BSG: Season 4

[Xouqoa]

Ok What the fuck.. Next week is the final episode until 2009?

That's fucking lame. It's the final season, show it all in the span of an actual season. Fucking assholes.

I just read an article about that (http://tv.ign.com/articles/881/881487p1.html) and came here to say what the fuck? Really? We have to wait 7 months (or longer) to wrap this up? What a bunch of bullshit.

[Kluden]

If they deliver tonight, I'll *almost* be ok with it.

[Kaldaur]

Season 2 was the only season to be split into two boxes, and this marketing 'strategy' was a result of the Sci fi channel only ordering ten episodes at first. When the show's second season took off, they ordered another ten episodes, but only after the DvD sets had been ordered and prepared.
I agree that the season 2 distribution sucked, but it's not the fault of the show's producing team. These are external factors affecting the show rather than internal. At least they didn't go the way of 'Heroes' and 'Lost' and make their season like 6 episodes shorter.

[Aardor]

Season 2 was the only season to be split into two boxes, and this marketing 'strategy' was a result of the Sci fi channel only ordering ten episodes at first. When the show's second season took off, they ordered another ten episodes, but only after the DvD sets had been ordered and prepared.
I agree that the season 2 distribution sucked, but it's not the fault of the show's producing team. These are external factors affecting the show rather than internal. At least they didn't go the way of 'Heroes' and 'Lost' and make their season like 6 episodes shorter.

Yeah, that ^^.

[Animalor]

What an ending to the 1st part of the 4th season.

[Show]

I think the ending of the ep had the opposite effect on me than was planned. I was ROFL at it all.

[Kaldaur]

The music for this show keeps getting better and better. I have much love for Bear McCreary.
A great episode, especially during the tense moments when we weren't sure if Lee would flush Tigh out the airlock. EJO's acting when he found out about Tigh was also something to see; I could feel his pain from what he thought was his friend's 'betrayal'.
Now we wait again. Damnit.

[Dregor Thule]

[Show]

Just awesome. You of course knew a huge other shoe was going to drop after the celebration. I know earth being a wasteland has been a theory going around since the show first started, but that doesn't lessen the impact at all. The ending scene was one of my most favorite in the whole series. The amount they managed to "tell" with it was great. I think my favorite part was the Six and Tigh. I was so afraid they were going to kill him off!

I have no idea where they're going to go with the last 10 episodes, but I can't fathom 10 being enough

[Kaldaur]

Yeah, Dregor, the last scene was reminiscent of the picture they put out before Season 4 began. It was a recreation of the last supper, and it had all the major characters present. The picture told us something about each of the characters this upcoming season.
The end scene was very good because you saw how all of the characters were handling the news of Earth. My favorite was Tyrol in the background, chuckling silently to himself while the others all looked upset. It doesn't hurt that Tyrol is my favorite character, but the depth they went into in that last scene, showing how characters have ended up on this journey, it's something else.

[Fairweather Pure]

The Chicago Tribune reports that the remaining episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" will be expanded.

The series airs its mid-fourth season finale tonight and many have been left wondering when the final ten episodes would air.

Now it seemse that the final episode of the series could clock in at three hours, two of which will be added on bringing the episode count to twelve.

Also reports of further TV movies have been solidified with at least one pretty much set to be made this year.

Finally comes word from E! Online that the final episodes, no matter what the length, will be going to air in the first quarter of 2009.

Good news for BSG fans!

[Winnow]

Glad to see BSG end on an upswing with each episode being better than the last.

I was kind of hoping that Earth wouldn't be a wasteland. I thought it might be interesting to have them arrive at earth during a different time period than ours. Say, World War II or in the future. (well it appears they did arrive in the future)

Great mid season ending. So many revalations in a short period of time. Lee played a big role.

I have no idea what the last 10-12 episodes will be about. None at all. If' I had to dream something up, I'd guess they might find a pocket of people still alive on Earth who will tell the tale of what happened, possibly sending Galactica off on another quest.

Tyrol will eventually find meaning in his life again.

Starbuck and Lee get back together (maybe)

We suffer through 12 episodes of Madam president slowly dying replacing The English Patient as the most popular "die already" quotable show.

They're going to need a threat for the final 12 episodes. Can't be bosom buddies with the Cylons and get the battle drama part of BSG we need.

