omgwtfcylons

[rivendellrose]

Holy crap, we've finished season 3.

Okay, that was awesome. Massive props to Mark Sheppard for a masterful job as the lawyer, and to just everybody for everything else. Lovely lovely lovely.

The music: A large part of these two episodes was spent with The Boy and I nattering to each other about the Music. At the start, only he could hear the melody - all I could hear was the weird whirring "shoooom" noise that the Cylon Centurions make. Always twice. "Shoom-shoom." And we kept hearing it. Along with the music. Every single time. It made me very twitchy. And then, slowly - violins. No, wait, sitar. No, wait, electric guitar. Centurions. Sitar. Guitar. Centurions. Sitar. Guitar. Violins.

Power chords.

Sitar. Electric guitar.

Power chords.

...Full on 80s rock ballad.

.......WITH LYRICS. And yes, of course it's the little bits that we've just noticed that all the people who can hear the music are muttering and oh my god, there are four of them. FOUR. And we know who five is, don't we? ♥

I don't have a hell of a lot to say about the trial, except that I loved the conclusion - I adored (mumble-mumble-Mark-Sheppard-I-never-caught-the-character's-name-really) and Lee being like "...Yeah, we don't actually like you, Gaius. You go figure it the fuck out for yourself." That was fantastic. And then he gets... rescued? By his... groupies? Dude, I don't even know. And Lee didn't utterly betray his dad! Yay! Good for you, Lee, you're not a totally worthless human being. ♥ And I very much liked his little closing-argument testimony. Very nice. Because it's all very true.

You know who might be? FRICKING GAETA. Gaeta! We do not lie under oath, even when it suits us personally! Dude, I liked you! I have liked you since fricking day one - where do you get off being all "oh, excuse me, I'm going to go randomly perjure myself just because I hate that bastard!" I realize he told you you're a Cylon or something, but WTF?! We're talking about the most by-the-book rule-following guy ever, and now he's perjuring himself with the same stone cold face that he reads off Dradis contacts with? Totally unexpected.

Oh my god, on the good side of things, how much do I love Roslin, Sharon, and Caprica meeting up in dreams and then getting together in reality and, seemingly, perhaps starting an alliance? Cower in the corner, universe. You have a new tripartite goddess embodied, and she will bust your ass if you do something she doesn't like. ♥♥♥

(Incidentally, I find it very interesting that our Athena is the mother here, where our Hera (...the one who isn't still in diapers, that is) is, seemingly, being cast as sort of the virgin goddess, and Caprica... am I wrong in thinking she's a bit of Aphrodite, there? That's always what I've taken her for, though I could be as off-base with that as I was with my initial take on Starbuck. Still. Very interesting.)

And I forgot to mention Helo, the amazing yo-yo-ing officer! Seriously, he's been the XO, not the XO, the XO, not the XO, mayor of plague-town, and back again so many times the poor boy probably doesn't know what he's doing when he wakes up in the morning. Bless. ♥

...Have I talked enough about other things to jump right into the seeming-Cylons?

OHMYGOD CYLONS.

TIGH IS A DAMNED CYLON. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! TAKE THAT, TIGH! ♥

Seriously, though - I do feel bad for him, and I'm proud of the way he handled it, and god damn it I swore to myself that I wouldn't like him like everybody else seems to, but it's not working. Curses. And Sam! Poor Sam! Sam is a Cylon! As is Tori, who is awesome, although it does rather make me sit back and think "they totally meant for that to be Billy, didn't they?" Because they so did. And Tyrol. Ah, Tyrol. I hope you're not actually planning on telling your wife that you're a Cylon, because I do not doubt that if she doesn't kill you outright, Callie will divorce you in an instant. She's cute, but that girl has a heart of ice and steel.

