The Official BSG S3 Spoiler Thread

In regards to Baltar and Chip-Six, this brings up my only complaint about the show. I was listening to the podcasts that they put out when Moore taped a series of writers meetings. The time frame they were discussing was the last few episodes from season two, in and around Scar. They talked a lot about how they wanted to show an actual build up in the relationship between Lee and Dualla, bits about the baby and go into the "plan" that the Cylons have. These points, as they were bandied about, were pretty interesting. At least compared to what actually ended up on screen. It seems like the writers are assuming that the audience knows what they are thinking when this stuff gets written. We don't need to explain how event C occurs because it's the logical (to us, at least) extension of random scenes A and B in episodes past. To be fair, there's so much shit they need to try and keep up with that something is bound to be missed.

I'm surprised I'm the first one to post about last night's ep, considering anyone who saw it live got a ten-hour head start on me.

Ep. 8 wasn't bad at all! Of course it was great to see Carl Lumbly again; he was fantastic in Alias, and he was fantastic as Bulldog. The "present" storyline was easy to guess, and it seemed they left Starbuck out of the "rescue" scene because it would make Tigh's appearance more dramatic. Ditto for Bulldog's rather obvious mistake of leaving the door not only unlocked but partially open.

But the "past" storyline... oh, my. That puts a new spin on things. The humans were the aggressors. Adama was smack in the middle of it. When the Cylons came boiling over the line, he wasn't surprised because he knew, and had known for years, that the Cylons were out there, and that they might be coming in retaliation for what he'd done. And this puts his first speech back in the pilot in a new light. That's storytelling for you: taking something that we thought we knew all about and suddenly putting it in new light.

Plus we get an interesting hint that "end of line" is more than just random Hybrid-babble.

Although I'm still not supposed to be reading this entire thread... being on S2. I had to ask what people's thoughts were when considering the cylons ability to project a seemingly better environment... because when Apollo was venting oxygen from his suit... something very similar was happening to him. He pictured himself in a cliffside reservoir floating on his back. Now I'm not saying he's a toaster... but we did have the interesting thing of Leoben (deceiver though he be) saying that Adama was a cylon.

Well, we've seen Baltar do it constantly, too. Make of that what you will.

I dont know Koshfan, I don't agree with your assessment of the "past" storyline. You seem to be thinking about things as Adama did. I tend to agree with what Roslin said.

I really really don't think that 1 spaceship crossing a line, which ended up getting destroyed before the Cylons even really got there, was the one single instance that made us the "agressors" and pushed them over the line.

They had been hidden for years, building up a war machine. Why? If not to use it at some point. No, I think they always intended to strike back at their creators --- probably for the way they were treated.

How many times throughout history has an oppressed culture waited and waited once freed to strike back at those who oppressed them? Hell in B5 the Narn won their freedom from the Centauti and became obsessed with destroying their FORMER oppressors until it destroyed themselves.

The humans and the Cylons were on a collision course no matter what. If Adama's mission hadn't of ever happened, the Cylons still would have struck back. As Roslin said, there were many things on both sides for over 40 years that lead to the War, Adama's one mission wasn't the cause.

I think the bigger aspect of the story that he had to relive shooting down his own pilot would have been more dramatic than him thinking he caused a war. I just don't even see that as plausible.

I really enjoyed the episode, and moreso, I love how Roslyn can give Adama the swift kick in the ass that he needs at times. Sure, he could have resigned, but here is Roslyn (a seemingly weaker president, at least considered so at first) telling Admiral Adama, "cmon Bill, you don't think that someone out there might have wanted to start a war? That's naive at best...." Awesome chemistry between the two, if you ask me, and I'm glad he listened to her.

I also love Carl Lumbly. I too was a huge Alias fan and always found his character one of the strong points and highlights of the show. I hope to be seeing him again soon.

Yes, Adama was being too hard on himself, and Roslin corrected him. But note how she corrected him, as Alluveal just described. What she said was, "It's not really your fault." What she didn't say was, "The human race is blameless."

