nBSG 410: "Revelations"

[CaptJodan]

...after a few more thoughts

Which really leads me to Ellen. Tigh keeps seeing her when he looks at Caprica Six (which really could be nothing, I know). Baltar said he'd never tell whether she was or wasn't when he did the test on her back in season one. She's always been a very manipulative force on the show. Of all the dead ones I can think of off the top of my head, I would have to say Ellen.

[LadyTevar]

I'm hoping we also get an answer to Head Six and Head Baltar.

[NeoGoomba]

I hope the 5th is Zerek, just because!

[Uraniun235]

Best episode even though I disagree with the ending. I guess we have to wait until 2009 to see whether or not this proves to be Battlestar Livejournal.

Can you explain to me what you mean by Battlestar Livejournal? You mention this a lot in these threads.

Way back when, in some neoBSG thread where people discussed what they thought the fleet should find on arriving at Earth, someone suggested that it would be cool if they found that the 13th Colony had destroyed itself in a huge nuclear war, leaving nothing behind but a radioactive wasteland. (It's interesting to note that Bear McCreary, the guy who composes music for neoBSG, described the last scene precisely as a "nuclear wasteland".)

My response, in which I coined the term "Battlestar Livejournal", was as follows:

That's not a pay-off at all, that's just a "hurr hurr humanity is stupid" ending with lots of angst to go around... and last I checked this was Battlestar Galactica not Battlestar LiveJournal.

I'm gonna be honest. When I saw the radiation counter go off, I looked for something to throw at the screen.


Also, although emotionally this episode would have worked as a series finale, I would still be extremely disappointed if that had been the case. There are still way too many unanswered questions.

[Old Plympto]

Also, although emotionally this episode would have worked as a series finale, I would still be extremely disappointed if that had been the case. There are still way too many unanswered questions.

I just checked the BSG wiki.

It appears that the following episode (episode 11 - "Sometimes a Great Notion") is the last episode produced before the WGA strike shut them down, and it was designed to be a series finale in case they never get the green light to continue after the strike. Obviously, production's resumed since then.

Although by now they've probably already re-cut the 11th episode so it'd continue on to the end of the 20 episode season, I would still like to see how the 11th episode holds out as a series finale. Presumably all the twists and questions answered after they find the irradiated wasteland would have been featured in that episode.

[Gil Hamilton]

Just finished watching the episode and I though Roslin was going to say "Earth... what a dump." I have to say, that shoreline DOES look like they landed in a nuked out New York City.

However, I don't think all the Earth is going to turn out to be a wreck. Something is going to be there waiting for them, the group which organized the Final Five and was responsible for Kara Thrace's Special Destiny, not to mention has been feeding info to the Hybrids. I think what happened is they landed on the supposed location of the Temple of Aurora (note the burnt out structure looks reasonably similar to the one in the Pythia), which certainly was destroyed. Elsewhere, however... I'm thinking the fifth of the final five will greet them in the next episode.

Besides, just because the cities got a good nuking doesn't mean they can't settle Earth. By now, the radiation is probably negligible to human survival and they just have to set up someplace that wasn't blasted. In a way, it's almost useful, since they already have megatons of already refined materials that they don't have to dig out of the ground which no one will miss which they can use as resources as they build up their industry.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

I'm gonna be honest. When I saw the radiation counter go off, I looked for something to throw at the screen.

Also, although emotionally this episode would have worked as a series finale, I would still be extremely disappointed if that had been the case. There are still way too many unanswered questions.

Honestly it's probably one of best endings I've seen in my television-viewing experience. The tone of that final scene is a fantastic punch in the stomach. Of all the conditions Earth could have been in when they finally arrived, I think what was presented is the most ideal for the show, compared to something like it being Roman times or the modern world or...dinosaurs or something. Earth after a nuclear holocaust just works the best.

Although I agree that as a series finale it wouldn't have been very suitable, simply because as presented along with the rest of the episode, it's just too much of a sudden stop for the story: unlike Twin Peaks, nBSG isn't at all the sort of show to go "there, that's it, there's no more."

Like I mentioned before, I look forward to the series getting wrapped up a lot how Macross did.

