397 replies to this topic

[TrackerNeil]

Werthead, on Mar 12 2009, 09.15, said:

Scattered/Valley of Darkness
The opening two episodes of Season 2 which start with a bang and simply do not stop. The crash survivors on Kobol are under Cylon attack! The Galactica has gotten lost! It finds its way back to the Fleet but has been boarded! OMG!

Resounding agreement. In addition to the things Wert has said, these episodes are the first times you get an idea why Adama keeps Tigh as XO. When it comes to personal/political/romantic matters, Saul Tigh is a fuck-up; when it comes to military matters, he rocks you like a hurricane. One reason why I like the New Caprica episodes, incidentally.

[Bronn Stone]

Werthead, on Mar 12 2009, 06.15, said:

33
Tense and well-directed with some terrific character moments and a genuine moral conflict at the end. The episode to show people to get them hooked on the series.

Didn't find the 'conflict' at the end particularly significant.  The Olympic Carrier looked empty.  You want a moral conflict, you show humans pounding on the windows as a Viper flies by with a couple of Centurions seen in the background - maybe even resistance underway.  But Adama sees that their time has run out - the Olympic Carrier is too close.  Then you got conflict.

Ep doesn't hold a candle to Pegasus, IMO.

Edited by Bronn Stone, 12 March 2009 - 11:53 AM.

[kalbear]

Quote

Ep doesn't hold a candle to Pegasus, IMO.

You're a cylon. Or a terrorist. Possibly a cylon terrorist that hates bacon.

33 was one of the best episodes of any television show in the history of ever. A great hook, a hard choice, and a wonderful jumping into BSG from the miniseries. It established the tone of the entire series (or at least it could have). We didn't know what was going on, what the cylon plan was, and all it was was survival of the human race, with all the desperate trying that implies.

Pegasus had the immortal Apollo line 'It's like a dream'. Which was HORRIBLE.

Edited by Kalbear, 12 March 2009 - 12:06 PM.

[TrackerNeil]

Love 33. Love it. The horror of this relentless pursuit by beings who have no need for the sleep the humans can't get is just...wow.

As to the Olympic Carrier, I recognize what Bronn's saying, but I still think it was a tough call. Lee wasn't seeing anyone in the windows, true, but then again you were talking about potentially killing 1300 people out of only 50,000. The stakes are alot higher given the context in which the choice had to be made.

I'm going to quibble about the miniseries, if I may. Remember when Roslin has to make the choice between jumping to Ragnor Anchorage right away or delaying to transfer people to the FTL-capable ships? I thought showing the Cylons jumping in for the kill to be a missed opportunity. Wouldn't it be better if the viewer never knew what happened to those left behind? To wonder if Roslin had twenty minutes, or fifteen, or ten, to save people? Makes an already hard choice that much more agonizing.

[Werthead]

Also, there are shadows moving around in the Olympic Carrier if you look at it hard enough. Apparently the CGI team agreed that just having the ship looking empty was a bit of a cop-out, so they put in just a hint that something was aboard.

Today was also interesting on the BSG websites due to what appeared to be an initially credible spoiler account of the finale, but then it turned out the OP was a bogus random theoriser on the IMDB boards. Basically:

SPOILER: BSG Fake Spoiler But Just In Case

Daniel is behind everything, even sending the Head-People to Baltar, Caprica-Six and Starbuck across thousands of light-years.

Quite amusing. Although I'm now fearful of it being some kind of ironic double-bluff and this is how the show ends after all. I remember being certain that the spoilers about Crossroads II's ending were duff, and then it turning out to be real :(

[Myrddin]

As long as Daniel turns out to be Cottle, I'm happy with anything. :)

[Shryke]

Werthead, on Mar 12 2009, 09.15, said:

Revelations/Sometimes a Great Notion
The stand-off between the Galactica and the basestar is something we've seen before, although it's great to see Jamie Bamber finally finding a role for his character that feels appropriate and works. The scene where Tigh confesses up to Adama is well-acted by both of them. But it's the final five minutes that makes the episode, with the brilliant music and signs of joyous celebration sweeping through the fleet ending in the silent shot of the annihilated Earth. The second part is BSG's darkest hour (although I wouldn't be surprised if the finale found a lower place) as the crew reacts to the crushing defeat and the Five have flashbacks to their deaths on Earth.

Any list of best episodes that doesn't include "Sometimes A Great Notion" is crap.

[Ratty]

I'd like to add one of my own personal favourite episodes from season 1 - Hand of God.  Great action sequences, good son and daddy Adama character work with Starbuck also being good.  Baltar slowly coming to grips with the whole one god angle.  Its not top 5, but I'd have it in my top 10 easily.

