The Question Remains

This one's for Leeann.

So on the one hand we have Jean-Luc Picard's warm friendly sometimes mentor-like take on command.


And on the other hand we have grisly Bill Adama, who's take on command is essentially making every crew member of the Galactica a surrogate son/daughter.

(I guess it's too soon or something because all of the BSG stuff on youtube is either a trailer or a creepy music video montage.)

Clearly, Picard and Adama faced wildly different situations. Picard captained the flagship of the Federation, primarily tasked with scientific surveys and diplomacy. And he was awesome at it. Plus he defeated the Borg. A lot. Even when they cheated (energy shields adjusting to bullets is so bullshit.) Adama commanded a decommissioned battlestar that became the last defense of the tens of thousands of humans who survived the Cylon holocaust. And he so completely rocked at it that half of the Cylons decided to throw their chips in with him.

So how to decide between them? Well one way is to try to figure out who I would rather serve under. On the surface that doesn't work out so well because in the Star Trek TNG universe I would totally want to serve under Picard, but in the Galactica universe I'd totally want to serve under Adama. But let's look a little deeper.

Adama was totally willing to risk a civil war amongst the tattered remnants of humanity to save the lives of two of his favorite surrogate sons. Which is all kinds of crazy and wonderful. The world ended and Bill Adama essentially saves the human race by being its dad. I don't think a captain who's casual enough with his crew to the point where the chief medical officer totally has creepy ghost sex in front of him could pull that off. But Adama is a soldier, not a diplomat and the Star Trek TNG universe never asks anyone to "roll the hard 6". Adama would kill Romulans and Borg like James Tiberius Kirk killed Klingons, but a lot of treaties would go unsigned and first contact situations would be...problematic.

So who's better? That's still tough. I know that I'd rather have an ascendant humanity over one on the verge of extinction and that a Star Trek future is a hell of a lot brighter than a BSG future. So if the choice was about picking fates, then Picard all the way. But if the choice is just about who I'd prefer to by my commanding officer in a universe that's neither Battlestar bleak or Federation florescent then my gut says Bill Adama. (And as a bonus Tigh's alcoholism caused the Galactica and her crew less trouble than Riker's sex drive caused the Enterprise and hers.)

England Slowly Losing Its Status...

...as my second favorite English speaking country (USA #1!). And it started off with one heck of an advantage with that whole parent country thing. But seriously, England, how am I supposed to keep you in that highly coveted spot when Australia does things like this and you do... what exactly? England, you created Doctor Who, how can you let Australian Who fandom surpass your own? You're slipping, England, that's how. Get back on the ball.

BSG Post...The Cheat

This is a cheat post, but the real deal will be coming shortly.



This guy is actually writing a song a day. He takes requests too. Double click the video for the link to the website because I'm feeling lazy tonight.

Okay.

To atone for being such a serious Sally yesterday, I'm going promise you the BSG finale post tonight. I've just been having a hard time not making it a response to all the criticism because I think it deserves more than that.

Also? Steampunk case mods.

Hat tip, Kevin for the link.

No Hat Eating For Me.

IO9 interviews BSG creator Ron Moore- I wonder what he has to say about Daniel....

How about fan theories over the show, like mention of a missing Cylon named Daniel? After his name was mentioned, the fans just went wild online. Did you intend for that to happen, and was he supposed to inspire this big fan-driven backstory?

You know, the Daniel thing is going to be one of the great fiascos of the show, in terms of what fans thought and what the truth was. Because Daniel was not intended to be anything more than an interesting bit of backstory in that episode. And that's how we approached it. It was just a story that Cavil and Ellen tell each other, that sort of goes to the idea of who Cavil was and how deep his resentments were, and his jealous nature - and [we wanted to] do a Cain and Abel allegory. That was all it was.

Doesn't get much more clear than that.

The BSG Post....

Oh holy frak.

Where to begin?

Starbuck palled around with her dad's ghost/angel/hallucination. Also, girl has like the worst dreams ever. Like frakkin' crucial. Her dad's ghost/memory/whatever + Hera = All Along the Watchtower. But Hera's the only hybrid (that's why they retconned baby Nicky's paternity) so her dad's not Daniel. (*Ahem* fellow fan wankers. And I'll eat my hat- or just massive crow- if I'm wrong about that.) So instead of any real answers, we get more frakking questions.

But the big news of the night is that Boomer has officially gone beyond the pale for me. Waylaying Athena and then frakking her husband in the head while she's bound, gagged, and half conscious in a stall is bad enough. But then she kidnaps Hera? Dude, not cool. And that frakking stunt with the FTL jump right next to Galactica? Way to frak everyone over.

