shallowness (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shallowness) wrote2021-01-24 09:43 am
shallowness) wrote2021-01-24 09:43 am
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BSG 3.05 and 3.06
Woke up to a dusting of snow this morning. I watched these two eps on two consecutive nights.
BSG 3.5 Conspirators
It feels like this was the right thing to focus on in the aftermath, not resources (although I would like some more clarity about military roles, because I presumed Tigh had resigned from his commission, so Helo would be of the same rank and Lee might outrank them both and therefore take his place? I presume it’s less contentious if Tyrol slots back, but what about Kara and Kat as CAG?)
Anyway, I didn’t realise Baltar was dreaming until Adama reacted to Six. I can only claim my poor eyesight is to blame for my not registering that Tigh had both his eyes (I immediately rewound that scene to ascertain that, which meant even Baltar recognising what was going on with dream!Roslin fancying him.) Having Baltar’s fate be judged by the Cylons alongside the similar events in the fleet worked well. Possibly the most important line was the confirmation that there are only seven clones (with however many copies), and we’ve seen them all, so they won’t be drawing from that narrative well again. Seven is a perfect number in Judeo-Christianity, but I was always assuming they’d be twelve like the humans’ colonies (which is where the six for the circle came from??) but no. And the Sixes were undecided. I think the encounter between Resurrected!Six and Gaius (in his ridiculous robe, while the Cylon ladies chose flattering dresses) would have landed better if we’d seen more of their interaction on New Cylon. I don’t know if we’ll get flashbacks to fill that void.
Meanwhile, I was aghast at the ‘legal’ Circle, which no, wasn’t a deliberation by their peers, and they were being judge, jury and executioner – granted, I don’t know where they’d have found people who hadn’t been affected by the police and other collaborators'* actions, other than people who had remained offplanet, but I would suggest ‘not the leaders of the resistance’ would be a good place to start, And Tigh was definitely angry and seeking revenge.
I was really slow to work out that Verek had authorised it, although I heard the first time that he was de facto President. Either I was too caught up in the Roslin-Verek dynamic, or hadn’t really taken it in (how did it come about? Was he Veep to Gaius? It would have helped me if we’d seen a scene where this was confirmed) because I’d assumed Roslin would be President now as is her rightful place…but I was with her on pointing out that it was wrong and corrosive for the society. It has to be carried out by society at large through a ritualised means that allows for fair representation, as shown by Gaeta’s case. There are mitigating factors – but I’m also coming at this from a country that doesn’t have the death penalty. *But also, as has been recognised in the past, people are a limited resource.)
Of course, BSG being BSG, Verek had a pragmatic response (although I don’t forget you were formerly a terrorist, so I wouldn’t look to you for ethics advice, sir) about what trials would mean and how they’d be corrosive in a different way. Roslin’s solution felt like the best of a bad job, and the real-life echoes of a ‘truth and reconciliation’ path forward were sobering.
Tyrol was the most conflicted member of the Circle, because of Kallie and the killing list, and the complications of the police officer and Gaeta helping her. There was also the remnant of the soldier and the few times he’s been in trouble with the law, which is all tied up in Kallie, in the mix. It was really striking that none of the other members of the Circle could answer his questions about the proof of Gaeta’s guilt. Their arguments were always other.
Interesting that Anders came to a similar place…and the second he was done, they turned to his wife. Um, okay. Poor Kara. She needs a punching bag AND A THERAPIST, although all she got was her and Anders finally starting to talk a little about the effect of what had happened on her.
Meanwhile, poor Gaeta, paying the price for being incredibly stupid for a smart guy who had worked with Baltar in the past (as I’ve said before) but who had done his best to mitigate things once the Cylons took over. (Of course, none of them know that Gaius was to blame for the nuclear blast, although Adama was suspicious.) Adama brought him back because he needs all hands on deck, and he and Lee weren’t planetside. Tigh went ballistic, because of Ellen (who wasn’t good people by any objective metric, Colonel Biased Widower.)
Kara conveniently had some stuff in storage, but the refugees being on the bunks did show the scramble of The Second Exodus.
This episode was stellar on the logical outcomes of what had happened.
3.6 Torn
More fallout. I found the stuff with Gaius and the Cylons frustratingly arty and confusing. (Seriously, if we have more scenes of a woozy, just-woken up Gaius in future episodes…) The big thing though is that ACTUALLY, there are five other Cylon bodies, making a total of twelve, but the Seven ‘don’t talk about them’ (and they don’t get resurrected? SRSLY every time I am told ‘AND THEY HAVE A PLAN’ I roll my eyes.) Gaius automatically thought projection meant he was a Cylon, I thought it was a reminder that the Cylons are the children of humanity. (Also, he didn’t test himself? Cocky so-and-so.)
