BSG 1.12 Kobol's Last Gleaming - Part 1

It ought to be noted that I have not seen 'part 2' of this two-parter at the time of writing, so I write in ignorance as to how this season finale will play out. But this first half was very much a setting up, I think, of what feels like a finale (a finale, I feel, that will involve the destruction of Kobol and Galactica on its way with a sense of certain destination to where Earth is - that's my prediction).

There was some interesting stuff at work here. The fulfilling of the prophecy business with President Laura reaching a make or break was good stuff, ultimately sending Starbuck on her way to journey to Caprica to retrieve Apollo's spear. I wonder if she'll bump into Helo there. . .?

Speaking of Helo, he shot and then remained with Cylon Boomer and there we left them; together but not talking. Cylon Boomer was about to make some revealing comments as well, I thought, about her nature and how she knew Helo and her relation to the other Boomer. It was frustrating that she was now allowed to finish! (If that plotline does not go somewhere in the second half then that frustration will have pretty much been a persistence with those two all the way through the season).

Perhaps less believable was Gaius and Starbuck's relationship. That seemed to come out of nowhere, as did his deep-rooted sense of jealousy about Starbuck apparently having feelings for Lee by calling his name out when they were having sex. Again, Starbuck's feelings for Lee have almost been kept as a subtext, to have them screamed out in this way from nowhere did feel like something of a clumsy-footed way of stanping home this love triangle for the finale.

Gaius, meanwhile, has been told that he needs to get off Galactica because something bad is going to happen. So he went and got himself on the ship that, last we saw it, was plummeting dramatically to the planet Kobol. That whole sequence, with the three ships jumping right into an enormous Cylon fleet, was the highlight of the episode.

Planet Kobol is an interesting one, though I fear the episode won't fully delve into the deeper history of what the place means to the humans, which is a shame. I have not got much of a sense of religion from the Galactica crew, but when I think of all the references to Kobol and debates about God throughout the show, there has certainly been a strong theological level being worked on that, through this 'cradle of humanity' that is planet Kobol, appears to come to fruition.

Maybe there are more surprises about the planet, though, and the truth of Kobol, waiting to be revealed. For whilst the show has liked to flirt with the idea of atheism versus belief, it's never gone one way or the other. I am hoping for a slam-bang of a finale, after this relativity slow-paced finale; I really have no full idea if I am going to get one!

BSG 1.11 Colonial Day

This episode focused heavily on the democracy of the new civilisation, creating a quorum, or council of delegates, for the 12 colonies. During this quorum there arose the issue of a vice-president and, given Laura is terminally ill, she was well aware of the importance in the right choice of her successor.

Enter Tom Sterrick (or whatever he was called). It was good to see some continuity from the previous 'prison riot' episode with this character being called back into the thrust of things. And even though he was eventually thwarted, the episode was dangling unfinished plot threads (who killed the guy in custody?) and new angles (Tigh's wife, Ellen, and Tom appear to have some form of alliance forming) opening up.

This episode also faciliated Gaius to be next in line for president, giving shape to the Blonde Cylon's ambitions for him. Slowly but surely this bumbling genius has elevated himself to a position of high authority and popularity, and is almost surely intended as a puppet for Cylon manipulation.

At least this aspect to the show provides resonance and justification for why he is such an annoying man! And there's scope for him to break loose of the hold Blonde Cylon has over him and come good. And, obviously, there's scope for him to get really twisted and hatable and completely mess up the human's plans.

There was some fun interplay between Starbuck and Apollo here, setting up what I am sure will eventually become a more romantic relationship. It wasn't quite clear why Apollo was willing to get into a fight as easily as he did, mind, and the whole terrorist sub-plot was kept so elusive that, by the end, it was practically forgotten about and left in the dark. I can only hope that was intentional and will get picked up.

Surprisingly, the best part of the episode was with Helo and Cylon Boomer - finally revealed to get serious with their token 'five minutes' of each episode. Helo speculated about Cylons cloning humans, and assumed they definitely were still Cylons, and then he spotted another copy of Boomer, shot her, and made a run for it. It was a terrific sequence. The sense of confusion and fear and loss for Helo was perfectly handled in allowing him no dialogue or showdown confrontation with Cylon Boomer.

