Final Cut (208)

[Mr. Seven]

This wasn't a bad episode at all. I thought that the whole cast acted superbly. Especially the supporting cast members like Kat, Gata, etc..

And how could the ladies complain when they almost saw Apollo's arrow.

[SGalisa]

Mrs. (cylon) Tigh wasn't so annoying tonight. I actually felt sorry for her, and maybe that was because Deanna came to her rescue, albeit due to a timing factor? Col.Tigh's reaction to the camera at the end (it was almost in his face!) was great! Gosh, the poor guy can't have any privacy. And he's smart too - knowing when he was being set up - scene during the "alcoholic" interview...

won't go into details of the scenes with Chief and Kat, and the leaking hydrolic or drugs -frustration and desperation stuff. ...but -Proof that the secondary characters are just as significant as primary (more familiar named) ones.

Deanna is a cylon?! that makes sense, since "guardian" Six whispered how helpful she'd be to Baltar. So, what is the Boomer in the theater? just another cylon copy? And Six's surprising reaction in the theater - she didn't know about the baby, meaning she's not directly linked to Baltar's "guardian" Six?

liked the musical tribute to the original BSG theme from the original series. ...janitor guy whistling it in the hallway... very nice. If nothing else - that musical theme was the hallmark stamp of the entire BSG series. And the way it got included at the end, was very nice to hear against the visual montage of how resilient and steadfast the few who are left, are making it thru their difficult life, moment by moment.

========
I know Lucy Lawless is going for a different appearance- using her native accent and lightened hair, but I miss the striking contrast of her bottled darker hair (from Xena) from bringing out the beautiful blue hues in her eyes. She has extremely exquisite blue eyes; and either the BSG lighting doesn't do it justice, or her lightened (strawberry blond) hair overpowers the emphasis of her eyes. I don't remember if her natural auburn (seen in a "Hercules" ep) toned it down enough to see how beautiful her eyes truly are.

[Easter Lily]

Oh my... a Kiwi with a Kiwi accent... *mock surprise*... I can't believe they let her keep her accent... *faints in shock* Hysterics aside, I am surprised Lucy Lawless was allowed to use her Nu Zeeland accent... but in a good way... Now, for someone from across the Tasman to make an appearance... *taps table expectantly*

I didn't mind the episode overall... but I struggled to maintain any real interest in the first half of the episode. Not sure why... Could be it reminded me of SG-1's Heroes or could it be that everyone looked like they were going through the motions? The Dee angle was good and watching Gaeta puffing away flippantly was rather unexpected. It certainly showed another side to his character. But it gave me the impression that it was a very bitsy, light episode, at least in the first half... It could also be that not seeing any of the main characters as much as we have in the past several episodes left one feeling a little empty.
Of course, the acting was great as usual... and some nice interaction between Lee and Kara, and various members of the crew with D'Biers... Nice to see Lee doing his CAG thing -- quite revealing on different levels. But the show lacked the usual "oompf" we've come to expect from BSG. Quite honestly, I thought this whole scenario was better done on Stargate...

[Gargen]

Wow that was so cool, just makes me hate Tigh even more

[anotherquestion]

This episode, for the first time in a long time, gave me the feeling that the Cylon's Plan was really rich, textured, nuanced, and even more inscrutable than I'd previously thought.

I'd never subscribed (nor do I now) to the theory that the Cylons were so much in control that they were able to "micro-manange" every small action of the fleet, like Starbuck's defeat and recovery of the Cylon Raider, for example.

On the other hand, it never appeared that the Cylon plan was as simple as "kill all of humanity". The Helo and Sharon Caprica experiment and "The Farm" shows that Cylon's have an interest in preserving at least small numbers of humans for breeding purposes. But the details in surprise ending of "Final Cut" lead to many, somtimes contradictory, inferences about the scope of Cylon capabilities.

