this is mine…

In the last two episodes we have had a HUGE contrast in reactions to the final breaking point that Earth gave the fleet.
On one hand you have people like Roslin and Dee who turned to grief and sorrow and basically gave up on everything.
Then you have people like Gaeta and Zarek who turned to anger and hatred and decided that revenge was the best course of action.

This story has finally reached it’s turning point now and I truly believe it is at the low ebb of the story. In a movie with three acts, you always close the second act with the characters in the worst possible circumstances because you want to have the rousing finale. Now many of you whom I have spoken to know my feelings on this when it comes to BSG: “THERE ARE NO HAPPY ENDINGS IN BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!!!”

However, there has to be someplace for this to go and I think from this point out we are going to see the struggle back to salvation for the humans AND Cylons of the rag tag fleet.

Character predictions: (No Matt, I have NOT looked into the Crystal Ball for this. It’s all just a hunch!)

GAETA- He will rejoin his lost leg in the afterlife sooner rather than later. He will also do it by turning on Zarek because he will refuse to kill the old man.

ZAREK- I think he is finally going to get what’s been coming to him for a long time and I have a sneaky suspicion that Gaeta might be the one to do it.

GAGE AND VEREEN- Oh yeah, I cannot wait for these two frak heads to get tossed out an airlock.

LEE- I think that in the next 2-3 Episodes he is going to finally step up and take his rightful place as leader.

ROMO (MUTHA FRAKKIN) LAMPKIN- I have no idea what he will be doing in the next episode, but it will be all the better just for his presence in it.

That’s my story and I’m stickin to it mates!

Now I’m not saying that the cylons are akin to the elves, but I think the Final 5 are, and that somehow Baltar and Starbuck are guardians of some kind; much as the elves were to the people of Middle Earth.

The fascinating part of all this is how beautiful and how flawed humanity is, as seen by the diversity of the Final 5, and Baltar and Starbuck.
Here’s what I mean:
Anders: good guy, jock, hero, leader of the rebellion on NC, brave, loyal-confused, not insecure
Tigh: loyal, screwed up drunk, leader of the rebellion on NC, killed his beloved Ellen for her traitorous ways, brave, insecure–now secure
Tyrol: loyal, good man, bad luck w/the ladies, leader of the rebellion on NC, loyal, brave, secure–now insecure
Tory: was loyal, who knows what’s up w/her these days, part of the rebellion on NC, found out she was a FF, and completely separated herself from her human life. She made her choice–to be loyal to herself
Ellen: loyal to Tigh, she slept w/Cavil for him, and essentially betrayed humanity for him, did she really sleep around? Either way, her loyalty to Tigh, unwielding, albeit in her own crazy way.

Starbuck: Steadfastly Loyal to Adama and Lee, to the cause of earth, captured by Leoben on NC, died and came back, uncertain of what she is, still gutsy, slept around, likes her liquor, defies authority, spent a lot of time in the brig, maverick and most gifted pilot
Baltar: a lot like Tory: loyal to himself, captured by the cylons, weak and cowardly of character as a result of his being a narcissist, and guilt over the knowledge that because of his gluttonous ways (part of the 7 sins coincidentally), too many women, vanity, greed, he destroyed his own race. However, he is undeniably a genius that represents the innovation of our race.

Thoughts?
A

I disliked the Ellen character–not only because she was so coarse but because she started out such a stereotypic boozing broad–but I’m excited to think about how different she might be from her previous self. She might have a full understanding of the FF back story–giving them a fast way to reveal that. They actually set this up way back when she was discovered–there was the whole mystery of her not being a passenger of record on the ship she escaped on. They left a few back doors like this in the storyline for several characters “just in case.”

