Battlestar Galactica-Final Season (4) 4/25/08--Escape Velocity

[Truth Seeker]

Escape Velocity ​

Religious freedom is debated and defended as the messianic Gaius Baltar promotes his belief in one true God.​

Compare to last's week, I wonder how much worst (in a good way) can it get?

 

[Mallus]

If it gets any worse it'll be the best SF television show of the decade.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Meh. Is it heresy to say meh? It was a very character-driven episode, but I just don't feel like we went anywhere.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Tonights episode left me with some strong but unidentifiable willies.... It is like my "spidersense" is going batty but I don't know why. I can tell you that is was most annoying during the Six and Tight scenes.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Meh. Is it heresy to say meh? It was a very character-driven episode, but I just don't feel like we went anywhere.

I'm going to second that. I'm all for serialization but we're four episodes in with very few payoffs to anything and not much coherent story-just a blizzard of new ideas being thrown at us. I sure hope all this is going somewhere soon.

I do suspect, though, that at some point it will be worth the wait.

 

[kinem]

Not a great episode.

I may be wrong, but when Head Six was lifting Baltar up to face the guard, in the shots they showed from the others' perpective in which she was not seen, it looked like the shirt under his armpits was being tugged up - not just him lifting his own shoulders. This may be an artifact of bad special effects, or it could indicate that Head Six is an independent entity with telekinetic powers.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I may be wrong, but when Head Six was lifting Baltar up to face the guard, in the shots they showed from the others' perpective in which she was not seen, it looked like the shirt under his armpits was being tugged up - not just him lifting his own shoulders. This may be an artifact of bad special effects, or it could indicate that Head Six is an independent entity with telekinetic powers.

The scene looked strange, and a strong part in me believes it was left (or even planned) so intentionally.The scene looked as if some invisible force held Baltar up, and maybe that should tell us something. We might never find out...

I wonder when Head-Baltar will make a reappearance? (I'd like to see both Head(?)-Entities at the same time)

What I find very interesting is that Baltars "wisdom" (or his cunning manipulation of people) always seems to be pieced together by things other people said to him. It's never quite clear if these people are an inspiration to him, or if he's just stealing ideas, but I like it. Baltars mind collects various pieces and fits them together to a new whole, and I think that makes his supposed high intellect believable. Even if he sometimes looks like a manipulator using dirty tricks. Which he is, right? Or not? I think the manipulation works on me, too.

My only worry is that we won't get a resolution. Ron Moore said how much he liked the end of the Sopranos (I haven't seen it, but he gave a good indication on what it looks like). I really hope he doesn't copy it.

I found it interesting how Six tells Tigh that they based their minds/brains on human ones,and learned things that humans weren't aware of - but apparently quite capable of. Baltars capabilities to "project" himself and deal with pain might be a sign of the link between Cylons and Humans, not a sign of him being a Cylon.
The switches between Six and Ellen were creepy, but well done. Is this Tigh losing his nerves, or him projecting?

The final scene with Baltars speech and the switches to different scenes:
- I was worried about Tyrols child
- It looked to me as if Six reacted to Tori (but not vice versa)
- Anders looked very... lovingly on Kara. It fits Baltars idea that you must love yourself to love someone else. Anders never seemed like someone that did not love himself, but it's interesting that his discovery of being a Cylon does not worry him in that regard.

Roslin has to wear a wig - and I wondered since the first scene in that episode what was wrong with her hair! What she said to Baltar puts her current and future decisions and behaviour in an interesting light. She doesn't believe she'll survive long, but she wants to make it count, even if she has to bend or break rules. She has come a long way from being a mere "school teacher"...

And for the record, I totally side with Apollo. If doing the right think is a luxury, I want that luxury. I hope I can be as consistent as Apollo is in real life.

 

[Keoki]

I'm going to second that. I'm all for serialization but we're four episodes in with very few payoffs to anything and not much coherent story-just a blizzard of new ideas being thrown at us. I sure hope all this is going somewhere soon.

I do suspect, though, that at some point it will be worth the wait.

I hope so. I've put up with this season so far assuming the rather dull episodes are just set up for the rest of the season. They're going to show, what, 11 episodes this time before another break? After teasing us with the prospect of finding Earth, they're really dragging their feet with that storyline, and I'm beginning to find it a little irritating.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

After teasing us with the prospect of finding Earth, they're really dragging their feet with that storyline, and I'm beginning to find it a little irritating.

I wouldn't say they're dragging their feet at all.

In fact, this episode highlights, for me, what's best about BSG. Its NOT just a 'we have to get to this place!' type of show. Its really all about the characters. Its pretty obvious that the whole "What is it to be a Cylon/Human?" question is going to be huge this season, so I'd expect to see MORE episodes like this. That idea has basically been the driving force of the series anyway.

As for this episode, specifically, I thought it did a great job of getting into the characters. It seemed, to me, to humanize Roslin a bit more since we got some of her reasoning for things beyond sounding only like a dictator. Its not great, but its better. That and Lee is becoming more and more interesting. It seems obvious to me he's being set up for the Presidency, which is the perfect place for him to be with that strong sense of right/wrong he's always held onto.

 

[RangerWickett]

I never liked Tory, but now that I've seen the interview with Rekha Sharma on Sci-fi's website, I at least think the actress is awesome.