If they can do another flashback 2 hour show like Razor, I'll be glued to the set. I'm open to more TV movies, etc if they have meaning.

If Earth wasn't a wasteland, this easily could have been the season finale and end of the series.

[Animalor]

I mean really the only option left to them now is head back to the original Caprica. With only 50k humans left, that planet is still hospitable.

Even New Caprica is in better shape than Earth at this point..

As well, now that the Cylons are mortal, there could be a very interesting war that could happen between the humans/renegades and the other cylons.

[Kluden]

Maybe the cylon homeworld is hospitable, and that's where they will go next...with lots of battles on the way!

I'm kidding of course, but really, where does the show go from here? Its probably the single best mid season finale I've ever seen...what a perfect cliff hanger...the one where you have absolutely no idea what is going to take place after that. Just perfect.

[Bubba Grizz]

I can see the other cylons jumping in on the fleet and the alliance working together against them. I also see this planet not being THE Earth but the home of another clue. I also see myself waiting anxiously for January. I really hate that feeling because January marks Tax season and another long ass wait for a damn holiday.

[Kluden]

Well, I don't think anything is official yet from scifi, so let's wait and see. You never know, they may come to their senses and start mid fall! Wouldn't be a bad idea for them to finish up by years end to sell the season 4 dvd set before xmas...

[Dregor Thule]

[Show]

Gotta remember, there's still the fifth of the Final Five to be revealed. Xena said that only 4 were in the fleet. Some interesting possibilities with that. She could be lying right off the bat. I wouldn't put it past her at all. When she had her vision, she looked at one of them and said she was sorry. I had been assuming it was Tigh and for what they'd done to his eye, but perhaps it's someone else... someone already dead? The third possibility is that it was someone who was on the base star at the time, so technically not in the fleet. The notables in that group were Roslin, Baltar, Helo (impossible tho, I think!), was Adama there at the time?.. only other character I can think of as being there was Hotdog.

[Xouqoa]

[Show]

Gotta remember, there's still the fifth of the Final Five to be revealed. Xena said that only 4 were in the fleet. Some interesting possibilities with that. She could be lying right off the bat. I wouldn't put it past her at all. When she had her vision, she looked at one of them and said she was sorry. I had been assuming it was Tigh and for what they'd done to his eye, but perhaps it's someone else... someone already dead? The third possibility is that it was someone who was on the base star at the time, so technically not in the fleet. The notables in that group were Roslin, Baltar, Helo (impossible tho, I think!), was Adama there at the time?.. only other character I can think of as being there was Hotdog.

I thought maybe the magical Viper that Starbuck re-appeared in would be the fifth Cylon, but I guess not.

[Aardor]

I forget, did the hybrid tell Starbuck she was the Harbinger of Death when she mentioned the opera house, or was that only told to the person in Razor?

[Winnow]

Something obviously is going on with Starbuck. She died and returned in a spotless viper.

If Starbuck isn't the 5th cylon, she's some other kind of craziness beyond hybrids and the final five.

Dregor's mention of Hotdog is interesting since Starbuck was shown paying tribute to her picture when they arrived at Earth.

This whole thread is spoiler territory right? Or was that the H E R O E S thread?

[Aardor]

Dregor's mention of Hotdog is interesting since Starbuck was shown paying tribute to her picture when they arrived at Earth.

This whole thread is spoiler territory right? Or was that the H E R O E S thread?

She was paying tribute to Kat, Hotdog is a male pilot who is still alive.

I assumed it was spoiler territory since there are tons of spoilers outside the tags.

[Winnow]

The music for this show keeps getting better and better. I have much love for Bear McCreary.

If you haven't already, check out blog entry for the last episode:

http://www.bearmccreary.com/blog/?p=396

Peeps that can read music might appreciate it more!

[Kaldaur]

Yeah, I've read his blog for years now. My undergraduate degree is in music, so whenever I watch the show half of me is only paying attention to what he is doing. I'm confident making this statement: that Bear McCreary will be a John Williams someday. This level of thematic composition doesn't come around every day.

