io9
We've had a chance to watch the premiere episode of Battlestar Galactica's fourth and final season, and it certainly didn't disappoint. To keep this spoiler-free, I will speak in vagueries about what's in store and why things are going to get ooky as well as spooky this season. Like the very best BSG episodes, this one balances out interesting character developments with seriously kickass space battles. And of course, there's the mystery we were left with at the end of last season: Why has Starbuck returned?
What was most interesting about the episode was watching the four new cylon deal with discovering that they are not human. As we learned at the end of season 3, some of the most unlikely members of the crew have turned out to be skinjobs.
The newly-revealed Cylons include Tigh, the ship's XO, who was tortured by the Cylons on New Caprica so brutally that he lost an eye. And there's Anders, Starbuck's ex, who was leading the human resistance against the Cylons on Caprica when Starbuck rescued him. Then there's Chief Tyrol, whose discovery that he's got toaster in him means he's also got a hybrid baby. Almost as an afterthought, there's Foster, the president's aide. Each plays a pivotal role on the ship, and each could easily kill the Admiral or President if "activated" from afar by the Cylons.
There's a lot of soul-searching among these Cylons, as they wonder if their memories are implanted lies and what it means to find out they aren't who they think they are. Will they be activated? Can they be sure they're in control of their actions? Things get especially interesting when Starbuck returns in a cloud of suspicion — she thinks she's been gone for a few hours, and the rest of the fleet know she's been gone for months and suspect her of being a Cylon or at least a spy for them. In a great moment, Anders tries to comfort her — and Starbuck, in her usual way, is a total dick about it. Yup, our beloved crew is back.
When they're not fighting Cylons, the humans are dealing with a new antagonist in their midst. Baltar goes all Jesus on everybody after being adopted by a strange band of nubile lady cultists. This is where the season's yuck factor comes in, and no surprise that Baltar is all over it. Will he become a creepy, fake-ass messiah to the downtrodden of the ship, willing to pretend to be anything they want as long as they give him protection, food, and sex? Or is he really starting to believe in his own godlike power, and to worship the Cylons' one god?
While it certainly wasn't the best episode of BSG I've seen, it was still a strong one. Most important, it set up some genuinely compelling tensions that will animate the final season as we come closer and closer to Earth. I like a show that can kick some toaster ass, and still find time to worry about the nature of human identity. And this episode does all that and more. Welcome back, BSG. We missed you.
Comments
Sort of a weird question, but what should I make for diner to eat while watching the Season 4 premiere with my "Six"? MREs? Something served on a cafeteria tray? Any suggestions?
YAY! fuck the final four, I want to skip out of work tomorrow for some BSG. But I suppose I can leave hours before it starts though...
In a way, aren't we all Cylons, when it comes right down to it?
@mechno: We're making Briskit and drinking wine at our Frak Party. Mmmmm... meat.
Pleeaaaasse stop posting kick ass pictures without sourcing them. Now I have to send the next 10 minutes trying to find it. Grrr.
Poor Tigh. He's easily my favorite character and yet he gets dumped on show after show. :(
I still don't understand how Tigh is a Cylon. The admirial has known him for 30 years! That would mean the Cylons had skinjobs way back then. And why would the Cylons torture one of their own? And why would Six say "we don't talk about them" about the other 5 skinjobs in such a taboo manner? I'm just having a hard time buying all this. Could it be that Tigh and Anders and the rest just think they are Cylons? Or could it be that we are all Cylons. The Cylons said all this is history repeating itself. Maybe Humans were created just like Cylons. We evolved, rebelled, fled Kobol, and made a new world on the 13 colonies (and Earth). Later, after our history had passed down into legend, we created AI (and not American Idol). They eventually evolved, rebelled, and escaped to another place - only to come back to anhialate us (probably like we did the creators on Kobol). And it all just keeps happening, over and over.
What I'm saying is that the reason Tigh and Anders and all could hear the music is because we all have it in us. We are all made of the same stuff.
