Cavatar writes:
“The Chief has, even if he does not know it, found himself in a position of great opportunity. He is now the Union leader for EVERY working human left alive. He is also a part of the working military… Now I don’t know how long Roslin’s term is. If we assume that they use a four year term system, and factor in that Baltar was President for well over a year and it has been some time since Roslin was reinstated by a back room deal, then you can guess that she has 2 years left. This gives Chief Tyrol plenty of time to make his way to the other ships, show he is a man of the people, improve working conditions in the fleet, and show he is going to take their rights as human beings seriously. Let’s also not forget that he was already elected by these people once before on New Caprica as their Union leader. If he plays his cards right, then the stars have just lined up for him to not only challenge the Roslin Presidency, but destroy it. From what we seen, they do a popular vote. Of the 40,000 plus humans left alive, if 25,000 are slaving away on ships like the refinery, he is as sure as in.”
This theory makes me wonder if there are any other would-be presidents out there that we’ve been overlooking all this time. Of course, not just anyone can do the job, but Chief does have a lot of popular support. But would he even want to run? One of Chuck’s favorite premises in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series is that anyone who wants to be president, shouldn’t be. Do you think this holds true in BSG? And if so, does this give the Chief an advantage?
Here’s the poll for selecting the season two episodes for off-season GWC commentary tracks.Â
This works just like the season one poll (which you should vote in if you haven’t already): vote for the episode for which you’d most like to hear a GWC commentary below. We’ll leave the poll active for a while, then plan on recording commentary for the top two episodes.
I have thought a great deal of my recent underlying issues with President Roslin. The last few episodes I tend to look at her in a different light than I used to. I find everything she says suspect and I always find myself looking for a hidden meaning to her actions. Also being a bit mystified by the recent BSG presidential polls I am moved to type.
I think my feeling on this issue stems from a very interesting character duality. The short of it is that I like Laura Roslin but distrust President Roslin intensely. What I mean to say is that Laura, as a person, is probably a delight to all around her while “the president” would turn on anyone within her reach (except for Bill) with no warning or as the mood suits her.
I care about Laura and I think she tries to and believes she is doing the right thing while serving her term. We want to overlook the crimes she commits and the actions she takes because of our affection for her as a person. What we often rush to her defense with (and I am just as guilty of this as others here) are arguments that ring with phases such as “she’s only human†or “well had she not done it things might be worse now.â€
These defenses might be true; they may even dismiss one or two little issues here and there. However the sheer volume of crimes and questionable actions that the President has been racking up lately is getting quite extensive. Things such as:
She ordered and participated in the torture of a prisoner of the colonial fleet. – Baltar
She kidnapped and held in “secret protective custody†a child born to a colonial citizen. – Baby Hera
She attempted to censor free speech. – Baltar’s book
She arrested and held men without charge. – In “Dirty Hands”
She falsified official documents. – Hera’s death certificate
She abolished a woman’s rights to choose. – Abortion
She participated in a conspiracy to have the leader of the military assassinated. – Adm. Cain (even though Bill called it off, it still counts)
She participated in and helped plan election fraud then influenced the military to bring pressure to bear to absolve her of accountability. – The election between her and Baltar
She ordered what she believed was an attack whose intent was genocide.
Last but not least (and my personal favorite) she returned to the big chair on Colonial One by taking part in a military coup that let her assume power as an elected official without being elected or having anything remotely resembling a legal claim to office.
She continues to amaze us with her easy smile and ruthless, if a bit schizophrenic, nature. The completely inappropriate relationship between her and Bill propels the pair of them to exert an absolute stranglehold on life in the fleet, each supporting the other’s power with a swift and increasingly corrupted heavy hand. You’d think an educator (of history of all things) would see the signposts of danger, but she blows by them with such regularity that she has become quite numb to their passing.
Some (I am guilty here as well) might again rush to her defense with arguments such as: “Well, Baltar surrendered the human race to the Cylons†or “The last president they had issued executive orders legalizing death squads.†These things are quite true; they don’t, however, make what she is doing right. Being the lesser of evils doesn’t make you the best choice - it just means there are people worse than you. “At least I’m not that guy†is not the rallying cry of a great leader.
She might be a good person at heart and may even be trying to help; however it doesn’t negate her actions or the fact she is corrupt and impersonating an elected official.
In “The Son Also Rises” we learn a bit more about Baltar’s upcoming trial and meet his very interesting lawyer. Highlights: We question Baltar’s lawyer’s motivations for taking the case, wonder whether he might be a Cylon, try to understand the role of the captains in the “tribunal,” and ponder bad Hemingway puns. We’re joined briefly by GWC legal analyst Bill for a breakdown of the state of Baltar’s defense case.
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Here’s the new weekly presidental approval poll. Remember — even if you voted last week, you’ll want to vote again on this poll as this is a weekly feature and the results will vary from week to week. Let your opinion be heard (for free)!
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Laura Roslin is handling her job as president?
- Approve: 61% (219 votes)
- Disapprove: 25% (90 votes)
- Unsure:Â 14% (49 votes)
Total Votes: 358
Note: This poll is closed. Please remember to vote in the current weekly poll.
