Comments on: Battlestar Galactica Mini-Series

By: winston

winston — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 14:43:29 +0000

Storage limitations is certainly an option. There is no information given in the pilot about the technology’s limitations, so I guess any reason could suffice. Number 6 herself just says she “cannot die” (I think, this is what she sayed, but I don’t have the tape anymore so…) so that leaves it pretty open about what that means.

Glad to hear that the issue is being address in the series. You guys are so lucky to be able to watch it.

By: Damian

Damian — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 05:30:02 +0000

Maybe there’s a storage ceiling. Regular updates would mean storing the last update until the new one came in. There also seem to be range limitations to this, as seen in the last episode.

By: winston

winston — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 13:26:28 +0000

That she is blown up isn’t really a problem. Number 6 says that she can’t die, that if her body is destroyed her memories will be transmited onto an identical body and she will wake up. I don’t know why they would only transmit memories at the time of their destruction. Why not do regular updates? Then they’d all know what each other knows. It is possible that the Number 6 at Armistace Station and the Number 6 that is destroyed on Caprica were not up to date. But I’m stretching here.

By: shellshear

shellshear — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 11:34:25 +0000

Perhaps she thought the nuclear weapon death would be more painful – but yes, it does foreshadow that her thought processes are rather warped. This is very much followed through in the ongoing series!

I picture the scene as though she is taking in the world around her for the last time – until then, she was focused on seducing Gaius and sabotaging the computers, but now that the invasion is going ahead, she’s able to take some time, walk around, and think deep thoughts.

The scene at Armistice Station is more puzzling, though. Perhaps the Number 6′s don’t instantaneously share memories, and that particular #6 had never seen a human before. I find it more puzzling that they blew up the station with her inside.

By: winston

winston — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 08:49:03 +0000

While the Andrew’s are certainly entitled to their opinion about the killing being an act of mercy, I myself can’t see how one quick death is more merciful than another quick death. Granted that Number 6 may feel better, but it doesn’t help the survivability of the baby. I think that the above line of reasoning makes her sound more psychotic.

Watching the scene again, I’m again surprised at why Number 6 makes comments about the baby such as, “How small they are”,”So light” and “It’s amazing how the neck can support that much weight” as if she has never seen one before. Much like the comments at Armistice Station. They don’t make a lot of sense as she’s already been interacting with humans for a while. i wonder if there was a different concept for the Cyclons floating around in an early draft that was never successfully purged from the shooting script?

By: shellshear

shellshear — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 08:14:51 +0000

I agree – I too thought the killing of the baby was an act of mercy.

(by the way, the Andrew posting the previous comment wasn’t me. Just sayin’.)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 01:26:32 +0000

“Also the killing of the baby on Caprica City by Number 6 just hours before the attack on humanity is the worst kind of characterization. There is no explanation given for why she risks detection to kill a single child that will probably be dead in a few hours anyway. If it is the writers wish to show that the Cylons are evil then it is enough that they are about to exterminate humanity. It comes across as the writersâ€™ heavy-handed attempt to introduce the Cylons as the enemy.”

I think you misinterpreted the intent behind the killing of the baby. I saw that as an act of mercy – killing it gently before the later (potentially more horrible/painful) mass attack. I believe it was intended to set up this Cylon, at least, as a more complex character rather than as a shortcut for evil.

By: Lexifab

Lexifab — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 22:16:59 +0000

Yep, Number 6 talks too much, and yeah, they blew the ‘cylons look like us’ way too early in the storyline. That said, I found it a pretty sound pilot, and as you say, the characterisation of the humans was pretty solid.

The first regular episode of the series is a cracker. Offhand I can’t think of another SF show that did as well with its immediate followup episode (frex, I think X-Files’ killer punch came about episode three or four, and all of the Treks and B5 had pretty ordinary first half-seasons).

And Starbuck is hawt. So there.