I skipped to the end of this thread (without reading the recent posts) because I have to tell someone that it is killing me that the new episode isn't on iTunes yet. WTF is taking so long???!!!??? BTW, I won't be able to read your replies to this post.

Hopefully I can join you guys soon.

the link to download the podcast is still not working either.

I've got the podcast for 3x01-02 in m4a format. I'm on AIM, sn is Willravel. I should be within earshot of AIM most of the time tonight. I'll try to link it somewhere online.

Did I hear Ronald Moore say they're going to wrap up the New Caprica story in two weeks?

"I was thrown by Helo's preformance, just throws me!...I'm gonna have to kill that guy."
"I shouldn't joke like that, because we're perfectly capable of doing it."
:lol:

The BSG Season 2 soundtrack is amazing.

Yeah, they're not going to waste much time getting off New Caprica.

Spoiler: One of the reasons for the story, as I understand it, is that they felt the fleet was too strong against the Cylons, so they wanted to fix that. The heavy damage they're bound to take getting off New Caprica is sure to create a weaker fleet which the Cylons pose a greater threat to.

And, yeah, the season 2 soundtrack is wonderful. I particularly like the theme in "Roslin Confesses" and "One Year Later." It's funny you mention that too, because just this past afternoon I queued up the soundtracks to the miniseries, season 1, and season 2 and listened to them. Great stuff!

Not really a whole lot to say about the opener.

I really like where they're taking all the old favorites. Even Baltar, duplicitous bastard that he is, is going to be taking a very interesting ride this season, I think. And I'm really digging the 'bizarro' world (as Moore puts it) storyline with Starbuck and Leoben. Reminds me of an old Twillight Zone episode or something....

I can't believe they're going to wrap up the New Caprica storyline as quickly as Moore intimated; It'll be nice to see everyone together again, but, wow, there's a hundred different threads to tie up before then.

Yeah, my favorites are "Worthy of Survival", "Prelude to War", "Roslin and Adama", "Adagio",... I like the whole sound track. :thumbsup:

Occupation & Precipice (episodes 1 & 2) are now available on iTunes. Enjoy.

Yee hah, just discovered BSG has made it to the TFP, too. Gosh I love that show! I am captivated by the story line, moved by the music and just absolutely adore the whole thing. I've seen a number of other BSG boards out there, and as much as I'd like to rise above the draw, can't get away from the discussion of the littlest points they get into. It stretches me, to see an insurgency that is "righteous" and an occupying force that is "evil".

But then again, the other boards aren't TFP, so I'll let the minutiae (sp?) go.

Frak it all - looking forward to Friday nights now.

Its Friday! http://www.moodsmilies.com/smilies/happy/jumpy.gif

Dang, Ch'i, your smiley guy looks like he's had way too much coffee!

Yep, it's Friday already (ya gotta love insomnia), but it's not FRIDAY NIGHT yet! Give me my BSG - now!

You might be interested in Bear McCreary's relatively new blog:
http://www.bearmccreary.com/index.htm

He plans on making an entry about the music for each episode as they air this season. There are also a couple entries from over the summer that he made.

I really like the unique instruments McCreary employs. Specifically the duduk, and erhu. I really like them.

Oh God....don't say Duck! We all got to know his character so well in the webisodes....then *BAM*...so sad.

You know they did it on purpose too...

Damn Ronald D. Moore and his overly talented ability to write. Gets me every time.

Edit: Rest assured, duduk is pronounced "doodook."

Looks like its going to be a much better season this time around. I didn't like it as much before, but I'm liking this season so far.

Blasphemy! :thumbsup:

Damn, the second episode was over before the juicy stuff started! :(

...which means the next episode could very well be a "Ressurection Ship part 2" type episode. Oh yeah...:D

Feel the anticipation.... FEEL it.

Well, this is what Bear McCreary (composer of the music for BSG) has had to say about Exodus, Part II....andI'm looking forward to it. :D

I like the new avatar, SM.

