‘Battlestar Galactica’ blogging: “The Hub”
(lots of spoilers! assumes you’ve seen the episode!)
(previous: “Sine Qua Non”)
Is it just me, or was there a lot of kinda funny stuff happening last night? I mean, subtle, dry, but... funny.
C’mon: Baltar and Roslin squabbling like kids about the best way to get info out of the hybrid? That was funny. Baltar’s “Shh, shh. Hey, hey, stop jumping the ship, all right?” Hilarious. And then Baltar preaching to the Centurion? And how the big robot cocks its head like a dog when Baltar tells the dog story? Fantastic!
Funny: D’Anna joshing with Roslin that the president is one of the Final Five. Who knew a Cylon could have a sense of humor? And D’Anna in her bathrobe has got to be a little nod to Arthur Dent, the “hero” of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, right? Arthur’s left with literally the clothes on his back -- his pajamas and bathrobe -- when Earth is destroyed... kinda just like how D’Anna is left with nothing, too.
There was a lot of not-so-funny stuff, too, of course, like there always is. Surely everything is really, truly, finally falling apart if Helo has to lecture the president on morality... though it’s interesting, too, that in the process he defends the Eights. I’m not sure how to take his learning about the Eight’s eavesdropping on Athena’s memories -- that’s a bit ick. Maybe he’s not sure how to take it yet, either. “I don’t want it to be strange,” the Eight assures him. And his response of “right, sure” could be sarcastic, or it could be that maybe he doesn’t want it to be strange either.
Maybe everything’s coming apart just as everything’s coming together -- apart for the humans, that is, but together for a new kind of coexistence with the Cylons. There’s all that distrust among the human pilots, who don’t want to put their lives in the hands of the Cylons during that strategically brilliant move to get the Vipes towed out to the battlefield. But then the Eight points out that they’ve flown with Athena and put their lives in her hands, and you can almost hear the gears of paradigm change grinding in the humans’ brains...
Also not so funny, and in fact very intense: Baltar admitting to Roslin that he helped the Cylons. Maybe this is the first time he’s ever even said it aloud to himself. (I didn’t have time to go back and rewatch the last three and a half years of the show to confirm or refute that. Sorry.) Will she let him die? Will she not? Has she learned, thanks to her visions, the power of love even for a slimeball like Baltar? Am I being unfair to him in calling him a slimeball? I dunno...
And then: aww, Bill and Laura. So sweet.
Next Friday’s episode is the “mid-season finale,” the last one we’re going to get until 2009. They better give us something good to think on over the next six months...
(coming next Friday: “Revelations”)
(Watch full episodes and get recaps at Sci Fi’s official site for the show.)
[buy at Amazon (Region 1)] [buy at Amazon (Region 2)]
comments
posted by PaulW (Sat Jun 07 08, 1:21PM)
They're gonna reveal who the 5th hidden Cylon is... Donna Noble! (That thing on her back is a cyborg implant!)
posted by boz (Sat Jun 07 08, 4:53PM)
I was close last week but couldn't nail it this time :) I knew cylons would peek at other cylons memories.
Next episode: Obviously Baltar will survive, drama would be focused on hidden 4. Most probably someone would try to assassinate number 3.
posted by Spencer (Sat Jun 07 08, 11:55PM)
In the "quick peek" teaser at the end of this week for next week, I was quite certain the last image showed humans on a planet.
Could be a dream, of course, but maybe Earth? I've always suspected and hoped that the mid-season finale would be the arrival at Earth, and the rest of it would be to properly tie up the loose ends.
posted by darrin (Sun Jun 08 08, 11:05AM)
I'm starting to believe that they'll hold out on fully revealing the final cylon until the end of the season. I think Ron Moore wants to make sure his fanbase continues past the break. Like D'Anna said, she had to hold onto her truth for her own survival. A hint that BSG is not giving away all the answers too soon.
