Broadsheet blogger Judy Berman today came out to being a geek.

I recently had to admit something to myself: I am, it turns out, a geek. I finally came to terms with it earlier this week, after drinks with female friends. We had been catching up and talking shop when someone mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All of a sudden, we were all shouting over one another, recounting our favorite episodes and most loved and hated characters.

Despite the fact that Berman used a very cool Kevin Smith quote,* I spent a good few minutes trying to ferret out why her post left me feeling disaffected. Shouldn’t I be glad that more and more women are owning up to their geek interests? (yeah) Shouldn’t I be ecstatic that there’s a much larger female presence at geek venues like Comic Con? (hell yeah) So what’s my problem?

I re-read the post a few times and kept coming back to an angle that initally flew right under the radar:

One friend floated the idea that the show includes just about every kind of guy a girl geek could possibly be attracted to.

To each her own, obviously, but this is not why I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love that show for these reasons: Buffy, Willow, Cordelia, Tara, Fred, Darla, Drusilla.

Buffy can kick arse six ways to Sunday, Willow has the power of the universe at her fingertips, Cordelia has more self-confidence in her pinky finger than most women will ever have, Tara lived a life of authenticity, Fred has one of the biggest brains on the planet, and Darla told the world to suck on its outdated idea of “good little girls.” But Berman and her gal pals would far rather talk about how dreamy Angel, Spike, Riley, and Xander are.

I am not saying that I’m immune to the charms of vampire boyfriend fangs, super-secret special ops pectorals, or best friend late nights, but there’s something in Berman’s sentiment that reminds me of that “crapload of new TWILIGHT fans” she references. Last week over at Writers At Play in my post “Of Paranormal Heroines” I asked why there are so few truly paranormal heroines and noted that:

The “vampire boyfriend” type shows us a story through the “Female Gaze,” something quite blatant on all of those naked torso covers. We’re so used to experiencing stories through the viewpoint of a male character that this switch is remarkable and probably one of the elements that make these books so popular.

With its mundane heroine, TWILIGHT is the typical “vampire boyfriend” story where the reader, presumably female, is meant to identify with Bella and swoon over Edward. It seems Berman and her friends have experienced Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a similar way. Did they bypass Buffy’s own supernatural nature?

I think geekdom is about not being afraid to pursue your interests with gusto, no matter how obscure those interests may be. In that light, I’m glad that more women aren’t afraid to acknowledge their fangirl tendencies. “[B]ooth babes and jiggle physics” seem to be the counterpart to Team Edward, swooning over Angel, and naked torso Romance novel covers.** All of these examples are the Gaze at work and I’m glad that both genders are represented. In her post, though, Berman tries to parse how the genders express fandom differently, but I rather prefer the Joss Whedon quote she cites:

“There’s not a difference,” he tells Rogers, between male and female fans. “What? Female fans are more nurturing? People are crazy, and fans are the best kind of crazy. And I speak as one of them. And I’ve never seen a difference in the way the men and women respond to things.”

Like a lot of fanboys out there debating who had better tech, Batman or Night Owl (Batman), I’d rather talk about who’s probably stronger, Buffy or Glory (Glory, but strength obviously isn’t everything)? I certainly don’t dismiss how smoking Spike rocked that leather trench coat (as I’m sure those fanboys noticed Silk Spectre’s garters), but my ultimate focus is on how all these freaking awesome women get to do all sorts of freaking amazing things.*** You’d think a Feminist blog like Broadsheet would at least mention that in passing.

Berman closes with this:

So, what do you think, Broadsheet nerds? Was the TWILIGHT kerfuffle a battle of the sexes or the ages, or both? Is there a difference between fangirl and fanboy behavior? And will girl and guy geeks ever learn to put down their lightsabers and get along?

Doesn’t she know that a true Jedi doesn’t ever put down her lightsaber unless she’s trying to trick the latest Sith apprentice into making her a part of the Force?

Meh. Baby geeks.

Back in the day I used to have to trudge through 10 miles of snow just to manually set my VCR to record Buffy, but now you can watch it on Hulu. And I didn’t even have call waiting to know which friends wanted to debate whether it was fashion tape that kept Glory contained in that slinky red dress or was it due to her supernatural Big Bad powers?****

I mean, really.

* “That’s what I love about a comic book convention. People will come to a convention, stand there in a Spock costume, look at someone in a Chewie costume, and say, ‘Look at that f__in’ geek. How dare you pass judgment on those 12-year-old girls who like vampires!”– Kevin Smith

** The Romance novel, especially Paranormal Romance, has more in common with comic books than most people want to think about.

*** Unlike, say Padme, who wrung her hands and lamented having to quit her job because of becoming pregnant. But I digress.

**** Because that’s a superpower I’d like to have. It wouldn’t be good to have a wardrobe malfunction while kicking Big Bad ass. BTW, my real friends know that I refused to answer the phone at all when Buffy was on.

A woman born to be an agent. Organized and focused, Myka believes in hard work, solid planning, and steadfast execution. She never met a meticulously detailed mission outline she didn’t like, and her attention top minutiae has led her to status as a rising star in the Secret Service despite a “classified” situation in Denver, Colorado.

Pilots for series are often a little rocky as the writers and the actors are just getting to know the story world and the characters, but I thought Warehouse 13 came off mostly solid. I was never tempted to turn the channel and am intrigued by the hints at the character’s back stories.

In keeping with many a Danger Gal, Bering saved her male counterpart and twice to boot — once by pulling him from a wrecked car (and coming too first after being thrown) and in the end. Bering and Latimer saved each other on a few occasions, so I thought that aspect of the pilot was well-balanced. I don’t want to pay undo attention to Bering’s attire, but I always pay attention to see if a female character is costumed similarly to a male character — such as in Star Trek Uhura wears a capped sleeved mini-dress while the male characters are all in long sleeves and long pants. Someone on the Enterprise is either very chilled or sweating.

Bering and Latimer were both dressed appropriately and in fact Latimer showed off more skin than Bering did. I did think it odd that Bering would wear a skin-tight cocktail dress and heels to protect the President, but at least they made a point of showing her taking off those heels when she had to kick some ass. Later we see Bering wearing much more appropriate shoes with actual treads.

From a story development standpoint, Bering contributed just as much to solving the story problem as her partner did. Overall, a good start to a fun show, one not quite so deep as Fringe that I appreciate, and I’m looking forward to more.

Number One was played by Majel Barrett, wife of Gene Roddenberry. Originally, Number One had also served as first officer under Christopher Pike on the USS Yorktown before joining him on the Enterprise. Network executives made several changes to the series after the original pilot, one of which included changing Barrett’s character to Nurse Chapel. Number One’s “highly-logical, steel-trap mind” was then attributed to Spock instead. I have few criticisms of the new Star Trek movie, and in fact very much enjoyed it, but one facet that saddened me was the continuation of the Nurse Chapel character without any reference to the Number One character. Initially, Spock was the science officer, but the new movie continues with the idea that he is both chief science officer and first or executive officer.

