nBSG 403 "The Ties that Bind"

[AK_Jedi]

Did anyone else notice the constellation Orion in the background?



Its in the scene where the basestars jump in and are about to be ambushed. The fleet's getting close.

[Anguirus]

^ Hey, so maybe the Demetrius finds the shattered remains of the basestars, boards them, and rescues Natalie-Six?

Could lead to interesting developments, especially if a Centurion pegs Anders as a Cylon.

(I still remain unconvinced that they are killing that plotline so mercilessly. Why the heck is Natalie in the Last Supper pic with Galactica hallway in the background?)

[Admiral Valdemar]

Good-bye, Cally. I expected Tori would turn, but it didn't make it any less shocking, even with Cally being on the ragged edge and having little screen exposure lately. Tori is established as the main taker-of-action in the group.

The civil war? I don't think this is the end. Something tells me that one of those Boomers is going to pursue this or some other party will, possibly aided by any Centurions with brains that are still left. I can't imagine them killing that story arc so suddenly, not after the allusions before about it and the setting-up. Cavil is going to be tested again, of that I'm sure.

And as for Starbuck, if there isn't a mutiny on the horizon, there's going to be an epiphany that may or may not be the finding of Earth. She seems ever more unstable and those comments about being disconnected to events around her sounds ominous.

[CaptJodan]

The civil war? I don't think this is the end.

Agreed. For one thing, I doubt the Cavils and his allies were able to take out all examples of the other 3 models. Any back on the Colonies would have to be duped in some way, and some will, ironically, escape and go on the run.

They've opened a can of worms with the Centurions. They've opened a bigger can with the skin-job war. I highly doubt this is over at this point.

[Braedley]

Did anyone else notice the constellation Orion in the background?
<snip>

Similar image. Anyone who can recognize Orion can clearly see it in the left half of the image. The fact that it's so close to the shape as viewed from earth means that they have to be relatively close (within a few parsecs), as anything more than about 10 parsecs would start to distort the shape (although it would probably still be recognizable).

[Uraniun235]

Battlestar Livejournal has apparently developed a new formula: if a character's end is near, an episode on them must be here. Billy's big episode was his death. Kat's big(gest) episode was her death. And now Cally's big episode was her death. Not only predictable, but lazy... in both Billy and Cally's deathisodes, the writers cram in a big bunch of material to justify the character's death.

Billy needed to die. Billy lost Dualla to Apollo, so now all he had left was being the Presidential gopher - not a terribly vital role in the soap opera elements of Battlestar Livejournal. And oh hey here is an opportunity for him to go out in a blaze of glory, look at that. Bye, Billy.

Cally needed to die. So the writers set up a whole episode where she goes crazy because of heretofore unseen drug abuse, and the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING that she thought her husband was cheating on her (oh yeah and now she knows he's a toaster, but none of the humans know), so now everyone will just Accept her death with little question. The whole episode was just a big set up for her death - but a bit more planning would have allowed for more groundwork to be laid in advance, would have allowed for death to be much more sudden, and would have allowed for an even bigger shock when she died.

Instead, we got to see the Hand of God reach in, flip her Crazy Switch to the On position, and guide her to her death because for whatever reason the writers (or the actress) wanted Cally off the show. I don't mind at all that she was killed - I just wish it had been a little less obvious that it was done so because the writers or the actress wanted it, rather than because it had been building up to that.

Normally in a space opera it wouldn't bug me so much - but this is a space opera that bills itself as Not A Typical Space Opera, so it doesn't deserve to be measured against Typical Space Opera standards.

---

I'm not up on my parliamentary procedure. I thought "point of order" was basically like "um I have something to say concering the way we're doing things in this body", not "um I don't think the President's executive order is cool". Am I wrong, or did Lee Adama basically bullshit his way back onto the floor of the Quorum and then launch an unrelated diatribe?

---

Oh man, Starbuck is so crazy. Isn't that awesome? Doesn't that make for compelling television?

