In The Footsteps of Baltar
During the 4-week break I find my thoughts about Galactica wandering back to Baltar. We’ve seen that the Cylon are more than willing to return him to the fleet to gain a tactical advantage over the humans regarding the E.O.J., but is this just another way to get rid of him? Have the Cylon figured out that nothing good ever comes from the lips of Baltar?
When I started thinking on the subject, Brother Cavil has wanted to kill Gaius for quite some time. Back on the planet he could be heard saying “we should execute Baltar… publicly.” Now he wants to give him back to the fleet which he surely believes will kill him at any given opportunity (especially if Tigh got his hands on him). Does Brother Cavil feel threatened by Mr. Baltar?
We see Gaius floating barefoot in a daze around the base star in his little terrycloth Jesus number. They obviously want us to make the connection. Well, we have, but what does that mean? Whose world would be the most messed up if Gaius became some sort of messiah?
No one ever seems to benefit for long from anything that Gaius has had a hand in; even his torrid love affair with Caprica was tossed off in less than 10 seconds for a better position with D’anna. Good things don’t happen to anyone when Gaius goes into action and makes decisions; how he could lead anybody to anything remotely resembling a better way of life I’ll never know. Both Cylon and Human should have figured this out by now.
If they were smart they would let Cavil, Tigh or perhaps Laura “The Airlock” Roslin decide his fate. The galaxy might be better off.
Galactic Watercooler 
Modern Geek 
Save Eureka 
Eff This Week 
FitSmart
They seemed to say in the big roundtable podcast that Ron Moore did that the Colonials are going to put Baltar on trial later this season. That sounded like a very rich storyline. As crooked as Baltar is, is he really a villain? That said, how can he ever fit in with the fleet after all he’s done? Just like the Cylons only kept him alive because he had valuable information, that could be the only way I’d see Adama and Roslin keeping him alive in the fleet. The funny thing is that the worst thing they could do to him would be to ignore him. Add him to the nameless globs of humanity on some little ship in the fleet. It would kill Baltar to not be important. 🙂
Totally agreed, Sean. Both the Cylon and the Human leadership need to figure out that Gaius is a plague – and stamp him out.
Seriously, it never ceases to amaze me. The fallout from the unrestrained self-interest that Gaius shows really should have gotten him killed by now, or at *least* put in jail. But because he’s smart (or even just lucky at times), he always gets to live to see another day.
I think allegorically, he’s supposed to be the realistic embodiment of the human trait of self-interest. He’s the self-centered everyman – concerned with only himself in both the long and short-term, intentionally faking kindness and concern to further his own agenda. And in Baltar’s case, he’s got his intelligence to back him up and keep him alive. Self-interest on steroids!
Also, I think Baltar’s overwhelming self-interest is an intentional contrast to Adama’s overwhelming responsibility. Whereas Gaius is concerned only with himself and his own well-being, Adama seems to be concerned only with his responsibility to others and their well-being. In hindsight, the Adama-Baltar contrast is really just a very well scripted cinematic device that’s used to illustrate the human traits of responsibility and self-interest.
Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Yes, Baltar needs to be killed! I mean, how many people can accurately say they’ve both annihilated the human race, as well as had it enslaved? Last count puts Gaius Baltar as the only person on that list. Murder, collusion, treason – the list goes on. If and when Gaius steps back onto Galactica, Airlock Roslin better be the first there to greet him, drag him down to the launch tubes, and be the one to press the big red button. And even if it isn’t Roslin, it’s still *GOT* to happen via Tigh, Adama, Gaeta, or Starbuck, etc etc. The point being that to maintain realism, the writers better have someone make an attempt on Baltar’s life.
Anywho, that’s my two er… cubits.
No! Save Baltar! Imagine how boring the show would be without him, it’d be far worse than politics or blood samples (“The only thing more boring than politics is blood samples”). I definitely hope he’ll be back on Galactica because Head Six hasn’t appeared since he’s been on a base star, at least that I know of. It would be a great addition to the story to have to have the Colonials have to keep Baltar alive to beat the Cylons to Earth. Speaking of which, even if the humans win this race, they’re still going to have to fight the Cylons…
And BTW, I’m going to go ahead and get “The Airlock” nickname trademarked/ copyrighted. I’ll invest the money to get my own Cylon Centurion (cardboard cutout). Tee hee hee.
I’m with 13. Baltar is by far the most interesting character in all of BSG. They can’t kill him off!
…or….can they?
They’ll probably need him to beat the Cylons to Earth, yes. And yes, they’re still going to have to fight the Cylons. And, in the end, I think it is the people like Hera, the “shape of things to come,” that will end up inheriting the planet and the “mantle” of humanity.
The good of the galaxy? Certainly. The good of Galactica? Certainly not. So say we all. (Well, so say we three.)
Baltar is like the embodiment of the dangers of ambiguity. Where he walks, a terrible vortex follows that sucks others into it. I could see how the Cavils would want to get rid of him, seeing as how they are clear-cut and logical.
What I find funny about the Cavils is that they are the only really practically minded model, though this seems somewhat contradicted by the simultaneous enjoyment and displeasure they seem to get out of making the others feel insecure and provoked by throwing a blatantly negative light on their illogical behavior. I guess that’s just showing the Cavil’s human side, though.
Golden.
baltar should be killed, but prob wont because he is this serie’s love to hate character…………and to The 13th Cylon, we have seen head 6 on the basestar its when gaius suspects he is a cylon.
That’s true, I forgot about that.
I say if Baltar dies, it will be in the final episode.
No way. Baltar is going to become the Cylon Jesus. Season 4 will be all about it.
Gaius must not be killed. He is the chosen one. When has “inner six” ever been wrong? Gaius has knowledge he cannot have. Gaius is not a cyclon. Gaius is the chosen one. Gaius is the only one who will live to see earth. That means gaius must be “god” or the “one whos name must not be spoken”. RDM worked on DS9 if im not confused. Could this all end as part of dr baltars insanity on modern day earth? will that curveball come so long as its renewed? Or is Gaius really the “human ” chosen one as Kyra will most likely (though not this season despite rumors) be the ‘cyclon’ chosen one?
meant kara—sorry dont flame the typo its late lol