"The dying leader shall know the truth of the opera house."
I'm blown away by "Guess What's Coming To Dinner", especially the music, but really I just want to make one comment:
NATALIE SIX = DYING LEADER. Y/Y?
Okay, not just one comment. Here are a few other little things.
- Sam says barely two sentences this entire episode, yet why do I get such a strong sense of his presence in the first half? I liked the way the camera cut to him on the baseship, as Kara and the rebels were waiting to see if they were going to be blown out of the sky. Sam looked so out of it, he wasn't panicking like the others, he just looked lost. And then the look he shared with Tigh when the XO boarded the baseship? *wibble* Leoben and Eight were totally praying when the baseship jumped, by the way.
- "He sings." They were certainly pushing Gaeta-is-the-final-Cylon angle pretty heavily this episode. Is it just misdirection still, or - now that D'Anna is soon to be unboxed - is it finally time to find out the final Cylon's identity? I still have hopes that it's Baltar, myself.
- Natalie's speech to the Quorum made me tear up a little. (And think of John Amsterdam. What?) OH NATALIE.
- Cylon board meetings! Eight is indecisive and fearful (she'd fit right in on the Quorum). Six seems to be eternally having moral revelations that make her do a 180. In the end, it's Leoben who makes the final call about what to do with the humans in light of 2/6/8 changing their minds about deceiving them.
Leoben: "Go. Stall for time. Talk to Adama, tell him anything, anything but the truth. I'll deal with the Centurions."
The way he said that, which had an almost ominous note to it, and the way the shot ended on him, made me wonder what Leoben meant by "deal". Was he going to persuade the Centurions now that, 'Nope, sorry, the plan you committed to before? The one I talked you into? I'm afraid it's off. I'd explain why but you wouldn't understand anyway, so just trust me.' Would the Centurions accept that? Boy, those things sure are pesky now that they have free will.
Or did "deal" mean that Leoben knew some way to put the neuro-inhibitor thingammys back onto the Centurions? He would do that, if it meant saving the alliance, you bet he would. Leoben is a pragmatist, not a moralist, in the end. Nor is he ultimately truthful, like the Sixes.
- Yet Natalie is definitely recognised by Leoben as the leader of the rebels - it's conditional, and he's quick to question her, but he accept it. In the first meeting, when Natalie proposes taking the humans hostage, Leoben doesn't like the idea, but consents in the end with a nod. It's his opinion that Natalie tries hardest to win. Eight's vote, just as in the second meeting, doesn't seem to count for much. No wonder the Eights went trying to talk Athena into staging a coup. They're disgruntled, but don't seen to know how to assert themselves.
transtempts reminded me of the significant looks that passed between 2/6/8 when Kara named Natalie the one calling the shots, the sense of uneasiness it seemed to arouse in the Twos and Eights. But in the playing out of their scenes together, Two and Six are much more on a level as far as the Cylon executive goes, than Eight is with either of them. (And who gets the menial job of plugging the Hybrid back in this episode? Why, the Eights of course.) I love Cylons politics. :)
- Baltar was looking pretty gorgeous in the end as he went to the baseship with Roslin. Nice to see you get a haircut!
- I wonder what little Hera does in the Agathons' quarters all day while her parents are on duty. Doesn't the battlestar have a daycare or something?
- LOVE the way Tyrol just wordlessly dropped what he was doing and followed Athena to help find Hera. Either because of the history he shared with Boomer and/or because he has more specific concern now since his son is the other human-Cylon hybrid in the fleet.
- The wounded Natalie, lying on the floor of the corridor after being shot. Flashbacks to Boomer dying in the same corridors, and Gina crying on the floor of her cell on the Pegasus. DON'T DIE NATALIE. The shooting was kind of a Judas moment. If Natalie is the "dying leader" of the prophesy, then I guess the shooting is all part of the "God's plan".
- Maybe Roslin and Natalie are both the "dying leader". I like the parallel of them being separated now, both in the hands of the "enemy". I'm glad though that we got one episode with nearly everybody together. The dynamic in all the scenes, the simmering tension, was amazing.
- So the Hybrid jumped the baseship away (probably as an automatic defense mechanism) without any orders from the 2/6/8 to do so. Yeah, I can totally see the humans believing that. Especially when it's more that likely that, in the ensuing confusion and with the Centurions not knowing what's what, those soldiers in the hull of the baseship (note all the wide establishing shots) are probably going to die pretty soon. Kara is going to be FURIOUS with 2/6/8 for letting her down (because of course Kara would see it that way).
- I've been having some thoughts since the last episode, about what Leoben sees his role as being, now that the most important part, the crazy-seeming part that sets the ball rolling, that of convincing Kara to believe him, was at long last accomplished. We see that now with the Cylon civil war having broken out, and 2/6/8 out specifically on a spiritual mission, which is his area of expertise, Leoben is taking a much more active role in decision making. I wasn't surprised to see him take a step back from Kara this episode, and to see instead that calm, cool, extremely self-possessed side of his personality that establishes itself whenever he's on the baseship. I like that Kara isn't his be-all-and-end-all. Yes, I do ship Kara/Leoben, but I do think that Leoben's obsession with her is partly instrumental, he's not going to chase her around if there is no purpose to it, if destiny is telling him there are more important things he has to be doing - like finding the Final Five, and Earth. And he's a leader now, in his own way, he has his own part to play.