I've been curious ever since Lay Down Your Burden's Pt. 2, when it was mentioned that the Cylons had "other things to attend to." I am especially curious now after hearing the Cylons mentioning their resources were stretched thin, and Ronald Moore acknowledging that "they are actually doing something else that is pulling their resources away from this little experiment on New Caprica; that its not the only thing they've got going."

I wonder what they're up to.

Well you figure that there are possibly resistance movements on each of the colonies. If they didn't get everybody on Caprica, they must have missed some in other places.

I hope it's more than that though. They said there were what, 5 battlestars at one point orbiting New Caprica? It would be cool if there was something taxing THAT resource.

I'm pretty sure they easily crushed all the resistance movements, although it does make you curious what's going on with the human survivors that weren't rescued from the other colonies. I'm going to say that this is probably one of those nitpicky points that is irrelevant and which we should suspend our disbelief regarding.

Spoiler: There may be more to the resources issue, but I'm sure part of it has to do with the virus that's going to come up later on in the season.

has anybody listened to the podcast for episode 3?
and if so...is anyone getting strange audio blips and distortion?

nope, the netcast worked just fine for me :thumbsup:

I listened to the podcast for episode 3 earlier today and it sounded fine, aside from the usual amount of disturbances (or lack thereof)


I've made a descision to stop trying to guess what's going to happen next and just enjoy where Ronald takes it. I like surprises and would hate it if I inadvertently spoiled the show.

Good choice. I've accidentally (and, in some cases, not so accidentally) read some things about what's coming up and, while I am positive it will still be thrilling, I'm a bit sad I won't get to experience the "shock and awe" of the events like I did when Billy (oh, poor Billy) was suddenly killed and I had no idea it was coming.

EDIT: Damnit. I had forgotten about Billy. I really liked his character. :(

I don't think they did crush the resistance on other colonies. Remember from Lay Down Your Burdens Pt2 on Caprica when the rescue was in play, the Cylons disappeared after they cornered the resistance and rescue group? I would bet that the same thing happened on the other colonies.

Its that time again.


Are you ready for the New Caprica finalé?

Yaaaaaaay.

All shows are deeply and frighteningly inferrior in every way possible to Battlestar Galactica. Compared to Battlestar... Lost, House, CSI, and American Idol combined are the holocaust.

Perfect. Simply perfect.

Holy schnikes. :eek:

Well worth the wait for that....well worth the wait.

It's good to see the family back together.

Spoiler: So...I guess Tigh didn't really kill Ellen? I mean, I seem to remember Moore (or maybe his wife) mentioning during the pod...excuse me...netcast that Ellen had a fairly interesting storyline coming up. So...either Tigh didn't kill her or Ellen is a skin job, eh? :hmm:

Spoiler: Remember when Moore said that Olmos wouldn't be in season 3? Yeah, they love to frack with us. Just like Tigh being gay.

The show is stuck in my head. Its stuck in my head, and that's exactly where I want to keep it.


Battlestar Galactica just officially murdered every other show on television in a single fell swoop of storyline exploitation, emotional content and drama.


Television is officially over. I've sold all of my belongings, and humbly kneel before this show. May Edward James Olmos and Ronald Moore have mercy on our souls.

Tonights show was outstanding! They had some problems (I felt) with some of the cliche moments that all series/tv shows have but tonights had none of those problems. The actting, script, music (especially the music), et al were excellent. Battlestar is simply the best show on TV!

Fraking brilliant show.

Impressive; they have Exodus Pt. 2 up on iTunes already.

Amazing. I love this show.

Last night's episode continues to stick with me, and it just makes me realize how awesome the show really is. I almost missed a cue backstage today because I was lost in BSG thoughts. :lol:

The scenes with Tigh were absolutely heartbreaking. As I told Secret, his character is the one towards whom my attitude continues to change the most. At first I was mostly eh towards him, then I hated him, and now I love his tough persona and truly felt horrible for what he's had to go through at this point. Just a testament to the incredible writing and acting on the show.

I'm assuming anyone reading this thread has watched the last episode:

"Okay, now this little bit is something I came up with, you know, in a rewrite. That, okay, Galactica can't just jump into low orbit. Its going to jump into the fucking atmosphere and fall like a rock... I love this, this is just, like, tremendous effects work by Gary Hutzel and his team. And its just going going going going, and then at the last second it jumps out. Now watch all this. This is, like, visual effects a go-go. And we'd better win the fucking emmy for this this year or I'm gonna -- I sware to God."