[Kaldaur]

So, I just watched Razor again last night, and stumbled upon something that I think is huge. There is a point in the show where Adama flashes back to the end of the war, when he crash lands on a planet and finds the experiments to create the first Hybrids. He's searching through the room when he hears a knocking. Running over to a door, he finds actual human survivors of the experiments, but is unable to break them out. They talk to him and tell him to go, because the space station is about the break out of the planet and head into space.
The voice sounded eerily familiar, so my friend and I rewound it and listened again. The face of the man behind the door is a little different, but still similar enough to lead us to the conclusion. There are two people shown behind the door: one tall man with a strong voice, and a blond girl who peeks around the bottom corner. The man's voice is Leoben's, and the girl bears a striking resemblance to Kara Thrace. So we watched it again. It was definitely Leoben's voice, and the girl could have been Katee Sackhoff's sister.
So, if anyone else has Razor, watch that section and tell me what you think. Perhaps Leoben and Starbuck were humans forty some years ago, and were the first experimental human models.

[Winnow]

So, I just watched Razor again last night, and stumbled upon something that I think is huge. There is a point in the show where Adama flashes back to the end of the war, when he crash lands on a planet and finds the experiments to create the first Hybrids. He's searching through the room when he hears a knocking. Running over to a door, he finds actual human survivors of the experiments, but is unable to break them out. They talk to him and tell him to go, because the space station is about the break out of the planet and head into space.
The voice sounded eerily familiar, so my friend and I rewound it and listened again. The face of the man behind the door is a little different, but still similar enough to lead us to the conclusion. There are two people shown behind the door: one tall man with a strong voice, and a blond girl who peeks around the bottom corner. The man's voice is Leoben's, and the girl bears a striking resemblance to Kara Thrace. So we watched it again. It was definitely Leoben's voice, and the girl could have been Katee Sackhoff's sister.
So, if anyone else has Razor, watch that section and tell me what you think. Perhaps Leoben and Starbuck were humans forty some years ago, and were the first experimental human models.

Here are the best frames I could grab from that scene:















Leoben:

Kacey Brynn is the Improbable Frakcanon Child of Kara Thrace and Leoben Conoy, so— while she was born to a surrogate human mother, and believes herself to be human, in fact she's three-quarters Cylon. She has weird dreams, sometimes, true dreams about things she shouldn't know, but neither she nor her mom likes to think about that, so by now she pretty much keeps them to herself. Other than that she isn't particularly psychic in any way, other than being an unusually good guesser.

This version of Kacey is ten years old, so while she comes from the same universe as Kara and Leoben she's several years ahead of them and of canon.

In the meantime: she looks and acts pretty much like a normal ten-year-old girl. She likes math, and complex machinery— she wants to be a pilot when she grows up, because pilots (especially Kara) are awesome— but generally thinks most of school is useless when she could be around real people (teachers aren't real people, duh). Between that and her strongly inherited tendency against any kind of self-preservational instinct, the Nexus is the perfect place for her; she doesn't care if it's dangerous, as long as she gets to meet interesting new people, and there's never any shortage of those.

The above Kacey info is just fan fiction as far as I know although she appears in an episode of BSG:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2000023/

[Dregor Thule]

Strange.. I just watched Razor again last night and also took special note of the guy behind the door. It's definitely not the actor that plays Leoben, but the voice was definitely similar. Not sure if we're reading too much into it or if it's a big clue. There was another part of note to me: during the Admiral Caine's flashback to when she was a little girl during the Cylon war. She leaves her sister behind when she falls, but when she comes back out after the armistice is called, her sister is gone, presumably taken by the Cylons. Wonder if they're ever going to address this!

[Kaldaur]

Yeah Dregor, I just watched the extended edition and saw that part about Caine's sister being taken. That scene was not included in the television version, and was only in the extended version.
My friend and I both knew that it wasn't Leoben, but the voice was so close that it caught our attention. So, is it Ron Moore tossing us a red herring, or is it an actual clue into the identity of Kara Thrace?

Leoben also looks a lot like Daniel Craig.

[Dregor Thule]

Oh shit, James Bond is a Cylon!

I think the timeline is too fracked for the little girl to be Kara, unless we're assuming she's a Cylon, which I'm not. She wouldn't have been born yet. I don't know if they filmed it with the intention of it being some hidden clue or something, but I have a feeling it's going to turn out to be incidental and not of any importance.