The Final Five Cylons are not the same as the 12 Colonies Cylons. We assume they called themselves Cylon, although all we know for sure is that they are physically similar. As with the rest of BSG, you have to consider it might be a plot hole–but if Tigh had a completely different blood type than the rest of humanity, you’d think it would have come up in the course of his service. Plus, the Final Five seem to have evolved a resistance to the virus that was fatal to the 12 Colony Cylons implying they’d evolved along similar lines as the humans. I tend to think of Tigh as being sort of a hybrid human/Cylon–making his and Six’s baby a bookend to Hera. Hera is human/Cylon, this baby is Final Five/Cylon. So, a child of the two would be a mix of all concerned. Assuming the baby comes to term.

Something RDM keeps saying is that the fleet is the last of humanity “as far as they know.” I wonder if they’ll meet up with other humans in Daybreak–possibly from other iterations or from ships thought lost.

That’s my take. I’m sticking with my uber theory.

You know, sometimes I wonder why the heck I watch this show. Now I have enjoyed the last two episodes, but I do have something to say about BSG.

I only started watching this show because I was literally bombarded with an endless string of commercials for BSG while watching Stargate. After around the fiftieth time of hearing some overly melodramatic line I figured, ok, the British guy sounds and looks cool, maybe I should check this show out. I came in at the Pegasus 3 parter and became interested. I looked up what had happened, got a hang of the story, and got into it. I was really getting into the show until the One Year Later jump in the second season finale. But then season 3 got me back into the show. Then came season four.

The fourth season (the first half) felt like they jumped from idea to idea with no transition or thought. Romo Lampkin went from best new character to a waste of time. Baltar went from the smartest person in the universe and asocio-political manifesto writing hero of the people to messiah in an instant, with no transition or anything. The Four of the Final Five dragged, felt cliched, and made me lose interest in some of my favorite characters (Anders, Tyrol). Tigh hooked up with Caprica Six? Still doesn’t make sense to me. The Cylons suddenly decided to get rid of reincarnation, despite the fact that they would die out since they can’t reproduce. I still don’t get why Athena shot Natalie. And don’t get me started on Starbuck.

Now, here’s the thing about the show. Even though the first half of this season approached near shark-jumping potential, I still watch BSG. I mean, aside from a few characters (Helo, Anders, Tyrol, and especially Baltar, he rules), I can’t stand most of the leads. Starbuck annoys the heck out of me, Lee is the most undefined, role changing character I’ve ever seen, and Roslyn is, well, uninspiring. I mean, I like the actors, they’ve been great when I’ve seen them in other stuff, but the characters are just bad. Yet, I still watch the show. Why?

This show is addictive. Like cheap heroin addictive. Regardless of whether or not I like the characters or the episode, I keep coming back because I want to know what happens. BSG has a way of getting under my skin; I don’t just want to know what happens, I have to know. So I am always hoping the show will be good. I’m rooting for it every week. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

And as for this episode, not bad. I’ve got to say, the second half of the season has really been a step up. I’ve got some views and theories I’ve got to share, each character specific.

First off, Gaeta. Sorry Nat, but he has never done anything for me. First he was uninteresting, now he’s the evilest character on the show. I do not like Starbuck, but I was rooting for her to knock his head off at their battle of wits. He’s finally interesting, but he’s become the one person I want to see die in a horrifying manner more than anyone else on the show. Props to the actor for pulling off that kind of smarmyness.

But then there’s Zarek. Despite collaborating with Gaeta, I can’t help but thing Zarek’s right. I mean, seriously, what the heck is Lee’s job? He’s moving from office to office faster than the Flash. Baltar was right last season, would Roslyn or Adama let anyone who wasn’t named Roslyn or Adama run things? They are dictators. Good job with democracy. They have truly abused their power. Granted, Zarek may be making some bad calls, but every call he makes seems justified. And here’s the thing, he’s smart. He knows politics, he knows the underbelly of the fleet, something Roslyn doesn’t know, as we saw in Dirty Hands last season. Here’s hoping he ditches Gaeta and actually takes power.

