GWC Online Frak Party: “Hero” (11/17/06)
As promised, this is the post for those of you who’d like to post your comments in real time during tonight’s episode. So, if you’re not already attending a Frak Party join us here for the BSG 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 can draw on your real-time comments in the ‘cast. Sweet!
See you later tonight.
Galactic Watercooler 
Modern Geek 
Save Eureka 
Eff This Week 
FitSmart
This is a great idea and I am sure it will go over well. It is to bad (for me that is) that I will be working to after one in the morning becasue I would love to be here.
Here is to hopeing it goes great!
Cavatar
Pre-show note. This is the episode that was covered by David Eick’s video blog entry “Introducing Bulldog.” It’s got a fair-sized spoiler in it, unfortunately, so you may want to watch it after the show.
I’m pretty sure this is the link:
http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/video/index.php?cat=videoBlog&vid=34824
(If not, hit scifi.com/battlestar and look for any of David Eick’s entries. It’ll show up a few down in the archive section.)
Six hours to go…
Post teaser
“45 years of devoted service”? Does that compute? Wasn’t he out of the service for a while? And what did he hear in that wireless that convinced him that it was a GOOD raider? Oh well, they get to reuse the prop. Funny how manhandling a brain-dead raider is becoming a bit of a cliche on this show. Glad to see Bulldog got to keep the dreads.
Wait, they can check DNA against med records. And they’re OK with that? Doesn’t that rule out the entire military as cylon agents?
“Baditude” I like that. Oh, the virus lives! Very interesting. Scary scary D’anna.
Taurons are bastards. (My brother is a Tauron, so that makes sense. I’m a Caprican, incidently) Interesting look at the fagility of the “Colonial Government”
Hey, 3+6=9. There’s a joke in there somewhere…
Commercials: Davinci Code DVD, Radio Shack HDTV, Dish Network, Honda mini-MX, Jack Link’s Beef Jercky, Intel Core 2 Duo
Yes, I’m insane.
I love those new Inetl core 2 Duo comms. The one with the weird looking girl dancing has awesome music. That Ice Cream song rules.
I’m insane as well Pike, your in good company.
Post Act 2
His graceful retirement? Makes sense. Is Tigh still being disruptive? I like the Gary Powers angle they got here. Shit, did they build a bridge for the Valkarie?! Or is that CGI?! The Tigh thing rings false. Seems like he’d be the one who’d understand why Bulldog would have to be fragged. And, c’mon, they didn’t know what those things were?! It was labled “Basestar” on the frakking DRADIS!
It was all Adama’s fault? Eh. Sounds lame.
Commercials, Sci-Fi promo, Maxwell House, Bank robbers (apparently), a new Tears for Fears XBox 360 game, Horrorfest, a Sci-Fi chicken, NFL Network (does NBC own them?), Showtime HD
Act 3
What the frak? Was that D’anna execution real? (Note to self, get a tub of goo.)
Seems like they waited an act too long to bring up the ‘mystery’ of the episode. Oh, the smackdown. Did they loose the flashlight?
Ah,” bad, bad, Col. Tigh./Baddest guy in the whole damn sky./Badder than old Bulldog…”
OK, prediction: Col. Tigh (why do I keep writing “Col. Tight”?) will be rehabilitated soon, and will then get a proper pirate patch.
Commercials: Scifi, TMobile, Advance Auto Parts, SAP(?!) (Don’t do it!), Scifi, short shot of a black kid (WTFBBQ?), NFL Network again, Holodeck TV from Pioneer, Scifi Thanksgiving, Scifi not Thanksgiving
Act 4
WTF?! Resignation? Who the hell is writing this? Don’t tell me this is the shark. It was so frakking good a couple episodes ago!
Cardinal Richeleau: And now, the comfy chair! And then…. the medal!
Frak, seeya Bulldog. Sort of make you wish Admiral Cain was still around.
BTW, damn you Audra for pointing out Tigh’s accent. I never noticed before, but I can’t stop hearing it now.
Ah, alchohol. The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.
Commercials. Some fastfood place/wifeswapping, a funny prison movie, white kids getting their asses kicked by asian kids, a trancendental FPS, WTFBBQ!!!! WWE style BSG??!!, more wanking
BTW, no promo. I always thought I was being inattentive, but definately not there. Must follow the left coast broadcast/east coast repeat.
Oh, wait. That WAS the promo. Frak. I thought I was missing a longer clip.
Pike, looks like you were spot on about the eye-patch and the rehabilitation. Tigh’s BACK!!!
