Nerd Alert!

Head to Head

March 26, 2007

All Along The Watchtower

Rob : Battlestar Galactica is a pretty impressive television show.
John : Yes. It's right up there with Who's The Boss, I'd say.
Rob : They do a pretty good job with the cliffhangers.  Some of the stuff I sort of saw coming, but what impressed me was how well they did it.  And of course, some of the stuff I definitely didn't see coming. 
John : They have balls.  They go for broke when they know they have to deliver a cliffhanger.  And they're not content with the status quo.  They always rock the boat, so to speak.
Rob : They do have balls.  It's almost outrageous, what they're doing on a week to week basis.  I almost want to go to the producers and say, "What the hell do you think you're doing?  You're a remake of stupid, campy 70's TV show on a shitty little basic cable network.  You have no right to be putting out this level of quality."
John : Some people have suggested theories since last night that Tigh, Anders, Tori, and Tyrol aren't Cylons and there's another explanation.  Nope, they're Cylons.
John : This makes for some radical story possibilities.  There are a whole lot of stories to tell about how they could be Cylons and how their close friends and family will react to it.
Rob : That's funny, I actually wondered about that this morning.  I figured it was possible that they could have just had some post-hypnotic suggestion or something.  I'm actually glad that's cleared up.
Rob : And what is their connection, if any, to the rest of the Cylons?
John : I feel like we're moving to a point where it will dawn on the Cylons and Colonials alike that they have more in common with each other than they do with the 13th Colony on Earth.
John : They have to coexist because Earth is the real wildcard.
Rob : I just assumed that Starbuck was the final Cylon.  Doesn't that make the most sense?
John : I assumed it also but there might be a different explanation for her.
John : You know, we can't even make jokes like "this minor supporting character is the final Cylon" now considering who the first four are.
Rob : The scene where they all meet was fucking great.  I'm going to rewatch the last fifteen minutes of the episode a couple of times.
John : And the thing is, they never knew and none of the other Cylons did either so it doesn't disrupt or negate all of the interactions that came before between them and the other Cylons.
John : One thing that is now different is that Tyrol and Cally had a kid too.  Makes Hera not seem like such hot shit anymore.
Rob : That's a good point.  I have to imagine that the final five are radically different from the rest of the Cylons.  Fucking lot of questions to the answered there.
John : It's also interesting that Tigh is close to Adama, Anders is close to Starbuck, and Tori is close to Roslin.  They were in key positions even before they heard the Hendrix music.  And the Chief, he's got his finger in everything on Galactica.
Rob : I think since they appear to be listening to a completely different cover of "All along the Watchtower," it's more appropriate to credit it to Bob Dylan , who wrote the song, even if he's not the most well known artist to perform it.  But in any event, what in the hell was that all about? John : Yes, yes, I know Dylan wrote the song.  I assume the song is transmitting from Earth.  And Bob Dylan is a Cylon.
Rob : Is there any guess as to how far in the future Galactica is supposed to be?
John : Nope.  No indication.
John : Maybe they're in the past.
Rob : I always wondered if that was a possibility, but the song would indicate that it's not likely.
John : One thing shitty about being one of the final five Cylons:  There's nothing for them to download to.  No resurrection ship has their model.  Of course, I suppose since they thought they were human, they've long since gotten used to the idea that they only have one life.
Rob : Maybe there is a resurrection ship no one knows about.  I'm not clear on whether this fleet is full of the original seven models or if this is a fleet of Final Fives.
John : I assume it's the same Cylon fleet that's been tailing them since they found the Eye of Jupiter on the algae planet.  The one where Sixes, Boomers, Simons, Dorals, Brother Cavils, and until recently, D'Anna Biers were on.
John : Who fucking knows though?
Rob : I'm not assuming anything at this point.
John : We have nine months to wait for some answers.
Rob : That's going to be brutal.  2008, damn.
John : That was a kick in the balls.
John : Hey, who is CAG now?  The Ghost of Kat?
Rob : I thought it was supposed to be Helo, but then he had to take over for Tigh.   The personal problems of Adama's friends and family sure cause a lot of personnel disruption on Galactica.
Rob : I liked Apollo pointing out what a bunch of fuck-ups everyone in the fleet has been since the attack.
John : That was a very Star Trekian speech he gave.  But he said what needed to be said.
John : They all fucked up constantly.  But why do they want Baltar dead so badly?  "Because we just don't like him."
Rob : Baltar wasn't playing close enough attention to that part of Lee's speech.  "So guys, what's up now?  We going to hang out?" 
Rob : Apollo: "No, see, WE hate you.  That's first person plural, dickwad."
John : I still want Adama to ask, "It's been over two years.  Where the hell is my Cylon detector, doctor?"