While I appreciated the update to Uhura’s character, I do hope that Abrams touches on the Number One character in future installments of the new franchise considering he’s also created characters such as Alias’ Sydney Bristow* and previous Danger Gal Fringe’s Olivia Dunham. Jennifer Weiner at The Huffington Post voices many of my misgivings with the female characters in the new movie:

Honestly, I didn’t have a problem until about midway through the film…at which point I realized that every single lady on screen was either a mother, a ho, or an intergalactic hood ornament.

Memory Alpha describes Number One: “. . . she held the rank of lieutenant. She was noted for her exceptional intelligence and rationality. In 2254, Captain Pike regarded Number One as the most experienced officer on the Enterprise.” Evidently, Roddenberry initially based the Starfleet rank structure on the 18th and 19th century British navy, when a ship’s second-in-command was often a First Lieutenant, rather than 20th century Naval ranks now associated with the series.

In “The Cage,” the Talosians reveal to Pike that Number One harbored feelings for him. Number One and Spock at one point installed computer upgrades that made the Enterprise voice-interactive. They utilized her voice-pattern, which was later carried over into all Starfleet computers.

Many different names have been associated with Number One in the Star Trek expanded universe: Eunice Robbins and Morgan Primus among others.

* I thought I’d already profiled Sydney Bristow, but when I searched the archives I discovered that I’ve neglected her! I’ll try to rectify that shortly.

By now I hope most BSG fans have seen the series finale and I don’t have to warn about spoilers. I’ve waited until now to post about the finale because I wanted to ponder it for a few days first. Ultimately, I found the finale simultaneously very powerful and somewhat disappointing.

Commenter “mrd” over at Brad Templeton’s Battlestar Blog made a point that helped me articulate what’s at the heart of my confliction:

…the show was structured with hints and clues, it gives the idea that the show is a puzzle that is meant to be solved, not a mystery to be revealed.

Science fiction, by its very nature of being based on scientific extrapolation, is presented as a puzzle to the reader or audience. In other words, Science Fiction is expected to be analyzed and dissected as opposed to presenting a revelatory story, where information is revealed because there is no analytical through-line. To pose it another way: Religion is revelatory and Science is a puzzle. In religion, God reveals knowledge to us, but in Science we discover it on our own.

A TV show set in space, airing on the “SciFi Channel,” and being shot with a realistic “hand held” style are three giant indicators that “This is Science Fiction.” But Battlestar Galactica is not Science Fiction. It’s a revelatory mystery story with SFnal elements. In hindsight, I see that Moore and the writers made this case, but they made it too subtly. If your plan is to set a mystery tale in space and air it on the “SciFi Channel,” then you need to make that very, very clear. Several big hints were “You will know the truth” promo and the fact that Cylons were “revealed,” not to mention Katie Sackhoff flat out saying the show wasn’t Science Fiction but a “drama in space.” When fans, myself included, brushed that off as Moore and the network simply trying to garner a wider audience — SciFi network reps said repeatedly that this was their goal — Moore needed to say: “No, REALLY people. I’m not writing SF.” Loudly and waving his hands would have helped, because we’re really hungry for true Science Fiction on TV and in movies.

This is why the solution put forward in the finale that a higher power made all the loose ends fit together is unsatisfactory to those who thought they were watching Science Fiction. Since the show made it a point to examine religion, and it did so in a highly sophisticated way, my preference was an ambiguous treatment to the “God factor.” This was an element I always appreciated in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine because the nature of the Bajoran “wormhole aliens” was left open-ended. This, I’ve always thought, is a middle way approach that can appeal to those expecting a puzzle as well as those expecting a mystery. Moore did leave a window open at the end to the “God made it happen” solution though, but again he did it subtly, so it’s difficult to tell what the message is supposed to be:

Head Six: Let a complex system repeat itself long enough and eventually something surprising might occur. That too is in God’s Plan.

Head Baltar (whispering/growling): You know it doesn’t like that name!

Since we don’t have a definitive explanation as to the nature of “God” in this series, or even the head characters and Starbuck, this is a bit more open ended than I thought upon first watching. I’ve theorized from the beginning that the Beings of Light would show up in some fashion in the re-imagined series and that’s essentially what was written. Not having all of the details sort of suits beings like that. But who knows if I’m interpreting this bit they way it was intended?

Despite some disappointment, I still found enjoyment in the ending overall. In particular, I liked that the Galactica was the Opera House. I did not see that possibility and was pleasantly surprised by the development. I almost sobbed myself at Baltar’s line “You know, I know about farming.” Also, I’m really happy Helo survived. The Agathons deserve a happy ending.

I’m not sure how I feel about Tyrol killing someone and getting away with it. After all, Tory didn’t get away with murder, why should Tryol? He committed vengeance not justice. Starbuck’s “end” just makes me sad, but I see that it works. I really do not think we needed to see Tigh and Adama in a strip club. That flashback could have achieved the same goal by being set in a regular old bar. If a sexy venue was somehow required, more in keeping with the feminist nature of the show would have been a strip club with dancers of both genders.

I understand that the letting go of technology was an act of eschewing that which separates us from nature, but Cylons are not natural. The show made the point that even a toaster has worth, has feelings, and is equal to a biological human. Saying that their technology is “evil” because it’s what got them into this trouble in the first place — it started the cycle over — basically negates the headway that was made in achieving a blended human-cylon community. I would have rather seen a new civilization built on those principles of cooperation and intentional use of technology. Instead I’m sad to think that Helo will probably die of an infection in that injured leg without antibiotics.

So, overall: I can live with this ending and there were a few emotional high points. They found our Earth, which is something I predicted when they found the 13th Colony/”Earth.” Moore did not make the nature of the story clear and foiled expectations because of it. I would have enjoyed it more for if I’d understood the show’s goal of being a revelatory story over a Science Fiction one.

But what about the ending? How do you think BSG will end on Friday? What clues do we have?

Left, Starbuck in “Daybreak Part 2.”

Ron Moore and The Sopranos

A fan of The Sopranos, Ron Moore loved, loved, loved the ending of that show. The Sopranos had no resolution to anything. Moore said on his SciFi Channel blog:

Oh, I’m sure there are those who will bemoan the lack of resolution to the story or that Chase has somehow “robbed the fans” but I’m a fan and I’m ecstatic. I’m glad he thumbed his nose at the tyranny of the narrative drive to bring things to a tidy conclusion so we can all clap and walk away without another thought about that mob family in Jersey, satisfied that all’s well that ends well. Screw that. I don’t want to see Tony’s death, nor do I want to watch him drive off into witness protection, or sit down to some kind of illusory happiness in the bosom of his family. I simply want to pretend that his life continues, that he’s still simultaneously worrying about onion rings and whether that guy is hiding a gun in the restroom.

