Battlestar Galactica Episode Thread by MacBaker

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Battlestar Galactica Episode Thread

POSTED BY: MACBAKER
UPDATED: Saturday, February 12, 2005 21:45
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Saturday, January 22, 2005 12:15 AM

Just to keep interest in this series going, I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread to discuss each week's episode (North American Market).

This week's episode (Jan 21st.) was "Bastille Day".

I'll try to keep this as spoiler free as possible (for those who plan to catch it during one of the other nights it will air this weekend), but it might be good idea to avoid this thread until you've had a chance to watch the latest episode.

Personally, I liked this episode. I thought Richard Hatch played an interesting character, and the story was well crafted and should have repercussions in future episodes. I'm also amazed at how good Richard looks for a 60yr. old. Even in the close-ups, he looked at least ten years younger.

Helo's appearace in this episode was brief, but did answer a few questions.

I liked Adama's scene with Baltar. The more I watch Baltar, the more I believe Six isn't a chip, but his own broken mind playing with him. It also showed that despite Six's help, he can be quite brilliant on his own.

Apollo got to kick some ass and save Cally, and this should go along way to establishing he's not quite the wimp some viewers have thought. Cally fighting off the convict, and doing a Niska on him in the process was great! I'm starting to like this gal! LOL

I also liked it when Apollo faced off with both Adama and the President at the end of the episode. He had very valid points, and defended himself well.

Starbuck's last scene with Tigh was great. It's about time he gave her a taste of her own medicine, after their heated encounter at the end of the mini-series. One issue I did have with Tigh, was that he was drinking again! Did he show up at the briefing drunk? Seemed that way to me. Off duty is one thing, but on duty?

Overall, I liked this episode, and I love that no one on this show appears to be perfect. They are all flawed in some way. It's such a refreshing contrast to the original show, and other shows like Star Trek and Andromeda.

It's not Firefly, but it has the potential to be as great in a different way.

I'd given some thought to movin' off the edge -- not an ideal location -- thinkin' a place in the middle.

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Saturday, January 22, 2005 3:17 AM

THEGREYJEDI

I never saw the original series but have caught the last episode and this most recent one. I think it's done very well. All of the actors give a good show, and the writing is good.

This episode had a lot of politics being tossed around, especially in the end with Adama, Apollo and Madame President. But then, given that my name is Justice, seeing a character stand up for the law is something I like to see from time to time. I really find myself liking Apollo, at least in this series. Of high rank, but not the highest. Young, but experienced. Cool in the heat of things. Blunt when he needs to be. I do have to say this, though. Having the actor who played Apollo way back in the day having a philosophical/political debate was intriguing. I have to say, I like this series very much. I hate that I missed the mini-series last year. Does anyone know where I can find it, via download or torrent?

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Saturday, January 22, 2005 7:48 AM

REEQUEEN

Quote:
Does anyone know where I can find it, via download or torrent?

My Oldest Son has been downloading it all from Loki, I think. That's what I heard last, anyway.

http://www.lokitorrent.com/

"He has a gorm horizon. All gorm that falls past it is lost forever." UserFriendly http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050114

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Saturday, January 22, 2005 7:58 AM

REEQUEEN

Please excuse the serial post - it seems that's just the way this thing works, and I'd rather address the recap separately:

MacBaker:

Quote:
Personally, I liked this episode. I thought Richard Hatch played an interesting character, and the story was well crafted and should have repercussions in future episodes. I'm also amazed at how good Richard looks for a 60yr. old. Even in the close-ups, he looked at least ten years younger.

I've been sucked into this series like a sucked-in thing. Richard Hatch is 60? Cheerist, he looks like he's in his forties. Jeebus. I thought I looked young for my age!

Quote:
Helo's appearace in this episode was brief, but did answer a few questions.

What? What questions? All it did for me was ask some new ones, and last night, as I was lying awake, tossing and turning, I tried to remember if I had really only seen one Caprica scene.

Quote:
Starbuck's last scene with Tigh was great. It's about time he gave her a taste of her own medicine, after their heated encounter at the end of the mini-series. One issue I did have with Tigh, was that he was drinking again! Did he show up at the briefing drunk? Seemed that way to me. Off duty is one thing, but on duty?

Yep, agreed, the scene was brilliant. I loathe and despise Tigh, but I'm starting to loathe and despise him in a way that makes me like him more.

As for the alcohol - he only had two shots from his (presumedly) last bottle of Scotch. As the former sister-in-law of a man who killed himself with alcohol, and part of that which killed him was going cold turkey, I think Tigh's drinking will have to end as the alcohol becomes more scarce and then is completely unavailable. Unless Callie makes a still. (Or perhaps I'm cross-referencing Kaylee's still on Firefly?)

