Thoughts on Scattered

So here we are after all the waiting! New episodes of Battlestar Galactica are on TV once more. It is almost with a sigh of relief that I found this episode to be everything great about BSG and more.

To get myself properly psyched up, I watched the Behind the scenes for SciFi Friday. While I would have preferred a special ENTIRELY about BSG, it was neat to see the cast talking about this season... about each other... the part with Boomer and Helo in the bar was fun... I'll have to give that drink a try if I can wrestle up the ingredients!

After the behind the scenes special, I watched the last half of Kobol's Last Gleaming - Part II, just so I was properly re-acclimated to the BSG universe. In those last 20 minutes of the show I surprisingly realized how much I had actually missed the universe Ron Moore has created. Watching those last few moments when Adama is shot... when everything seemed so hopeless... really made me happy that the possible answers were waiting for me just a few DVR clicks away!

So what about Scattered?

This episode does what Battlestar does best... it creates an immediate problem for the crew to solve, but spends equal amounts of time addressing the larger story arcs. On the one hand you have Galactica trying to find the fleet, but you also have moments on Caprica, moments on Kobol, character flash backs, the life and death struggle of Adama, Baltar and Number Six... the plot threads just go on and on. I am reading a book right now by Steven Johnson called Everything Bad is Good For You in which he discusses how pop culture, often considered trivial, is actually very good for you due to the growing complexity of plot lines in video games, TV shows, Movies, etc. Battlestar Galactica couldn't be a better example of this.

I really like where they are going with Tigh. I had a hunch they were going to shift him into some sort of power hungry climber after the introduction of his wife. Or at least she would poison his mind and convince him to seek Adama's job through whatever means necessary. I was really happy to see that Tigh almost resents Adama for carrying him up through the ranks. I really appreciate reluctant heroes and it seems Tigh is all that and more. I feel this is a great choice by the writers and I can't wait to see where it goes.

After watching the last part of the season one finale and after finding out that Boomer doesn't even know what she did, I had a weird feeling that maybe she isn't a Cylon. If you think about it, there has to be a source for the DNA that the Cylons are using to clone people. Isn't it possible that Sharon was simply a source for the DNA? Maybe the Galactica Boomer is a real person, but the other versions are Cylon clones. I don't know if I would like the amount of confusion this could introduce, but it would be a crazy direction to take it. As for Capirca Boomer, I can't say I expected her to gank Starbuck's ride... I can only assume that she did it to prove to Starbuck that she is on their side by completing some unseen task that will be revealed in later episodes.

While not given much to do, I think Apollo's character has an excellent new path ahead of him. He doesn't regret his actions... in fact he appears to be liberated by them. If you remember early in season one, he didn't ask for the role of CAG. Starbuck had to really whip him around to get him to act like a commander. Because of the mutiny, he gets to participate as a member of the crew, but he no longer has to do it within the military. He seems like a man who was forced down his father's footsteps... now he finally has a chance to walk his own path. I hope his new certainty translates into him becoming a stronger character.

I thought the scene in the brig where the soldier asks Roslin to pray with him was excellent. It really shows that there is a depth to the spirituality of the colonialists that goes way beyond the utilitarian nature of their existence. Sure, they may be in the military or in the civilian fleet, but their faith does bind them together. It was the first glimpse that Laura is seen as a religious icon. I am reminded of Ben Sisko in Star Trek Deep Space Nine where he reluctantly became The Emissary. It should be fun to see how Laura's character comes to grips with a similar situation.

One of the most interesting scenes in this episode was the shootout on the ridge with Tyrol. A decision was made to specifically NOT show who was shooting at them. We are meant to believe it was a group of Cylons, but was it? The Cylon attacks in previous scenes were much more melee based. This didn't seem to be their style. So if they weren't Cylons, who were they?

Speaking of Cylons, it looks like a little party is forming on the ship. I think it was in my wish list somewhere that we see some hand-to-hand combat on board Galactica! Looks like I am going to get my wish. Only problem, I was hoping for hundreds of Number Six clones assaulting Galactica... I guess I have to settle for a toaster war. Oh well... bring it.

Lastly, I have to mention my disappointment with the intro theme change. It seems that they moved to the UK theme and removed the initial sneak peek. I can't say I am a fan. As I stated in my listening notes for the CD soundtrack, I had a very strong emotional connection with the opening theme. The snares were so noble... last season I got chills every time I watched the opening credits... there were no chills this time... I am not one to really complain about these sorts of things, but I wouldn't mind getting the old intro back.

Oh one more thing... since I am a "computer guy" I have to make an obligatory comment about the hacking scene. I think they pulled it off OK. If you are a geek like me, you might also flinch every time someone uses the word "virus" or "firewall" in a TV show, but I thought what they did was pretty well executed. It was great for Tigh to make the call to network the computers and while it bordered on technoballe, it was good to see Gaeta get a chance at redemption. I particularly like the line where Gaeta wishes Baltar was there to help and Tigh tells Gaeta that he would choose his work over that shifty son-of-a-bitch any day. Awesome.