Now for the Chief and Nicky, and why the retcon may be the dumbest thing I’ve seen on this show. I get why the did it, they want to make Tyrol feel alienated. They’re stressing that he’s identifying himself more as a Cylon then anything else. What’s his last real tie to humans? Nicky. Get rid of the baby, you’ve got a full Cylon Chief. However, here’s the problem with the retcon. RDM has said since the Watchtower Four reveal that they scattered clues as to the Chief and others being Cylons all throughout season 3. So they knew he was going to be a Cylon from the start of the season. Why not get rid of Nicky then? Why have the psycho lady Tory go through all the trouble of saving Nicky from being airlocked if there wasn’t a bit of importance to him? They had one and a half seasons to get rid of the kid, but they didn’t, so this retcon just screams cop out to me. That said, it really sucks to see the Chief so close with the Cylons now. I mean, Cylon or not, he has a general bond with everyone on Galactica.

And on the subject of the Cylons, I’ve got to say, the entire destruction of the Hub is stupid and makes no sense. Now, hear me out. The Hub is not the only source of Cylon resurrection. There is the Cylon home world. They have had resurrection down long before the Hub or resurrection ships. So in no way are Cylons free from resurrection. Secondly, why would the Cylons doom themselves as a race. Ok, we know human/Cylon hybrids can exist, and this was even before we learned Significant Seven/Final Five hybrids can exist. so, if Cylon’s can’t reproduce on their own, and the only offspring they’d get would be made from the Significant Seven, that would be a pretty weak genepool, and eventually either cause birth defects or eliminate all the Cylon blood. Essentially by destroying resurrection, they would destroy themselves. I mean, why create resurrectable models if it was going to be a problem?

Now for my Baltar theory. I am sticking firm to my belief that Baltar is Christ, or at the very least the Cylon Christ. I am not exactly a very religious man, my knowledge of the New Testament is pretty thin. So being able to identify all the Jesus references they’ve used for Baltar just shows how much they’re trying to stress that comparison. There’s been Jesus and the Moneylenders (Gaius’s raid on the temple), the monotheistic belief, his persecuted followers, and until recently, his general physical appearance. Even in this episode, they still put forth the comparisons. He may be railing against God, but his words really seemed similar to Jesus’s words on the Cross: “Father, why have you forsaken me?” We know there is something supernatural going on in the BSG world, and I definitely thing the Head 6s/Leobons/etc are really messengers from higher beings. If the Lords of Kobol were truly real, and all evidence suggests they are, then the Cylon god must be real. The Temple of the Five, the comparisons between the God and the lost lord of Kobol, etc. And here’s the thing, has Baltar’s message caught on with the Cylons? No. But it has caught on with the Fleet. Similar to how Jesus attracted some followers from the Jewish faith, but his teachings really caught hold among non-Jews. Oh, and let’s not forget the Hybrid referred to Baltar as “The Chosen One.” Cylon/possibly humans as well Messiah? Oh, definitely.

Then there’s Starbuck. You know, I am not claiming to have a fully formed theory about her, because, well, this is a tricky one. She died. We know she died. Or at least ended up in a near death situation. Now, I’m sticking firm to my belief that Kara is the “Harbinger of Death” as the Hybrid called her. For one thing, she’s the best Viper pilot, and had to be thrown out of a killing spree in the miniseries to reconnect with the fleet. She’s good at killing, and has no qualms about it. Also, she has a strong connection to Aurora, the goddess of the dawn. Now, I am no expert on Greek mythology, but I do see a connection in the idea of the dawn. Dawn, morning. Hmm, who’s the morningSTAR? Lucifer/Satan/The Devil. I think that they are setting Kara up as the Antichrist to Baltar’s Christ. Oh, and remember how Adama put the Aurora figurine at the prow of his model ship? In Greek mythology Charon the Boatman ferried people across the River Styx into the afterlife. If Kara is Aurora then she might just be leading everyone to the afterlife herself. And who knows, since she led them to earth, things are looking pretty grim and civil war-y in the Fleet. Maybe she will in fact lead the human race to its end.