BSG Recap - 6/13 - “Revelation”
Spoilers Below the fold and all that.
- Jonah Goldberg isn’t too happy with the current season of BSG.
- After tonight, no new BSG until 2009 (I’m not sure if this counts the promised webisodes).
- The writer of “The Hub,” Jane Espenson, answers questions about last week’s episode here. Interesting exchange here:
Q. What happened to Boomer after D’Anna killed Cavil? Did she escape?
Espenson: A. She certainly would’ve had time to. Heck, there was even time for Cavil to download, I suppose. Huh. How ’bout that.
- Some interesting tidbits from a SciFi Channel Wednesday night screening of tonight’s episode at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood (no spoilers here, some in link).
While cast members admit they routinely use “frak” even when away from the cameras, Sackoff prefers [****] in her everyday life. “Nothing works like a good f-bomb,” she insisted.
- Also, in the above link: “The Final Five do not have numbers,” said Moore.
Meaning, the “seven” known Cylons are 1 – 6 and 8. There’s no 7 and no 9 – 12. Which just confirms my theory Moore made the whole final five thing up late in the game. Way too late, actually, and I think it’s made the whole series suffer. Yes, the “final five” thing has allowed for some great drama (such as tonight’s episode), but overall I’m coming to the conclusion it was a mistake.
Look at this early statement by Moore on the 12 Cylon models:
” The idea was that these models of Cylon were sort of developed out of their own study of us. The Cylons on some level looked at humanity and said ‘You know what? There’s really only 12 of you.’ If these are the 12, and sort of if you look at them they each represent different archetypes of what humanity is.”
It’s hard to reconcile that quote with the idea of a “final five” that predate the whole shebang. Not impossible, but hard.
Now, to tonight’s episode:
* At the beginning of the episode: The FOUR Cylons? The FOUR Cylons? Did I miss a scene somewhere where D’Anna said she only knew four of the five or that the fifth was not in the fleet? This makes no sense, really. If she knows all five, and all five are somewhere in the fleet, then there’s no reason to talk about four instead of five. If the fifth is dead or somewhere else, how is D’Anna supposed to know that? She’s not omnipotent, after all.
* Considering the religious nonsense that Baltar has been spouting all season, it was . . . interesting to see his as the voice of reason for once. Amazingly, he was right when talking to D’Anna. Of course, his self-preservations was at stake, and Baltar was more likely trying to save himself rather than humanity.
* My wife’s review: “Well, that stinks.”
* My review: Some great drama, some excellent acting, and a totally predictable ending. I called this back in season one (it was either this or dinosaur planet. There was no way they were going to find a populated Earth. Too many new characters and situations would be introduced).
Frankly, I found the episode to be something of a let down, given the ending, though I’m at a loss as to what type of ending would have satisfied me.
Let me call the ultimate ending right now: Cylons and Humans repopulate Earth as some sort of hybrid race. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong. Add your guesses below.
* No more BSG till 2009. At least there’s Burn Notice on USA this summer.
Did I miss a scene somewhere where D’Anna said she only knew four of the five or that the fifth not in the fleet?
I guess so, cuz there was a scene in which she said only four were with the fleet. Why nobody asked her about the fifth, even after they were all friends, is beyond me.
So assuming the hybrid can’t be wrong, was D’Anna lying or parsing her words differently than the hybrid? One possibility is that the fifth was already on board the base ship, and therefore not technically “with the fleet”. That would cover Roslin, Baltar, Helo(?), and a bunch of anonymous pilots.
I almost expected to see a toppled Statue of Liberty there at the end.
I enjoyed this episode, but worry that some questions seem to have fallen off the radar screen and might never be answered. Like what happened to “Head Six” and the Baltar in Caprica Six’s head?
Comment by Last Lemming — June 14, 2008 @ 8:30 am
cuz there was a scene in which she said only four were with the fleet.
Well, I don’t have Tivor or a DVR, so I can’t rewind to double check when I miss some dialog. Although you are right, it is rather odd that all the Humans suddenly became very un-curious about the fifth.
Comment by Ivan — June 14, 2008 @ 2:10 pm
What happened to all will be revealed? I thought for sure that tagline was talking about the five, and now we don’t find out who the final cylon is until next year (if ever)? Bummer.
Comment by jjohnsen — June 14, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
Great episode, leaving us with many questions. “All of this has happened before” now takes on serious meaning. To me, it wasn’t disappointing — it was fulfilling.
