Procrastiblog

A pretty strong start to the second half of the season, but… I’m losing track of which Cylons are which. And tell me: is there anything Helo could possibly do to get charged with treason? Anything at all?

P.S. If there’s anyone in the world who actually checked out Battlestar Galactica this season on my recommendation, I apologize. I mean, did you understand a single word?

This post is all about the SPOILERS.

Seems like every plot development of Season 2 has been washed away: the Pegasus is gone, Laura Roslyn is president once again, the Cylon/human baby is a Cylon/human baby, and New Caprica is the new Old Caprica. Everybody’s back on the Galactica, in search of a place called… wait a sec, nobody’s talking about Earth anymore. Whatever happened to the Arrow of Apollo?

Random thoughts:

• I don’t like how Tigh handled that situation. If there’s one thing I learned from Army of Shadows, it’s that traitors want to be killed, and publicly. I expected to either see Old Testament Saul wring Ellen’s neck with his bare hands (which is what she deserved, after all, for being so damn annoying for so damn long) or for him to say, “I know what needs to be done, but I can’t do it myself” (see: Christopher Moltisanti in re Adrianna La Cerva).
• Shorter Gaeta to Baltar: “All logic and emotion [ed: ah, heck, this is the Sci Fi Channel… all Spock and McCoy] are telling me to shoot you in the face, but somewhere I hear some writer’s screaming, ‘Don’t do it! He’s a principal and a fan favorite!’…” Although, I have to say I admire how the writers have made my sympathize with Baltar who is, in his own selfish and fundamentally flawed way, trying to do what he thinks is best (at least since after he handed a nuke over to the Cylon infiltrator…).
• Starbuck: I told you so! I told you so! I told you so! Still, and yet, if the Cylons had just thought to change the brat’s name, Starbuck could have said, “I’m sorry lady, you’ve got the wrong kid.” (Is the moppet a mute?)
• Will D’Anna (stupid sci fi name) be transformed by her love into an annoying simp?
• Don’t you think Adama seemed a little overly chipper to be back on the run in the far reaches of outer space? See you later, ‘stache!
• We didn’t pull out of Iraq; Iraq pulled out of us!

NOTE: The episode number is accurate. The two-hour season premiere officially counted as two episodes.

So, let me see: the Cylons were drawn to New Caprica by evidence of nuclear weaponry; the decided to invade and occupy in order to help improve the humans way of life; are surprised by a committed and fierce resistance, getting trapped in a cycle of increasing violence and repression; recruit and train native police who are put to use as death squads, while the insurgency decides to experiment with suicide bombings targetting “collaborators”…

Nope, doesn’t sound familiar at all.

The situation for the humans of the 12 Colonies continues to be bleak. Can Starbuck be stupid enough to actually fall for that cloying little moppet? (I thought she was working up the courage to snap the kid’s neck when the “accident” happened.) Will Apollo go low-carb or low-fat? Will Adama shave off that damn moustache? How will Roslin manage to survive a Centurion firing squad? (Or will BG suddenly become a show where major characters can die? (Billy doesn’t count. Billy was lame.)) What is the game plan here, Cylons? And, hey, Caprica Six, are you sure that sweaty, small little man is the object of your transcendent love?

[UPDATE 10/8/2006] Expert commentary here and here. A chat with the creators and cast here.

Go forth and watch it. I beg you. 9 PM EST on the Sci Fi Channel. Check your local listings. If you don’t believe me, there’s a fairly convincing case towards the end of this post, written by a real honest-to-god professional.

Don’t let the channel scare you: there’s almost no science in this fiction, really none in the “if we reverse the polarity of the positrons we can inhibit the valence of their gamma ray field!” vein. Yes, it is set in space. But here’s what it’s really about: a human race on the brink of extinction, making hard choices, and being scared out of their fucking minds. Go watch! Good good good!

[UPDATE 10/6/2006] There’s an official primer. Season 2 marathon all day today on Sci Fi. “The Story So Far” airs at 5 PM. All previous seasons are available on DVD.

You have no excuse! Only your milquetoast aversion to high quality television!