No, it was better that he did what any sane person would do. Run away. Where he goes to next is the most tantalising prospect this episode produced.

BSG 1.10 The Hand Of God

Now this was more like it; this episode hit a real high for the show so far, in my opinion. With the new crisis of fuel running low, the discovery of the meteorite with lots of 'trillium' (or whatever) to mine only happening to be heavily-guarded by Cylons set up a cracking premise.

It was the Galactica's turn to stage an ambush, and with the plan of Starbuck under their wing, the stage was set for them to outsmart the Cylons with their counter-counter attack. All that was really required was for Lee Adama to step up and prove himself capable of filling Starbuck's 'top gun' size shoes. . .

I think BSG is at its best, for me, when its dealing with the direct threat of Cylons. The humans are vulnerable and desperate, and the Cylons are formidable. If the show ever loses this dynamic then it better have something amazing to fill it with! So it was great stuff (and very 'A New Hope / Return Of The Jedi') when Lee flew into the mines on a solo mission and fired a bullseye shot to blow up the Death Star. . . I mean the Cylon Base.

On the sub-plot to this episode was both the President and Gaius being informed of a 3,000 year old prophecy about how they could be the chosen ones. However, since the prophecy states that the 'leader' is terminally sick surely that means Gaius can't be the one - unless he's terminally sick in the sense that he's a Cylon, or is mentally insane. . .

It's an interesting plot thread (more interesting than the continuing adventure of Cylon Boomer and Helo who continue to aimlessly wander around Caprica, with Boomer vomiting at one stage for a reason I presume will become apparent eventually) but there's something very annoying about Gaius, still, that really makes anything concerning him seriously get on my nerves.

Still, that notwithstanding, this was a terrific episode.

BSG 1.9 Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down

Crikey - was this Battlestar Galactica trying to tap into its funny side? Treading a fine line between open comedy and paranoid drama? Whether it was deliberate or not, the mix didn't work for me. The show doesn't have characters that can pull it off, beside Starbuck, and she wasn't really in this episode.

After the revelation that Adama might be a Cylon, the President decided she needed to be sure so wanted to insist that he be the first one to get tested on Gaius' new Cylon detection system. But what she didn't realise is that he had come to know of Ty's wife being alive and within the fleet, and he wanted to get her tested to see if she was a Cylon.

And so people were talking behind other people's backs, and lying and keeping secrets, and there was a lot of paranoid farce about the episode that, really, didn't hold any kind of drama whatsoever. The fact that Ty's wife was validated as not a Cylon (even though that might not be the case!) made my heart sink - she's so annoying and obtuse I'm really not keen on seeing any more of her.

And yes, it turns out that Gaius didn't tell anyone that Boomer is a Cylon because he has decided that he is going to pass everyone - so Ty's wife could indeed be a Cylon (the episode seemed heavily weighted towards selling that possibility) but apparently Gaius isn't telling. I knew I hated that guy! Never liked him from the start and now he's behaving like a complete lunatic.

Elsewhere Cylon Boomer and Helo ran through a sewer system for their small part of the episode. I've run out of interest with them. There's simply not enough of a hook to keep me entertained any longer. I keep waiting for the sub-plot to amount to something and so far, nothing. I have faith that it will, but I have no patience with my faith.

So, all in all, aside from the creepy end where Gaius revealed he's not in the business of revealing Cylons (WHY!?), this episode was a bit of a damp squib for me. The series is running into the finale now, though, so hopefully it will pick up the pace.

BSG 1.8 Flesh And Bone

Something of a return to quality, this episode, with the finding of another Cylon in the fleet there was the opportunity for Starbuck to interrogate him to find out what makes them tick. This produced some interesting debate about the Cylon's soul, their beliefs, their God. . .

