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selenakYou know, in that "Which show are you watching?" meme? Which I won't do, because with a very few exceptions, my answers would be pretty boring? Re: Battlestar Galactica, I started out watching The Roslin Wing but then branched out to watch Cylons and Life of Gaius as well. Behold me being as happy as I was last week.
Soooo... speculation has been running wild for a while that Roslin is not in fact the dying leader of the prophecy. In fact, ever since she recovered mid-season 2, and even now that the cancer is back. Alternate candidates fandom has wondered about were Kara, Adama and the eternal dark horse, Baltar. But I think no one, but no one guessed it could be (a) Six! That was awesome. And entirely playing fair, because let's remember, kids, Six was in the opera house vision from the start, and the first time anyone had it, it wasn't Laura (who only got to see the outside of the opera house that time), it was Baltar, seeing Six, himself and Hera in Kobol's Last Gleaming. And given Natalie's speech about mortality earlier in the episode, mortality as quintessential to what makes a person a person, the narrative practically demanded this would be put to the test with herself on the line, not another model, not another Six, but herself. And yet, while I could see the twist with "she'll lead them to their death" at the same time Kara did - lead them to mortality - I still couldn't see it coming. And I'm so torn here, because I don't want to loose Natalie!Six. I love the Sixes in general, but each of the copies, whether it's Caprica Six, Gina or Head!Six, in particular, and Natalie has endeared herself to me very quickly. So, while it would make narrative sense for her to be dead dead, I'm hoping Athena can't aim better at close range than Boomer could when shooting Adama, and that after some operations by Doc Cottle, Natalie can be saved.
(Also: damn it, Athena! I get you were freaked out about your visions and Hera painting all those images of Six, but that was murder, just as much as Cally shooting Boomer way back when had been, and more so than Boomer shooting Adama, because Boomer back then had been programmed and not exerting free will. Also, did it occur to you that the Six you kept seeing with Hera was a standard model, complete with platinum hair, and thus more likely to be Caprica than Natalie?) (Actually, I think it's Head!Six, who always insisted Hera was her and Gaius' child, though I'm not yet sure how that'll work out in regards to Head!Six' lack of a body.)
Meanwhile, we've got Roslin and Adama intending to hold back with the rebel Cylons and the rebel Cylons intending to play it safe by holding hostages in case the humans will double cross them until Natalie decides to take that risk and be the one to start with the trust, and the Centurions and their new free will becoming every bit as challenging as the Quorum is to Roslin when it comes to the problem of leading democratically when your people just don't trust your every word anymore. Politics, I love them. Both Cylon and human. Proving that the cross examination in the s3 finale actually did start off a trend and/or a welcome return to s1 and early s2 state of affairs in that Laura and Lee actually have scenes together, we get a really good one, in which there is actual conversation with two valid view points and Lee doing his Bastille Day and Crossroads thing. Well done, show, well done. And note that Laura listens to him and does make an appearance in front of the Quorum, presenting her case (or rather, let Natalie present it) instead of just expecting them to follow her lead.
If last week was about Roslin confronting her mortality, this week was about Roslin the politician, and not just in that scene with Lee. She was cooly ruthless with Tory (btw, I bet a lot of people assumed Tory had been the one to tell Baltar about the shared visions until that scene pointed out Laura actually had never told her about them, so she couldn't have), and you know, the kicker of it was that she doesn't dismiss Tory from her service, she "just" humiliates her and uses her. The scene with Kara was in a similar vein; note how she goes from coldness to vulnerability to coldness again, and Kara agrees to do what she wants. And then we get another of those never-failing-to-be-good scenes with Gaius Baltar. You know, I could watch the "Roslin and Baltar trapped on a Cylon Basestar: Will her urge to kill him win, or his uncanny ability to survive EVERYTHING?" show, I totally could, and now it looks like we're getting that.
Sidenote: re: the actual source of Baltar's information re: Roslin's vision sharing:
a) He's telling the truth - it was Caprica via Romo Lampkin
b) He was starting to tell the truth - it was Six, only it was Head!Six, and he wouldn't tell that to Tory, of course, so he had to cover
c) He made an educated guess based on his own old vision from Kobol (but the problem is, Roslin wasn't in that one)
What do you think?
