BSG 4.5: "A Disquiet Follows My Soul" Talkback (SPOILERS)

[Junghalli]

I still don't understand why they found Earth dissatisfying. Aside from the fact that its a planet and the Cavel is still out there, the fact that its been bombed out and doesn't currently have human inhabitants is almost a net plus in a sick sort of way. For one thing, it really reduces the amount of infrastructure they have to bring, since if they parked a colony near a reasonable sized destroyed city, they'll have no shortage of already refined materials to use. That means they don't have to mine raw materials, just set up a really good recycling operation. Other than that, it's clearly habitable. In fact, the only reason to conclude it isn't is that they've gone "Well, it just isn't, OK?" despite there presence of breathable air and vegetation (and presumably everything that goes with it up to and including microbes and insects, even if there is little fauna).

My guess is a lot of them were probably hoping there might be people there who could protect them from the Cylons. It would have been my hope, if I'd been one of the survivors.

[Ford Prefect]

I think I know where this is going now: the planet that 13th tribe found and named Earth is not our Earth.

No, it is. Ron Moore was asked this, and he confirmed it: the Earth we saw was, indeed, Earth.

[DPDarkPrimus]

It is the Earth they were looking for, the one told of in the Scriptures.

[Gil Hamilton]

Well, it's not all that surprising. Most people really have no idea what nuclear war really entails - most people think "broken cities" and "eternal radioactive hazards." This board is something of an odd exception, considering we have a former targeteer and, er, Shep here.

Well, it's a weird contradiction, because earlier in the series, they very visibly had the Cylons move into Caprica City, post nukage and cleaning up, even while there were still actively fleeing and resisting survivors about. And the Cylons hit them with a bombardment that successfully killed most of the human race, which must have been substantial all told.

It's just this case they are going "Nope! Earth's a waste land! Nuked! Totally destroyed! Mildly glowing even!". It's kind of galling, because they didn't even have to resort to that. If they hinted that Cavel and company were on to them and no present habitation was there to help, they'd have a compelling reason to abandon Earth rather than colonize, because colonizing would simply mean a New Caprica 2.0, but this time run by the guys who will likely will go straight to "kill all humans" mode rather than "killing some humans periodically". Plus, it would give the Colonial Fleet something to want to defend and something they aren't going to WANT to abandon, particularly if it was established that (A) there were some humans still alive on Earth and/or (B) it is clear there is still the possibility of recovering something of the 13th tribe that might be useful, like the discovery of ancient databases.

[Glom]

I think it is understandable the fleet would be far less receptive to the idea of an alliance with the Cylons than we would. We can't fully appreciate what life is like for them. They've spent four years living on crowded poorly supplied ships. Everything they knew was destroyed. Who is to blame for all of this? The Cylons! The one time they settled down to try to work for something better, it all turns to hell and they're back to being refugees again. Why? The Cylons!

Add to that, they might have more misgivings about the leadership than we do. We follow them and their story, but to much of the fleet, they probably seem like arrogant elites. I can see Zarek's words from 'Sine Qua Non' resonsating: "What we've had is an agreement between a military strong man and political strong woman to rule together by fiat." (This is actually what makes Zarek so interesting. Although he's clearly a douche. He knows how to tap legitimate points.)

We also have been following the rebel Cylons too. We want to know what they're all about and we've developed some sympathy for them. Why would the fleet though? They don't know them. They only know them as the faceless foe that forced this life upon them. Remember D'Anna said that the humans would never forgive them for what they did to the Twelve Colonies. Are we to believe this was a ridiculous assumption? Is there no room in BSG for a little racial hatred?

To the issue of them just making stuff up as they go along, well I think it is a bit rich complaining when you consider the competition. This has got to be one of the most planned serials there is. There is evidence for Tyrol being set up as a Cylon before he even married Cally, namely the time he beat her to a pulp. Certainly, they'd decided he was one by the time he found the Temple of the Five. I think it's an assumption to assume we've gotten this far while and only now they're doing a panicked retcon to eliminate the Nicky is a half Cylon thing.

[DPDarkPrimus]

That they've never played up Nicky being important is a big indicator that it isn't a retcon.

[Thanas]

The most delicious irony would be the series ending with Humans and Cylons settling back on Caprica. We know that the Cylons fixed the place, so there's "only" Cavil left to deal with...

