BSG 4.15 - "No Exit"
Okay. Well. Huh. I'd planned to take a step back this week and write some in-depth meta after I really thought about the ep, instead of doing insta-reactions like I've done all season. Now that I've seen it, though, I suspect I'm going to need to read a ton of meta from everyone else before I can figure out WHAT the hell went on tonight! So, I'll get a few thoughts out of the way, then start reading.
I'm of two minds here.
Mind A: That was fascinating! I actually did love the bizarre previouslies, and the ep itself went by really fast. I *think* it was quite cool, and it opened up so many doors that, to get cliched, shake the very foundations of the show in ways I hadn't expected this late in the series. I have a few reservations, yeah, but I'm willing to go with the ol' flow and see where they lead.
Mind B: The writing was abysmal. This new guy made Angeli look forthright and succinct. Were the characters even speaking English? Halfway through, I had to turn on the closed-captioning in hopes that seeing the words onscreen would help them make a tiny bit of sense. My aural comprehension has never been as good as my visual, but I'm blaming the writing itself. I don't think it was a bad episode, but I really, really wish someone had deleted every line of Ryan Mottesheard's dialogue and rewritten it in a way that people actually speak.
(Oh, and while I'm not jumping for joy over the Kara/Sam stuff or what it might mean for Pilots, I'm not really upset about it either. In fact, I think I'm just going to skip over all 'ship-related topics for the time being. And while I wholeheartedly support people reacting however they choose, bitterness isn't my thing at all. So, because this is my LJ, I'd really prefer to keep the vitriol out of this post. Thanks.)
Anyway. Since I'm not getting very deep this time around, I'll just make a list of questions and random observations:
1. I really did love the opening, which made me say, "Oooh, cool!" aloud, even if it was a bit cheesy. It reminded me quite a bit of "Downloaded", which was another big revelatory episode. I suppose the parallel was intentional.
2. De-facto President Lee in his red shirt (just not a redshirt, please!) is a political movement I can wholeheartedly support. Yes, yes, YES TIMES INFINITY about how the Colonial separations are now wholly irrelevant, and they should all start over. He's a smart guy. Stay smart. And, okay, be a bit wronger once in a while. ;)
3. Okay, I've had Hodgmania since his first appearance on The Daily Show in 2005 to promote his new book. I have buckets of Hodgman street cred. Love the guy to itty bitty pieces, and he is loud and proud about being a hyoooooge BSG fan. Good for him. But his appearance here broke the fourth wall in a way that I did not like at all. Having "name" actors as guest stars is fine, as we still know they're actors playing a role. But in this case he has become such a pop culture figure that it sucked me way out of the episode. I had to mute his scenes, and that's the last thing I ever want to do with John Hodgman.
4. God, poor Kara. Her tiny "You know?" (will check the actual words later) damn near broke me. And as for Sam... she truly believed she was doing the right thing, and from a humanitarian (well, you know what I mean) perspective, it was definitely the correct call to make. Preserve his life over what else he might be able to reveal, and Kara has never cared much about overarching answers beyond how they directly apply to her. But unless he magically regains some brain activity soon, she has essentially killed him. Again. Oh, my girl. I really do love Sam, so I'm hoping the Magic Exposition Brain Activity Fairy comes to visit him.
5. Daniel! (Who else is humming Elton John right now?) He was an artist. He failed to thrive. Ten bucks says he was Kara's father. Another ten says that when Kara went into the mandala, he was the one to recreate her.
6. I haven't a frakking clue what the hell is up with Ellen resurrecting and such. If she and the other Four can resurrect, though, then why couldn't everyone on Earth also resurrect? Or was there a line of dialogue about how the Five were "special" above and beyond the rest of the Cylons on Earth? See, this is why I need to rewatch. I'm too slow on the uptake to figure this out on my own!