We met a hybrid, making the base ships living ships (which makes me think of Moya, but it’s only an extension on the Raiders and the Cylons’ connection with their technology.)
The poisoned base star was paralleled by Adama’s description of grumpy trauma survivors Tigh and Kara, but as he called them other stuff too, it wasn’t overdone. It seems that Baltar can still cross new lines, by killing a Six to save himself, but failing to cover up his tracks all that well so Resurrected!Six knows there was something to see. Who knows if the beacon was meant to be poisonous – the thirteenth colony probably didn’t have Cylons, but who knows about the replaying history angle. I don’t think Caprica!Sharon (thank goodness they gave her a new callsign because referring to her as Mrs Lieutenant Agathon didn’t feel right and was a mouthful) hasn’t ot poisoned, though she was spouting prophetic mumbo jumbo that, if I’m honest, I didn’t quite catch, so if it’s important, I hope they repeat it in a future ‘previously’.
Um, wouldn’t they have recognied the lion’s head as being a reference to Leo or whatever they call that sign?
But we did get some answers to my questions about military rank/roles: Helo is XO, Tigh is bitter (but, AGAIN, you chose to become a civilian), and Apollo is in charge of the pilots because that’s his gift despite his rank. Those pilots included Kara, who having had no therapy, found common cause with Tigh and dismissed the others’ experiences (Kat had a point about the dead pilots and Lee was right to ground her, Starbuck.)
Not clear how, other than mystic ship’s captain/Daddy knows all, Adama knew what was going on. He said what he had to say to the two malcontents – although he said Kara was no longer his daughter, her act of chopping off her hair (the actress’s extensions, surely) tied her to Adama shaving off her moustache. Though with Lee back to fitness, the Chief and Tyrol back working on Vipers and the probability that there are more Cylons lurking, New Caprica and the Occupation is in danger of being just a blip.
That child they’ve got playing Kaycee is SUCH A MOPPET. But Kara’s rejection of her and subsequent willingness to open up to her said a lot about her mental state (no sign of Anders, but then with all the Cylons they had a lot of guest characters.) I thought ‘Conspirators’ was the better of these two, more structurally satisfying.
BSG 3.5 Conspirators
It feels like this was the right thing to focus on in the aftermath, not resources (although I would like some more clarity about military roles, because I presumed Tigh had resigned from his commission, so Helo would be of the same rank and Lee might outrank them both and therefore take his place? I presume it’s less contentious if Tyrol slots back, but what about Kara and Kat as CAG?)
Anyway, I didn’t realise Baltar was dreaming until Adama reacted to Six. I can only claim my poor eyesight is to blame for my not registering that Tigh had both his eyes (I immediately rewound that scene to ascertain that, which meant even Baltar recognising what was going on with dream!Roslin fancying him.) Having Baltar’s fate be judged by the Cylons alongside the similar events in the fleet worked well. Possibly the most important line was the confirmation that there are only seven clones (with however many copies), and we’ve seen them all, so they won’t be drawing from that narrative well again. Seven is a perfect number in Judeo-Christianity, but I was always assuming they’d be twelve like the humans’ colonies (which is where the six for the circle came from??) but no. And the Sixes were undecided. I think the encounter between Resurrected!Six and Gaius (in his ridiculous robe, while the Cylon ladies chose flattering dresses) would have landed better if we’d seen more of their interaction on New Cylon. I don’t know if we’ll get flashbacks to fill that void.
Meanwhile, I was aghast at the ‘legal’ Circle, which no, wasn’t a deliberation by their peers, and they were being judge, jury and executioner – granted, I don’t know where they’d have found people who hadn’t been affected by the police and other collaborators'* actions, other than people who had remained offplanet, but I would suggest ‘not the leaders of the resistance’ would be a good place to start, And Tigh was definitely angry and seeking revenge.
I was really slow to work out that Verek had authorised it, although I heard the first time that he was de facto President. Either I was too caught up in the Roslin-Verek dynamic, or hadn’t really taken it in (how did it come about? Was he Veep to Gaius? It would have helped me if we’d seen a scene where this was confirmed) because I’d assumed Roslin would be President now as is her rightful place…but I was with her on pointing out that it was wrong and corrosive for the society. It has to be carried out by society at large through a ritualised means that allows for fair representation, as shown by Gaeta’s case. There are mitigating factors – but I’m also coming at this from a country that doesn’t have the death penalty. *But also, as has been recognised in the past, people are a limited resource.)