[Traveller]

I dont know if anyone else picked up on it, but how is it that 6 can even be preggers in the 1st place? Baltar(RTF resident prodigy/ex-president/Vaguely Chistianish prophet wannnabe, clearly reported in series pilot that cylons, at least of the 1-7 variety are *synthetic*. This could be a case of "You Fail Biology Forever", but WTF, either cyclons are artifical or there not. Baltar clearly reports that 'Under cremation' they were clearly shown to be synthetic. Now, granted, there very *good* synthetics, even to the point of passing a cursory autopsy. Baltar cleary used gas-spectrometry or some similar process, either way there not.....organic, thus, they cant........wait for it......reproduce! No wonder cylon-cylon pairings always fail! ffs, just because something *looks* human, and is replicated to look and appear human, practically down to the celluar level, in what is granted, a subtle and very sophisticated process, there still machines. Other thing that kind of niggled me. In the previous episode, during the chiefs 'karmic flashback', hes wearing glasses. Again maybe a minor quibble, but why would a cyclon need corrective lenses in the 1st place?. Maybe the chief was being beta-tested and they didnt have time to work out all the bugs before they turned him into a shadow on the wall?. Again the series has shown cyclons can be afflicted so maybe its not too much of a stretch, but you dont seem to see cyclons being afflicted by for lack of better word, a lot of common human aliments.

As for Zarek. Hes a little pissed off and stirring the pot, can you really blame him?. I mean everything he accused Adama of is true in a way, the leaders of the RTF have been stupid on many levels, incredibily so in fact. Bad judgement, poor tactical and strategic descisions of every kind. As for his quip about the strong military man strong women taking charge, so what? Someone has to lead, hes only pisssed its not him. If hed spend less time trying to alienate the current leadership and actually be a constructive assest, instead of a full shit-disturber, maybe he would be treated differently. Of course, this highlights yet another problem. Zarek himself is no prize either, he backed idiot-boy Baltar for the Presidency and looked how that turned out . Somedays its hard to watch what these people do and still root for them, personally that moment occured for this viewer when Cain shows up and it takes less than 30 mins give or take before there pointing vipers at each other. Wtg humans.....not. Guess well see how this travelling travesty plays out in the next few eps.

[Alyeska]

I dont know if anyone else picked up on it, but how is it that 6 can even be preggers in the 1st place? Baltar(RTF resident prodigy/ex-president/Vaguely Chistianish prophet wannnabe, clearly reported in series pilot that cylons, at least of the 1-7 variety are *synthetic*. This could be a case of "You Fail Biology Forever", but WTF, either cyclons are artifical or there not. Baltar clearly reports that 'Under cremation' they were clearly shown to be synthetic. Now, granted, there very *good* synthetics, even to the point of passing a cursory autopsy. Baltar cleary used gas-spectrometry or some similar process, either way there not.....organic, thus, they cant........wait for it......reproduce! No wonder cylon-cylon pairings always fail! ffs, just because something *looks* human, and is replicated to look and appear human, practically down to the celluar level, in what is granted, a subtle and very sophisticated process, there still machines. Other thing that kind of niggled me. In the previous episode, during the chiefs 'karmic flashback', hes wearing glasses. Again maybe a minor quibble, but why would a cyclon need corrective lenses in the 1st place?. Maybe the chief was being beta-tested and they didnt have time to work out all the bugs before they turned him into a shadow on the wall?. Again the series has shown cyclons can be afflicted so maybe its not too much of a stretch, but you dont seem to see cyclons being afflicted by for lack of better word, a lot of common human aliments.

As for Zarek. Hes a little pissed off and stirring the pot, can you really blame him?. I mean everything he accused Adama of is true in a way, the leaders of the RTF have been stupid on many levels, incredibily so in fact. Bad judgement, poor tactical and strategic descisions of every kind. As for his quip about the strong military man strong women taking charge, so what? Someone has to lead, hes only pisssed its not him. If hed spend less time trying to alienate the current leadership and actually be a constructive assest, instead of a full shit-disturber, maybe he would be treated differently. Of course, this highlights yet another problem. Zarek himself is no prize either, he backed idiot-boy Baltar for the Presidency and looked how that turned out . Somedays its hard to watch what these people do and still root for them, personally that moment occured for this viewer when Cain shows up and it takes less than 30 mins give or take before there pointing vipers at each other. Wtg humans.....not. Guess well see how this travelling travesty plays out in the next few eps.