Fundamentally the Cylon believed that when he died his soul would find its way to another body and he would live on. Starbuck challenged this idea and suggested that it was just his programming telling him this; that he had been made to believe this idea so he would not fear death. Ultimately, it came down to a question of faith - and when he was flushed out of the air lock it was clear that there was a lot of doubt about his beliefs, from both himself and Starbuck.

Interestingly, the Cylon spoke of how he could understand the patterns of the universe, and this enabled him to see into the future. He gave Starbuck a prophecy about how she would see the Kobol Gods and make it to Earth. If the Cylon really can see into the future, then it was intriguing that the episode started with Laura, the President, having a dream vision of the Cylon looking as he would when he was flushed out of the air lock.

If Laura can see the future, does this make her a Cylon?

Or, like the Cylon suggested, is Adama actually a secret Cylon?

The show is certainly having some fun raising this suspicion about the place, and only Gaius and his Cylon detector can resolve the matter! And it will be interesting to see how he acts with the information that Boomer is actually a Cylon. Will he believe his test? Will he tell the authorities? I would imagine he has to act on this information.

Meanwhile Cylon Boomer and Helo were shown on Caprica. I wonder if the plan for these two is basically to mate? Could it be that simple? That the goal is for Helo to love and impregnate Boomer to find out what the result is? Time will tell.

BSG 1.7 Six Degrees Of Separation

I’ve not taken to the Gaius/Blonde Cylon in his head storyline. It bugged me from the miniseries and its persistence has been an element of each episode that hasn’t engaged me, but I’ve taken it on board with the view that it would eventually get explained. As this episode focused in on that aspect, with the Blonde Cylon showing up on Galactica for all to see, I thought answers were coming.

Instead it raised more questions.

So the purpose of the episode was to continue the thread of making Gaius believe in God; the same God the Cylons apparently believe in. The ONLY God! So because Gaius, in his fantasy world, refuted Blonde Cylon she went out to destroy his life by appearing in his real world and having him accused of treason and about to be sentenced to death. Only when he turned to prayer were the charges dropped. Hallelujah.

The issue of how the Blonde Cylon appeared on Galactica remained unanswered. She apparently left a pair of glasses, tangible, and there was that scene where she was alone with the Commander. . . It’s all very confusing. Gaius asked the question at the end of whether or not she had ever existed for real, but there was no answer. That was my serious problem with the episode. There was the opportunity for clarification on this confusing matter and it was ignored.

I have to trust that it will eventually get resolved, but mostly I just hope it won’t take too long.

In the meantime Boomer had the word ‘Cylon’ written in her locker, with the chief suspect for me being Chief Engineer Tyrell. But something I have come to learn of, by accidentally glimpsing some things on the internet, is the existence of ‘the last Cylon’. I don’t exactly know any more than that, other than this is a guessing game that persists beyond Season 3.

I have gathered that it’s likely to be a character we already know proven to be a Cylon all along. It’s a piece of information I am not thrilled about having stumbled on beforehand, but since I have I ought to at least keep it in mind. So this episode showed Boomer looking at the Cylon Ship they had captured previously, and talking about it being a living thing. Being a Cylon, on whatever level, it’s normal that she would understand this stuff.

However, it was only Starbuck that was actually able to make the thing fly. This, for me, presents the idea that she could be a Cylon in waiting, too. This does at least explain how she was able to remarkably get the Cylon ship to fly in the first place on the planet she crashed on, since she would have an innate instinct for such things, but for now that’s all I have to go on.

Poor episode, is my ultimate response. The only one so far I’ve been rather impatient and bored with.

BSG 1.6 Litmus

Again, this felt like something of a transition episode, but I am also aware that with each episode this show peels back a layer about a particular aspect to the show and presents it with greater clarity. This episode was all about the Cylon moulds and their capacity to be in amongst the humans.

The PR man showed up onboard Galactica right at the start as a suicide bomber, having presumably been granted to access to a passageway after Boomer left a door open for him (probably she did it unwittingly as, I believe, she is herself unaware of her Cylon origins). This lead to the Chief Engineer Tyrell eventually dumping her ass after his secret dalliances with her made one of his guys have a spell in the brig.