Comment by Supergenius — June 14, 2008 @ 5:31 pm
I just had a stray thought:
If the humans are at peace with the Cylons (right now, only half I guess) and Earth is a radioactive wasteland, why don’t they just go back to Kobol and settle there. It looked nice.
Comment by Ivan — June 14, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
Ivan, because Kobol brings only death; there is no afterlife for those who die on Kobol. Even the Cylons consider it cursed.
Comment by Supergenius — June 14, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
That would have been awesome. Those damn stinking Cylons.
The fifth is almost certainly on earth. Almost certainly Earth was destroyed by a prior race of Cylons. I still think the humans of the 12 tribes are actually synthetic originally.
Regarding the episode - which I just now watched. I really liked it. Definitely the best of a weak season. (And last seasons was weak except for the first four and then the visit to the temple planet) I really hope the final 8 pull it out because I hated this season overall. Enough that I’ve often waited a few days to get around to watching. Contrast that with the first two seasons which were griping.
I was glad Tigh finally got it together and talked to Adama. I was hoping this is how it would play out although I could have seen one of the others doing it. This season would have played out much better if someone would have said, “hey, Athena is a Cylon and accepted by the fleet.”
Comment by clark — June 15, 2008 @ 12:26 am
Steve where did you hear that in Moore’s Kobol?
BTW - one final thought. Why didn’t at least one person mention to Xena Warrior Cylon that the humans nearly destroyed all the Cylons with a virus but decided not to because genocide was bad? (Anyone remember that episode?)
Regarding the red spinal column. Maybe that particular six had drunk some bad super soldier formula. I kid. I kid. More seriously that always really, really bugged me. I’m glad they are just pretending it never happened. But the idea that the Cylons were undetectable does bug. However refresh my memory. Didn’t Baltar’s detector work originally and then he made it so it wouldn’t work?
Comment by clark — June 15, 2008 @ 12:28 am
Didn’t Baltar’s detector work originally and then he made it so it wouldn’t work?
It was left ambiguous. Baltar gave a big speech about how it would work, but then told Head Six that everyone was going to turn up negative because it was “so much easier that way” (or words to that effect). Thus, whether it worked or not, it didn’t matter.
Comment by Ivan — June 15, 2008 @ 10:36 am
I also hate it when the writers make make crap up as they go. That is why Heroes totally sucks and why I can’t get in to Lost.
I am mostly sick of waiting forever on this series to resolve. It is losing me fast.
Comment by Geoff J — June 15, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
Geoff J, if you can’t get into Heroes, Lost or Battlestar Galactica…. maybe the shows aren’t the issue?
Clark, re: Kobol, if you go back and watch the 4-5 Kobol eps I think you’ll find it in there.
Comment by Supergenius — June 15, 2008 @ 9:15 pm
Geoff only 8 episodes left.
Comment by clark — June 15, 2008 @ 10:17 pm
BTW - I’ve been rewatching the Burn Notice episodes. They’ve been fun and they are finally to the point where USA is broadcasting in HD - albeit a really fuzzy one.
Unfortunately unless my memory fails me the next two episodes are the two weak ones before the season finale. Interestingly one guest stars Xena Warrior Cylon.
Comment by Clark — June 15, 2008 @ 10:55 pm
My problem is that I am in to BSG supergenius. I hope they don’t completely fumble this series away like the knuckleheads running Heroes did…
8 more episodes in another year… I guess that is what a DVR is for.
Comment by Geoff J — June 16, 2008 @ 12:05 am
Interestingly one guest stars Xena Warrior Cylon.
Even more interestingly, season 2 will feature (according to news reports) Cylon number Six as a regular guest star.
Comment by Ivan — June 16, 2008 @ 10:15 am
When D’Anna said there were only 4 in the fleet, I immediately thought - hey, who’s on the basestar right now? (both Roslin and Baltar were on the basestar, so technically not “in the fleet” when she said that).
Comment by hawkgrrrl — June 16, 2008 @ 3:58 pm
Maybe it’s Crashdown!
Comment by Supergenius — June 16, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
Basically, I agree with the assessment at i09.
Comment by Supergenius — June 16, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
I agree except that they were way too positive about the season as a whole thus far. (Which I found a nearly unmitigated disaster - frankly speaking)
Comment by clark — June 17, 2008 @ 12:15 am