Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.0

Day Thirty-One: January 31, 2010
Originally uploaded by mrbosslady

I really can’t say too much about Battlestar Galactica 4.0 except WOW.

I know this series has to end but I am almost dreading watching season 4.5 because I am afraid the ending can’t be as great as I want it to be. Though, I think these writers may just be able to pull off a spectacular finish that really brings everything together.

What makes season 4.0 so spectacular is that the Cylons have finally come full circle. There’s a Cylon civil war afoot and the humans have to decide if they can trust the dissenters enough to team up with them. Then there’s the final five Cylon models – only four of which have been revealed and when they come out to their friends and families it sends ripples through the masses.

I honestly mean that I can’t say much. I really don’t want to spoil this series for anyone like me that wanted to see it and hasn’t had a chance yet. I look forward to this series enduring for years to come.

Roslin: What is your guilt about?
Baltar: I have no guilt.
Roslin: What was your guilt about?
Baltar: I gave the access codes to the Cylons. They wiped out most of humanity. Of course I didn't know that's what I was doing at the time. And when I realized what I had done, the magnitude, in that moment I was saved. I was loved, by God. Looking back, I think I was rewarded.
Roslin: Rewarded?
Baltar: Pythia talks about a flood. Wiped out most of humanity. Nobody blames the flood. Flood is a force of Nature. Through Flood mankind is rejuvenated, born again. I was another Flood. You see, I blamed myself. I blamed myself. But God made the man that made that choice. God made us all perfect. And in that thought, all my guilt flies away. Flies away like a bird.

Battlestar Galactica 3.0

I love television shows that consistently try to top themselves. Battlestar Galactica is one of those shows. If possible, season three is even better than the seasons before it.

Season three starts after the Cylon occupation; the humans have again formed a resistance and Adama is fighting to get back to the people he was forced to abandon. Once the humans break free of New Caprica a whole other can of worms is unveiled: Starbuck pursues her destiny, Apollo struggles with his military career, Baltar goes on trial and four of the final five Cylons are revealed. This season is a roller coaster from start to finish.

Perhaps one of the more fascinating things that happens in season three is how the time jump is handled. In a poorly crafted show the loss of time would be felt, our characters growth wouldn’t make sense and more than anything we as an audience would be confused. BSG is not a poorly crafted show. The writers are able to use the time lapse to our advantage, showing us the crucial moments for each character, and making sure that the movement in each character is still grounded in who that person was before we flashed a year into the future. They make sure that despite the change of circumstance the human heart of the show is intact.

It’s also fascinating that in season three time is finally spent with the Cylons. The writers once again help to evolve the Cylons from a faceless enemy to a complex race that only appears deceptively simple. They are in essence flawed children trying to grow up and unfold the mystery of the human parents, account for their past sins and find the meaning of their lives. This does not make them innocent, but as time moves on it makes them more human than their programming would ever care to admit.

My favorite character, Sharon, goes through what I think is the best single character arch in this season of the show as well. Grace Park is a phenomenal actor and I applaud her performance in every season of this show.

I can’t give too much away about the show in general as while I’m not afraid people won’t enjoy the show if they know what happens, but I want anyone who hasn’t seen BSG to enjoy sitting on the edge of their seat, fretting over the fate of characters and cheering in victory just like everyone else does who comes at it with fresh eyes. This is one show that is thoroughly enjoyable.

Adama: This is the Admiral. You've heard the news, you know the mission. You should also know there is only one way that this mission ends: and that's with the successful rescue of our people, off of New Caprica. Look around you. Take a good look at the men and women that stand next to you. Remember their faces, for one day you will tell your children and your grandchildren that you served with such men and women as the universe has never seen. And together, you'll accomplish the feat that will be told and retold down through the ages, and find immortality as only the gods once knew. I'm proud to serve with you. Good hunting.

Battlestar Galactica 2.0

Season 2.0 of Battlestar Galactica begins with the aftermath of Boomer shooting Adama and Roslin & Apollo being accused of mutiny. Col. Tigh is in command of the fleet while Roslin escapes and Adama is recovering, he makes a series of unwise choices, declaring marshal law and at one point even losing the rest of the fleet with an ill timed FTL jump.

Roslin believes she is the prophet foretold by the gods who will lead the people to Earth and is waiting for Starbuck to return from Caprica with the arrow of Apollo so that they can use the arrow to find the way to Earth. When Adama awakens and takes back command of the fleet it soon becomes apparent that he needs to end the division in the fleet, find Roslin and make amends. Together they discover a heading for Earth and deal with their ever changing view of the Cylons as Starbuck uncovers one of Boomer’s copies who is pregnant.

I must admit that while I enjoyed the concept of BSG and season 1 I wasn’t hugely sold on the show; however, season 2.0 sealed the deal for me. I still have to finish the season with 2.5 and I have no idea what’s going to happen. The fleet is at a breaking point, Adama & Roslin are being challenged and any character is on the chopping block. This is a show that knows it is good enough to push the envelope and challenge it’s crew and viewers and does so consistently.

What was most interesting to me this season was the way the writers began to play with the idea of the Cylons and now that the officers and citizens all know the Cylons can look human what this means. Most of the people are incredibly conflicted, they still think of the Cylons as machines, toasters, but to know that any of them could be a Cylon and that one of their closest comrades was a Cylon has obviously shaken them all and made them react in very different ways. The two characters that this is most interesting to watch go through this are Helo and Tyrol.

Helo was alone on Caprica for months with the Cylon he thought was the original Sharon and they fell in love. When he found out she was a Cylon it was shocking to him, but he managed to start seeing her as a person instead of a Cylon and this continues onboard the Galactica amidst the jeers and slanders he and Sharon encounter from his shipmates.

For the Chief he has the torture of finding out the woman he loved is not only a Cylon but that she tried to kill Adama. While he was still wrestling with that he then has to watch her be murdered by one of his own crewmates. Tyrol goes through hell in season 2.0 and it’s not made any easier by the fact that Starbuck and Helo bring Sharon back to the Galactica. The Chief reaches his breaking point in 2.0 and Sharon has a great deal to do with that.

2.0 is a great season with episode after episode that deserved Emmy’s and recognition. However, my single favorite episode of 2.0 is Flight of the Phoenix. Everyone on Galactica seems to be at their breaking point & Tyrol is feeling it the worst because of Sharon so Tyrol decides to create a challenge – he wants to make a new fighter. Tyrol starts out on his own and no one wants to help him because they think it’s a fool project, but his faith in it and his effort start to galvanize and inspire the entire crew; first his deck hands pitch in, then pilots and technicians from around the ship and before long the entire crew is waiting with baited breath for Starbuck to pilot the Blackbird on its maiden run. It’s a fantastic episode; a testament to the human spirit and more than anything I’ve seen so far that episode is a touchstone for what BSG is all about.

I can’t wait to see how season 2.5 changes the show even more. If I don’t get lended the DVD’s soon Netflix will be involved so no one gets hurt!

Adama: Edward James Olmos
Roslin: Mary McDonnell
Apollo: Jamie Bamber
Baltar: James Callis
Six: Tricia Helfer
Boomer: Grace Park
Starbuck: Katee Sackhoff
Tigh: Michael Hogan
Tyrol: Aaron Douglas
Helo: Tahmoh Penikett

Adama: She was a Cylon, a machine. Is that what Boomer was, a machine? A thing?
Tyrol: That's what she turned out to be.
Adama: She was more than that to us. She was more than that to me. She was a vital, living person aboard my ship for almost two years. She couldn't have been just a machine. Could you love a machine?