Thoughts on The Farm

I love rainy Saturdays. When it is pouring outside, I don’t feel as guilty sitting around in my pajamas at 1pm watching sci fi and drinking coffee and Bailey’s.

I have a litmus test for opening credits in shows… You know they are good if you watch them every time. For instance I always skipped Star Trek: The Next Generation credits, but I always watched the DS9 ones… The credits for season one of BSG I watched every single time. The theme song was so amazing and the little flashes of episode insight were fun. It is no secret that they took both of those fun things away for season 2, replacing the theme with a more vocal (and in my opinion less powerful) song and removing the little sneak peek. This week I was quite happy they added the episode flash scenes back in. This makes me excited because, if they changed their minds on that, maybe they are close to changing their minds and going back to the old “US” theme. Maybe for season three?

Say goodbye to Anders
What a great little love scene with Kara and Anders. I was thinking the whole situation might seem a bit forced given that we have only known him for one episode, but they really pull it off, bringing a surprising amount of complexity to something that wasn’t given very much time to develop. Their humor given the situation is spot on… I have to imagine that if you really are faced with the end of the world, you either laugh about it or go insane.

I really hope they go back to the character of Anders. Michael Trucco did a great job with what little screen time he had. He is a good balancing force for Kara. A part of me was wishing he would head back to Galactica with them. In a world full of complex and flawed characters I found him uniquely refreshing. He seems like an honestly noble guy whose entire world is turned upside down, but he deals with it… the ultimate pragmatist… I can appreciate that.

I can’t help but feel like the writers are hinting at an impending pregnancy for Starbuck. She might think that it was the Cylon’s who gave her a child under the knife, but it could turn out to be a child from Anders.

Say hello to Sharon
At least for the time being we no longer have to identify which Sharon we are talking about! There is no longer Galactica Sharon and Caprica Sharon… it is just plain vanilla Sharon.

But really… what the heck is her deal? She is a Cylon. Everyone knows she is a Cylon. She knows she is a Cylon and yet she is on some weird mission to save everyone. I just can’t figure out where she is coming from. And then we find out that the Cylons have been trying to procreate and she practically admits that she was put in the Caprica situation with Helo to manipulate him into falling in love with her… and for her to be manipulated into falling in love with him. They seemed to gloss over that moment a little faster than I would have liked. No one seems to really be asking Sharon any hard questions… I really hope Helo comes to his senses and starts exploring just want is going on in her mind. Why did she run off? Why did she come back? Is she really pregnant?

When Anders and Kara are saying goodbye, you can see Helo and Sharon in the background hugging and holding each other. Did Helo forget his conversation with Kara where he admitted he was duped? I guess I expected Sharon to come back, but I didn’t expect it to result in such a fast acceptance by everyone.

Welcome back Adama
I am so glad Adama is back. He is such a presence on the show. He has two of the best and most telling scenes in this episode.

The first is with Tyrol. Adama seems to be going through a mental transformation about the Cylons. I remember reading somewhere that Ron Moore really wanted to emphasize the blurred line between humanity and machine. Science fiction (and philosophers) have been questioning the seat of humanity for ages. The have been asking the questions “What makes us human?” and “How much can you replace artificially and still be considered human?” Adama is struggling with those questions now. Whatever answer he comes to is going to have massive repercussions. His excellent discussion with Tyrol was superb and unexpected. You would think he would be the first one to wish Sharon dead after her assassination attempt. Instead he convinces Tyrol that she wasn’t just a machine. That she really was Sharon… a person that Tyrol could love and somehow that makes her different. When Adam tells Tyrol that he will see her again, there is almost comfort in his eyes… Adam seems genuinely happy that he will see her again. Luckily we won’t have to wait long for that moment… next episode!

The scene with Adama in the morgue crying over Sharon was also unexpected. Was he crying as a result of betrayal, once by his son and again by a trusted officer? Was he crying as a result of frustration over the fleet and the forcing of his hand? Again I think we are seeing Adama’s acceptance of the Cylons not as machines but has a more human enemy. He is acknowledging the complexity of the situation and I think he might be one of the only people actively realizing this.

Roslin rides the spiritual rollercoaster
I can see a possible progression where Adama actually becomes the person more compassionate towards the Cylon. This will be balanced by Roslin turning into a hard nosed religious zealot who sees herself on a crusade against the Cylons that will decide the destiny of humanity. She is quickly turning into something that she does not want to become, but has to given the choices she has made. As she goes farther down the path of a religious icon, her choices will become more and more restrictive as she struggles to maintain the power that she builds for herself.

I was happy to see Apollo resist selling out his father. He continues to show that he knows the line between virtue and politics. That is the difference between him and Zarek. Zarek will justify the ends with the means… Apollo will not. It will be interesting to watch as Roslin becomes more of a fanatic will he stay on the ride or jump off?

I just have to mention the little moment where Roslin doesn’t know how to work the tape recorder. What a great little bit of texture.