Well, not for me. Not doing a whole lot for me. It's so blatantly obvious where it's going. We're going to get at least a couple of episodes of bitching about Starbuck being crazy, some whining, some Tense Showdowns where somebody (Gaeta? Helo? It doesn't matter!) gets huffy and tries to get in someone else's face about how this is a stupid mission and Starbuck is stupid and man this was such a waste of our precious time and why are we even fuckin' out here man?!

And then Starbuck is probably going to Find Something, and she'll be Vindicated as the show's Wonder Child.

---

The Cylon developments are intriguing. But it feels clumsy in part because so much about the Cylons has been left so utterly vague. How does the Cylon command structure work? How did they manage to achieve a 50/50 split of Basestar control? A lot of it feels like so much writer's fiat. "Well, here we want this side to win, and here we want that side to win." I realize that can be said for most such stories, but it feels much more naked in this instance because there's no mechanism - it Just Happens. Well, if it's going to Just Happen, then we might as well skip the intermediate steps and go straight to the final outcome.

---

Overall this episode felt very soap-opera-ish. I'm not enjoying the Starbuck thread (oh yay she's crazy let's watch her get pissy because Nobody Understands Her, maybe later we can go to the dance after the football game, I hear Janie is taking her new boyfriend from Rival High School), I didn't care for the way that Cally's last story was played out, and everything else wasn't much interesting to me because it's basically just laying down a lot of foundation for later developments.


I rated this episode of Battlestar Livejournal a 2.

[Uraniun235]

Oh, I forgot - Crashdown's biggest episode was also his death.

[Gaidin]

so now everyone will just Accept her death with little question.

Nevermind that her death can be explained as a breach of maintenance protocol and something went wrong with the airlock?

This is of course assuming that it is SOP to have someone inside the launch control room when maintenance is being done, as we see in the ep where it's Adama's anniversary. The only thing that's haywire is the time of day it happens.

As for investigation of circumstances. It's not really a big plot point as her cause of death is known well enough. The big plot point is the chief's reaction to it. If we were to assume that the investigation is a big plot point as it could in fact turn up evidence of cylons on the Galactica if done right, then don't you think it should be done in a later episode. You know...when they have more than thirty seconds to do it?

[Gandalf]

3.5/5.

The Cylon thing was pretty interesting. Dean Stockwell really kicks arse as the old guy.

I'm curious to know how they found out about Cally's death. Did Dualla "happen to be in the area", and see her get sucked out?

[RogueIce]

3.5/5.

The Cylon thing was pretty interesting. Dean Stockwell really kicks arse as the old guy.

I'm curious to know how they found out about Cally's death. Did Dualla "happen to be in the area", and see her get sucked out?

Maybe they had realized somebody purged the airlock and did a crew check? "Call into CIC with your personnel lists" or whatever. We don't really know how much time passed before we see Adama talking with the Chief.

[CaptJodan]

It can also be easily explained as something it almost was. That Cally went batshit insane with rage over Tyrol's perceived infidelity and killed herself. One bit of lucidity kept her from killing her baby (that'd be the toughest) but considering she dies right after beating her husband nearly to death, I think you'll find it hard to explain that she then went down to do some work on the tube with her kid. An interview with the people who last saw her in the hallway would suggest she looked a little odd (it seemed like a few turned to look at her) and Tori can claim she saw the kid outside the tube and looked out to see it open with no one inside.

Far easier than "it was a maintenance accident".

[JME2]

It can also be easily explained as something it almost was. That Cally went batshit insane with rage over Tyrol's perceived infidelity and killed herself. One bit of lucidity kept her from killing her baby (that'd be the toughest) but considering she dies right after beating her husband nearly to death, I think you'll find it hard to explain that she then went down to do some work on the tube with her kid. An interview with the people who last saw her in the hallway would suggest she looked a little odd (it seemed like a few turned to look at her) and Tori can claim she saw the kid outside the tube and looked out to see it open with no one inside.

Far easier than "it was a maintenance accident".

Coddle can also back it up with his examination of Cally from the start of the episode.

