Actually, the character of Jean Barolay, played by Alisen Down, has been seen in multiple episodes going back to the introduction of Anders and his resistance gang on Caprica. She was one of the two who helps Anders set the bomb in the cafe in season two’s “Downloaded,” for example. She is not a never-seen-before character introduced only to be killed.
The show is usually pretty careful about these recurring characters. Jammer, for example, had a bit part in the miniseries and hung around for two full seasons before increasing in prominence at the beginning of season three and then meeting an ignominious end in the fifth episode. Ditto Socinus, also introduced in the mini, and then killed center screen toward the beginning of season two. It’s pretty rare for them to introduce somebody totally new and expect us to care about them, and it sticks out badly when they do (e.g. “Black Market”).
So maybe these fringe faces are only there to be recognizable when they die, and not to be particularly well-developed. I bet the actors can’t really complain; they get a regular ongoing gig for a couple of years, and they get a big death scene at the end of it.
The minute Nana Visitor showed up I paused the TiVo and said to Dan “Hey!!! That’s Nana Visitor!!!” and he said “uh, who?” and I said “Kira from DS9!!!” and he said “uh, ok…”
He didn’t watch DS9
I have no idea what IPU or FSM stands for.
This stuff has also been addressed by other people but I wanted to chime in:
As said, because there was a high likelihood that they would not be allowed to return once they got back to the fleet. Adama would likely think it was too risky.
You’re still misunderstanding the 15 hours thing. That’s how long until the last minute they can leave and still make the rendezvous. Not how long it will take to get there once they start jumping.
Noel Allison, a pilot from Pegasus played by Sebastain Spence Ah, Mongo straight! according to the Galatic Wiki Thing and IMDB has the call sign “Narcho”. Yet I recall seeing some permutation of “Foster Cade”, the character he played in First Wave stenciled on his viper. Can anyone back me up?
Merely some official spelling, thank you very much.
Re Invisible Pink Unicorn and Flying Spaghetti Monster, they’re basically shorthand for “spiritual woo-woo.”
It bothered me, too, going back into the first season, that this ostensibly rock-hard SF story was going a little soft in the middle, indulging in prophecies and psychic visions and whatnot. I’ve since come to accept that that’s not what the show is about, and made peace with it.
I’m still hoping they resist the urge to get totally all mystical and religiously opaque in the climax; the last thing we we want from this show is a replay of the last five minutes of The Black Hole. But, we’ll just have to wait to see.
Ah I’m familiar with them both, I just wasn’t thinking in that direction when I was trying to figure them out. I was trying to think of things within the BSG religious sphere.
I can’t recall, but I do have to insert an obligatory drool here, as someone who has not one but two autographed photos and who owns the domain name sebastianspence.net (though nothing is up there at the moment).
Fearing that there will be a religious day-new-maw, however you spell that furrin word or that everyone will be a Cylon in some form or other gives me two chances at being disappointed.
This is not and never has been “rock-hard SF”. The science has played little to no part in advancing/resolving the story. This has always been a mystical story in a futuristic setting. As such, the spiritual aspects of the story have always been not only appropriate, but damn near required.
A change in topic direction, but in some discussions lately about the show with some friends, questions came up that maybe you guys could answer.
Have we ever seen a Cylon besides Anders get sick with a human disease? I’d have thought it wasn’t possible, but Anders had pneumonia on New Caprica, so…
Was there ever a real, functional Cylon detector? In the wikipediaa entry on Tyrol it says, “He is proven not to be a Cylon and resumes his job.” How was it proven that he wasn’t a Cylon? If there is a way to prove someone isn’t a Cylon, why isn’t testing more widespread, especially among high ranking officers and governmental officials, their aides, and key personnel? Test Starbuck and get it over with. Really, you’d think they’d have something workable by now as a fool-proof Cylon detector…
Nope, sorry. The mystical prophecy stuff doesn’t begin to solidify until the middle of the first season. Up until that point, there’s nothing in the narrative but technology. Sure, they don’t bother to explain the technology, and some would argue, plausibly, that “hard” SF is about the science and technology (as in the works of Bob Forward). But as far as I’m concerned, and especially on TV, the less magic, the harder the SF, and at the beginning, BSG had no magic outside the FTL jump technology. Consider Babylon 5 and Firefly, which included characters with psychic powers; by comparison, until Roslin started having her visions in, what, episode five or so, BSG was the hardest SF ever seen on TV. You’re remembering the show then with what you’re aware of now and it’s not accurate. Go back and read the threads if you don’t believe me; it was an adjustment for everybody.
Imaginary Six shows up before Roslin’s visions. What’s that? It’s not technology. It might still be God.
I admit I’d be a little skeptical of 39,000 people in the position the fleet is in not suffering from some delusions, religious revivals, and flights of nuttiness. I think you have to take it as being quite remarkable that they’ve stayed as sane as they have.
