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Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?

nine-gear crow posted:

I don't think there's a single thing that happens in that episode that has any continuity or connective tissue with anything else in the show. You could easily skip it and it would not effect your understanding of the show nor have to grapple with the weird stain it puts on Adama's already pretty great and nuanced character in the name of... I don't know what they were doing, really. Hero sucks, and it only manages to not be the worst episode of the show because The Woman King exists.

The only part of Hero that has any bearing on the series is that it is the episode where Saul finally snaps out of his depressive funk since anew Caprics and reconciles with Adama after being a miserable jackass for half the season.

On my rewatch I'm up to the part in season 2 where Adama wakes up from his coma after Saul and Ellen have hosed up the fleet for four episodes. I'm wondering if I should bother to watch Razor after getting to The Captain's Hand considering it adds absolutely nothing to the series outside of the reference to Homeworld and the Bentusi with Campbell Lane ad the Hybrid.

Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 17:46 on May 8, 2021

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Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
If we were coming up with a list of worst BsG episodes what would people add to it?

Black Market
Hero
The Woman King
Tigh Me Up Tigh me Down

Basically all the parts of The Plan that don't feature Dean Stockwell chewing the scenery.

Maybe the piano episode? I honestly barely remember season 4 it's such a blur of stupid. Maybe the episode where they killed Cally so Nicki Clyne could leave the show to go join the NXIVM sex cult.

Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 19:17 on May 8, 2021

Squizzle
Apr 24, 2008




every 33 posts itt you must repost the op or cylons should probe you

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
The OP was created by Man.

It rebelled.

It evolved.

There are many copies.

And they have no plan.

Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 01:20 on May 9, 2021

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkOjeYY6vxc

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
Onto Flight of the Phoenix. I like this one ad a sort of "day in the life" episode. Sharon plugging a wire into her arm is stupid but the turkey shoot and building the stealth ship is good stuff.

Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 20:21 on May 9, 2021

Data Graham
Dec 28, 2009

📈📊🍪😋



Just finished the pilot 3-parter of BSG 1980, and boy is it dire. Its reputation sure does precede it.

Though maybe the foremost thing that I notice about it, and most ruefully, is how it has that 50s-B-movie-esque hero-worship of prominent scientists, like they're dominant pop culture figures whose opinions are treated with breathless adulation and whose personal safety is the concern of the whole of society. Professor Mortinson is supposed to be like post-WWII Einstein or something, basically a celebrity and national hero whose every utterance is news. What a time capsule for 2021 where the equivalent figure would be someone like Dr. Fauci who is considered a hack fraud by half the country, or climate scientists who are regarded as corrupt money-grubbing egotists.

Anyway yeah I understand why this iteration of the show is so terrible, all the network interference and all, and the budget constraints forcing them to be like "welp, I guess space-time wedgie with invisible ships in a park in the 80s that will be done marginally better in a couple years with Star Trek IIIV :shrug:" To the point where it makes BSG'78 look like fuckin Avatar or something by comparison. And it's only going to go downhill from here I'm sure. But I guess I just want to see it for myself.

:munch:

Sir DonkeyPunch
Mar 23, 2007

I didn't hear no bell

Arcsquad12 posted:

Sharon plugging a wire into her arm is stupid

I remember this bugging me because "if she can do this, how tf is she indistinguishable from a human??"

DrBouvenstein
Feb 28, 2007

I think I'm a doctor, but that doesn't make me a doctor. This fancy avatar does.

Sir DonkeyPunch posted:

I remember this bugging me because "if she can do this, how tf is she indistinguishable from a human??"

See also: red orgasm spine.

Granted, they dropped that after the mini series and I think the producers even said it was dumb but they just thought it looked cool. But...like... Even if we're doing it cowgirl, as seen in the show, I would notice if my girlfriend spine loving glowed.

Data Graham
Dec 28, 2009

📈📊🍪😋



*digs up fossil toddler skeleton*

"This hominid specimen could be the ancestor of all humans"

"Oh really? How can you tell?"

"It's a robot"

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
I do like how the ending makes this big bluster about Hera being mitochondrial eve but they already told us that there were humanoids on the planet and the colonials threw all their medicine into the sun. So hera and the other colonists and Cylon models all died off come wintertime.

Farmer Crack-Ass
Jan 2, 2001

this is me posting irl

Arcsquad12 posted:

Maybe the piano episode? I honestly barely remember season 4 it's such a blur of stupid. Maybe the episode where they killed Cally so Nicki Clyne could leave the show to go join the NXIVM sex cult.

Is that really why? I just assumed the producers killed her off because they were bored with her.


That show sure loved depicting violence against women. How many times did they show some dude choking a woman out? And there was that weird pregnancy center the Cylons setup on occupied Caprica. And there was the "we need to ban abortion because we gotta start pumping out kids" (in a closed environment that already struggles to provide for the existing population) episode, which was one of those things Ron Moore brought over from his Voyager critique.