Rob : "I was working on it with the Chief, but the damn thing just kept on going off for no reason."
John : Remember last season when the Chief had dreams of killing himself because he thought he was a Cylon.  Then Brother Cavill assured him he wasn't?  Oops.
Rob : Cavill:  "Hey, what do I know?"
John : Does the Chief and Cally's son feel like giving the President another blood transfusion?
Rob : The song really blew my mind.  Not what I was expecting at all.  I didn't catch on the first two times they said, "There must be some kind of way outta here,"  but when he said, "Said the joker to the thief," I actually said, "Wait, what?" out loud.
John : Me too.  Instantly recognized "Said the joker to the thief." 
Rob : I really loved that scene.  They reacted like people would react in that situation.  It felt real.
John : Song selection is very important.  It could have gone: 
Chief: "Some people call me a space cowboy." 
Tigh: "Some call me the gangster of love."
Rob : I'm struggling to think of a TV show better than Galactica.  Angel was good, and it will probably always be my favorite show because of my personal attachment to the characters, but for pure artistic value, the only shows I can think of that are as good as Galactica are the Simpsons, Futurama , and Arrested Development , and obviously that's apples and oranges.
John : Galactica is the best thing on the air right now.  They're more daring and more focused than Lost is. 
Rob : And Lost is a good show.  Galactica is the Watchmen (go figure) of TV shows.  They're taking the form to another level.
Rob : Even on the best TV shows I can think of, the characters still act like TV show characters.  There's something different about Galactica.  It feels authentic.
John : It's because everyone acts imperfectly.  They don't grandstand like TV show characters do.  They don't make long winded speeches, usually, which is why Apollo on the witness stand was so effective, because it was a TV show moment.  But they still made it work.  Apollo commented directly on the show and got away with it.
Rob : You've hit it with the imperfections.  On most shows, if characters have flaws, then that flaw may be the subject of an episode from time to time.  But on Galactica, the imperfections and the tensions are always there.  The warts are always on display and they affect everything that happens.  The show doesn't let you get comfortable.
John : Also, the documentary style of the show creates an aura of authenticity.  The show isn't perfectly lit and shot where everyone looks perfect all the time.  They feel like real people in a real place.
Rob : I've said this before, but Galactica makes it difficult to watch Voyager.  I was going to watch an episode last week, but the description read something like, "Aliens misinterpret a holodeck program as a hostile attack, which forces Janeway to act out the part of a detective in the program to save Voyager."  Now seriously, I'm all for suspending disbelief, but that would never happen.
John : Er, which part?
Rob : Someone should put together a Star Trek DVD set entitled, "Stupid Holodeck Bullshit."
John : Chakotay or Harry Kim or hell, even Will Riker, wouldn't last a week on board Galactica.
John : Riker's stupid grin won't get him very far.
Rob : Tigh would pistol whip it right off his face.
Rob : The DS9 crew would fare better, especially Sisko with his spiritual leanings.  The Cylons would like him.
John : The feeling wouldn't be mutual.
John : Quark could teach the Cylons even more about humons.  Baseball, root beer, darts.  He's an expert.
Rob : I'd like to see the Cylons teach the Borg a thing or two.  Mostly that the Borg should pipe eerie music throughout their cubes at all times. John : Six would laugh at the Borg Queen's feeble attempts to have sex with Data.  That's not how robots fuck.
John : Galactica is the new standard now, no doubt.
Rob : It's an unfair standard.  It will be difficult to live up to it.
John : I remember a time when you weren't so hot for Galactica.  You recognized its quality but you weren't so into it.
Rob : That's exactly right.  I didn't really get a feel for it.  Honestly, I think I just wasn't getting it because it was so different.  But I knew there was something there, so I stuck with it.  I'm glad I did.
John : Even from the miniseries, I knew they were on to something.  Because it was so different. 
Rob : I guess I wasn't sure if they were just being moody for the sake of being moody.
John : No, they're not obnoxious teenagers.

March 25, 2007

There must be some kind of way out of here
Said the joker to the thief

WHAT?  WHAAAAAAT?!?  You have got to be fucking shitting me. Reveal after reveal, mindfuck after mindfuckl, that was maybe the ballsiest finale I've ever seen.  Those final 15 minutes topped even last season's "One Year Later" jaw-dropper.  Ron Moore and the other crazy sumbitches behind Battlestar Galactica have balls of steel. Proven once more, Galactica is the undisputed, unchallengable best show on television .  Without question. 

"So that's it.  After all this time, the switch goes off just like that."

"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."

"Hi Lee.  Don't freak out, it really is me.  It's gonna be okay.  I've been to Earth.  I know where it is.  And I'm gonna take us there."

And the biggest gut punch of all:

"Continued in 2008"

No!  Jesus Christ, that's nine months from now.  Holy shit.

All Along The Watchtower!

Balls of steel.