It’s poetic. It’s exciting. It’s perfect.

And most of all, I wish I’d thought of it first.

I think we can take from this that not all of the mysteries will be completely resolved. Quite a bit may be left up to viewers’ interpretations.

Tricia Helfer

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune’s Mo Ryan for The Watcher blog, Helfer gave her reaction to reading the finale script:

MR: You’ve seen all the scripts for the final episodes — how did they affect you? How do you see them fitting into the legacy of the show?

TH: I think they’re fantastic scripts. Obviously, it’s the end of the series, so things are going to be revealed, and all the questions are going to be answered. There’s a lot to fit in. I’ve heard some fans say, whoa, there’s so much in every episode, and that’s certainly not going to change in the last half of the season, there’s so much to get out there. It’s intense…

There’s some really heartwarming stuff, there’s some very damaging, sad stuff. It’s such a commentary on human behavior and social behavior and where our world is and can go. I find the last episode is quite fascinating, the study of life.

I take this to mean that there won’t be one monolithic ending for all of the characters. There won’t be one huge resolution. The endings for the characters will splinter based on their individual character arcs.

Edward James Olmos

TVAddict.com reports on Olmos’ comments regarding the ending at FanExpo 2008 in Toronto:

With regard to the ending, he responded, “Emotionally, heartbreaking. I’m telling you this for a reason, because I don’t want you guys to think you’re going to go through this without getting yourself really twisted … it’s brutal what happens to us. Not many of us make it.” He described that executive producer/writer Ronald D. Moore has no mercy when it comes to telling the Galactica story. It has become quite dark, and is going to get darker.

I take this to mean that a whole lot of characters are going to die. Most of what’s left of humanity will be gone and the Cylons may also be decimated.

Jamie Bamber

Bamber told the New York Times Syndicate:

“And, most important, you will be privy to a really sublime ending,” he continues. “(Executive producer/writer) Ron Moore’s ending is just beautiful, and it ends appropriately. The whole journey of the Galactica has really been a voyage of self-discovery, an identity crisis, a search for meaning, and the characters are forced to really come to conclusions about who they are at the end.

“So it’s pretty spiritual and Zen, and it’s where they need to be at the end of this chaos,” Bamber continues. “The question is, ‘What have they learned and who are they?’ “

I take this to mean that it’s all about the characters, not the plot. Also, the “spiritual and Zen” and “the end of this chaos” make me think some of the characters will find a kind of nirvana.

The Hybrid’s Prophecy

Finally, let’s revisit the hybrid’s prophecy:

“And the Fifth, still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all. The seven, now six, self-described machines who believe themselves without sin, but in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into the many, and then they will join the promised-land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning.”

The hybrid’s prophecy about Starbuck:

“You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end.”

I take “they will join the promised-land, gathered on the wings of an angel…[N]ot an end, but a beginning…” to mean that Starbuck will lead some people through the singularity. It’s possible she may be the angel and her wing tattoo may be a reference to this. Or, the One True God etc. may appear as a different head character to each person. I do think the closer Starbuck gets to the singularity, the memories she had when she first returned will re-emerge. She will know where Earth is again. Those who follow her will “join the promised-land,” our Earth. Those who don’t will die. Those who did not volunteer for the mission will continue to search for Earth in their universe.

The End

The writers have introduced the naked singularity, a huge concept to introduce so late in the game, but what are they going to do with it? It must have an impact on the character arcs. Someone is going through that black hole, whether it’s as a gateway to an alternate universe where our Earth exists or whether it’s a passage to the afterlife.

A “dark ending with a new beginning” could mean that only part of the fleet gets through the singularity. The fleet is no longer whole because the Galactica is going on a suicide mission to rescue Hera operated by volunteers while the rest of the fleet stays behind. Only part of the fleet will be going down the rabbit hole.

It makes sense that only those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice receive the ultimate reward. We know the ending a somewhat open-ended based on how Moore loved The Sopranos ending, so it may turn out that we don’t really know the exact fate of those who pass through. It may be up to interpretation if those who pass through are literally dead or have gone to an alternate universe. “Earth” could be a figurative afterlife “paradise” or a literal planet.

Based on discussion in the comments of my last post as well as here and here, I think I should clarify some points about my alternate universe theory as well as note a few more ideas that I’ve been pondering over the last 24 hours.

Spoilers follow. Please feel free to read my previous posts on Battlestar Galactica.

I don’t know about other proponents of the alternate universe idea, but I’m not saying that all the similarities between our universe and the BSG universe are intentional. Rather, I’m proposing the opposite.

I can imagine Moore and the writers to have said: “The Colonials are quite similar to us. They dress the same, eat the same food, have the same songs. Now how are they different? They dislike corners on paper. They live on a much warmer planet. The physics of their universe allows for 12 planets to orbit one sun in the habitable zone. They have FTL.”

So, it’s not the similarities that are intentional, it’s the differences. This allowed the writers to draw on all sorts of material from our universe and twist it around to suit their needs.

Left, the Eye of Jupiter as seen by Starbuck in the storm system of the gas giant in “Maelstrom.”

Mechanism of Transportation

The evidence in the show might support an alternate universe theory, but what I’ve posited so far doesn’t address how Starbuck traveled or how information might travel between the two universes. Others have pointed out that using a singularity as a conduit between two universes is an SF trope, and it is. It’s also not Hard SF, so my thoughts here are grounded in the evidence in the BSG story, not in actual science. I don’t think the show is trying to be Hard SF, but I know others disagree.

With only two hours to go before the end of the series, we still have several important unanswered questions, such as the nature of the Lords of Kobol and the head characters. We don’t know where the Lords of Kobol came from, who made them, or where they went after the exodus of the tribes. What if they went to our universe — or returned to our universe where they initially originated? What if the head characters are the Lords transmitting from our universe? Novas and gas giants seem to have a particular importance in this story since both are recurring elements in several episodes. What if novas and gas giants are somehow conduits or places where the barrier between the two universes is thin?

If that’s the case, novas and gas giants might be places where signals between the two universes are stronger. The original nova of the Ionian Nebula when the 13th Tribe left Kobol may have directed them to our Earth, but they misunderstood the signal and founded the 13th Colony, calling it Earth. Later, Starbuck returns (in “He That Believeth In Me”) via the remnants of that nova and the signal penetrating it activates the Fab Four, causes the fleet to lose power, renews Six’s Opera House dream, and also affects Roslin whose chamalla use made her more susceptible to the signal. In real life coincidental events do not necessarily mean a cause and effect relationship, but in fiction the reverse is often true. These events are all connected.

