Season 2, Episodes 11 & 12

Episode 11: Resurrection Ship, Part 1

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• The close up of the Cylon bodies inside the resurrection ship just before cutting to the credits made me jump -- and make the title make sense.
• Adama speaking up against Laura's prediction that the Pegasus would win a fight between the two Battlestars. ("I wouldn't count on that.")
• Adama apologising to Sharon for "the attack".
• Six misses sports! (I enjoyed how this was referred back to in the next episode.)

Questions

• Why didn't the guards rush in to the cell and shoot the Six model on the Pegasus whe she started strangling Gaius?
• Did she (Gina) want to die so badly that she was willing to compromise the Cylon's plan by helping the humans destroy the resurrection ship?

Quote

• Tigh (of Starbuck): "Another one of her crazy ass stunts. Thank the Gods!"

Episode 12: Resurrection Ship, Part 2

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• I loved how Sharon answered Adama's question about why the Cylons hated them so much by referencing something he said himself, and so far back as in the Miniseries, no less.
• So often in this show there's a space battle going on, with all the amazing special effects (and they really are quite impressive), but it's not the main or only focus of the story -- there are always personal battles between characters going on at the same time.
• I enjoyed the imagery of Lee drowing in water as a simile for what he was feeling in his leaking space suit, but given the ending, the "48 hours earlier" bit at the beginning was rather pointless.
• How very neat that Cain died and Galactica's problem of being under her command went away, despite what Starbuck said.
• I'm so happy for Laura and Bill! Also; note how right I was about predicting their relationship! However, this was their first on screen kiss, but they weren't acting like it was their first kiss ever, especially doing it in front of Billy.

Question

• Why was Dee eavesdropping on Lee and Kara? Is she a Cylon?

Quote

• Sharon: "Where do we go from here?" (Whedon fans: you know why I picked this one.)

Season 2, Episodes 9 & 10

Episode 9: Flight of the Phoenix

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• Practicing in the shooting range with a picture of Sharon printed on the target was harsh.
• Apollo and Dee? Really?
• Tigh loves the "being caught with pants down" metaphors!
• Gaeta addressing Sharon by name.
• Watching Sharon cut her hand open and sticking the tube in it was so gross.
• It was touching to see how Sharon and Adama exchanged grateful looks after she had sent the virus over to the Cylon fleet, but then hearing him say "take this thing back to its cell" dampened that feeling somewhat.
• Naming the Blackbird "Laura" made me cry. Also, I really thought she was going to smash the bottle of champagne on it!
• I was so glad Tyrol picked up the phone to talk to Sharon.

Question

• Does Adama trust Sharon now?

Episode 10: Pegasus 


Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• The music in the opening scene felt rather like the opening to an 80s power ballard.
• Star Trek taught me that Admirals don't command ships, so I was surprised to see Cain in command.
• Six's reaction to seeing her own model locked up on the Pegasus was so perfect, and so human.
• Gaius talking to the Six model, telling her about how he was in love with the Six he met on Caprica, and finally watching the imprisoned Six move to eat the food left for her was really very touching.
• Rape (while pregnant, no less) as a form of interrogation? Wrong, much?
• The 12 Colonies enforce capital punishment? Really?

Season 2, Episodes 7 & 8

Episode 7: Home, Part 2

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• Sharon surrendering (by stopping struggling) when Adama tried to strangle her.
• The President and Commander calling each other by their first names. Couple, much?!
• The part where they were transported (?) to Earth from the tomb of Athena felt very Stargate to me - using constellations to locate a planet. Nice.
• Six is an angel sent to protect Gaius. "To what end?" "To the end of the Human race." Awesome!

Questions

• Was Adama lying to Billy about Laura having told him that he reminded her of President Adar and that he'd be president one day?
• How did they get back from (simulated?) Earth to Kobol? Should I just suspend my disbelief?

Quotes

• Six: "wake up and smell the psychosis already!"
• Doctor: "Fricking hypocondriacs. One of every bloody ship."

