Battlestar Galactica: Season 2 - SciFi US broadcast thread

It was never clear that the radar was unguarded. They asked Baltar if he was sure that the two Cylons remained on stationary guard and he couldn't answer. He had dropped his binoculars and didn't see the Cylons leave their post. When they saw two more Cylons at the gun, they weren't sure if they were the two that had been previously guarding the dish, or two additional Cylons that they hadn't been aware of. The dish was far enough away from the gun that if they ran all the way there and found two more Cylons, there wouldn't be time to come back to the gun before the SAR force arrived. They were making a decision on incomplete information because Baltar screwed up the recon.

Also, based on their recon and Baltar's info, they thought that the gun had 3 Cylons there and 2 Cylons at the dish. This is why I said it seemed odd they did not choose the dish to begin with.

That's a pretty narrow outlook. Narration can be used well or poorly, just like every other tool at a filmmaker's disposal. Film is about so much more than just "actors acting". To me he's very predictable. He's found himself in a position he doesn't want, and every decision he makes is towards getting Adama back in command again so he doesn't have to deal with it. He's a simple man, so he declares martial law so he doesn't have to deal with politics. He keeps Roslin in the brig because that's what Adama wanted, and he reveres the ground Adama walks on. I really thought Cally was a Cylon at first when she froze up. This is nonsense to me; Tigh has made an excellent XO throughout the series. He does not militarily speaking, he has also made a respectable commanding officer. He is trapped admidst extreme circumstances and addressing political pressures that no XO should have to address. When the president is clearly incapacitated by the commander's estimation, I believe that gives him the moral authority to stage a coup. He never moved against her until she started making decisions on religious rather intellectual grounds. I've found him far less irritating this season; without Starbuck around, he's really had to step up, and he's done well. Naive, to be sure, but a good reflection of his father. It is perhaps possible that the Lt. was a Cylon himself. Notice that the centurions didn't fire on the group until Baltar shot the Lt. This could obviously be because the sound of the gun shot alerted them to the squad's position, but it might also be because they were ordered not to fire on the Lt.

At least he admitted he had no business being in the military...a positive step for the character.

I think this is changing. First, he declared martial law on his own authority when he said that Adama was against that, then, he told Gaeta to "get those reporters off my ship" where before he always referred to it as Adama's ship.

Don't forget, the Galactica was about to be turned into a space museum, Adama never thought for a moment that Tigh would be thrust into the position of leading Galactica (since he would have been replaced by another Commander before the Cylon attack), let alone commanding the entire military.



Good observation; sort of like how Boomer froze up back when she discovered water.

Speaking of which, Crashdown had no problem calling in their discovery, while Boomer was completely incapacitated.

Never crossed my mind. She struck me as a scared young woman who joined the military to make money for school who was in a dire combat situation for the first time. In other words, she was pretty normal for a maintenance tech.

I did notice the XO say "my" ship and wondered where it had come from. It had all been about Adama's command and that felt a little out of place. Unless it was the alcohol talking.

Ditto.

"Never crossed my mind. She struck me as a scared young woman who joined the military to make money for school who was in a dire combat situation for the first time."
That's what I'm inclined to believe as well, but it's interesting to see that it's consistent with how Cylons react to doing something outside their programming.
Hmm, that may even be the point; Cally froze up, as I'm sure most of us would, when faced with the prospect of running into near-certain death, since that sort of thing is against our "programming."
Anyway, it's an interesting parallel to draw between Cylons and humans on the show.

There are a couple of reasons they would go for the more heavily defended gun vs the radar.

1) Clearly the rocket launcher is a superior target. It removes all ability to shoot. Removing the radar still leaves a hidden gun emplacement equipped with rockets and Cylons willing to fire it.

2) The launcher could be easier to attack due to terrain. The radar could have been near the top of the hill - and hence they'd be attacking uphill. There could be less surrounding cover too.

Like the BSG Podcasts say, it's OK if it's possible to rationalize their decisions. Are you there to enjoy the show or pull it apart? If you're pulling the show apart then they've lost you, the audience. The setting and decisions should be able to be rationalized.

Crash had lost all ability to make a good decision. He wasn't trained for this type of activity (likely none of them were); and none were experienced. Inexperienced people make mistakes.

You know this is one of the main reasons I like this show so much. None of the characters are painted as "good" or "bad" it's left up to the viewer to decide who they wan't to "root for."

The Podcast for Episode 204 ("Resistance") is out. Ron was on vacation last week so he didn't have a chance to do one for episode 203 "Fragged", but said he'd still like to do one and have it out at some point.

Hmmm, after tonight's episode I may have to reconsider.

