'Battlestar Galactica': Rolling a hard six

You know a show is great -- better yet -- you know a show's FANS are great when one of the loudest cheers at a screening comes when the writers' credits hit the screen.  But that's how it is with "BSG," and that's how it was earlier this week at The Envelope's Screening of "Battlestar Galactica's" midseason finale at the ArcLight Theater's Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.

Before getting to the finale, we can/should talk about the panel -- Katee Sackhoff, Mary McDonnell, Tricia Helfer and show creator Ron Moore.  Times reporter Geoff Boucher provided great moderation of a well-received discussion that touched on topics ranging from McDonnell's portrayal of a strong female leader stricken with cancer to Helfer's agnostic views and how her Cylon character has influenced her personally.  Moore recounted pitching the story, and how perceiving Starbuck as a woman helped the whole series fall into place in the pre-production stage.  And Starbuck herself?  Well, Katee Sackhoff let an audience member know that she still prefers the old-fashioned f-bomb to the new-fangled 'frak.'

The screening itself was also a plea to get out the Emmy vote for our favorite BSGers.  Eddie (as McDonnell calls him) James Olmos, McDonnell, Jamie Barber, Helfer and Sackhoff all received their "for your consideration" push as the crowd watched emotion-filled scenes from each.  Click here for more on the screening series.  (Another note:  A fan near me asked if it was OK for her to write in Laura Roslin as her choice for president, and McDonnell replied that she could, but "only if I can have Hillary as my VP.")

Now on to the episode (here's the obligatory SPOILER ALERT) ...

It's pretty unfair to call this a midseason finale when the show is not returning until February of 2009.  That's a long time to wait to see what "Revelations" (episode title) really ... reveals.

First reaction:  What?! They find Earth and it's in ruins!?!?  What the heck happened? Who did this? What time frame is this?  Where are the other Cylons?  I have to wait eight months to find out?!?!?

But I digress. We knew this was coming -- meaning the long wait -- so many of us have prepared for it (though some have lost their way).  We've got our deep-breathing methods going, we may write songs like Alessandro Giuliani/Gaeta, could learn to play the card game, or we may just prep for Comic-Con to see the stars and eat bread from a "Battlestar Galactica" "toaster."  You heard right.

But again, I digress.  Leading up to the the discovery of the Blue Planet, all heck broke loose.  As Deanna (3) returned to get "hers," the four Cylons were revealed.  To everyone.  Bill Adama took it a lot harder than I thought, totally breaking down.  Lee took it better than I thought and took control of the situation, not hesitating to kill Sol Tigh if his people weren't returned.  Definitely a gutsy move that, as said by Roslin later, won't "let him off the hook" now as being a leader of the fleet.  The Viper conveniently leading the way back to Earth was a little gimmicky, but wasn't too over the top.  You still wonder how? And why now -- questions to hopefully be answered next year.  Other show highlights included:

• Adama's breakdown was unsettling.  More so than a plot twist, it was downright jarring.  Remarkably, it was understandable and believable when Adama wouldn't get up, though I was urging him to as much as Lee.
• Roslin's dilemma about whether to help Baltar or let him die was tougher to decide, at least for this viewer, than it seemed.  This guy helped bring about the deaths of millions.  But in the end, it's about what she could live with.
• Deanna's return gives the Cylons more structure, but will her new self-defense mode bode well for the rest?
• Capt. Starbuck has been awfully quiet for a woman who was crazy-obsessed with this planet.  Sackhoff mentioned in the panel that Kara was trying to be cool so that people wouldn't think she was a Cylon.  Well, we still haven't heard from No. 5.

And that's the big one.  No fifth Cylon revealed and huge questions left unanswered that will plague fans for a long time to come.  The delay is hopefully not 'rolling a hard six,' and I doubt the show will be forgotten, but it'll be interesting to see what kinds of things SciFi will be doing in the interim to keep the show relevant. 

-- Jevon Phillips

Comments

[Sheldon]

D'Anna said that only four of the Final Five were in the fleet - which would let out Bill Adama, Baltar, etc. - unless she was screwing with Roslin's mind [and she'd already done that wihen she told her she was the Fifth Cylon].

Layers within layers to this show and all its characters.

Gotta love that.

[Ronald Iocono]

Too bad my job doesn't allow me the opportunity to watch a series week in and week out. I love sci fi. Star Trek, Babylon 5, etc. Someday I'll purchase the series on DVD. As for DVR's, I put my money elsewhere like a mountain bike, my motorcycle, etc. I don't want my life to revolve around the TV. I always thought it would be great to have the fleet arrive at Earth and the 13th Colony be armed and ready to defend humanity. How the 12 Colonies allowed the Cylons to advance so far without any intelligence corresponds to our reality. Our enemies are out there planning the destruction of the USA. As with the complaints about too many months between seasons. No different than how fast so many US Citizens forgot what was done to us on 9/11. Be like the Chinese. Look to the long term, else learn to speak Chinese because we'll have as much a chance as the 12 Colonies with your short term philosophy.

