Battlestar Galactica "Resistance" Talkback (SPOILERS)

[Swordfish_II]

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Battlestar Galactica
104 - Resistance

After Col. Tigh imposes martial law,
Lee conspires to free President Roslin
and organize a democratic resistance.

Comments?

[ManicWebb]

You know what I like about this show? The fact that "status quo" doesn't exist in its vocabulary. Things are constantly changing, and the writers aren't afraid of rocking the boat.

So now we have a human resistance/survival movement on Caprica. I was beginning to wonder where all the humans went (surely Helo couldn't be the only survivor), but it turns out they were all living in a high school... being led by a professional sports team. And it looks like Starbuck is going to score, and I don't just mean on the court.

Roslin and Apollo make their escape, and darn-near every supporting character was in on it. The best part was, it was the people Tigh would least suspect. Gaeta and Dualla? Snea-kay!

Callie killed Boomer. Correction: Callie killed the Boomer we all stopped caring about 2 episodes ago.

They've been making it clear in the past few episodes that Tigh is a bad commander. It's not just the bad decisions, though. The man doesn't listen to anyone. Baltar was trying to say he could check his Cylon Detector if Tigh would let him test it on Tyrol. Tigh, who wasn't paying attention, told Baltar "No ifs!" His response made no sense. Baltar even made a face. And is it right that everybody in the crew knows Tigh is a raging alcoholic?

The man pretty much ignores everyone except his wife, Lady Macbe-- I mean, Ellen. Out damn spot, indeed.

And the big reveal for this episode: Adama finally woke up! Now let's see the government and military finally piece itself back together. It's about time somebody with some commonsense took command again. That is, unless Lady MacTigh has anything to say about it...

[DarkAngel]

You know what I like about this show? The fact that "status quo" doesn't exist in its vocabulary. Things are constantly changing, and the writers aren't afraid of rocking the boat.Yeah, it's one of the things I like most about the show. That element was very much present in this episode, which I felt was easily the best thus far this season.

Speaking of "Lady MacTigh", she seems to be pulling all the Colonel's strings, so does that mean ultimately Tom Zarek is? I remember in "Colonial Day," she and Zarek had some agenda. How much of this did they plan? Martial Law for certain?

[ManicWebb]

Speaking of "Lady MacTigh", she seems to be pulling all the Colonel's strings, so does that mean ultimately Tom Zarek is? I remember in "Colonial Day," she and Zarek had some agenda. How much of this did they plan? Martial Law for certain?
Oooh, that's a good point. Zarek's main political stance is that the government wants total control over the people-- that they were on the verge of martial law. Now that it's actually happened, Zarek no doubt gathered a lot more supporters. And considering Zarek's connection to Ellen, and the way Ellen manipulates the Colonel...

Some other things to think about (that I forgot to mention last night):

Billy stayed aboard the Galactica. He says it's because he didn't want to be involved in a civil war that will tear the fleet apart, but who else thinks it's because he wants to stay with D?

Baltar's interrogation. Thanks to Six, he knew that Cylons genuinely feel love. He took advantage of that in a way no one aboard the ship would've conceived. Of course, his interrogation had one major flaw: Boomer is a sleeper agent. She has no access to her Cylon programming, except when triggered by some event. When she told him there were 8 Cylons among the fleet, she was no doubt lying.

The math barely adds up. Six told Baltar there were 12 models of Cylon:
1. The original model, commonly associated with the original BSG TV series. The blueprints were seen in the miniseries. Six admits that the model is still around, although we don't know what it's used for.
2. Centurions. These are the big, gun-toting robots we've been seeing the whole time.
3. Doral, the man who gave the guided tour of the Galactica during the miniseries. He was also seen walking around with Six on Caprica during Helo's rat maze.
4. The Fear-Monger (I can't remember his name) who told Roslin Adama was a Cylon, was interrogated by Starbuck, and got dropped out the air-lock.
5. Sharon "Boomer" Valeri.
6. Six/Shelly Godfrey.
7. Raiders. These are the fighter ships Apollo's crew always fights.

This means there are 5 models we've yet to see. If Boomer was, in fact, telling the truth, she would have to be including the three models the fleet is aware of (Doral, Fear guy, Shelly), plus 5 other people who've yet to reveal themselves-- and that's assuming the remain 5 models are all humanoid.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Oooh, that's a good point. Zarek's main political stance is that the government wants total control over the people-- that they were on the verge of martial law. Now that it's actually happened, Zarek no doubt gathered a lot more supporters. And considering Zarek's connection to Ellen, and the way Ellen manipulates the Colonel...
Possible. It would also fit in with the methodology (which is almost always wrong) that "things have to get worse before they get better." The ideology behind a lot of the leftist groups of the 70's and 80's was to commit extreme actions to draw out an extreme response, which would then cause a popular revolt as the people saw what their governments were capable of. The ideology was a complete failure (either the people would reject the revolutionaries more than the government, or the crackdown would crush the revolution with great efficiency), but it still persists today as a rallying cry for fringe political groups. The case is slightly different here, since Zarek didn't cause Boomer to shoot Adama, but he could just be capitalizing on a bad situation.

Or, maybe Mrs. Tigh is just a power-hungry nasty wench. Or a Cylon.


Billy stayed aboard the Galactica. He says it's because he didn't want to be involved in a civil war that will tear the fleet apart, but who else thinks it's because he wants to stay with D?
I think it's both, really. If nothing else, he recognizes what Dee just did to assist in the escape of the President, and would want to be with her if she gets caught. Given what we've seen of his personality, I don't see him as much of a revolutionary, also. He believes in the system, and that staying within it and fighting within it is better than the alternative.


When she told him there were 8 Cylons among the fleet, she was no doubt lying.
It also showed up the real downside to coercive interrogation techniques, since it seemed to me like she was blurting out an answer -- any answer -- to get Baltar to stop rather than because she knew anything.

In a lot of ways, the fact that we can have discussions like the above are why I like the show. In addition to whipsawing the status quo like a yo-yo, they are also extremely good at raising complex issues that don't have easy answers, in story or out of story, without seeming preachy or excessively ham-handed.

-- Ed/Ace

[raykremer]

Callie killed Boomer. Correction: Callie killed the Boomer we all stopped caring about 2 episodes ago. ZOMG Jack Ruby!

[Lord Dalek]

Good for you Callie, you just resolved the only new dangling plot thread so far this season.