The ‘court’ sequences felt interesting at first, but ultimately they didn’t go anywhere. Commander Adama, when the inquisitor turned on him, pulled rank and put the bitch in her place – a terrific moment, truth be told. But now the truth is out there amongst the population; that Cylons can become humans. I hope the paranoia aspect doesn’t get played up too much – but it does open the door for some interesting plot threads.

Perhaps the most interesting is whether Tyrell will come to the conclusion that Boomer really is a Cylon as his questioning of her at the end appeared to suggest.

Meanwhile on Caprica, Cylon Boomer and Helo were re-united after he had apparently affirmed that he cared for her. Apparently this is what the Cylons are keeping him alive for; that he is a good person and loves her. I recall the Blonde Cylon stating that God is love, and constantly talking about God to Gaius, and I have to figure the two are linked.

Perhaps what the Cylons are after is some kind of soul? The capacity to love? That they believe they can find God if they find love? It all sounds ethereal and whimsical and very unmachine-like, but then maybe that’s precisely what the Cylons are trying to elevate themselves to once they have supplanted the human race.

BSG 1.5 You Can't Go Home Again

The second part of the two-parter that had previously ended with Starbuck crash landing on a strange planet. This half, and episode, was very straightforward. Starbuck was missing, with limited oxygen, and it was a question of how long the Galactica fleet, notably Lee and Adama, would continue to look for her at the risk of the rest of their people.

A lot, was the answer, with Adama sacrificing the ruthlessness of his previous decisions concerning people’s lives over the fate of one. I guess this meant he had forgiven her for all that business concerning the death of his son!

Starbuck’s eventual survival and rescue was, to be fair, rather unlikely. Finding a wrecked Cylon ship, learning how to use its oxygen and then get the thing to fly being a fairly hard concept to buy. But, never-the-less, it did set up that brilliant climax to the show when Apollo read ‘Star Buck’ on the wings of the ship and realised she was alive. Everyone on Galactica cheered, and it was a brilliantly dumb moment to cheer along with.

The Cylon ship being biological and, basically, its own unique lifeform was a very interesting turn-up. Potentially the ship they now have can be examined and new things can be learned about the Cylons that ought to throw up things of interest.

Meanwhile the remainder of the episode concerned Helo and Cylon Boomer on Caprica, but that’s a plot that continues to nudge itself along without adding any real meat to itself. I am sure it will take shape soon, but I am hoping it’s all worth this limping along. Potentially it might have been better to ignore this plot strand and devote more of an episode to it, but since I don’t know where it’s going and how it will feed into the main Galactica and Cylon masterplan I can’t gauge that properly.

The next episode feels like it has something of a clean slate though, so I am interested to see which direction the show is going to take me into next. We’re only at the halfway point of this first season so I feel the seeds have been sown and now I should start to get a feel for where the conclusion is headed.

BSG 1.4 Act Of Contrition

This episode was always coming ever since Starbuck made her confession about being directly responsibly for the death of Zak Adama in passing him for flying despite his not being ready. This confession to Apollo had been delivered, but that was where it had ended. This episode handled that, by delivering this key confession to Commander Adama.

The punchline to that scene, with the Commander telling Starbuck to get out of his sight whilst she still could, held a lot of impact. Although you just know that he will go soft on her and like her again, because she’s the best pilot around and is far too useful for him to hate. But for that moment, the drama was, well, dramatic!

The episode was punctuated by flashbacks and flashforwards, some of which dragged a little bit but not much. It was fun watching the “nuggets” get a grilling as they go through training – it might even be possible that one of these nuggets becomes a more featured character so we can follow that journey, though I get the feeling that won’t be the case.

The ending to the episode certainly made up for it. The constant flashes throughout proceedings of Starbuck in peril, crashing down in her ship at an unknown time and place leant the episode an air of doom – so when the Cylons showed up during a training session the sense of something bad happening was extreme.

