Sounds like Richard Hatch got his wings. He’s been wanting to greenlight an original series movie since the 80s
That was the original plan, but there were those slight distractions such as mutiny and Ellen showing up…
More importantly, it was pretty clearly implied that they hadn’t jumped yet because some of the fleet’s ships were still resisting the cylon upgrades.
They may have moved out of Earth orbit, but they haven’t jumped yet (other than the one false alarm and the mining ship mutiny).
Cavil and every other Cylon knew they were headed for Earth since the first episode, but they didn’t know where it was (besides the final five but their memories of it were blocked) or else they would have been waiting for the fleet there. The only thing that makes any sense is that the fleet is still in the solar system and that’s how Ellen was able to find them.
“Face of the Enemy” starts in deep space. That is several weeks after Adama had decided to move on. No delay from mutiny or Ellen showing up, because those had not happened yet.
It was not at all implied that the fleet had not jumped yet because of the upgrades. In fact, the fleet clearly jumped in “Face of the Enemy” which was before any of the upgrades (the meeting on upgrades being the one that Gaeta gets invited to at the end of the webisodes). At that time, they jumped from and jumped back into deep space.
If they were still anywhere near Earth, they would have shown or mentioned it. They have not. The last comment on Earth was Adama’s decision to leave. They left.
Didn’t this episode open showing the CAP accompanied by a Heavy Raider – with a Six shown piloting it through the “visor”-style windshield?
FOTE takes place between six and nine days since the discovery of Earth (Revelations), so it’s been at most nine days minus however many days they had people down on Earth. Less than nine days is not several weeks, and probably less than one week. There’s no evidence that they are in deep space or that they have jumped. At best, there is an implication that they are getting ready to start looking elsewhere, and that that are not in direct Earth orbit.
It was an emergency jump. And the meeting with the cylons isn’t the kind of meeting they would have after they already starting jumping in search of other planets. It’s the kind of meeting they would have before they got on their way.
You can’t have it both ways lol. I could easily counter that if they had actually starting jumping to a new planet, they would have shown or mentioned it, and they haven’t. Adama ordered the evacuation of Earth, and the beginning of preparations to start looking for a new place to go. It’s much more likely that a change in situation (actually deciding on a new planet to jump to and getting the cylons to agree to come along) would be mentioned than that they would make a point of mentioning that the situation has not changed yet. Yes, they evacuated Earth, so they don’t need to be in orbit anymore. No, they haven’t starting towards a new destination yet, they didn’t finish the preparations (cylon alliance, deciding where to go exactly), and then had other things to deal with (mutiny, ship repairs, Ellen’s arrival).
They have established that they have jumped away from Earth the same way they have always established where the fleet is: they show the fleet, in deep space. And by having Adama give the order that he has decided to move on.
Every shot of the fleet since then – every single shot – has been of the fleet in deep space.
The show does not use shots of the fleet jumping to indicate that the fleet has moved since last episode – they only use fleet jumping shots to indicate unusual circumstances, such as a Cylon attack. They do not show the fleet jumping away to indicate it is moving on; they do show the fleet around a planet to indicate it is around a planet – as at Kobol, New Caprica, the algae planet, and Earth.
All of the things mentioned as reasons to delay moving the fleet – mutiny, ship repairs, Ellen – happened after the writers gave those indications that the fleet had moved on.
Moreover, there is no reason for the writers to keep the fleet anywhere near Earth. All of the Earth plot lines have been resolved; they have established that there is nothing for them on Earth. All of the information about Earth the writers need to convey is with the Final Five. The writers have had the characters move on from their fixation with Earth. And so, the fleet has moved on.
Which they have shown us.
I disagree with this point. I would call who/what Kara is a signficant Earth plotline.
Yes, they left earth, but not the solar system. I don’t know what you mean when say they are in “deep space.” That wouldn’t make sense. They are always in orbit around a star. Whenever they jump, it’s star-to-star, not into deep space. They’ve got a Botanical Cruiser covered in domes growing plants, and I assume food, and it needs natural sunlight. If they are half way between earth & Mars, that’s pretty “deep space” to me, and you wouldn’t see any planets. The solar system is pretty vast, actually.
