# Battlestar Galactica 4.16 - "Blood on the Scales" (note change in spoiler policy) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716 "2009-02-06T16:12:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/101 "2009-02-07T20:52:26Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Where can I watch the webisodes? The link I found at Hulu doesn’t go back to the first one… [http://www.scifi.com/rewind/?sid=870861](http://www.scifi.com/rewind/?sid=870861) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/102 "2009-02-07T20:58:35Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > After all this mischegas, I wonder how many humans are left alive now? Just one, briefly. The whole show has been an illusion in Baltar’s head, in the split second between when he realizes that a nuke has gone off next to his house and his incineration. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/103 "2009-02-07T21:02:55Z")
Oh good Lord! My plan was to download the whole of the second part of the fourth series as it was broadcast in the US and then watch all the episodes together. My resolve broke, and I have just now caught up. _Wow._ My heart is racing. They are really going balls to the wall to the end, and now I’m stuck in “Aaargh another week to wait!!!” mode. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/104 "2009-02-07T21:05:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Just one, briefly. The whole show has been an illusion in Baltar’s head, in the split second between when he realizes that a nuke has gone off next to his house and his incineration. 😃 It’s a good thing you’re not a writer for this show. It’s thinking like that which makes ropes and tree limbs go so well together. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/105 "2009-02-07T21:08:50Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > 1. Was that a real or a virtual Six he wasn’t having sex with after the vision? Huh? That was a Six? I thought that was Xenabot! > [@](#): > > 1. Is this the first time Baltar has turned down sex? I dunno, but it’s probably the first time Baltar has ever uttered the words “my responsibility”. Oh, and an unanswered question: what were the mutineers going to do the various Cylonese prisoners (regular, Final Five, half-breed, spouses)? Since the prisoners weren’t summarily killed, then they were presumably being held hostage. To what end? ---
**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, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/106 "2009-02-07T21:22:29Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > I’d imagine that “**[The Adama Maneuver™](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HIGlMDanw4&feature=related)**” although incredibly frakking cool (the coolest bit of starship maneuvering yet) certainly didn’t _help_ hull integrity too much, those rips look more like stress-tears (or someone’s been having nightmares involving Freddy Frakking Krueger) due to the ship encountering stress it wasn’t designed for, like, oh, falling through a planet’s atmosphere and jumping away at the last second I figured the velociraptors had gotten loose. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Oh, and an unanswered question: what were the mutineers going to do the various Cylonese prisoners (regular, Final Five, half-breed, spouses)? Since the prisoners weren’t summarily killed, then they were presumably being held hostage. To what end? I’d guess they were holding them to prevent the basestar from attacking. We’re in control now - you can accept it or the final 3/4 get airlocked. And it looked like they were holding Athena for the sole purpose of raping/torturing her later because of the Pegasus guy. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/107 "2009-02-07T21:25:19Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > [http://www.scifi.com/rewind/?sid=870861](http://www.scifi.com/rewind/?sid=870861) Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/108 "2009-02-07T21:44:18Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [Blood on the Scales Interview](http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/02/battlestar-galactica-gaeta-blood-scales-angeli.html) Holy crap, Michael Trucco had broken his back in a car accident?! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/109 "2009-02-07T22:07:19Z")
I saw that!! Maybe that’s why he was mostly “aaah aaaahh” and letting her drag him around? But holy crap–that’s dedication to your job, right there. :X ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/110 "2009-02-07T22:23:02Z")
The count’s below 32,600 now. I liked that little moment between Zarek and Gaeta at the end. Zarek’s been a great character, and unlike Gaeta, he never had any illusions that, once they started, it would be kill-or-be-killed. He probably always pictured going out like that. So, all those times they referred to “spinning up the FTL”, they meant it literally – a big mechanically spinning gizmo. I’ve come to love the technology on this show for the same reasons it irritated me at first – because so much of it looks like stuff we could actually build. It’s as if we were handed just three truly advanced thingies: 1) whatever makes FTL jumps possible; 2) the incredibly compact, powerful and long-burning rocket engines the Vipers and Raptors have; 3) fusion reactors or whatever the main power source is on the larger ships. The rest – DRADIS, computers, the various industrial processes – looks like stuff we could do with existing technology. (Though _Galactica_’s main hull must be some terrifically strong alloy.) So the mutiny’s over, and the ringleaders are dead, but the tensions that made the mutiny possible are still there – a lot of people, both military and civilian, will never accept an alliance with a Basestar full of Cylons. (Not to mention that they could all be half-crazy from four years of unrelenting stress. No wonder some people kill themselves.) And, they’ll need a whole new Quorum. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/111 "2009-02-07T22:28:05Z")
