The Road Less Traveled (405)

[Detox]

Does anyone else think that when the writers realized that this is going to be their last season, they just decided to go **** all and start pulling random crap out of their asses and throw it into the plot.

Honest, I really don't like this season, everything just seems so... so bad. Even the CGI looked terrible in comparison to earlier seasons.

[Bruman]

Does anyone else think that when the writers realized that this is going to be their last season, they just decided to go **** all and start pulling random crap out of their asses and throw it into the plot.

Honest, I really don't like this season, everything just seems so... so bad. Even the CGI looked terrible in comparison to earlier seasons.

This season isn't as satisfying as I hoped it would be, but it's still good.

I think they did decide that, since it's the last season, they could kill off a large number of major characters. You know they're going to eventually get to Earth, but you gotta wonder who's going to be left when they get there.

As for CGI, one of the things I liked about last week's ep (escape velocity), was just before Racetrack's raptor accident, when the raptor launched and followed a bunch of vipers, the vipers all turned around and suddenly went a different direction. It looked like a school of fish suddenly turning - it was a subtle effect, but I thought that was really neat.

Also, watching people walking in spacesuits in the landing bay was a new shot, kind of interesting.

[MarshAngel]

One of the things I didn't expect was how Tyrol apparently turned to Baltar's side. While BSG is known for it's unexpected turns, I had a hard time understanding why Tyrol would do such a thing and why Baltar is so persuasive. Though I do find it interesting that the final four have been so malleable by certain people (Tory and now Tyrol by Baltar, Tigh by Six, Anders by Starbuck).

Thank the gods I didn't watch the skiffy preview, I hear it's spoilerific. O_o

I think it has to do with the difficulties, loss, and sense of powerlessness of the past few years coming to a head. When it seems like loss just keeps growing without an end in sight, it starts to feel like the god/s you believe in are impotent so you have nothing to lose in trying something new... what are the old gods going to do to punish you? wipe out your home and family?

I think this is why Baltar is succeeding. And of course there's his message. No one has to feel guilty for not paying enough attention to someone they lost or for leaving someone behind. Even if you didn't believe strongly in anything, it's appealing, because someone is forgiving you for your screwups, and that probably feels pretty good.

I find it both ironic and somewhat appropriate that Baltar is the one leading this revolution. He gets to feel pretty good about being a jackass. No matter the mess he makes, God loves him. It's all good, all the time.

[Arative]

Bald Tyrol reminded me of that fat guy from Full Metal Jacket. He looks badass though.

As typical of 2 parters in BSG, the first one is all lead up to the big pay off of the 2nd part.

One thing that bugs me is why is Adama allowing all these civvies on the Galactica with Baltar? It seems he's gotten lax in security from the first season. Is it that they just don't have the ships to put them all on or what?

[kharn the betrayer]

Bald Tyrol reminded me of that fat guy from Full Metal Jacket. He looks badass though.

As typical of 2 parters in BSG, the first one is all lead up to the big pay off of the 2nd part.

One thing that bugs me is why is Adama allowing all these civvies on the Galactica with Baltar? It seems he's gotten lax in security from the first season. Is it that they just don't have the ships to put them all on or what?

I think its because of the lack of room on otherships

the Woman King kind of delt with this though its been a year since I watched it...

[Jimmy_J]

How dare they kill off Gunny Matthias. They should've just killed off that pistol-whipped Viper pilot dude instead.

I agree. I am tired of them killing off the great secondary characters that I love.

This season has just been annoying. All the episodes are proceeding at a snail's pace and the story arcs are pointless.

[Jimmy_J]

Does anyone else think that when the writers realized that this is going to be their last season, they just decided to go **** all and start pulling random crap out of their asses and throw it into the plot.

I agree. This season is just badly written.

[Apollux]

I´m actually preoccupied, this episode marks the middle of the road landmark for this year and I have yet to see a big question answered.

[Agent_Dark]

Evidently, the parallels that you pooh-pooh are there intentionally, even if they are not exact or direct.