Lee goes out in the viper again! Go Lee! You still can't make up your mind who you are, can you?! But of course he has to be there because STARBUCK IS BACK! ♥♥♥ Ultimate awesome ending of awesome 80's-rock-ness! ♥

We are so going to have to buy Season 4 (in a cruel twist of fate, we already have 4.5, but not 4) over the weekend. ♥

Comments

[seachanges.livejournal.com]

Damn, I no longer have a single BSG icon on this journal. :P

Otherwise? I've been waiting for you to hit this point. I remember when Crossroads first aired, and shrieking at the reveal. Tori and Anders I was meh about, but Tigh and Tyrol? OMFG! That was such a kick in the frakking head! And I won't spoil you about the last one other than to say when you find out, it'll be a great big "well, DUH" moment. *g*

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Awwwww. I've got a few, but I've been so desperate to hide from spoilers that I don't have many.

This was insane. Especially Tigh - I never thought of Tigh being a Cylon. He's too much of a bastard to be a Cylon! Or... I don't know! It just boggles my mind.

I won't spoil you about the last one other than to say when you find out, it'll be a great big "well, DUH" moment. *g*

Buh... But I thought... Isn't it... o_O Okay, I'm going to go sit quietly and stare at the wall for a while being very confused, because I was sure up until you said this that it would be Starbuck, but now that I think of it I'm not completely sure.

Don't tell me either way. I'm enjoying the moment of total confusion. ;)

[seachanges.livejournal.com]

They do a good job muddying the water so that you think you know who it is, then you start doubting yourself until you have no freaking idea who it is. Which, of course, is when they finally tell you, and you go "D'OH!"

[icepixie]

YOU'RE FINALLY HERE! :D

I've also been waiting impatiently for you to hit this point, although it's really just the beginning of the fantastic revelations and awesome plot arcs to come in S4. TIGH IS A CYLON! I screamed forever. Well, once I decided that it wasn't some kind of fakeout, anyway. (I remember having it in my head that they would've been surer about it if they were REALLY Cylons, but, eh, whatever.) And hehe, you'll like him yet! I told you he had hidden depths. And they get explored further after this.

I'm pretty sure they hadn't thought this far ahead by the time they killed Billy, so in so far as there was a plan, Tori was always in it.

So is Gaeta your top pick for the Fifth? I had a rotating cast of people pegged for it which included Gaeta, Kara, Dee, Billy (in case they wanted to bring him back), and, for reasons which I can better explain when you're a couple episodes into S4, Zarek. (I was really proud of my theory. And it might have come true! Or it might not. You will see eventually!)

I was a little disappointed in the Kara Ex Machina at the end--"I'm alive! And I found Earth so you don't have to waste time interpreting signs and figuring out the way yourself! Ta da!"--but so much else went so very right in these two that I forgave them. LOVED the opera house visions, and Laura, Caprica, and Athena getting some wonderful scenes together. Also loved Adama and Roslin's most excellent scenes together.

But Laura's cancer comes back! *sob* Her "Please don't do this" to Lee made me cry.

I was hoping they would airlock Baltar by the end, but alas, it was not to be. Still, these were definitely two of my favorite episodes of the season. And then we had MORE THAN A YEAR TO WAIT FOR S4. Be glad you weren't watching in real time.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

YOU'RE FINALLY HERE! :D

YES! &hearts♥♥

TIGH IS A CYLON! I screamed forever. Well, once I decided that it wasn't some kind of fakeout, anyway.

It did feel sort of like a fake-out at first, didn't it? Right up til the end of the episode I was wondering if they weren't going to somehow turn out to be something else... what, I'm not sure, but something other than Cylons.

Honestly Kara was my top pick for the Fifth until I realized that, well, she probably wouldn't have her Viper if she'd died and come back via one of the resurrection ships, would she? Unless they had a captured Viper that she stole... Hmm. Not sure. Plus, I would think she might be a hell of a lot less zen about the whole thing if she was a Cylon, although I suppose dying would get out of some of that. No idea.

LOVED the opera house visions, and Laura, Caprica, and Athena getting some wonderful scenes together. Also loved Adama and Roslin's most excellent scenes together.

Yes! Both = so fantastic.

Her "Please don't do this" to Lee made me cry.

Seriously, I was so pissed at Lee at that point. Yes, we all know you have Issues with your daddy, but for god's sake, that woman right there freaking loves you like a mother, Lee, and you should not fuck around with her.

And then we had MORE THAN A YEAR TO WAIT FOR S4. Be glad you weren't watching in real time.