[Werthead]

I must admit to being slightly more energised for the end of BSG than I was for the end of B5, although that was more of a quiet epilogue to the show and this is the actual climax. Just as long as this episode isn't another 44 minutes of people angsting over shit and more set-up for the finale next week.

[Narishma Reborn]

Werthead, on Mar 13 2009, 21.59, said:

Just as long as this episode isn't another 44 minutes of people angsting over shit and more set-up for the finale next week.

So far... no luck  :-P  I guess there's something important that happened back on Caprica that they need to retcon reveal?

[Shryke]

We just met Baltar's dad.
This finale has now officially been worth it.

[oneeye]

haha loved how the flashbacks to caprica were happy for about 5 minutes....

well guess showdown coming next week

[Shryke]

I was shocked Baltar didn't cross that line. I thought he was finally gonna prove Lee wrong.

But no.

[Crazydog7]

Useless freaking episode.  Thank you at least Adama for not doing another "so say we all" thing.

[Mack Kilimaro]

Have to confess I didn't really see the point of the Caprica flashbacks. Yeah, Baltar's dad was funny, but why does it matter?

Setting up the Galactica for a seeming suicide mission is going to make for a tense last couple of episodes, so, I'm looking forward to that. Just think they could have done some more with this setup episode than they actually did.

[Shryke]

Well, considering the fact that this is actually Pt 1 of 3 of a single episode, I'm betting these flashbacks are going somewhere still.

Though I'm starting to get tummy rumblings saying 'Time Travel!!!". Mysterious flashbacks and a black hole?

Edited by Shryke, 14 March 2009 - 01:51 AM.

[Werthead]

Oops. Originally this was supposed to be a 2-hour episode that would have aired in one go, but they shot so much material for it that they turned it into a 3-parter and still had stuff left over (which will appear on the DVD). Whilst this is good on one level, it does screw Part I slightly as it now gets separated from the other two and is just left hanging out by itself with no real ending, not even a cliffhanger.

That said, some extraordinary stuff in there. CGI-wise, it really shows how much they been keeping back for the finale with the gorgeous shots of Caprica and Caprica City. I was wondering how they were going to keep the CGI team busy on Caprica without that many space scenes, but I guess we know now. And apparently this is nothing compared to what we see next week. Also, Bear McCreary's musical store was stunning. Looking forward to his inevitable blog post about that in the next few days.

The flashbacks were interesting from a character-building view, although the relevance of Lee chasing a pigeon around his house is escaping me for the moment. It does show how Laura has been able to handle everything that's been thrown at her on the show, though, as she'd lost so much before the Cylon attack that she was able to just absorb it and keep going. Mary McDonnell did fantastic work in this episode, most notably in the scene where she hobbles onto the hanger deck and makes her stand. 'Julius Baltar' was amusing. Seeing Adama choose to go after Hera was great, if totally expected.

Anders hinting at the outcome though: "Slip the bonds of Earth...find a perfect world for the end of Kara Thrace." He's going to find a new world for Starbuck and, by extension, the rest of humanity?

One thing that is lame: are they really going with the explanation given in the mini-series novelization that Baltar was so embarrassed at forgetting Six's cover name he never asked her about it again in the following two years?

[mcbigski]

I usually have no idea what any of the hybrids are talking about, but 'slip the bonds of earth' reminded me of the poem Reagan quoted after the Challenger blew up. "They slipped the surly bonds of earth and touched the face of god" or somesuch.  Which you could go a couple of different ways with, actually.

[Grim Shady]

My prediction for the final episode:

SPOILER: Over the Rainbow

Before the first commercial break they jump, fight, launch last ditch covert rescue attempt while Galactica soaks up damage.  Everything gets knocked out of safe orbit and begins to rapidly head into the black hole.  Bang bang bang.  After the commercial break we see that Roslin finds herself in Oz with her faithful dog Toto-Adama.  She meets up with Scarecrow-Anders, Tinman-Tigh, and Cowardly Lion-Baltar.  Everyone else has been turned into Munchkins.  They set off down the yellow brick road and are periodically harassed by the Wicked Witch Cavil.  Eventually they come upon the Emerald City and discover it is entirely populated with 6s.  Tigh and Baltar immediately vote to stay there forever.  Dorothy-Roslin petitions for a meeting with the Wizard and the gang discover it's Doc Cottle behind the curtain.  The Doc gives Anders a brain, Tigh a heart, and Baltar a swift kick in the seat of his pants.  Dorothy-Roslin clicks her heels together and recites, "There's no place like home" and when she opens her eyes she finds herself in a teepee with Kevin Costner.

[Swordfish]

Shryke, on Mar 13 2009, 19.03, said:

I was shocked Baltar didn't cross that line. I thought he was finally gonna prove Lee wrong.

But no.

He'll be there.  I think they even showed him on 'nest time on....'