[tommy]

remember the mormon origins .....they were standing in the ruins of atlantis after the neophite battle ? any thoughts...

[Peter]

I love the subtle aspects as well as the big, grand pieces. On Earth, Caprica, with a look of intense concern on her face, gently touching Tigh's arm as they looked at the devastated city. That small act really informs the nature of Caprica and makes clear that yes, she does love him, as unlikely as that would have seemed only a short time ago. Thus, the theory that Cylons cannot conceive in the absence of love remains intact. Brilliant!
You really have to pay attention while watching this show if you wish to really get the full effect.

[Mazz]

!) About Tigh and 6's Baby -- The Final 5 are Fundamentally Different Cylons. Basically, a prototype version, or from what a preview of Caprica reveled, could possibly be the creators of the Cylons.

2) the 5th... Is not any of the major characters. They've said this repeatedly. Eh, We shall see.

3) They haven't found Earth. The temple of Aurora they illustrated looks like nothing here on Earth. The black sand they were picking up? Volcanic sand. I think this planet isn't the final Earth. The 13th landed, built a civilization, and then had to boogie out because of a massive volcanic eruption or meteor, a "dinosaur killing event." They'll find that temple, and it will give them the next clue to Earth. Remember, Starbuck said she saw an INHABITED planet. Finally, why no satellites? Why no ISS? "Oh, they got destroy..." NO! It's not Earth!

4) You know what? There are sooooo many conspiracy theories about this show. Who really knows what they'll do? I didn't see them killing Starbuck, then BRINGING HER BACK!! Again... We shall see.

Final thought... The Final 4 kept hearing that song. What if they're really a very advanced iPod?

[lives and works in caprica city]

Could a resurrected Zack Adama be the fifth Cylon???

I figured Saul Tigh to be revealed as a Cylon after D'anna's shocked remorse and apology to one of the Final 5 in her vision in the Temple of 5. I figured she was apologizing to Saul for the loss of his eye, or the loss of Ellen. And she was shocked to learn that Saul, of all "people", was a Cylon.

[Craig]

Wasn't Starbuck's viper the 5th cylon?

Not are cylons are skin jobs!

[Joel Ford]

D'Anna said that four of the final five were in the fleet, but at the time Bill Adama and Baltar were on her ship....
anyways, i always thought that Baltar was actually a half breed.

[Richard]

People, why does this have to be Earth? There was nothing in the ruined skyline that hinted it was any recognizable city on Earth especially New York. If the writers wanted us to believe this is Earth wouldn't they have shown us a: broken Empire state bldg, Statue of Liberty, a few continent outlines or a distant shot of the Earth/Moon together? Maybe cruise past Saturn/Jupiter on the way in?? I would assume that they want us to believe it is Earth, after all this is a 'cliff hanger' of sorts. Since man evolved on Earth (unless you are an 'ID' person...) I would hazard that the writers will have us believe in the end that all 13 colonies were founded by Earth

[Scott]

It's all happened before. They're caught in an unending cycle. The humans and the rebel cylons will rejuvenate the Earth's atmosphere and settle on the planet. Eventually they'll form the ancestors of the *next cycle* of Earth's history. The other cylon faction will retreat to the nuked out twelve colonies and form the basis for the next cycle of the*twelve colonies*. Thus the twelve colonies will be destroyed by their metal cylons slaves all over again and venture out to find the thirteenth colony, which will have destroyed itself as the legacy of the original human/cylons.

Starbuck will prove the key in stopping the whole God awful cycle....

[David Schere]

Here is an idea for an alternate ending to Battlestar Galactica rolling a hard six.

An extra 2 minutes with one extra character at the ending:

Start with the closing scene as Saul looks at the ruins of a city.

Baltar cries out “this can’t be how it ends ..”

And a voice from behind them answers back, “No Gaius, it is not the ending, the cycle has been broken your race is now free”.

Startled they look behind them to see a simple man. A stranger wearing simple cloths.

“Easy there Laura”, he says to a weeping Laura Roslin, “things are not what they appear”.

“Who are you and who did this?” asks Lee Adama

“Well to answer your last question, your predecessors, the butchers you call ‘The Lords Of Cobal’, this was their handy work.” the face of the stranger now turning grim.

“And for that act of barbarism; the slaughter of 8 billion innocent lives and the near destruction of the natural world of Earth we damned their descendants to live out an endless cycle of death so they can feel the horror of being driven to near extinction, until their descendants learn how to forgive and make peace with the cylons”, the stranger smiles and walks towards Lee.

A startled Lee Adama asks, “How do you know our names?”.

“After 30 millennia of civilization hence, we no longer venture into space with matter but with our minds. It was our minds that have guided you’re here like an invisible hand of god. We know all of you, we have watched this drama unfold.”

He gazes at them all, “It is time for the future”.

How that ending?