I’m beginning to believe that the BSG universe isn’t the big, happy, cupcakes-and-confetti universe I once thought it was… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/112 "2009-02-07T22:54:35Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > It’s as if we were handed just three truly advanced thingies: 1) whatever makes FTL jumps possible; 2) the incredibly compact, powerful and long-burning rocket engines the Vipers and Raptors have; 3) fusion reactors or whatever the main power source is on the larger ships. The rest – DRADIS, computers, the various industrial processes – looks like stuff we could do with existing technology. (Though _Galactica_’s main hull must be some terrifically strong alloy.) I think I’ve heard that the **Caprica** series will show a more technologically advanced Twelve Colonies, and that what we’ve seen in BSG is the result of a deliberate policy of dumbing down the tech to make it more Cylon-proof. (In the pilot movie when Baltar was being interviewed, didn’t they discuss the question of whether some of the tech restrictions should be removed?) ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/113 "2009-02-07T23:05:08Z")
You know… we _have_ seen FTL drives before. That’s what Lee used for the EMP in the miniseries. I’ll have to go back and do a visual comparison. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/114 "2009-02-08T00:22:14Z")
When Napoleon I had a minor and inoffensive member of the French royal family assassinated (to intimidate the rest) — a move that shattered his reputation throughout Europe — [Metternich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klemens_Wenzel,_Prince_von_Metternich) is reported to have said, “It was worse than a crime, it was a blunder.” My reaction when Zarek had the Quorum terminated. From there on, the coup was doomed, since Gaeta (while a Galaxy-class wart in every other way) had _just_ enough devotion to the Oath that he could be counted on to flinch at the right moment. So while I’m glad both of them paid the price, and I consider both of them excellent arguments for retroactive birth control, I’m somehow pleased that Gaeta got a moment of relief from the pain in his leg. He didn’t deserve anything more, but he deserved that much. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/115 "2009-02-08T00:24:25Z")
Jumped to thread end - I missed it Friday night - can someone PM me as to where I can rewatch online? I’m doing my bestest to avoid spoilerificness. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/116 "2009-02-08T00:29:05Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > When Napoleon I had a minor and inoffensive member of the French royal family assassinated (to intimidate the rest) The risk of drinking vodka then going online leads to mistakes like this one: I totally read that as “When\*\* Napoleon and I\*\* had a minor and inoffensive..” You can see where my confusion lay. Fortunately, vodka is only a speed bump and not a roadblock in my reasoning and I did figure out what you meant. I just felt retarded afterward, is all. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/117 "2009-02-08T00:40:07Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > I’d imagine that “**[The Adama Maneuver™](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HIGlMDanw4&feature=related)**” although incredibly frakking cool (the coolest bit of starship maneuvering yet) certainly didn’t _help_ hull integrity too much, those rips look more like stress-tears (or someone’s been having nightmares involving Freddy Frakking Krueger) due to the ship encountering stress it wasn’t designed for, like, oh, falling through a planet’s atmosphere and jumping away at the last second I was thinking the same thing. Plus, it’s not like they’ve been able to take Galactica in for maintenance. She’s been shot up, bombed, dropped through the atmosphere, jumped excessively… poor gal’s gotta be showing some stress! One (rather minor) thing I’ve been wondering: why did Adama take off his admiral clips and give them to Gaeta? Don’t get me wrong, I loved the shots of Gaeta looking at those clips with a mix of “what have I done? am I ready for this responsibility? did I really just betray the man I’ve followed all these years?” (The actor really nailed these last two episodes). But I was surprised to see Adama throw off a symbol of his command. I’d have expected him to hang onto them since he didn’t recognize the authority of the muntineers. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/118 "2009-02-08T00:41:04Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > The risk of drinking vodka then going online leads to mistakes like this one: I totally read that as “When\*\* Napoleon and I\*\* had a minor and inoffensive..” > > You can see where my confusion lay. Fortunately, vodka is only a speed bump and not a roadblock in my reasoning and I did figure out what you meant. I just felt retarded afterward, is all. As a lot of us do after an episode with vodka, for sure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/119 "2009-02-08T00:48:48Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > The risk of drinking vodka then going online leads to mistakes like this one: I totally read that as “When\*\* Napoleon and I\*\* had a minor and inoffensive..” I’m not _quite_ that old. Though some mornings it feels that way. . . . ---
**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 8, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716/120 "2009-02-08T00:51:47Z")
It’s about time to quote Voltaire, “The English occasionally shoot a few admirals to encourage the others”, but I can’t seem to work it in. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-16-blood-on-the-scales-note-change-in-spoiler-policy/484716.md?page=7)