33 (101)

[Sp!der]

jepp. saturday is BSG rewatching time

[Ulkesh47]

I was wondering, did they really go sleep deprived for the making of this episode. I think I read somewhere that they did, but I'm not sure.

They did, with encouragement from Edward James Olmos. During shooting, Michael Rymer told various cast members to focus on one sleep deprivation symptom and play it.

[AresLover452]

I liked how everyon was falling down tired. In the companion guide that i have it said that all the cast were well rested.... lol!!

[Tachyon]

This is one of my favorite episodes by far.

[Ulkesh47]

I started my BSG rewatch two days ago, and saw this episode yesterday.

An outstanding story; completely gripping as a first episode. The tension builds and builds in Act 4 for a rather extraordinary TV experience.

However, the producers should have kept in the ad-libbed suicide line and showed definite movement in the Olympic Carrier, thus cutting Crashdown's "oh look there don't seem to be any people, making this an easier decision" dialogue.

I'll be posting after every episode, and rating them out of 10.

9/10. (I don't do .5's, but consider this an unofficial 9.5)

[maneth]

Cool ep, great lead from the miniseries. (BTW, where's the mini comment thread?) I'd forgotten that Gaeta's role was so big to start with. He's still my favorite character.

[Gamma626]

Re-watching the mini series. How YOUNG does everyone look! Geez! It's crazy!

[StargateWatcher]

nice commenting people, analyzing the filming-style, the established mood, and plotholes

[Professor_S]

Just rewatched this for the umpteenth time. Never. Gets. Old. It has to be one of my favourite hours of television. Period.

[chaddergate]

Just rewatched this for the umpteenth time. Never. Gets. Old. It has to be one of my favourite hours of television. Period.

I agree completely, I remember when I watched this for the first time, it was literally right imediately after I watched the mini-series...and it flowed very well. Clearly one of the best if not the best BSG ep ever.

[Professor_S]

I agree completely, I remember when I watched this for the first time, it was literally right imediately after I watched the mini-series...and it flowed very well. Clearly one of the best if not the best BSG ep ever.

I watched it the same way (i.e. right after the miniseries) - you're right, the flow was perfect. Talk about out of the fire and into the frying pan, eh. I love that they start us right in the middle of the action, on jump number 237, rather than starting from the beginning. They just throw the audience in there with the fleet and yell "Catch up!!". I have such a hard time picking a single favourite with this show, though, (with one notable exception, they are all so dang good!!) so I have to settle for "one of the best" on this ep.

[hop-scotch]

I recently finished “33” and am glad this show was recommended to me. Throughout the episode, references are made to the simultaneous precision and inscrutability of numbers (33 in particular). In “33” 33 is repeated throughout (along with numbers in general), but it isn’t clear whether anything can be connoted by way of reflection, or whether the numeric likenesses are the stuff of funhouse mirrors, kind of like the signs and symbols in Nabokov’s “Signs and Symbols.” Since the monotheistic bent of the Cylons is fleshed out (along with the polytheistic leanings of the humans), I kept on thinking of the trinity whenever another three came up. By the end of the episode—when 47972 survivors becomes 47973—I was already considering possible number significances, but without really coming up with anything thoroughly germane. After yet another 3 cropped up, my attention focused on the number 47973. “33” amounts to a survival countdown and in light of that, the following occurred to me:


47973 survivors
4 + 7 + 9 + 7 + 3 = 30

30 = the 33 minute countdown minus 3, the last number in the survivor sequence
Applying the operation like a countdown (where each number from the survivor sequence is subtracted (right-to-left in this case) from the “minutes-until-Cyloned”):

33 – 3 = 30
30 – 7 = 23
23 – 9 = 14
14 – 7 = 7
7 – 4 = 3

The birth of the child makes the countdown reduce to a trinity.


I’m curious whether this pattern has been applied by anyone who has more intimacy with the show, or whether there are any alternative interpretations. While the Cylons resemble Catholic imperialists in some respects (there’s that emphasis on repentance) their beliefs seem more in keeping with an “Odic force.” Three was an important number to the Celts and Odin too, and there are a bunch of other parallels. My first reaction to the Cylons was to link their program with the expansive empire-building Christianity and Islam engaged in, but now I’m thinking the traditions surrounding Odin are more consistently relevant; then again, all of this is limited by having seen so little of the series. Still, there’s Odin getting kicked out of Asgard, there’s Odin being a “Death God” and a god of war with Valkyries (beautiful battle maidens like the first Cylon introduced and Sharon “Boomer” Valeri), there’s Odin possibly being Loki (who’s been killing humans as recently as the movie Dogma); additionally it seems appropriate that Odin emerges during Europe’s Migration Period as a unifying god (sort of like the ancient Egyptian Amon-Re), and, with particular applicability to “33”, Odin is related to triplism and the “threefold death” of Celtic human sacrifice.

Since this has gotten so long, I’ll add a coda:
Below is from Cannibal Ox’s “Battle for Asgard.” The relevance isn’t exactly air-tight, but it’s fun, kind of like the Hasbro Galactus figure; push a button and he says, “You will witness the end, for I am power incarnate / Behold! The world-eating machine! / You serve me now.” Seems sort of like a Cylon with a Cyclopsish attitude. Plus, Cannibal Ox is just quality:

The battle for Asgard and we fight as gods
Shatter your glass cage into a thousand crystal shards…
Strong Atoms, whole family clear
To duplicate and recreate could take a light year
Squeeze your head into a sneaker, lace your face
Throw you in a black hole, make you swim through space…
We mind-bogglin, spine-tinglin
Got the scroll of Galactus now I'm planet-swallowin…
my real name is closer to Thor's than yours
Where we practice there is no flaw
This is the battle for Asgard (say no more)
Atoms fam & Stronghold, nuclear clamp the mic
And you and your best friend don't even sound tight
I guess something ain't right
We like constellations when they close in
The lost sons of Odin
With a mouthful of parables to get em open
But the psionic imagery'll leave em frozen
I used to outdo cats like you in my lunch period
Then conversate with the burning bush about a period
And bust through your ego like the high line of scrimmage
Right for the goal, your warning comes in 2 minutes

[Kenton-Atlantis]

The acting in this episode is awesome its up there with my favourite episodes of the show. The way they all look so tired and fed up its well done

[mrscopterdoc]

Just started watching BSG. I love how tired and cranky everyone was, so realistic.

[garhkal]

Awesome ep, and a great intro into the series. I dont know how they managed to stay awake for so long, with so little mistakes. You could tell they felt it though, which was good acting. The scene where they said a baby was born at the end was a good way to end the ep too imo.

Drugs mostly. IIRC we even saw a clip of lee giving one pilot orders to TAKE his pills cause that pilot was refusing..