slow signs of Adama's demise, however.

I'm surprised no one has suggested that, based on the obvious ties to the original series for countless inspirations, there was in fact a planet (Terra or Paradeen) that the Galactica discovered, yet it had been wiped out by neutron bombs. Terra was another word for earth in the Galactica lexicon. I don't care how many times RDM has said they found earth, I will remain open to the possiblility that these storylines have yet to be played out completely. And that means I'm still looking for a Ship of Lights explanation for Starbuck (in the original series it was Apollo, but I think the personal gravitas of Katie Sackhoff as an actress, coupled with the fact that Jamie Bamber is a little girlie man who can't act, explains why that change was made). I'm thinking there may be a dramatic revelation that this is NOT in fact Earth (even though it is clearly a place that the cylons had originated from previously).

Also, I would again state my theory that the final five cylons are just genetically and technologically enhanced humans that were sent into space (same as in the original series "Greetings From Earth"), that Cylons experimented and developed the others in the twelve models from these originals, and the originals were released back into society over time. Tigh and Ellen were the parents, they were the first to be experimented on (Leoben and Six anyone?), and the first released. The others were the kids, and they were released later. I think its the only thing that makes sense in the way that they have memories from 2000 ago (unless you want to unleash genetic memory onto the series, and I don't think you do).

What I want answered more than anything else is, Who or What is Kara Thrace? Does anyone really give a hoot whether Adama amounts to anything at this point?

Poor Tyrol. We all know he has been through hell since he lost Boomer. Many, many commenters have made intelligent and reasonable observations on the plight of Tyrols life.... his character mood swings, his revelation of being a cylon, etc. But there is one constant theme with Tyrol that has been a subtle, yet at the same time glaring fact since the first season.

Consider for a moment that you were in a relationship with Boomer. And Boomer loved you back. Tyrol must have pinched himself everyday just to make sure he was not dreaming. I mean, here is Boomer, worthy of no less than a Caeser, or an Olympic God....and she picks Tyrol?? (No offence to Tyrol, most men are not in her league). Tyrol lost the most desirable woman in the twelve planets. How can any man fully recover from that? That would devastate any man, because once you have been loved by Boomer, nothing will ever be as sweet. Tyrol went from caviar to crackers (once again, no offence to Cally), and this is the underlying reason for the troubling countenance of Tyrol.

Let's not be too harsh with Brad about not recognizing Hot Dog. It was only when I read his call sign here that it all came back to me. Frankly, the shots of his face in the episodes from earlier seasons were much clearer, and I think he's changed quite a bit since then. He looked younger and more "dorky" back then, and less fit as well. Funny, since the real changes mirror what you would expect to happen to a rookie after some time as a fighter pilot - training, lack of sleep and staying in peak shape will harden and mature a man.

Regarding Final Five cylons versus Regular Flavor cylons:

I think the greatest spoiler for this is the trailer for the new show, Caprica. I speculate the difference is that the Regular cylons are actually AIs, copies of real people that were scanned into a computer, but not an actual transfer of consciousness, which means the original person being scanned does not experience this as a continuation of their life. It's not like you'll get killed in your original human body in a car accident and wake up from your copy in a new body remembering the accident. The copies, however, are continuations of life. They transfer out on impact, so to speak, and wake up in new bodies, with all memories including their latest death intact.

The Final Five are original humans who transferred into a manufactured body. They are not digital copies, nor are they AIs. They actually gave up their original bodies to move into manufactured versions that are tougher, stronger, and last longer (not nuke-hardened, alas). These can be built to age and even die. The person can be stored and resurrected in a new body, just like the Regulars. They can reproduce.

Such a facility (a resurrection machine for the Final Five) existed somewhere in the Twelve Colonies, probably being managed by AIs with the orders to revive based on some trigger related to creation of AI life.

At least one such machine exists on Earth, and is still functioning - either being run by AI or survivors. Thus: Starbuck Reborn (and Viper, flight suit, etc. as well - this resurrection tech is much more advanced than that of the Regular Cylons, IMO).

The nuking of Earth - one of the great themes of BSG has been religious zealotry. it looks to be a major theme in Caprica as well. The conflict back on Earth was between the progressive folks who embraced artificial bodies and the traditionalists who saw leaving behind the original body as morally wrong. This is not a simple moral or religious issue: one of the questions we will never be able to answer is whether the person dying is the same person who wakes up in the new body. I see myself looking at this monitor, typing these words. A moment from now, I die, and my consciousness is transferred into a new body, and I wake up a day from now in a hospital bed, with full memories of every moment until that in which I ceased to exist. Is the person typing these words the same person who wakes up a day later in that bed? Or is this person still dead? Does the lack of conscious thought or existence for any period of time create separate lifeforms, pre- and post-death?

And if so, then what about sleep? Are we not, to a certain extent, resurrected every morning? Who is to say the person waking up in the morning is not a well-defragmented copy of the person who fell asleep the night before?

And the big question Caprica is probably going to ask: Does it really matter?

So the original anti-cylon zealots were humans who were against transferring into bodies, and they were probably a minority who became disenfranchised - possibly got handed crappy backward Moon and Mars colonies to live while the majority Final Five cylons kept Earth - armed up and nuked the crap out of the cylon humans. They then took off for greener pastures - and founded the Twelve Colonies.

And to that I say: Payback's a bitch. A beautiful, slinky, blonde bitch.