The episode ending on a ‘to be continued’ note (always a redundant phrase, I think, given a serial drama like this kind of show!) but it’s certainly something of a cliffhanger. Starbuck plummeting down to a planet having lost communications with the Galactica. I guess she’ll have to survive on whatever rock she has landed on for a while whilst a rescue mission takes place – but if the Cylons really have found the Galactica that rescue mission could become both highly-pressured and, indeed, considered more risky than just hitting the faster than light action and bailing. . .

BSG 1.3 Bastille Day

This, for me, was the first episode that betrayed the TV show aspect of the, ah, TV show that is Battlestar Galactica. Maybe it was just in the 'guest star' sense of the revolutionary prisoner taking a lead role in the episode and being a key driver of the plot. Maybe it was just having the episode mostly set on the prison ship. Like, our heroes turn up, get themselves into a bad scrape, but then they manage to sort everything out nicely in the end. Kind of formulaic, I guess.

Of course, the issue of democracy is one that does need to be pushed given the President is one of the key characters of the show, and the decisions made for the fleet are pretty much all about the fate of humanity - so it's a good place to lay out the themes. Maybe it was just a little heavy-handed. I didn't find the episode all that exciting, really; there was more of a feeling that the prisoners turning terrorists was an inconvenience requiring resolution.

Fundamentally, the prisoners were in no position to dictate terms and it was kind of annoying that they all just agreed with this one revolutionary guy despite the situation they were in.

Still, the issue of the President's cancer has appeared again, but otherwise there wasn't much advancement for the other plot points. Cylon Boomer and Helo continue to move on Caprica, but there's no sense of where that is headed. The two Cylons there discussed how humanity needed to be wiped out to make way for them, but there they were watching a human being allowed to live with a Cylon fooling him and praising her for it. Obviously, there's a larger plan but I don't see the end of it yet.

Similarly, the relationship between Starbuck and the drunk Ex-O (whatever his name is, and however that's spelled!) has been one of antagonism right from the start but it's not clear why that is or where that's supposed to be going either. Maybe the problem with this episode is that it all felt a little transitional, and filler.

BSG 1.2 Water

This episode was fundamentally, for me, about how the Cylons operate and hinting towards the idea of them having a masterplan of some kind. Through the Boomer character - who had unwarily planted six bombs around the Galactica - we saw how her 'Cylon side' over-rode her human consciousness and perpetrated deeds.

There was that strange moment, when she discovered water on a planet, where she was struggling to do the right thing - as though unable to comprehend why she could not announce that she had found water. Bizarrely, this suggested that the human side of her had a chance of winning out despite the fact that she is a Cylon!

It's not altogether clear what's happening there, but what is less clear for me is how the 'Boomer-Cylon' that is on Caprica with her stranded co-pilot could know him and build a relationship with him. In the miniseries there was the moment where Captain Adama confronted a dying Cylon; the dying Cylon claimed that once he died his consciousness would go to another body and then he would tell the other Cylons where the humans where.

This rules out a form of collective consciousness, I think. . . although I think Adama called his bluff on that front and told the dying Cylon that if he could have made the call he would have done it already. So maybe they do have a hive mind of sorts and I just mis-read that situation. A collective consciousness or hive mind would, at least, explain how 'Cylon Boomer' could know her co-pilot depite not being the regular Boomer on the Galactica.

Again, the question of why this co-pilot is being kept alive still remains. So far that dangling plot thread is not at all frustrating, given that so much action and tension is peppered throughout the rest of the proceedings.

There was, also, a hint towards some kind of relationship developing between Starbuck and Gaius. Again, I'm still not enthralled by Gaius and struggle to understand how he is so valued by the Galactica despite, for them, staring off into space all the time and talking to himself. He must have a hell of a reputation, but so far I am not seeing it.

Still, good episode - though it still feels like the series is gathering itself to its feet the trials and tribulations of the Galactica fleet trying to survive are more than entertaining so far.

