# BSG 3/4/07: "Maelstrom" \*\*SPOILERS\*\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631 "2007-03-05T04:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/1 "2007-03-05T04:07:04Z")
Surprised there does not seem to be a thread for this week… Survivor Count 41, 400 Hi Opal—this spoiler space is to prevent mouseover ruinage More spoiler space Stop now or be spoiled. So Starbuck commits suicide by Viper. Not 'zactly a blaze of glory. More like a wimper of self pity. Disapointing end, but not entirely out of character. At least she didn’t wake up in a puddle of goo. I claim oracle points for predicting Lee to go all Atticus Finch… ---
**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:** [March 5, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/2 "2007-03-05T04:10:09Z")
That sucked. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/3 "2007-03-05T04:12:31Z")
I don’t think she’s dead or a Cylon. The oracle said Leoben was coming for her, and there was a heavy raider (which can carry passengers) about. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/4 "2007-03-05T04:14:00Z")
[QUOTE=easy e] I don’t think she’s dead or a Cylon. The oracle said Leoben was coming for her, and there was a heavy raider (which can carry passengers) about. [/QUOTE] AND her hand seemed to be on the eject lever. Adama’s scene at the end was heart wrenching. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/5 "2007-03-05T04:15:56Z")
Well, we did get some Starbuck paint-sex. And we know they have a couple of Vipers that can fly…was begining to wonder. Starbuck was imagining the raider. And the whole deal with Leoben. She was not special, she had no destiny. She’s just dead. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/6 "2007-03-05T04:16:45Z")
[QUOTE=easy e] I don’t think she’s dead or a Cylon. The oracle said Leoben was coming for her, and there was a heavy raider (which can carry passengers) about. [/QUOTE] It wasn’t Leoben. My WAG is that we just met a Lord of Kobol. Next week looks good. Lee Adama for the defence. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/7 "2007-03-05T04:20:07Z")
But she’s not gone forever, right? She was flying into some mystical round thing - my guess is, she will come back as some kind of re-born person (not of the Cylon variety) because the mystical round thing is, well, mystical, and does something with her. (Kara’s mom, Dorothy Lyman, was so familiar to me - I think I recognized her as Gwen from “Another World” from the eighties.) ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/8 "2007-03-05T04:34:08Z")
She played Opal! on All My Children when I was in high school and watched such things. Kara’s coming back, I’m sure. In some way. My WAG is she’s the First Pop Tart and (a) Leoben’s her father. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/9 "2007-03-05T04:47:41Z")
[QUOTE=Annie] Kara’s coming back, I’m sure. In some way. My WAG is she’s the First Pop Tart and (a) Leoben’s her father. [/QUOTE] The Cylon who imprisoned and raped her is her father? What’s (b)? I presume she didn’t get whacked for the sake of story telling, like Cat (Kat?) and that she will be back in some form, I just hope it doesn’t suck too badly. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2007, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/10 "2007-03-05T04:50:49Z")
That was a well-plotted piece of non-claptrap that never made me want to retch. Seriously, good acting, but the writing was abysmal. It doesn’t matter _what_ they do with Starbuck, we shouldn’t have had to sit through this mess. The plot was nonexistent, and the writing crammed in every damn cliché they could lay their hands on. Flashbacks to her childhood allowing her to come to grips with her mortality. Revisiting the “nothing but the rain” interplay with Adama. The talk with Lee about their last requests. Ugh. We. get. it. She’s going to die in this episode. Stop writing as if we’re watching an old-timey WWII movie in which the young kid just said something heartfelt about what he’s going to do when the war is over. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/11 "2007-03-05T04:59:47Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] The Cylon who imprisoned and raped her is her father? What’s (b)? [/QUOTE] a= one of the Leobens is her father. No (b). Hey, I never said this was a _great_ WAG 😉 Maybe (b) is ‘Fell through big whirly thing in space, hits Earth. Comes back somehow, brings proof of the existence of Earth in the form of …?’ Frakkit, it’s beditime. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/12 "2007-03-05T05:59:02Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] The Cylon who imprisoned and raped her is her father? What’s (b)? [/QUOTE] Imprisoned, yes. Never got the impression there was anything sexual between them until the kisses in “Exodus, Part II.” But then, I have a soft spot for Leoben, even though he’s a crazy robot. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2007, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/13 "2007-03-05T07:17:35Z")