I don't know. I just confused myself.
i dont know a thing about this Battlestar Galactica geekery but i know that the Last Supper picture above is awesome and makes me almost want to check it out. are the cyclons still cool-looking armored men that glitetr and glint? do those weird four-armed bug people make an appearance? and deos anyone have feathered hair? or did they go all BUFFY and try to make it witty, sexed-up, and io-ronic?
@animagnum: Mine too, but the fact he just gets meaner everytime is what makes you love em'!
He's tougher than Mike Ditka, the 85' Bears, and this guy named Bubba I knew in High School all rolled into one.
@strangrnstranglnd: I don't think the rules that apply to the first 7 apply to the final 5. Personally, I'm betting on the idea the final 5 have been reincarnated on their own for generations.
@moff
No... You're the only Cylon around here ;)
Yeah the one I have the most time accepting is Tigh. Like some have said he's known Adama for the better part of 30 years. They can't explain it away by saying he was "replaced" because that would mean that he wouldn't be entirely unknown to the rest of the Cylons ... garrr
@mechno: I will be eating salted caramel ice cream from Bi Rite. Oh yes I will. Those of you who live in San Francisco know what I mean.
@doubledumbassonyou: Yeah, we'll see how that gets explained away.
@BadBoyNDSU: We already posted it once. It's from Entertainment Weekly.
@mechno: On the off chance you hadn't heard, MRE is sometimes taken to mean "Meals Refusing to Exit". Probably your Comm officer told you...
@Epaminondas:
That's interesting. Makes me think that when they "die" that their conciousness just transfers to a baby, like a reincarnation. Not from cylon to cylon, but more advanced. They don't know they're cylons but it finally just clicked once they reached the ionian nebula. They don't know what it means, just that they know what they are.
I don't know if I'm explaining it right, but if you get it, good for you.
Also what I never understood, how come if their bodies are virtually indistinguishable from humans, how can cylons cram fiber optic cables into their bloodstream and start communicating with computers?
I want to say something profoundly insightful here, but it looks like this is going to be just another SQUEE!
@WordMan:
For that matter, if Cylons are physiologically indistinguishable from humans, why do they have super strength? How does their consciousness transfer at death? If there's no mechanism inside that makes the transfer possible, then do Cylons have "souls"? And how do they... oh never mind.
Super jealous. I hate you.
@Gina Trapani: I know!!!
@mechno: I believe Jeff Vadar would highly recommend the Penne a la Arribiata.
+ Watch video
I was disappointed with the way they pulled 4 cylons out of their butts by picking the least likely people. It would have been better if they would have showed us clues that we could guess before revealing them.
We still don't know that the 4 are Cylons. All we know is that weird things happened, and the 4 think they are Cylons. But at no point has it just come out and said, "they are Cylons."
But on another note - There has to be a connection between there being 12 skinjobs and 12 gods. Perhaps the skinjobs aren't actually the evolved versions of the Cylons we built. Perhaps they are the original creators that created us?
Weird.
Aw man... If the whole series turns out to be about humans finding capital-"G" God, with the ever-more-Jesus-looking Baltar cast in the role of... um... Jesus, I will be most disappointed.
I actually LIKE that the humans have a pantheon of gods that they worship, instead of the all-too-similar-to-"us" One God, if for no other reason that it shows how easily the "stories" (i.e., mythology) of one religion can be exchanged with another. Giant Pearly Gates: Judeo-Christian; Giant Three-Headed Dog: Greek (and Harry Potter, but the Greeks had it waaaaaay first!); Giant Sea Creature Swallows a Man Whole, But the Guy Pops Out Alive Later: Pinocchio (and Judeo-Christian).
That being said, I find I have the hardest time suspending my disbelief for the religious stuff: the prophecies that come true almost immediately, that kind of thing.
Hmm...
Oh who am I kidding? Baltar is just out for the "Three 'Ps'": Power, Protection and Nubile Young Female Colonists!
I'm going to laugh at all of you who thought that the "four" are Cylons. They might think they are, but I think theat they have "another" purpose and they whole Cylon thing is a complete ruse.
If they were Cylons, how come 6, Boomer, et never recognized them as Cylons ? Why would they torture Tigh if he were a Cylon?
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