Prior to Starbuck returning, when the algae planet’s sun goes nova, the Temple of Five/Hopes is activated to reveal the faces of the Five. Possibly similar to what happened to the 13th Tribe, the message is not received by its intended person — in “Rapture” D’Anna sees the Five instead of Baltar, who headSix claimed was The One. (I do wonder why wouldn’t it be Starbuck who is The One since she’d been doodling the Eye her whole life.)

Going back further in “Maelstrom,” Starbuck disappears into the storm system of a gas giant, possibly the swirl of the Eye of Jupiter. In this episode, the first time Starbuck clearly sees the Eye of Jupiter in the storm system of the gas giant, but does not follow it. Later, on a second flight, Starbuck’s Viper seemingly just explodes in the atmosphere of the gas giant. The first event is seen from Starbuck’s point-of-view, the second is not. Instead, we see a bright light on Starbuck’s face and we’re shown her hallucination of herself as a girl. It’s possible Starbuck did see the Eye of Jupiter again, the audience was just not privy to it. The shot of Starbuck’s Viper exploding is from Lee’s point-of-view and we see no Eye of Jupiter in the clouds. It may be, however, that only Starbuck can see the Eye in the clouds just as before. From an outside perspective, what would someone leaving one reality for another look like? Death may be a requirement.

So, it’s possible gas giants and novas are conduits between the two universes. To summarize, Starbuck travels to our universe via the Eye of Jupiter storm system in “Maelstrom.” She returns via the supernova remnant of the Ionian Nebula. The signal through that conduit also activates the Fab Four and renews Six’s Opera House dreams. The Temple of Five is activated via a nova near the algae planet and a message is transmitted via this conduit, but may not have been received by the intended person. This may have happened before with the 13th Tribe and the Ionian Nebula supernova.

Beings of Light

I still think it makes sense for the writers to combine the Lords of Kobol with the head characters, essentially re-imagining the Beings of Light. Ron Moore has said there will be no aliens in BSG, and this idea adheres to that. Plus, it also does not require the introduction of a new entity in the last two hours of the series. Maybe one of the Lords — the One Whose Name Cannot Be Spoke/One True God/Jealous God — might be working at cross-purposes from the rest. Or maybe that Lord is a kind of messenger for the other 11. However it turns out, Starbuck says to Lee right before she explodes: “They’re waiting for me.” So, clearly, someone exists wherever Starbuck traveled to. If the singularity is a gateway between the universes and a new beginning for the fleet, we will hopefully see Aurora since in “Maelstom” Starbuck tells Adama when she gives him the winged Aurora figurine: “She [Aurora] brings the morning star and a fair wind. A fresh start.”

I should note that the Morning Star is simultaneously associated with not only Aurora/Eos, but also the planet Venus, and Lucifer.

Update: Forever a Fangirl, who always has very nice screencaps, cited some information revealed by Moore in the Last Frakking Special. She said: “Also in the “BSG Last Frakking Special” tonnight creator Ron Moore says quite plainly that Chip/Head!Six/Six in the red dress as well as other “Head!” characters, plus one assume’s, Adama’s house, were “angels,” not chips (nor hallucincations).”

Unfortunately, that post of hers seems to be gone now. Not sure why. I’ll follow up with a better Ron Moore quote after I watch the program myself. I also mentioned this on Brad Templeton’s Battlestar Blog, but that comment is no longer showing up in the RSS feed, though it is still on the site itself. Very strange.

The Singularity

Whoever goes through the singularity — whether its as a means to another universe or to the afterlife — will be existing briefly in an “in between” space. This is the “space between life and death” that D’Anna was obsessed with. This motif shows up again and again in BSG — beaches and now doorways are just two examples.* We know that previously dead characters like Roslin’s sisters and Zak Adama show up again in the last two hours and this may be the vehicle for that. It’d be really great if we could see Dualla and Kat again.

*In “Daybreak Part 1,” doorways seem to be an important element in the flashback scenes. While researching this article I discovered that the Temple of Five is also located on top of a mountain, another liminal element.

Podcast Reveals

I have yet to listen to the “Islanded in a Stream of Stars” podcast, but I have downloaded it. Two big reveals have evidently come from Moore during the podcast: Daniel (Cylon Number Seven) is not Starbuck’s father, and the gas giant with a moon in the foreground is not Jupiter. (Hat tip, Ken Hynek) Here’s more on Moore’s refutation of the Cult of Daniel.

Starbuck’s father is Dreilide “Slick” Thrace who played at the Helice Opera House, however. Also, the gas giant not being Jupiter, but looking an awful lot like Jupiter (and again, another a gas giant…), further supports the alternate universe idea.

Starbuck’s and Baltar’s True Natures

We still don’t know how Starbuck resurrected or why Baltar sees head characters. Commenter Aaron at Brad Templeton’s blog points out some likely scenarios to explain these two characters and how they can see head characters. I’m partial to Aaron’s scenario #2:

Baltar and Kara are not normal colonial humans, but are both some kind of intermediate cylon type being. The OTG manifests as head people after their first resurrection experience. Baltar’s occurred way back in the miniseries, as his first self was blown to bits by nukes. Kara’s occurred after the events of ‘Maelstrom’. Once again, the OTG manifests as head people in cylons at will.

The only problem is that Starbuck is supposed to be fundamentally different from everyone else, which means she’s also different from Baltar. However, it seems unlikely that Baltar could have survived the blast on Caprica, especially if Six did not.

UPDATE: We now know that Baltar did not die in the Caprica attack only to be resurrected off-screen. In a recent LA Times interview, Ron Moore said that following:

How did Baltar survive the nuclear explosion?
Moore: Well, he survived the nuclear explosion because if you look at the shot when the windows are blown in, you see that Caprica Six is actually protecting him at the moment — she kind of grabs him and shields him with her body.

One little sidenote regarding Baltar and Six in “Daybreak,” I have to wonder at the costumes: Baltar is dressed all in white (except for the red in his socks) and Six is dressed all in black. Is it just a way to emphasis that they are so different from one another?

Opera House Vision/Projection

Previously I have theorized that the Kobol Opera House represents the Colony, where the blended human/Cylon community may reside at the end of the series and also from where they may continue their search for Earth. In this scenario the Opera House may represent the last iteration of the Eternal Return, when humans and Cylons lived in peace on Kobol. In my last post, Michael Hall from Galactica Science put forth the idea that projection might, and I think probably should, be utilized again. This would be an ideal ability to possess if living in a drab place such as the Colony.

However, if instead BSG is taking place in an alternate universe, the Colony may be destroyed due to its proximity to the naked singularity. In this case, the Opera House may represent the “space between life and death” — either the dimension between universes or the afterlife.