Edit: Promo for the next episode. WHAT?? TIGH AND CAPRICA SIX ARE HAVING A CYLON BABY, WTF?
NATALIE SIX = DYING LEADER. Y/Y?
Okay, not just one comment. Here are a few other little things.
- Sam says barely two sentences this entire episode, yet why do I get such a strong sense of his presence in the first half? I liked the way the camera cut to him on the baseship, as Kara and the rebels were waiting to see if they were going to be blown out of the sky. Sam looked so out of it, he wasn't panicking like the others, he just looked lost. And then the look he shared with Tigh when the XO boarded the baseship? *wibble* Leoben and Eight were totally praying when the baseship jumped, by the way.
- "He sings." They were certainly pushing Gaeta-is-the-final-Cylon angle pretty heavily this episode. Is it just misdirection still, or - now that D'Anna is soon to be unboxed - is it finally time to find out the final Cylon's identity? I still have hopes that it's Baltar, myself.
- Natalie's speech to the Quorum made me tear up a little. (And think of John Amsterdam. What?) OH NATALIE.
- Cylon board meetings! Eight is indecisive and fearful (she'd fit right in on the Quorum). Six seems to be eternally having moral revelations that make her do a 180. In the end, it's Leoben who makes the final call about what to do with the humans in light of 2/6/8 changing their minds about deceiving them.
Leoben: "Go. Stall for time. Talk to Adama, tell him anything, anything but the truth. I'll deal with the Centurions."
The way he said that, which had an almost ominous note to it, and the way the shot ended on him, made me wonder what Leoben meant by "deal". Was he going to persuade the Centurions now that, 'Nope, sorry, the plan you committed to before? The one I talked you into? I'm afraid it's off. I'd explain why but you wouldn't understand anyway, so just trust me.' Would the Centurions accept that? Boy, those things sure are pesky now that they have free will.
Or did "deal" mean that Leoben knew some way to put the neuro-inhibitor thingammys back onto the Centurions? He would do that, if it meant saving the alliance, you bet he would. Leoben is a pragmatist, not a moralist, in the end. Nor is he ultimately truthful, like the Sixes.
- Yet Natalie is definitely recognised by Leoben as the leader of the rebels - it's conditional, and he's quick to question her, but he accept it. In the first meeting, when Natalie proposes taking the humans hostage, Leoben doesn't like the idea, but consents in the end with a nod. It's his opinion that Natalie tries hardest to win. Eight's vote, just as in the second meeting, doesn't seem to count for much. No wonder the Eights went trying to talk Athena into staging a coup. They're disgruntled, but don't seen to know how to assert themselves.
transtempts reminded me of the significant looks that passed between 2/6/8 when Kara named Natalie the one calling the shots, the sense of uneasiness it seemed to arouse in the Twos and Eights. But in the playing out of their scenes together, Two and Six are much more on a level as far as the Cylon executive goes, than Eight is with either of them. (And who gets the menial job of plugging the Hybrid back in this episode? Why, the Eights of course.) I love Cylons politics. :)
- Baltar was looking pretty gorgeous in the end as he went to the baseship with Roslin. Nice to see you get a haircut!
- I wonder what little Hera does in the Agathons' quarters all day while her parents are on duty. Doesn't the battlestar have a daycare or something?
- LOVE the way Tyrol just wordlessly dropped what he was doing and followed Athena to help find Hera. Either because of the history he shared with Boomer and/or because he has more specific concern now since his son is the other human-Cylon hybrid in the fleet.
- The wounded Natalie, lying on the floor of the corridor after being shot. Flashbacks to Boomer dying in the same corridors, and Gina crying on the floor of her cell on the Pegasus. DON'T DIE NATALIE. The shooting was kind of a Judas moment. If Natalie is the "dying leader" of the prophesy, then I guess the shooting is all part of the "God's plan".
- Maybe Roslin and Natalie are both the "dying leader". I like the parallel of them being separated now, both in the hands of the "enemy". I'm glad though that we got one episode with nearly everybody together. The dynamic in all the scenes, the simmering tension, was amazing.
- So the Hybrid jumped the baseship away (probably as an automatic defense mechanism) without any orders from the 2/6/8 to do so. Yeah, I can totally see the humans believing that. Especially when it's more that likely that, in the ensuing confusion and with the Centurions not knowing what's what, those soldiers in the hull of the baseship (note all the wide establishing shots) are probably going to die pretty soon. Kara is going to be FURIOUS with 2/6/8 for letting her down (because of course Kara would see it that way).
- I've been having some thoughts since the last episode, about what Leoben sees his role as being, now that the most important part, the crazy-seeming part that sets the ball rolling, that of convincing Kara to believe him, was at long last accomplished. We see that now with the Cylon civil war having broken out, and 2/6/8 out specifically on a spiritual mission, which is his area of expertise, Leoben is taking a much more active role in decision making. I wasn't surprised to see him take a step back from Kara this episode, and to see instead that calm, cool, extremely self-possessed side of his personality that establishes itself whenever he's on the baseship. I like that Kara isn't his be-all-and-end-all. Yes, I do ship Kara/Leoben, but I do think that Leoben's obsession with her is partly instrumental, he's not going to chase her around if there is no purpose to it, if destiny is telling him there are more important things he has to be doing - like finding the Final Five, and Earth. And he's a leader now, in his own way, he has his own part to play.
Edit: Promo for the next episode. WHAT?? TIGH AND CAPRICA SIX ARE HAVING A CYLON BABY, WTF?