[Winnow]

Something new for BSG fans:

A trailer for the Battlestar Galactica prequel television movie Caprica

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/07/21/caprica-trailer/

The movie/back-door pilot takes place fifty to seventy years before the events shown in Ronald Moore’s Battlestar Galactica. Billed as “television’s first science fiction family saga”, the show is set against the story of Joseph Adama, a renowned civil liberties lawyer and father of future Battlestar commander William Adama. Joseph becomes an opponent of the experiments undertaken by the Graystones, owners of the computer giant spearheading the development of a series of breakthrough robotics which will ultimately lead to the birth of the Cylons.

According to Wikipedia: “The Graystones include father Daniel, a computer genius; mother Amanda, a brilliant surgeon and unfaithful wife; and their daughter, Zoe, who is martyred to her boyfriend’s religious fanaticism – but not before she installs the rudimentary elements of her personality and DNA into a machine, creating a digital twin of herself, Zoe-A. After the human Zoe’s death, Daniel uses these raw materials, some stolen technology and his own grief to cobble together ‘a robotic version of his dead daughter.’ This robot version, known as Zoe-R, is a Cylonic Eve, the first of her kind.”

At work so haven't checked it out yet.

[Boogahz]

A little more info on what the future of the BSG franchise may look like. Putting this in spoilers just in case it foreshadows the next season too much for some.

http://www.austin360.com/news/content/s ... ctica.html

[Show]

'Battlestar Galactica' franchise steams ahead
By CHRIS TALBOTT
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK — Need proof the television ratings system is dead, a victim of the TiVo, the ubiquitous satellite dish and schizophrenic viewing habits? Take a look at what's happening with "Battlestar Galactica."

If the traditional ratings system is used to measure its success, well, the series is scraping bottom like a viper throwing sparks on a hot landing.

Yet the show's producers are moving forward with two post-"Galactica" projects that would never have seen the light of a cathode tube had ratings been the only factor in the decisions.

Jamie Bamber, the British actor who plays Lee "Apollo" Adama in the series, has a much better way to gauge ratings. Turns out, as the ratings plummet, the show's popularity continues to skyrocket as it reaches the end of its five-year run early in 2009.

"When the numbers were high I would get stopped in the street maybe once a week," Bamber said. "Now that the viewing figures are lower on the TV, everywhere I go someone will come up to me and say what a huge fan they are. That just tells me that people watch the show in a more modern way and that it has reached its sort of critical mass."

"Galactica" wrapped shooting in July and the final 10 episodes will begin airing in January. But the franchise won't stop there.

Producers recently announced end-of-the-summer production of a two-hour standalone "Galactica" prequel that will air in 2009 after the series finale. And they've also shot a pilot for a new series called "Caprica," which has yet to be picked up by the network but seems destined to air.

These things never used to happen. There never would've been a "Rhoda" had "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" tanked. "Fish" would've been fried had it not been for the popularity of "Barney Miller."

"Galactica's" numbers — to put it politely — have begun to stink. The latest Nielsen ratings seem to indicate the show's viewers are as hard to find as the fleet's mythical destination of Earth. The series averaged 2.8 million viewers an episode during Season 1. During the most recent run of 10 episodes, the show averaged 2.2 million viewers, a slight dip overall but up from Seasons 2 and 3. The series lost some of that steam by the midseason finale, falling to just 1.8 million viewers.

Co-executive producer Michael Angeli thinks the numbers are irrelevant, however. He believes most "Galactica" fans have atypical viewing habits and take advantage of new technology to watch the show whenever they want.

"I think we were one of the first ones," Angeli said. "TiVo had just sort of taken off. This was four or five seasons ago, and because we were on Friday nights most people, most fans don't watch it (on first run). They TiVo it and watch it a zillion times."

Others rent or buy the DVDs after the season is over and watch in long marathons. To take advantage of this group, producers will be releasing the two-hour movie on DVD shortly after it appears on SciFi.

The movie is a prequel that gives some insight into the machinations of the cylons before they unleashed the nuclear holocaust that wiped out all but 50,000 human inhabitants of the 12 colonies. "Galactica" star Edward James Olmos will direct and Dean Stockwell (Cylon No. 1), Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol) and Michael Trucco (Sam Anders) — all "skinjobs," cylons who appear to be human — will participate.