Last Friday the first part of the Battlestar Galactica series finale aired with “Daybreak Part 1.” After watching this episode I’m revisiting a theory I entertained when I wrote the post Thirteen New Hints About the BSG Last Season, but didn’t articulate then because I couldn’t connect all of the dots. Well, after last Friday’s episode a whole bunch of dots became much clearer. Beware, spoilers follow.

Please feel free to read my previous posts on Battlestar Galactica.

To briefly recap, in “Daybreak Part 1″ we saw Admiral Adama have a change of heart regarding recovering Hera. He asked for volunteers to take part in a potential suicide mission to take her back. Without much success, Starbuck has been talking to Anders to figure out what the Watchtower song means and her true nature. Baltar wants his religious movement to have a voice in the new government and he wants to be their representative. Lee accused Baltar of being self-serving and demanded that Baltar list one time when he acted out of someone else’s best interest instead of his own. Baltar said nothing, but I do think the flashback to the events with his father are pertinent to this scene. While Baltar did certainly not act altogether altruistically with his invalid father, he was adamant on the phone that his father’s caretaker not leave until Baltar arrived, which displays that he at least cares for his father in some twisted way. Later when the Admiral asked for volunteers, Baltar appeared torn, but ultimately chose to stay behind. I think he may later reverse this position, or serve in some other fashion because this element reminds me of St. Peter refusing to admit that he knows Jesus three times. How many times has Baltar been afforded the opportunity to stand up for the truth and he has refused? Baltar has at turns thematically played the roles of a doubting Thomas, a betrayer Judas, and now possibly an unbelieving Peter, all of which dovetail nicely with Baltar’s role as leader of Colonial monotheism.

So, characters have chosen to take part, or not, in the raid to recover Hera. Their destination is the Colony, the location of which was revealed — off-camera — by Anders after questioning by Adama and Starbuck. Raptor scouts do indeed find it, but the Colony is located adjacent to the accretion disk of a naked singularity (a black hole with its event horizon visible externally) in the only place where it can avoid being pulled into the hole. There’s only one way in and one way out, and of course every Raider the Colony possesses will be protecting that immovable spot.

Spins and turns, angles and curves

Anders might have been literally referring to the perfection of mathematics, but he may also have been figuratively invoking the image at the top of this post: The Milky Way. What’s different about this image of our galaxy is that it’s depicted as if seen from underneath and so the arms are spinning opposite from how we normally envision it. After this image we were shown Caprica from space, so the implication here is that Caprica is in the Milky Way. There had to be a reason for showing the Milky Way from this unusual point of view. I think they’re trying to say that this universe we’ve been watching for the past four seasons is like ours, but not.

BSG takes place in an alternate universe. Bear with me while I make my case.

No evil twins with goatees here

Star Trek, whose DS9 show Ron Moore used to write for, is renown for it’s parallel universes complete with goatee or leather-clad opposite characters. For the purposes of this article I’m making a distinction between “parallel” and “alternate,” and am deliberately using the term “alternate.” All those Star Trek episodes used what I think of as a parallel universe where all of the characters have counterparts in both timelines. The term “alternate” avoids the use of these counterparts and allows for the worlds to be very different and possess only a few things in common. If alternate universes are indeed possible, it’s highly likely that we could not relate to these other universes because the differences would be so great. I don’t think that’s something we’re going to see dealt with on a Friday night science fiction TV show. The audience can’t relate to something like that, so it’s not marketable. Good science or not, SF audiences are used to the idea that if there are an exponential number of alternate universes that a small number would be somewhat similar to our own and others would be vastly, unrelatably, different.

BSG has taken a middle road approach to this idea. I sincerely doubt (and hope) that we will not see “evil twin” counterparts to the current characters. That is indeed an overused and silly SF trope. Let’s look at how the BSG universe is the same as our universe and how it differs. We’ll also consider how this theory explains those similarities and differences as well as a few of the remaining story questions.

Life here began out there

There’s been a lot of speculation as what the phrase “Life here began out there” means for the Colonial humans. Does it mean that human life began on Kobol or does it mean that life began somewhere other than Kobol? For this story to be taking place in our own universe, where life began on our Earth, this seems to imply that everything is taking place in the distant future. We humans evolved on Earth and then traveled to the stars, eventually colonizing Kobol.

However, a recent interview between Mo Ryan and “No Exit” writer Jane Espenson differs from this assumption.

Mo: Was Kobol the original origin point for humanity, or was it Earth?

Jane: I’ve always taken it to be Kobol.

How is that possible since we know that (1) humans evolved on Earth, and (2) Ron Moore has said he wouldn’t tinker with evolution? It’s possible if this story takes place in a reality not our own, where humans did in fact evolve on Kobol not Earth.

The Same But Different

Fans have noted all along that the BSG universe is so similar to ours, but not: They dress like we do, eat what we do (i.e., in “Daybreak” we saw Roslin eating sushi), worship gods once worshiped on our world, have the same songs, etc. We attributed all of these things as an attempt to make the story more relatable to us, but maybe they’re clues. The big clue, however, and one that turns this into a twist instead of deus ex machina ending, is the Eye of Jupiter. We’ve been assuming it is likely Jupiter’s Great Spot. It may however, be the singularity that will dump them out near our Jupiter. It’s called the Eye of Jupiter because it’s Jupiter’s window into their universe. Michael Hall pointing out that the shot of the Milky Way (just prior to the shot of Caprica in the flashbacks of Daybreak) is upside down and rotating backwards — something that has huge esoteric repercussions — seems to be a Great Big Clue. Hall notes that this is not how it was depicted at the end of “Crossroads,” but the actual shot had the camera pulling back and up away from the fleet’s location, then twisting and reorienting before plunging back into the Milky Way.

Watch it here:

The Real Earth

The Pythia Prophecy and the constellations in the Tomb of Athena led the Colonials to the 13th Colony, their Earth. Michael Hall has noted that they do not quite match the zodiacal constellations as seen in our Earth’s sky. The constellations may have matched those in the sky of their Earth, and if the Pythia prophecy is true, then that makes sense.

This alternate universe theory also explains what Michael Hall’s analysis has found: That the fleet is in Earth’s vicinity and yet can’t seem to find it. We’ve speculated that maybe the Cylons, and Athena in particular, have been programmed not to see Earth. Or it could be that they can’t find our Earth because it’s just really not there. The only Earth in their universe, the planet colonized by the 13th Tribe, has been destroyed. This means the show producers have not been dissembling by saying the cinder planet is the real Earth because it would be “a” real Earth, but not our Earth in our universe.