• The Cylons apparently can track the position of the fleet easily. That's why they sent two Raiders to relay the video feed back.
• Cylons "tracking at a distance" does not mean they have the ability to transmit large volumes of data from a distance. Hence the need for the relays from the Raiders.
• Sharon is not feeding information directly back to the Cylon community. Neither is Number 6 (or the 7 other Cylons in the fleet). Otherwise Sharon's existence would not have been a surprise to the Cylon "audience" at the end.
• Number 6 in the audience seems delighted at the "resilience" of the Fleet. Why would this be her reaction? It is inconsistent with every other Number 6 reaction we've seen to date.
• This sentiment is not at all shared by Baltar's "internal" Number 6, who label humans as "masters of self destruction". Of course Baltar's 6 has exhibited so many inconsistencies, lies, and half-truthes over the last few episodes that nothing she says now can be taken at face value. I'd never believed that Baltar's Number 6 was simply a product of his internal psychosis until Home (2), but that is now the way the writer's are leading us.
• The video, and outtakes, transmitted to the Cylon audience contain material filmed after the destruction of the Raiders. The "relay" must have survived the destruction of the Raiders themselves, like a hardened "black box" survives the crash of an aircraft. That way it could transfer the "Final Cut" (An inspired Title).
• Why was the final cut of the video produced as it was by the Cylon agent? Clearly it had the effect of boosting morale among the fleet even with the "warts and all" depiction of the military. Why does the Cylon Plan appear to encourage the many small victories by the Colonials at the considerable sacrifice of Cylon resources?
• The footage seen by the Cylons appeared to be the "Final Cut" (i.e. with all the editing, music and voiceovers in place) as well as the raw footage that would have never been broadcast to the fleet, for security reasons (even though Adama left the choice to be a matter of conscience for the journalist). This implies that the "relays" provided by the doomed Raiders were not simple relays of the Colonial broadcasts, but covert transmissions from the Cylon Agent.
• We've seen that there appear to be different assesments of the capabilities and "value" of the Colonials among the different Cylon models. There are differences in loyalties even among instances of the models, hence one Sharon model killing another, or a whole swarm of others as we've seen in previous episodes. What does it mean, then, when we consider the implications of the "Cylon Plan"? Who is the author of the Plan? Apparently not every Cylon is "on board" with the Plan (Gallactica Sharon in particular).

[jwegan]

Why was the final cut of the video produced as it was by the Cylon agent? Clearly it had the effect of boosting morale among the fleet even with the "warts and all" depiction of the military. Why does the Cylon Plan appear to encourage the many small victories by the Colonials at the considerable sacrifice of Cylon resources?

The footage seen by the Cylons appeared to be the "Final Cut" (i.e. with all the editing, music and voiceovers in place) as well as the raw footage that would have never been broadcast to the fleet, for security reasons (even though Adama left the choice to be a matter of conscience for the journalist). This implies that the "relays" provided by the doomed Raiders were not simple relays of the Colonial broadcasts, but covert transmissions from the Cylon Agent.

Remember Boomer didn't know she was a Cylon up until she shot Adama. She suspected she was, but she kept trying to deny it. Also in season 1 there were hints that Boomer would go off and do things without memory of doing them. For instance the episode with the sabatoge (the water tanks blow) she had C4 or something and didn't seem to remember getting it.

It is entirely possible that their cylon programming kicks in and make them do things, such as making the reporter transfer all the tape footage to the relay, and leave her no memory of doing it. That means the reporter would make the documentary just like a normal human reporter would and she was swayed by Adama and Roselin to make it a favorable one.

[grover]

I thought about your hypothesis for a while, and you could very well be right.

But how would his inaction help Baltar achieve his goal of saving the child?

The way I see it, Baltar is a VP in title only. The past few episodes have shown how little authority he has. No one takes him seriously as a political figure and any credibility he had with the military as their top scientific mind went out the air lock when Boomer shot Adama. As things currently stands Baltar is in no position to protect Sharon's child.