While the movie is a lock to air, the fate of "Caprica" remains to be decided. The pilot has been shot and screened, and there's a trailer up on YouTube. Angeli is helping with early scripts in case the series is picked up and said the show is an almost complete departure from "Galactica."

"In fact, I don't think we ever go into space," he said.

"Caprica" takes place 51 years before the events of "Galactica." It stars Esai Morales and Eric Stoltz as the heads of rival families who clash over the creation of artificial intelligence, which will eventually lead to the cylons.

Besides the robots and the location, the only real connection between "Galactica" and "Caprica" will be Joseph Adama, the character played by Morales. While Joseph Adama — father and grandfather to the characters played by Olmos and Bamber — never appears in "Galactica," his work as a lawyer provides a moral compass in a significant storyline and his name is often evoked.

Like "Galactica," which took on war, terrorism, torture, religion and questions of morality, the storyline in "Caprica" will have many things to say about our society.

"It's really about big business, the machinations and the subterfuge that go on inside of it when you have something that is groundbreaking and could change the nature of life and the future," Angeli said. "In this case, they're developing artificial intelligence."

Executive producer Ronald D. Moore described the show to reporters at the Television Critics Association meeting in Beverly Hills. While he was talking about the fictional colony Caprica, he could just as easily have been talking about today's America.

"It's about a vibrant society. It's really at the height of its power and the height of its decadence at the same time," Moore said. "So it's really a thriving, vibrant culture that's going to come apart as we watch, but it's sort of the roller coaster. It's thrilling at the top when you see how far down you've got to go."

[Vetiria]

There's some short 2-5 min webisodes on scifi's website that take place after they find Earth. The first seven are up out of twelve. Second half of the season starts on the 16th.

[Aardor]

Starts up tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gzette]

Rosalyn is the final Cylon. I am convinced.

ps Baltar is jesus, and the 12 cylons are his apostles.

[Kaldaur]

We will find out who the final cylon is in the first episode.
It won't answer many questions. We still have to find out who exactly the final five are, and what role they play to the rest of the Cylon race.
Roslin makes the most sense, because of her dreams which involved the other cylons. However, we could be thrown a curve ball. I just know that after March 20th, I won't know what to do with myself. Besides Lost, what serialized program is out there that can keep our attention like this show?

[Xouqoa]

That was certainly an unexpected pick for the final cylon.

Also, why exactly couldn't they stay on Earth? It looked like the radiation had subsided. It seems to me like they should have just established a foothold there and worked on rebuilding.

[Dregor Thule]

[Show]

Well, they said the water and the food chain was still irradiated, but yeah, you'd assume they could still do something with it.

Overall tho, wow. That episode was pretty much what I needed it to be. I wasn't sure if they were going the suicide route or the 5th cylon route with Duala, but I'm glad it was the latter. Really drove home the bleakness of it. Ellen being the 5th was a little bit of a surprise, but I won't say I didn't think she was when her character was alive. The question still remains tho: What is Kara Thrace? Is she a 6th, newer, unknown cylon? This is going to be an entertaining final 10 episodes

Oh, and about the webisodes. I recommend everyone watch them, because it looks like they set up a storyline that's going to be coming up soon. And they reveal what Baltar whispered to Felix when he stabbed him in the neck with the pen!

[Kaldaur]

[Show]

What an episode. I also thought they were setting D up to be a cylon, but the suicide was an interesting way to take the story. Also, the way in which it came about, her wanting to maintain that happiness, was something shocking.
In regards to Ellen, this means we will see her again. I'll put a lot of money on it. There's got to be a resurrection ship somewhere out there with our final five on board. Maybe they settled somewhere else in the galaxy, and our ragtag team of human/cylon explorers are going to find them. But saying Ellen is the 5th, and then not bringing her back, is just sort of a "oh, okay." moment. In order for it to move the story, at this point, she has to make a return. They wouldn't have made her this just to send the Colonel into another downward spiral. He just emerged from one, and it wouldn't make any sense from a story aspect. She'll be coming back, the only question is when.
I thought it was also interesting how they were setting up Kara to be the 5th, by introducing her charred remains earlier on. And did you see the look on Leoben's face? He was terrified. For the first time, it seemed like he didn't know precisely what was going on. That was the best moment in the show, when he got spooked and ran off.
God, I missed this show. Can't wait for Friday.

