to ask you to indulge me with chat about Battlestar Gallactica, even though it ended ages ago?

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

I never watched it when it was actually on. I am currently re-watching to distract myself from various irritating and tedious things going on in RL. I love it, I think it's brilliant. I especially love how they write the women as being pretty much as physically strong as men (and able to beat men at boxing), but without bothering to explain the details of it. And I love the religion side of it.

But here's what bugs me:

1. How does Adama never cotton on that his son is in love with Kara? I know he's not the most perceptive father, but come on!

2. Why do they never replace the glass panel in the control room with something non-shattering after the first, oh, hundred times it breaks?

3. What the fuck is meant to be going on with Lampkin and his (very dead) cat?

Thank you.

Fair enough LRD ... The Rosalin/Old Grumpy ending was lovely!

mrs I'm getting more attached to Shield the longer it sticks around - to start with it was all a bit Fabby Tech/Razor Cheekbones/Major Blandout but as everyone gets darker and more complicated it gets better and better ( I do love Bad Ward! )

Great thread! We started watching the whole thing a few months ago. Loved the first two seasons, but thought it really lost its way towards the end. I was never a Starbuck fan, though, sorry. Too full of herself and 'conflicted' for me. The ending really pissed me off as well. Those poor civilians, suffered the whole way, starving and largely ignored by Adama and Roslin, now we're going to dump you on Stone Age Earth, and take away all your technology. It just wouldn't work, why would they agree to that? And so hypocritical, considering all the medical resources Roslin used up during her illness, to just deny it for anyone else.

Things I loved: the first two seasons, so good and well developed, great characters, etc. Loved the Helo/Sharon storyline, and the Chief/Boomer storyline, before she started changing sides, then changing back, then changing again... Loved Baltar, he had the best lines. Fave bit of eye candy, Helo for me, all the way!

IIRC from interviews the plot of Serenity was the planned story arc for the second series of Firefly . So Wash and Book are pretty much doomed even in the alternate universe, I'm afraid.

I think when they stuck to the personal/political story arcs it was great, but once it got all metaphysical it went off the boil rather.

One of the things I liked about Starbuck was that she had loads of heroic traits but was also a self-destructive headcase!

Tortoise Still, where there's Jayne there's hope, eh?

spoiler alert

Ooh - just watched the mutiny/revolution double episode last night.

I actually felt quite tense, even though I knew Adama would take back the ship.
Loved how ruthless Zarik was, BUT the idea of execution for mutiny doesn't sit comfortably with me. I know it's a military rule and they have limited resources, but couldn't people be sentenced to working on one of the mining ships?

In general, they don't seem to be doing much about re-population, do they? Apart from the assumption that thousands of people shut up in close proximity with very little entertainment is likely to lead to some population growth, why don't they pass some laws which encourage people to set up families? They did the whole banning abortion thing. Tax breaks/good leave/nicer quarters etc for people having kids would be more effective. Also, they should be trying to get more equal male/female balance on all ships.

And couldn't they just build a great big ship? Once they're no longer on the run from cylons, they could pick a place and start physically creating an environment to live in.

Wasn't there an episode where they debated making abortion illegal?

You've got to give BSG that, it never shied away from the difficult plots - abortion, suicide bombing etc

They did make abortion illegal.

I am aware also (for my sins) that there are piles of fic out there on the premise of repopulating. All of which is shite (BSG doesn't seem to attract good fanfic), and which therefore did make me think, well, probably the people we see most (the military) are not the best candidates.

I mean, I would guess someone like Sharon is of more use to them flying something than having months out heavily pregnant/with a newborn (if she'd not been in the brig anyway).

It is all a bit improbable, though.

SPOILERS.

kickass, are you still not finished watching?
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Would so (relatively) few people ever be likely to survive in non-technological conditions? Especially since they're sent in smaller groups all over the new world at the end. From what (little) I know of people trying to colonize places, it's really quite easy to wipe out a few thousand people.

Yes, I thought the suicide bombing episode was the closest the USA was ever going to get to an analysis of US/Iraq. You could never have portrayed suicide bombers sympathetically in a series more grounded in reality at that that time. DH and I were gobsmacked when we saw that episode - it was really close to the bone at the time.

The suicide bombing episode was when you really appreciate how deep a show it is, and how much it is trying to say something and to reflect on America. Right from the start it dealt with the political and philosophical issues of the situation, situations such as what to do with prisoners, how to encourage social mobility and education.

That is what makes it stand out, for me - I've never seen a show which has looked at those aspects of being the last 50,000 people alive.

The only downside is that I think they focused so much on those aspects they forgot some of the ones we're more familiar with from post-apocalyptic fiction. Such as sending small groups of people with no farming experience off on their own

No not finished it yet.

I think a species needs about 6000 to be able to survive so they easily have enough to be viable if they just get on and make babies. That number at the start of the show should fluctuate more. We re near the end but the number is staying the same. There would be a number if natural births and deaths quite regularly, so that number should be jumping around, with a general upwards trend, each episode.

Don't remember suicide bomber? Is it yet to come or have I forgotten something?

Power cut! No BSG for us tonight.

(No water either, but that's a minor issue)

Oh no, this thread has made me start watching it from the beginning. It's been years since I watched all of them. Do love Netflix though. Good job I'm on maternity (again) soon.

Was the planet at the end definitely definitely empty? Maybe nearly all the BSG-ers died quite quickly, but one or two of them (Hera, obvs) interbred with some natives.

I really disliked the "banning abortion" plan. It was a clever and interesting storyline, but I disagreed with the decision. Make it so that if someone finds themselves pregnant, they WANT to have the baby.

I suppose in a world of limited resources, if you make things more pleasant for people with children, you have to do so by making things a bit less pleasant for people without.

And speaking of limited resources, when they had funerals and put people out of the airlock in nice boxes with flags on, did anyone else think you've just thrown away stuff that you could have used there?

I thought of something that annoyed me the whole subplot about gaeta not being who he says he was. What was that about?! What was baltar referring to? I considered it may have been a reference to imperial leader (like in orig series). Dunno though.

No, it was definitely inhabited.

I thiught Balts was referring to how Gaeta lied at te hearing as he said he was there when Baltar signed the execution document, but he wasn't. In fact, Baltar told him about having a gun held to his head but Gaeta didn't believe him. So Gaeta is not this honest upstanding man who wants justice, but someone willing to lie to get their revenge.

Possibly I overthought it then. I got the impression he was referring to something big.

Or I could be under thinking it. Haven't got to the end yet so still plenty of time for me to be proved wrong.

Ah. I pretty sure it comes up again at the end. You'll have to come back and let me know what you think!

To be fair others I mentioned it to in real life didn't think it a massive thing so probably you are right!

Kickassangel, the suicide bomber episode was at the start of series 3 (I think it was series 3, the one where it started on New Caprica).

Yeah, I remember it now. Not at home this week so have stalled just as the battleship is falling apart

That's in the last season/part of season 4 isn't it? Something to look forward to when you get back!