BSG – Islanded in a Stream of Stars
GeekBoy March 8, 2009 March 8, 2009 10 Comments on BSG – Islanded in a Stream of Stars
This week, on Battlestar Galactica …
RECAP DETAILS AHEAD (don't read if you haven't watched it yet) …
When you think about this episode, my guess is that the word "upbeat" probably doesn't come to mind. Things are bleak for the Fleet, on all sides. Galactica has a huge gash in its belly as a result of Boomer's premature FTL escape jump, and in the process of trying to repair it, the gash bleeds out 60-some crewmen, humans and Cylons alike. Now that Hera is gone, Roslin's temporary burst of energy comes to an end and she's back in a sick bay bed again, bald, with Adama reading to her. Faced with her and the ship's pending deaths, and the actual death of his crewmen, Adama himself is falling apart at the seams. Starbuck wrestles with the existential dilemma of what exactly she is, and even goes so far as to ask for help from Baltar … who promptly betrays the trust. Helo and Athena mourn the disappearance of Hera, Hera misses her mother, and even Boomer seems to grieve the loss of Hera when Cavil takes her away.
So yeah … dark times. The episode was directed by Edward James Olmos, and as such, seemed more transitional in nature than anything else, with rich performances but little in the way of actual plot progress. Ellen tips Adama off about the existence of The Colony, but when a teams goes to reconnoiter, it turns out Cavil moved it months ago, before the attack on the Twelve Colonies. Comatose Anders has been hooked up to the Cylon base ship, and is acting all "Lady in the Tub" but isn't telling them anything useful — although he does confirm that Starbuck is the "harbinger of death". We learn that Tigh is "father to millions" … but we don't learn what that means. Possibly that the Final Five actually founded Earth, and that we are all their children? We learn that Hera can project like a Cylon, when Boomer shares her dream house with her, and that contrary to her actions last week, Boomer isn't entirely heartless.
The biggest plot point, of course, is the fate of the Galactica. After one more in what I feel is probably one too many nervous breakdowns for Adama this season, he decides it's time to abandon ship and move command central over to the Cylon base ship. It's not a decision made lightly for him (refer to the nervous breakdown mentioned above, which involves tears, teeth gnashing, and paint slopping), and one that's embraced all too readily by the New Quorum, which seems eager to scavenge the Galactica for parts.
All in all, this episode seemed designed to transition us into the final two episodes — an hour next week, and two hours the week after that — which have been written by Ron Moore himself, and (theoretically) should tie up all the loose ends. We'll see. Whether it does or not, at this point, I'm suspecting we won't necessarily get a happy ending.
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10 thoughts on "BSG – Islanded in a Stream of Stars"
bad dog March 8, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Good wrap up. These recent episodes are making me crazy. I just can't stop having high expectations, especially after the promise of the first few of this half of the season, which were so good, and seeing how this is it–the point of truth, the LOST decoder, the climax and denouement of 4 years of incredible sci fi goodness.
I agree Adama is falling apart one too many times. I used to shake my head in wonder at this show and ask myself, "God, when are these people going to start having nervous breakdowns?" The stress must be unbelievable. When Lee gave up in the episode with Pegasus and let the air out of his suit, you could believe it, because what kind of life is this guy having? But you always thought you could count on Adama to be a rock, not a basket case, as he's clearly become. You hardly ever see him in his command center anymore. It's like nobody's in charge. No wonder the captains want to strip the ship down.
I just hope when the season ends, the show feels like it truly ends. There are plenty of individual story arcs that should end in a way that is satisfying. I hope it satisfies. For example, I'm getting irritated at Lee walking around doing almost nothing, when the fleet has so few pilots that Cylons are running patrols. Why doesn't he get back into uniform other than to be Roslin's proxy part-time president? Etc. etc. He's one of the few humans left, and I've totally lost touch with his character. It's now a show about Cylons.
Anyhow, I wanted to point out that I think you have a piece of chronology incorrect. The Colony (apparently this gigantic ship, Cavil's flagship, which is now the big prize, but annoying that the big prize shows up 1-2 episodes before the finale, more evidence of plot thumbtacking imho) was moved before the Cylon civil war, not the attack on the colonies. In fact, Tigh says at some point in the episode something like "If you had asked me then if we would still be alive four years later, I would have said no," meaning they've been on the run for four years, which makes sense, considering they were on New Caprica something like a year.
Also, BTW, Tigh is "father to millions" because he, like the other Final 5, were the "parents" to the modern day "skinjob" Cylons. Note it was Ellen telling him this, so that explanation makes sense. And remember the 8 telling Tigh she was happy to see her "father" before she died. It's the only reason the Cylons are there helping the humans–because the F5 are there and they want to stay in the fleet. Otherwise, they'd be lobbing nukes at BSG.