[Crown]

It's been too long a break between Season 3 and Season 4, this show better start ramping out good shit rather than this cock teasing, piecemeal crumb bullshit, because frankly, I'm not in the mood.

[tim31]

Battlestar Livejournal has apparently developed a new formula: if a character's end is near, an episode on them must be here. Billy's big episode was his death. Kat's big(gest) episode was her death. And now Cally's big episode was her death. Not only predictable, but lazy... in both Billy and Cally's deathisodes, the writers cram in a big bunch of material to justify the character's death.

What'll really piss me off, like with Billy, is if this is scarcely mentioned after this. Yeah, the mother of Galen Tyrol's child went out the airlock and he doesn't dwell on it.

Instead, we got to see the Hand of God reach in, flip her Crazy Switch to the On position, and guide her to her death because for whatever reason the writers (or the actress) wanted Cally off the show. I don't mind at all that she was killed - I just wish it had been a little less obvious that it was done so because the writers or the actress wanted it, rather than because it had been building up to that.

Nicki Clyne's blog on April 10th referred to 'Battlestar commitments' that had kept her from posting for a few weeks and would continue to do so, which can be taken one of two ways: the realistic; she was under an ND and it was the easiest way to not let her fans in on the big news, or the optimistic: she's the final cylon. The Callyfans have grabbed ahold of that one and are clinging to it like a floatation device. I have to admit I have one hand on that device.

[Gaidin]

What'll really piss me off, like with Billy, is if this is scarcely mentioned after this. Yeah, the mother of Galen Tyrol's child went out the airlock and he doesn't dwell on it.

I never liked how fast Di got over billy either, but on the bright side for this case, it seems to make something inside Tyrol snap. If the preview is any indication, we may not get scenes of him sadly mulling over his wife's death, but he seems to lose a bit of his sanity.

[Jadeite]

Battlestar Livejournal has apparently developed a new formula: if a character's end is near, an episode on them must be here. Billy's big episode was his death. Kat's big(gest) episode was her death. And now Cally's big episode was her death. Not only predictable, but lazy... in both Billy and Cally's deathisodes, the writers cram in a big bunch of material to justify the character's death.

It could be argued that this doesn't always hold true. Gaeta certainly had a deathisode, but managed to escape.

[Anguirus]

If the preview is any indication, we may not get scenes of him sadly mulling over his wife's death, but he seems to lose a bit of his sanity.

I agree. Plus, he's supposed to shave his head out of grief I think.

the realistic; she was under an ND and it was the easiest way to not let her fans in on the big news, or the optimistic: she's the final cylon.

Could also be reshoots, or flashbacking (i.e. Ellen is clearly in the next ep due to hallucination, but she's still dead). Remember, Cylons can "project," although it seems like humans do that too.

Cally as a member of the Final Five seems dubious because she didn't hear the song ("Where the hell have you been?"), though she did go rather crazy after the nebula incident. She does get a bonus point for being a woman...even if the unknown Cylon is a woman there are more males than females, so I'm thinking they'll at least try and make the last one female.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Nicki Clyne's blog on April 10th referred to 'Battlestar commitments' that had kept her from posting for a few weeks and would continue to do so, which can be taken one of two ways: the realistic; she was under an ND and it was the easiest way to not let her fans in on the big news, or the optimistic: she's the final cylon. The Callyfans have grabbed ahold of that one and are clinging to it like a floatation device. I have to admit I have one hand on that device.

The Cally character is probably, hopefully, as in I hope there's a God and He's listening and He's in a good mood, dead for good. The most we'll see of Clyne from here on out are in flashbacks before Cylon-Tyrol gets his dethisode for being a Cylon.

Why, God, why are there Cally fans!? Is it because angsty, whiny, useless emo people with shit jobs need to believe that somehow, in the future, there's going to be a place for them? Even though when nBSG goes into full-up Battlestar LiveJournal mode everybody takes magic stupid pills and the Cup o' Angst overfloweth.