Adama took it too personally -- but I think his concerns about human nature are still borne out by events. The humans and the Cylons may have been on a collision course, but from what Adama said about the high command, the humans had started looking for a fight. They were the ones who snapped first.

I'm just so glad that it looks like tigh is back, i was hoping for this, though i was still prepared for him topping himself, like before he opened the door to bulldog and he saw the gun, i thought it's going to happen this time. Carl Lumbly was fantastic.

The humans and the Cylons may have been on a collision course, but from what Adama said about the high command, the humans had started looking for a fight.

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Yeah but coiuld that have been in response to something the Cylons were doing? We still don't know enough.

That ship crossing the line seems more like the murder of that duke that "started" World War I- the match to ignite a powder keg, to repeat the most common historical cliche.

Or... one of Arthur's knights drawing his sword to strike an adder at Camlan.

Just to be childish for a second I thought I'd just sneak in with a smug grin because I managed to get the actress who plays "Kat" on BSG, added as a friend on my Myspace profile.

It appears to be a legit profile but I'm sure I won't here neither hide nor hair from her.

I love KAt! She's sooo sassy!

I like Kat now that she's settled down a bit. It spoke volumes about how fraked up Starbuck was, and how much Kat had grown, that I was telling myself, "Right now, I'd trust Kat as CAG far more than I'd trust Starbuck."

Speaking of which, what's Lee's current position right now? He's probably too senior to be CAG, right? Who is Galactica's CAG at the moment?

Hmmm no idea. That's a toughie. I was suprised to see Helo as X-O, though. He sure took a leap up the promotion ladder, there. I would have put Lee before Helo, but that's me.

Remember though, Helo got promoted when Lee was commander of the Pegasus...

According to wikipedia, Apollo is the CAG right now .. link.

Maybe he wasn't demoted, but decided for himself that he prefers a Viper over CIC. Who knows.

Right now, Galactica is in the state of having too many Chiefs for too few Indians, and a lot of Galactica officers have been bumped down. Racetrack was a pilot, now is Athena's ECO, Pegasus XO Dualla seems to be back at her old job on Galactica, Apollo replacing Cat as CAG, and I assume Tigh will be bumping Helo (which annoys me, because Tigh has never seemed to me to be much of an officer).

Tigh isn't exactly a wonderful person, but he gets the job done. He's saved the ship on numerous occasions.

Here's my new theory about BSG: the writers are good at getting our characters into bad situations, but they're not nearly so adept at getting them out again.

For example: Roslin's cancer.

They give Roslin terminal cancer, which means Mary McDonnell has a part she can really sink her teeth into, and then adds the bonus of giving her religious overtones. Only trouble is, it's advanced terminal cancer, which means she's gonna have to die at some point. And it's instantly obvious that without McDonnell as Roslin, the show really starts to fall apart. So they cure her in a way that screams "We needed an out!"

Basically, they painted themselves into a corner, then escaped by punching a hole through the wall. Which they seem to do a lot. Was the resolution of "Resurrection Ship" as satisfying as the intensity of "Pegasus"? Has anything really matched the truly gruelling nature of the miniseries?


(Another thing that bugs me? They use Raptors for hauling just about everything, and they're so dang small!)

I don't know, I have a feeling there is still some reprecussions, or revelation to come from Roslin being healed by the hybrid. I'm not so sure it was just a one off to save her life because they backed themselves into a corner.

It may even have been foreshadowing to the Skinjobs getting infected afterall, and the hybrid is used to save them, they do have the baby from when they left New Caprica, afterall.

Frankly it seems as if BSG is starting to suffer from the same problem that did The X-Files in: a serial story that isn't planned out.

I don't think every show has to be Babylon 5, where the basic plot elements and themes are planned out from the beginning (ie, anthology or shows that consist of stand-alone eps shouldn't have that), but it sure helps if it's going to be a serial story.

The last few seasons of The X-Files, and 24 after season 2 or so, sunk after it got itself into a quagmire of dangling plot elements and confusing after-the-fact explanations. I really really hope that doesn't happen to BSG.