Escape Velocity (404)

[LoneStar1836]

I really like Chief's character. I hope he does not become a bad and evil Cylon like Tory. I hope he becomes more humane like Caprica or Athena. Yes, Caprica is humane, she wants a world where Cylons and humans can co-exsist, Sadly both species are not ready for that and may never be. I think we are starting to see that some Cylons like Caprica want to live with humans and interact, while the other models want to either control the humans or destroy them all.

That was kind of the whole point of them going to New Caprica. Caprica and Boomer wanted to try to co-exist with the humans, but the others were not having any of that so that experiment failed badly.

And Leoben seems solely fixated on Kara.

[dec55]

Remember it was Boomer that got Caprica 6 to go against the Cylons on Caprica.
But after seeing Athena become a beloved member of the BSG crew, and becoming a mother to Hera, Boomer went hard core Cylon...and didn't want to have anything to do with Humans. I find it ironic that Tyrol finds himself yearning for Boomer. When Boomer finds out that the Chief is a fellow Cylon, it will be fascinating to see if she changes sides again, or gets Tyrol to come with her to join the Cylon empire.

And on the other hand, whereas most people seem engaged by the cylon-perspective scenes, I find them to be a completely bland waste of time. I think one of the reasons I enjoyed this episode so much was their complete absence. This final season should be about focus, culmination and convergence - going off on a tangent with the Cylons is just about the worst thing you could do.
.

:lol This eppy was full of Cylons and their point of view....Chief,Tori,Saul and 6.....

[anotherquestion]

Is anyone else getting tired of the Dylan Four's "flashes" of unreality?

First with Saul Tigh's vision of shooting Admiral Adama in the head.

Next with Tyrol's imagined retort from Adama about being the father of a "halfbreed" cylon.

and Finally, Tigh's vision of Caprica Six as Ellen.

What's next, for Pete's sake ? Will Tory flash on flushing Roslin out of an airlock? Will Anders conjure up a Strarbuck/Leoban conjugal vision?

These all seem like "cheap shots" to me, like a hand reaching out from the grave in a slasher movie, something to make the viewers "jump". It's manipulative and for "shock value" only.

As if these visions weren't enough, we still have Baltar stil seeing "inner Baltar and inner Sixes", Caprica Six occasionally seeing "inner Baltars", Roslin intermittently tripping out with visions of the opera house, Lee Adama getting that sinking sensation in an underwater vision (in Resurrection Ship) when suferring from oxygen starvation, D'Anna having epiphanies from her near death experiences, and Starbuck taking a Kubrick trip in the maelstrom. Beyond that we have seen that each skinjob has the inherent ability to "project" a vision of reality to completely mask their "ordinary" surroundings.

Enough is enough. Reality is bleak enough without some of the darker hallucinations appearing to almost every major character in the series.

One of the major subtexts of the series appears to be exploring what it means to be truly human (or truly Cylon). Apparently recurring psychoses make up a major component.

[Dusk]

Meh.

Enough ENOUGH with the religious overtones, I didn't park my ass in front of the plasma to listen to church sermons and holy waffling.

I have truly lost all interest in Baltar now, once the adorable lab geek with a taste for women is now just a self-righteous messiah wannabe. And Lee... Lee Lee Lee, please make your way to the nearest airlock and kindly flush flush flush. These over zealous character changes are shaking the series a little. Forget wondering if they will ever make it to Earth, the question is will they be sane enough to appreciate it in the end?

[daniel9]

lol i wonder why admiral adama hasnt seen any visions

[CellarDwellar]

This episode, by far, freaked me out.

Baltar is now Jesus.
Tory killed Cally and the Chief has blown a circuit.
Chief got demoted.
Sol is losing his mind.
Six was beating the junk out of Sol.
Old Religion > Baltar.

Kind of...crazy, ne? :/

Spoiler:

The next episode looks entertaining. Leoben finds Kara, Athena and Helo freak out, nobody wants to do what she says anymore. And it sort of bothers me; I'd give them the benefit of the doubt, merely because she came back from the fraking dead to begin with, so why not keep going along with the crazy train.

I'm going to put my money on Helo trusting Kara's word more than he does Athena's in the end. I mean, there's a huge difference between lovers and friends, and Helo's always trusted Kara's instincts. Which have pulled her through every time, so far. Besides Anders.

Marrying Anders for safe measures from Apollo still makes me giggle.

I still want more Lee/Kara, merely because their relationship had the most depth to it. Athena/Helo is sort of old and distant now, with the baby kidnap and all. D: But I don't think Mistah Apollo has any time for the loveboat crew anymore, since Roslin is dead set on tearing him a new one and shooting him out an airlock before her wig becomes incapable of hiding her cancer.

