Comments on: Overthinking Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries

By: Gab

Gab — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:17:26 +0000

Tom: I never saw the original version, but I hear Starbuck was a man in it. Does that do anything to your gender analysis?

By: Tom P

Tom P — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:07:48 +0000

@mlawski: Right — I meant “series” finale. I blame jetlag.

I also had a field day with gender roles while watching the first few seasons. The evil male-dominated military vs. the peaceful female-dominated presidency. The supremely flawed male characters who weren’t complete without female to lead them.

Then Michelle Forbes showed up and everything went to hell.

By: Okult

Okult — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:15:19 +0000

I think that there is a christian point to it, not counting the metaphores. The main plot is cyclic, the events that happened happened before, the eternal return of the same. The genealogy of guilt flows in a dialectical current between both sides forever interchangin and forever staying the same- here the christian logic of redemption kicks in it can break the cycle,…
something new can happen

By: mlawski

mlawski — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:08:53 +0000

@Tom P: I’m going to do 8 or maybe 12 episodes every two weeks. I watch an episode every day or two. It’s been working fine so far.

All Good Things is SOOOO good. If BSG’s finale is even close to that I’ll be one happy panda.

By: Tom P

Tom P — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:16:56 +0000

I don’t know how you’re going to do full seasons in a week if that’s the way you go. I could do four episodes at a time before it got too depressing.

And I thought the season finale was great. Like All Good Things… from TNG level great.

By: Gab

Gab — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:56:44 +0000

I hope I can keep up decently with you. I’ve never seen it, either, so between borrowing DVDs and then finding the time to watch them, I’m probably going to play catch-up. Sad pandas. But anyhoo, so much from the board game makes more sense to me now. Like Roslin’s “terminal illness” thing that makes drawing cards or something when you play as her harder.

Ahem.

I find the idea of Earth being the myth kind of spiffy. Are the characters going to find out in the finale that humans are really from Earth? In the optimistic section of my brain, I’d like to think they’ll make it back to Earth, find a utopian society that doesn’t even need the civil government OR military Roslin and Adama discuss in the end of the miniseries, and everybody lives together in peace and harmony and all that kinda jazz. But, alack, alas, I am not so naive as to expect it in the slightest.

The “make babies” thing was kind of tongue-in-cheek, but I wonder… will we see some random hookups or even marriages because people are “settling” due to a desire to procreate? This could actually lead to some interesting commentary on and discussion about various standpoints on marriage v. relationships v. sex and what purpose each has for society as a whole as well as the individuals making that society up. I mean, an example straight from this miniseries: Chief and Boomer obviously have something going on, but she’s one of the Cylons- how is that going to affect him in the future when she’s revealed to the Galactica crew? Will he go abstainate over the loss, will he force himself to be with someone else, will he be able to fall in love again, will he turn promiscuous? Will his actions be portrayed negatively or positively? And whatever he does, how will the rest of the crew react (and will those reactions be portrayed as good or bad ones)? Hmmmm…

By: Marty

Marty — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:01:16 +0000

I can’t speak for the miniseries, but the show definitely becomes more than a simple allegory, covering a very wide range of themes and subjects, often a different one each episode.

Mary McDonnell (Laura Roslin) was also excellent in Donnie Darko.

By: K-Brack

K-Brack — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:42:59 +0000

I just forced my friend to watch the mini-series and i look forward to reading your column as i make him watch more episodes. no one is joking about S1E1, its unreal. i have a soft spot for season 3, however. can you say secret tribunal? WHOOOSH
(i hope at least one person gets that)

as for the cylons’ motivation, i dont think it gets explained at all during the series, unless i missed something. i think they were just upset about being enslaved. can’t imagine why.

By: sarielthrawn

sarielthrawn — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:02:35 +0000

My understanding was that the original series was written by a Mormon and was based on their history/mythology. That would explain religious tone and the trek to the promised land.

By: mlawski

mlawski — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:45:02 +0000

@Saint: Ooh, nice Dracula comparison! I buy it. I wonder, though, is it fair to call robots “colonized”?

@Kevin: Haha, I’m not THAT crazy. Let’s alter the rules to say, “If you must spoil (i.e. refer to later episodes), try to be vague.”

For instance, “Ooh, just wait until you get to season three!” is fine. “Wait until you get to the part where Baltar and Number Six join together to dismember and eat a baby!” is not fine. Likewise, “Free will is going to be a major issue in the show” is great. “Free will comes up in season two when robo-Boomer’s programming forces her to kill President Roslin” is not great. (Note to other BSG virgins: These examples are not real. I think.)