# Geez, Battlestar Galactica is really good!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 2, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973 "2009-03-02T05:53:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/41 "2009-03-02T21:20:30Z")
> [@Cervaise](#):
>
> I would argue that the new show is _much_ truer to the original show’s _premise_ while not being true to the original show itself. In other words, the original show was not true to its own premise.
>
> That premise being, MASSIVE GODSDAMNED HOLOCAUST.
That may be so, but bearing in mind that the original (a) aired in 1978-79, and (b) clearly had children as at least part of its intended audience…I don’t think you should be terribly surprised by that.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/42 "2009-03-02T21:40:37Z")
Fair enough, but if you want to rip off _Star Wars_, you don’t make Act One a recap of the Final Solution.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/43 "2009-03-02T22:50:34Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Forget about Kara – the fun guy to watch is Col. Tigh.
That’s Colonel Superior Asshole, right? I’m sorry, but after Starbuck’s line in the pilot where she’s in the brig, I can’t think of him as anything else.
I’m currently working my way through Season 1, too, via Netflix, but I’ve only seen two discs worth so far (the pilot and the first four episodes). I did catch the cameo of _Serenity_ (or at least, a Firefly-class ship) in the pilot, and also noticed that
Tigh’s wife, with whom he was having so much family angst, was a SixIs there anything else in particular I should have noticed?
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/44 "2009-03-02T23:12:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Tigh’s wife, with whom he was having so much family angst, was a SixIs there anything else in particular I should have noticed?
No, she’s not. It’s a completely different actress. Number Six is played by Tricia Helfer. Ellen Tigh is played by Kate Vernon
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/45 "2009-03-02T23:14:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> and also noticed that
>
> Tigh’s wife, with whom he was having so much family angst, was a Six
Actually, no, though I can see where you might have made that connection.
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### Author:  [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/46 "2009-03-03T00:16:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Tigh’s wife, with whom he was having so much family angst, was a SixIs there anything else in particular I should have noticed?
That Kate Vernon is 48, and Tricia Helfer is 35, and that 13 years is not enough age difference to make the same person indistinguishable.
Otherwise, you’ll end up rehashing one of the (many) interminable, nonsensical fanwank theories.
Save yourself!
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### Author:  [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/47 "2009-03-03T00:38:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> That’s Colonel Superior Asshole, right? I’m sorry, but after Starbuck’s line in the pilot where she’s in the brig, I can’t think of him as anything else.
>
> I’m currently working my way through Season 1, too, via Netflix, but I’ve only seen two discs worth so far (the pilot and the first four episodes). I did catch the cameo of _Serenity_ (or at least, a Firefly-class ship) in the pilot, and also noticed that
>
> Tigh’s wife, with whom he was having so much family angst, was a SixIs there anything else in particular I should have noticed?
I’d kinda recommend you not looking in any spoiler boxes, but you saw wrong there. That’s not a Six.
In that photo you’re referring to, Tigh’s wife is portrayed by David Eick’s real-life wife. I remember that from a podcast commentary, but she’s not an actress in the series.
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### Author:  [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/48 "2009-03-03T01:05:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> That’s Colonel Superior Asshole, right? I’m sorry, but after Starbuck’s line in the pilot where she’s in the brig, I can’t think of him as anything else.
Keep watching. Saul Tigh is a critical part of the plot all the way through the series. He’s ornery and flawed, but so’s \*\*\*every single character \*\*\*in BSG. That’s why the show’s so good. There’s no black or white for any issue or any character. They’re all trying to cope with the hands that they were dealt. Everyone will have moments of great angst, pain, uncertainty, and joy. Ron Moore is a master at raising you emotionally only to bring you crashing down to earth again, and vice versa. The other aspect of BSG that has really appealed to me is that there are no transporters, no replicators, no phasers, no tricorders, no automatic doors, and no shields!!! Imagine a space scifi show without these standard scifi gimmicks! The finale is only 18 frakking days away!