Okay, couple of questions….
(1) What’s up with the D’Anna, Baltar, Caprica sandwich??? Looks like Baltar will be staying with the Cylons for a while…. Just as long as they don’t throw Doral into the mix. Shades of Caligula (or Cyligula)…
(2) Now that I’ve seen this episode, it makes me wonder if Tigh’s drinking problem wasn’t exacerbated by the Valkyrie episode.
Now, for Adama…. I now am beginning to see that speech he gave in the miniseries in a new light. Was he talking about himself?
Also, since we see that the Cylons were provoked, does that make us look at them a little different?
Dang, I LOVE this show!!!
Next week on Battlestar Galactica… BSG SMACKDOWN!!!
Bryan, I think Cavil’s the one you gotta worry about. (or hope for–not forgetting you Audra.)
Watching the repeat. Is that an some kind of maintainace orifice in the bottom of the Raider that Starbuck and Bulldog crawled through? If so, eeeww.
Oh, Sean, missed your earlier post. Yeah, I knew YOU were insane when you went on about the fraking chairs.
That’s probably what hooked me.
Whats the deal with Gaius Balter is he a prisoner or a sex slave? hes either laying naked with six or being straped in by Diana. As far as his perception to us the viewers i dont think we will ever want to see him back on Galactica in the future. Thats upsetting because as crazy and harmful as he was he did bring a nice edge to the crew.
Are you a betting man, RtPeg?
Still on the repeat. I gotta wonder just how crowded the set is when they do the “authentic cylon” scenes. I have to think the even the caterer is there, just to make sure that Lucy and Tricia (not Grace 🙁 ) are well-stocked with sandwiches….
Did it strike anyone as very careless that they would let this Unknown Raider Aboard the ship. This thing could have been rigged or worse filled with Centurions. After boarding the Base Star last week with no gear and doing this this week i feel insulted that Ron Moore would belive that die hard fans would let that go unnoticed.
Dradis, Yeah, it did. See my earlier post. Unfortunately, I kept missing the audio, so I’m not sure if there was a passcode or whatever there.
And was anyone else thinking “Jubal Early” when they first saw Bulldog?
Passcode or not Bulldog was missing for 3 years any codes he knew before the attack on the colonies would have been changed, lost, and or discovered by the Cylons when they populated Caprica. You just don’t fly up to Galactica in a Raider and hit the garage door opener and say a password, Starbuck did the same and had no password just her voice and still almost dying in the raider herself. And Bulldog was let go by the Cyclons with no back up on him causing destruction like a virus of their own or maybe a tracking device.
Dradis, I’m with you. I just loose some audio from time to time, so I ‘m assumimg I missed some stuff. It rings false. The last two just seemed like lazy writing. I can’t wait to hear RDM’s podcast on this one.
OK, final out. I’m about done. I just have to note–as cool as the whole gender equality thing is, it only works when your’re running machines. You put a man and a woman in a boxing ring, and the money bet is obvious.
Any thougths out there about Col. Tigh coming back to the CIC? Hes a better Soldier then a drunk to the fleet. And How is Heilo gonna take the cylon hating old crustie Col back on post.
I don’t think that it’s lazy writing – I think that Adama recognized Bulldog’s voice off of the wireless broadcast and brought him in. As a matter of fact, considering Adama’s reaction, I’d wager that Bulldog’s voice has been echoing through his skull for the three years he’s been gone. (Although, I’d wager that – in the writing room – the amount of time Bulldog was gone was changed around, because three years isn’t necessarily the “years and years” that Bulldog thought about.) I’d bet that Adama let the marines know on the way to the flight deck that something weird was happening on that raider, which is why the support team on the flight deck was relatively lightly armed.
This episode reminded me VERY much of Babylon 5’s “Grail” episode from the first season – how the fact that Michael York’s character, having fired the first shot, triggered the human-Minbari war. In this case, Adama has been holding the secret that his mission – his Battlestar – triggered the human-Cylon war. It certainly helps explain how Adama has been so driven and passionate. He’s fighting a major battle of atonement in his life because he feels responsible… and it’s only surprising that the pressure of holding himself responsible for the death of the human race has not driven him insane and sent HIM on walkabout.
How about TIgh – man, did he kicked Bulldog’s ass, or what?
Oh, the possibilites are endless. Tigh vs. Gaeta/Helo/Athena/Starbuck(?)/Dualla (OK, that’s just me on that last one.)
