Saturday is the day after SciFi Friday
I want to pick "Scattered" apart, but what I need to do right now is get started on the satay. And I need to watch the episode again--which I can totally do now! TiVO, how did I survive without you? Yes, I have had it for less than 24 hours. Shut up.
I really like Browder's character. And I think the writers made a good choice by not introducing him into the established team--they're all scattered, and will have to reform in a new shape.
Vala rules. She's so shameless and hot. Daniel Jackson is in a lot of trouble. Claudia Black has so much presence it's amazing that it fits on a television screen. I think I kind of love her and want to have her tiny Internet babies.
Tealc's hair frightens and confuses me.
D., who is a longtime SG-1 viewer, said that there was a big Jack-shaped hole in the episode, but seemed reasonably satisfied with it.
I missed a lot of Atlantis because I was dealing with the fresh herbs for the spring rolls, but D. assures me it was good stuff. I just can't get into that show. I like Sheppard and the snarky Scottish guy, but the female characters leave me cold; Weir just seems so emotionally repressed, and not in an interesting way, and Teyla is just too "hot exotic native girl" cliche for me to take her seriously, plus I'm not very impressed by the actress who plays her. I should probably keep trying, though.
I love how this show keeps cranking up the intensity, things going from bad to worse to even worse to still worse yet. This episode was all about Tigh's nightmares coming true--having to lead without the Old Man to guide him, losing the fleet, being forced to make the crucial decisions. I understand why they chose to include the flashbacks, to fill in some of the Tigh/Adama backstory, but I think it slowed the pacing down a lot--not an issue for most episodes, but an odd choice for the season premiere. Tigh's someone who needs an external countercheck to his own self-destructive impulses; it's going to be interesting to see how he functions now without that countercheck, with only his own (almost nonexistent) self-discipline to hold him, and with so much responsibility on his shoulders.
Lee really is all alone now, stripped down to the bone. His admission in his cell that he did it all for what amounted to nothing was heartbreaking. As with Tigh, it's going to be interesting to see what emerges from the crucible.
Helo is such a good boyfriend, but dude, when you're blocking Starbuck from shooting your Cylon girlfriend, please have some sympathy for the fact that she just had the shit kicked out of her. It's really important to him to feel like CapricaBoomer's different, not one of them. And Starbuck has her own doubts about Cylons and feelings, but I love how practical she is anyway, how adamant she is about preserving the distinctions. Also, "Bitch took my ride!" Hee! My totally unspoiled speculation is that Starbuck and Helo are both going to have dealings with Cylons on Caprica that will enlarge their doubts, and since they're the two people who've had the most experience with the human side of the Cylon models, they'll be more prone to those doubts than others may have been.
One thing that really struck me about the Adama/Tigh backstory is that, from what I gathered from one of Tigh's throwaway remarks, Adama's in-laws pulled strings to help him in his military career. That's an interesting start for someone who will go on to push his own sons hard in that same career path, and given the fact that the marriage eventually failed. And I wonder about the prominence given to the number 3 in those flashbacks--they kept showing the shot of the door with the number on it. It's probably nothing, but since there is some significance to numbers on this show, I'm filing it away for future speculation.
GalacticaBoomer thanks the gods that Adama's alive, and that's a subtle distinction, because the Cylons who are consciously Cylon are monotheistic--CapricaBoomer certainly is. GalacticaBoomer still doesn't really know what she is. Toward the end of last season, I had hoped they'd get rid of one Boomer, but now I'm thinking it may be interesting to see the differences between them play out, especially if they both end up on the Galactica. Tigh's brutality toward GalacticaBoomer was hard to watch--his anger over the shooting, over all the loss, was understandable, but I can't view her as just a machine, any more than I could watch Starbuck torture Leoben Conroy without feeling a little sick.
I love how there are so many organic elements incorporated into the basestar design--the ports that the raiders fly out of look like gills. And I'm hoping that at the opening of next week's episode, someone on Galactica is going to investigate the site where the Cylon ship crashed, because if they don't, I call plot hole.
I liked the American theme music better than the British, so I'm a little bummed that the British is what we're getting this year, but I think I'll live.