Yeeeeeah, I can't imagine that. But I will be good and include the people who waited 13 months for the next season in my candle-lighting for the weekend. ;)

[bluerosefairy.livejournal.com]

Okay, it's stupid o'clock over here, but I have to say it:

NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY I LOVE SAUL TIGH?

Between the New Caprica arc and his Cylonity, both the actor and the character just blow me away. He is absolutely the most human of the Cylons.

And oh, so you think you've got a good idea who the final one is, huh? :P

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY I LOVE SAUL TIGH?

*Grumbles* I SUPPOSE I DO.

Seriously, I do. He's... god, he's still a jackass, and I'm sure I'll get right back to hating him the very next time he's nasty to Helo and Sharon (because he always is) or the very next time his drunken idiocy almost ruins everything, but... eh, I'm starting to love the bastard.

He is absolutely the most human of the Cylons.

Honestly, I'd had him with Gaius in my "can't be a Cylon, is too much of a jackass" list. But obviously I was wrong! ♥

And oh, so you think you've got a good idea who the final one is, huh? :P

Shuddup. I totally thought I knew (I mean, duh, Kara disappears and we know she's not really dead and then she shows up at exactly the same time as a bunch of Cylons? OF COURSE IT'S HER!), but... um... then I realized that it would be kind of improbable for her to return with her Viper if she was a Cylon. Although maaaaaaybe she just stole a captured viper from the Cylons and ran off? Or Leoben let her go? NOW I AM DOUBTING, AND I DON'T KNOW.

[kungfuwaynewho.livejournal.com]

Eee! When I put up the soundtracks, I said that I left out a spoilery song from the S3 album - that was "All Along the Watchtower." Amazing. I saw the finale for the first time at the Drafthouse, and when Chief said the first lyric no one really got it, especially since Tigh had said it the episode before. But when Tigh said, "Said the joker to the thief"? The theater ERUPTED. And then basically never shut up clear to the end. And Starbuck showing up pretty much just threw the place into chaos; I didn't actually hear any of those lines at the end until the next day when I watched the download. That experience is number two in my all-time Geek Nirvana list.

I do like the trial, and oh, Lee vs. Roslin is amazing and heartbreaking and WHY DID MARY NEVER WIN AN EMMY FOR THIS SHOW, WHY. But I'm with the prosecutor on how utterly ridiculous Lee testifying is; every time I watch, it kind of takes me out of the moment. I get that Romo wanted him backed into a corner to force that out, and that the emotional intensity of delivering all of that as a closing argument might not have been the same, but ugh, it irritates me.

Oh, the opera house visions. Ohhhhhhhh. I'd been bitching not long before the finale about how BSG had all these fantastic female characters but so few of them actually ever interacted with each other, so that pretty much made my forever right there. I love Roslin and Caprica together especially. They're totes my crackship. (Well, them and Roslin and Baltar. Maybe Roslin/Baltar/Caprica? I could get behind that.)

And then after all of that, you have the revelation of four of the Final Five! God, Tigh. "My name is Saul Tigh. I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be." That line. On a certain level, that's the theme of the show, right there. And Hogan's delivery is just masterful.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Awwwww, I'm so jealous of your experience at the Drafthouse! That really would be the best possible way to see something like this, even if it meant that you couldn't actually hear anything. The energy!

Lee vs. Roslin is amazing and heartbreaking and WHY DID MARY NEVER WIN AN EMMY FOR THIS SHOW, WHY.

That's exactly what I've been wondering (...apart from the fact that, y'know, the answer is clearly 'because sci-fi doesn't win Emmys, ever, except for special effects stuff'). She's so amazing.

I love Roslin and Caprica together especially. They're totes my crackship.

Oooo. I like this idea.

The thing with the awesome women who never interact... yeah, I've noticed the same thing. I mean, honestly, I straight-up adore that we have so many female characters of all different types and personalities in this show, and I adore that it's expressly not a big deal that there are, for instance, female fighter pilots and female deck crew and female analysts or whatever the hell Dualla's job would be called. I love that. But I do kind of wish we could see them interacting with each other more. I adored back when Boomer and Caprica were hanging out, and I'd love to see Athena and Caprica have some scenes together, and it would please me to no end if we saw more of Starbuck and Athena together, because they seem to get on well. And so on. It'd just be so nice, because it's a huge change to actually get enough female characters in a sci-fi show that that's possible.

