Battlestar Galactica

I've been watching the new iteration of Battlestar Galactica for the past three, almost four years and I must say I love the show. Now we approach the conclusion of the series with roughly twenty episodes to go, and already I've got this overwhelming sense of loss. The show captures you in a way most Sci-fi shows don't: at a human level. Sure there's plenty of flashy technology in the show, but for once that's not the focus. It's a human drama that takes place in the future. It's not a sci-fi show with human drama.

 

I'm just curious if I have any fellow BSGers here as well. If so I'd really like to hear your opinions of this season so far! If not, I really encourage you to take a look at some of the earlier seasons. I'm confident you won't regret it.

I never watched it, but I know that my mom enjoys the show.

I'm a huge fan of the show... if you want to read my rantings and insights I usually post them over at the neowin.net thread.

 

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=593000

 

... or they could pull a Blade Runner on us, dub over the original dialog and make it the "Final 11" and there was never a fifth to be revealed

 

Actually, what I find strange is the similarity between human cylons and the replicants of the Blade Runner movie and the novel it's based off of, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and I used to think that making Chief Tyrel and the other Galactica members 4 of the Final 5 was a cheap ploy, but now I think otherwise. In the movie Blade Runner, Tyrell Corporation is the fictional developer of the Nexus-6 replicants which are pursued by the protagonist, Rick Deckard. Dr. Eldon Tyrell, the founder of the company, builds a more realistic prototype Nexus-7 replicant and gives it the memories of his real niece Sarah, the replicant is known as Rachael 'Tyrell'. Throughout the movie (depending on which cut you watch), it is suggested that Deckard's partner, Gaff (coincidently played by Edward James Olmos, aka "Adama") is more of a tail for Tyrell corporation and is aware of the thoughts of Deckard, suggesting that the protagonist himself may also be a Nexus-7 prototype built to pursue and destroy the malfunctioning Nexus-6 models. Director Ridley Scott never confirmed or denied that was the case, and only said it confirmed the discussion of "What is it to be human?"

 

Moving on to the novelized successor of the Blade Runner movie, "Replicant Night", the wikipedia summary states... "When Eldon Tyrell designed the original replicants, he included a failsafe mechanism to prevent replicants from breeding: male replicants suffer from an amplified, modified version of 'stepfather syndrome', the animal instinct to kill the children of other males. Male replicants, however, have an instinct to kill their own children. In most replicants, this instinct is suppressed unless activated..." This interpretation goes hand in hand with the Battlestar Galactica interactive mural imitating the 'Last Supper' in which is suggest that a image of Chief Tyrel holding a large knife maybe take an action against a child (suggestively his)... but in lieu of this interpretation from Blade Runner, maybe he is really going to kill Hera, thus... igniting the plot line of Sharon, Caprica, Roslin, and Baltar all in the Opera house trying to save Hera from danger?

 

Maybe I read too much into the Blade Runner connection, but as Sci-Fi writers, they do tend to borrow concepts that have worked well in the past and elaborate upon them and even pay homage though imitation. If you were to take the character of Chief Tyrel literally, then 'Chief' could signify his importance or stature within the cylon ranks, and 'Tyrel' is homage to Blade Runner and a clue that he was indeed meant to be a cylon from the start of the series. Also, look at his occupation and skills, he's a mechanic and suggests that his talents are engineering related, whether that be Viper maintenance or otherwise unactivated programming. Seemingly each model of cylon has it's own skills and persona.

 

What I also forgot to mention over at neowin is that artificial humans in BSG and Blade Runner are both referred to by the derogatory term of "skinjobs."

 

Note: I also spelled Chief "Tyrol" with an "e" and not an "o" but it's still close enough to be a valid observation. Ron Moore is a huge Ridley Scott film and directs his BSG writing crew to refer to the films, Alien, Black Hawk Down, and Blade Runner to establish the look and feel of BSG. (all Ridley Scott films)

 

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5438/gaffbryb2.png

By budious

I watched the movie which acted as a pilot but never got the time or the money to purchase the season.s But I intend to do so some time in the future.

This season so far is one of the best. It shows more true sci-fi than other mundane 'sci-fi' shows as of late. The deeper interaction of what is the meaning of life and reality; the complex morale issues of beliefs, feelings, and 'what is the right thing to do' is not always so obvious.

I watch it every week. At the moment I believe the 3rd season is shown for the first time on TV. I like its dark tune. But I´ve got the feeling that at the moment the whole story doesn´t go very further.

 

@budious

Very good point. I´ve never read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", so I´ve never been aware of these similarities. But I rather see it as a kind of rip-off because of the directors lack of own inspiration. There are plenty of books around the old BSG series of the 70s, which also had a much darker tune than the TV show had. Why didn´t they used them ... at least a bit?

I'm currently working my way through the second season... So far, I think it's rather good...

I've thoroughly enjoyed the series and I'm currently waiting (and hoping) that we get the fourth and final series here sometime soon

Try that site, Tofu has posted some days ago. I´ve watched there BSG when I´ve missed a part.

Your reaction to the last episode of season 4 is almost garunteed to be:

 

Wait... WHAT?!

I had forgotten about BSG! Crap, I'll start watching the 4th season now