Gaius showing up at Gaeta's, silently watching him and then leaving without revealing to Gaeta he had been there was an enigmatic and great character moment. Until s3, I thought the Baltar/Gaeta relationship was pretty one-sided, i.e. Gaeta had a crush and hero-worshipped, and Baltar saw him as useful. Then the whole exchange where Gaeta had him at gunpoint and Exodus II showed at the least, Baltar had been paying attention and knew pretty well what was going on with Gaeta (other than the useful and now disappointed crush, I mean), and finally their trial related scenes showed Baltar reacting emotionally beyond "damn it, he just condemmed to death with his false testimony". So, that sickbay visit was really intriguing. Did he want to do what he did with Tyrol but when there figured out that just wouldn't work with himself and Gaeta because all that happened between them was too personal? Did he just feel sorry for Gaeta? (He's not incapable of that, especially if his own life isn't on the line anymore.) Did he wonder whether Gaeta would die? Hmmm.
Confession time, though: while all the singing was effective (and either a total red herring or an anvil about Gaeta being the fifth hidden Cylon), I felt sorrier for Sam Anders. As opposed to about 99% of fandom, I'm sure, and yes, I know it was Anders who shot Gaeta in the leg, not vice versa, but Sam still slayed me with his expression and his "he sings" more than the actual singing on poor Gaeta's part did.
So, the Foursome: Tigh is reaching new levels of freaked out with the imminent reveal threatening and of course wants to kill all over Cylons before they can out him, Tyrol seems to have been left in a state of numbness or zen or both after his conversation with Baltar, and does NOT panic (btw, loved that he just silently follows Athena when she searches for her child; ah, character continuity, I love thee); Tory goes from her feeling being a Cylon makes her UberWoman and unaccountable to human standards to desperately trying to make Mommy love her again after Roslin revealed she knew about the sex with Baltar; and Sam guilt trips about Gaeta, which keeps the imminent revelation panic to a low level if nothing else. But none of them were thrilled to hear the Twos, Sixes and Eights want to take them with them and be happy together. No kidding, people. Incidentally, since Sam had his moment of emotional connection with an Eight last week and Tigh with Caprica Six the week before, I expect either Tyrol or Tory will have theirs with Leoben.
And in conclusion: Natalie, please be by some miracle not dead, no matter whether or not this makes narrative sense. Laura, remain with Gaius on the basestar for a while. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that plays out. Kara, I'm pleased there was no return to manic-depressive Kara; keep with that. Lee, politics and ethics become you, but those are no news. Why do I think Laura asking you what you would do in her place was massive foreshadowing? Tigh, it's five minutes beyond coming clear to your old friend Bill time, which you really should do NOW. And Tyrol, if they look up Athena for shooting Natalie, try not to flashback to earlier seasons too much, but otoh, given how killing Cylons has been handled previously, they might not bother...
Soooo... speculation has been running wild for a while that Roslin is not in fact the dying leader of the prophecy. In fact, ever since she recovered mid-season 2, and even now that the cancer is back. Alternate candidates fandom has wondered about were Kara, Adama and the eternal dark horse, Baltar. But I think no one, but no one guessed it could be (a) Six! That was awesome. And entirely playing fair, because let's remember, kids, Six was in the opera house vision from the start, and the first time anyone had it, it wasn't Laura (who only got to see the outside of the opera house that time), it was Baltar, seeing Six, himself and Hera in Kobol's Last Gleaming. And given Natalie's speech about mortality earlier in the episode, mortality as quintessential to what makes a person a person, the narrative practically demanded this would be put to the test with herself on the line, not another model, not another Six, but herself. And yet, while I could see the twist with "she'll lead them to their death" at the same time Kara did - lead them to mortality - I still couldn't see it coming. And I'm so torn here, because I don't want to loose Natalie!Six. I love the Sixes in general, but each of the copies, whether it's Caprica Six, Gina or Head!Six, in particular, and Natalie has endeared herself to me very quickly. So, while it would make narrative sense for her to be dead dead, I'm hoping Athena can't aim better at close range than Boomer could when shooting Adama, and that after some operations by Doc Cottle, Natalie can be saved.
(Also: damn it, Athena! I get you were freaked out about your visions and Hera painting all those images of Six, but that was murder, just as much as Cally shooting Boomer way back when had been, and more so than Boomer shooting Adama, because Boomer back then had been programmed and not exerting free will. Also, did it occur to you that the Six you kept seeing with Hera was a standard model, complete with platinum hair, and thus more likely to be Caprica than Natalie?) (Actually, I think it's Head!Six, who always insisted Hera was her and Gaius' child, though I'm not yet sure how that'll work out in regards to Head!Six' lack of a body.)