But really, this show needs no gimmicks for it's fanbase. I'm as hooked on it as I was Lost. The show is in a class of it's own in regards to Science Fiction.
http://www.sffix.com - The Science Fiction Fix
posted by boz (Sun Jun 08 08, 4:41PM)
while Baltar is seriously wounded and bleeding;
Baltar- (mumbles something)
Roslin- What?
Baltar- You're very pretty.
He is amazing :)
posted by JoshDM (Mon Jun 09 08, 11:16AM)
The four primary theories about the final cylon model that I like are:
1) Starbuck
Duh.
2) Lee Adama
He was technically a last minute addition to the Battlestar (according to the miniseries) and wasn't supposed to be there at all. In fact, his presence was completely unexpected, even by his own father. He could be a custom skin job.
3) Gaeta (my top place theory)
He has been the unsung lynch pin of pretty much every single issue. Go back and watch. He has a finger in almost every single pie.
4) The Centurions (my second place theory).
There isn't a fifth model. It's the centurions themselves who will evolve into the final model.
posted by JoshDM (Mon Jun 09 08, 11:18AM)
Forgot one
5) Gaius Baltar
Again, duh. Roslyn visions can be explained due to the half-cylon blood running through her veins. No one has ever explained Gaius being able to communicate with a mental image of Six or himself.
posted by Mark Peters (Mon Jun 09 08, 7:37PM)
Great episode... Aww indeed.
posted by Yvonne (Tue Jun 10 08, 8:41PM)
Great episode recap! I don't think we'll know who the final Cylon is until the end either, but I have a feeling that Roslin, Starbuck or someone is going to find out who the 4 in hiding are and that that will be the mid-season cliffhanger.
posted by Nathan (Tue Jun 10 08, 10:09PM)
i thought it was very Passion of the Baltar in its own quirky way... and was that a piece of the exploding Cylon that wounded Baltar. and if so, can we say that he had his side pierced by a Centurion?
posted by MaryAnn (Tue Jun 10 08, 10:54PM)
Hee. Yeah, they've definitely been Jesus-ifying Baltar. Which is just plain weird.
posted by Ryan (Wed Jun 11 08, 4:08AM)
Baltar is bringing monotheistic religion to a polytheistic culture. Now, the metaphor is not perfect since Judaism existed well before the arrival of Jesus, but Jesus brought the beginnings of Christianity (monotheistic) into a polytheistic society (Rome...the same one the colonies religion is based on) So I don't actually find any parallels overly weird.
You could also try and twist some Moses/Exodus symbolism into the show as well...I'm convinced Mr. Moore is purposefully imbuing this show with tons of religious symbolism. Normally that annoys me with sci-fi, but in this case I find it intriguing...especially if they all arrive in a post-apocalyptic earth...if so I'm pretty sure I could write a thesis paper on this show, lol.
posted by darrin (Wed Jun 11 08, 7:42AM)
The show draws alot of interesting parallels to the religious/cultural clashes we've historically had. But there are definately some original angles that make it unique.
I really like some of the other mysticism that has been woven in. Like Leobin and the Hybrid. There is a sense presented by the show that Leobin was considered a bit offbeat from his fellow cylons since he was more of a new age type of guy. He's been a catalyst for change in that he isn't as rigid as Cavil and not a blind follower.
http://www.sffix.com - The Science Fiction Fix
posted by MaryAnn (Wed Jun 11 08, 8:26PM)
Well, sure, I get that Baltar makes sense as a Jesus figure within a mythopoeic context, but still: he's so damn creepy. I'd like to think of Jesus as a nice kind of hippie dude... and I'm an atheist!
posted by Ryan (Fri Jun 13 08, 11:46PM)
And it's post-apocalyptic. Yeah, I have a pretty good idea where Moore is going with this one. I'm 99.9% sure the fifth will be an inhabitant of Terra Firma, and the engineer of events.
Good episode, but soooooooo predictable.