In the comments for Podcast #32, Armando asked a question that I think can support its own thread:
“…what responsibility, if any, does an artist have to his audience? Do Ron Moore, David Eick and the rest of the creative team at BSG really need to worry about alienating audience members through their story choices? Artistic integrity would argue that no, they don’t. This is their work as artists (albeit based on somebody else’s work) and it is their creative prerogative to take their characters and stories in the direction they need to go. Artistic integrity and artwork are little more than vanity, however, without an audience which posits, therefore, that indeed RDM, DE and the rest of the writing/production staff at BSG do have a responsibility to their audience and should treat their characters/stories in such a way as to not alienate them (and in a commercial medium like television, alienating audience members means loss of revenue which could lead to cancelation).”
Storyknife and others have begun responding, so check out the comments link, but let’s continue the discussion here. I bet there are a lot of people on the site who have valuable insights on this question.
If you’re not already attending a Frak Party — or hosting one! – join us here for the GWC online ‘party. Or hell, even if you are watching with friends, post their comments, too! There’s room for everyone, though you’ll have to bring your own snacks…
And, since we record the podcast right after the episode, we’ll check in here first to see what you had to say in real-time. Sweet.
See you here tonight!
PS: We haven’t (thankfully) heard any spoilers, but I’d guess things are going to get even more strange tonight — and in the coming weeks. Does anyone else get the feeling we’re about to drop off a cliff? See you at the edge tonight.
As a new feature for the short remaining part of season three — and during the upcoming season four — we’re going to include a weekly presidential approval poll. We’re starting a little late this week (because we just installed polling at GWC), but from here on out we’ll post the poll each Monday and close it just before the next episode.
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Laura Roslin is handling her job as president?
- Approve: 56% (88 votes)
- Disapprove: 23% (36 votes)
- Unsure: 21% (33 votes)
Total Votes: 157
Update: This poll has closed. Be sure to vote in the current presidential approval poll.
Based on your suggestions we’re planning to record full-length commentaries for two episodes for each of season one, season two, and season three. These “commentaries” will differ from our standard podcasts in that we’ll actually record as we re-watch the episode. The idea is that you can start the ‘cast along with the episode and enjoy it right along with us.
We have some other fun planned, including an organized re-watch of the entire series to date, guests, listener ‘casts, and more, but we wanted to go ahead and ask you which episodes you’d like us use for our commentary tracks.
Here’s the plan: vote for the episode for which you’d most like to hear a GWC commentary below. We’ll leave the poll active for a while, then plan on recording commentary for the top two episodes.
For those who asked for the outro music from Podcast #32, here ’tis in 192k MP3 format:
Outro Music/Podcast #32: “Here In CIC”
The good news: Audra seems interested in doing some more of these during the off-season, so with any luck — and your encouragement — she’ll come up with some other good ideas for ‘em. Of course, if you’d like to share some of yours, feel free!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
So while the Starbuck bomb still rings in my ears I am left pondering the fate of our intrepid space travelers. I am certain most or all of you have checked out the RDM podcast before you could go to sleep Sunday night. In all its scotch clinking goodness Ron expounds on the loss of our favorite frakked up viper pilot.
After listening to his sorrow and whatnot I am still unconvinced of Starbuck’s non-return. It’s true that no one in TV or Sci-Fi for that matter is above being written off the show for whatever reason but Kara is pretty close. She is almost untouchable and a valuable part of the whole BSG gig… perhaps not quite as valuable as the ship Ed smashed to bits (Didn’t I tell you about breaking things? It never does you any good.), but she is valuable none the less.
This line of thinking leads me to pondering the good Captain’s role in the universe – post fireball. Let’s say for a moment that Starbuck died and she does find her way back to life, be it Cylon or human. Let’s say she may even have the road to earth mapped out in the back of her head or have insight to a great truth of our existence that has yet to be discovered written on the back of a cocktail napkin she stole from heavens restroom. These are possibilities yet to unfold, but let’s say for a moment that she comes back with it.
If that is indeed the case, everyone is boned.
Walk with me on this one – they didn’t know what to do with her when she was a messed up viper pilot; can you imagine what happens if Starbuck comes back as some sort of messiah, cosmic messenger or holy figure? That might be an interesting little switch for the powers that be. Not only can she mess your face up in a ring or a cockpit she is guided and touched by the gods themselves with a divine destiny. Try giving that orders and expecting them to stick.
Perhaps Kara would only half embrace her role as the leader of man or Cylon kind. Perhaps you can put the destiny of the gods in the girl but can’t get the girl out of the cockpit.
Will nuggets be reading from the book of Starbuck?
“…and yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of algae I fear no Cylon for I am half lit and lo do I have a viper. So say we *Hiccup*, eh whatever.â€
                                                       ~ The Book of Starbuck 3:05
Wow. “Maelstrom” will easily go down as the most significant BSG episode since the miniseries. Highlights: We weigh creepy Leoben vs. non-creepy non-Leoben, (most importantly) run down all the Starbuck possibilities, briefly discuss Lee’s role in the upcoming Baltar trial, and debut Audra’s first outro music.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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