Battlestar Galactica

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Aus
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Battlestar Galactica

Post by Aus »

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After weeks of being hounded by half a dozen people to start watching this, I finally did, and I can say I was pretty fucking happy I did. For anyone who hasn't seen this show, I (and many others, I'm sure) highly recommend it. The character development is fantastic, the plot is constantly progressing (not falling into the trap of throw-away episodes that don't have shit to do with the overall story) and it's just really, really entertaining. I just finished season 3 last night and I can't wait to start the 4th. Additionally, you get to look at this for a good portion of many episodes:

http://www.fatbackmedia.com/wp-content/ ... lfer-6.jpg

I would not click that link if I was at work.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by Mysticfox »

I put this show on my "to watch" list once I watch all 5 seasons of The Wire. I've heard its pretty good & I can get the DVDs for every season through my college library.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by Aus »

There's also a made-for-TV movie and three sets of webisodes that go with the series. I haven't watched the movie yet but I have high hopes, and the webisodes are like literally 3 - 6 minutes each, and they just serve to offer some back story to particular events that weren't entirely fleshed out within the series itself. I used the link below to make sure I didn't watch anything out of order by accident.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ba ... )_episodes
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by greekrefugee »

Hm, everyone and their mother talks about this series, and I've been putting off watching it forever. How many seasons is it? Maybe I'll watch it over spring break.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by Aus »

It's towards the end of the 4th season (which I believe is the final one?) as well as the one movie + the short webisodes, and it's preceded by a 2-part (3 hour? total) mini-series that sort of sets the stage for the show. All 4 season are 20 episodes long, so all told it's a fairly large time commitment, but I'm pretty glad I picked it up.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by Lazloth »

greekrefugee wrote:Hm, everyone and their mother talks about this series, and I've been putting off watching it forever. How many seasons is it? Maybe I'll watch it over spring break.

You definitely should, its currently on its fourth and final season as I understand it, as I believe this is additional and new content beyond the scope of the original show. Either way, its really fantastic and worth the watch. Dave gave a good description of a lot of the high points. Its one of those shows that even non sci-fi fans can really get into. I've been on a few peoples case for years now about watching this, and if David "I don't like scifi I dont think I want to watch that" Tiffany says its awesome, that's pretty much a sign.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by greekrefugee »

Downloading everything as we speak :P Looking forward to not changing out of my track pants, getting high, and binging the shit out of this show. Wheee spring break.

And I love sci-fi. I just want to punch people that talk about Star Trek all the time in the face. With a lightsaber.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by greekrefugee »

Was reading on the shitter and stumbled across this:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200901/b ... -galactica

Gonna watch the prequel miniseries now, then binge on season 1. Wheeeeeeee.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

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Despite the fact I'm loathe to see 'Lil Ronnie's name even remotely close to something I enjoy, satire regardless, that was a pretty decent article (although there's a few spoilers!!). The mention of the original Starbuck's griping was interesting. While I've never actually seen the original show, after watching this one I can't even fathom Starbuck as anything but exactly how she's portrayed, chromosomes and all. Maybe he's just upset about being outdone though, because she's turns that character into gold.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by greekrefugee »

So. I have a thing for ballsy women; naturally I like Starbuck. And then whenever she has a huge smile, she looks just like Brendan Fraser. And I lose my boner. This bothers me.

Also, I'm sure the name was cool in 78 or whatever. But, um, I can't take someone with the same name as a yuppie coffee empire seriously.

Otherwise, it's been surprisingly fun so far.

Oh yeah, and when she plugs the hole in the cylon ship with a jacket and FLIES INTO FUCKING SPACE!!! OH....OKAY.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by Aus »

So, at present, I'm 3 episodes from fully caught up (having just finished S04E15, which was basically a quick history lesson about Cylon creation) and I'd like to get some plot points clarified. Be warned: massive massive fucking spoilers to follow flee while you still can etc

Please rearrange these chronologically if I'm off!

- Humans live on Kobol
- Humans create Cylons
- Cylons create Skinjobs (Ellen + co. make the other ones etc)
- Cylons rebel, humans flee to the 12 colonies
- The Cylons, including the "final five" head for Earth and live there?
- Brother Cavil destroys Earth, captures the "final five," kills them again, implants them with human memories / past / etc and reinserts into the human population as a lesson that their choice to emulate humanity was a mistake.
- Colonial humans create Cylons
- Cylons again rebel
- The rest of the shit occurs.

I'm obviously fuzzy on the kind of "pre-history" stuff, where the very first Cylons came from, who lived on Kobol, who lived on Earth, who nuked Earth, why etc.

Halp
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by Azurai »

This is how I understand it:

Humans live on Kobol (13 tribes).

One tribe develops Genetic Transmission and Resurrection.