Really, what is it? I mean, sure if Nicki Clyne were to offer me a night of hot, wet, messy sex, I wouldn't object at all, but the Cally character just pisses me off.

[Aeolus]

3.5/5.

The Cylon thing was pretty interesting. Dean Stockwell really kicks arse as the old guy.

I'm curious to know how they found out about Cally's death. Did Dualla "happen to be in the area", and see her get sucked out?

Dualla?

[Gaidin]

I'm curious to know how they found out about Cally's death. Did Dualla "happen to be in the area", and see her get sucked out?

At least a warning alarm went off when the door was opened. it's not that unbelievable that there is a board somewhere other than the control room that had a red light flashing. The deck itself was deserted so assuming worst case for the hiding cylon, that deck may have been flooded within minutes by maintenance people there to figure out what the fuck is going on with the door opening when it's not supposed to. However, given how many hallways litter that ship, a few minutes is more than enough time for the killer to disappear down a corridor with the baby.

[CaptJodan]

Nicki Clyne's blog on April 10th referred to 'Battlestar commitments' that had kept her from posting for a few weeks and would continue to do so, which can be taken one of two ways: the realistic; she was under an ND and it was the easiest way to not let her fans in on the big news, or the optimistic: she's the final cylon. The Callyfans have grabbed ahold of that one and are clinging to it like a floatation device. I have to admit I have one hand on that device.

I've got one hand on that device as well, though I've since let it go. Not so much because I want her back; it's best when dead characters stay dead (I'm looking at YOU Starbuck) but because of some of the little things. Her kid with Tyrol, her nebula weirdness, etc.

I've really only got two solid guesses as to who the final Cylon might be. Gaeta is back on the list for me, primarily because Moore says the hints for the final Cylon have been available to us. The other is Tom Zarak, because I would enjoy the irony.

[tim31]

Why, God, why are there Cally fans!? Is it because angsty, whiny, useless emo people with shit jobs need to believe that somehow, in the future, there's going to be a place for them? Even though when nBSG goes into full-up Battlestar LiveJournal mode everybody takes magic stupid pills and the Cup o' Angst overfloweth.

You might be on to something there, because I fit the shit job part at least. My personal attatchment to the character was that she was fairly bubbly and endearing at the start, and after she got almost raped she ate a bag of concrete and hardened the fuck up. Yeah, she was pissed off a lot after that. Yeah, she became whiney in S3, but sadly didn't get enough airtime to delve into why she was developing borderline personality disorder. Instead we got all that bullshit between Lee and Kara, and if they could have devoted maybe 10% of that time to Cally's character development, or maybe even development of her and Tyrol's relationship(which got touched on in a few episodes, but the focus was relly elsewhere), I'd have been happy.

[FSTargetDrone]

HOLY FRAK THEY KILLED CALLY!

Yeah, that was a kick in the teeth.

I don't get all the Cally-hate, especially when there are larger issues to find fault with, but here we are. She was an inoffensive character. Never struck me as whiny or angst-ridden.

What's particularly cruel about it is that she's been on the receiving end of some pretty brutal treatment, been exposed to space, knocked and kicked around. She was talked out of the suicide by Tori only to be murdered by the same in the end.

Talk about a rough ride.

Anyway, what's really annoying to me is this is going to be a truncated season. That said, I'm interested in Moore's podcasts for this season, but I can't find them on the site yet.

It's too bad we hadn't really seen much more of Zarek up to this point. I really like Richard Hatch in the role.

[Thag]

Out of curiosity, does anyone else wonder why there are long stretches where the hanger bay is abandoned? I realize they're running shorthanded, but come on! From the outside views they're running a CAP nearly constantly, and there's more than enough work to do on the downed ships. Instead, it seems like it spends half the day empty. With all the airlocking fun of the last two seasons, I'd think there'd at least be a roving patrol.

[Vympel]

Anyway, what's really annoying to me is this is going to be a truncated season. That said, I'm interested in Moore's podcasts for this season, but I can't find them on the site yet.

Eh? Season 4 is gonna be 22 episodes.