Nitpik: Realistically, they could never “show” us the fleet in deep space. It’s too dark to see anything. You need to be near a star. Of course, all scifi shows have to provide a light source so we can see the ships.
No, they showed the Cylon head, but when they showed the Six, she was looking at the red blinky lights control panel thingy they use.
Actually I think the writers needed a way for Ellen and Boomer to find the fleet. I interpret the fleet movement after leaving Earth to be the sublight travel type so far, until they know where they are going to. Maybe some scenes were cut out that would have made that more clear.
i just want to say, the GD thread “Boomers are gonna start dropping like flies” has given me weird images in my head.
Personally, I believe their location has been left very ambiguous because the writers wanted to leave their options open. If nothing is said about location then the fleet can be anywhere.
I agree. The strongest impression I got from this episode is the way it hammered on the point – the Cylon theory – that love is necessary for Cylons to procreate. Posters have complained about how unconvincing this was. My response is: Yes, the idea is silly and unconvincing. That’s the point. I think the episode was specifically persuading us to NOT buy into that theory. To question the assumption. Why isn’t Caprica’s love enough? Why isn’t Saul’s love enough? Why are they struggling so hard to have faith in this theory?
I think it makes the most sense to question why it feels forced and unconvincing. The point they’re driving home, in my opinion, is that sometimes that people (human or Cylon) grasp at straws when they can’t explain things. The episode points out that, in this case, faith healing isn’t going to work, that love isn’t always enough. The Cylon theory is a false theory, and something else is going on here.
Something Jane Espenson mentions in an interview also seems relevant here:
If the Cylons on Earth could have children, how come Ellen and Tigh never could? Some people can’t. And then when the Cylons developed their theory about love and procreation, it was ready-made for Ellen to grab in hurt and anger.It seems that not just Ellen, but the majority of Cylons have grabbed onto that theory.
The other big question that stood out to me was: Why did Caprica go down to Dogsville? Some have speculated it was to get food. I find that unlikely, as Saul, the XO and best buddy of Bill, probably has the resources to get what they need. So why was she there? Furthermore, I’m curious about the white piece of paper that Caprica was clutching. Was she trying to deliver a message? To whom? There is a parallel to Baltar sneaking around in a hooded cloak. Was it Baltar she was looking for, and why?
I thought it was simply so they could show us a hot pregnant Cylon beating up a bunch of guys, and give Tyrol a reason to say “a Cylon was attacked today, we’re not safe here.”
The “delivering a message” theory is good. That Basestar can produce plenty of food for who knows how many Cylons so I highly doubt Caprica was in Dogville scrounging for scraps. Maybe she was looking to buy some jewelry? I hear you can get some cool stuff from those weird chicks.
I like the idea she was looking for Baltar, perhaps wondering why *their *love wasn’t enough to create a baby.
I was thinking that Caprica was maybe looking for tea, since they’ve mentioned she drinks it now in two episodes, and that is not something Saul Tigh is likely to keep around…
And yet, entirely likely to happen here, too.
Do we know that was Caprica and not another Six? Tyrol said “a Cylon” was attacked, not her specifically, right?
She was in sickbay getting checked by Cottle and she had a bruise where she got punched in the face. Also, Roslin apologized to her on behalf of the fleet.
I can’t remember exactly, but right after Liam died Tigh said something like “No, no… that was me, I take it back, I’m sorry!”. Can someone explain to me what he meant here?
Also I think someone mentioned upthread that it cut straight from the “Liam dying” scene to the “Anders in bed with brain ticking” scene. There was actually a few scenes between them including Baltar talking to Adama and Tyrol watching Boomer sleep.
Overall this ep felt like I was watching Brothers & Sisters in Space.
Tigh told Caprica she could take the baby and go away with the others, but he would stay with the fleet. Presumably, that meant Tigh temporarily rejected her and withdrew his love. Bad news for baby.
all the nice things that Ellen had been saying, Saul was saying 'take them as my words, because if i had them in my mouth instead of my heart you would have heard them.
I believe there is a mixed drink featuring Lapsang Souchong and gin, but perhaps there is no Indian Empire analogue in Battlestar.