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### Author:  [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/49 "2009-03-03T02:35:51Z")
I am currently early in Season 4 and I absolutely love it so far. The word “frack” has now entered my everyday vocabulary.
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### Author:  [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/50 "2009-03-04T05:36:35Z")
Man, you guys were right about seasons 2-3… I’m just about to finish season 2, and I’ve only seen 4-5 episodes that even come close to most of the stuff in season 1. \>\_\<
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/51 "2009-03-04T05:57:27Z")
Well darn… They do look a lot alike, to the point that when I first saw the scene with that photograph, I expected it to be Baltar holding it. I guess it’s good that I found out now, rather than spending the rest of the series wondering when it was going to become relevant.
> [@](#):
>
> Keep watching. Saul Tigh is a critical part of the plot all the way through the series. He’s ornery and flawed, but so’s every single character in BSG. That’s why the show’s so good.
Oh, I never said that I didn’t appreciate the characterization. But as you say, all of the characters have their flaws, and his is that he’s really good at being a Superior Asshole. Really, the only character I actually want to reach through the screen and slap is Baltar, and I get the impression that that’s exactly how I’m supposed to feel about him.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/52 "2009-03-04T15:22:03Z")
Re Baltar: Yes, absolutely. He is unquestionably the closest thing this series has to an outright villain (at least, among the humans), but it’s a completely different take on villainy than the standard. He’s not rubbing his hands together and looking forward to doing evil; he is thinking only of himself and choosing his own desires, and his own safety, above anyone and everyone else. Sometimes he recognizes this, and hates himself for being that way, to the point of brutal self-flagellation — but he doesn’t stop doing it. And he never, ever totally _sees_ himself as the villain, which leads us, occasionally, to sympathize weirdly with his position and his choices.
Basically, he’s selfish and emotionally weak, but simultaneously gifted with extraordinary intelligence and a powerful will. This is a dangerous, destructive combination, and it’s much more representative of what a real-world villain is probably like, compared to the mustache-twirling, easily-recognized-as-evil baddie we normally get in shows like this.
He can be a frustrating character, certainly, because it’s not at all what one expects or even wants from a conventional bad guy, but that’s precisely in line with the show’s narrative and artistic ethos.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/53 "2009-03-04T15:39:19Z")
I’ve joked that, in the final scene of the final episode, we’ll have Baltar as the only survivor of the entire cast. He’s like a cockroach. Well, maybe a cockroach who gets laid an awful lot. 😃
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### Author:  [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/54 "2009-03-04T16:22:27Z")
> [@Omi\_no\_Kami](#):
>
> Man, you guys were right about seasons 2-3… I’m just about to finish season 2, and I’ve only seen 4-5 episodes that even come close to most of the stuff in season 1. \>\_\<
I’ll be interested in your opinion of the Season 2 finale. It was VERY polarizing among fans at the time-- at first, I absolutely _hated_ it.
But then, over time, I got used to it. And then to see how it’s all excellently (IMHO) resolved in Season 3 makes it all worthwhile.
The best thing about the way Season 2 ended? It proved to you that Moore & Co. had the balls to do \*absolutely anything \*to these characters, and the show. Take nothing for granted.
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### Author:  [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/55 "2009-03-04T16:36:17Z")
> [@davekhps](#):
>
> I’ll be interested in your opinion of the Season 2 finale. It was VERY polarizing among fans at the time-- at first, I absolutely _hated_ it.
I’m pretty neutral about it. It’s an interesting twist, and since the first few episodes of season 3 seem to be a big improvement on the worst of 2 I think it was worth doing.
As far as the individual episode goes, though, I have a few big problems with how the season finale played out. One issue was that I felt the election subplot was poorly written: it felt like one of the writers said “Gee, we should have a political story”, and they just winged it from there. Considering how important the results of the election would become, I kind of wished they’d made the events leading up to the thing slightly more nuanced.