Michael Hogan is such a fantastic actor.

:lol: Too true.

I thought it about over the weekend and after listening to the netcast for this episode, I guess the coffin is pretty well nailed shut.

I've been bumping around the battlestar wiki (the url I can't remember, but I'd be happy to dig it up for those interested...) and it mentions that the 12 skin-jobs are archetypes of the human race. I've read their stuff and I've got my own opinions, but I'd be interested to hear the opinions of those here as well.


And yeah, Ch'i--- Michael Hogan is a helluva an actor. An actor I didn't really appreciate until this season.

I'd be very interested in reading that web site and discussing this, if you can find the link.

Yes he is. And Saul Tigh is one of the most interesting characters on the show.

This is the best show on TV. Too bad I can't just buy the DVDs for three times the price and watch every single show right now.

Oh man, oh man, I'm so hooked (Been hooked since Season 1 of course :D) I can't wait to see what the Cylons think of Hera, nor can I wait to see what the aftermath of the Occupation for the fleet.

Too bad Pegasus was sacrificed, she was a good ship. I think Galactica would be crippled after taking on 4 BaseStar and is in no shape to protect the fleet when the Cylons pursue them.

You mean IF the Cylons pursue them.

Why wouldn't they? Isn't that's what the whole series is about apart from internal fleet troubles and such?

Well remember the end of the last season. Caprica Six and Bommer Eight were able to sway Cylon opinion. The Brother Cavil Cylons, in the brig, admitted that the attacks and subsequent occupation of the 12 Colonies were a mistake, and, more pertanant to your question, they said that hounding the fleet was a mistake. That thought still has to be in their mind, so I think the question is still up in the air. Also, as stated, the Galactica is severly crippled. While they might be able to jump around, I doubt they will be ready for a fight for some time. Also, we don't know if Spoiler: Baltar is actually a Cylon, and able to sway Cylon opinion even more, in tandum with his lover, Caprica Six, and Boomer Eight. It's part of the reason the next episode will be so pivitol. We get to see Baltar on a basestar with the human Cylons in their natural (so to speak) environment.

I think this is the article you were referring to, it is a transcript of an interview with Ron Moore.

link

Based on that,

Spoiler: There are 12 models and 7 are known. Five of them are white, one is a black man, and one is an asian woman. If they are truly archetypes of humanity then all races need to be represented. Therefore I think at least one will be a black woman, one asian man, and possibly a male and female hispanic? That leaves one other, possibly a dark haired white woman.

I was thinking that he meant it less along the lines of racial or physical attributes and more along the lines of psychological traits and characteristics that we as humans collectively share.

That's the truth! I have to confess I shed a few tears over that scene (which I NEVER do, by the way)...good lord. Talk about your human tragedy. Gut-wretching, and fractastic acting by both of them.

What kind of guy quotes himself? Me. Looks like I was WAY early with this (couple years according to the Colonial Calender / 9 months on ours) since I said it on 1/13/2006

Ok - well looks like I should have taken the over on that one. She lasted like 12-15 episodes or something. Also, the Pegasus was pretty clearly destroyed, but she did good taking out a bunch of crap in the process.

Sultana I got sniffy in that that episode as well. What a great freaking show. I told my wife that I have to give them a 10 Episode free pass from my "can a brotha get a space battle" rantings after all that action. So many good things to say about this I have to tell you.

BTW - Guthmund, now your buddy is in his element. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.

Perhaps but at the end of the season too, they attack and occuplied New Caprica. So, how does that help the Cylons claim that they've made a mistake?

Actually they didn't attack New Caprica. They occupied it, then they fought an insurgency. The thing is Cylons aren't able to respect humans as lifeforms because of hatred from the Cylons wars. That's translated in their behavior towards us. But remember, if they wanted to take us out, they could have just nuked the city and been done with it. As for the nuke at the end of season 2, Pegasus Six had been out of contact with the Cylons for a long time, also she was kinda nuts.