Say hello to Simon
It isn’t every episode we meet a new Cylon model so this is exciting stuff. The actor who played Simon did a fabulous job. From the moment you saw him you knew something was up… he just had a creepy way about him. Starbuck attacking him came out of nowhere. In hindsight, the camera does linger for a second on the shattered mirror where she got the shard to stab him in the neck. I thought it was interesting that Simon says “You can’t kill me” when Leobon, before he was flushed out of the airlock in season one, seemed genuinely concerned about his mortality. It is very similar to the Sharons on the base star not really being concerned in Kobol’s Last Gleaming about their impending nuclear death, whereas the Sharon with Helo seems genuinely concerned about dying. Are some Cylons programmed differently than others?

The babymakers
I appreciate how the title of the episode always seems to clear after you watch the episode. I am sure if I sat around and thought about it I could have deduced that there was some sort of “breeding” theme… but honestly I try not to go there… I prefer to just let the episode happen.

All that being said, when presented with this new evidence that the Cylons are “breeding” people where does that leave the visions Baltar was having about his child? Six makes a pretty big deal about the birth of their “child” singular but it would seem that the Cylons are producing a whole army of children and that isn’t counting the Helo/Sharon babe. Are they using the women on Caprica to produce Cylon clones? Are the producing human/cylon hybrids? Are they producing normal human babies? When Kara is back with everyone Sharon is saying “If you agreed they might have set you up with someone nice” making me think they are just normal humans. There is still a lot to learn about this “Plan” the Cylons have.

Finally
Where the heck was Baltar this episode? A couple shots of him nervously clapping and mentally conspiring something in his head, but that was it. I was looking forward to Adama confronting him about the accuracy of the Cylon detector. Maybe another time.

One more thing I wanted to add... I wonder how mad Adama will be with Kara when she gets back... she took a piddly little Raider and came back with a massive Cylon heavy Raider... talk about upgrade! "Sorry I stole the jeep boss... To apologize I brought you back a tank!"

Principal MVP of the week goes to Katee Sackhoff’s Kara Thrace. This really was an episode about her and she takes full advantage of it. She does great work in the psychological situations the writers give her. Most of the episode was just her and Simon in a small room and yet it never felt slow.

I guess that means the secondary MVP of the week goes to Rick Worthy as Simon the Cylon. He dishes some excellent mind games at Sackhoff and together they really make this episode work. His death scene was delightfully gruesome and he had luck of getting TWO death scenes in one episode! The best part is that since he is a clone, we can expect his return in the future!

Additional Resources

• Official episode synopsis
• Episode commentary by Ron Moore

Comments

[John Beeler]

A good episode, but did you get the impression it was a bit rushed?

[kim]

i had a really really hard time believing that the resistance fighters would accept sharon into their midst knowing that she's a cylon. at first i thought that they were keeping it secret, but the interchange among starbuck, helo and sharon makes it pretty clear that no one's hiding this fact. why would the resistance fighters have any reason to trust that she wasn't acting as double agent, that she wouldn't sell them all out?

also, i LOVED the subtle slip when simon called kara "starbuck" and she then pinched her IV line so she wouldn't get drugged. that little slip (and likely the new incision) seemed to be what tipped her suspicions over the edge and made her take action. "i never told you i was called starbuck!" she hisses in simon's ear as he dies. i had goosebumps!

[Elliott Wilcoxon]

> She might think that it was the Cylon’s who gave her a child under the knife,
> but it could turn out to be a child from Anders.
I do believe they took out her ovaries the second time they put her under. If she's having a kid, she'd better already be preggers.

> She is a Cylon. Everyone knows she is a Cylon. She knows she is a Cylon and
> yet she is on some weird mission to save everyone.
Sharon's deal is, she couldn't go back to the Cylons. They might have succeeded in manipulating her into love, but they can't trust her anymore. Her fate was either Helo and possibly being imprisoned in the fleet; or going back to the Cylons who'd just grow and harvest her kid. Even without the whole love thing, the humans are looking like a better choice. Once she went back, it was just a matter of making sure that Helo could protect her, which she knew he'd do, since he loves her. By showing up with a bigger ride, she insures that the Resistance will be less willing to shoot her the instant they learn she's a Cylon. Even after learning she's a Cylon, he still loves her, perhaps it's just him loving to try and keep his child alive.

> Again I think we are seeing Adama’s acceptance of the Cylons not as machines
> but has a more human enemy. He is acknowledging the complexity of the
> situation and I think he might be one of the only people actively
> realizing this.
Which feeds right back into what's going on with Sharon. She's no longer allied with the Cylons, at best, she's allied with the humans. Listen to the way she discusses the Cylon plans with Kara; she's not revealing her evil plan, she's just exposing the enemy's plan. The Cylons made a mistake with her model (or did they...?); Sharons are not strong enough in conviction to avoid splitting with the Cylons.

[Trapper Markelz]

John, I have seen other people state that they felt it was rushed. As a whole episode, I don't think I agree... but like I stated in my write-up, the acceptance of Sharon was a bit too fast.