[Ransure]

No DNA test on the corpse?.... that kinda pissed me off.... why just go and burn it.

[Kluden]

[Show]

If they don't want to go the route of just bringing ellen back, the rest of the show will be the 4 going through flashbacks to find another place...and Tye's flashback's will be ellen based to see if there were any clues whilst she was still around.

Either or, I'm sure it will be a satisfactory conclusion...none of that sopranos crap here!

[Lalanae]

Wow, what an amazing episode...

[Winnow]

Overall I thought the episode was average to below average but that's still good for a BSG episode compared to other television. I have confidence the season will improve.

So far: positives and negatives for characters

Admiral Adama =
President Roslin - she's worthless so far
Lee Adama =
Baltar -
Number Six -
Athena + (hot asian woman. she gets + for the webisodes)
Starbuck =
Saul Tigh +
Tyrol =
Gaeta = gay
Dualla + (went out on a positive like John Elway!)


Hmm that's about it. Glad first episode is out of the way so we can get some meaty episodes.

[Vetiria]

[Show]

This may be crazy, but I don't think we know who the fifth cylon is yet. I think Ty's wife was a Number Six allowed to grow old somehow. Picture Six, but older...the physical characteristics are similar. This would also tie into him getting Six pregnant.

[Xouqoa]

Next week is going to be explosive.

[Animalor]

I'm getting this conflict will escalate and then Tom Zereck will be revealed as the 5th.

[Kaldaur]

Poor Gaeta...I have a feeling he's next on the "Season 4 spelled my doom" list.

[Dregor Thule]

It's disappointing to see Gaeta go all emo because of the evil Sharon from the webisodes. And daddy Hotdog, hah! Wasn't as good an episode as the previous one, but still had some important developments.

[Winnow]

Poor Gaeta...I have a feeling he's next on the "Season 4 spelled my doom" list.

Are there plans for a season 5? If not, people need to start dropping like flies.

President Roslin's bald head made me crack up. That's one of the worst moments in BSG history. Her bald balloon head with hair covered is so obvious it's comical. She's approaching "The English Patient" status with me. Die already!

This episode was a big step up from the first of season 4.5. The show is hanging on by a thread for interesting plots but if they go all out with some serious mayhem, this season could be a good one. The integration of the cylons with the human population is somewhat interesting.

[Show]

This may be crazy, but I don't think we know who the fifth cylon is yet. I think Ty's wife was a Number Six allowed to grow old somehow. Picture Six, but older...the physical characteristics are similar. This would also tie into him getting Six pregnant.

This sounds like a good explanation. Ty's wife would have made a boring 5th. Nice one if it turns out to be correct.

[Bubba Grizz]

For a long time I was cheering for Gaeta as being the guy in the background that kept things working and always survived like a Wedge from Star Wars or a Radar from MASH. Now he strikes me as a major whine bag. I loved it when Starbuck didn't hold back.

I agree that Roslin's story is getting old. At least Adama got laid.

[Xouqoa]

For a long time I was cheering for Gaeta as being the guy in the background that kept things working and always survived like a Wedge from Star Wars or a Radar from MASH. Now he strikes me as a major whine bag. I loved it when Starbuck didn't hold back.

I agree that Roslin's story is getting old. At least Adama got laid.

Yeah, I'm somewhat disappointed with the way his character has developed in S3-S4. I liked him a lot in the first couple of seasons. Now, I am just kind of hoping he goes away.

[Sargeras]

What did it for me in regards to Gaeta was when he had to balls to stand in the middle of the CiC and say to Adama "And you think you have right to make that decision?"

[Lalanae]

[Show]

This may be crazy, but I don't think we know who the fifth cylon is yet. I think Ty's wife was a Number Six allowed to grow old somehow. Picture Six, but older...the physical characteristics are similar. This would also tie into him getting Six pregnant.

I thought something similar. The 5 "reveal" was too easy and the connection between the two women seems to not be fully explained. Good call!

[Lalanae]

It's disappointing to see Gaeta go all emo because of the evil Sharon from the webisodes. And daddy Hotdog, hah! Wasn't as good an episode as the previous one, but still had some important developments.

lol, fucking Hotdog.