And we still have nineteen beautiful episodes ahead of us.
In other news, I was surprisingly excited to see the ads for Firefly.
I really like Browder's character. And I think the writers made a good choice by not introducing him into the established team--they're all scattered, and will have to reform in a new shape.
Vala rules. She's so shameless and hot. Daniel Jackson is in a lot of trouble. Claudia Black has so much presence it's amazing that it fits on a television screen. I think I kind of love her and want to have her tiny Internet babies.
Tealc's hair frightens and confuses me.
D., who is a longtime SG-1 viewer, said that there was a big Jack-shaped hole in the episode, but seemed reasonably satisfied with it.
I missed a lot of Atlantis because I was dealing with the fresh herbs for the spring rolls, but D. assures me it was good stuff. I just can't get into that show. I like Sheppard and the snarky Scottish guy, but the female characters leave me cold; Weir just seems so emotionally repressed, and not in an interesting way, and Teyla is just too "hot exotic native girl" cliche for me to take her seriously, plus I'm not very impressed by the actress who plays her. I should probably keep trying, though.
I love how this show keeps cranking up the intensity, things going from bad to worse to even worse to still worse yet. This episode was all about Tigh's nightmares coming true--having to lead without the Old Man to guide him, losing the fleet, being forced to make the crucial decisions. I understand why they chose to include the flashbacks, to fill in some of the Tigh/Adama backstory, but I think it slowed the pacing down a lot--not an issue for most episodes, but an odd choice for the season premiere. Tigh's someone who needs an external countercheck to his own self-destructive impulses; it's going to be interesting to see how he functions now without that countercheck, with only his own (almost nonexistent) self-discipline to hold him, and with so much responsibility on his shoulders.
Lee really is all alone now, stripped down to the bone. His admission in his cell that he did it all for what amounted to nothing was heartbreaking. As with Tigh, it's going to be interesting to see what emerges from the crucible.
Helo is such a good boyfriend, but dude, when you're blocking Starbuck from shooting your Cylon girlfriend, please have some sympathy for the fact that she just had the shit kicked out of her. It's really important to him to feel like CapricaBoomer's different, not one of them. And Starbuck has her own doubts about Cylons and feelings, but I love how practical she is anyway, how adamant she is about preserving the distinctions. Also, "Bitch took my ride!" Hee! My totally unspoiled speculation is that Starbuck and Helo are both going to have dealings with Cylons on Caprica that will enlarge their doubts, and since they're the two people who've had the most experience with the human side of the Cylon models, they'll be more prone to those doubts than others may have been.
One thing that really struck me about the Adama/Tigh backstory is that, from what I gathered from one of Tigh's throwaway remarks, Adama's in-laws pulled strings to help him in his military career. That's an interesting start for someone who will go on to push his own sons hard in that same career path, and given the fact that the marriage eventually failed. And I wonder about the prominence given to the number 3 in those flashbacks--they kept showing the shot of the door with the number on it. It's probably nothing, but since there is some significance to numbers on this show, I'm filing it away for future speculation.
GalacticaBoomer thanks the gods that Adama's alive, and that's a subtle distinction, because the Cylons who are consciously Cylon are monotheistic--CapricaBoomer certainly is. GalacticaBoomer still doesn't really know what she is. Toward the end of last season, I had hoped they'd get rid of one Boomer, but now I'm thinking it may be interesting to see the differences between them play out, especially if they both end up on the Galactica. Tigh's brutality toward GalacticaBoomer was hard to watch--his anger over the shooting, over all the loss, was understandable, but I can't view her as just a machine, any more than I could watch Starbuck torture Leoben Conroy without feeling a little sick.
I love how there are so many organic elements incorporated into the basestar design--the ports that the raiders fly out of look like gills. And I'm hoping that at the opening of next week's episode, someone on Galactica is going to investigate the site where the Cylon ship crashed, because if they don't, I call plot hole.
I liked the American theme music better than the British, so I'm a little bummed that the British is what we're getting this year, but I think I'll live.
And we still have nineteen beautiful episodes ahead of us.
In other news, I was surprisingly excited to see the ads for Firefly.