Discovering the 8 remaining Cylons aboard the fleet would change that situation. I believe that it is in Baltar's best interests to root out the remaining Cylons, making him the "hero" who wiped out the last, hidden threat among the survivors. Basically Baltar needs a win and his Cylon detector is his best hole card.

[Uber]

Please have the courtesy to use the tag (SPOILER in []) to hide spoilers. Edit the original post and I'll take back the RED.

Well first of all you can't take back a red without causing a lot of trouble for the mods; and secondly, you don't have to spoiler tag SPOILERS for an episode in that episode's thread. You do have to spoiler tag things from future eps, but not items that are in the episode being discussed nor past eps. It's assumed that everything being discussed is an episode spoiler. Elsewhere, sure...spoiler tags are imperative...but not in the episode's thread.

I'm sure this will be exceedingly comforting to those you dinged for no good reason.



As for the episode itself, I loved it. I love Lucy Lawless and thought she did a stellar job. With her as one of the 12 models, I'm glad to say we'll see her in the future!

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode...it had heart and showed the humanity of those charged with defending the fleet against insurmountable odds.

And I really LOVE their use of the classic BSG theme song!

Great ep...can't wait for more.

[Carbito]

I just noticed something very interesting in this episode that leads me to believe that Dee is a Cylon. When Diana (the reporter) supposdly transmits the video to the Cylon Raiders she is busy in the CIC filming the situation, not in a position to transmit anything, however Dee is. Then notice at the end of that scene Diana goes up to Dee and at the end mutters "Thank you", who else could have been in a better position to transmit the video to the raiders except Dee. At first I assumed the "Thank you" was for saying something good for the camers but now I think there was much more behind it!

[Aussie_86]

I've thought Dee has been a Cylon since the Miniseries...

now, there's some, vague evidence that she might be...

woohooooo!!!!!!!!!


The episode wasn't all that intense for me, it wasn't making me go 'oh, i wonder what'll happen next'... until the end.

The acting was good, and everything was good, just not intense


And it was good to see the human side of everyone.


Can't wait till next week.
Can someone answer a question for me (as i live in Aust and get my episodes by... other... means)... are there two eps of SG1, SGA, and BSG next week?

Thanks

Aussie

[LoneStar1836]

I thought about your hypothesis for a while, and you could very well be right.

But how would his inaction help Baltar achieve his goal of saving the child?

The way I see it, Baltar is a VP in title only. The past few episodes have shown how little authority he has. No one takes him seriously as a political figure and any credibility he had with the military as their top scientific mind went out the air lock when Boomer shot Adama. As things currently stands Baltar is in no position to protect Sharon's child.

Discovering the 8 remaining Cylons aboard the fleet would change that situation. I believe that it is in Baltar's best interests to root out the remaining Cylons, making him the "hero" who wiped out the last, hidden threat among the survivors. Basically Baltar needs a win and his Cylon detector is his best hole card.

I’m guessing that was a reply to me.

Honestly I have no idea how Baltar could have any sway on making sure the baby remains unharmed other than him testing it and clearing it as totally human and then people accept his findings. *shrug*

Outing a Cylon could work to his advantage. But he could also just fake some test results and accuse a human of being a Cylon. He just came up with some BS in the mini to peg Doral as a Cylon. He didn’t really know for sure he was one, and he really didn’t care.

I disagree about his credibility as far as a scientist being in question. I think Roslin and Adama still trust him or at least they really haven’t hinted at a distrust in him yet. Tigh so far is the only one who seems to show open disdain and distrust of Baltar. Tigh was the only one who called him on the carpet about botching Boomer’s test. Course Baltar just explained it away as a kink that had been rectified in the final product. People seemed to accept the fact that he tested the Chief and cleared him.

Can someone answer a question for me (as i live in Aust and get my episodes by... other... means)... are there two eps of SG1, SGA, and BSG next week?