Meanwhile, we've got Roslin and Adama intending to hold back with the rebel Cylons and the rebel Cylons intending to play it safe by holding hostages in case the humans will double cross them until Natalie decides to take that risk and be the one to start with the trust, and the Centurions and their new free will becoming every bit as challenging as the Quorum is to Roslin when it comes to the problem of leading democratically when your people just don't trust your every word anymore. Politics, I love them. Both Cylon and human. Proving that the cross examination in the s3 finale actually did start off a trend and/or a welcome return to s1 and early s2 state of affairs in that Laura and Lee actually have scenes together, we get a really good one, in which there is actual conversation with two valid view points and Lee doing his Bastille Day and Crossroads thing. Well done, show, well done. And note that Laura listens to him and does make an appearance in front of the Quorum, presenting her case (or rather, let Natalie present it) instead of just expecting them to follow her lead.
If last week was about Roslin confronting her mortality, this week was about Roslin the politician, and not just in that scene with Lee. She was cooly ruthless with Tory (btw, I bet a lot of people assumed Tory had been the one to tell Baltar about the shared visions until that scene pointed out Laura actually had never told her about them, so she couldn't have), and you know, the kicker of it was that she doesn't dismiss Tory from her service, she "just" humiliates her and uses her. The scene with Kara was in a similar vein; note how she goes from coldness to vulnerability to coldness again, and Kara agrees to do what she wants. And then we get another of those never-failing-to-be-good scenes with Gaius Baltar. You know, I could watch the "Roslin and Baltar trapped on a Cylon Basestar: Will her urge to kill him win, or his uncanny ability to survive EVERYTHING?" show, I totally could, and now it looks like we're getting that.
Sidenote: re: the actual source of Baltar's information re: Roslin's vision sharing:
a) He's telling the truth - it was Caprica via Romo Lampkin
b) He was starting to tell the truth - it was Six, only it was Head!Six, and he wouldn't tell that to Tory, of course, so he had to cover
c) He made an educated guess based on his own old vision from Kobol (but the problem is, Roslin wasn't in that one)
What do you think?
Gaius showing up at Gaeta's, silently watching him and then leaving without revealing to Gaeta he had been there was an enigmatic and great character moment. Until s3, I thought the Baltar/Gaeta relationship was pretty one-sided, i.e. Gaeta had a crush and hero-worshipped, and Baltar saw him as useful. Then the whole exchange where Gaeta had him at gunpoint and Exodus II showed at the least, Baltar had been paying attention and knew pretty well what was going on with Gaeta (other than the useful and now disappointed crush, I mean), and finally their trial related scenes showed Baltar reacting emotionally beyond "damn it, he just condemmed to death with his false testimony". So, that sickbay visit was really intriguing. Did he want to do what he did with Tyrol but when there figured out that just wouldn't work with himself and Gaeta because all that happened between them was too personal? Did he just feel sorry for Gaeta? (He's not incapable of that, especially if his own life isn't on the line anymore.) Did he wonder whether Gaeta would die? Hmmm.
Confession time, though: while all the singing was effective (and either a total red herring or an anvil about Gaeta being the fifth hidden Cylon), I felt sorrier for Sam Anders. As opposed to about 99% of fandom, I'm sure, and yes, I know it was Anders who shot Gaeta in the leg, not vice versa, but Sam still slayed me with his expression and his "he sings" more than the actual singing on poor Gaeta's part did.
So, the Foursome: Tigh is reaching new levels of freaked out with the imminent reveal threatening and of course wants to kill all over Cylons before they can out him, Tyrol seems to have been left in a state of numbness or zen or both after his conversation with Baltar, and does NOT panic (btw, loved that he just silently follows Athena when she searches for her child; ah, character continuity, I love thee); Tory goes from her feeling being a Cylon makes her UberWoman and unaccountable to human standards to desperately trying to make Mommy love her again after Roslin revealed she knew about the sex with Baltar; and Sam guilt trips about Gaeta, which keeps the imminent revelation panic to a low level if nothing else. But none of them were thrilled to hear the Twos, Sixes and Eights want to take them with them and be happy together. No kidding, people. Incidentally, since Sam had his moment of emotional connection with an Eight last week and Tigh with Caprica Six the week before, I expect either Tyrol or Tory will have theirs with Leoben.
And in conclusion: Natalie, please be by some miracle not dead, no matter whether or not this makes narrative sense. Laura, remain with Gaius on the basestar for a while. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that plays out. Kara, I'm pleased there was no return to manic-depressive Kara; keep with that. Lee, politics and ethics become you, but those are no news. Why do I think Laura asking you what you would do in her place was massive foreshadowing? Tigh, it's five minutes beyond coming clear to your old friend Bill time, which you really should do NOW. And Tyrol, if they look up Athena for shooting Natalie, try not to flashback to earlier seasons too much, but otoh, given how killing Cylons has been handled previously, they might not bother...