Flaming*Gobs March 8, 2009 at 7:16 pm
I hated that they didn't have Lee confront Starbuck about the evidence that she is some type of "angel". He just sounded so wussy saying what ever you are is OK? Come on – Lame.
Personally I think it would be cool if Starbuck is a hybrid like Hera. If her father is Daniel(the 7 that is dead) that may give her that partial projection power or something. That would explain a lot about her.
GeekBoy March 9, 2009 at 8:09 am
Bad Dog – Yeah, I think you're right about the timing of when The Colony was moved. I guess I heard it differently in my head.
Regarding the "father to millions" though — I'm not sure there. Have the Post-Cavil Cylons really created millions of skinjobs at this point? Because even if you count all the duplicates on the Resurrection Ship, it still seems as if the number could only be thousands or maybe tens of thousands. It made more sense to me that Ellen would be referring to skinjobs that had been propagated on Earth over many generations, and that maybe the Post-Cavil skinjobs were a subset of all the skinjobs that Tigh had been a "father" to.
Flaming Gobs – I've been convinced that Starbuck is a hybrid for a couple years now. I thought it was heavily implied with the whole piano thing last episode that Daniel was her father, but either I'm off about that, or they just decided to drag the revelation out into Ron Moore's episodes.
I think the whole "millions" reference was one of those things the writers put in because it sounded cooler than "tens of thousands" and damn the logic. Again, one of those little things that remind you it's a TV show with its own logic.
She is definitely referring to the skinjobs they directly created (the 6, 8, Cavil, etc.).
The F5 did NOT create the skinjobs on Earth.
They were just five ordinary "people" on that planet who were visionary enough to recreate resurrection and try to get to the other colonies to warn them about blah, blah, blah–if you make machines, be nice to them.
Jeremy March 10, 2009 at 9:38 am
Correct me if I'm wrong, but were the Five not the only refugees/escapees FROM earth? With the ressurection ship they had orbiting the planet, they were the only five to escape when the toasters attacked, no? So, what bad dog says is almost assuredly true. The other skinjob models was where my mind immediately went when Ellen made the "father of millions" comment. Tigh has consistently needed to be reminded of his cylon heritage, even after finding out the truth. I don't think she was telling him anything NEW there. (Sorry, after rereading the previous comments, I myself am not really saying anything new HERE!)
Also, these people better shit or get off the pot here. The last two episodes have been NONisodes. I know that just because you CAN tell a story faster doesn't mean you SHOULD, but really. Let's move it along people. Only three hours left!
GeekBoy March 10, 2009 at 10:00 am
You guys are right — it's been represented to use that the Final Five were just the final five survivors from Earth. I've been harboring a pet theory that they're possibly more than that, and go back as far as the Thirteenth Tribe… but I have no justification for it, and I'm probably wrong. I'm just always on the lookout for things that characters might not know about their own true nature on this show.
"Millions" seems like a lot of copies of seven models of skinjobs, but I guess maybe.
bad dog March 10, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Two things. The F5 ARE all that's left of the 13th Tribe that lived on Earth thousands of years ago. The 13th Tribe was made up of Cylons, and it settled on Earth. They escaped its destruction and zipped along in a sublight ship to the Colonies, where they ran into the metal Cylons during the first war. Due to time dilation, they only aged I guess a few years while thousands of years went by for the Colonies, explaining why they are so "old."
The "millions" thing got me too. So the 6s and 8s–are the 6s and 8s on the base ship the only ones left? Were a million or two or more of them destroyed in the civil war? But that's what Ellen meant. Just another reminder that it's a TV show, with its own logic, and that will go for thrill as opposed to satisfying that voice in your head that says later, "Hey, wait a sec …"
GeekBoy March 10, 2009 at 3:41 pm
My point is: Was the Thirteenth Tribe a group of robot Cylons or skinjob Cylons when they migrated to Earth? Because my assumption has been that they were skinjobs. Which is why I thought it might be possible that some or all of the Final Five were part of the original Thirteenth Tribe and managed to live through many generations to the point when Earth was nuked. Like maybe Ellen secretly knew how to resurrect, and that's how she was able to make the "intuitive" leap that helped them reinvent resurrection. It's definitely a long shot, I realize, but I feel like there are details about Earth's history as regards Cylons that haven't been revealed to us yet. Like what made the Final Five believe that resurrection by scientific means was even a possibility to be pursued? Because we live on Earth now, and it's not something we're pursuing.
I always thought they (F5) were scientists who reinvented resurrection technology, which had been lost to the people of the 13 Tribe, as they traded immortality for the ability to reproduce. (Personally, I'd want both. And, I mean, who the heck forgets how to be IMMORTAL?!? Just another thing that had me shaking my head this season.)