BSG 1.1 Thirty-Three

I had the feeling, from the show's start (where we were thrown straight into the middle of a situation where the Cylons had been persistently pursuing the humans in thirty-three minute intervals) that the show was going to 'rewind' and show the build-up to this point. But it didn't. It literally put the audience in this situation and let us catch up with what had been going on neatly.

The exhaustion and the desperation of the situation continued the dark vein the show is tonally retaining, which I really enjoyed. The President writing the numbers of people left alive was a stark, black and white symbol of how dwindling and almost doomed the human race was.

I thought the show did linger a little too much on that Gaius character. Again, I hope it's going somewhere. Whilst his scenes with the Blonde Cylon did help with the narrative, she was constantly talking about God to him - forging him to believe that events were transpiring for and because of his beliefs. I have to assume this is a concept that is being taken somewhere. I don't understand why she is helping him. I am not even sure if she is really there; whether she is not part of the Cylons at all and just a part of his psyche!

This may all feed into the Cylon's masterplan, though. The co-pilot guy that was presumed dead for the miniseries turned up, surviving on the colony, but was captured by a Cylon Boomer. Why not just kill him? What is their intention? Again, with the ship that was being tracked, Apollo could not see any passengers on board? Had the Cylons taken them? Is there some form of human harvest taking place?

Like the fact that the Cylons were attacking in thirty-three minute intervals, their motivations and rationale remain unclear but intriguing. But this episode was a great opening - continuing the intensity of the miniseries and the ruthlessness in its uncompromising unfolding. Long may this continue!

BSG Pre-Season 1 Miniseries

I'd never watched, nor even seen clips of, Battlestar Galactica. But people had recommended it, and Lost had finished its fourth season so I had nothing else to focus on, so I decided I would give it a whirl. This blog will chart my reaction as I watch each episode as I work my way through the show just as a different kind of diary, journal endeavour.

So the miniseries, as I didn't know beforehand, was actually three hours long in total! And yet on reflection it's a three hours that really zips past. I thought the first half hour was interesting - showing the woman who would become president having breast cancer, and that womanising scientist Gaius (probably spelled incorrectly) involved with the mysterious blonde. All mysterious plot threads that I hoped wouldn't keep teasing the audience with stuff yet to be revealed. . .

And it didn't. Suddenly there was a nuclear attack, the Cylons launching a full-on assault and as humanity began to get wiped out colony by colony, ship by ship, I realised what this miniseries was setting up: Battlestar Galactica was going to be the last refuge for the entire human race against the Cylon forces.

Wow, I thought. This was far more full-on than I anticpated, relishing a show that wasn't afraid of really going for it. It was darker and grittier than I expected (a notable highlight being the moment Boomer and her co-pilot were defending themselves against survivors desperate to get on their ship) with the choice to leave the ships that could not perform Faster Than Light travel being left behind to save the majority being one moral hardline dramatically handled.

It felt like adult stuff, sophisticated in its handling of audience's expectations and intelligence.

I liked the special-effects and the action sequences. I don't know if a lot of money was spent on this miniseries that perhaps won't be splashed out on the rest of the real series (I hope so) but it was impressive stuff. And the fact that the Cylons' agenda probably amounts to more than just wiping out humanity is an interesting angle. Like that blonde woman who claims she is in love with Gaius, appearing in his own imagination (?) to converse and flirt with him. Not sure what that is all about, and I did feel the show spent a little too long with them, but maybe it's headed somewhere very interesting so I am willing to go with it.

The ending was all about Boomer, revealed to be a Cylon. There was a note left for the Captain about how there are only 12 types of Cylon (who left that note? did I miss something?) and between Boomer and that reporter guy and the blonde and a couple of the others that have turned up we have seen some of their 'moulds'. Is Boomer aware of being a Cylon, or a sleeper agent? I feel she's probably a sleeper, but I shall see.

Overall I was more than impressed with the start of the show - it bettered my expectations and I am looking forward to getting stuck into the series properly. The Galactica is on a mission to find a mythological Earth - which we the audience know is not a myth at all! - which begs the question of whether this is an Earth of the future, or the past, or the present day. That's if they ever make it, of course. . .