Battlestar Galactica 3.5 - "Collaborators" (spoilers)

Cafe Society
181

[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
Yeah, but I don’t read your posts. :slight_smile:

Somehow it escaped me until now that Gaeta was only communicating with Tyrol, who didn’t tell anyone how he got the straight dope as it were. Thanks, both of you.

Again, dammit, I am on the wrong side of fighting ignorance…maybe if I start reading Loopdude’s posts…
[/QUOTE]
Makes perfect sense. That’s pure operational security. If either Gaeta or Tyrol are captured, neither can give up the other, nor will anyone else get snagged by patrolling the drop.

182

[QUOTE=Albert Rose]
Quick question: how do we know that Gaeta is Gae? I don’t really have gaydar - is it because his name is Felix?
[/QUOTE]
We don’t know he’s gay and he probably isn’t. He’s mostly a little bit goofy science geek. What pings a little on my gaydar is he’s super-dedicated to his job and doesn’t seem to date. I’ve seen that in the military. Often you’ll find the high-achievers who are really dedicated to their jobs and very professional are overcompensating for their lack of a love life.

Towards the end of Colonial Day we saw Gaeta dancing with I believe, Dualla. He was acting a bit silly and it really looked like two buddies just dancing. Easily explained by the fact Dualla was enlisted at the time and Gaeta was an officer in her chain-of-command and he’s way too “professional” to seriously fraternize. But still…

[QUOTE=Loopydude]
We don’t know, and if the pattern of the BSG writers is any guide, poor Gaeta probably just won’t get any, whichever way he swings.
[/QUOTE]
I can agree with that. He’s definitely not getting any soon, at any rate.

[QUOTE=Improv Geek]
And yes I know it’s all idle navel gazing, but it is still interesting to consider. And personally I think RDM lurks on the forums.
[/QUOTE]

Speaking of that, and “fanservice” in general, originally Helo was to have died on Caprica and RDM wasn’t going to return to it. Everyone kept asking about Helo and RDM decided to write his sub-story in. Look at how much that’s changed the whole show. I like the fact the writers are much more aware of what the fans are saying now, thanks to the internet.

The writers don’t have to listen to the fans but occasionally it can save an otherwise doomed character. I suspect Cally got more screen-time due to all the fanboy drooling. I can’t prove it and don’t know for sure, but a lot of fans really, really wanted a Pegasus story and we got one. Was RDM planning on doing it anyway? Who knows?

As for the gay character issue, there are a fair number of fans who’d love to see one. A lot of fans who either don’t care or wouldn’t mind. Then there are a lot of fans who are pretty vehement RDM not allow the gay-agendists to ruin yet another perfectly good show.

Why is there absolutely no evidence of gays in the BSG universe? Does RDM hate gays? Doubtful. Is it because he’s a straight dude who is primarily interested in hot chicks and feels wholly unqualified to write a gay character? Quite possible. Is he deliberately holding back because he hasn’t yet decided whether to non-chalantly introduce it or instead make it a social issue he’ll devote an episode to? Like he did with abortion and birth control? Child abuse? Is he (or Scifi channel) afraid the Christian family values coalition will boycott the show? That would be really pussy.

183

[QUOTE=levdrakon]
ContROVe’sy? Do Aussies or Kiwi’s even say it like that?
[/quote]

Yes, they do. So do the poms (English).

I think it’s pretty clear that from the beginning they’ve been dropping in elements from all kinds of real human cultures – Greek gods, Sanskrit chanting, Celtic music. By and large, the society seems to be maily based on American culture, but that’s probably a matter of convenience.

I look at it like Beowulf or the King Arthur stories or the Lord of the Rings – we have been handed down the story from someone who was not directly familiar with the society in question – and it might be from an oral tradition with a lot of mythology intertwined. So it’s never clear to us what are the “real” cultural elements and what has been added in later by subsequent retellings.

184

[QUOTE=D_Odds]
I always get to this thread late and I’ve yet to make it all the way through, so I’m probably repeating other’s observations.
[/QUOTE]

I have to re-watch the scene, but I got the impression that the act was more than just opening the airlock outer doors. Jammer was violently flung down the length of the tube and out the door, far more forcefully than what simple air pressure can provide. It seems more likely that they used the launch catapult. (Is it electromagnetic? Gravitic? Why not use a bullet and put the body in the food vats?) I would imagine that using such a large machine off-schedule would flash an LED somewhere.

But they do have a primitive network of sorts. Check out the phones. There’s also a network of status indicators. In the pilot, they made a huge point of using a lightboard to indicate damage throughout the ship. (See the scene where the Chief and the XO square off in the CIC about the launch deck fire.)