They may have not blown up the New Caprica settlement camp but they were planning to during Exodus Pt 2.

I guess we'll see what the Cylons will do on this coming up Sat.

Well compared to the one before, last night's ep. was boring, but a good follow up if a bit predictable.

possible minor spoiler: so does the president's pardon to all include old president Baltar? Or did she say somehting like "to all currently in the fleet"?

I actually disagree. The fact there was going to be an episode something like last night's was a bit predictable, but I think it was done very well. For one thing...

Spoiler: I really wasn't sure if they were going to kill Gaeta or not. Not to mention, having gotten to know Jammer through the webisodes, it really sucked seeing him get killed like that. Very suspenseful.

Quoting yourself? Sheesh... :rolleyes: :lol:

The thing I find interesting about Baltar--and even more so with this last episode--is that you're not really all that sure that he really is a 'bad guy.' It would be so easy just to make him--and the Cylons, for that matter--just another set of stereotypical bad guys, but Moore doesn't and I applaud him for that. It's an absolute testament to the writing (if I can paraphrase Onodrim) and it's what makes this show so very, very good.

It definitely going to be interesting to see where Moore will take Baltar now that he's a stranger in a strange land.

As for last night's episode, I thought it was pretty good, although I would have rather had them explore Jammer's story a bit more rather than blow him out into space at the first opportunity. Another outstanding performance from Hogan (did you see the look on his face once he found out Gaeta wasn't who he thought he was?) and an excellent bit of work from Aaron Douglas, who plays Tyrol.

I find it a bit hypocritical on Starbuck's part to be so quick to condemn. She did what she had to do to survive, even if that meant getting cozy with Leoben. How can she hold others to a standard she can't even hold herself to? I guess it shouldn't surprise me all things considered, but boy, does it make it hard to like her sometimes.

Well she's probably really mad at herself, and possibly even blames herself on some level for her detention and the Stockholm's (not for any logical reason, but that's the way the human mind works). Her guilt is manafesting itself as anger - big surprise - and she's lashing out in every direction. I wonder if her seperation from Anders is going to be perminant.

As to Baltar, I also have to applaud the unmatched writing on BSG. As stated, the question of Baltar being antagonist or protagonist at the end of the day has never been fuzzier. Yes, he is a survivolist by nature, willing to do horrible things in order to go on living, but we did see hima t whit's end when Gaeta was holding a gun to Baltar's head in Ex part 2. Baltar appeared to be ready to die....or was that simply Baltar calling a bluff? The only person who knows for sure is Moore.

So now that Baltar looks to be staying on with the Cylon fleet will he end up being the hero of the human race afterall? As they both race for earth, will he sabotage the cylon's plans, even blow them up, taking his own life in the process? Is it possible for Baltar to have a change of heart, to decide which race should ultimately survive this conflict?

That is exactly what I was going to say. Deep down she is angry with herself and rather than work through it, she lashes out at others. How many people do we run across in our lives who are the same way?

Well put. I love how the characters on the show are so complete that you can actually analize them as if they were real. That is a real testament to the acting and writing. I mean I could get Kara Thrace on a couch and figure her out. Heh.

As far as anybody knows, the Cylon isn't aware that Earth exist, or even knows that the fleet is searching for Earth.

Watch the end of the last episode. The Cylons plan to make Earth their new homeworld. It's a race!

As much as I would like to help her by diving into what makes her tick and why she blows up otherwise healthy relationships, I think I would do other things to her on the couch. That long hair is totally doing it for me.

Oh yeah - and despite the divorce / breakup / whatever it was. . . I am going to go back to my previous "Anders is not long for this world" statement. That goes with Apollo's wife too but not yet. I mean if he is not dead, what role will Anders play? I mean the roles on the show:

- He Can't Fly (that I know of which applies to a lot of these)
- He doesn't run a com center
- He is not a senior officer (sure he could "join up" but he would be just a grunt right?)
- He is not into politics (although the "name you know" platform works wonders here on Earth and I bet he would win in a landslide due to his involvement on New Caprica + his Pyramids fame)
- He isn't a Cylon
- He doesn't fix stuff (i.e. Chief)

I dunno - what else is there to do for a guy like him? He is a classic "good" guy. I mean when things got ugly in the Jury thing, he left since he could not effect change. He fights for right and seems to have no evil. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
-

He could be the first main character to be a marine. He has at least 13 months experience in guerrilla warfare and tactics against the Cylon. Not only that, but who's to say Anders and Starbuck are broken up indefinately? He'd make a hell of a cylon.