Spoiler:

I actually want Roslin to die now. The whole, CANCER IS BACK! thing drives me crazy. I have my finger pointed dead on her not being a cylon, but a power-hungry scared old woman who's going to die before the end of the season wanting to have a significant death, rather than a meaningless one like the rest of the fleet (in the words of Admiral Adama himself).

You can only use the cancer ploy once. =(

Think they're only releasing 10 episodes this year too. So far as SCI-FI has given hint to, nevertheless; more aggravation on my side, since I had to wait a year to see season 4 to begin with, and now I have to wait another year to see the other half. Not that season 3 wasn't enough of a turn off from the series to begin with. Love it or hate it season, right?

I hated the majority of it. /sigh

[Pharaoh Atem]

i'm so happy racetrack was ok i thought for sure she was dead

[dec55]

I'm going to put my money on Helo trusting Kara's word more than he does Athena's in the end.

It may be Athena that starts the mutiny and then stops it. Seeing in the previews that her sisters are on board. Athena and the Cylons that come on board are all pro human. And both want to see earth....

i'm so happy racetrack was ok i thought for sure she was dead

It's kinda funny they survived....in the FX....the whole drivers cockpit was crushed and flattened.
Both pilots must have jumped to the back in a split second....:lol

[Briangate78]

Meh.

Enough ENOUGH with the religious overtones, I didn't park my ass in front of the plasma to listen to church sermons and holy waffling.

I have truly lost all interest in Baltar now, once the adorable lab geek with a taste for women is now just a self-righteous messiah wannabe. And Lee... Lee Lee Lee, please make your way to the nearest airlock and kindly flush flush flush. These over zealous character changes are shaking the series a little. Forget wondering if they will ever make it to Earth, the question is will they be sane enough to appreciate it in the end?

It's gone over the top with the religion story arc with Baltar. I am more interested in the road to Earth, the fued between the cylons, what will happen to the four revealed Cylons, and finally who is the last cylon model.

[LoneStar1836]

Is anyone else getting tired of the Dylan Four's "flashes" of unreality?

{snip}

These all seem like "cheap shots" to me, like a hand reaching out from the grave in a slasher movie, something to make the viewers "jump". It's manipulative and for "shock value" only.

As if these visions weren't enough, we still have Baltar stil seeing "inner Baltar and inner Sixes", Caprica Six occasionally seeing "inner Baltars", Roslin intermittently tripping out with visions of the opera house, Lee Adama getting that sinking sensation in an underwater vision (in Resurrection Ship) when suferring from oxygen starvation, D'Anna having epiphanies from her near death experiences, and Starbuck taking a Kubrick trip in the maelstrom. Beyond that we have seen that each skinjob has the inherent ability to "project" a vision of reality to completely mask their "ordinary" surroundings.

Enough is enough. Reality is bleak enough without some of the darker hallucinations appearing to almost every major character in the series.

No.

I've never had a problem with the characters having these kind of flashes. I think they help visually portray what the characters are feeling rather than going into a lot of exposition. I quite appreciate them.

I suppose I don't find them shocking. Like with Tigh shooting Adama, it all seemed dreamlike to me...plus there was no way they would off Adama that early so I didn't go "wow! what was that". I thought it was a great way to portray what kind of fear Tigh was experiencing after his new revelation.

lol i wonder why admiral adama hasnt seen any visions

Actually he has. That episode last year that involved his wedding anniversary...talking to the dead ex-wife.

[CellarDwellar]

It may be Athena that starts the mutiny and then stops it. Seeing in the previews that her sisters are on board. Athena and the Cylons that come on board are all pro human. And both want to see earth....

Very true. I guess we'll just have to wait until Friday/Saturday again ;p

Spoiler:

Wonder how Sam is going to take Leoben hitting on Kara, and her (most likely) not pushing it off this time. Since, you know, they have sort of a better connection this time around.

[wwlh]

My thoughts on the Chief's outburst (and I'm sorry if I missed it if someone said the same thing already)..

I think that the Chief was doing ANYTHING he could to hang on to who he feels that he is/was. He frakked up the repairs on the raptor, almost killed two pilots, and was patted on the head and told to take it easy - all while begging to be told that he screwed up. He has Tory telling him that anything he does is perfect - which goes against everything he believes to be true. So after the Raptor crash he starts thinking about everything else...especially how Callie stayed with him after he beat the tar out of her. He just wants to be plain old Galen - and now it seems that his life is out of his hands because no matter what he does...he comes out OK in the end. I think he blew up at Adama because THAT is what he couldn't take anymore...and I think he was finally relieved when Adama busted him and kicked him off the ship - it was his way of taking back control of his life..