This season I am doing something a bit different in my review posts. Last season I always named an MVP, but I think that it's a little unfair since the principles are so good they almost always win over the secondary cast. So I am going to pick TWO MVPs every week... one from the principle cast, and one from the secondary. My definitions of "secondary" might not be the same as yours... hell I might even swap people in and out of the categories if their character's evolve... but I think you can follow my logic.

Principal MVP of the week goes to Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh. He did a great job in the flash backs and really sold me on the truth that he never asked to be back in the military and doesn't want Adama's job in the slightest. Yet even though he doesn't want the job, he is still able to do the job. You have to admire him and that is what good science fiction has... people you can admire.

Secondary MVP of the week goes to Aaron Douglas as CPO Galen Tyrol. His scenes on the planet were really well done. His conflict with Crashdown is realistic... his care for the soldiers on the planet... his sense of loss during their death... all really well done. I look forward to more scenes with him on Kobol.

Welcome back Battlestar Galactica! Best... show... EVAR!

Additional Content

• Official episode synopsis
• Ron Moore's official episode commentary
• Alan Light's episode podcast

Comments

[Petal]

i very much enjoyed reading this and share your thoughts re tigh. he has always been my favorite character, largely b/c he reminds so much of Babylon 5's Michael Garibaldi. except that tigh has to command now. and tyrol as well is becoming a more sound and rounded character every episode. it's good to have it back.

i enjoy gaius a great deal and was a little disappointed in his lack of screen time and was let down by the baby being a dream sequence... although i myself have no plausible alternative!

ps: i admit to also wanting hundreds of Number Six clones to attack the ship. ah well.

[Justin Slotman]

See, I thought the way Sharon was trying to goad Tigh into killing her proves she's a Cylon--she wants to wake up in a new body somewhere and tell the mothership where to find the fleet.

[Petal]

i'm not sure she was clever enough to goad. she's no #6. i would have liked to see tigh go medieval on her ass but i also know he only restrained himself b/c adama would want to talk with her himself.

[Justin Slotman]

I dunno. The Boomer model, true, is not capable of the mind games of a Six or a Leoben--she's more like their best human approximator, capable of complex emotions and ideal for deep cover operations. But that doesn't mean she's incapable of attempting to get Tigh to liberate her consciousness.

That scene just struck me as odd, is all. If Boomer is not goading Tigh, she actually wants to die out of guilt (more of those complex emotions). But she came off more belligerent than remorseful, leading me to my "goading" interpretation.

[Trapper Markelz]

See, I sort of felt that the goading that Boomer was doing towards Tigh was similar to the suicide attempt she tried earlier. She obvisouly knows something is not right. As Baltar said, she knows deep down what is true... and she knows that it is probably best that she is killed... to prevent further harm... but that doesn't mean a part of her doesn't regret the things she does... especially if she does them under "mind control" or some other uncontrollable impulse. And sure, she wasn't showing regret, but Tigh wasn't exactly asking for it... she still is a tough cookie and when Tigh was playing tough, she was too so that he would get the satisfaction he was looking for... I don't know if that was the Cylon in her so much as the trained military officer.

But who knows! Maybe we will find out soon!

[Petal]

i think questions arise not from what we know should or shouldn't be going on in the scene but b/c the actor playing sharon is still a timid one. i'm not sure we're supposed to interpret the scene one way or the other. but her poor delivery leaves us no choice but to guess intelligently b/c, thankfully, the show has set us up for answers. of course, if we were to guess right or easily discover what she was doing, then we'd lose all interest in the character and sub-plot. and we simply cannot have that.

[Timothy Sandefur]

I thought the real winner of the episode was Tyrol, actually. Perfectly played. Believable, strong, sympathetic--really outstanding. Tigh is well played too, in the sense that I detest him....

Anyway, I thought it was fantastic. Best hour of television I've seen in ten years.

[jarisha]

Hi, all.
After last season, I originally had the idea that BSG Sharon had tapped into the Cylon super-mind when she was on the Base Star, realized that Adama WAS a Cylon, and rushed back to kill him. This idea fit into her unstable behavior - caused by her conscious mind not being under Cylon control all of the time (witness the attempted suicide, which her subconscious thwarted).
However, from her reaction, it's clear that she didn't decide to shoot Adama. Therefore, it was another "assignment" she rec'd and carried out subconsciously.
Does this mean that Adama is not a Cylon? Not quite. What if the original Adama was abducted, say 15-20 years ago, and replaced by a duplicate. This Cylon Adama returned to infultrate the fleet, so he returned to the military and (with his Cylon ability) became the commander of a Battlestar. So far, so good.
But then (under this scenario) something went wrong. Interacting with the humans caused him to change (just as pregnant Sharon has changed?) By the time the new war started, he had decided to save as many humans as possible.
The original Sharon could've been abducted and replaced as well. This would give her a family and documented life - which would've been necessary to pass security checks, etc.
Adama didn't recognize Sharon as a Cylon, b/c she was created after he'd left.
Just some theories to chew upon. Plz, don't choke. :)