Farmer Crack-Ass fucked around with this message at 07:35 on May 10, 2021

Farmer Crack-Ass
Jan 2, 2001

this is me posting irl
I've said it elsewhere but between BSG, and the way some of the female Trek characters got written out (K'ehlar being brutally murdered because Ron Moore thought it would be a nice gut punch, Moore being all pissy over Jadzia Dax's death in an interview because he thought that her reaching for her phaser before Dukat kills her was too cliche), I'm kinda suspicious of Ron Moore.

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?

Farmer Crack-rear end posted:

Is that really why they killed that character off? I just assumed the producers killed her off because they were bored with her.

Yeah, if you look at her filmography her output drops off the map for live action work after her character was killed off.

They also wrote off Billy's character because his actor wanted out after it became clear the writers had no clue what to do with him.

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





Farmer Crack-rear end posted:

I've said it elsewhere but between BSG, and the way some of the female Trek characters got written out (K'ehlar being brutally murdered because Ron Moore thought it would be a nice gut punch, Moore being all pissy over Jadzia Dax's death in an interview because he thought that her reaching for her phaser before Dukat kills her was too cliche), I'm kinda suspicious of Ron Moore.

It was a theory on SA for years now that Ellen Tigh was an unsubtle vehicle to work out his frustrations with his wife through and whenever she showed up on a commentary track for various episode with Moore there was always an audible tension between the two that made people uncomfortable.

They’re still together though, so :shrug:

Farmer Crack-Ass
Jan 2, 2001

this is me posting irl
Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett stayed together too.

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
While BSG is overall an uneven show with a lot of missteps, I think that it ultimately has one of, if not the best ensemble casts in science fiction television. There are dozens of characters in BSG and nearly all of them are memorable in some way or another. There's more named characters in the Galactica air wing than there are regulars on Star Trek TNG.

MadDogMike
Apr 9, 2008

Cute but fanged
If we want to talk about something that deserves unmitigated praise for BSG, I have to say the soundtrack qualifies. Both the original and remake really, although Bear McCreary gets the edge between the two of those. Just great stuff through the whole thing.

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?

MadDogMike posted:

If we want to talk about something that deserves unmitigated praise for BSG, I have to say the soundtrack qualifies. Both the original and remake really, although Bear McCreary gets the edge between the two of those. Just great stuff through the whole thing.

Except for the UK intro which sounds so bad compared to the military March of the USA intro. Ooh, it sounds more spiritual, sure thing, it still sounds like crap.

Data Graham
Dec 28, 2009

📈📊🍪😋



The original does have a pretty great score, I keep noticing new little cues specific to each episode's environment (like the ice planet, etc) that do a good job of incorporating the main fanfare and motifs. Even the whocka-chicka 1980 soundtrack with the main theme recast as motorcycle disco has its moments :v:

The fanfare itself though, it definitely feels kind of just a liiiiiiiiiittle over-the-top, like it's trying just hard enough to ape Star Wars that it starts sounding like a parody, the way the Spaceballs theme does. Those repeated hammering trumpet notes have an air of the look-at-me-mom-I'm-smart-too about them.

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
Man Fisk is such a wasted character. He's super compelling in Pegasus and Resurrection Ship and then they kill him.

Data Graham
Dec 28, 2009

📈📊🍪😋



HAHAHAHAA holy poo poo :tviv:







HE HAS BEEN PROTECTED :psylon:

sad question
May 30, 2020

I liked it when Chief staged a strike because children workers kept getting stuck in the machine gears and Adama responded by threatening to airlock his cabbage smelling wife. But it's okay because at the end Roslin tells hims that his feedback is appreciated and she will get back to him as soon as possible.

I imagine kids were getting ground into paste until the last episode.

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer

sad question posted:

I liked it when Chief staged a strike because children workers kept getting stuck in the machine gears and Adama responded by threatening to airlock his cabbage smelling wife. But it's okay because at the end Roslin tells hims that his feedback is appreciated and she will get back to him as soon as possible.

I imagine kids were getting ground into paste until the last episode.

This is ultimately why the mutiny was justified

DrBouvenstein
Feb 28, 2007

I think I'm a doctor, but that doesn't make me a doctor. This fancy avatar does.

sad question posted:

I liked it when Chief staged a strike because children workers kept getting stuck in the machine gears and Adama responded by threatening to airlock his cabbage smelling wife. But it's okay because at the end Roslin tells hims that his feedback is appreciated and she will get back to him as soon as possible.

I imagine kids were getting ground into paste until the last episode.

I really did get infuriated how it was never really addressed again. Like...the solution was...find MORE people who might have worked with machinery or agriculture to work on the ore processing and food refining ships?

Meanwhile the Battlestar Galactica universe equivalent of Bezos, Gates, and Musk are living in luxury on what is essentially a 3 year long vacation on the cruise liner ship.