Okay, 20 mins into the episode right now. Here’s my take so far:
I find it funny that we were all so ready for someone to die/get written off the show since the cast is becoming larger and larger. Instead, we get another character =D. Not complaining; it’s just funny.
Also… I like how they just cram all the non-pilot major characters in the CIC doing various jobs, haha.
Alright its back on….
Chucksax. He beat him like he stole somthin’. Interesting to bring up B5, b/c I didn’t see that season. I’ll have to listen to the podcast, b/c RDM is usually pretty frank about thier borrowings.
I REALLY don’t like the “well, you were the one responsible” idea. It’s way too pat, and not what I expect of this show. Yes, humans are always responsible. Just like aliens are always better in every way (except they usually have some shit on their foreheads.) If Adama really believed it was his fault, he’d eat his pistol.
Feh.
WHOO!!! I think the ol’ Tigh might be back. I’m a lot less worried for his character, which probably is a bad thing. For some reason he’s my favorite character since he isn’t worried about upsetting others when he says stuff (“…some poetic crap!” and “I’d trust your word over that shifty son of a ___ any day”). I cheered when he slammed Bulldog across the room.
I put my money on Starbuck for the boxing. She’s the best at everything. Best sharpshooter (Bastille Day), best gambler (Miniseries), best pilot (Miniseries), best Pyramid player (Resistance), best Cylon- neck stabber (The Farm, numerous times in S3), etc.
13th Cylon – I’m with you on Starbuck winning the boxing match. Sorry, Pike, but even though men generally have stronger upper bodies than women, every man is not stronger than every woman, so you can’t predict the outcome of the match based solely on gender. Especially when Starbuck is involved.
Just a side thought on the condition and readiness of the Galactica, She still bears obvious signs of visual damage from the Exodus of New Caprica and one of her bays is still a museum. There is no Pegasus and most of her sister ships are filled with refugees. So how is anyone supposed to believe that she can really stand up to the Cylons if they meet again on the way to Earth. That virus and Sharon’s knowledge of the Cylons combined aren’t really going to much if they can’t even stand their ground to use what little they have.
Audra. My money is on Felix Gaeta he’s the wildcard. That man has been kicked around one to many times. WATCH OUT!!!
FYI
The B5 episode involving the gunner who started the Minbari War is in Season 3 and is entitled “A Late Delivery from Avalon.”
When considering the events surrounding Bulldog’s loss, you have to remember that it happened well before the actual attack. Likely, Adama’s abandonment of a man under his command weighed heavily on his conscience and the mystery of what he really encountered on the armistice line stayed with him. Then, with the attack came the conviction that what he saw were Cylons and that he’d provoked them into war. You can’t take it in one big gulp but consider it as a progression. Additionally, I think Tigh was acting in a way meant to surprise but that emphasized another aspect of the soldier’s ideal; that the true nature of the situation was not yet known and that the first priority was the rescue of a downed pilot. To compare that response to his later, more calculating, actions seems to me a bit unfair as in those scenarios the stakes were starkly apparent and thus the other face of an officer’s façade was brought out, the man who makes hard decisions that get men killed.
I agree with the notion that Bulldog’s voice has probably stuck with Adama and even if it hadn’t the similarity of the high pressure situation in which his ship was under threat and the sound of a friend pleading for his help might have returned him psychologically to that distant time and place. Regarding the identification of the unknowns as Basestars, I’m nearly blind and didn’t get the opportunity to see that myself, but I’d posit that the ship’s computers were extrapolating that identification from sensor telemetry and its memory of known ship profiles. After all, Starbuck was able to identify the disposition of forces waiting outside of the anchorage in the miniseries.
Dradis – Right on!! Go Gaeta!!
Aser – I thought as the unknown was approaching on Dradis that Adama could hear Bulldog saying a few times, “this is Bulldog.” It might have taken him a few seconds to put it all together, but it seemed clear to me that it was the voice he heard combined with the fact the Cylons were attacking it that made Adama choose to bring it in. Even so, he had “standard prisoner” forces set up just in case.
Yes, he also said “I’m wounded.” I just think it seemed too unreal for him and to be put in that position again I think must have brought all this back up. And of course he exercised prudence by having security on hand.
There have been several instances of pilots reporting distress in the series but I don’t remember anyone saying “Krypter Krypter Krypter,” since Apollo needed to be picked up in the Miniseries. Am I wrong on that?