There was several other characters that was really part of the military, the government or some kind of rogue organization that rebelled that needed quelling. Take a look at Tigh's wife for starters, she didn't do much other than fuck around.

I suppose he could go into rebel organizations as a spy or something, but who would assign him? I mean Adama and the President don't REALLY know him do they? As as I mentioned, I can't see him as some regular grunt and I don't know that they would put him in charge of all the grunts based on no formal military experience. Mind you - I am a "hire talent not experience" guy - but most people are not.

Besides I don't know how much grunt work there is on the spaceship. I suspect people at this point are just happy to back in the fleet so they will keep quiet for a little while. I mean - Rosalyn should have a pass for a while for whatever she wants to do. Can't see a lot of descent with her.

Can't say I really see what they will do with him other than kill him now that we like him. Then again - that is what they EXPECT us to expect them to do. So they will have to do something weird with him.

(BTW - can't see the "Tigh's wife thing" either. Sci-Fi Fans are overwhelmingly males. I know we have a few, but the "Now playing the role of Captain Kirk: Anders" thing is not too likely.)

Maybe but the fleet isn't really in a position to pick and choose right now. There isn't a large pool of candidates. Also, why can't he train to fly? I don't think the new pilots had much experience.

Would you train somebody to fly if his previous experience is in gurella warfare?

Why not? They are basically stuck on ships. Do they plan on fighting Cylons on the ground any time soon?

They never planned on fighting the cylons on foot, but they did. A lot. Think of the insurgency on Caprica, the survival of the crash on Kobol, the search for Athena's Tomb, or the insurgency and rebelion on New Caprica. Think of the boarding of the Galactica. Think of all the times there was even a threat of being boarded by the Cylon. Think of whern and if they find Earth.

They're gonna need marines again, and Anders has the experience against the Cylon to make him a valuable officer. Even if Anders doesn't become a pilot, he has a valueable place in the show.

willravel I think you keyed on something here is his value. But lets not think of it in terms of his value to the fleet / human race. Instead lets think about his value to:

• The Viewers
• The Writers

See to the viewers, you have things like:

• is he attractive enough to garner female viewership
• does he make an interesting foil / love interest to a female charachter
• is his role on the show intriguing
• Does he make you tune in?
• etc.

So what I am saying is that as a pilot without the Starbuck thing or as a Marine his value is limited. He needs a new task that is compelling or foil that makes the show better. He has been this freedom fighter for a while. If you just stash him away in a fairly mundane role, his value to the viewer may be fairly low. If that is the case, an interesting thing may happen to his value to the writer.

For the writer:

• He is a character that is well liked and thus far interesting
• He is a character that the writer and the viewer has made an investment in (getting to know him)
• The writer may want to maximize the collective investment in the character

If the above is true about his value to the viewer being low without a new interesting role or ability to continue as a foil / interest to a main character then the writer on a show like this would look to kill him while his value is still high. It would be done in an interesting way that provides a payback in terms of an exciting, compelling and unexpected story line.

So what I am saying is not that they can't have him as a pilot or a Marine etc. but I can't see my way to an interesting enough way to use him other than to kill him. As I said earlier, I don't think Anders has an obvious flaw like so many of the other characters. Therefore someone so free of sin is that much more compelling to kill off to teach a lesson or change a thought process of a major character.

So unless we can think of what other interesting roles he might play, I would love to hear what lesson you all think Starbuck would learn from Anders dying.

Ah, but that's just it! Battlestar Galactica is unique in that it doesn't have typical writers or marketing. Proof of that is in things like the "one year later" move, completly balls out and a complete gamble. Most shows, like CSI or Lost, would cash anf burn with a move like that. BSG is more popular than ever. Maybe audiences are tired of being pandered to and predictibility. Yes, it would be easy as hell to kill Anders. Will they? I haven't the faintest idea because this show keeps me on my toes.