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer

DrBouvenstein posted:

Meanwhile the Battlestar Galactica universe equivalent of Bezos, Gates, and Musk are living in luxury on what is essentially a 3 year long vacation on the cruise liner ship.

Any version of the show that tackles this issue appropriately is a version of the show that gets canceled almost immediately I'm sure

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
Or it would be the shortest show ever once the Galactica turns its guns on the fleet to quell a civilian uprising and then gets jumped by five basestars and destroyed.

Narzack
Sep 15, 2008
Having poo poo tasted in everything rules, because I was fine with the ending of the 2003 show. Didn't bother me at all, and I loved the rest of the show, even when it kind of devolved into sweaty people bickering in space.

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer

Arcsquad12 posted:

Or it would be the shortest show ever once the Galactica turns its guns on the fleet to quell a civilian uprising and then gets jumped by five basestars and destroyed.

iirc this isn't too far off from the original plan for the finale before the writer's strike, that the mutiny would succeed but most of the fleet would end up getting destroyed.

my point was that the show was for all it's excellent parts, was politically still basic liberal trash; the colonials couldn't keep their civilization and died in agony because they couldn't see any way other than the status quo bullshit was see in real life. Had they accepted fully automated luxury gay space communism into their hearts they could have teamed up with the rebel cylons and made Earth 2 into a paradise from their cool new city but instead they all wandered into the woods and shat themselves to death/got mauled by mammoths etc.

honestly Im very tired and I don't think bsg was as smartly written as it came across sometimes

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
Oh it has some terrible writing in it, no arguments there. What it does have is fantastic acting from nearly everyone in the cast and they can sell garbage dialogue like no others. Lee's argument that gets Baltar acquitted is terrible but Jamie Bamber acts it very well. I'm not sure the guy playing Lampkin was even acting or if he just showed up on set and acted like a weirdo.

Except for Helo. Tamoh Penniket was the worst regular on the show.

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer
Eh, Helo was such a dorky character that should have died a thousand times over in that universe I don't think even a more seasoned actor could have convincingly done much more with him. I don't think there were any particularly bad actors in the show.

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
A number of the extras from the Pegasus crew were pretty bad but that was more when the script got to the point where even good acting couldn't save how outlandish their actions got. The blanket party duo were terrible and I'm glad the one shithead got shot during the mutiny.

Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 00:20 on May 15, 2021

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer
I lold pretty hard when the captain of their air wing turned out to be the guy from first wave

Defiance Industries
Jul 22, 2010

A five-star manufacturer


DrBouvenstein posted:

I really did get infuriated how it was never really addressed again. Like...the solution was...find MORE people who might have worked with machinery or agriculture to work on the ore processing and food refining ships?

Meanwhile the Battlestar Galactica universe equivalent of Bezos, Gates, and Musk are living in luxury on what is essentially a 3 year long vacation on the cruise liner ship.

Wasn't everyone on the cruise liner already dead by the time that happened?

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





Defiance Industries posted:

Wasn't everyone on the cruise liner already dead by the time that happened?

There were two luxury liners in the fleet. Cloud Nine, which got nuked at the end of Season 2 by Gina, and the ring-shaped habitat ship from Libran. That one made it to Earth but it got turbofucked by the passage through the hell nebula on the way to the algae planet.

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
I think he's talking about Colonial One, which was a passenger liner before getting converted into the presidential office. Zarek and Gaeta's coup led to them murdering everyone on Colonial One during a quorum meeting.

Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 02:01 on May 15, 2021

Arc Hammer
Mar 4, 2013

Got any deathsticks?
And I'm up to Black Market, just to kill the mood from Pegasus with Fisk getting killed and Lee being a creep to a prostitute and her daughter.

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





Arcsquad12 posted:

And I'm up to Black Market, just to kill the mood from Pegasus with Fisk getting killed and Lee being a creep to a prostitute and her daughter.

And that's what sucks too--because Fisk's death is plot-relevant and starts the dominoes falling that leads to Lee in command of Pegasus, you can't skip it like lesser relevant season 2 and 3 episodes. You have to watch Lee be a weird creep and then flash back to that other time he was a weird creep because that's serialized storytelling baby :stonklol:

SixFigureSandwich
Oct 30, 2004
Exciting Lemon

Data Graham posted:

Though maybe the foremost thing that I notice about it, and most ruefully, is how it has that 50s-B-movie-esque hero-worship of prominent scientists, like they're dominant pop culture figures whose opinions are treated with breathless adulation and whose personal safety is the concern of the whole of society. Professor Mortinson is supposed to be like post-WWII Einstein or something, basically a celebrity and national hero whose every utterance is news.

That's also how Baltar is treated at the start of BSG2003. Well that and also being a sniveling coward

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Take the plunge! Okay!
Feb 24, 2007



I guess getting a PhD is really hard in BSG universe. Everyone is like “doctor Baltar” as if it meant something, and I feel like there are dozens of dorks with PhDs that I know who are just regular people that happen to work in academia.

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