Battlestar Galactica: The new movie + pre-Season 4 thread

[Nathanael]

My take on the Final Five is that there are substantial differences between them and the other seven, but they're still corporeal. There is probably only one copy of each, though, rather than countless copies.

[Werthead]

The power outage of the fleet... did anyone else think this was because of the four's confusion and distress? Or was it the Cylon fleet that did it? If it was the four, they are really powerful, and it might end up being what saves Galactica's ass come Season 4, episode one. They are pretty screwed if that isn't the case.

It may be the nebula itself sending out EMP pulses of some kind. In this case, the basestars may be similarly affected, and neither side is able to engage the other. It's also worth remembering that the Cylons presumably still want Hera alive and probably won't just blast Galactica out of the sky, so there's room in all of this for the Colonials to escape. Maybe Starbuck has some knowledge that can help them escape as well.

[koudoulis]

i am pretty sure their bodies are human. so any offspring with other humans should be normal. it would be very lame any other way

[Werthead]

I kind of doubt it. Roslin doubles over in pain, and then the power goes out. Seems like too much coincidence.

Definite possible connection here. Notice how Starbuck shorted out the lights behind her in Maelstrom? Maybe there's something crazy/weird going on with both Starbuck and Roslin that connects them to the Cylons (I'm not a fan of Starbuck being a Cylon).

And if my theory is correct, why would Roslin be affected? Shes getting dreams along with Athena, which says something... I'm pretty sure she's not the last cylon (though that a possibility), but she's affected somehow by the final 4.

According to RDM:

SPOILER: BSG

On the Crossroads II podcast he says definitively that Adama and Roslin are not Cylons and never will be.

Whilst according to Katee Sackhoff:

SPOILER: BSG

She was told a while ago that Starbuck is not a Cylon. However, this could have changed in the meantime. Or she could be lying.

I didn't catch the dradis screen when Helo asks who was in Viper 3. Were the basestars launching raiders?

You can see and hear the Raiders very briefly when the camera does its gonzoid, RDM-on-acid galactic pull-out shot at the end of the episode. I think you can also see them on Lee's DRADIS.

[Kalbear]

I figured that because Roslin is taking Chamalla, she's tuned into the same frequencies as God. The same ones that the cylons listen to.

I also figured that the proximity to whatever activated the Dylons was what caused the power outage.

[Crow's Eye]

My pet theory of the moment is that there was a sort of schism between the 7 and 5 - it's quite possible the 5 are working to protect the humans and so infiltrated some of their own to help them. Looking at what all of these four have done so far and it's hard to imagine them as total sleepers the way Boomer was. She started switching into 'evil' Cylon mode right away. There's something very different about these 4 and even with their newfound revelation about themselves, they seem to have no inclination to do anything but fight for the humans.

I was thinking something along those lines as well. I also read another theory somewhere (was it here?) that the scism occurred prior to the 7 becoming skinjobs, which is why they have no idea what form the five would currently be in. That also shows why the five wouldn't recognize any of the seven.

I also think it likely that the five have some sort of 'protector' role to play - or at least some counterpoint to the "kill, kill, kill" of the 7. Anders, Tigh, Chief & Tori were the key components of teh NC resistance, after all.

[gil estel]

Isn't there a prophecy mentioned in Season 1 that says a dying leader will lead them to Earth? Roslin assumed at the time it would be her. It'd be a great twist if the writers made someone else the dying leader, such as Starbuck or Adama. Perhaps after Starbuck's ordeal, she has only a limited time... sort of a Moses complex... leads the people to the promised land, but dies within sight of it.

[Myrddin]

Isn't there a prophecy mentioned in Season 1 that says a dying leader will lead them to Earth? Roslin assumed at the time it would be her. It'd be a great twist if the writers made someone else the dying leader, such as Starbuck or Adama. Perhaps after Starbuck's ordeal, she has only a limited time... sort of a Moses complex... leads the people to the promised land, but dies within sight of it.

I always assumed that Roslin would be like Moses, dying with Earth visible through her ship's window.

[Ser Paladin]

I think that'd be a shame. She's real easy on the eyes.

Isn't she a little MILF for the likes of you?

[Werthead]

With Roslin they can't break the double jeopardy rule. She had it miracle-cured once. That cannot happen again as it would be exceptionally lame. If the cancer has come back in a very early form and it is beaten through normal use of drugs then that would be understandable (although she'd hardly then fit the 'dying leader' motif) but I think, generally, she now has to die (or more likely, die in the final episode of the series).

[Innominandum]

What do you guys think of Roslin having cancer again? Think this time it will actually kill her?

I hope she dies soon. It should have happened well before, say just after Kobol. Or she could be replaced by Zarek and not be seen anymore.