The image in “Daybreak” just after the topsy-turvy Milky Way image is of Caprica. Like many other viewers I initially thought this might be Earth, but I saw no recognizable continents like we saw in “Crossroads” and the next image is of Caprica City. I was wrong about there being no recognizable continents, as several viewers, including Andrea Carta at Michael Hall’s blog, immediately noticed Antarctica. It’s a little off, though, not quite like our Antarctica. Caprica’s Antarctica is brown, not covered in ice like ours, suggesting the planet is much warmer. Brad Templeton has noted that:

The star pattern behind it is in the ecliptic, when of course from the south pole the background should be the north star and the stars around it. The day/night line crosses around it, instead of going from polar region to polar region as it should.

Left, Caprica as it appeared in the beginning of “Daybreak.”

Which means it’s Antarctica, but not quite.

So let’s summarize what this alternate reality theory explains:

(1) That human life began on Kobol, just as Jane Espenson said.

(2) That Colonial humans are somewhat similar to us in that they dress similarly, eat some of the same foods, and worship some of our gods, but are in fact very different. They don’t have corners on their papers and books, say “frak” instead of “f*ck,” polytheism is the mainline religion and monotheism is a new development of minority popularity, possess FTL travel capability, have developed sentient robotic life, and live in a 12-planet solar system not scientifically feasible in our universe.

(3) The real Earth in their universe was destroyed.

(4) They depict their Milky Way from the opposite viewpoint as we do, from underneath instead of above.

(5) The 13th Colony/Earth possesses the star patterns depicted in the Tomb of Athena that are similar, but not quite like ours. Also, the planet of Caprica possesses continents similar to ours, such as Antarctica, but their sea levels differ due to the planet being much warmer.

You’re going the wrong way

This alternate universe theory may explain where Starbuck went when her viper exploded above the gas giant planet in “Maelstrom” and also why she hasn’t been able to retain the knowledge of her trip. How can she hold on to knowledge of something that doesn’t exist in her universe? It may also explain the time differential between how long Starbuck’s Viper said she was gone and how long she was in fact gone in the BSG universe. Time may not flow at the same rate in both universes. This theory does not directly address the head characters. Could there be some kind of communication going on between the two universes?

This theory does not explain, however, how Starbuck traveled from the atmosphere of the gas giant planet to our universe. I suspect travel between the two universes may be facilitated by the Temple of Hopes/Five in conjunction with the Eye of Jupiter and possibly the Ionian Nebula. (Note that in the BSG universe the Ionian Nebula is 13,000 light years from the algae planet, but in our universe it’s actually about 4,000 light years from Earth.) This theory doesn’t explain how Starbuck’s body ended up on the 13th Colony either, but we do know from Eddie Olmos that Starbuck’s rebirth is “dark and sickening.”

Significant also to this idea is that there is no singularity above our Earth, but since there also was also no apparent travel mechanism above the algae planet I’m content to see what is revealed in the part two of “Daybreak.”

Aurora

Left, Jupiter aurora. From Wikipedia: “The bright spot at far left is the end of field line to Io; spots at bottom lead to Ganymede and Europa.”

In previous Battlestar Galactica posts I’ve placed a lot of emphasis on the Aurora plotline: that Starbuck has some connection to this goddess and Lord of Kobol as evidenced by the Aurora figurine given to her by the oracle Brenn in Dogsville. Starbuck and Adama later pass this figurine back and forth on several occasions. The Book of Pythia depicts a temple to Aurora on Earth — something that never existed on our Earth. When the fleet arrives at the 13th Colony there is indeed a ruined temple in the foreground that appears very similar to the drawing in Pythia. A deleted scene shows Starbuck discuss Aurora with Gaeta. Considering the finale is title “Daybreak” I think we’ll see another reference to Aurora before the end. As goddess of the dawn, Aurora represents a new beginning for Starbuck and the fleet. A curious aspect of an aurora phenomenon — the ionized plasma light show, not the goddess — is that it has been observed on Jupiter and it’s depiction evokes the Eye of Jupiter that haunts Starbuck.

Hero’s Journey Thoughts

Left, the Eye of Jupiter as depicted in the Temple of Hopes/Five.

From a Hero’s Journey standpoint, several developments in “Daybreak Part I” are important.

Counter-Clockwise or Widdershins
Because religion, specifically polytheism, is fundamental to the BSG story, the depiction of the Milky Way Galaxy as upside down and rotating backwards hearkens to the idea that the Otherworld is the opposite of ours in many ways. The Hero’s Journey as graphically depicted in Joseph Campbell’s book “Hero With a Thousand Faces” spins counter-clockwise, an idea that denotes travel to the Otherworld separate from the Ordinary World. Events do not transpire normally in the Otherworld.

In esoteric practices, traveling for any reason counter-clockwise is referred as “widdershins” and refers to a direction opposite to the usual. So, we’re used to seeing the Milky Way Galaxy depicted from it’s “northern hemisphere” and rotating clockwise. In the beginning of “Daybreak” we see the Milky Way Galaxy, where the planet Caprica resides, from its “southern hemisphere” and rotating counter-clockwise. This could be a blatant clue that “this is our universe, but not.”

Omphalos and Axis Mundi
An “omphalos” is an ancient Greek religious stone artifact that means “navel.” In Greek mythology Zeus sent out two eagles to fly around the world and meet at its center, which was then regarded as the World Navel. Several areas in the Mediterranean world were designated as the World Navel, but the most well-known of these is the Oracle at Delphi. “The Pythia” was the title given to the Delphic priestess who delivered the oracles and the title derives from the name of the serpent, Python, killed there. Omphalos stones — sometimes referred to as an egg laid by the world snake — like the one at Delphi were thought to provide a direct connection to the gods, and therefore to the Otherworld. Because of this connection to the gods or God, the World Navel is considered to be center of the universe and the point from which life-force enters the world. Many stories have symbolized this immovable point or conduit as a church/temple, forest, the beach or the shore of a river/lake, a mountain such as Mount Olympus, household hearth, the center of the Milky Way spiral, the Axis Mundi or World Tree, the Christian cross, and Celtic cauldron.

