extended thoughts on Baltar
Spoilers for "Resistance" and unspoiled speculation about future episodes:
Reading though other reactions, I've been getting a "surprise" vibe. Baltar's reasons for doing what he did aren't exactly in the clear yet, but I wasn't shocked at all.
Think about things from Baltar's perspective for a second. He's a certified genius, and terribly unused to anyone having information that he doesn't. In his head, he knows he should be able to put it all together. Not only does he have the IQ to back it up, he's a womanizer with a considerably massive ego. Lost puppy in the woods being lead around by a chick is not a position he's going to enjoy finding himself in. Sex with Six is one thing; when it comes to knowledge, no one leads Gaius Baltar around by the balls. She keeps toying with him by dropping choice bits, and I like to think that he's smart enough to realize that she's only trying to mold his emotions, not truly inform him of what's going on.
Now, Baltar can't fool himself into thinking that the Cylons aren't a threat to him anymore; I have a feeling that what happened on Kobol was way too close for comfort. Being faced with those centurions may have cemented something in his mind: Six is not fully a part of the Cylon collective. The human models and the centurion models may work together, and the collective subconscious that G!Boomer tapped in to may be available to all of them, but she couldn't protect Baltar in that situation, and in future situations endangering Galactica she may not be able to either.
So, what does Baltar do? Everything in his power to find out what the hell is going on, ostensibly to protect himself. The crazy comes from having Six in his mind. No one's going to stay particularly calm in that sort of situation, not even to begin to mention the aftershocks all the Kobol folk will be experiencing. The violence is almost understandable in that context. And is he going to share the information Sharon gave him with Tigh? Highly unlikely. Baltar's got more pieces to the Cylon master plan puzzle than any other human alive; honestly, he might be the only one with a clear conception that it even exists. I think it's possible that (and I would love it if) a lot of the self-initited Baltar action we see this season will be an attempt by him to figure out the truth. For his sake, and maybe even for the sake of the other humans he's finally beginning to empathize with.
EDIT: In addendum, I'm beginning to think the reason Six so-approved of what Baltar did is twofold:
1) He proved Cylons capable of a very intense love (and proved he believed it enough to trust that would get answers out of Sharon)
2) Six's perrogative is to mold Baltar. I think as of right now she's finished using him in her nefarious schemes etc. : he's either a very emotionally involved science experiment, or she just loves him and wants to bring him up to her level of Cylon-existentalist understanding.
And on an entirely unrelated note, I've been thinking about Zarek, and there's no way the writers are going to wait until Roslin dies to make sweet betrayal!angst. Think about it: three months in Galactica-time is forever. No, something's going to happen with him, and the real question in my mind is whether Lee's going to allow their mutual idealism to blind him to Zarek's duplicity.
Finally, I don't think Six is evil. Really much at all. But we'll save that for a more Six-centric episode.
Reading though other reactions, I've been getting a "surprise" vibe. Baltar's reasons for doing what he did aren't exactly in the clear yet, but I wasn't shocked at all.
Think about things from Baltar's perspective for a second. He's a certified genius, and terribly unused to anyone having information that he doesn't. In his head, he knows he should be able to put it all together. Not only does he have the IQ to back it up, he's a womanizer with a considerably massive ego. Lost puppy in the woods being lead around by a chick is not a position he's going to enjoy finding himself in. Sex with Six is one thing; when it comes to knowledge, no one leads Gaius Baltar around by the balls. She keeps toying with him by dropping choice bits, and I like to think that he's smart enough to realize that she's only trying to mold his emotions, not truly inform him of what's going on.
Now, Baltar can't fool himself into thinking that the Cylons aren't a threat to him anymore; I have a feeling that what happened on Kobol was way too close for comfort. Being faced with those centurions may have cemented something in his mind: Six is not fully a part of the Cylon collective. The human models and the centurion models may work together, and the collective subconscious that G!Boomer tapped in to may be available to all of them, but she couldn't protect Baltar in that situation, and in future situations endangering Galactica she may not be able to either.
So, what does Baltar do? Everything in his power to find out what the hell is going on, ostensibly to protect himself. The crazy comes from having Six in his mind. No one's going to stay particularly calm in that sort of situation, not even to begin to mention the aftershocks all the Kobol folk will be experiencing. The violence is almost understandable in that context. And is he going to share the information Sharon gave him with Tigh? Highly unlikely. Baltar's got more pieces to the Cylon master plan puzzle than any other human alive; honestly, he might be the only one with a clear conception that it even exists. I think it's possible that (and I would love it if) a lot of the self-initited Baltar action we see this season will be an attempt by him to figure out the truth. For his sake, and maybe even for the sake of the other humans he's finally beginning to empathize with.
EDIT: In addendum, I'm beginning to think the reason Six so-approved of what Baltar did is twofold:
1) He proved Cylons capable of a very intense love (and proved he believed it enough to trust that would get answers out of Sharon)
2) Six's perrogative is to mold Baltar. I think as of right now she's finished using him in her nefarious schemes etc. : he's either a very emotionally involved science experiment, or she just loves him and wants to bring him up to her level of Cylon-existentalist understanding.
And on an entirely unrelated note, I've been thinking about Zarek, and there's no way the writers are going to wait until Roslin dies to make sweet betrayal!angst. Think about it: three months in Galactica-time is forever. No, something's going to happen with him, and the real question in my mind is whether Lee's going to allow their mutual idealism to blind him to Zarek's duplicity.
Finally, I don't think Six is evil. Really much at all. But we'll save that for a more Six-centric episode.