# Battlestar Galactica 1.5 — "You Can't Go Home Again" (spoilers, natch) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420 "2005-02-04T20:18:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/41 "2005-02-06T22:20:31Z")
> [@JCorre](#): > > the reason that #6 snapped the baby’s neck? It may well have been (from her perception) an act of mercy. Let the baby die quick and not due to radiation poisoning? No, while holding the baby, she commented upon the size of its head, and wondered how strong its neck had to be to support it. That did come right after her telling it “It will all be over soon”, though. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > how does it come to pass that No. 6’s spine glows? They hired continuity staff that couldn’t keep a job at Star Trek? > [@The Long Road](#): > > Do they have a food producing ship? They used to, the greenhouse ship last seen in _Silent Running_, but it didn’t have jump capability. Nice shot of the cute little girl getting blown up, though. **Cervaise** , I don’t call it nitpicking, I call it exploring. Out of love. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/42 "2005-02-06T22:34:06Z")
**Cervaise** , I nitpick because I love! Seriously, I can’t remember ever being this into the details of a show. I’m just not like that. For some reason, I like trying to figure all these things out with BG. I agree with you on the scene where Adama relieved Tigh. I could see both sides, but when Tigh gave his salute, man, I was really hurting for him. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/43 "2005-02-06T22:40:35Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > They hired continuity staff that couldn’t keep a job at Star Trek? That’s one of those logic thingies. _jokeus non answerus questionus._ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/44 "2005-02-07T00:49:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Allright Smarty Pants Apologist, how does it come to pass that No. 6’s spine glows? You want the honest answer? Here it is: I don’t care, really. Yeah, okay, since you asked, I’ll agree that it’s kind of a dopey idea. Doesn’t make a heckuva lot of sense, and there doesn’t seem to be a good reason for it. But, see, the thing is, for every dopey idea on the show (and there are a few), there are fifty good ones. The flight deck converted to a museum. Using the old names (Apollo, Starbuck) as call signs instead of actual character names. The tension between civilian and military leaders. The discrepancies in ship capabilities leading to difficult choices about leaving people behind. The low-tech design of everything. And so on. And so on. So I find myself unable to hold the relative minority of dumb notions (beyond the glowing spine, there’s the apparent glide path of incoming vipers during landing) against the show. This is in stark contrast with _Enterprise_, where I regularly rake the show over the coals because the good ideas are frequently matched or outnumbered by the dumb ones. I nitpick that show to death because I’m trying to get a handle on why it doesn’t work more often than it does, and to make sure I’m on the same page with everybody else about it. The fact that my criticisms are generally well-received, and seem to be consistently applicable episode after episode, tells me I’ve pretty much pegged the show. I keep harping on the same points in the vain hope that these observations will get some traction in the collective psyche, and the evidence of this past season, more or less, is that they have. Too little too late, as it turns out, but there it is. With _Galactica_, on the other hand, I feel like I can acknowledge the occasional stretch into implausibility or the infrequent dumb idea, but I can’t get worked up about them because there’s so much solid gold drama putting things into perspective. A good example would be the Adama-Apollo moment mentioned by **JCorre** above: “If it were you, we’d never leave.” That gave me chills, and I meant to mention it; thanks for calling it out. Now, for anyone who’s not able to look past the dumb ideas to see what the show’s really about, I can’t really blame them. De gustibus and all that. I mean, it’s too bad, because I think those people are missing something amazing, but I’m not going to say they’re _wrong_, exactly. I’ve gotten hung up on less; I gave up on _Desperate Housewives_ midway through the pilot, for example, because the tone seemed off to me. Was I right or wrong to feel this way? Not a valid question, in my opinion, and I’ll cut those who feel the same about _Galactica_ the equivalent slack. But for myself, I look at the handful of questionable elements, and I compare them to the massive stack of successful choices, and, well, the latter outweighs the former in my mind. And as such, I find myself all a-tingle with anticipation when I sit down to watch the show every week. Anyway, that’s my answer, and I’m sticking to it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/45 "2005-02-07T01:28:22Z")
I view the Glowing Spine of Passion ™ as a warning of bad it could get. I’m not going to get too attached. I am going to run tape when they show 'em over on Tuesday, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/46 "2005-02-07T03:03:43Z")
What’s the hangup about the glowing spine of passion? The Doc didn’t see it glowing so how’s that a plot hole? Maybe if we had more glowing spines, the world would be a better place. I for one volunteer for the mission. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/47 "2005-02-07T03:26:17Z")
> [@The Long Road](#): > > What’s the hangup about the glowing spine of passion? … I for one volunteer for the mission. I admire your ability to sacrifice. 🙂 The plot hole is that they aren’t supposed to be able to tell Cylons from humans. Adama wants Balthar to build a Cylon detector. As I explained earlier, all they have to do is make everyone watch a porno movie and toss everyone who’s spine glows out the airlock. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/48 "2005-02-07T03:34:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I admire your ability to sacrifice. 🙂 > > The plot hole is that they aren’t supposed to be able to tell Cylons from humans. > Adama wants Balthar to build a Cylon detector. > As I explained earlier, all they have to do is make everyone watch a porno movie and toss everyone who’s spine glows out the airlock. Wouldn’t they need to know the spine glows? Since they don’t, it’s not an issue. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/49 "2005-02-07T03:46:46Z")
