Category: Battlestar Galactica (Page 14 of 14)

Battlestar Galactica: “Collaborators”

October 29, 2006 / John Paulsen

At some point someone had to make contact with Gaeta to set things up. How did the resistance know that the dog bowl was the signal? How did they know to look in the drawer for the information? Gaeta could have anonymously contacted someone, but he would have been much better off approaching the Chief on the level so that he had some protection once the occupation was over (or during a resistance attack on the President’s ship while on New Caprica). Once everyone was back on Galactica, I’m surprised it was still such a secret who the leaders of the resistance were – Gaeta needed to seek them out and clear his name. Of course, he didn’t know that there was a circle of six executing people, but still – you’d think he’d want to set the record straight.

Another thing that’s confusing: one of the women from the circle was in the mess hall and it seemed like she overheard Gaeta tell Starbuck about the dog bowl, yet she didn’t say anything to the rest of the circle. Starbuck also failed to mention this important piece of information when she joined the circle, but she isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, so it’s within the realm of her character to neglect such things.

Tigh is losing it. He’s freaking out on the bridge and proclaiming people guilty while barely looking at the evidence. It’s obvious he’s affected by the loss of his wife, but he needs to pull it together. I still think an eye patch would do the trick.

And poor Dr. Baltar, stuck on the Cylon ship. Biers was the first to talk to him and it seemed like she was coming on to him, which was odd. Number Six later laid out some clothes for him, so I’m guessing she decided to let him stay. It will be interesting to see how long he stays with the Cylons. One of the most interesting parts of the series is how Baltar interacts with the humans, but he is going to have a tough time earning their trust again.

Battlestar Galactica, TV Action, TV Dramas

Battlestar Galactica: “Exodus”

October 21, 2006 / John Paulsen

So the jailbreak is on, but Tigh has to poison his own wife first. She gives a nice speech, making him feel even worse about what he had to do. With all her faults, it was obvious that he really did love her. But you know what they say: once you go Cylon, you can never go back. Here’s hoping that Tigh loses his eye for good – how great would he be with a black patch?

The coolest thing about the escape was Adama’s ruse with the drone ships and the subsequent jump into New Caprica’s atmosphere. There’s Galactica, crashing to the planet, but he’s able to launch a crapload of vipers before jumping away.

For a moment there, it looked like he was going down with his ship, but you just knew that Lee would show up with the Pegasus to save the day. I thought it was interesting how the writers figured out a way to save Galactica while destroying Pegasus at the same time. After all, it the show isn’t called “Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus,” is it?

I have to say that the special effects on the show are tremendous considering how much the creators grumble about limited budgets. The space battle scene was extremely action-packed, and the effects are getting so good that you don’t get lost in little details that look odd, which was still a problem for sci-fi television as recently as a few years ago.

It looked like both the Cylons and the humans were each going to leave New Caprica with a hybrid baby, but Casey turned out to be a random human child. Katee Sackhoff’s (Starbuck) acting was terrific in that scene on the ship. When she discovered that she wasn’t Casey’s mom, she looked like she had just been punched in the gut.

I’m curious how Maya died on the way to their ship, leaving the baby Hera for the Cylons. Roslin stressed to the leaders of the insurgence how important it was that they get off the planet, and while tons are others are able to escape, they are not. I wish we had been able to see how that happened. Maybe they can tie a flashback into a future episode to explain it.

The Admiral looks better without the ‘stache. Now if we can just get Lee to go on a diet…

Battlestar Galactica, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Battlestar Galactica: “Exodus, Part 1”

October 14, 2006 / John Paulsen

Boy, that Ronald Moore is a sly motherf’er. Last episode ended with Callie running through the brush and gunfire in the background. This week, the show opens with the same scene and then jumps back an hour in time to show how Chief caught wind of the execution and hatched a plan to free the prisoners. I like the misdirection, but technically, Callie wasn’t running when the gunfire started. Chief ran out and knocked her to the ground before the resistance started shooting. Also, she wasn’t really in the brush…All right, I’ll stop nitpicking, but it would be a lot easier if there weren’t nits to pick.

I wasn’t sure what Boomer was going to do when she was confronted with the news that her baby (Hera) is still alive. For now, she’s still a colonial officer, but the decision to take Hera away from her mother might come back to bite the humans in the proverbial ass. Anyway, she retrieved the launch keys for the colonial ships so the table is set for a prison break…wait, that’s another show.

Is it just me, or is Doral (the younger, male Cylon) becoming the most annoying character on the show? As Brother Cavil was relating the story of the rescue, and how the humans left him there to die, Doral had this smarmy comment to say to Baltar: “Aren’t you a noble race.” Excuse me, but weren’t you about to execute a group of prisoners? Then he has the audacity to say, “Worse comes to worst, we can just nuke the city and be done with it.” Noble, indeed.

Last week, I said that Ellen wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. She stole the map of the resistance rendezvous with the Galactica crew and gave it to the Cylons. She should have rewritten the map (although Tigh would have probably recognized her handwriting), but instead she just handed it over. When Starbuck’s boyfriend/husband discovered the map on one of the skinjobs, the betrayal led back to her. Did you see the look in Tigh’s one good eye when he learned the news? Ellen is in some serious trouble.

The episode ended with Admiral Adama learning that Boomer successfully retrieved the launch keys, and with the fleet readying for the rescue. By the way, how cool is it when Adama punches his desk?

“Exodus, Part 2” should be a good one.

Battlestar Galactica, External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Talking “Galactica”

October 8, 2006 / Will Harris

Bullz-Eye had a chance to ask a few questions to members of the cast and crew of “Battlestar Galactica” on the eve of the premiere of the new season, but we figured we’d wait until just after the season premiere before posting it…

Bullz-Eye: Mary, at the end of last season, your character left office and went back to teaching. What can we expect from the new season after the occupation?