Speaking of writing, the finale seemed to suffer rather heavily from Heroes syndrome, in which protagonists who we know are quite intelligent do unbelievably stupid, short-sighted things (to wit, settling on the planet) in order to give the story an excuse to move on.
Granted, I think that was the _point_ here, but I didn’t feel like the interplay between the new president-elect and the rest of the cast was deep enough: we know that, with the exception of maybe Baltar, everyone with a say in fleet affairs is convinced that settling is a really, really bad idea. Given that, their decision to resolve the whole decision with that thirty second exchange between Baltar and the admiral felt kind of cheap, especially when you consider Adama’s past issues with backing civilian authority when they make stupid decisions.
All in all, I’m liking that the second season finale seems to have brought the show in an interesting direction, but I ultimately thought that it did so in an uncharacteristically shallow manner.
Oh, and for the record? Thrace’s Crazy Cylon Baby Seduction House = worst subplot _ever_.
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### Author:  [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/56 "2009-03-04T16:43:21Z")
> [@Omi\_no\_Kami](#):
>
> Speaking of writing, the finale seemed to suffer rather heavily from Heroes syndrome, in which protagonists who we know are quite intelligent do unbelievably stupid, short-sighted things (to wit, settling on the planet) in order to give the story an excuse to move on.
I think the differences you’re seeing are only superficial. Heroes does have its characters make stupid decisions to set up the plot they want, and those decisions tend to be wildly out of character for how the characters have been portrayed. Peter sliding around from unbelievably stupid to only rather dim. Mohinder’s season o’ eeeevil. Nathan’s current hijinks. All way out of character.
BSG, on the other hand, has the characters make stupid decisions that are _in_-character for them. Gaius and Kara being the posterchildren for this, really. You’re not really left wondering why the heck they would’ve done something, so much as left shaking your head that Gaius couldn’t help thinking with his tallywhacker again, or that Kara has gone off the rails and messed up her life once more.
> [@Omi\_no\_Kami](#):
>
> Oh, and for the record? Thrace’s Crazy Cylon Baby Seduction House = worst subplot _ever_.
Oh, don’t decide _yet_.
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### Author:  [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/57 "2009-03-04T18:26:25Z")
Alright, everything else aside, the rescue scene from the second part of Exodus was pretty damn cool.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/58 "2009-03-04T22:35:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Well, maybe a cockroach who gets laid an awful lot.
…By his imaginary friend. I’m somehow not entirely convinced that that’s a point in his favor.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/59 "2009-03-04T23:52:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> …By his imaginary friend. I’m somehow not entirely convinced that that’s a point in his favor.
He has a Real, Live Harem at the moment. I’m sure there was a Lewinsky following while he was President. 🙂
Speaking of his imaginary friend, maybe he will awaken from a drug induced haze in the last episode and Adam and Tighe will go home after the decommissioning ceremony and have a beer.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-battlestar-galactica-is-really-good/487973/60 "2009-03-05T00:56:51Z")
I don’t blame anyone for occasional typos, but this one has been cropping up a lot lately. Please, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m just going a little crazy right now and I hope my calling this to everyone’s attention will clear this one little thing up:
> [@Battlestar Galactica 4.19 - "Someone to Watch Over Me" (spoilers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-19-someone-to-watch-over-me-spoilers/487684/96):
>
> Cottle had to remove the body…is abort the correct term when the fetus is dead?..and \*\*Tighe \*\*said he saw the body.
> [@Battlestar Galactica 4.18 - "Deadlock" (spoilers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-18-deadlock-spoilers/486664/45):
>
> I really do not like them turning Adama into **Tighe** ’s drinking buddy, it makes me squirm for some reason to see Adama all slurry.
> [@Battlestar Galactica 4.10 'Sine Qua Non' (open spoilers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/battlestar-galactica-4-10-sine-qua-non-open-spoilers/450844/40):
>
> How did I miss that \*\*Tighe \*\*and 6 had sex?
It’s **Tigh** , no _E_. Same spelling in both the original and reimagined series.
Just a friendly reminder. 🙂
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