Well, it was admittedly not the best episode of Battlestar Galactica tonight. But I think that's more a matter of the high quality of what we've seen so far this season than anything else.
Even in an episode rather more traditional in its plot (Babylon 5 did an episode with a similar "news report" premise in its second season, too), they still managed to have some really phenomenal moments.
Dualla once again proved herself a voice of profound truth on the show. She's not a part of the "main cast," but I enjoy her character and the actor's performance tremendously.
Baltar's pathetic need for public appreciation was played perfectly.
The sequence of the dogfight against the Cylon Raiders was brilliantly executed, never showing an exterior view of the fight itself, and putting us in the helpless state of those "left behind" to await the outcome.
The use of the original series' theme as the military fanfare. (For the second time; this was also done in the mini-series.)
And then the fun revelation at the end of the episode, which I probably should have seen coming, but didn't. It should ensure we'll be seeing more of Lucy Lawless down the road.
Oh, and for those who recall the speculations I posted a few weeks ago about how Roslin's "survivor count markerboard" might conceivably not agree with the "omniscient opening credits count" (the former would mistakenly count undercover Cylon operatives, while the latter would not, I reasoned)... well, scratch that theory. We saw the markerboard on Colonial One in the background during the teaser. Roslin's count perfectly matched the opening credits.
It appears you only stop counting as a survivor once "our heroes" learn you're a Cylon. Or that now-dead-Boomer was not being truthful when she told Baltar there were eight Cylons among the fleet.
6 comments:
Unfortunately I was spoiled on the episode's "big secret" by reading too much about the show online.
I love Sixth Sense-style reveals that put stuff you already saw in a new context, like the explanation why the Raiders were there (and how they saved F/X money on that sequence). Though I'm slightly confused how they were able to transmit footage like Adama's reaction to their destruction!
Great development for the supporting cast. Anastasia! Margaret! Is Felix losing his nerve, with the smoking and the tattoo? I didn't mind the sweaty training scene with Stardoe either...
BTW I don't remember the original music from the pilot but I know I'm wrong. I assumed it was theme music from the 60 Minutes-style show Xena was working on. Did you notice the corners cut off the letterbox footage, like the paper they use?
Loving the punny blog titles BTW. You have seven days to think of a new one and Futurama already did Cylon & Garfunkel!
Not only did the newcast have trimmed corners, but so did the octagonal CD she was playing with while they were reviewing their footage -- that was too funny.
Yeah, Gaeta's tattoo was another great moment.
In the mini, the original BSG theme was played during the flyover of Vipers at the dedication of the "museum." Between that and here, my conclusion was that in the modern BSG universe, the song is a military anthem, akin to "Halls of Montezuma" or some such.
I'm sooooo running out of puns. It's hard coming up with a new title for my weekly BSG post. I actually need that three-and-a-half month break to get here just so I have time to stock up. ;-)
Unfortunately my mid-season break just started and goes til mid-March :(
Kat annoyed me already, so I understood why no-one spotted her problem til it was too late. I missed Cally last night but she got a lot of screen time already this year.
Yup, saw the CD. And I totally buy the military music concept. I just need to hear a centurion speak now and my wish list is complete!
hearing Xena talk in her normal voice was cool... I was almost totally taken out of the episode due to the similarities to the B5 episode. I was about to label it as the first not-good (I couldn't use the term "bad" on this series) episode, during the mega-cheesy news report, specifically during the slow-motion soldier walk with the heartstrings pulling retro music. I was sooo in the middle of groaning "ugh how could they be making this so cheesy" as if that was the *message of the episode*. (which if I remember correctly was how the B5 episode went...) they totally redeemed themselves with the cylon spy angle. turned an almost bad moment into a super-cool moment. I, too, thought to myself "how did I not see that coming?!" it looked like the cylons agreed it was mega-cheesy. which put me right back in the episode brilliantly.
also made sense that she ignored Baltar, they need to keep his self-esteem low so they can better manipulate him. she must have called in the raider distraction on cue.
I also like the mysteriousness(?) of Boomer's comments at the end where she said something like "I'm still alive!,...she's still alive!"
are they the same or different? her suprise reaction let us know that they are not communicating with Baby-Boomer.
and we'll probably see Kat again, she is destined to be that type of character that shows up and gets killed to demonstrate how evil the villan is : )
-the mole
(we have a plan)
oh, I forgot to mention the enjoyable anticipation of the possibility of a future episode fight scene between Starbuck and Xena. they even forshadowed by haviing Xena watching Starbuck warm up in the gym : )
they must have casted Xena because they wanted someone who could fight in future episodes : )
-the mole
I haven't watched the episode yet so I skipped reading this entry, but the title did make me laugh! Very wry and subtle Evan! :)
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