Next Friday Sci-Fi will air 2 episodes of SG-1 leading into their midseason break and then an episode of BSG. There will be no SGA. Then the next Friday they air 2 episodes of SGA as well as BSG’s final episode before its midseason break. Then we don’t see any of them again until January.

[Excali5033]

I just noticed something very interesting in this episode that leads me to believe that Dee is a Cylon. When Diana (the reporter) supposdly transmits the video to the Cylon Raiders she is busy in the CIC filming the situation, not in a position to transmit anything, however Dee is. Then notice at the end of that scene Diana goes up to Dee and at the end mutters "Thank you", who else could have been in a better position to transmit the video to the raiders except Dee. At first I assumed the "Thank you" was for saying something good for the camers but now I think there was much more behind it!

Nooooooo not Dee! Why is it always the cute ones?

[Thermonuclearboy]

I find it interesting to note that the "sleeper" Cylons within the fleet all appear to be female - that is, acting like and even thinking they're human until "activated" - while the handful of male Cylons we've seen seem to be fully aware of their nature and actively causing trouble. The Cylons back on Caprica have a different function, of course, and so are fully aware of themselves.

As to the Cylons's ultimate plan for humanity, I think I've figured it out: they want the fleet to lead them to Earth. Earth is the last vestige of free humanity in the known universe. The Cylons want to first control humanity until they figure out the whole breeding tihng, then wipe them out. And they need to control all of us for that.

[Cathara]

I really enjoyed this episode - the character development was enough to offset any feeling of "filler" for me.

I did question why someone like the reporter would be allowed onto Galactica without passing Baltar's Cylon Dectector Test. Another poster has suggested that Baltar is just passing everyone to save himself hassle.

That may be, but I think that seems kind of foolish of his character. He managed to skate by after passing Sharon. But if/when this reporter is revealed as a Cylon, it's going be harder to get by with a hastily cobbled together excuse.

I find it fascinating that the Sharon now on board Galactica has apparently successfully cut herself off from her other models/Cylong buddies. Makes the whole question of "free will" as it relates to artificial intelligence very, very intriguing.

I was also surprised at the reaction of Six in the theater. Her pleasure at how well the colonists are doing made me very uncomfortable. It almost seems like the "Farm" experiments may be the tip of the iceberg.

If they know where the fleet is, thus sending Cylon raiders to intercept communication of the video, then they are toying with the colonists. Perhaps they are putting them through their paces to see who is fastest, strongest, most resiliant so as to use them for the best breeding material??? Don't know really, just a thought.

The Cylons may really believe in Earth and want the colonists to lead them to it for reasons of their own. Who knows? That's whats so much fun about waiting for each new ep.

[Liebestraume]

All this talk about CAG-booty leads me to speak up on behalf of the heterosexual males in the audience, and draw attention to Starbuck, those stomach muscles all taut and glistening with sweat, and ready to take you down and make you thank her afterwards...

Sorry, Thermonuclearboy, buy you're absolutely right. How could we forget that? Kara looked absolutely fabulous. And this is coming from an heterosexual female.

liked the musical tribute to the original BSG theme from the original series. ...

Where? Is it during the "editorial bit" towards the end of the documentary, where we saw a guy mopping the floor and then the pilots(?) marching pass him?

Number 6 in the audience seems delighted at the "resilience" of the Fleet. Why would this be her reaction? ...
...
Why was the final cut of the video produced as it was by the Cylon agent? Clearly it had the effect of boosting morale among the fleet even with the "warts and all" depiction of the military. ...

On both counts, I'd chalk it up to the proverbial cat toying with the mouse. I could certainly see that in Six; whichever version it is, there always is that cruel sense of humor. With D'Anna, there is possibly the added bonus of maintaining cover and gaining trust. I am positive she didn't get on Galactica just to check on Sharon -- D'Anna did something to the ship. That "unlimited access" has its perks and cylons may want to keep them.