On the other hand, though, I'm kind of glad we don't have a case of women hanging out together by default just because they're the women and of course they're all going to hang out and... I don't know, talk about conditioner. So, there's that angle to look at it from, if you're so inclined.

"My name is Saul Tigh. I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be."

That line is what it's all about, yes. I'd noticed the trend earlier, with Caprica and Boomer and Sharon and all that, but I'm so glad we're really bringing it into the foreground now. And yes, Hogan is brilliant - as much as I've complained about the character in the past, don't get me wrong - I adore Hogan. And, yes, stupid Tigh is growing on me a lot, particularly with that line and his going back to the CIC and all that. I still wish he'd get his freaking act together, but I'm starting to really like him anyway. Much against my will. ;)

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

They're totes my crackship.

My first time watching I was totally shipping Roslin/Six. Unfortunately, yeah, they don't interact...but it would've been awesome to watch them talk theology and plot things.

BSG did give me my first f/f pairings that I could write, though, (Roslin/Cain and Roslin/Ellen Tigh) and for that I'm grateful. There's also good Roslin/Starbuck fic in the fandom.

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

Tigh as a Cylon is pretty awesome, as is his resolute loyalty no matter what he is. The Anders thing is more complicated, because what does that make of his role as a resistance leader? It makes it seem like there were Cylons in leadership roles on every side of every conflict. But in any case Kara/Sam is now definitely not the relationship it was, on either side. (Still interesting, though.)

The whole matching up characters with deities thing feels really complicated in an interesting way, like we're dropped hints and often enough they're misdirection, or lead us in multiple directions. But I liked that Kara returned from the underworld, and that it was her friend Lee of all people who was there to meet her when she did.

I don't know if you're reading fanfic yet, but this is one of my favourite fics about Kara between Maelstrom and the finale. Lots of myth and meta, and no spoilers past where you are.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

The Anders thing is more complicated, because what does that make of his role as a resistance leader?

I felt so badly for Anders when he brought that issue up. Poor guy! It's like everything he did, everything he sacrificed so much for, has to be reevaluated now in the face of the knowledge that he's a Cylon. That's some seriously tough stuff. And, yes, it definitely puts a new spin on his relationship with Starbuck, although I'm not sure yet what that new spin is going to be, quite. I suspect they're over, but... with Starbuck, I've learned that at least so far "over" is more like "over until she changes her mind five minutes from now." *Sigh*

I liked that Kara returned from the underworld, and that it was her friend Lee of all people who was there to meet her when she did.

Me too. It really cemented her as the 'hero' of the show (in a Joseph-Campbell hero's-journey kind of sense), and also highlighted the Persephone angle you pointed out before. Very interesting. And it's right and good, I think, that we don't necessarily have one-to-one associations with the gods - it would be too pat, too simple, too flatly allegorical if we did, and it would limit the characters too much.

Eeeee. I have not been reading fanfic yet, but only because I don't trust myself to only find the stuff that won't spoil me, so I leaped on that link like a mad starved thing, and loved it very much. Thank you! Fair warning - I shall definitely be begging for more recs just as soon as I'm caught up to the end. ;)

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

I can recommend fic whenever you're ready...there was good stuff written all the way through, and there's plenty that's brilliant and won't spoil you at this point.

I love how the mythology flips back and forth between Pagan and Jewish-Christian-Mormon depending in how you look at it. If Kara is Christ here then Lee is Mary Magdalene, the first witness of the resurrection. But also she's leading her people (whatever 'her people' is, and whatever she is) to their promised land.

I also just became convinced, mythologically speaking, that Leoben's fake daughter was called Casey to hint at Cassandra. (Her path will be difficult but rewarding, she will have spiritual clarity and vision and know the face of God in her lifetime.)

Not that all the symbolic richness here is ever completely fleshed out in canon...but then how could it be?