Battlestar Galactica Season 3 (Oct 06) (1 Viewer)

[Dave Mack]

agreed.

 

[Holadem]

I have to agree as well. I hadn't realized that this was the second to last episode of the season. I didn't mind the stand alones as much as others did, but I now realize their poor placement in the season. It's never good when something starts with a BANG and then limps to the finishing line as this season has. These loners should have been aired earlier in the season.

But then again perhaps if it had been the other way around I would be complaining as well... With B5, JMS often followed somewhat strong season premieres with a bunch of stand alones to lure in new viewers. A lot of people didn't like that, I never cared much as I didn't watch the show on weekly broadcast, but daily, under different latitudes.

All that to say: if Balthar's trial is meant to be the parting shot of the season, then the buildup was really poor. To be honest, my interest in this particular plot line is rather thin, and I am a bit dissapointed at it's status as the meat of the season's second half.

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H

 

[PhilipG]

He only did this because Adama Sr. made that comment that Jr. didn't have the guts to do the same with Tigh.

 

[Robert Anthony]

Season 4 extended to 22 episodes, 2 hours of which will be alotted to a standalone movie that will air this fall to bridge the gap between Seasons 3 and 4.

Expanding the season from 13 to 22 tells me this is the wrap up. They're getting 7 extra episodes to finish the whole shebang.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Hollywood Reporter: 'Battlestar' special in Sci Fi galaxy

My reading is that the featuring length episode set for this fall is entirely seperate from the pick-up for the back nine. I think this is a positive sign for Scifi's continued confidence in the series. I also think the year break (minus the feature-length episode, which I'm thinking is the direct-to-DVD movie in turn-around) will give them a chance to regroup creatively. A big part of what hurt the end of the season was Moore's realization that the Sagitarion[sic] storyline wasn't working, causing all the episodes in between to lose their connective tissue. After the season finale, they can regroup see how things exist in the dramatically altered version of events, and plan the best way to move forward from there.

 

[Andrew Beacom]

A show has to live or die by whats shown on screen and not what RDM explains in a podcast. He should know this.

I'd like to second whoever mentioned that the boxing episode was where things went into creative free fall. One of my buddies has the picture of the fonz jumping the shark as his background at work to remind him of Starbucks death.

 

[Holadem]

There is was a Sagitarion storyline? All I saw was the one episode (genocidal doc).

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H

 

[BrianW]

Exactly. And if we're missing information vital to understanding important plot developments, like the Sagitarrons, then why were we given throw-away standalone episodes of the Love Quadrangle of Death instead of meatier episodes about the stuff we need to know in order to better comprehend the story? With 22 episodes per season, how can RDM claim to have a giant hole to fill and also claim not to have the time to include stuff he admits in the podcast we need to know?

 

[Jason_V]

Agreed. As much of a fan of RDM as I am, the way he presumably runs the writers room-changing ideas on the fly-has come back to bite him. The whole Sagittaron storyline which was dropped, for example. I love the fact he is so open and forthcoming about the episodes on the podcast, but sometimes it does feel like a cop out.

 

[Jason_V]

It was supposed to go all the way back to New Caprica. From what I understand, the Sagittaron's kept to themselves and cultivated their own food. When times got slim, Blatar forced them to share, which they resented. He apparently held a gun to someone's head...murdered a group...I forget the exact details.

"The Woman King" was the first step in introducing the idea of a reclusive group to the fleet. They would play a big part in the trial. However, when "Crossroads" was put together, the Sag stuff wasn't working and RDM decided to jettison all of it.

 

[Everlasting Gobstopper]

Basically, if you hear what RDM had planned for the Saggitaron storyline, it would have taken the legs out from the trial. The idea was that Baltar had committed some evil act against them on NC that we wouldn't hear about till the sequence between Gaeta and Baltar in the brig, where Gaeta tried to kill him. Baltar whispering to Gaeta was supposed to refer to Gaeta's collusion in that war crime, which was going to prompt the stabbing. Then the Saggitarons would be further explored in The Woman King and Dirty Hands, which was originally conceived as a Dualla-centric episode revolving around her split loyalties between the military and her race. Ultimately, I think Tyrol's split loyalties between the military and near-slavery is more compelling.
Anyway, all of this would culminate in the revelation that Baltar killed a group of Saggitarons on New Caprica, which would come out in the trial and be the biggest charge against him. I agree with the choice to drop that storyline, since I'd prefer to see Baltar tried for the crimes we've seen him commit, rather than one which has been retconned in, but I wish the intervening episodes had made up for that loss. I liked Dirty Hands and The Woman King for the standalone episodes that they were, they just felt a bit out-of-place, when there was more compelling ground to be covered.

 

[TheLongshot]

They assumed everyone would want to railroad Baltar. It is quickly becoming obvious that this isn't true. Zarek was right in this instance.

But, there is something that comes across in a lot of lawyer shows: don't put a witness up on the stand unless you know what is going to come out of their mouth. The prosecution has done a very poor job of preparing their witnesses.

Jason

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Can we presume that since we have seen no evidence of the "death order" like the document itself that it was lost during the evacuation and all they have is eye witness accounts of the document? If the document existed and presented during the trial there would be no point in trying to discredit witnesses.

If this is the case Roslin and Adama were highly foolish to think that they could convict Baltar with hearsay, conjecture or circumstantial evidence. If the document existed Baltars only defence would be that he was forced to sign.

I was frustrated in the last episode that the Father vs Son drama seemed to take precedence over the details of the trial itself.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

Thought I'd mention that BSG season 4 has now been picked up for a full 22 episodes. Two of them will be used as a telefilm that will air later this fall (supposedly about Pegasus before they meet up with the fleet), the other 20 will air in '08 as planned.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

So really a standard, (for BSG & SG1/SGA for the last few seasons), 20 episodes for Season 4. But a separate BSG universe tele-movie about Pegasus.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Covered by Robert and I on the previous page. There is some abiguity on the actual pickup, however. Some sources say the feature-length episode eats up two episodes, others say one episode, and others yet say that the season order pickup was seperate for the telefilm pickup and thus it doesn't eat up any episodes.

 

[Robert Anthony]

Holadem: Just a nitpick--but it's spelled BALTAR. Not Balthar.

 

[PeterTHX]

And as a preemptive strike when the Pegasus telefilm comes out:

It's CAIN. Not Kaine, or Kain, or Caine.

(or Khan, not Kahn...or "lose" not "loose", "coming" not "comming", etc)

 

[Holadem]

Thanks Robert, sorry. Peter, you need help, really .

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H

 

[TwoKings]

New BSG fan here who just finished the first 3 dvd sets. First of all, I am not a sci fi fan at all but this show is excellent.

Anyway, I have avoided all the spoilers in this thread about the new season and am just curious as to when the season will end and if any of you know how quickly they get the new DVD sets out?

Will Sci Fi re-air the season before then?