Eventually the other 12 and the 13th have a philosophical falling out and war breaks out, they part ways.

The 12 colonies live peacefully for several thousand years. The tribe on Earth realizes that Resurrection isn't all its cracked up to be because it stymies their society. They abandon it, returning to procreation and create robotic servitors to do their dangerous tasks.

At approx current time -2000 years, the 5 Cylon scientists from Earth rediscover the technological basis for resurrection, right before their robots finally rebel and destroy the planet in nuclear war. The 5 escape, using subluminal transport ships and resurrection to get to the 12 colonies to find a new home and warn them about playing god.

At approx -50 years, the 12 colonies create a new race of robotic servitors to expand their industrial capabilities. These 'Cylons' rebel, starting a war which causes a huge arms race, notably the genesis of the original 12 Battlestars like Galactica. At the apex of the war, the 5 Cylons from Earth arrive finally and seeing they are too late, make a deal with the colonial centurions to stop the war in exchange for real Cylon bodies and resurrection in order to pursue 'perfection' and 'godliness' since they were having some sort of a internal fracturing based on religious speculation and the inability for creativity in their centurion form.

Ellen et all make 8 models of colonial cylon (in their own (human) image and with their own technology). One is boxed, befalls some sort of tragedy and then obviously ends up being related to Starbuck (dad or her or something) when Cavil gets rid of it. Cavil is generally pissy and boxes the original 5, seeds them in the colonies as a way to show them their mistake in order for them to 'watch' doomsday (they will simply reincarnate and he'll be 'tolduso lol').

At the beginning of the miniseries, Cavil makes his move and the colonial Cylons (the remaining seven + centurions) attack the colonies, causing the events of the show. However, fate spares all original Cylons, so the humans are pursued both out of vengeance and the desire to force reincarnation of the five so that they can regain their memories and rejoin their 'children'. Obviously by time you know this things have gone hella-wrong for the colonial Cylons, who have the civil war and lost Resurrection and then there's the philosophical splintering which caused the civil war and was their peaceful purpose in the first place.

The important bit is really that the 'final 5' and those who were on Earth were human, they simply were altered from their original forms slightly and also developed 'regional' genetic mutations on Earth. The 'skinjobs' were made in human image, but they were modified heavily to produce superior strength, guile, etc. The full circle isn't that the 13th colony was the servitor-race of the other 12 on Kobol, it was that they were in fact humans themselves.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

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The important bit is really that the 'final 5' and those who were on Earth were human, they simply were altered from their original forms slightly and also developed 'regional' genetic mutations on Earth. The 'skinjobs' were made in human image, but they were modified heavily to produce superior strength, guile, etc. The full circle isn't that the 13th colony was the servitor-race of the other 12 on Kobol, it was that they were in fact humans themselves.
To my understanding, this is inaccurate in that they were absolutely cylon, not human.

So ordering your events:
Humans live on Kobol (12 tribes)
Humans create Cylons
Cylons evolve into or humans create(whichever) humanoid cylon models
A falling out occurs, presumably over mono vs poly religious ideas, and the humanoid cylons leave Kobol and settle on earth (The 13th tribe), begin to procreate sexually
Some kind of (civil war?) holocaust occurs on earth, the "final 5" rediscover resurrection and flee earth in search of the 12 tribes
-At some point the 12 leave Kobol, colonize elsewhere(Caprica, etc.), a few thousand years pass, this whole part is grey
The colonies created after the 12 left Kobol reinvent cylons to use as slave labor
Cylon slaves rebel, theres war etc., eventually armistice
Ellen etc. (remainder of the 13th) find the cylon rebels, give them humanoid bodies (the other models), give them resurrection
Cylons attack colonies, nuke everything, 50k escape on galactica etc.


At any rate, the destruction of earth is definitely not Cavil's doing. 13=cylons created on kobol, move to earth, destroyed themselves, 12=humans, left kobol, reinvented cylons thousands of years later and nearly got exterminated by them.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by Azurai »

I'll have to watch that episode again, but as I recall the 13th tribe was human, they simply became 'Cylons' when they changed over to Resurrection. Even when they went back to normal procreation, they still retained their changed Cylon genetics.

So yes they 'were' Cylons at the point where they become relevant in the story, but their predecessors back on Kobol were regular humans who discovered the technology of immortality.

Also, you are correct in the one sense that the humans 'created' humanoid cylon models, they simply did so not as slave labor but as their vessel for unlimited life spans. There may have been centurions (not to be mistaken for the humanoid cybernetic life-form nodes) but I don't recall that being mentioned in any detail during the discussion Anders has.
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Re: Battlestar Galactica

Post by greekrefugee »

Soooooooo. Saving thoughts till I catch up completely. But I literally just finished Season 3. Wtf. All Along the Watchtower? Really???
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