I don't even know what to frakkin say at this point.

We knew these last 10 episodes were going to be one hell of a ride. It's crazy how if you look back and try to make a list of all the shit that's gone down since Earth it feels so much longer than that. This was just number 8, folks. Look how far we've come.

Cylons now have a representative in the new ship-based Quorum. Naturally it's another Six- Sonja. They ask to try Boomer for treason because the Cylons so aren't feeling that "Rag Tag Gang On The Run" shit that saved Gaius Baltar from the metaphorical gallows, (of course, he was on trial for the only crime he didn't actually commit, so there is that) and were all set to make Boomer the Cylon Captain Henry Wirz.

Unfortunately for all sides Chief has always emoted first, acted second, and thought third. He frees Boomer and helps her escape (unknowingly, also helps her abduct Hera). So Boomer proves that everyone was right about her except for Chief Tyrol and myself. And you better believe that when he was begging Roslin and Adama for her life I was right there with him because like him I wanted to believe in that young dumb kid who was frakking the chief all over the goddsdamn ship thinking she was getting away with it. Chief Tyrol and I now have something in common with the now deceased Felix Gaeta. Blinded by hope.

2 episodes to go, and the last one is a two- parter (in keeping with tradition) the second part of which will be two hours long. Holy frak.

Battlestar!

Tonight the journey continues. Season 4.5. The re-watch is on track. I'll watch the final episode of 4.0 when I get home from work. It should wrap up half an hour before the new episode. I am ridiculously excited. And as you can tell, the opening of the second half of the final season means getting back to regular BSG blogging. So even if nothing else is going on here, you can at least expect that much from me.

If you haven't gotten through The Ties That Bind in season 4.0 then you should probably skip over the rest of this post.






Let's talk about Cally for a second. For a long time Cally was my least favorite character on BSG. Out of all of the stories and character arcs that we explored hers progressed the least. Did it progress at all? I don't know. Even Dualla grew. Cally never did. She shot Boomer. And honestly, I've never forgiven her character for that. She ate and talked and joked and worked with Boomer for two years. Lived with Boomer for two years. And she shot her. And not once did she look back and question that. Not once did she stop and think to re-evaluate her premises. When The Ties That Bind first aired, I actually cheered at the end. I'm sorry for that.

Let's talk about Cally for a second. She joined the fleet to pay for dental school and the world ended. And Cally stood her post. Remember when D'Anna made that documentary about the men and women of Galactica? That statistic Gaeta gave her? Not one person aboard Galactica asked to be discharged. That includes Cally, folks. This scared little girl who wanted to be a dentist and the world ended. She loved the Chief. The Chief loved Boomer, a friend who turned into an enemy who then shot Adama- shot dad. Eventually she married Chief and they had a son. New Caprica was a nightmare. When we find her in season 4 she's depressed. On anti-depressants and not sleeping. Paranoid and even more scared than she's ever been. And she's always been such a scared slip of a girl doing grown-up things without thinking grown-up thoughts or feeling grown-up feelings. And her dream which was going bad becomes a nightmare. Cally never learned to burn off what didn't work. I'd like to think that she found some sort of peace or grace before she died, but I'm not sure she did. But I cried this time around. For the little girl floating frozen and alone in space.

Season 3

Some questions and ideas coming into season 3:

1.) In 345 days how many times did Starbuck kill Leoben?
2.) How much does Ellen love Saul?
3.) To what extent can we forgive her for the choices (all of them but one)
she made because of that love?
4.) When did you realize that you could love Cain?
5.) Baltar?
6.) How do you define 'us' and 'them'?
7.) How many times have they killed Boomer and how much more does it hurt every time?

Moving Along Nicely....

The Great BSG Re-watch continues. I'm two episodes away from finishing season 2.0. I'll begin season 2.5 before I call it a night. I'll make a lengthy BSG post before I start season 3.

It Has Begun!

I picked up season 4.0 of BSG on my way home from work this evening. The Great Battlestar Rewatch began at roughly 7pm. My goal? To make it from the mini-series/pilot to the last episode of the first half of the 4th season by the airing of the first episode of the second half of the 4th and final season on Friday.

There are no words to describe how ridiculously excited I am over the conclusion of this show. Honestly, it's quite possibly the best tv show in the history of ever.

To my fellow fans who are hopefully engaged in similar antics, Good night and good luck.