In general though, they were pretty deliberate with the scenes involving Kara and Simon. Adama's scenes were fairly involved as well. I didn't feel like they were cutting any corners... except in the Sharon department.

[The Box]

I think this episode in particular was a bit too, I dunno, neat. Lotsa things were too convenient.

The last season, things had consequences. Like when Sharon blew up the water compartments, they didn't catch her, but they still held an inquiry coupla episodes later.

This episode, there's lotsa slippage.
Sharon stole Kara's raider, and then miraculously returns with a bigger model? It's too convenient. They plan to assault a cylon outpost to steal one and then she just SHOWS UP with one.

Then there's the Sharon-is-suddenly-our-friend issue. Fine, they cylons know they can't trust her, but that doesn't mean the humans can.

The whole Starbuck love interest thing. Begun and ended in one episode. And it does nothing for the story.

And the baby factory thing? The last season, we had Galactica solving 'real' problems. They need water, they run out of fuel, they have people who want a government etc. I just hope it's not going into X-Files territory here.

I'm a little worried. Season 1 was so unbelievably good. Let's hope they leep it that way.

[Trapper Markelz]

To answer TheBox, I guess I am going to withold judgement on the convenient nature of the events... at least for a few episodes. The full ramifications are not always clear... that is the power of a linear storyline. In the end, I wasn't bothered so much by convenience as I was by the character's reactions to them. I have no problem with the writers bringing something in from left field in the last 30 seconds (this show is famous for it). But they better follow up in the next episodes as you suggested. The farther we get from this episode without addressing Sharon, the weaker the events will seem because we will learn that they were meaningless contrivances to move the plot forward.

One could argue that Sharon is accepted because she uses the ship to gun down all the mecha-Cylons... Hopefully next episode we will get some meat as to how everyone feels about Sharon... especially when they get back to Galactica.

[bryan g.]

i think the phrase everyone is looking for is "jumped the shark." everything felt contrived and done out of convenience. they should develop this in a fashion similar to the sopranos and the way the brits do: fewer episodes, more drama, higher quality. 13 episodes was perfect; i can already tell 20 is too many. and so help me, if that bitch that tigh is banging turns out to be cylon, i'll never watch again.

[Trapper Markelz]

I think "jump the shark" is a tad bit harsh... but maybe that is just me. :)

There is no magical secret to a TV show. You either tell a good story or you don't. A show jumps the shark after you run out of story. With BSG, there is still plenty to learn and find out... about Kobol... about the Cylon Plan... about the intentions of Baltar... about the democratic factions within the fleet... about Adama and Lee... about all the main characters...

Although sharks are cool (Discovery Channel shark week baby), we are far from jumping them.

[jarisha]

Excellent episode. I'm the guy who thinks that Adama's a Cylon spy that's joined the human side.

That said, I thought his speach to Chief - that if he thought he loved Sharon, then he did - was perfect. It didn't give away the truth, but when you look at it with my theory in mind, it has a whole 'nother facet to it. Also, when Adama asked the dead Sharon "Why?" you can take it at least 2 different ways:
If he's a Human, he's trying to understand how someone he loved could shoot him.
If he's Cylon, he's asking her "Why couldn't you have come to me and talked to me about it? I would've understood. I'm so alone; together we could've given each other support."

As for Sharon being accepted. Actions speak loudest. Helio had denounced her, but that was when he thought that she'd abandoned them. Pretend for a moment that this is a WW2 show and Sharon was a Nazi officer who showed up and help blast the other Nazis. Yes, there might be emotional issues, but in life-and-death situations, the proof is in which side you help.

[Trapper Markelz]

Wow Jarisha... I have to say... those are some interesting thoughts. You are correct... looking at the Tyrol/Adama talk through the lense of your conspiracy really does put the scene in a whole new light.

[Gunner]

Did anyone question that Simon knew all about Anders, including his background as a pro athlete? It was a key part of his bluff to establish credibility with Starbuck. Obviously, the cylons knew Starbuck was with Anders' underground unit when she was captured. How, infiltration? A cylon or cylon informant among the resistance? Or is Anders a cylon?

[John Beeler]

I think that saying that one particular moment was a jump the shark moment without seeing any of the following episodes lacks perspective. I wouldn't say this was among the best, and even Moore in his podcast says the scenes we have problems with (particularly the baby factory scene) he also didn't like. That's a good sign.

So I just wonder if there weren't things that needed to happen here in order to just "move things along."

[Trapper Markelz]

Gunner, that is a great observation. I definitely didn't think about that line... however the Cylons did manage to capture another female member of the resistance so maybe they are aware of him just from the raids he has conducted against them.

John, I agree. I found it interesting that Moore specifically says he doesn't like the baby factory scene in his podcast but says the scene was required to move the story along. I got the feeling that "The Farm" isn't as big of a part of the Cylon plan as we are thinking at this moment... just one facet of it.