Of course, BSG being BSG, Verek had a pragmatic response (although I don’t forget you were formerly a terrorist, so I wouldn’t look to you for ethics advice, sir) about what trials would mean and how they’d be corrosive in a different way. Roslin’s solution felt like the best of a bad job, and the real-life echoes of a ‘truth and reconciliation’ path forward were sobering.
Tyrol was the most conflicted member of the Circle, because of Kallie and the killing list, and the complications of the police officer and Gaeta helping her. There was also the remnant of the soldier and the few times he’s been in trouble with the law, which is all tied up in Kallie, in the mix. It was really striking that none of the other members of the Circle could answer his questions about the proof of Gaeta’s guilt. Their arguments were always other.
Interesting that Anders came to a similar place…and the second he was done, they turned to his wife. Um, okay. Poor Kara. She needs a punching bag AND A THERAPIST, although all she got was her and Anders finally starting to talk a little about the effect of what had happened on her.
Meanwhile, poor Gaeta, paying the price for being incredibly stupid for a smart guy who had worked with Baltar in the past (as I’ve said before) but who had done his best to mitigate things once the Cylons took over. (Of course, none of them know that Gaius was to blame for the nuclear blast, although Adama was suspicious.) Adama brought him back because he needs all hands on deck, and he and Lee weren’t planetside. Tigh went ballistic, because of Ellen (who wasn’t good people by any objective metric, Colonel Biased Widower.)
Kara conveniently had some stuff in storage, but the refugees being on the bunks did show the scramble of The Second Exodus.
This episode was stellar on the logical outcomes of what had happened.
3.6 Torn
More fallout. I found the stuff with Gaius and the Cylons frustratingly arty and confusing. (Seriously, if we have more scenes of a woozy, just-woken up Gaius in future episodes…) The big thing though is that ACTUALLY, there are five other Cylon bodies, making a total of twelve, but the Seven ‘don’t talk about them’ (and they don’t get resurrected? SRSLY every time I am told ‘AND THEY HAVE A PLAN’ I roll my eyes.) Gaius automatically thought projection meant he was a Cylon, I thought it was a reminder that the Cylons are the children of humanity. (Also, he didn’t test himself? Cocky so-and-so.)
We met a hybrid, making the base ships living ships (which makes me think of Moya, but it’s only an extension on the Raiders and the Cylons’ connection with their technology.)
The poisoned base star was paralleled by Adama’s description of grumpy trauma survivors Tigh and Kara, but as he called them other stuff too, it wasn’t overdone. It seems that Baltar can still cross new lines, by killing a Six to save himself, but failing to cover up his tracks all that well so Resurrected!Six knows there was something to see. Who knows if the beacon was meant to be poisonous – the thirteenth colony probably didn’t have Cylons, but who knows about the replaying history angle. I don’t think Caprica!Sharon (thank goodness they gave her a new callsign because referring to her as Mrs Lieutenant Agathon didn’t feel right and was a mouthful) hasn’t ot poisoned, though she was spouting prophetic mumbo jumbo that, if I’m honest, I didn’t quite catch, so if it’s important, I hope they repeat it in a future ‘previously’.
Um, wouldn’t they have recognied the lion’s head as being a reference to Leo or whatever they call that sign?
But we did get some answers to my questions about military rank/roles: Helo is XO, Tigh is bitter (but, AGAIN, you chose to become a civilian), and Apollo is in charge of the pilots because that’s his gift despite his rank. Those pilots included Kara, who having had no therapy, found common cause with Tigh and dismissed the others’ experiences (Kat had a point about the dead pilots and Lee was right to ground her, Starbuck.)
Not clear how, other than mystic ship’s captain/Daddy knows all, Adama knew what was going on. He said what he had to say to the two malcontents – although he said Kara was no longer his daughter, her act of chopping off her hair (the actress’s extensions, surely) tied her to Adama shaving off her moustache. Though with Lee back to fitness, the Chief and Tyrol back working on Vipers and the probability that there are more Cylons lurking, New Caprica and the Occupation is in danger of being just a blip.
That child they’ve got playing Kaycee is SUCH A MOPPET. But Kara’s rejection of her and subsequent willingness to open up to her said a lot about her mental state (no sign of Anders, but then with all the Cylons they had a lot of guest characters.) I thought ‘Conspirators’ was the better of these two, more structurally satisfying.