185

[QUOTE=D_Odds]
I believe only a couple were spaced via Galactica
[/quote]

Yes, only two were killed on Galactica. The rest of the “disappearances” took place elsewhere in the fleet.

186

[QUOTE=Improv Geek]
Ideally indeed, but also consider the fact that they need the human race to regrow and that takes babies…
– IG
[/QUOTE]

The would be an interesting sub-plot. Of course on New Capria women may have been encouraged to have as many children as possible now that everyone’s crammed back onto (fewer?) ships they need to control reproduction carefully. They need to consider things like “Do euthanise handicapped and elderly people (without special skills) to provide space and resources for children?” or “Do we ration medical supplies and food based on need or deeds?”. Of course one wonders what birth control (if any) is even availiable. A ban on contraception would be far more draconian that one on abortion.

187

[QUOTE=Loopydude]
. . . But the setup, at times, was simply beyond the bounds of suspension-of-disbelief. Cally not only didn’t recognize that it was Jammer who set her free, she frakking forgot it even happened? Bullshit.
[/QUOTE]

I think if the actress who plays Cally would have done a better job of portraying that she was groggy, the scene would have been much smoother. They made a point of Tyrol waking her up to question her and then telling her to go back to sleep afterward. I took her forgetfulness as her being not awake yet, not that she really forgot. I’ve known plenty of people who barely know their own names when you first wake them up.

So no, it’s not “beyond the bounds of suspension-of-disbelief”. It just wasn’t as well acted as we’re used to seeing from this show.

188

[QUOTE=Subway Prophet]
I have to re-watch the scene, but I got the impression that the act was more than just opening the airlock outer doors. Jammer was violently flung down the length of the tube and out the door, far more forcefully than what simple air pressure can provide. It seems more likely that they used the launch catapult. (Is it electromagnetic? Gravitic? Why not use a bullet and put the body in the food vats?) I would imagine that using such a large machine off-schedule would flash an LED somewhere.
[/quote]
Wasn’t my impression. I just got the impression of explosive decompression.

The phones are analog. They have computers; they’re just not interconnected (no network). Any damage sensors on the bridge would either need to be analog also, or someone needs to take reports and update them on the bridge.

189

[QUOTE=D_Odds]
The phones are analog. They have computers; they’re just not interconnected (no network). Any damage sensors on the bridge would either need to be analog also, or someone needs to take reports and update them on the bridge.
[/QUOTE]

Er…right. So a wire running from the launch station to the CIC blinks a light on a panel. Completely analog.

It’s kind of moot anyhow, since Tyrol was there and concievably would’ve known to disable the alert system. And besides, the CIC panel with the Launchdoor Opening Light (or LOL for short) probably had a mug of Chamalla tea spilled across it.

The thing about the launch tube scene, though - and I freely admit that RDM’s understanding of physics isn’t ahem stellar, but neither is mine - Jammer’s body was pulled diagonally across the tube, hitting the wall on the other side. In the case of explosive decompression, he would’ve been pulled straight out towards the door. But in this situation, being pulled diagonally, suggests that a linearly-accelerating force running down the center of the floor pulled him both down the length of the tube and laterally towards the center of the tube. After he crossed centerline, momentum carried him further into the far wall, before he popped out the door.

Also, the button the greasy-haired man pressed, in the launch control room, was the big square button. Wouldn’t it make sense that this was “launch” instead of “open doors”?

(Actually it makes more sense now that I think about its large size and location, is that it’s “abort”, but hey, I’m rambling here. Which reminds me. Did I ever tell you about when my buddy Tim and I wandered around the launch bay on the old battlestar Atrocious? You talk about big clunky buttons…)

On preview, this doesn’t make as much sense to me, but there’s something about the physics in that scene that bugs me. Oh well.

190

[QUOTE=Subway Prophet]
but there’s something about the physics in that scene that bugs me. Oh well.
[/QUOTE]

You’re blasting a lot of your atmosphere out of the ship, whether spacing a traitor or launching a viper.

191

[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
You’re blasting a lot of your atmosphere out of the ship, whether spacing a traitor or launching a viper.
[/QUOTE]

…allthough they usually launch from the side, right? So maybe they recover them there, in a vacumn and pressurize.
Then you’re just throwing away a bunch of air when you space a traitor. :rolleyes:

192

I’ve kinda wondered how their landing & launching system works and I usually decide to just not think about it too much.

A Viper comes swooshing into the landing bay and I assume there’s no atmosphere in there, but there may be artificial gravity.

The Viper I guess has to eventually maneuver onto a platform which lowers it into the main hangar, and there must be an intermediate chamber of some sort that gets repressurized.

Then the Viper somehow gets moved onto another platform which then lifts it (or lowers it) into the launch tube and again, there must be some intermediate chamber where they suck the air out.