“This popular motif [World Navel] gives emphasis to the lesson that the passage of the threshold is a form of self-annihilation . . .[I]nstead of passing outward, beyond the confines of the visible world, the hero goes inward, to be born again. The disappearance corresponds to the passing of a worshiper into a temple – where he is to be quickened by the recollection of who and what he is, namely dust and ashes unless immortal. The temple interior, the belly of the whale, and the heavenly land beyond, above, and below the confines of the world, are one and the same. That is why the approaches and entrances to temples are flanked and defended by colossal gargoyles: dragons, lions, devil-slayers with drawn swords, resentful dwarfs, winged bulls. These are the threshold guardians to ward away all incapable of encountering the higher silences within. . .The devotee at the moment of entry into a temple undergoes a metamorphosis. His secular character remains without; he sheds it, as a snake its slough. Once inside he may be said to have died to time and returned to the World Womb, the World Navel, the Earthly Paradise. . .Allegorically, then, the passage into a temple and the hero-dive through the jaws of the whale are identical adventures, both demoting in picture language, the life-centering, life renewing act.” (Campbell, p. 91-92)

This sounds very much like Starbuck’s journey, but just as important are the World Navel symbols in BSG: the Opera House, Temple of Hopes/Five, and now the Colony’s singularity. Anders is striving to find that immovable spot as he says in “Daybreak:”

“Look, you want to know the truth?…
What matters to me is the perfect throw, making the perfect catch, the perfect step and block.
It’s perfection, it’s what it’s about.
It’s about those moments where you can feel the perfection of creation, the beauty of physics, the wonder of mathematics, the elation of action and reaction and that is the kind of perfection that I want to be connected to…
Spins and turns, angles and curves, the shape of dreams half-remembered
Slip the surly bonds of Earth and touch the face of perfection
a perfect face
a perfect lace
find the perfect world for the end of Kara Thrace”

Anders’ line to “slip the surly bonds of Earth” is a quote from John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s “High Flight”:

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds…and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of…wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up, the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space…
…put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

If this alternate universe theory is correct, then the only way out, the only way to find our Earth, is through the singularity. Just as the Five’s recreation of resurrection required an “intuitive leap,” the fleet will be required to make such a leap in order to follow Starbuck. The hybrids have said that: “You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end.”

The End

Kara Thrace has been to Earth, our Earth. She’s been to the Otherworld and it changed her forever, as it will change those who follow her at the end through the singularity. She may lead them down the rabbit hole, the black hole, to another universe.

Number Six: Procreation is one of God’s commandments.
Gaius Baltar: Really? Well, I’m sure someday if you’re a good Cylon, he’ll reward you with a lovely little walking toaster of your very own.

Ron Moore channels Obi-Wan Kenobi in his latest quote about the series finale of Battlestar Galactica: “This is not going to be the ending you’re anticipating.”

What ending do you want to see? While we’re digging into the possibilities for tonight’s first half of the two-part series finale, below are a few plotlines that I hope to see resolved. What about you? How do you want the series to end? The Patriot Resource has posted what may be a possible spoiler for the ending. Like so many spoilers, my guess is this information includes both accurate and inaccurate details. One detail about Starbuck, which I won’t recount here for those who aren’t interested in spoilers, does make me go EWWWWWWWW, but doesn’t quite satisfy Eddie Olmos’ contention that Starbuck’s genesis is “sick and twisted.”

That’s not a planet, that’s a space station.

I hope we get to see what exactly the Colony is — a planet? A space station? An installation on an asteroid? Ships in a nebula? The Cylon World-Ship? A giant space bug? Regardless, the place is huge and there may be more than one edifice if you count the spires in the background behind the “mountains.” I’ve also been wondering if Hera is the source of the Opera House visions as one of her projections. The Kobol Opera House represents the last time humans and Cylons lived in peace. Since we know that Hera is prescient like Pythia, she may have been predicting that the humans and Cylons needed to and would band together in peace. Could the Opera House vision represent the Colony?

There’s no place like home.

In “Islanded in a Stream of Stars” Roslin makes the case that “home is where your heart is,” and admitted that the Galactica was more of a home to her than any other place she has lived, despite all the hardship. This seems like a foreshadowing for the fleet in general. I’m expecting a dark ending since that’s what we’ve been told we’ll get. So, I don’t expect them to find Earth by the end of the show. Rather, I think the blended Colonial-Rebel Cylon contingent will scuttle the dying Galactica by ramming it into Cavil’s basestar. At some point the inhibitor chips in Cavil’s Centurions will cease to work and they will revolt. Likewise, Simon and Doral will learn the truth and turn on Cavil as well. This may be the distraction needed for another group to infiltrate the Colony and rescue Hera. Once Cavil is defeated, both the Colonial humans and the Cylons can settle into a blended society on the Colony. From here their search for Earth can continue. They may even find information from Cavil of a possible direction for Earth, but I don’t think we’ll see Earth actually found since the whole point of the show has been the search or the journey, not the destination. We may see a spiralling shot of the Big Blue Marble like we saw the end of “Crossroads,” with a voiceover by Lee, Starbuck, or even Baltar continuing his broadcasts saying “Life here began out there.”

The Source of the head characters

A lot of viewers have been assuming a connection between Daniel (Cylon #7) and the head characters attached to Baltar, Six, and Starbuck. Aside from the fact that Ron Moore has said that we won’t be seeing much of Daniel until the Caprica prequel, the Final Five also saw head characters long before Daniel existed. However, the writers are not going to create a whole new entity to explain these characters this late in the game. Rather, the big elephant in the room are the Lords of Kobol, who we’ve been talking about for four seasons and yet have never seen. Several of them have been referenced by different characters: Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, Asceplius, Aurora, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Hera, and the Jealous God. Starbuck has been repeatedly associated with Aurora. Several other characters’ associations to Kobol Lords are self-evident: Apollo, Athena and Hera. In the Classical pantheon, Asceplius is Apollo’s son and is associated with medicine, serpents, and the 13th zodiacal sign. It may be left somewhat ambiguous, but I think we’ll see that the head characters are connected to the Lords of Kobol. Certainly the name of the finale — “Daybreak” — hearkens to Aurora, goddess of the dawn.

While we’re talking about the Kobolians, the appearance of the Lida Six model, complete in her retro70s-goddess-chiton/peplos, seems random. Why would they spend the money to shoot that scene if we weren’t going to see Lida ever again?

If the point of the scene was to show some Baltar character development, why introduce a whole new character to accomplish that?

Starbuck’s True Nature

On one of the forums talking about the show, I saw a mention of the show’s logo being a phoenix. In one episode titled “Flight of the Phoenix,” Tyrol builds the Blackbird, a prototype stealth fighter flown by Starbuck and never seen again. The title of the episode obviously doesn’t refer to the Blackbird, but rather, I think, to its pilot. They might want to un-mothball the Blackbird in their fight against Cavil.

What follows is a review of Battlestar Galactica’s episode “Islanded in a Stream of Stars” and speculation on what we may encounter in the series’ two-parter finale “Daybreak.” Beware of the spoilers.

Last Friday we saw Anders come alive again except as the Galactica’s new makeshift hybrid. We saw Starbuck come to terms with her “Living Dead Girl” status. We saw Boomer flip-flop yet again. We saw all of the characters take on new roles for themselves.* They’ve said goodbye to the expectations they’ve been holding onto — and so have I about this show. I’m still definitely enjoying this re-imagining of the 1978 series, but with only three hours left and a dark ending to contend with, I’m doubtful they find Earth.