7. The Galactica is falling apart. Certainly not a surprise after all it has endured, though it's so tragic. Tyrol's line about how they can't risk another jump really got to me, as that has been the keystone of the past three seasons. And I'm sure this is setting up some type of endgame about how the Galactica -- and, by extension, humanity itself -- has to become more Cylon, while the Cylons have to become more human, etc.
8. Kate Vernon looked gorgeous. Also, kudos to the fruit basket for offering Ellen an anvil-flavored apple! Katee was stunning (and sooooo blonde this week). Trucco looks pretty darn great in a bald cap. I liked how they worked in his own scar, though I hate that he has it in the first place!
9. Cavil has known about Ellen all along, and he actively resisted anyone else finding out until her resurrection, when he brought Boomer on board. I can buy that. So what the hell was up with the Eye of Jupiter and D'Anna's resurrection in the Hub and pretty much the past twenty episodes in which all the main seven (eight) Cylons had no idea about the Five? Did the Cylons on this particular basestar keep their mouths shut about Ellen, enabling all the others to stay ignorant? Again, will have to read everyone else's meta for explanations.
10. I like CapricaSix/Tigh in theory, but their scenes still make me squirm -- even if I did giggle at the "OMGBAYBEEZ!" I also laughed aloud at how she managed to get him to give up the booze. Ah, Babydaddy Tigh. BTW, maybe the baby is an organically-resurrected Daniel? Meh. I think I'd rather have him be Papa Thrace.
Whew. Okay. Time to curl up, rewatch this one again -- with closed captions and concentrating really hard to translate it all into ENGLISH -- and let everyone else tell me what the hell it all means. ;)
ETA: sarmoti asked if Kara's father was indeed named Daniel, to which I replied that I remembered his name being Dreilide from those SkyOne character bios waaaaaay back pre-S1. Thank heavens I never got around to cleaning out my huge BSG bookmarks folder, because I just found the full list of bios. Since they were never referenced anywhere else, I don't think they're now considered canon -- but they're quite an interesting read!
ETA2: I'm rewatching with closed-captioning, and I love, LOVE that the person who transcribed the episode italicized the names of the ships, i.e. "You remember the Demetrius." Whee! It's one of my little grammar peeves that is tragically going out of fashion. (Just like the COMMA SPLICE. Sigh.)
I'm of two minds here.
Mind A: That was fascinating! I actually did love the bizarre previouslies, and the ep itself went by really fast. I *think* it was quite cool, and it opened up so many doors that, to get cliched, shake the very foundations of the show in ways I hadn't expected this late in the series. I have a few reservations, yeah, but I'm willing to go with the ol' flow and see where they lead.
Mind B: The writing was abysmal. This new guy made Angeli look forthright and succinct. Were the characters even speaking English? Halfway through, I had to turn on the closed-captioning in hopes that seeing the words onscreen would help them make a tiny bit of sense. My aural comprehension has never been as good as my visual, but I'm blaming the writing itself. I don't think it was a bad episode, but I really, really wish someone had deleted every line of Ryan Mottesheard's dialogue and rewritten it in a way that people actually speak.
(Oh, and while I'm not jumping for joy over the Kara/Sam stuff or what it might mean for Pilots, I'm not really upset about it either. In fact, I think I'm just going to skip over all 'ship-related topics for the time being. And while I wholeheartedly support people reacting however they choose, bitterness isn't my thing at all. So, because this is my LJ, I'd really prefer to keep the vitriol out of this post. Thanks.)
Anyway. Since I'm not getting very deep this time around, I'll just make a list of questions and random observations:
1. I really did love the opening, which made me say, "Oooh, cool!" aloud, even if it was a bit cheesy. It reminded me quite a bit of "Downloaded", which was another big revelatory episode. I suppose the parallel was intentional.