[dclayton]

I honestly don't believe this show is supposed to take place in our distant past. What, an advanced civilization was constructed on Earth and then all traces of it entirely disappeared, before "we" showed up? (i.e. otherwise wouldn't "us" as descendants have found, um, obvious traces of a prior civilization?) Unlikely at best.

More likely, this show occurs far in the future. All humanity originates from Earth. When humans mastered faster-than-light travel, a terrible and dramatic event occurred on Earth. A mass migration away from Earth ensued, with intergalactic colonization of twelve colonies formed in replacement. Only through the degradation of history, and its subsequent replacement by mythology, did the true history of Earth get distorted into a semi-accurate religion and prophecy. The original colony of Earth began to be described inaccurately as the thirteenth colony.

In my mind, the interesting questions are: when were the Cylons created, and did they play any role in the terrible events on Earth that led to the great migration? Did the human-Cylon war originate on Earth? Did the timeline of Cylon development allow the Cylons, or their creator, to influence the mythology and prophecy in a way such that prophecy-specific roles and events could be assigned to the Cylon programming? Were the final four only revealed to themselves as Cylons after spending decades as "humans" in order for the Cylons to know humanity, in such that only they could bridge the gap between Cylons and humans? Many interesting questions emerge.

[ron]

the post by mb is awesome and right on target, i am a scifi diehard, and this show with its combination of writing, acting and special effects is the best in the history of science fiction in my book......everyone has great thoughts here, and one of mine is,,,,,,,who or what has been sending the songs and signals to those four cylons, when they "turned on" and when they told starbuck to check her viper? the visons to roslyn, baltar and sharon, and dienna, who saw the final five, where was starbuck and who put the coordinates implanted in the viper ? i believe these are all coming from something we have not seen yet, is there something or someone above the hybrid, God?

[Scuba]

I kept watching because writers promised: "All will be revealed".. that's all they kept saying, so we waited, and we watched, and we waited, arguably through some incredibly low budget filler shows, just to find out all 5 of the cylons. Was it really too much to ask to find out the last Cylon on that last show? Am I wrong to be upset because I believed the writers? I guess in the end, its all about money and disappointingly, I thought this show would be different. I thought the show would deliver what was promised, I thought that the fans were actually worthwhile somehow. I guess I'm wrong again. This is the last episode I will ever watch, truly disappointed with being lead by the carrot for so long just to find out - there was no carrot. .. Scuba

[cj]

The last cylon is Starbuck's dad. How do I know? You wouldn't believe me if I told you so I won't bother. Starbuck is the first hybrid created to "lead humanity to its end."

[Cm]

an incredible mid season ending, i was elated when they found earth but my heart sank when i saw the ruined cities.

although none of us really know what is going to happen, i have a few theories.

the whole "cycle" theory (all of this has happened before....) does seem relevant here, they could repopulate the earth, have another war with the cylons and move out to the 12 tribes again. Although i dont really see that as being an exciting ending in any way, it would make the last 10 episodes very boring so i rule that out.

If you look at the wreckage surrounding the group on the surface of the planet the rubble nearest to them looks like that of a temple, maybe they are simply at a planet that points the way to earth, like kobol in series 2.

The whole idea of starbuck being the harbinger of death could be relevant here, she was the one that touched the compass guider thing on the viper so maybe this is just some doomed planet.

The final cylon is the trickiest part of the show, there's still so much to explain and on top of that there is this, i mean why does baltar have the visions of himself and 6, why does Roslin dream about an opera house and hera, what will become of the cylons?
Personally i think that Zac Adalma could be a cylon, although it is not likely. Other candidates are Starbuck, and definitely Baltar. Also, if anyone remembers correctly, Lee Adama once had strange visions like some other cylons, so he is also a contender.
I do think that eventually all the cylons will have to die though. These are only theories though, and none of us actually have a clue what is going to happen.

I just cannot wait to find out who it is, and i can bet you my bottom dollar that when we all find out who it is, it will blow our minds.

[Jessica]

According to the legend, the great leader will die before reaching earth or something... at first I thought, "Why is Laura still alive?" She needs to die before they even arrive on Earth. I also agree with a previous post that the writers didn't give us any indication that the planet WAS earth... Where is the moon? The constellations could fit, but maybe they are on the other side or angle of the galaxy... or maybe on Alpha Centari or adjacent galaxy. So in short, I think they are not at Earth, but pretty darn close to it.

[Cm]

also perhaps they never recolonise earth, maybe they just get there, realise its a load of smoking rubbish, and then go back to the colonies and make peace with the cylons. The cylons go away, evolve even more, and then years later come back to attack the humans, which causes a mass exodus and the cycle starts over again.

[LA_alter_ego]

Anyone but me think that there's a link betwee Laura Roslin's cancer and her being a cylon?

[fish4lunch]

just want to share, they missed noticing a scene where a camera man was included in the shot.

here's a screenie:
[IMG]http://www.fileupyours.com/files/185295/Season1-ep15.jpg[/IMG]