Episode 8: Final Cut

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• Even TV screen images have the corners cut off.
• The set up of the episode seemed kind of clumsy and out of nowhere. However, I guess it feeling unrelated made sense as we were supposed to be seeing the crew of the Galactica from an outsider's point of view.
• Gaeta smokes, but hates cigarettes. Also, he has a tattoo!
• It was kind of obvious D'Anna had kept the real tape that captured Sharon when Adama asked to have it.
• Dee has daddy issues.
• It was interesting to witness a Cylon space battle from inside rather than outside the Galactica. I guess it was also cheaper to film.
• Nice reveal of who had threatened Tigh by having Diana notice the book of poetry in her video.
• D'Anna being a Cylon was obvious as soon as we cut to the scene on Caprica with the four models watching the video and saw just the backs of their heads. I love when we discover new models!

Season 2, Episodes 5 & 6

Episode 5: The Farm

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• Starbuck in bed with Anders: what about Lee?
• Laura not knowing how to use a tape recorder.
• I felt that the hospital where Starbuck was being held was a Cylon trap immediately, but thought that would be too obvious. Nice double-bluff.
• Commander Adama crying over Sharon's body, despite (or perhaps because of) the memory of her shooting him.
• All the Cylons need is love!

Questions

• Why should the resistance guys have believed that Starbuck and Helo weren't Cylons?
• Is Starbuck now pregnant?
• Where did Caprica Sharon get the Cylon ship?

Quote

• Tom Zarek: "Zeus has returned to Olympos."
  

Episode 6: Home, Part 1

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• Surprising but pleasantly reassuring kiss between Lee and Starbuck.
• Commander Adama talking like his son is dead.
• Great transition shot from Adama and Tigh coming out of the press conference to Gaius smoking in his lab with Six.
• Dee is awesome.
• The final scene featured the same music as the final scene of season 1's "Hand of God" (episode 10), I think.

Quote

• Gaius: "Why is it when things go wrong, they go wrong so well?"

Season 2, Episodes 3 & 4

Episode 3: Fragged

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• I can't get over the smoking doctor.
• Gaius is a compulsive liar.
• It was interesting how Chief Tyrol stood up so vehemently when Gaius suggested they vote on whether or not to go on the mission, and then seemed to regret it immediately.
• Six only considers someone a man once they've killed.
• Tigh saying to the unconscious Adama that he really fracked things up, followed directly by him declaring martial law.

Episode 4: Resistance

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• The other ships in the fleet refusing to resupply the Galactica with coffee is what tips Tigh over the edge and causes him to send in the marines!
• Domestic violence is foreplay with the Tighs.
• I felt genuinely sorry for Sharon when Tyrol joined her in the cell and said he'd kill her if she so much as touched him.
• Awesome move by Gaius to get Sharon to tell him the number of Cylon agents in the fleet. Also, he admitted to her that he hid her true nature from her for his own purposes.
• Laura is awesome. She won't be stopped by a corporeal pointing a gun at her.
• Gaeta covered for Dee's off-logged calls.
• Ellen is so a Cylon, or at least working for them.
• I was impressed that Billy decided not to go with the President.

Quote

• Six (of the word "toaster"): "That word is racist. I don't like it." 

Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2

Episode 1: Scattered, Part 1

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• Ellen suddenly seems very Cylon, wanting Saul to take over command of the Galactica. But her Cylon test was negative, no?
• Chief Tyrol really cares about his officers. This episode did a lot for his character development.
• I enjoyed Saul referring to Gaius as a "shifty son of a bitch" when comparing his work to Gaeta's.
• The space battle above Kobol was awesome. All the little explosions above the Galactica was rather mesmerising, and the way the Galactica jumped away as the Cylon's missiles approached was just great.

Questions

• "Who gave the order to shoot the old man?" Good question. Will we ever know? The Cylons seem so far to be rather Borg-like, without a clear leader.
• Was that woman in Tigh's bed during his flashback when he was told he had been reenlisted in the fleet relevant? Was it Ellen?