I thought this was a thread to discuss the episode. I don't think it's necessary to denigrate other people when they choose to discuss aspects of the show that you would rather not discuss or that you think are silly. There's plenty to talk about--not everyone is going to be interested in every detail, but others are.

err, read the quote again. He specifically says Cylons != terrorists and Roslin != George Bush. There are no direct comparisons, rather a blank one that could be used to compare to alot of events in history. Everyone (Americans?) seems to be jumping aboard analogies to the War on Terror and Christianity because those dominate their culture. But believe it or not, there are plenty of other similiar events throughout history that could easily be applied as well and that rather nicely fits in with the show's theme of 'Everything has happened before and will happen again'

[ArthurKing]

It's becoming harder and harder to watch. Really. After 3+ seasons of following these characters, it is becoming painful to watch the 4th season progression.

I don't want to be misunderstood: I feel that I am watching ... very likely the finest show I've ever seen on television. I mean that authentically and sincerely. Nevertheless, it is literally painful to watch it at this point.

They are - with an almost surgical / manical precision - tearing apart characters that we've come to know and love. Dissecting them. Everyone looks ragged. Kara is on the brink. Tigh is a shell. Chief is suicidal. Baltar has gone into religious zealotry mode. Roslin is dying. Adama seems to be on the backburner in terms of being the 'Big Daddy of Command Greatness'. Lee is out of uniform. Mutiny is brewing. Galactica looks torn to hell.

I've never before felt this particular mixture of anticipation, pleasure, and utter pain surrounding a television show. This is television at its brutally finest. I love it for the visceral experience. And I hate Ron Moore for what he is doing.

Wow.

I will say - I don't believe ... it can't can it? can it? ... that this can last for the whole 4th season. There has to be some uplift somewhere. There will have to be a day when Adama unfurls his Lord Nelson sail of command once again, when Tigh stands tall next to his friend and oversees the deck, when Kara jumps into a viper and racks up another 10 kills, etc.

I think these things to myself. And then I think: you know what? The show has been this ballsy before. It may be this ballsy again. We may have seen the last of the roses. This may be another 16 episodes of beautiful terribleness. And then, it ends.

Just ... wow.

[warmbeachbrat]

err, read the quote again. He specifically says Cylons != terrorists and Roslin != George Bush. There are no direct comparisons, rather a blank one that could be used to compare to alot of events in history. Everyone (Americans?) seems to be jumping aboard analogies to the War on Terror and Christianity because those dominate their culture. But believe it or not, there are plenty of other similiar events throughout history that could easily be applied as well and that rather nicely fits in with the show's theme of 'Everything has happened before and will happen again'

*re-reads quote* Uh...

Question: The show is paralleling today's political climate and reflecting world events...

RDM: Absolutely. The show is really supposed to be about our society and political structure, the conversations we have today in the culture. Hopefully, the show is able to examine those things from a different perspective without making it as simple as the Cylons are Al Qaeda and Laura Roslin (the President) is George Bush.

*re-reads my post* Hmm...

Evidently, the parallels that you pooh-pooh are there intentionally, even if they are not exact or direct.

The point I was trying to make is that people DO see parallels between BSG and present day politics and religion. I've seen it over and over in news articles, opinion pieces, and reviews of the show. So it seems to me that should be fair game for discussion and not be dismissed out of hand. I'm a little bored with those discussions and tend to skip over them, but I understand why people talk about it.

Having said all that, I don't disagree with your point (QUOTE: "But believe it or not, there are plenty of other similiar events throughout history that could easily be applied as well and that rather nicely fits in with the show's theme of 'Everything has happened before and will happen again'"). There's an old saying that there is nothing new under the sun. Sometimes old sayings have a lot of wisdom to them. And, as you say, it adds another layer to the show's theme. I find it fascinating and wonder if TPTB did it on purpose....

[TameFarrar]

I am trying to determine just how I feel about the show so far. I know that they are doing build up rather than *stand alone* episodes this season, however the build up seems labor intensive with no real productivity to show for it.

I can't say I have liked this episode any better than I have the previous four. I think my first issue is that I am tired of being the only one (the audience) who knows who the Final Four are. I want some pay off happening already that others are finding out. Be it Cylon or Human. So far only the raiders have made it known the Final Five are *Among the Fleet* so I expected more from that this week.

I think I expected Leoben to make some sort of statement to Anders about it since he seems to have a better awareness then any of the other Cylons about the big picture and the whole Kara destiny thing.