August 5, 2005 Episode

Adama's back! Not much in this episode, but he's back. I felt the episode picked up just from his presence. EJO is great in this series.

Galactica Boomer wasn't gone after all. As an actor, it must be nice to play a Cylon since you don't have to worry about being out of work if your character dies. It was interesting that Boomer was able to quote the number of Cylons in the fleet. From what we've seen, I doubt her conscious mind knew that information. I hoped to see Galactica Boomer and the chief struggle through their relationship more. Maybe I'll get to see that with Caprica Boomer if she comes back into the picture.

Interesting choice by the President's aide. I almost thought the guard of last defense would ask to accompany the Prez. Too many people still on the ship helped with this. I have to believe someone will have consequences.

To shoot or not to shoot. That is the question. WWAD? Would Adama have shot his own son down? While Tigh contemplated, I pictured him thinking what Adama would do. Adama has already shown he let personal attachments affects military decisions, so it looks like Tigh did the right thing by Adama.

Why is Terrorist Guy helping Madame Prez? It'd be just as plausible to me, even if he believes in the 12, the he would try to recreate it with himself as the leader. I could see him going out of his way if the Prez were a little more agreeable, but she's downright hostile towards him. The attempted breakout was suspenseful. Success could have gone either way.

The Caprica Battle was pretty predictable. I guess the ball playing is what folks would call character development to reinforce for us what a Tom Boy Starbuck is. That'd be rather pointless as I think most get it. Perhaps the better explanation is that within the context of the show, she needed to prove her capabilities to the militia. I'd prefer she prove herself doing something that mattered, but that's a minor quibble.

All in all?

Tonight's episode ranks among the finest hours of scripted television I've ever seen. I alright wrote up the entirety of my reasons for feeling thus once, only to have my browser wipe it all away with one unfortunate slip on the backspace key. It is notable, however, that I didn't even think to recap perhaps the biggest shocker since Adama got shot in the season finale - the needle scene in the cell with Baltar, Boomer mk1, and the chief - until after I'd covered everything else.
That alone would have put this episode about the pack, but the shattering of our preconceptions and the most bad-ass return of a main character in recent memory spiral it into the stratosphere. This episode played games with me from the get go. I had no idea what was going on with the pyramid-playing Apollo look-alike until we see that their target is the characters we've been tracking on Caprica so far. It is one of many startling reversals.
We've had three episodes of Col. Tighe appearing to be the devil and the President to be a saint, only to have an episode where even the president's closest confidante won't go along with her plans and where we see things finally from Tighe's perspective and realize exactly how many external pressures keep him from making the right decision time and time again. He wants to talk things out with the rebelling ships - who-needs-enemies-when-you've-got-a-wife-like-this Helen manipulates him into the wrong direction. This in turn leads him down the path to civilians being slaughtered. Finally, in the last critical life-or-death moment, he chooses to be loyal to his friend over loyalty to his post, and finally makes the right decision.
Baltar, who's been planted firmly in la-la land for the entirety of the season so far, is shockingly cool and effective in his aims as he manipulates perspective and information. First he gains potentially valuable intelligence from the Cylon by being the first human unbiased enough to truly believe in their capacity to love. Then he turns that around and allows the chief to see past his own prejudices to value what he had with the Cylon, even considering everything that has happened since. Here is a truly free agent. Neither the Cylons nor the humans can fully trust him, and yet he may be the only one on the path towards salvation of either culture/"species".
And then, finally, there is the shocker of Adama's return to the living. We had the earlier setup of Helen talking Tighe into using military force instead of diplomacy, so we are suitably replused when we hear her again speaking poison into the king's ear. And then, out of nowhere, Adama's voice cuts in like a beacon of light in a sea of darkness. Finally, the right message breaks through to Tighe. Like Dumbledore in Half-Blood Prince, his legendary aura is infinitely enhanced by his more obvious mortality. The scene that follows is one of the most rousing in recent memory. The sadness of Adama's query about his son inserts the perfect twinge of bittersweet. When the Old Man was around Apollo in season one, the military setting meant that he could rarely express his feeling toward his son. In the bathrobe like that, Adama is finally only a father, and that creates a vulnerability that shows exactly how effective this series has been at creating resonating sentiment for its characters without any cloying histrionics to get us there.
The only weak link was the mountaineering pyramid team on Caprica. It is almost a farce compared to the other storylines going on, but it is not terrible and atleast injected some much needed momentum into the Caprica subplot. With Boomer mk1 gone, it'll be interesting to see the when Boomer mk2 rears her head - I dislike the idea of going too many weeks without Grace Park sparkling on my television screen.