Anders could have plenty of flaws: competitiveness, vengence, flip flopping, being a renegade, not answering to anyone, etc. etc. They all might have been hinted at. But, you have to remember, not all main characters are flawed. Dualla really isn't a flawed character. She's a moral compas for both the Adamas. Her relationship with Lee is her beiong perfect, and Lee being fat. Anders could be a good masculine balance to Deedee.

Sure she is. She is a martyr. I think she enjoys suffering and taking on others problems / worried.

And just because the writers of BSG don't pander to the lowest common denominator, it doesn't mean that they don't want to get the most out of the investments we have all made together. They are simply more willing to do something risky to get that payoff than the average writer. I remain with the idea that Anders either dies soon or I have not thought of a way in which his character can get re-engaged in the storyline. Maybe they hinted at it with him quitting the jury, but I can't figure it out.

Great show - makes me think . . . lots

That's an interesting observation. Her introduction as a main character on the show was that she was the on and off girlfriend of Billy, the bumbling, akward President's Aid (obviously a sympathetic character, meant to be very human and act as a representation of the viewer in the show). Then her character grows when she starts giving advice to His Holy Olmos, about going back to Kobol. She starts flirting with Lee, one of the 5 main characters on the show. Her role is now more important and prominant. The Billy gets wasted, John Woo style. Her and Lee hook up, then get married. She get's pissed cause he's fat (and not His Holy Olmos, fot all men are but chaff in the wind next to Olmos).

I see her more as codependant, but not a maryter.
Tell me about it. :thumbsup:

Yeah - codependent is more accurate. I was prolly being dramatic - that is until she is dead . . .

Oh yeah - the loss of the Pegasus does interesting things to staffing and the whole "run out of Vipers" question I had a while back. Lee had a skeleton staff on the Pegasus and virtually no fighters on board. I assume they are all on the Gallactica now.

Nothing will be as good as Battlestar Galactica, ever.

Except more Battlestar Galactica.

I was thinking about what would make Halloween good this year. I then had the revelation which you see below.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...o/DSCI0056.jpg

Took three and a half hours. *Maniacal laughing*

Someone had to do it.

That's neat!

It just hit me now, didn't someone once considered doing a series based on battlestar's resistence group on New Caprica awhile ago?

I don't get it, Chi, is that a pumpkin?

Yes, and it was glorious.

Yes, that is a pumpkin Zeraph. A proud, Battlestar affiliated, soon to be moldy pumpkin.

Wow that was great work!

Thanks kutulu :thumbsup:

- - - - - - - - - -
Last weeks episode was fantastic. I'm enjoying finally seeing more of the cyclons and their environment. The part when Spoiler: Admiral Adama walked into the rec room and, while sterny looking at Col. Tigh, asked Starbuck for her sidearm was great. Somewhat puzzling though; why would Olmos need a gun? He has to but to will something to happen and it would be so.

Spoiler: Earth set traps!

The hybrid was interesting. But not as interesting as Six telling Gius that they never talk about the other five cylons.

That was totally weak. I don't think Adama would drop it. I am not saying he would definitly punish him, but I can't see him allowing someone else to run the fleet. I mean you figure a couple pilots died out there. That happens for no reason then just so Helo can make the final call on anything he doesn't agree with? I can't see a Battlestar being run that way.

Yeah.. I don't like the feeling sometimes when a show just wraps up with a nice conclusion. It feels really fake then, compared to how most BG plotlines develop. However, I could see the show getting boring or too soap opera-like if no plot ever resolved completely.

The Baltar scenes were more interesting.

The reason Adama dropped it is because he agreed with Helo.

They typically let you know when pilots die, so considering no pilots died, I don't see Adama dropping it as anything too crazy. After all, he agreed with Helo, for the most part. Also, knowing the kind of punishment that would be required for something like that (it would likely be punishable by death), he probably didn't feel it was appropriate.

