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Marek

Battlestar Galactica (BSG) and spinoffs

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I just rewatched the BSG season 2 finale in preparation for next week's premiere and it's still so good. The first 10 minutes of Part I, with that brooding music that suggests all the events shown somehow relate to each other and foreshadow Something Big, is really well done. It's amazing how much BSG relies on the editing sometimes. Also the Baltar's Hair Zoom-In gives me goosebumps the size of warts.

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The first 10 minutes of Part I, with that brooding music that suggests all the events shown somehow relate to each other and foreshadow Something Big, is really well done. It's amazing how much BSG relies on the editing sometimes. Also the Baltar's Hair Zoom-In gives me goosebumps the size of warts.

I think BSG does that kind of thing better than almost any show. Although other than Kobol's Last Gleaming, I can't actually remember where else they did it. ¬ The hair zoom-in is the best. I was really surprised listening to the commentary, hearing that Moore didn't want to do that originally, and wanted that transition to be really quick and capricious.

I just watched the first episode of The Wire. :tup: I'm really looking forward to watching more.

Woo. :) That was fast. You gotta let us know what you think of the rest of the season.

As for other HBO shows, I like(d) Carnivale a whole lot. That seems to be a love/hate thing with most people though, so I don't know. There really hasn't been anything else on TV like it so I can't compare it to anything you might have seen.

Oh, I just remembered that Ron Moore was involved in Carnivale's first season, coincidentally. There were some other soon-to-be-BSG-writers working there too. The shows aren't that similar though. So... who knows.

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I think BSG does that kind of thing better than almost any show. Although other than Kobol's Last Gleaming, I can't actually remember where else they did it. ¬ The hair zoom-in is the best. I was really surprised listening to the commentary, hearing that Moore didn't want to do that originally, and wanted that transition to be really quick and capricious.

Yeah, the intro to Kobol's Last Gleaming Part I is probably the single greatest BSG moment for me. I love how is so elegantly captures almost all of the emotions and tensions that had lead up to that point. Gives me shivers every time.

I've watched three episodes of The Wire so far (nothing like putting off school work), but I want to wait till I've finished the season to comment on it.

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I think BSG does that kind of thing better than almost any show. Although other than Kobol's Last Gleaming, I can't actually remember where else they did it. ¬

Can't remember that intro anymore. But other than the long montages there are probably a dozen episodes or-so that had shorter ones (often without any dialog) that set the stage really well. They often just cross-cut between two or three related things happening in the fleet instead of doing the standard "cap'n, we bumped into a problem!" opening of most scifi.

I am particularly fond of the intros that are metaphorical, like one of Baltar's dream, or when Apollo was floating in space / drowning in water.

ANYWAY... I have watched Carnivale, and could tell that it's probably quite good, but couldn't get into it. One of those "personal preference" kind of things. :tmeh:

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Thunderpeel, Yeah Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was good, reminded me a lot of comedy-suspense classics like Gross Point Blank.

LOPcagney, you don't know ANYTHING about BSG? Holy crap.

OK, well I'm going to assume that you know of the original 70's series. The new show is very naturalistic in it's treatment of space (similar to Firefly in that regards). The Battlestar itself is treated much like a modern Aircraft Carrier, from uniforms and military doctrine to the kinds of people found aboard. The whole series is quite political, and made to feel contemporary with our world. SO although it is a space drama it is incredibly accessible. Throw in some crazy mysticism and constant mysteries to solve and you have something that WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS AND NOT WATCHING IT ALREADY FFS?

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In addition to that BSG does pretty ballsy stuff sometimes that goes against what you'd expect through TV conventions and so on. It can be very unpredictable, keeping you on the edge of your seat. It also has a lot of shades of grey in terms of morality. I've had fairly long discussions with people about whether one character on the show is a war criminal or not and amazingly we both made convincing cases for each side based on what the series had shown. But yeah close this thread and go watch it. Most people find the miniseries (with which it all began) to be a bit hard to get through but once you start watching the first actual season the quality and intensity goes up very fast.

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Don't forget that Battlestar starts up again next week, kids.

Eh? My sources point to the beginning of April.

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Don't forget that Battlestar starts up again next week, kids.

I am officially a Battlestar convertee. Finished the first season last week and now four into season two. It's not Firefly, but it's definitely the best sci-fi show on television.

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Eh? My sources point to the beginning of April.

You're right -- haven't checked the site for a couple of weeks. Must have changed the schedule in the last month. :hmph:

Edit: As penance, I have made the following PSP XMB wallpaper to share with you all:

BattlestarGalactica.jpg

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Wow. I'm trying to make it through all 3 seasons of Battlestar before the season 4 premier and I just got to the boxing episode in season 3. I know people didn't like the last season because it didn't have the same meta-arc that the previous two did, but I thought the fight episode with Kara and Lee was spectacular. It may be the single most moving episode of all 3 seasons combined, with the possible exception of Act of Contrition from season 1.

:tup: :tup:

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I sort of enjoy BSG still but I also don't care anymore.

At the start of the episode I had actually forgotten what Apollo's role was. Still the president? A president? Pilot? Lawyer? What?

I also kinda forgot who the four cylons were, believe it or not.

Things move around too much.

Also too many SUPER DRAMATIC THINGS happen each episode that it makes them all seem less significant as a result.

I was like "oh. they killed off another character. right..."

But whatever. It's fine I guess, but this series definitely needs to conclude.

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Yeah BSG has been suffering from a slightly lessened but still present case of Heroes syndrome, where everyone's roles and allegiances and goals change so often that you can't remember what has happened or who is doing what, to the point that you don't know if the characters even know anymore.