And you fail with common observation. Just being synthetic doesn't mean they can't procreate. Did you miss the part with Helo and Athena having a child? If they can have a child, so can Tigh and Caprica.

[charlemagne]

And you fail with common observation. Just being synthetic doesn't mean they can't procreate. Did you miss the part with Helo and Athena having a child? If they can have a child, so can Tigh and Caprica.

The difference being that Helo is 100% human, while both Tigh und Caprica are 100% Cylon (as far as we've been told).

[Anguirus]

Baltar clearly reports that 'Under cremation' they were clearly shown to be synthetic.

Note that this claim was pulled out of Baltar's ass during the miniseries. I don't think that his later Cylon-detecting method (the one that actually worked) was based on "synthetic"-detecting chromatography.

It appears to me that Cylons are essentially human except for their nervous systems, which are established to be "silica relays" (Miniseries), can interface with Colonial computers through a fiber-optic direct connection (Season 2, recent webisodes), and can broadcast a recognition signal (through the left eye?) to other Cylon types (opening moments of Season 4). Note that even their Raiders and Basestars have significant organic components.

[Bilbo]

Is it pretty much a given in the show that if not for the computer virus the Colonies would have crushed the Cylons in a straight out war? Sure the Cylons have better jump tech but when you consider how fragile a baseship is compared to even the old Galactica I cannot imagine the Cylons willing a straight up war.

[Gil Hamilton]

Synthetic in chemistry terms merely means that it was produced in a lab rather than being produced in nature. This makes sense. The Cylons themselves (with the possible exception of the final five) are very clearly mass produced in their adult forms (rather than grown up from children). That means, they were chemically synthesized directly, molecule on up.

However, it is also some Bad Science involved because regardless of the genesis of the molecules, there is no major elemental difference in the final product, or else it would be painfully easy to detect them, yet somehow they can tell the difference (something they SHOULDN'T be able to do by combustion of the sample or any other elemental composition analysis). Of course, the series has been pretty inconsistant about that, given that Cylons appear to have Christmas Lights in their spines that light up when in the midst of coitus, can stick fiber optic cables into their arms and make talk to computers, not to mention talk to computers by means of goop, and plus they have magic super blood yet somehow they are indistinguishable from humans except for when they are distinguishable from humans.

I think at this point no one involved is even TRYING to make the Cylons make sense anymore.

[Gil Hamilton]

Is it pretty much a given in the show that if not for the computer virus the Colonies would have crushed the Cylons in a straight out war? Sure the Cylons have better jump tech but when you consider how fragile a baseship is compared to even the old Galactica I cannot imagine the Cylons willing a straight up war.

Chances are without the virus, you are correct. It was only because of the Uber-Hax that the Cylons won. In a straight up confrontation, the Colonial navy very likely would have kicked their teeth in, because (A) they have much tougher ships and (B) they were playing defense, i.e. the Cylons have to come to them anyway.

Of course, that doesn't mean the Colonies wouldn't have suffered casualties, depending on the quality of their missile defense system to intercept incoming nukes from Basestars that jump in and immediately go to town on planetary targets. However, the Colonies probably still would have pulled through as long as their space force didn't collapse.

No, wait, I'm sorry, they would have died horribly because as per the last few episodes any nuclear confrontation means "DEAD FOREVER, NO SURVIVORS!", contradicting earlier in the same series where the Cylons were practically rummaging through peoples wardrobes in nuked cities trying on their clothes.

[Anguirus]

No, wait, I'm sorry, they would have died horribly because as per the last few episodes any nuclear confrontation means "DEAD FOREVER, NO SURVIVORS!", contradicting earlier in the same series where the Cylons were practically rummaging through peoples wardrobes in nuked cities trying on their clothes.

All nukings are not created equal. It's possible that Earth was just hit harder than Caprica. The food and water shouldn't still be dangerous after all that time, of course...especially considering that there were still buildings standing at their landing site...but at the very least we can note that we do not know what level of technology was possessed by the destroyers of Earth. Perhaps the water table was intentionally contaminated with radioactive material with a long half-life, a sort of space-age sowing the Earth with salt.