It wouldn’t make sense to have the launch tubes pressurized, would it? Awfully wasteful of air to have it sucked out every time they launch.

193

[QUOTE=levdrakon]
It wouldn’t make sense to have the launch tubes pressurized, would it? Awfully wasteful of air to have it sucked out every time they launch.
[/QUOTE]

I think they address this in an upcoming episode.

The Galactica stops off at the planet Druidia (link), the ship transforms into a giant robo-maid, and sucks all the planet’s air through the atmosphere shield door using a gigantic vacuum cleaner. There is some initial problem with the shield door combination, so a member of plantery royalty is kidnapped by Galactica crew and held for ransom. Meanwhile Baltar starts to comb a desert on another planet for clues about humanity’s location.

194

[QUOTE=Subway Prophet]
I think they address this in an upcoming episode.

[/QUOTE]

I can just hear Mamaplant: “Don’t breathe that! You don’t know where it’s been!”

Where did you find this, because

They made a big deal about how rare planets with water are, they find New Caprica and now a planet with people on it? Do they have latex on their foreheads? Do they speak English? :slight_smile:

195

[QUOTE=Loopydude]

Not at all! That is quite correct, and worthy of note. So much has changed over those four months it feels like a year or more, and Tigh is no exception.
[/QUOTE]
In the 2 parter, wasn’t there a line that said that Tigh would lead the insurgency if and when the Cyclons would ever show up? I guess the point I’m trying to make was that Tigh was still part of the military, though not necessarily an XO.

He and Ellen probably went down there to check things out, and possibly establish a base for the battlestars. He was probably going to lead the ground fleet. Then all of a sudden, oh frak, Cyclons show up and the battlestars take off.

196

[QUOTE=SuaSponte]
I missed Friday’s ep. When does the SciFi channel repeat it (yes, I can go online and pay for it, but that’s no fun)?

Sua
[/QUOTE]

Tonight at 10:00 Eastern

197

[QUOTE=Unix Geek]
Tonight at 10:00 Eastern
[/QUOTE]
Thanx

198

[QUOTE=mazinger_z]

He and Ellen probably went down there to check things out,
[/QUOTE]

Come on Pal, we know they went down because, rest her soul, Ellen bitched at him until he agreed to. :slight_smile:

199

[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
Where did you find this
[/QUOTE]
I think it’s on Whooshipedia.

200

[QUOTE=levdrakon]
We don’t know he’s gay and he probably isn’t. He’s mostly a little bit goofy science geek. What pings a little on my gaydar is he’s super-dedicated to his job and doesn’t seem to date. I’ve seen that in the military. Often you’ll find the high-achievers who are really dedicated to their jobs and very professional are overcompensating for their lack of a love life.

…<snip>…
As for the gay character issue, there are a fair number of fans who’d love to see one. A lot of fans who either don’t care or wouldn’t mind. Then there are a lot of fans who are pretty vehement RDM not allow the gay-agendists to ruin yet another perfectly good show.

Why is there absolutely no evidence of gays in the BSG universe? Does RDM hate gays? Doubtful. Is it because he’s a straight dude who is primarily interested in hot chicks and feels wholly unqualified to write a gay character? Quite possible. Is he deliberately holding back because he hasn’t yet decided whether to non-chalantly introduce it or instead make it a social issue he’ll devote an episode to? Like he did with abortion and birth control? Child abuse? Is he (or Scifi channel) afraid the Christian family values coalition will boycott the show? That would be really pussy.
[/QUOTE]

I agree with you on all of this. I only jumped on the “Gaeta is Gae” bandwagon because I think it would add a little more depth to the show. I would not want it to become a major issue, which to me, adds to the depth. It would just be a normal part of their society. And Gaeta seems like to only logical choice left for a major character to portray one. Actually, protraying him as an asexual homosexual could be interesting.

(So would his previous adoration for Gaius make him a Toaster lover lover? He might then have the hots for Helo next. )

But I have no strong feelings one way or the other about the issue. Whatever RDM decides, I just dont want the preachy PC of Star Trek. I hated how they would pound an issue into your head. And BG has avoided that mostly. Prez Roslin is a moralist, but that is her character. Everyone else seems to enjoy the shades of grey their survival requires. (Hell, Lee performed a summary execution once, I seem to recall, and he had no presidential authorization.)

On a different note, have they stated how far they have travelled since they left the Twelve Colonies. Next week’s preview mentions the road to Earth. And I cant wait for that storyline to start up again. But has there been any hints to how long that road will be?

And the Cylons seems to have a very large industrial base, but I cant imagine they can build an infinite supply line. I want to see how RDM addresses this point.