Battlestar musings...

"If I'm a cylon, you're really screwed." --Commander William Adama (season one "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down")

**Warning, this post contains all kinds of spoilers and potential spoilers for Battlestar Galactica seasons one through four, so if you don't want to be spoiled, turn back now.**

So I have dived into season one of Battlestar this week. Man, oh man, did I forget just how good this show really is. I mean, it is definitely one of my favorite shows, and I can honestly say it is probably one of the best shows on television, period, but when it’s not on the air one can easily forget just how beautifully this story unfolds.

I just finished watching the episode “Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down” in which Colonel Tigh’s estranged wife Ellen falls back into his life. Battlestar can be such a serious show, clearly the plot is not to be taken lightly, but this episode manages to provide some very well played comedy even while dealing with a dark situation. I especially enjoy the dinner scene in Commander Adama’s quarters. Saul is so happy to have his wife back that he completely disregards all of his hard work in giving up the booze to jump right into that bottle of ambrosia Ellen conjures up before dinner. (Sidebar: Does anyone else think ambrosia is the Colonial equivalent of absinthe? It could just be the fact that it’s bright green that strikes the association for me but I wonder…) Poor Lee is trying to politely fend off his superior officer’s horndog wife, Adama is trying to make the best of what, to his mind, is a bad situation whether or not Ellen turns out to be a cylon, and Laura is trying to gage a potential new enemy. These actors are all insanely talented. Between the President and the Adamas, each actor is able to clearly convey what their character is thinking about the situation with a minimum of dialog.

As humorous as the dinner scene is though, I find the scene after Saul and Ellen leave to be even better. I am firmly aboard S.S. Bill & Laura, and their discussion of Ellen with Lee has all the feel of a family moment to me. It’s always nice to see Laura let her guard down around the Commander, especially when she clearly has no problem separating their friendship from their business relationship. There is, of course, also the scene in Baltar’s lab where everyone finds out what everyone else has been sneaking around doing behind their backs. Crazy good times.

I truly believe this is a show that is going to stand the test of time. Every time I watch it I find some new little detail that makes me wonder how far in advance and to what level of detail Ron Moore planned this stuff out. I know there are critics who have panned the second and third seasons, but this show has always felt so cohesive to me. Even when you think you know exactly what’s going on and then find out you are completely wrong, it’s never because what’s actually going on makes no sense.

I was really disappointed to read a throwaway comment in a recent article about the series that stated Lee would not be returning to active duty any time soon once season four commences, but even all the way back in season one, you can see him heading into lawyer mode. I think that’s the weirdest thing about watching these episodes all over again—knowing what happens down the road gives new weight to small details earlier on. For example, when the tribunal is being conducted into the string of security incidents after a copy of Doral sets off an explosion on board Galactica, the Master of Arms goes straight for Chief Tyrol and Boomer, assuming that their affair is indication that they are colluding with the cylons (possibly even cylons themselves). The first time through the audience is with the rest of the characters in being shocked by the “witch hunt” aimed at these two. We even know at that point that Boomer is a cylon, but we know she doesn’t know. Our sympathies are with those two and hoping that they escape unjust persecution. Watching it post-season three, however, knowing that Tyrol is a cylon too…that just gives it a whole new level. Suddenly, as wrong as we know the Master of Arms’ assumptions behind the whys of Chief and Boomer’s actions are, we also know that she is actually right. They are both cylons, and though at this point neither of them knows that, their actions do allow for destruction of necessary fleet resources. It makes you wonder how much of that is programming and how much is just accidental. Also, I don’t know about anyone else, but after finding out about Tyrol, I am reassessing that whole relationship between those two. Given the cylon preoccupation with understanding and recreating the human emotion of love, as well as the human reproduction process, you’ve got to wonder what drew those two to each other in the first place.

So yeah. Battlestar rocks. Jamie Bamber is a hottie, even when he’s wearing more than a towel (ooh…see…there’s still that episode to look forward to). No shortage of Apollo these days.

A few other thoughts…

Does it annoy anyone else trying to figure out where the CIC keeps getting all of their attack plan models from? I mean seriously, did one of the ships in the fleet just happen to have a model manufacturing center on board? They couldn’t have had models of the cylon raiders or the resurrection ship before the attacks. Those things were made after they left the colonies. I know it’s a stupid thing to be annoyed by, but I’d almost believe it more if they were using chess pieces (or the equivalent) when planning their attacks and such. I’m just saying.

Also, I’ve developed, just tonight, a totally screwball and probably completely wrong theory about the identity of the final cylon. I think it’s Zak Adama. That’s right. I am basing this on the second encounter with a Leoben model, the one that tells Roslyn “Adama is a cylon.” Note that he never said which Adama. And Leoben’s big thing is that he likes to frak with people by telling the truth, but mixing it with lies, so you don’t know what part of his ramblings are truth and what part are false. So, he could have totally been telling the truth, but leaving out the crucial piece of information and managing to sow doubt and mistrust in Commander Adama in the mind of the President. Also, it totally would explain the cylons’ obsession with Starbuck. Her whole relationship with Zak could have been a cylon attempt to get as much information about her as possible, or it could have been the impetus behind their decision that she was the one with a “destiny.” Like I said, probably wrong, but just a thought.

And finally, it is kind of freaky how much of the soundtrack for this show sounds like the soundtrack for Titanic. The feel of the two shows could not be more different, but I swear, sometimes if I have Battlestar on and I can just hear the music in the background, I think to myself, why the hell do I have Titanic on? If you want an example of this, check out the end of "The Hand of God" where they're celebrating their successful attack on the cylons. I wonder what made Bear McCreary say to himself, you know, I think that all of the pipes and stuff in Titanic, that’s what I want the music for Battlestar to sound like…

And on that note, I’m done. I hope you all have a good week. Take care of yourselves.

So say we all,

C