However, it is also some Bad Science involved because regardless of the genesis of the molecules, there is no major elemental difference in the final product, or else it would be painfully easy to detect them, yet somehow they can tell the difference (something they SHOULDN'T be able to do by combustion of the sample or any other elemental composition analysis). Of course, the series has been pretty inconsistant about that, given that Cylons appear to have Christmas Lights in their spines that light up when in the midst of coitus, can stick fiber optic cables into their arms and make talk to computers, not to mention talk to computers by means of goop, and plus they have magic super blood yet somehow they are indistinguishable from humans except for when they are distinguishable from humans.

The glowing spine business has pretty much been retconned...and even THAT can be considered a consequence of their different nervous systems, if a bizarre one. As for everything else, hopefully they will clear up the ambiguous business of whether Baltar's detector exposed some of the Final Five and he just kept his mouth shut. (It seems obvious that he never tested himself, and was not able to after Gina blew up his nuke.) As for the "magic super blood," it's just that Cylons and Final Five Cylons + humans have different antibodies. Cylons > breast cancer, humans > Earth bugs from Season 3.

[His Divine Shadow]

And you fail with common observation. Just being synthetic doesn't mean they can't procreate. Did you miss the part with Helo and Athena having a child? If they can have a child, so can Tigh and Caprica.

The difference being that Helo is 100% human, while both Tigh und Caprica are 100% Cylon (as far as we've been told).

But Tigh isn't like the other Cylons, he wasn't made by them. It seems to me he and the other five belongs to an older and slightly more advanced form of Cylon(they don't show up on Baltars test like Boomer did and they can procreate, as Tigh and their society on Earth indicates).

[Skylon]

The glowing spine business has pretty much been retconned...and even THAT can be considered a consequence of their different nervous systems, if a bizarre one. As for everything else, hopefully they will clear up the ambiguous business of whether Baltar's detector exposed some of the Final Five and he just kept his mouth shut. (It seems obvious that he never tested himself, and was not able to after Gina blew up his nuke.) As for the "magic super blood," it's just that Cylons and Final Five Cylons + humans have different antibodies. Cylons > breast cancer, humans > Earth bugs from Season 3.

During the audio commentary for the mini Ron Moore basically said "yeah, this was stupid" in regards to the red spine. I think they were just looking for big visual cues to say "CYLON!" In only appeared one more time, when Helo knocked up Athena...in season 1.

[Gil Hamilton]

The glowing spine business has pretty much been retconned...and even THAT can be considered a consequence of their different nervous systems, if a bizarre one. As for everything else, hopefully they will clear up the ambiguous business of whether Baltar's detector exposed some of the Final Five and he just kept his mouth shut. (It seems obvious that he never tested himself, and was not able to after Gina blew up his nuke.) As for the "magic super blood," it's just that Cylons and Final Five Cylons + humans have different antibodies. Cylons > breast cancer, humans > Earth bugs from Season 3.

Damn, I need Morbo the News Monster to yell "Terminal cancer doesn't work that way!" There isn't a "cancer" antibody and the Cylon blood fixed Roslin in, what, a handful of episodes from on her death bed to complete remission. I certainly qualifies as a Deus Ex Machina.

Secondly, in case you didn't notice, nerves don't have LEDs in them. Merely having a different nervous system isn't going to make someones spine glow when they are getting the old in-out. There ARE lifeforms on the planet Earth that have glowy bits, but they have organs to do it. That's something that should be readily identifiable. Baltar can't possibly have missed that his girlfriend's spine was glowing*, so they should have had a clue for a test.

(*there is alot of suspension of disbelief going around, but I REFUSE to believe that Baltar never hit that from behind, possibly while staring at himself in a mirror).

The fact is the nature of the Cylons changes every time the shows writers need a new plot device. They can't at this point make them remotely self-consistent, so they plow ahead with new abilities and details like the Cylons were Silver Age Superman.

[Anguirus]

Damn, I need Morbo the News Monster to yell "Terminal cancer doesn't work that way!" There isn't a "cancer" antibody and the Cylon blood fixed Roslin in, what, a handful of episodes from on her death bed to complete remission. I certainly qualifies as a Deus Ex Machina.

Of course it's a Deus ex Machina, but the immune system can and does attack cancerous cells in the body. Sometimes it's more successful than others. An antibody that signaled for the immune system to attack a certain type of cancerous cells could lead to a remission right quick.

I think keeping Mary McDonnell on the show was worth it, frankly.

Secondly, in case you didn't notice, nerves don't have LEDs in them.