[Gil Hamilton]

Honestly it's probably one of best endings I've seen in my television-viewing experience. The tone of that final scene is a fantastic punch in the stomach. Of all the conditions Earth could have been in when they finally arrived, I think what was presented is the most ideal for the show, compared to something like it being Roman times or the modern world or...dinosaurs or something. Earth after a nuclear holocaust just works the best.

What I suspect MIGHT happen is that Earth got blasted recently and that was the cause of all of this. That's why the Cylon models are sent out and the same group found and modified the Cylons to implant all that stuff into their "religion". I'm thinking that the series might have been an attempt to get in contact with the Twelve Colonies again that went horribly awry as the Cylons went bonkers and blew up the Twelve Colonies instead.

[tim31]

Wait, what? Are you saying that between the first cylon war and the destruction of the twelve colonies, the cylons visited earth and were reprogrammed?

[Gil Hamilton]

Wait, what? Are you saying that between the first cylon war and the destruction of the twelve colonies, the cylons visited earth and were reprogrammed?

Actually, I'm saying that between the frist Cylon War and the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, Earth visited the Cylons and reprogrammed them, in addition to planting the Final Five and planting whatever bit of crazy in Kara Thrace in order to give her visions. What I think happened is that their plan went horribly wrong, which resulted in the latter destruction of the Colonies.

What I can't explain is why the returning Earth vessels didn't openly reveal themselves to the Colonies.

[ray245]

Wait, what? Are you saying that between the first cylon war and the destruction of the twelve colonies, the cylons visited earth and were reprogrammed?

Actually, I'm saying that between the frist Cylon War and the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, Earth visited the Cylons and reprogrammed them, in addition to planting the Final Five and planting whatever bit of crazy in Kara Thrace in order to give her visions. What I think happened is that their plan went horribly wrong, which resulted in the latter destruction of the Colonies.

What I can't explain is why the returning Earth vessels didn't openly reveal themselves to the Colonies.

Well...earth might want to hide their actions after what happened to the colonies.

That is, if there is other human government around...

[tim31]

Ah, got it now Gil, thanks for clearing that up.

As you said though... It hinges a bit on that last point.

[xerex]

I don't know what the CGI background of the city and bridge was supposed to look like for the show, but the beach site itself is outside of Vancouver in real life. In real life they were looking out over a bay to another suburb and behind the cameras is a playground.

oops

I stand corrected

[Gil Hamilton]

Ah, got it now Gil, thanks for clearing that up.

As you said though... It hinges a bit on that last point.

Well, the fact is that someone from Earth must have both sent the Final Five (or Four) to the Colonies ages ago (at least 30 years ago, as Adama pointed out) and also reprogrammed the Cylons to make the current generation of skinjobs. We know the same group was more than likely responsible for both events, given the specific nature of the programming the Cylons received (that they are like production models of the final five, Raiders respond to signals from them, et cetera).

Unless the people responsible for all that were the only ones left from Earth or the infrastructure that launched their ships to the Twelve Colonies (which has to be reasonably substantial; you don't get starships without mature civilization!) was blown up, they must still be on Earth or evidence of their existence must still be in place. I'd bet on the former, and I think next episode the last member of the Final Five will be encountered in the ruins to explain what the frack is going on.

[FuncoWilkerbean]

Thank God it isn't like Galactica:1980 and set in the present.

[Deathstalker]

I was just wondering, when was the last time we saw Head Six? I remember her lifting Baltar to stand up the the marines, but I can't think of anything since then. She didn't show up when Baltar was bleeding out, and she didn't show up with a snarky comment after landing on the planet.

[Maxentius]

I was just wondering, when was the last time we saw Head Six? I remember her lifting Baltar to stand up the the marines, but I can't think of anything since then. She didn't show up when Baltar was bleeding out, and she didn't show up with a snarky comment after landing on the planet.

That's how I knew he wasn't going to die, amusingly enough.

[NeoGoomba]

I was just wondering, when was the last time we saw Head Six? I remember her lifting Baltar to stand up the the marines, but I can't think of anything since then. She didn't show up when Baltar was bleeding out, and she didn't show up with a snarky comment after landing on the planet.

I figured that was simply because the entire episode was from Rosilin's viewpoint. And she was too busy with her own head demon to worry about someone elses.

[Themightytom]

The way they were all standing there in the end made me think of the south park episode where Cartmen is explaining to token how to shoot the cover picture of a christian rock album.