Battlestar Galactica

[coalescent]

1. All the revelation scenes were good and meaty, but the Tigh/Adama scene was a particular highlight.

2. The trouble is, I can't see a story about representatives of a society from across the galaxy searching for Earth and then finding it, only to discover it's a radioactive wasteland, without thinking of Isaac Asimov. Which means that clearly the next logical thing for the crew to do is go and have a nosy about on the moon.

3. In all seriousness, I think the odds of the final cylon being some kind of architect figure who's been mistaken for god by various parties are quite high at this point. Whether (s)he will turn out to look like anyone we already know is anybody's guess.

Comments

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

I've got a longer piece that'll probably go up tomorrow. I agree that Tigh coming out to Adama was well done (and won back the goodwill he'd lost with me after taking up with Six - I'm actually at the point where Tigh is the only member of the main cast I like, which is quite mind-boggling when you think about it) but I could have lived very happily without Adama's breakdown.

I don't know if you were deliberately referencing The Matrix with that comment about an architect, but my impression of where the show is headed is that humanity and the Cylons have been cycling through this story for millennia - one of them destroys the other, and sends their remnants on a quest for Earth/Kobol, where they establish an empire and prosper until the whole thing happens again. Not sure how much sense that makes, but then this is BSG.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you were deliberately referencing The Matrix with that comment about an architect,

No, I was thinking of R. Daneel Olivaw, mostly. :)

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

Here's where I admit, to my shame, that though I've read most of his short stories I've only read one or two of Asimov's novels.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Well, I enjoyed them at the time, but I'm not sure I'd recommend them to anyone now ... especially the particular books I'm thinking of, which are the ones where he tries to link the Robot novels and the Foundation novels.

Basically, at the Robot end (which is a near-future setting), two robots, one of which is R. Daneel Olivaw, extrapolate the idea of a "zeroth law" that supersedes the other three laws of robotics: no robot may harm humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. They further decide the the current political situation, which is basically Earth plus a few colonies, is a recipe for stagnation and eventual extinction, and as a solution they start a chain reaction that will irradiate the surface of the Earth -- slowly, giving humanity time to leave -- which will force an expansion throughout the galaxy.

CUT TO: umpteen thousand years later, after the galactic empire has been established, flourished, and fallen, and representatives of the Foundation decide to start searching for the mythical planet of Earth, the location of which has long since been lost. After a long voyage, during which they stop off at various locations featured in other Asimov novels, they arrive at Earth, which is still radioactive. They then have a look at the moon, where who should they find but R. Daneel Olivaw, who has been guiding the galactic Empire, and later the formation of the Foundation, and is even now preparing the next stage of human society, which is to turn it into a galactic super-organism on the grounds that it will be much easier to decide what will harm humanity (or not) if humanity is all one thing.

Anyway, I think the final cylon is going to be revealed to be, like Olivaw, guiding all the events that we've seen in the course of the series. Or a lot of them, at any rate. I do not think the series will end with humans and cylons entering a state of telepathic transcendence and one-ness, but you never know.

[twic.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

I think it will end with everyone covered in custard and singing a big song, like in Bugsy Malone.

-- tom

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

If it doesn't, at least one TV show should end this way. Possibly CSI: Miami.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

You can ignore anything first published after about 1960.

[applez.livejournal.com]

I've missed sooooo many episodes this season. I should just bag it until it's out on DVD.

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

Interesting episode. This season has been all over the place in terms of pacing, plotting and characterisation however it's still managed to be more consistent and entertaining than season 3 so far. That said, I really disliked the intensely rushed episode a couple of weeks ago in which Lee became Prez, but last week's and this week's instalments have won me back over a little.

I'm quite pleased with the post-apocalyptic Earth as it's a hell of a lot better an option than past or contemporary Earth (unless they actually did 1980 complete with hairstyles, which would be ace). The real question is where can it possibly go from here? On that front your speculation is definitely not out of the question, although we do have a whole half a season to kill.