BattleStar Galactica:Season 3.0--10/27/06--Arc 4

[LightPhoenix]

I couldn't help but note the irony that the Circle was really just like the NCP, grabbing people in secret. I'm glad Anders was the only one to realize that, he's becoming an awesome character. Also, if I'm not mistaken, that was the Seargent-At-Arms in the group, from way back in the first season. Nice touch there.

What I love about the show is that there is no black and white (Gaius and Caprica outfits not withstanding). The perfect example is Tom Zarek... he is dead-on with his analysis of what would probably happen with public trials. His method may not have been just, especially given who was on the Circle, but it was effective. Once they were through that list, the leaders of the insurgency probably would have been sated. Now, at least with some of them, there's going to be future trouble.

I won't repost the whole analysis (from two weeks ago) here, but I love the choice of costumes for Gaius, Caprica, and D'Anna. Very fitting. D'Anna, of course, in white because she has embraced love, and she's trying to be more. Also contrast that to Downloaded, where IIRC Three was in black and Caprica in white. You know that D'Anna/Three was one of the three who voted to keep him around.

Gaeta continues to be awesome. I was completely expecting him to die. Even after he walked away, I was expecting Starbuck to go and shoot him.

So Helo was on CIC... what's his position? Also, nice line by Lee... date with a jumprope, indeed.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Helo was probably in Second in command, probably temporary. When Sal was away, so, he is now probably after Sal, in rank.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Well, just finished watching...
On Sal...without his wife, he has or will become a loose anchor.

Starbuck, the mind frak work of the Cylons will continue on her. As she said, she needs something to hurt, physical, cause...she can't fight back at the mental. And with that...her edge has been dulled.

Tom was on point, as stated. Never I thought, he was soft.

Laura...has to face the ugly truth...there are things that must be done, for the sake of peacefully co-existant.

The Chief...the guilt swung hard on him...he felt everytime someone was put to 'death' by the Circle, he felt his hole just getting deeper. But for the rest of his life...he will have to live it. Expect such things to pop back up...maybe down the road *Especially with Clyon(don't know he is one, himself) that was chucked out the airlock.*

Never a dull moment, in this show.

It will probably blow the Chief's mind.

Oh, no, I've not forgotten. I've not forgotten at all. But I think the fact Saul is close to shattered was protrayed more clearly than the consequences of the damage Starbuck suffered.

 

[Aesthetic Monk]

Good ep. Finally saw it last night on the Monday rerun (too busy watching the Cardinals on Friday ...).

From a dramatic pov, I do wish that the Zarek-is-authorizing-this bit had been less telegraphed earlier, given the Circle's otherwise weirdly precise obsession with time. I mean, one could feel time running out with the change in president without feeling that this was a hard-and-fast deadline. The moral/ethical aspect was handled a lot better than the drama aspect was, from my perspective, as everyone's behavior was pretty predictable. And I never thought Gaeta would die, so maybe that's partly why I didn't feel too "worried."

 

[Arnwyn]

it feels a tad contrived

That's a bit of an understatement, considering this is a BSG thread...

 

[LightPhoenix]

From a dramatic pov, I do wish that the Zarek-is-authorizing-this bit had been less telegraphed earlier, given the Circle's otherwise weirdly precise obsession with time. I mean, one could feel time running out with the change in president without feeling that this was a hard-and-fast deadline.

I got the impression that is WAS a hard and fast deadline, set explicitly by Zarek. He was doing this so Roslin wouldn't have to. I think Zarek felt, perhaps rightly and perhaps not, that once Roslin was back to being President that she would be culpable in it. Or perhaps, once she was President, she would find out and stop it. Either way, if it were public, there would have been a witch-hunt, and Zarek knew this, so he made sure that it was done quietly. Roslin doesn't have a set of morals that allow her to do that - just as Zarek doesn't have a set of morals to pardon everyone.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I loved Baltar's pleading to Caprica followed by the calm "I should have started with that." He's just so duplicitous.

 

[Steel_Wind]

That's a bit of an understatement, considering this is a BSG thread...

Not really. Ron Moore has stated time and time again the feel they are looking for in the show is "documentary" and that they aim for something that "feels true". They try to avoid "TV moments" in their plots which go against the characters and the versimilitude established in the show.

It's ALL contrived, to be sure - every bit of it. But BSG tries not to come off that way - that's their writing mantra. Even so, the whole Kara/Enders break-up feels contrived. It just doesn't feel true to the characters at all.

 

[LightPhoenix]

It's ALL contrived, to be sure - every bit of it. But BSG tries not to come off that way - that's their writing mantra. Even so, the whole Kara/Enders break-up feels contrived. It just doesn't feel true to the characters at all.

I'm going to disagree, and here's why.

Cara has always been, since the very first episode, since the miniseries, very messed up emotionally. So much so that she would seem incapable of actually being able to be in a relationship, let alone married. Sure, her and Anders had that fling, but in reality I think she knew that she wasn't going to be able to go back and get Anders. Hence it was safe. Of course, she did eventually go get him, and the rest of the Caprica crew, and they resumed their fling. Did Anders ever really mean anything to him... was she even capable, emotionally, of that? Probably not.

Anders, on the other, seems to have his crap together. Aside from being leader of the resistance on Caprica, he is by far the voice of reason and logic during this season so far. He's the one that calls Tigh on his crap about Ellen and how she's a risk. He's also the one that tells the Circle to frak off, realizing what they really are.

In a way, Anders is like Lee, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was like Zak Adama as well. It was never meant to be.

 

[Arnwyn]

Not really. Ron Moore has stated time and time again the feel they are looking for in the show is "documentary" and that they aim for something that "feels true". They try to avoid "TV moments" in their plots which go against the characters and the versimilitude established in the show.

It's ALL contrived, to be sure - every bit of it. But BSG tries not to come off that way - that's their writing mantra.

That's their actual mantra? Going so far as to specifically define it as such? Then: oops, on their part. They've failed miserably, as BSG is one of the most contrived-feeling shows on television, for me. Not an episode goes by in which I roll my eyes at something they've done, just to force the story into "tension" and "conflict".