First posting! Woo hoo! Just finished watching the left coast re-showing. First off – too many frakkin’ commercials. Argh. I’m definitely there with you on the Dradis. Why didn’t it just pop up as a raider? But they didn’t recognize the Pegasus either at first, so I guess its possible they only know who it is now and then. Sort of like when you screen phone calls. Or maybe not. Also I’ve never really found Baltar attractive, but he’s gotta have a little sumthin’ if he gets both D’Anna and Six. I mean, there were even red (Cylon eye thingy-matching) silk sheets!
I think one of the more interesting pieces was D’Anna’s dreams. Considering the Cylons can be re-born, death seems like little more than an annoyance. But D’Anna keeps dreaming about it and goes so far as to program one of her own to shoot her. I’m curious as to what was in between. It was either heaven, hell, or one crazy Cylon purgatory. When she woke up in goo (probably great for your skin) and told the assorted Cylons hanging out that there was something miraculous in-between life and death, I got a weird sense that some of them really understood what she meant. Maybe this is where the Cylon God ‘lives’? Do the hybrids live in this little in-between on a permanent basis? Not sure on that one. Just putting it out there.
Did kind of feel the ending was a bit too easy. Not that this won’t continue to haunt them, I mean you can’t just think you started a culture-ending war and not be frakked up. But it felt too neat at the end. Bulldog just leaves for somewhere else in the Fleet. And where in the world is Adama going to put Tigh in the CIC? What will his position be? XO2? And the attempted resignation was a bit disappointing. If he really believed he’d started it, Adama had to be thinking about it the entire time they’ve been running. He’s taken care of the Fleet like his ‘flock’ up to now with this knowledge. When he’s finally faced with possible hard proof he turns tail and resigns? And DID he really start it? Or would the Cylons have attacked anyway?
As for the boxing, I put my money on Starbuck. Fighting down, hard, and dirty has no gender-boundary. Skill can far outweigh physical assets. Although Apollo has some fine ones . . . Okay. Enough of me!
PS – glad someone else thought Jubal Early too.
Well, the threat display would show a possible basestar if the return was substantial enough to look like one. That brings up something else that kinda had me confused: why could they see the stealth ship? Modern stealth aircraft carry a transponder (like all aircraft) to transmit telemetry such as course, speed and altitude and importantly the IFF of identify friend foe to minimize fratricide. As far as I know, military aircraft turn off the transponder to prevent it from transmitting to unfriendly receivers while in enemy airspace. Since we’ve been told that DRADIS is or shares characteristics with RADAR, such as inability to reflect off of composites, why does the stealth ship show up?
Something that popped up in my head when Roslin said a thousand things good and bad had led to the attack; the one that instantly popped up was the defense ministry hiring Gaius Baltar.
Jubal Early? Nice to know there are other Firefly fans in here.
I kept waiting for him to say “no, I’m a bounty hunter” or “Does that seem right to you?”
OK, just got to watch the iTunes version in peace and quiet, so here are my ammendments:
Baltar’s portrait has square corners. So does Adama’s photos. I could so do that job better. Where do I send an application?
Raiders have no landing gear. Not sure what the implication of that is.
Bulldog’s test looks an awful lot like Baltar’s cylon detector. It even says “results negative” which is not what you’d expect with a positive DNA match.
Does Adama have anything to eat besides noodles?
Why does the iTunes version have “Bullshit attitude” while the version broadcast doesn’t? (I heard it as “Baditude” on Friday. That would actually work better.)
I’m reading Tigh differently this time around. In the first half, he’s still the discontent spreading Tigh. That’s why he told Bulldog about Adama’s action when he knew that Adama hadn’t told Bulldog.
Lee: If you shot him down, you had your reasons. You were following orders, preventing something worse.
Adama: No, I shot him down to avoid detection. Protect the mission. So we wouldn’t be discovered by the CylonS.
Yeah. Isn’t that what Lee just said?
Ah, it didn’t say “Basestar” on the Dradis. I was seeing part of the stealth ship’s “S-star” label. (Why the hell did they name a colonial ship something-star?)
Yup, definately the opera house, and damn if there aren’t five glowing figures. They looked like scenery the first time through. Interesting that there’s a bit of “life flashing before your eyes” stuff intercut.
Laura: We know why the CylonS attacked us…
Does she? I’m not even quite clear on that. Unless it’s all Adama’s fault. Which would be hella-lame.
Bulldog gets into the raptor, and the backseater puts his helmet on. I know they have only so many flight suits, but it looks weird. I’d get out.
Adama: You want to tell me what happened to Ellen?
I think he knows, but hasn’t heard it from the horse’s mouth. Makes more sense to me that way.