I really need to watch this one a second (and maybe third) time, but in the interest of getting the conversation started, here are Ten Quick Questions about the mid-season finale of Battlestar Galactica …
- I loved the episode, but …. did it seem a bit rushed to you? Would 90 minutes have done it better justice, or would that have dragged out the pacing too much?
- According to D’Anna, only four of the Final Five are in the fleet. So then … where’s the Fifth? Is the Fifth a Human Cylon who died in a previous season, and resurrected somewhere else? Billy? Cain? (I’ve even read one wacky theory that Starbuck’s Viper is the Fifth.) Or is it somebody we’ve never met? Somebody on Earth?
- Now that we know Tigh has actually been aging for the past 30 years, does that mean all Cylons age, but nobody realizes it, because they usually tend to die and resurrect before they have a chance to age? Or are the Semi-Final Four (and possibly the Fifth) actually different in nature than the First Seven Cylons? (After all, only they hear the music/static in their heads.)
- What’s the deal with Starbuck’s Viper? It has now served a very important function, as a compass of sorts, and Tyrol himself has recognized from the start that there’s something different about it … but what? Does it perhaps belong to a different timeline and/or reality? (Which might explain why it “sees” things the other ships don’t.) Or is it part of a Cylon trap/ruse?
- Is the planet they landed on really Earth? Or is it — like the Cylons themselves — an imitation of Earth? Or are the writers just tricking us into assuming it’s Earth, when in fact it’s only a planet with a blue Earth-like atmosphere? (Note that we never actually see the shape of the continents from space, and the visual evidence on the ground is circumstantial at best.) Or is it part of a Cylon trap/ruse?
- Do you think they landed in Brooklyn?
http://img406.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bsgbrooklynbridgeyx0.jpg - Cavil and the rest of the Cylons were glaringly absent in these last few episodes. Where are they?
- I’m already wrong about Apollo being the final Cylon, but does my time loop theory still hold any water? Maybe whatever’s happened on this planet — if it is Earth — could be prevented in the next time loop, if they take the right measures? (Although I’m actually leaning toward this not being Earth, so it’s probably a moot point.)
- How awesome were those last few minutes of the episode? By which I mean, not just the final plot “revelation” itself, but the way it was shot — the long slow pan from left to right, taking time to show us the pain of disappointment on everybody’s face, Six reaching out to Tigh to comfort him, the tragic sound of the wind blowing in their/our ears. Brilliant. Especially when counterpointed with the scenes of celebration just a few minutes earlier. (Somebody posted the last two minutes on YouTube … http://youtube.com/watch?v=7c6Leg7MGQE)
- Did this ending satisfy you enough to wait until the show returns to wrap things up in early 2009? Oddly enough, I think it did for me. I’m curious to see what happens next, but I’m not anxious. I think I won’t mind letting that sad final scene stew for a bit. But ask me again a few months from now.
And here’s a bonus for anybody who thought about it during that closing shot. Because most of us did. The final scene from The Planet of the Apes …
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Cmw6Jne0tAQ
Because you know the writers wanted us to think about this. But why? Is it relevant, or are they just frakking with us? Probably the latter. And if so, then damn those maniacs all to hell!
Reprinted from Too Much Free Time (head over there to comment)