If Tigh is a long-time alcoholic, without medical treatment, going cold turkey is as likely to damage him as continuing to drink. The chances of him seeking medical assistance are low.

The verisimilitude works for me, anyway.

Quote:
Overall, I liked this episode, and I love that no one on this show appears to be perfect. They are all flawed in some way. It's such a refreshing contrast to the original show, and other shows like Star Trek and Andromeda.

Haven't watched Andromeda, but I see what you're saying and agree. Kinda makes me wonder why I'm posting this, really.

Quote:
It's not Firefly, but it has the potential to be as great in a different way.

Abso-fuckin'-lutely.

"He has a gorm horizon. All gorm that falls past it is lost forever." UserFriendly http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050114

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Saturday, January 22, 2005 8:35 AM

GINOBIFFARONI

I'm not posting this as a spoiler, but does everyone know that this show is only having a thirteen ep season ???

I have been watching it on Sky One via torrent, and at the end of number twelve they say hey tune in next week for the series finale............

Just about lost it, I hope they are only calling it a " series finale " because Sci-fi is waiting to see how the US ratings go before renewing it.

Great Writing, great acting, great effects

What else can be said

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Saturday, January 22, 2005 9:05 AM

TOMANTA

Quote:
Originally posted by GinoBiffaroni:
I'm not posting this as a spoiler, but does everyone know that this show is only having a thirteen ep season ???

I recently read that there has been another 5 episodes ordered/about to start filming.

Presumably, that'd be the first part of Season 2.

"FOX! Where the shit hits the fans." - Tim Minear

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Saturday, January 22, 2005 11:51 AM

MACBAKER

Quote:
Originally posted by GinoBiffaroni:
I'm not posting this as a spoiler, but does everyone know that this show is only having a thirteen ep season ???

I have been watching it on Sky One via torrent, and at the end of number twelve they say hey tune in next week for the series finale............

Just about lost it, I hope they are only calling it a " series finale " because Sci-fi is waiting to see how the US ratings go before renewing it.

Great Writing, great acting, great effects

What else can be said

I wouldn't worry too much about it yet. If I'm not mistaken, in England and Canada, they call a season, a series. Therefore, season one is referred to as Series 1. So, the last episode of season 1, would be a "series" finale. Then comes season/series 2.

I'd given some thought to movin' off the edge -- not an ideal location -- thinkin' a place in the middle.

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Saturday, January 22, 2005 5:01 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Well, I decided to give this show a chance. It's not terrible. In fact, it has a gritty, raw edge to it that I kinda like. It's really weird though, seeing some vaguly familiar images but in up-dated form. I still see Starbuck as being a bit butch for my liking, but that's just me.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Sunday, January 23, 2005 8:15 AM

MRSKBORG

Thirteen is about the right number of epsiodes in a series over here in the UK and personnaly I can't wait til tomorrow nights season finale. What a great series this as been. Richard Hatch was brilliant in the couple of episodes he guest starred in. This has great actors, really dark and gritty stories, and great effects too. I for one am hoping that it goes down well stateside so we all can get more of this!

"This movie may be a beautiful butterfly, but I loved that damn caterpillar." Joss Whedon.

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Sunday, January 23, 2005 1:30 PM

LIONHEART

My understanding was that since Sky put up some of the funding and due to the risks for Sci-Fi showing the series in the US only 13 eps were made. These would be the first season/series (interchangeable words for this idea in the England) and would be shown in the UK first. Depending on the ratings Sci-Fi would show the series in the US. Well it obviously got good enough ratings for that.
Now if the rest of the series gets good ratings over with you guys and girls in the US then Sci-Fi will continue the series. However seasons on Galactica will only ever be 13eps because Sci-Fi is a relatively small channel and the cost of the show is huge. Even with Stagate and spinoff doing well Sci-Fi don't have enough money to sustain Galactica for longer runs.
Hopefully we'll all get more quality as a result.
Keep watching, the series gets even better, it's as good as Firefly in many ways.

"Be bloody, bold and resolute..." Macbeth, Shakespeare
Some have said it sums me up.

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Monday, January 24, 2005 4:19 AM

PANIC

As was just mentioned, in Britain what we would call a season finale is termed a "series finale." The first season of the new BSG was always intended to have only 13 episodes. Also, as was noted above, Sci-Fi is very excited about the success of the series -- in fact they had already ordered scripts for the first half of the second season (six more scripts) before the show even aired in the U.S.

As far as the ratings go, BSG has been extremely successful for Sci-Fi so far. The first two episodes yielded the highest January ratings ever for Sci-Fi, and the second highest numbers ever -- following the series premiere of Stargate: Atalantis. What's more, the ratings improved from the first week to the second, which rarely happens. Even more impotantly, BSG beat out Enterprise and most of the major network shows in the critical deomgraphics.