What part of "Moore admitted that was a poor idea" did you not understand, anyway? I doubt he can afford to send an apology letter to all the fans who think self-consistency actually outweighs the story possibilities that resulted from hard-to-detect Cylons. It's not even really a plot hole because no human character has ever noticed it...in effect, the glowing spine was merely a technique to make it more obvious to the viewer that a character was a Cylon.

If you're going to complain about this, you might as well complain about the fact that there are little floating cameras in space recording the Galactica (and we have seen them be struck and affected by flying debris on two occasions) even when it has just jumped to a new system.

The fact is the nature of the Cylons changes every time the shows writers need a new plot device. They can't at this point make them remotely self-consistent, so they plow ahead with new abilities and details like the Cylons were Silver Age Superman.

So far you have one Deus ex Machina and a minor retcon. Ok, fine, but they are still basically human with an artificial nervous system. You can detect one with a machine that uses a radiation source, you can detect them via dissection, they can send out signals to computer systems, and they have different antibodies in their blood. All that is pretty much established and non-contradictory.

EDIT: Oh, and they are stronger than humans. This has been consistently true since the Miniseries, and the ability was last demonstrated by Tory Foster in Season 4.

[Gil Hamilton]

Of course it's a Deus ex Machina, but the immune system can and does attack cancerous cells in the body. Sometimes it's more successful than others. An antibody that signaled for the immune system to attack a certain type of cancerous cells could lead to a remission right quick.

I think keeping Mary McDonnell on the show was worth it, frankly.

Well, yes, Mary McDonnell was, but that doesn't change that terminal cancer doesn't just go into remission because of monoclonal antibodies. That's part of the whole "terminal" extravaganza of "terminal cancer". Cylon blood making it go "Whoops! All better!" falls into the "super magic" category of medicine.

What part of "Moore admitted that was a poor idea" did you not understand, anyway? I doubt he can afford to send an apology letter to all the fans who think self-consistency actually outweighs the story possibilities that resulted from hard-to-detect Cylons. It's not even really a plot hole because no human character has ever noticed it...in effect, the glowing spine was merely a technique to make it more obvious to the viewer that a character was a Cylon.

Of course, he admitted it was a bad idea. It was a bad idea. And no shit that it was put in so people could go "Hey, that there's a Cylon!" However, that doesn't change the fact that it was put in the series. It shouldn't of, but they are stuck with it.

If you're going to complain about this, you might as well complain about the fact that there are little floating cameras in space recording the Galactica (and we have seen them be struck and affected by flying debris on two occasions) even when it has just jumped to a new system.

Are you being dense on purpose or you honestly can't see the difference between the glowing spine thing and external shots of ships? One was added specifically as a plot element and one is normal footage for a sci-fi show.

So far you have one Deus ex Machina and a minor retcon. Ok, fine, but they are still basically human with an artificial nervous system. You can detect one with a machine that uses a radiation source, you can detect them via dissection, they can send out signals to computer systems, and they have different antibodies in their blood. All that is pretty much established and non-contradictory.

EDIT: Oh, and they are stronger than humans. This has been consistently true since the Miniseries, and the ability was last demonstrated by Tory Foster in Season 4.

No. You aren't thinking. Some of that stuff doesn't merely make them human. Artificial nerves don't glow either, humans don't have means in their arms to send computer signals through fiber optic cables just rammed into their arms, or have blood that magically sends terminal cancer into remission. Not to mention the fact that Cylons MUST have some means to upload significant data (i.e. resurrect) without an apparent means of broadcast (not just broadcast, but interstellar broadcast).

The point is that throughout the series, Cylons are either completely undetectable from a human being to the point they can even reproduce or do crazy off the wall robot stuff that would necessitate some sort of physical apparatus entirely as the plot requires. That's fine, it's not actually a big deal to the show. However, it's stupid to claim that Cylons as they are presented are exactly well thought out or consistent. They aren't quite Bender from Futurama*, but it can't be denied that their design isn't organized or good all the time.

(*however, the Cylons from Futurama DO remind me of a Bender quote, which basically sums up the Cylons attitude. "I'll tell you, with my last breath. I came here with a simple dream: a dream of killing all humans. And this is how it must end? Who's the real seven billion ton robot monster here? Not I. Not... I.")

[Anguirus]

However, that doesn't change the fact that it was put in the series. It shouldn't of, but they are stuck with it.

Serious question:

Would you prefer that the glowing spine was re-introduced to the show?