Episode 2: Valley of Darkness, Part 2

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• Was it sexist/anti-feminist of Apollo to offer Billy a weapon before offering one to Laura just after she was let out of her cell? Or perhaps I'm overanalysing.
• In his dream in which Commander Adama drowns the baby, Gaius says "how in God's name did you find us?". Notice that he didn't say "how in the Gods' names", but "God's name"; the one God. (Also, I loved the music in this scene)
• I enjoyed Starbuck's reaction to hearing music in her apartment. This was probably the first time either she or Helo had heard any music since the day of the Cylon attack on the Colonies. But perhaps her reaction was more shaped by the fact that it was her father playing.
• I loved that Apollo used a military-sounding abbreviation for "right fracking now" after Tigh gave him orders of where to head! ("Aft damage control, RFN.")
• Apollo shooting the Centurian as it flew over his head was a total fist pump moment.
• Dee and Billy's kiss was really hot.

Questions

• Where had Tigh seen the Cylon's attack pattern before?
• Is this the first time we hear the non-human looking Cylons referred to as "Centurians" (by Jammer) in the small arms locker? Or is that just a general term for soldiers?

Quote

• Apollo: "Let's go toaster shopping."

Season 1, Episode 13 & Thoughts on Season 1

Episode 13: Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part 2

Highlights/Moments of Revelation

• What a perfect mission for Boomer to pretend to be a Cylon agent. I thought she would kill herself.
• Caprica Sharon pregnant! The first Cylon/Human baby?
• Number 6 really loves Gaius. I hadn’t quite realised how much before this episode.
• I loved how Commander Adama and the President were negotiating through Dee and Billy and how they were whispering to each other.
• In the scene when Starbuck shoots the glass case containing the Arrow of Apollo on Caprica, there is quite clearly a camera man in a red t-shirt standing on the other side of it.
• The way the Sharon duplicates (models?) said that they loved her on the Cylon base ship was weird. Also, one of them lovingly stroked the warhead that she left behind like it was a gift. But, cool explosion.
• Starbuck’s reaction to seeing Sharon on Caprica and realising she’s a Cylon was not really what I expected.
• I almost jumped out of my seat when Sharon shot Adama. There was NO WAY that I could have seen that coming. That’s what I love about this show!

Questions

• When Number 6 showed Gaius what I guess was Caprica Sharon’s baby in the cot in the opera house on Kobol, did he think it was his?
• Are the Number 6s on Caprica of the same consciousness as the one in Gaius’ head? I don’t think that one’s just a figment of his imagination, but could it be cut off from the others? They seem to have different motives and objectives.
• Did the Sharons on the Cylon base ship (re-)program Boomer to shoot Adama?

Season 1: Thoughts

Basically, I'm in love with this show. Everything from the dialogue, characters and story to the music, visuals and themes just grab me and compel me to watch. I really enjoy the fact that there is a big over-arching story throughout the series and that it really needs to be watched in order and that it relies on you having paid attention to stuff that happened previously (which, I know, are recapped in the "previously on Battlestar Galactica" clips at the beginning of each episode, but I don't watch) and drops bombs in your lap when you least expect it.

I just love how diverse, effective and well-placed the music in this show has been so far. Within the first few episodes, I was already noticing themes for different characters, and it is quite obvious that a lot of thought went in to the production and editing of the music. I really appreciate that the music for this show is not just incidental and forgettable, but integral to the storytelling and memorable and I often find myself humming the Cylon/Number 6’s theme!

There are just so many great characters here, and I care about and am emotionally invested in all of their stories. My favourite character is probably Gaius Baltar, with Starbuck and Laura Roslin tying in a close second place. I'm also really compelled by Number 6 (at least the one in Gaius' head) and am enjoying trying to figure her out. The only character I don't really care about yet is Tom Zarek, though that's probably simply due to his limited screen time in season 1. I did enjoying discovering from watching the extras, however, that that actor played the character of Apollo in the original BSG series!

I'm really excited about starting season 2 and getting further invested in this story, its characters and their world, but I'm going to take a week's break before releasing a post for the first two episodes of season 2. I predict that Commander Adama is not dead, however, or that if he is, he will be revived somehow. Perhaps with the help of the Cylons? See you in two weeks, when I find out.

Thanks for reading!