Great episode and I was shocked I actually had remorse for Boomer. Adama's entrance was great! I love this show.

I love this cast. I hope they aren't too hard on Cally she's just gotten back from a pretty traumatic ordeal on Kobol.

I wasn't clear about the Caprica Bucaneers? They are a crack mountain climbing ball playing special weapons and tactics band of pirates?

Adam? Excellent.

Hope they're not too hard on Cally? Honestly, I don't much care either way. BSG has made me it's b* again, and it can take me where it wants me to go.

I will say, however, that Cally can't be tried for murder as a Cylon isn't a person. She can't be tried for destruction of property because the Cylong doesn't legally belong to anyone. Any punishment would have to be along the lines of interfering, obstructing, conduct unbecoming, etc.

Terrific episode, with a real Crimson Tide feeling to it.


Come off it, she's the obvious 1 of 8. She neatly prevented Evil Dr Bashir Baltar (or anyone else) extracting any more info out of Boomer.

2 of 8 would be that creepy lieutenant on the bridge.

3 of 8, of course, Lady McTigh.

Who else obvious am I missing...? That is, assuming Boomer didn't lie about the number. If I was Baltar, I'd have had her mention names not a number...

Boomer's death means Boomer 2 can now return from Caprica as the Fifth Columnist cylon, followed closely no doubt by her friend, Willy. Paging Jane Badler for 4 of 8.

What about 7 of 9?

Best episode of the new season.

I had hoped they wouldn't do something overly cheesy for Adama's return but they did it perfect.

Still the most interesting hour of TV so far.

I think you are wrong on all three counts.

Aw... give him credit for a creative tongue-in-cheek post.

re Balter getting more detailed info from Galactica Boomer, I thought of that at first, but the way he did it ended up making more sense to me. See, I don't think she's conscious of the knowledge, and it needed to be a rather poignant moment of desperation for it to burst through into the consciousness. His goal at that moment wasn't just to get her to reveal the Cylons. His goal was experimental in nature. Once he found out he COULD break through her mental barriers, he had time (or so he thought) to delve into the details.

Is it Friday yet?

Of course he could be right but I would be disappointed because these three would be the safe choices.

Sad to see Galactica-Sharon go; she's one of the most interesting characters on the show. I'm willing to bet, though, that her consciousness has been downloaded into Caprica-Sharon.

Good episode...best of the season. Anytime questions are answered and plots are moved forward, I'm happy.

Adama's return: brilliant and moving. Look for his actions to validate many of the choices Tigh made.

The stuff with Boomer: brilliant and moving.

Tigh and his Jezebel: brilliant and moving.

The appearance of the pyramid team: meh. They seemed to drop out of the sky, and the high altitude explanation, while plausible, just seemed tacked on.

The Lee Harvey Boomer perp walk: meh. Not too original, and I suspect they would be more careful with her.

The stuff with the President, Apollo, and the Terrorist: great stuff. I can see the point of view of the President and Captain Apollo, but siding with a terrorist is a no-no. I suspect they will lose major points with many people in the fleet after hooking up with Zereck (sp).

One other criticism: I don't think the writers gave the people of the fleet enough time to truly revolt against martial law. It was as if Tigh declared martial law, then BAM he has a revolt on his hand. In real life, I think the people would actually have to suffer as a result of martial law in order for protests to begin.

So, I don't think the latest episode was without flaws (almost all in the writing) but what was there was flawlessly and skillfully executed.

What's fascinating with me is how frank Moore is on his podcasts; almost every issue I had with the episode, he brought up and explain how it resulted the way it did. Equally classy was the way he took responsibility for all the shortcomings as such responsibility always floats upward. I've subscribed to it in iTunes and eagerly look foward to listening after each episode.

Never heard any of the podcasts, but they do sound interesting. I wonder if they get transcribed anywhere.

Why shouldn't he help? He needs the democractic government in place. She's the best person to do that. He's the Vice-President. He knows she has terminal cancer. It's just a question of time before he can drop the Vice from his title - as long as martial law is dropped and the title becomes meaningful again.

It'll be much easier to rally support around the current President now everyone thinks she's the Prophecized One. So he'll support her in everything, knowing all he has to do is wait it out.

Love the Podcasts too. It's just like having a commentary track on a DVD, except I can listen on a commute without having the time investment of re-watching the show. Also, no need to wait for the DVD (still waiting for S1)!

I felt he does a better job on the S2 Podcasts of letting you know what scene he's watching and discussing; handy when I'm listening without viewing.

Some pretty cool discarded plot-lines too. Dirk Benedict as God? !!!