Looks like we get more BSG!

All bleeding eventually stops.

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Friday, January 28, 2005 8:50 PM

NEEDLESEYE

Anyone watched tonights epi, "Act of Contrition"?
I am becoming more and more impressed with Starbuck/Sackhoff. I wasn't against the idea of Starbuck being a female, but thought it a little odd. I was open to it. I'm thinkin', now, she has some big cajones and some personality depth.
She's even reminding me of Dirk Benedict. Would you say she's "swarmy" or a "scoundrel"? What is it? The descriptive term evades me!

I was happy not to see Baltar and is mental minx no.6 . I did miss Baltar's double talk though, it's excellent.

Keeper of Jayne's goggles. 8)

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Saturday, January 29, 2005 3:20 AM

BANRIGH

Mental Minx, that's a good one. Have to remember that.

Kick-ass the word that comes into mind when describing this Starbuck.

Did they kiss your ass to your satisfaction?

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Saturday, January 29, 2005 3:27 AM

HARDWARE

And a spoiler-ish tease from those of us who have seen all 13 episodes so far...

Select to view spoiler:

For those folks who think Starbuck is too butch, you might change your mind when you see her squirming underneath the character she eventually bumps uglies with. I'll leave it to your imagination WHO she does the nasty with, but let's just say it is a character with a lot of power.

Okay, spoiler,.. not so much.

The more I get to know people the more I like my dogs.

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Saturday, January 29, 2005 5:35 AM

DARKJESTER

This is a minor complaint, but is there anyone else who thinks the UK version's theme music is much better than the US version's? For the first half, the one is haunting and dissonant, while the other just seems muddled and unfocused. They both share the drum-driven rhythmic second half while showing previews of the episode that follows.

Or is this another of those "just me" observations?

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

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Saturday, January 29, 2005 7:32 AM

HARDWARE

Quote:
Originally posted by DarkJester:
This is a minor complaint, but is there anyone else who thinks the UK version's theme music is much better than the US version's? For the first half, the one is haunting and dissonant, while the other just seems muddled and unfocused. They both share the drum-driven rhythmic second half while showing previews of the episode that follows.

Or is this another of those "just me" observations?

Not just you. I like the UK vocal version of the theme music much more than the "trying to sound haunting" music of the US version. I just commented on that during last night's episode. I don't know why the change was made, but I don't care for it one bit.

The more I get to know people the more I like my dogs.

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Saturday, January 29, 2005 11:41 AM

SHADOWVESSEL

Is this a "just me" observation? I finally rented the mini-series on DVD and thought it was really good. BUT, I didn't dig how the guys on the commentary talked about their whole approach to the camera work and special effects was something THEY came up with and had even thought of on Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's obviously ripped straight off from Firefly. Come on! It's like watching Firefly in a different part of the galaxy or something, which isn't a bad thing. I firmly believe in giving credit where credit is due, though. Especially when it's Joss Whedon and Firefly.

As far as the Starbuck thing goes, I was against it at first. I grew up watching the original BG in reruns and also the A-Team so I was a Dirk Benedict fan. But now, the new Starbuck has really proven herself to be just as cool and bad-ass as the original, if not a little more. Also, she's really hot. That makes me feel a little weird everytime I think that, "Starbuck is HOT!"

So with that said, I'll just say that I've become a rabid watcher, even though sometimes it seems to be dark and depressing just to do so. I'm hoping to see a little hope in their future because I've started to care about these characters.

(Gorramn Double Post)

"I'll be in my bunk."

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Saturday, January 29, 2005 11:41 AM

SHADOWVESSEL

"I'll be in my bunk."

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Monday, January 31, 2005 7:36 PM

MOOSE

Quote:
Is this a "just me" observation?

Nope. I listened to that entire commentary waiting to see if they would acknowledge Firefly in any way. But they didn't.

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Tuesday, February 1, 2005 2:01 AM

CALHOUN

I am/was an original Battlestar fan and have no problem admitting the new Battlestar is far superior.

If you have seen all 13 episodes.. at the end of the last one did you all go WOW!! they cant end it like this!! I thought the whole season was fracking awesome!

Select to view spoiler:

Apollo would be in deep shit if Adama dies.. mutiny an all. He would have been counting on sympathy from his dad.

What an ending! Adama with large holes in his torso.. President in the brig... Starbuck and Helo on Caprica..

Cant wait for more.