> [@The Long Road](#): > > What’s the hangup about the glowing spine of passion? The Doc didn’t see it glowing so how’s that a plot hole? > > Maybe if we had more glowing spines, the world would be a better place. I for one volunteer for the mission. Do we know who the glowing spine belongs to? Boomer or 6? If it’s 6, then it’s probably the 6 in Baltar’s head. Heck, for all we know, she could sprout wings & fly. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/50 "2005-02-07T03:53:45Z")
> [@The Long Road](#): > > Wouldn’t they need to know the spine glows? Since they don’t, it’s not an issue. OK. Why would the Cylons go to so much trouble to make Cylons just like people except for the GPS ™? It’s stupid. Stupid like a gun needing air to fire in _Firefly_, stupid like _Spock’s Brain_, but truly stupid because it’s not just one episode, it’s canon if you will, that Cylon’s spines glow when they are horny. And it’s cheesy. It’s Buck Rogers, Fireball XL5 cheesy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/51 "2005-02-07T04:02:30Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > If it’s 6, then it’s probably the 6 in Baltar’s head. I think we say it first in the mini series before he got the implant or whatever puts Six in his head. Anyone remember when we’ve seen the GSP ™? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/52 "2005-02-07T04:04:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > They used to, the greenhouse ship last seen in\*\* Silent Running\*\*, but it didn’t have jump capability. Nice shot of the cute little girl getting blown up, though. > > **Cervaise** , I don’t call it nitpicking, I call it exploring. Out of love. Actually they used that ship in the original series , one of the episodes had a cylon attack ruining a percentage of the food crop, the one where apollo gets to play cowboy and high noon. Declan ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/53 "2005-02-07T04:21:47Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > OK. > Why would the Cylons go to so much trouble to make Cylons just like people except for the GPS ™? > It’s stupid. Stupid like a gun needing air to fire in _Firefly_, stupid like _Spock’s Brain_, but truly stupid because it’s not just one episode, it’s canon if you will, that Cylon’s spines glow when they are horny. > And it’s cheesy. It’s Buck Rogers, Fireball XL5 cheesy. I agree that it is stupid. Stupid as hell. Stupid doesn’t make it a plot hole. It’s simply stupid. She was facing Baltar when the spine was glowing so he never saw it. So going forward from the miniseries, he doesn’t know their spines glow which makes for no plot holes. Hot women with glowing spines doesn’t bother me. Starbuck finding the Cylon raider doesn’t bother me even though I saw it coming a week in advance. The only thing that has ever bothed me with the show was Adama slurping those freakin noodles near the end of the miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/54 "2005-02-07T04:30:07Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I think we say it first in the mini series before he got the implant or whatever puts Six in his head. Anyone remember when we’ve seen the GSP ™? I wish they’d show the mini-series again. I just can’t remember it that well. But we did, for sure, see the pre-headchip 6 with a glowing spine in the mini? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/55 "2005-02-07T07:01:14Z")
OK, I knew I’d seen that glowing red spine thing recently. I was just re-watching the last episode and during the commercial for Tuesday’s marathon, they showed it. It was pretty clearly Boomer & Helo, and it would seem to be from an episode we haven’t seen yet. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/56 "2005-02-07T11:12:56Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > When it comes to Cylons, it seems nothing happens just by chance. I wouldn’t be surprised it Starbuck is the only human that thing will fly for, at least partly because she can “become one” with it, and treat it nice. > > Who knows? The whole Cylon war started because humans were treating their Cylons like slaves. Maybe if they had just talked nice to 'em, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Shooting it in the head, poking it with a sharp, pointy knife, cutting out major chunks of it, then yanking on the rest is _being nice to it?_ 😕 Although, if that IS how humans “be nice” to Cylons then I have a lot more sympathy for the Chrome Toasters wanting to exterminate their creators. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/57 "2005-02-07T13:12:53Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I wish they’d show the mini-series again. I just can’t remember it that well. But we did, for sure, see the pre-headchip 6 with a glowing spine in the mini? Yes, pre-in Baltar’s head they showed the glowing spine. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/58 "2005-02-07T16:20:51Z")
I think the plot hole of the glowing spine is the fact that they had a Cylon lookalike corpse in the miniseries (the arms dealer in the ammunition depot station), and after dissecting it, said there was no medical way to distinguish it from a real human. That’s why they had to turn over Cylon detection duties to Baltar. I’m pretty sure human spines don’t have any luminescent cells, so why didn’t that show up in the autopsy? Unless only _female_ Cylons have glowing spines… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/59 "2005-02-07T16:43:54Z")
Boy that episode sucked. Starbuck manages to fly that fucked up ship by pulling at various cables like a freakin marionette? AND she can out-fly Apollo in his Vipor enough to not get blasted out of the sky on sight? Fortunately they are only issued one radio and it’s less durable than a 4 yr olds walky talky. Talk about contrived. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420/60 "2005-02-07T18:18:13Z")
Could we please use spoiler boxes only for information not related to this or previous episodes? The thread title already warns readers that spoilers are in the thread - I’d hate for someone to post an actual spoiler for later in the season and everyone clicks on it thinking that it’s just another summary of what we already know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-1-5-you-cant-go-home-again-spoilers-natch/288420.md?page=4)