2. De-facto President Lee in his red shirt (just not a redshirt, please!) is a political movement I can wholeheartedly support. Yes, yes, YES TIMES INFINITY about how the Colonial separations are now wholly irrelevant, and they should all start over. He's a smart guy. Stay smart. And, okay, be a bit wronger once in a while. ;)
3. Okay, I've had Hodgmania since his first appearance on The Daily Show in 2005 to promote his new book. I have buckets of Hodgman street cred. Love the guy to itty bitty pieces, and he is loud and proud about being a hyoooooge BSG fan. Good for him. But his appearance here broke the fourth wall in a way that I did not like at all. Having "name" actors as guest stars is fine, as we still know they're actors playing a role. But in this case he has become such a pop culture figure that it sucked me way out of the episode. I had to mute his scenes, and that's the last thing I ever want to do with John Hodgman.
4. God, poor Kara. Her tiny "You know?" (will check the actual words later) damn near broke me. And as for Sam... she truly believed she was doing the right thing, and from a humanitarian (well, you know what I mean) perspective, it was definitely the correct call to make. Preserve his life over what else he might be able to reveal, and Kara has never cared much about overarching answers beyond how they directly apply to her. But unless he magically regains some brain activity soon, she has essentially killed him. Again. Oh, my girl. I really do love Sam, so I'm hoping the Magic Exposition Brain Activity Fairy comes to visit him.
5. Daniel! (Who else is humming Elton John right now?) He was an artist. He failed to thrive. Ten bucks says he was Kara's father. Another ten says that when Kara went into the mandala, he was the one to recreate her.
6. I haven't a frakking clue what the hell is up with Ellen resurrecting and such. If she and the other Four can resurrect, though, then why couldn't everyone on Earth also resurrect? Or was there a line of dialogue about how the Five were "special" above and beyond the rest of the Cylons on Earth? See, this is why I need to rewatch. I'm too slow on the uptake to figure this out on my own!
7. The Galactica is falling apart. Certainly not a surprise after all it has endured, though it's so tragic. Tyrol's line about how they can't risk another jump really got to me, as that has been the keystone of the past three seasons. And I'm sure this is setting up some type of endgame about how the Galactica -- and, by extension, humanity itself -- has to become more Cylon, while the Cylons have to become more human, etc.
8. Kate Vernon looked gorgeous. Also, kudos to the fruit basket for offering Ellen an anvil-flavored apple! Katee was stunning (and sooooo blonde this week). Trucco looks pretty darn great in a bald cap. I liked how they worked in his own scar, though I hate that he has it in the first place!
9. Cavil has known about Ellen all along, and he actively resisted anyone else finding out until her resurrection, when he brought Boomer on board. I can buy that. So what the hell was up with the Eye of Jupiter and D'Anna's resurrection in the Hub and pretty much the past twenty episodes in which all the main seven (eight) Cylons had no idea about the Five? Did the Cylons on this particular basestar keep their mouths shut about Ellen, enabling all the others to stay ignorant? Again, will have to read everyone else's meta for explanations.
10. I like CapricaSix/Tigh in theory, but their scenes still make me squirm -- even if I did giggle at the "OMGBAYBEEZ!" I also laughed aloud at how she managed to get him to give up the booze. Ah, Babydaddy Tigh. BTW, maybe the baby is an organically-resurrected Daniel? Meh. I think I'd rather have him be Papa Thrace.
Whew. Okay. Time to curl up, rewatch this one again -- with closed captions and concentrating really hard to translate it all into ENGLISH -- and let everyone else tell me what the hell it all means. ;)
ETA: sarmoti asked if Kara's father was indeed named Daniel, to which I replied that I remembered his name being Dreilide from those SkyOne character bios waaaaaay back pre-S1. Thank heavens I never got around to cleaning out my huge BSG bookmarks folder, because I just found the full list of bios. Since they were never referenced anywhere else, I don't think they're now considered canon -- but they're quite an interesting read!
ETA2: I'm rewatching with closed-captioning, and I love, LOVE that the person who transcribed the episode italicized the names of the ships, i.e. "You remember the Demetrius." Whee! It's one of my little grammar peeves that is tragically going out of fashion. (Just like the COMMA SPLICE. Sigh.)