Or would you prefer that the show continue without feeling that it must explain a phenomenon that no character has ever commented upon or, apparently, even noticed?

One was added specifically as a plot element and one is normal footage for a sci-fi show.

Are YOU being dense on purpose? As I just pointed out, the glowing spine is not, and never was, a plot element.

It would only be a plot element if it affected the plot. It never did. No Cylon has been revealed because of a glowing spine. No human or Cylon has ever mentioned the glowing spine. It's as much of a visual trick as the space cameras, which are not normal in sci-fi (usually space shots are from some onmipotent perspective, whereas BSG has a "space cameraman" who sometimes fails to capture the best angle, and as noted the camera is a presence in the show because it sometimes interacts with elements of the scene. This is another clear example of a visual trick that is NOT a plot element.)

However, it's stupid to claim that Cylons as they are presented are exactly well thought out or consistent.

They may not be well-thought-out, but you have not actually brought to light any inconsistency. The only thing you keep flogging is the glowing-spine thing, which is not an important element in the show and, according to it's creator, no longer represents a physical happenstance within his fictional universe.

One minor retcon on Cylon nature. Since Season 1. I can live with it.

(Hell, Shelley Godfrey bothers me a lot more than the glowing spine business, because she was a plot element. But I wouldn't be surprised if she gets explained when Head Six and Head Baltar get explained.)

[Sarevok]

Um dude pay more attention to Gil's posts. Stop circle jerking around "glowing spines". Cylons can transmit data across lightyears, they got fiber optic networking, glowing red eye IFF amongst other features. How do you pack so many features into a baseline human while at same going "lalalalala indistinguishable from humans" ? Simple ! By being an inconsistent writter of course. Cylons either have shitload of augmentations that make them very different or they don't. You can't have both without turning into a circus worthy of bad comic book storylines.

[Anguirus]

Um dude pay more attention to Gil's posts. Stop circle jerking around "glowing spines".

Of course, the series has been pretty inconsistant about that, given that Cylons appear to have Christmas Lights in their spines that light up when in the midst of coitus,

Secondly, in case you didn't notice, nerves don't have LEDs in them. Merely having a different nervous system isn't going to make someones spine glow when they are getting the old in-out.

That's something that should be readily identifiable. Baltar can't possibly have missed that his girlfriend's spine was glowing*, so they should have had a clue for a test.

(*there is alot of suspension of disbelief going around, but I REFUSE to believe that Baltar never hit that from behind, possibly while staring at himself in a mirror).

The fact is the nature of the Cylons changes every time the shows writers need a new plot device.

I respectfully submit that if you think I am the one "circle-jerking around glowing spines" then it is you who needs to "pay more attention to Gil's posts."

Cylons can transmit data across lightyears, they got fiber optic networking, glowing red eye IFF amongst other features. How do you pack so many features into a baseline human while at same going "lalalalala indistinguishable from humans" ? Simple ! By being an inconsistent writter of course. Cylons either have shitload of augmentations that make them very different or they don't. You can't have both without turning into a circus worthy of bad comic book storylines.

Cylons are not indistinguishable from humans. You do, however, have to dissect them or have a radiation source to be sure. It's not like you can tell by looking at someone whether they have an IFF transponder in their silicon brain.

In other words, if you're going to bleat about inconsistencies, find me a goddamn inconsistency. An explicit inconsistency or plot hole. The spine is a minor inconsistency, as I said from the start, but not a plot hole, and since Cylons are not completely indistinguishable from humans their concealed features are not an inconsistency. (Nor is it a plot hole...because nobody knows that Anders' eye glowed red, nobody can propose dissecting everyone's eyes as a test. It also would be rather difficult for the few doctors left alive to distinguish the Cylons' different nervous systems in living subjects, even if they weren't swamped treating patents in the fleet. I don't think there are any MRis in the fleet either.)

[Junghalli]

Damn, I need Morbo the News Monster to yell "Terminal cancer doesn't work that way!" There isn't a "cancer" antibody and the Cylon blood fixed Roslin in, what, a handful of episodes from on her death bed to complete remission. I certainly qualifies as a Deus Ex Machina.

At this point we basically have to assume they have nanotech in their bodies that's programmed to seek out cells with mutant genes that commonly lead to them becoming cancerous and destroy them.

[Deathstalker]

Random late night ramble. Anyone else miss the Marine Gunny who was killed in an EVA last season. I'd like to see her kick some mutineer ass.