Mary McDonnell (“Laura Roslin”): She’s still teaching. But I think One thing you can trust about Laura Roslin is her passion for the fleet and her commitment to getting them to Earth doesn’t really go away, so whatever hat she’s wearing, I think the agenda remains the same.

BE: And, David, it was pretty bold to close out the season with the start of the occupation instead of ending it with the blast or just after. What went into the decision to end the season a year later, when the Cylons arrived?

David Eick (Executive Producer): I think that it was very clear to us that, in order to advance the story to that critical point, you needed a believable amount of time to go by. And that period of time, in order for all of the colonial society’s guard to be adequately down, they needed to exist through that period in such a way that they believed themselves to be safe. As a practical matter, doing several episodes in which everyone thinks they’re safe and fine and nothing happens didn’t seem like a wise thing to do! So we advanced the story to that point, that sort of event horizon, in which the safety that they believed themselves to be fortunate enough to have found, is suddenly yanked out from under them, and it was really for no other practical reason than that. I know some people…I mean, there seems to be some division. People had their minds blown by it, people thought it was a trick, people thought it was a dream, people thought it was a gimmick. For the most part, people seemed to really respond to it in a very favorable way. But the truth is, the motivation for it…it wasn’t a gimmick at all; it was really just a practical way to tell that story.

BE: And James, what do you think drives Baltar more: power, fame, or the love of a good Cylon?

James Callis (“Dr. Gaius Baltar”): (Laughs) Um…

Mary: (Laughs)

James: It’s, uh…I don’t think he’s particularly interested in power. I think that’s why he’s not so good at presidential stuff. So I would say it’s probably the love of a good Cylon.

Mary: (Laughs)

BE: Do you think he’ll seek redemption for his past actions?

James: He’s constantly seeking redemption, every day. And in some way, the axis of his redemption is built…there’s a fulcrum, and on the other side is everybody else, and he kind of has to, uh, meet everybody else to get his redemption, if you know what I mean.

Mary: Can I say something?

BE: Sure!

Mary: It’s one of the things that I love about the character of Baltar…as a viewer. I’m not speaking as Roslin right now…but even as Roslin, there’s something going on in him that she can’t put her finger on, and I think that what James said has something to do with that. There’s something in him that you understand is seeking something good. Otherwise, there’s no reason why, knowing my character, she wouldn’t have tossed him out an airlock by now if she could!

Actors, Actresses, Battlestar Galactica, External TV, Interviews, TV, TV Dramas

Battlestar Galactica: “Occupation / Precipice”

October 7, 2006 / John Paulsen

Before we dive into the Season 3 premiere, I’d like to mention the 10 webisodes available at SciFi.com that focus on two new/minor characters, Duck and Jammer, who play a major role in the premiere. It also follows Tigh and Chief as they organize a resistance movement to the Cylon occupation and is a good lead in to the premiere. The webisodes are a “must-watch” for BG fans. Anyway, on to the premiere…

One of the shots of the montage opening was Tigh’s wife (Ellen) sleeping with Cavil, one of the Cylons. Boy, I wasn’t expecting that right off the bat. It turns out she’s only doing it to get her husband (who has lost an eye) out of the detention center, but later on Cavil uses this relationship to his advantage, convincing Ellen to betray the resistance. No one ever said she was the sharpest tool in the shed.

Then there’s Starbuck, who has been abducted by another Cylon. This one is forcing her to play house with him. That was pretty cold when she stabbed him in the neck and then went back to eating her steak. Shortly thereafter, he arrives at the house in his new body to star the process all over again – such is Cara’s life the last four months. This guy seems pretty intent on breaking the unbreakable Starbuck, a tough task indeed. However, she did show some vulnerability when he introduced her to their child (Casey). I think it’s part of Cara’s plan to break out, though I suppose it’s possible she’s adapting to her new reality. But really, this is Starbuck we’re talking about, isn’t it? She has a stubborn streak in her like no other.

Meanwhile, up in space, Lee Adama has packed on some serious pounds. His pop has a problem with it, but his weight is just a metaphor for the fleet’s softness. Once they are able to make contact with the resistance – with help from Gaeta, President Baltar’s second-hand man – Admiral Adama puts together a plan to help fight the Cylons. After some back and forth, it is decided that Lee is going to take the Pegasus and the remainder of the fleet off to Earth while his dad is going to coordinate the rescue operation.

There are quite a few parallels between the Cylon occupation on New Caprica and our own presence in Iraq. One part of the resistance strategy is the use of suicide bombings, and this becomes a major point of contention between the Cylons and the humans. Baltar’s plea to Roslin resulted in a very cool scene between Roslin and Tigh, where she tried to convince him to end the suicide bombings, and Tigh basically told her to go frack herself.

The Cylons have had enough with the resistance movement and force Baltar to sign an order to execute 200+ names, including Roslin and Zarek. The new human-led police force drives the prisoners out into the woods and drops them off. Meanwhile, Boomer (who has been reinstated by Admiral Adama) rendezvous with leaders of the resistance to coordinate their efforts. As this was going on, I was wondering why the humans don’t colonize in the woods by the river. It seems like a much more hospitable area than the one they’re already in. Anyway, the premiere ends with centurions walking up to the prisoners, and as we see a shot of Callie running through the woods, we hear gunfire. With Ellen’s help, the centurions also got the drop on Boomer’s meeting with the resistance, so that could have been the source of the gunfire. Is Roslin shot? Maybe. Is she dead? Not a chance.