But, then again, that might just be me.....

[entil2001]

Jane Espenson, the writer for this episode, was on the writing staff of the Joss Whedon cult favorite “Firefly”, a series that is held in high regard among the Galactica production crew. In one of the episodes (“War Stories”), a peculiar philosophy is mentioned. In short, the idea is: by torturing someone to his or her very limits, that person’s true self will emerge. That episode of “Firefly” immediately came to mind while watching the story unfold.

Because this is largely a transitional piece, the key to success was character exploration and, in turn, a philosophical theme. Almost everyone involved in this episode was tested by some kind of pain or strife. Tyrol, for example, was tested by the knowledge that his wife’s “suicide” was anything but (though he doesn’t seem sure), and the real man who emerges is not a pleasant sight. Tyrol’s growing numbness could leave him vulnerable to Tory’s manipulation.

Tory has done a fairly good job of turning herself into an agent of pain, using it to push Baltar’s buttons (rather effectively, I might add). Though it’s not explicitly stated, it wouldn’t be shocking to discover that she’s manipulating Tigh, Tyrol, and Roslin with equal deftness. As noted in the review for the previous episode, she is the one “new” Cylon who has embraced the benefits of her newly-revealed nature. There has always been an amoral aspect to Tory’s character, but the moment of revelation has seemingly stripped away some of her internal checks and balances.

Tigh, like Tyrol, is struggling with the knowledge of his true nature, and his conversation with Caprica Six is revealing. I’m not sure I was completely sold on her actions and reactions in this episode; the characterization felt “off”. Tigh’s guilt and self-loathing came through very clearly, but her dialogue choices were too “perfect” for the occasion. Even so, this provided an interesting parallel between her and Tory; they both act upon others to help them “know themselves”.

In addition to Tory’s possible influence, Roslin’s own recognition of her impending death has pushed her towards an even more fascist mindset. Roslin has always been an interesting character, because she has been willing to subvert the popular masses in the name of their survival. Her decision to stand up to Adama in the first season was all about saving Humanity, and as she says in this episode, as time runs out, she’s less and less concerned about the opinions of others.

So Roslin is more than happy to change the law to frustrate Gaius Baltar and paint Lee Adama as naïve for questioning it. Adama, having a rather flexible definition of morality himself (particularly when it comes to his “family”), doesn’t disagree. The episode itself suggests that Roslin might have been right to be concerned about Baltar, because the result of his trial is a renewed sense of confidence. Even Lee seemed concerned with the consequences of his decision.

Ironically, I’m still convinced that the survival of Humanity is through a blending with the Cylons. Baltar and his monotheistic cult could very likely be a part of that movement, along with Kara’s search for Earth, and that puts Roslin as more of an impediment to survival than a benefit. Yet in very many ways, they never would have gotten so far without her, and it’s quite possible that she’s the final Cylon, acting from unseen and unrealized influences.

The episode gave me enough to enjoy on a philosophical level that the minor character and style choices didn’t bother me as much as I initially thought. From a style perspective, I thought the arrangement of the episode, simply from the editing aspect, didn’t always work for me. Taken with some of the dialogue, it left me feeling a bit bothered in a very vague sense. The transitional nature of the story also didn’t help. But as a fan of shows like “Lost”, sometimes all I need is a good philosophical hook, and this episode had that in excess.


John Keegan
Reprinted with permission
Original source: c. Critical Myth, 2008
All rights reserved
Link: http://www.criticalmyth.com

[Stormtrooper]

It's kinda funny they survived....in the FX....the whole drivers cockpit was crushed and flattened.
Both pilots must have jumped to the back in a split second....:lol

True. I wonder if they changed the script, but didn't have time to change the fx... Very good episode nonetheless. Bring on the revelations!

[Lady Snow]

I have truly lost all interest in Baltar now, once the adorable lab geek with a taste for women is now just a self-righteous messiah wannabe. And Lee... Lee Lee Lee, please make your way to the nearest airlock and kindly flush flush flush. These over zealous character changes are shaking the series a little. Forget wondering if they will ever make it to Earth, the question is will they be sane enough to appreciate it in the end?

emphasis mine

I fail to see how these are "over zealous character changes." Lee's always been an idealist and has always stood up for what he believes is right. Baltar's always been a self-serving self-considered-pariah. The series is finally exploring these facets of their characters in different contexts - not for the first time ever.