I thought it was completely inappropriate for Anders to come into the Capt. Quarters and attack Leoben. Unless Kara has given him leave to act as man and wife regardless of the chain of command he was completely out of line. The crew seemed to placed a great deal of emphasis on the chain of command except for that moment so I take that as writer's license and a poor choice in using it.

The fact that Sharon made no comments, no statements or even talked to Leoben was a glaring error IMHO. She is the only *known* Cylon on board. She should have been talking to Leoben about everything. The fact that she was not being used in this manner was just very odd. When Adama needed conversation and opinions on the Cylons he never hesitated to talk to her. So why not now???
Helo not backing Kara after Adama chose him to be Kara's XO bummed me out completely. I believe Adama chose him because he felt Kara needed at least one person to stand behind her no matter what *just as he was doing with this mission* I feel this change up in attitude on Helo's part was an error. Since having Anders be the one to do it.... again brings a secondary character into the forefront in a way that annoys me. But I am bias at this point about secondary characters.

I was kind of annoyed at the Sci Fi *Ander's moment with the whole *Sam loves Kara so much that he is scared she will find out he is a cylon* I felt that was unneeded and possibly since I am so disgusted with the promotion of secondary characters it was more annoying then it should have been.

I am not a Baltar fan to begin with so having this episode focus more than half of its time on Baltar was a complete waste for me. I made a cake this time instead of just getting coffee The story line is redundant and boring IMHO and completely unbelievable.

The fact that once again we were subjected to watching Baltar have sex tells me this story line really hasn't changed much ....and having the Final Four slowly buy into the speeches...well... the stories have sucked so far.... so I actually expected it

I am just not really that impressed with the *Darker version* we are getting.

Sure it had a bit more action overall but did it really do much more than move a plodding plot along...nope not in my opinion

[Corona]

Of course viewers see parallels.

Who watches a show they can't relate to?

As far as religion, who's right? If there can only be one, then everyone else is wrong. Someone care to explain that one to me please?

Everybody is right or everybody is wrong.

This season is so boring we are just not inspired.

[turtlesstartedit]

It seems a lot of posters are less than enthused about this season so far. I hate to pile on, but I have to agree. Did they fire the entire writing staff and hire newbies? BSG, however, has earned my continued tolerance for their suffering senioritis. I am hoping for a big payoff, but am fairly certain that they will leave many questions unanswered.

THE BIG 4 LOSERS THIS SEASON:

#4 (honorable mention): Athena-her Boomer counterpart with the cylons seems to be getting more airplay than her. As mother of the first cylon-human child, you would think she would be more central. This ep in particular was very striking with how little she had to say (though she probably had more lines than all previous eps this season combined).

#3 (bronze): Roslin-the pres is too severe. She always had that no-nonsense side to her, but it seems to have taken over. Her attempt on Starbucks life after Starbuck gave her the gun is unforgivable in my book. All her actions since seem to ring of the kind of desperation that becomes apparent right before a nervous breakdown. Maybe this is the point, but for a character with cancer, she gains no sympathy.

#2 (silver): Lee-has just become plain annoying. He has always been an idealist, but now he seems to fight fights just because he can (not because he believes). His defense of Baltar last season was great due to the backdrop of the father-son relationship, but without that backdrop, all his actions ring hollow. Which brings us to...

#1 (gold): Baltar-now I've noticed that many posters do not like Baltar, and seem to never have. I, however, started watching the show BECAUSE of Baltar. His lucid sexual visions of 6 were always at inconvenient and inappropriate times. He was an incredibly brilliant coward, and made for fascinating TV. Now, he seems rather self-assured and is losing all that nervousness that made him so interesting. Granted, they didn't completely write-off his nervousness this season, but this past ep it was completely missing. I could care less about the religious angle, but to stay true to his character, this "messiah" or "prophet" needs to be filled with and expressing large quantities of self doubt!

[warmbeachbrat]

Here's an interesting review on the latest episode that perhaps touches on a reason why season 4 has been so disappointing to so many:

http://churchofthemasses.blogspot.co...y-victory.html


ETA: Don't worry--in spite of the blog name, it's not a religious blog or post....