That was… odd. Need to take a second look. But… …hunh. ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/14 "2007-03-05T07:52:07Z")
That was a fitting end for her character and, if the writers are worth their salt, she’ll stay dead. If she comes back through any deux ex machina it will only cheapen the series. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/15 "2007-03-05T13:42:52Z")
I thought it was the best episode in months. Of course, that isn’t saying much considering the soap opera crap we’ve been getting, and I am easily bribed by good special effects. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/16 "2007-03-05T13:52:31Z")
It takes the story out of hard core science fiction and puts in the middle of a religious or spiritual fantasy tale. I fear we can expect gods, demons and wizards rather than good stories after this. How can we argue about magic? If the mage says the magic rifle needs air to fire, then by golly it needs air to fire! 🙂 But good points, easy e and AndyPolley. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/17 "2007-03-05T14:04:45Z")
[QUOTE=easy e] Imprisoned, yes. Never got the impression there was anything sexual between them until the kisses in “Exodus, Part II.” [/QUOTE] And the flashback-dreams in this episode, which clearly seemed to be sexual. [QUOTE=carnivorousplant] It takes the story out of hard core science fiction and puts in the middle of a religious or spiritual fantasy tale. I fear we can expect gods, demons and wizards rather than good stories after this. [/QUOTE] Ehh. Only the oracle’s thorough knowledge of things Starbuck hadn’t shared with anyone else falls into this category. And that could be easily explained if _she_ was a Cylon who’d talked to Leoben. _And_ we’ve seen oracles before (e.g., Amanda Plummer). But for the rest? Everyone keeps saying that Starbuck has a Destiny. Which we didn’t see. Her flashbacks were after she got non-mystically konked on the head. The maelstrom is supposed to be mystically like the painting she made, that was previously mystically like the Algae Planet nova. Lots of people jabbering about Destiny and whatnot isn’t non-scifi if said Destiny _never shows up_. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/18 "2007-03-05T14:07:56Z")
[QUOTE=Lightray] And that could be easily explained if _she_ was a Cylon who’d talked to Leoben. [/QUOTE] I don’t even want to think about that… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/19 "2007-03-05T14:22:50Z")
I started to post last nite, decided to sleep on it before responding… Not a fitting end, probably not an end, but the effects as shown (oh, what pretty fireworks they were) don’t leave any room for survival without her being either a cylon or a lord(ess?) I’m quickly losing hope for this show… with all the hype about turning over, being darker, etc… While as fans we ‘knew’ this was the last episode for the char this season, their was no suspense built into the episode at all… except for hope that maybe they could pull it out of their collective asses (they == the writers) and turn it in the end… I remember looking at simwife and saying “well, they got 4 minutes left, maybe they can do somehting with it that makes it interesting”… and then we get the credit roll… even the lost scene should’ve stayed lost. uugggg. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631/20 "2007-03-05T14:22:52Z")
Ya know…i just watched it again, and she takes her hand off the eject lever, and the canopy of her viper remains intact untill the big boom. So Starbuck is either… 1. Dead. As in dead. 2. Coming back as a cylon…a final fiver. 3. Coming back as something mystical and weird, a la **alphaboi867** ’s “She just met a lord of Kobol” theory. Thinking it through, even though I want her back, I think choice #1 is the best one. It does seem as if her story isn’t over yet, so I guess we’ll see. I’d like to see Lee put her picture up next to Kat’s in the next episode. In fact, I thought that was going to be the useless bonus scene, but they gave us an even more useless bonus scene instead. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bsg-3-4-07-maelstrom-spoilers/394631.md?page=2)