Adama and Helo wern't on the surcafe of New Caprica, so they don't have the same rage that the rebels still feel. That's why well continue to see a marked difference between Adama and Roselyn for some time. Adama and Helo have perspective on the situation, and I would have done the same thing. An eye for an eye is a dangerous game, and in the end you'll both end up blind.

Forget the specific subject on this. Command cannot function properly when things like this occur. It lets others know that you are okay with them acting in a similar manner every time they disagree with orders. It is not like the president ordered Adama to do it. She approved the use of biological weapons. I mean - you at least have a personal conversation with Helo on this and don't drop it cold.

I thought it would have been interesting to have the Cylons get infected and Baltar save them. I mean it seemed like the doc thought it was a pretty simple disease to fix. Baltar should have been able to muddle through it.

Another thing I was thinking about is what kind of bounty they got from the dead Basestar and all the dead Raiders. I mean I would think that if they got Slash to fly (and execute hyperspace jumps etc.), they might have been able to get the Basestar to do the same. I would think they could hang out there for as much time as they would like since the Cylons are afraid they will catch it anyway. I mean Basestars have nukes and lots of guns. Even if they could not commandeer the ship (which would have been a cool and doable thing I think) I would suspect that they would be able to get some good stuff.

Remember that mining episode? The ships likely run off the same fuel. Plus the skin jobs have to eat right? Finally there has to be hella good recon to be had. I mean a keen understanding of how a Basestar is set up should make you better at killing them no? Even if they only got a couple of those locater / transponder things it would have been handy. So many interesting threads totally wasted.

Sounded like an order.
Uh, the humans had no idea the Cylons set the Basestar to self-destruct.

One Marvel No-prize awarded to Ch'i.

As for the order - that is after she asked if he was passing the buck. If he didn't want to do it or had reservations about it, he certainly could have voiced them.

As I said above though, forget the subject matter for a moment and consider what Helo did and its implications on a command structure in the future.

It's been pretty consistently shown on BSG that, due to the circumstances, the "command structure" is anything but structured. This is just yet another example of that. When the entire race is hanging on by a thread, running for their lives, the idea of having hard and fast rules is pretty much thrown out the window.

Helo did the wrong thing for the right reasons, and he's not the first. Remember when Commander Adama arrested President Rosalyn? Remember when Lee supported Rosalyn over Commander Adama, and helped her escape custody? Remember when Starbuck went AWOL with the captured raider to get the Arrow of Apollo? Helo is only the most recent in a long and distinguished line of disobedient idealists.

The precedent is already set for disobedience.

It happens.

The Cylons destroyed their own ship so that the humans wouldn't ran sack the thing for tech and intel. At 10 minutes, 23 seconds into the episode, the base star exploded and Gaeta said, "Massive energy discharge from the base ship! [To Adama] It exploded, sir." The Helo said, "The base ship exploded, it must have self destructed".

Man you are efficient. Glad I have you guys around to straighten me out. I must have missed that somehow. Nice work.

I wonder if the beacon had any other information about Earth on it?

That was my first though, as well. It obviously wasn't just a piece of tin sitting in space. They could have learned a lot about 3000+ year old technology that would have given them insight into the 13th tribe. I've been on a speculation fit since learning about Earth (in the Battlestar series, I'm familiar with our Earth). I still have basically nothing to go on, so I'm all over the board.

I'm getting hooked now that the show is focusing more on its mythology than the political/military drama. I'm totally digging the scenes with Baltar on the Cylon's control ship.

The scene where Baltar's body is being tortured by Lucy Lawless while his mind is getting pleasured by #6 struck me as a real turning point for him. I found Lucy's (what number is she again?) reaction to his blurted out affections very intriguing. What do you suppose the significance is there? Was she amazed that he could withstand the pain or struck by his seeming dementia?

Speaking of "speculation fits":
I don't know how much we've heard about the unaccounted Cylon models before, but #6's admonition that We don't talk about them" made be speculate that either they're faulty and gone insane, or have struck out on their own as a whole other Cylon tribe with a different belief system. There's plenty of religious/cultural metaphor writing to be tapped into here. Have I missed a previous clue?