[Calibandar]

I like your theory that the final five are somehow enemies of the 7; it would make sense, but I dont think they are "skinjobs", like the rest of them. I agree with the theory that they are manifest spirits, or some ridiculous shit like that. That way, Tigh is still tigh, but he's embodied by the final 5.

Yes, I could live with an explanation like that. I also sthink there is a good chance that these will not have copies but just one body. On the other hand, if that were true what would happen to one of these final five Cylons' manifestations if their bodies were killed?

[Werthead]

Video interview with Ronald D. Moore here. Some interesting stuff:

The DVD movie is called Razor and they finished it a few weeks back. Other sources confirm that after a brief break, the shooting of BSG Season 4 proper begins this month.

Known info about Razor:

SPOILER: Razor

The story consists of a 'present' storyline set after the destruction of Pegasus, but before the end of Season 3. The story revolves around a former Pegasus offer who has difficulties adapting to life post-Cain. She has flashbacks to life on the Pegasus prior to them encountering Galactica.

There is also a flashback storyline featuring a young Adama fighting in the First Cylon War as a fighter pilot, and another one taking place around the same time featuring a very young Cain as a child during the end of the war.

If Razor is successful it could lead to future occasional DVD movies set in the Galactica universe. RDM also mentions Caprica, suggesting it's still on the drawing board regardless of BSG ending.

It seems that the SFC will broadcast the movie in the autumn and the DVD will be released a week or so later (hopefully internationally). The 20 episodes of Season 4 proper will start airing in January 2008.

The BSG writers have mapped out the first ten episodes of Season 4 and are writing them now. They decided not to map out all twenty, as RDM blames that for the trouble they got into in past years. Once the script for episode ten is finished, they'll map out the second ten which will take them directly into the end of the show.

The BSG writers and producers are hoarding money for the series finale. It's going to be huge. Interestingly the interview points out that the Heroes team blew their budget for the show before the finale, and RDM agrees that they need to hold money back for the final episode.

Non-BSG stuff:

RDM thinks JJ Abrams rebooting the Star Trek franchise is a really good idea and is interested to see what happens in the film.

RDM is both writing the remake of The Thing and also I, Robot 2 ( ).

RDM's favourite episode of Star Trek he worked on was Trials and Tribbleations.

[Paddy]

Sounds pretty cool to me

RDM is both writing the remake of The Thing and also I, Robot 2 ( ).

They're remaking The Thing? Again?

W

T

F

?

Why? The John Carpenter one is still fantastic and frankly, untouchable.

[EHK for Darwin]

They decided not to map out all twenty, as RDM blames that for the trouble they got into in past years.

WTF? Wasn't their trouble the exact opposite? Having no plan at all.

[Werthead]

He blames the Season 3 problems on the detailed plan they had for the Sagittarian storyline that would run through the whole season. But when they got to 2-3 eps before the finale, he realised the plot was lame and decided to pull it out, which meant re-editing the entire season. Whilst this wasn't all that was wrong with Season 3, the editing is certainly pretty awful throughout the season and this was the cause of that.

Based on various comments, it seems that the original plan was to go for five seasons, but failing ratings meant that they decided to play it safe and end in four. So the events of the first ten episodes are all the events they had planned for the original Season 4 in their plan, and the latter ten are all the events they had planned for Season 5, which probably makes the planning and writing of the season in this fashion more straightforward.

[Shryke]

He blames the Season 3 problems on the detailed plan they had for the Sagittarian storyline that would run through the whole season. But when they got to 2-3 eps before the finale, he realised the plot was lame and decided to pull it out, which meant re-editing the entire season. Whilst this wasn't all that was wrong with Season 3, the editing is certainly pretty awful throughout the season and this was the cause of that.

Based on various comments, it seems that the original plan was to go for five seasons, but failing ratings meant that they decided to play it safe and end in four. So the events of the first ten episodes are all the events they had planned for the original Season 4 in their plan, and the latter ten are all the events they had planned for Season 5, which probably makes the planning and writing of the season in this fashion more straightforward.

Yeah, that's what made The Women King the episode it turned into. It was originally a Dualla story about the Sagitterons that they gutted to make into a Helo episode.

Well, shits gonna move fast next season at least.

[Calibandar]

I like what I'm hearing, he strikes me as an intelligent and level-headed guy, which makes me hopeful that they've learned from last season and will conclude in great style.

I hope SFC is giving them extra budget for this season.

[Werthead]

Interesting. Apparently Glen Larson still holds the feature film rights to BSG, explaining why the BSG team are pretty downbeat about there being a theatrical spin-off.

Oh yeah, and certain revelations about the TV/DVD movie mean that this report (beare spoilers!) makes more sense

[EHK for Darwin]

Agree with that Coco. Also having trouble with the notion that coming up with a bad plan suddenly condemns ever having plans at all. It just means that, in that case, their plan and writing sucked. Not that its a bad idea to ever plan ahead again. Bad plan = bad. No plan....still bad.