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Friday, February 11, 2005 3:44 PM

QUICKSAND

It's been a few days since someone hit up this thread, so this place is as good as any:

a) Starbuck is NUTS.

b) Props to the show for character continuity (e.g. actually putting Hot Dog in last weeks episode, even if only for a few seconds)

c) The Cylon/Human combo back on Caprica: Think they ever get off the planet?

(qs)

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Friday, February 11, 2005 7:10 PM

NEEDLESEYE

Quote:

a) Starbuck is NUTS.

Maybe thats why Baltar is attracted to her?
Did anyone else find this episode's scene between them really amusing?
Select to view spoiler:
when Baltar visits Starbuck in sick bay, he pulls the privacy curtain behind him and shows her he has brought her a cigar. The look on his face had such a suggestive offer written on it. Then when he's leaving the room because No.6 has shown up. She looks over her shoulder at Starbuck. Knowing whats going on in Baltar's mind no doubt!

I'm also noticing that both the Boomer's we've been introduced to seem very "sensitive", where as the No.6 models seem to be manipulative and more vendictive, so I'm wondering , are they programmed with one kind of personality per model?

Keeper of Jayne's goggles. 8)

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Friday, February 11, 2005 8:20 PM

FINN MAC CUMHAL

I grew up watching the original, and I don’t mean in reruns. I guess that makes me old, but I did watch the original when god intended it to be watched. If you try to compare the old BSG to the new, what you really end up comparing is not two shows but two completely different eras, the 1970s and the 21st century. So I really can’t say that I like one over the other. The truth is that BSG was the Firefly of the late 1970s. The original storyline was intended to be very gritty, the characters were involved in a life or death struggle, and the scenery was hard, militaristic and unclean. For a tv show to air in primetime during the 1970s surrounding the theme of the near complete genocide of a people was monumental for that day and age. Unfortunately the original BSG suffered from the manipulations of the networks that feared presenting too harsh of a story. In many ways the new BSG is more in tuned with the true intended atmosphere of the original, but one shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss the original as not being as good as the new, because when you account for the culture difference the fans of the original shared many of the same sympathies that are voiced on this board about both Firefly and the new BSG.

On the issue of Starbuck, I’m also a big fan of the original Starbuck and was really reluctant to accept this new female Starbuck. However, I have to admit that girl or no girl they really nailed the personality of Starbuck, right down to the cigars.

My only real disappointment with this new BSG is the way they portray sound in space. I know that some have said that their intent was to present, not a false sound but the muffled sound from within the cockpit. Sometimes they appear to do this, but they take too many liberties for that to be plausible.

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Friday, February 11, 2005 10:54 PM

QUICKSAND

For Needleseye (or whoever is interested), I'm not sure if it's a spoiler to say, so to keep it non-specific: No. 6 and Gaius had had this conversation about Starbuck before, maybe 1 or 2 lines each, in each of the previous episodes. So it's already out there.

Tonight's was real drama-heavy, action-light, which was necessary for the story of course, but not the kind I'd want to watch over and over. Kudos to Adama for nipping things in the bud at the end. Let's hope they stay there.

The Cylon models do seem to be rooted in the same behaviors, but that's because they are essentially the same-- if not 'person' then at least 'personality.' Clones. Naughty Clones.

___\_o_/___
--------------- (Qs)

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Friday, February 11, 2005 11:32 PM

THEGREYJEDI

I agree. Adama told it like it was. The politicians stirring crap up when they really need to be worrying about making it out alive. Soldiers know how to prioritize.

Get 'em Adama.

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Saturday, February 12, 2005 5:31 PM

SNIPER

Excellent episode last night.

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Saturday, February 12, 2005 9:45 PM

CAPNRAHN

On the "Firefly Ripoff Camera Moves":

Um ... some of the folks at zoic {who did both BSG and FF CGI} worked with Paramount and Ron Moore when they did the MASSIVE rework on the Directors Edition of 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' back in 1999 or so. The CG comapny that they woked for then was Foundation Inaging.

It was discussed in '98 and '99 that the "Live at 5" jerky, zooming and refocusing camera moves would be a great thing to add into CGI shots to 'fake the viewer' into beliving the scene was 'more' real.

This was years before Firefly. In essance, the zoic folks {folks from Foundation Imaging} took the great idea an ran with it - it was a group effort.

Now, zoic, told and showed Joss Whedon the "Live at 5" idea and he loved it.

Sorry folks, I had to curtail this misunderstanding!

Because folks DO share ideas and because an idea may be repeated - does not mean it is a rip-off - it may just mean some folks joined another company with ideas they already had.

Great stuff all the way around!!! So enjoy it!

"I've heard more intelligent sounds coming out of a pair of corduroys" - Herbert Phillip Lovecraft from *Cast A Deadly Spell

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