Hera the Hybrid Can Project and the Truth of the Opera House

Many viewers seem to be surprised that Hera can project as we saw her do with Boomer in the Raptor. I’m not particularly surprised that Hera is capable of projecting, but I am surprised that we’ve never seen her actually project before. It seems logical that she would inherit this ability from her mother Athena and it also seems likely that Hera might spontaneously project due to her immaturity. Perhaps she has been projecting off and on all along and her projection is the Opera House. Similar to Pythia, we know that Hera has a special connection to something that’s bigger than everyone evidenced by her predicative powers such as drawing the notes to Along the Watchtower for Starbuck. What if the Opera House vision represents the Cylon Colony? I don’t think it’s coincidental that the visions have returned to both Six and Roslin just as Hera has entered the Colony. Now that Roslin is even closer to “what lies between life and death” and Six is no longer pregnant, they’re able to receive Hera’s projection again. What if Hera’s vision of Six and Baltar carrying her out of the Opera House is a depiction of them rescuing her/Hera’s model line from Cavil?

As a side note, I want to point out that Baltar can also project, headSix excluded. When he lived on the basestar, Six took him to her happy place in the forest in the episode Torn. Boomer seems surprised that Hera can project, so why was Six not surprised that Baltar is capable of sharing a projection as well? It may be that Boomer was surprised that Hera can manage her own projection — changing the rations to ice cream — as opposed to simply passively experiencing someone else’s projection.

Additionally, it was mentioned in this episode that Cavil moved the Colony five months before the Cylon civil war. Is he prescient? Is this significant? Why would he have moved the Colony at that time?

Anders the Galactica Hybrid

In an attempt to reboot his brain, am Eight and a Six hooked Anders up to the Galactica power grid and he came alive in a similar fashion to the Cylon hybrids. While this is an interesting development, the Final Five are fundamentally different from the hybrids as the latter were created by the Centurions and the Five were created by the 13th Tribe. We needed to hear at least one line in explanation of how hooking Anders up to the power grid is even possible. We’ve seen that the Significant Seven can insert wires directly into their bodies, but we’ve seen no evidence that the Five are capable of doing that.

Also, a detail that’s bugged me since their reveal is the Five’s Cylon super-strength. We know the Five, like the Significant Seven, are stronger than the Colonials because we’ve seen Tory toss Cally across an airlock. What’s bugged me since seeing that display of strength is that the Five must have been unaware of their strength, something that seems sort of impossible. Didn’t Tory ever realize she never needed anyone’s help to open the peanut butter jar? Didn’t Tryol ever notice on the job that he could lift items too heavy for a normal person? At least with Anders we can assume this ability showed up in his athletic prowess and maybe Tigh was too tanked to ever notice. I digress, though, back to my main points.

With the foreshadowing of Hera ramming the Galactica into a basestar during her projection of a damaged CIC, it seems now that the Cylon goop will enable Anders to eventually control the entire ship and he’ll be the one to take out Cavil by scuttling the Galactica. I suppose it’s possible that Anders may jump the Galactica to Earth, but that doesn’t sound like the dark ending we’ve been promised. With the Galactica and Cavil both gone, the Colonials and Cylons will be free to settle on the Cylon Colony and continue the search for Earth. I won’t be surprised if the show’s ending is not finding Earth, but a new beginning in the search for Earth and a voice-over from Lee that says “Life here began out there.”

Anders’ hybrid-speak talks about repairing both his own brain (“remapping right hemisphere”) and repairing the Galactica despite the many “holes in the bucket.” He’s run into problems, however, with the ship’s non-networked systems (“A closed system lacks the ability to renew itself”). Anders also explains that he can see the “long view” now as well as the “patterns and repetitions.” Also, “Do not fear the word” sounds very Biblical to me, the Word being the Good News and the ultimate truth. Anders reiterates that Kara is the harbinger of death (some of the following lines may be out of order):

The neuroanatomy of fear and faith share common and different pathways
flip a coin
increased vascular pressure marks the threat response
free will scuttles the swamp of fear
do not fear the word
you are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace, you will lead them all to their end
end of line
new command
resume function

voyagers traversing the stars in search of grace
death is not the end

A closed system lacks the ability to renew itself
knowledge alone is a poor primer
end of line, begin reintegration
begin reintegration of command subroutines
there’s a hole in the bucket…
the long view returns patterns and repetitions
all this has happened before and will happen again

Cavil’s Plans for Hera

Ron Moore has been pretty plain that in his mind character development trumps plot and scientific authenticity. That’s why I find it odd for Cavil to be acting inconsistently. Cavil wants to be free of his corporeal form. He wants to smell dark matter. For him, Hera is not the “shape of things to come” because she is as much tied to a corporeal form as he is. So, it doesn’t make sense that he’d want to clone her as he implied when he said “You’ll have all sorts of new playmates pretty soon.” People are assuming these playmates are Hera clones (a whole Hera line even), but it’s also possible he’s come up with something entirely different.

Who is the dying leader?

If the Colonials do indeed scuttle the Galactica, it very well may be that the ship is the dying leader referred to in the Pythia prophecy. However, since we can expect a dark ending, they may not find Earth before the end of the series. Who knows how long it will take to find our Big Blue Marble? Roslin doesn’t have much time left.

There’s too much confusion.

Tigh is reluctant to accept the fact that he has, according to Ellen, millions of children via the Cylon models they created. He’s forced at every turn to confront this truth and in this episode specifically a Number Eight Sharon model asks to be with “her father” on her deathbed. As she passes, this Number Eight quotes Along the Watchtower with “There’s too much confusion.” This means we now know that the Five, Hera, Starbuck, and the Significant Seven (at least the Eights) are tied to the Watchtower song. Could this be what makes the Eights different than the other skinjobs?

Angels and Demons

We still don’t know what Starbuck is, but we do know she’s tied into the Watchtower song. The fleet now knows the truth of her undead status thanks for Baltar spilling the beans. Some viewers are taking Baltar’s outing her at face value as evidence that he’s really believing his spiel. I disagree and think Baltar is once again acting in an ultimately self-serving way. Rather than any altruistic motive, Baltar’s outing of Starbuck was simply an attempt to get Caprica’s attention. At least we see Starbuck at the episode’s end determined, finally, to get to the truth of her nature by questioning Anders until she figures it out. I do think that Baltar labeling Starbuck an angel backs up what we saw visually when she entered Anders’ hybrid chamber: Starbuck all but glowed with a halo of back-light and a soft Heavenly breeze tousled her hair (see photo above). I really hope we get another mention of Aurora again in the finale eponymously titled “Daybreak.”

Page 61 is the new 4:20

In her conversation with Adama while they light up, Roslin talks about where home is and describes a mountain cabin near a stream. Both of these motifs, as well as the altered state both Roslin and Adama enjoy in this scene, are further examples of liminality, or “in-betweenness,” that I mentioned in previous posts.

* Many thanks to Elaine Foster’s insight on this over at Brad Templeton’s blog.