Things I thought were defining moments for characters, big turning points in their story arcs, go unmentioned or ignored the next week, while the characters instead take crazy left turns seemingly out of the blue, or bring up something so inconsequential that it hadn't been mentioned for months or years, as a reason for some action.

That started for me around the time they split off half of the B cast to go with Starbuck on that freighter on the mission to find Earth, where Gaeta lost his leg, etc. Everyone was arbitrarily hating on each other for reasons which didn't make sense to me despite watching every episode, or bringing up past relationships that I had forgotten about or had written off as being irrelevant after being neglected on screen for so long, etc. Then they all got back from that mission and seemed to forget that even that mission, an event from just the previous episode, had happened (except for the missing leg, which showed up once or twice a few weeks later).

As another example, in season two or three or whatever, on New Caprica, Gaeta was a spy running information to the resistance, risking his life for a very specific cause, and I don't know a) if he even told anyone that he was doing that, B) if his current character even remembers that as part of his past. The lack of defined character arcs and throughlines is really grating for me.

The last few episodes have sort of forced the A storyline forward, but even that hasn't been a straight line. The sheer underlying fact that the show is going to end and therefore the plot has to advance seems to be the only consistent motivator at this point... nobody in the story is actually singularly driven to accomplish anything. It's often become an overwrought series of compromises and stalemates which are kind of clunkily bouncing off each other towards the finish line.

All that said, I'm still stupidly enjoying the show. There's still enough in there to watch that I find worth catching each week, and I hope that now that they've had a few "house cleaning" episodes, they can clean it up and set a straighter path towards the finish line.

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They released a '10 things you have to know about BSG' special that kind of rephrases the most important things, for new people to get into the show, or faithfuls to pick up the biggest lines again.

I mostly agree with Jake on this. It's become a narrative mess, but it's still highly enjoyable. I'm most saddened by Baltar's diminshed, weird arc as of late. Hopefully this last arc of 10 episodes will make everything alright. The promise is there, so... let's do this thing!

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As another example, in season two or three or whatever, on New Caprica, Gaeta was a spy running information to the resistance, risking his life for a very specific cause, and I don't know a) if he even told anyone that he was doing that, B) if his current character even remembers that as part of his past. The lack of defined character arcs and throughlines is really grating for me.

REally? You don't remember the secret war trials episode? The only reason Gaeta didn't wind up getting spaced was because of his role as informant. It was also alluded to in the recent webisodes.

But yeah all the characters have seemed very confused for a while now. Something needs simplifying. Maybe when Caville catches up with them they can concentrate on just surviving again.

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But yeah all the characters have seemed very confused for a while now. Something needs simplifying.

Ooh, ooh, I know! Let's chop the penultimate season in half and pretend it's 2 separate seasons and finish it early! :clap::frusty:

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Speaking of "off" behaviour, I'm watching Battlestar Galactica for the first time at the moment and

Col. Tai just killed his wife! Wtf? That was the lamest thing ever... So she got a few people killed by giving some plans to the Cylons -- they were about 20 minutes away from being rescued! Why not just wait to see if the rescue plan works first. Plus, she did it to save Tai's ass, not out of treachery. Also, two wrongs don't make a right, Mr Tai.

Seriously this all points to a new sub-plot: Tai's wife was a Cylon all along and now she's back, messing with his mind!

No spoilers please!

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No spoilers please!

Even in tags?

Not that I could spoil it for you. I've never even seen the show. I'm just wondering.

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Even in tags?

Not that I could spoil it for you. I've never even seen the show. I'm just wondering.

Aye. There's two levels of spoilers here... The stuff for people who haven't seen the show (or aren't up to where I am): That needs tagging. But since I'm going to read any replies there, I'm hoping that folks won't respond with any spoilers for me!

So yes, even in tags, nothing that might spoil BSG for me (please!).

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I saw Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, a feature-length spin-off explaining 2 things: the 'plan' behind the Cylon's attack, and how the Cylons managed to sabotage the Galactica in the first few seasons. And though the atmosphere is great, because in contrast to the horrible Caprica spin-off it manages to recreate the familiar Galactica vibe, the movie is a terrible waste of time and somewhat undermines the coolness of the events from the show.

The reason for that is, of course, because now that you know how the Cylons did it (hiding aboard the ship, planning all the sabotages) it's infinitely less cool than when you assumed they were just freaking powerful and a real threat. Instead, now, their constant failure to sabotage the Galactica makes them rather pathetic. Bungling idiots. It's horrible to watch. It just goes to show: never train your camera on the man behind the curtain. You don't want to know how everything intricately works. Sometimes it's better to enjoy the smoke and mirrors.

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Woo! I just finished Battlestar Galactica!

I'm glad to say that after slogging it through the dull first two seasons it was totally worth it. What a wonderful and satisfying ending.

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Woo! I just finished Battlestar Galactica!

I'm glad to say that after slogging it through the dull first two seasons it was totally worth it. What a wonderful and satisfying ending.

Really? What did you find satisfying about it?

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Woo! I just finished Battlestar Galactica!

I'm glad to say that after slogging it through the dull first two seasons it was totally worth it. What a wonderful and satisfying ending.

???

So... you didn't like the first two seasons, but enjoyed the third and forth? I can't wrap my head around that.

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Woo! I just finished Battlestar Galactica!

I'm glad to say that after slogging it through the dull first two seasons it was totally worth it. What a wonderful and satisfying ending.

Awww I find that gives me a strange warm feeling inside.

You other meanies leave him alone. At least someone found the ending completely pleasing

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