Thoughts on Final Cut

Finally after all these weeks, Final Cut has been revealed! No longer will I have to dodge the numerous spoilers flying all over the place about this episode! Happy days! I had my doubts. I have seen similar plots done on similar shows in the past and I was never fully engaged with the results. Snooping reporter gets in people’s faces… antics ensue… yada yada yada… Fortunately for us, the end of the episode more than makes up for the rest of it!

It is for episodes like this that I am so glad I avoided the spoilers. Final Cut is like all those M. Night Shyamalan movies… the good stuff doesn’t hit until the very end. I was literally shocked out of my seat in the final moments. It never even occurred to me where the writers might be taking the Lawless character. I have a habit of smacking the couch and yelling “Oh man that is some good sci fi!” while my wife looks up from her copy of War and Peace and rolls her eyes…I must have smacked the couch five or six times this week!

First, an order of business. I am writing this from 30,000 feet headed to LA and I do not have an internet connection so I am unable to go back and look up the Lucy Lawless Cylon name. So from here on out I will be referring to her simply as ‘Lawless’.

Through the eyes of a lens
What is it about the lens of a camera that impersonalizes the action? I think we have all felt it… if you are asked to video tape something, just by raising the camera over your eye you find yourself at a distance. You are no longer absorbing the action as a participant… you are outside of it… and observer… a documentarian.

I found it funny this show through the lens of Lawless’s camera evoked the same reaction. I felt extremely distanced from all the characters in this episode. Since the characters were interacting with us the audience through the filter of Lawless, we were largely restricted to treatment that mirrored their suspicious treatment of her. I can’t say I enjoyed absorbing the story from this uncomfortable angle, but I completely understand it was necessary given the goals of the episode.

Poetry is priceless
One of my favorite little moments is with Apollo and Starbuck in the locker room. Starbuck is begging to be a suspect and Lee makes fun of her for not knowing enough poetry to get on the list. She proves him wrong by reciting a few lines and has a fun little quip where she is pleading to be a suspect. I don’t remember the specific quote, but I found that moment to be so fun. After so many episodes apart, it is good to see Kara and Lee getting back to a more playful vibe.

And I suppose I have to mention the perfectly positioned towel that Jamie Bamber was operating. I do not think I have seen better towel manipulation in all my life. I am sure that made the female fans happy… at least it looks that way from a quick scan of the forums!

I am still surprised there hasn’t been any mention of Anders or Simon since Kara has gotten back to Galactica. I guess it isn’t like Starbuck has a ton “girlfriends” she can gossip about boys with… I just think it is realistic to believe she would have to get the whole experience off her chest more than she has… I would think she might talk to Helo since he spent some time with her on Caprica and is the closest person to understanding the how it all went down.

Speaking of Helo, he gets back to the fleet after being gone for a season and a half and the ramifications of this have been a little light. I am sure there will be plenty of Helo/Sharon in the coming shows, but a few little character moments with him and the others would be nice to flesh out the reality of the situation. He is such a strong character and to have him missing from the show is extremely noticeable.

Knowing him better than he knows himself?
I thought one of the best moments is when Baltar meets Lawless in the hallway for the first time. Lucy Lawless and James Callis do a great job with the scene. You initially think she is treating him weird because he is behaving as such. I figured she picked up on his lingering and was trying not to play right into his hands. After witnessing the revelations in the final moments and thinking back, it is clear that she knows fully well what is going on. Since Lawless is a Cylon, one can only assume that she knows Baltar’s role in the fleet and the Cylon plan. It perfectly explains her lack of interest in him.

I find it interesting that Number Six never alludes to Lawless being a Cylon in her conversations with Baltar. She discusses how Lawless could help them (in what seems like a quest for power in the fleet) but never hints they are on the same side. Is it possible that the Six in Baltar’s head doesn’t know about Lawless? It seemed that Six definitely knew Sharon was a Cylon when Baltar was testing her last season. Again, I find myself continually grappling with the power of the Cylons and how or when they know what they know.

Six down, six to go
I was impressed at how they introduced Simon and I am equally impressed at how they introduced Lawless. Who needs to ruin established characters on the show when you can continually introduce Cylons in such a suspenseful and dramatic way! I have never seen Xena so I had no preconceived notions going into the episode. To me, Lucy Lawless is as good as an unknown actress. That being said, I think she is an excellent addition to the cast. She has a look that is cold, calculating and brutally intelligent coupled with an athletic beauty that makes her irresistible. I sort of wanted her to jump in and start sparring with Starbuck. Lawless seemed to fit in perfectly when they showed the other three primary Cylons at the end of the show.

Speaking of Cylons I was amazed that the Sharon sitting in the theater at the end was genuinely surprised to find out the HeloClone of her was still alive. Going back to Home – Part II when she proves to Adama she heard his question in the morgue, I am having a hard time building a reliable framework of what the Cylons know and how they know it. Sometimes they pass information to each other when alive, sometimes when dead. Maybe there is a distance thing involved? I believe Leoban mentioned this before he died... that he was too far away for his soul to return to his other bodies.

At the end of the show, the Lawless Cylon says that she used two Raiders to transmit the footage back from the fleet which I take to mean that the theater where they were watching it is some distance away from where the fleet currently is. Perhaps the raiders were used as a decoy? Or a node in an ad-hoc transmission network? It is crazy to think that the whole time Lawless was filming in the bridge it was all part of a plan to beam the cut footage back to the Cylons. Honestly, I really need to watch this episode again to fully grasp everything that was going on.

A window into their souls
Aside from Cylons and the intrigue surrounding them, we got to see some pretty solid character moments via the interviews. Dualla comes off as a very put together person with a beautifully poetic perspective of their situation. Her line that “it only gets harder” in the CIC was just excellent. So simple and so true.

It was fun to see Gaeda all strung out for a change. He is normally such a put together little man. To see his hair all frazzled… hitting a cigarette… showing off a tattoo… it was a different look for him and one that adds quite a bit more depth. As smart as he is you can tell there is a sad and lonely part lingering there. Anyone who is so obsessed with their work is bound to be a little vulnerable when they aren’t working. I mean really, who is Gaeda’s closest relationship? Baltar?

The scene where Tigh puts his head to the gun was just bone chilling. I couldn’t tell if it was confidence or self loathing that drove him to that action. Does he really think he has nothing to lose? On the surface he carries himself like he wants to be there for Adama… on the other hand his self destructiveness is reaching critical proportions. I thought the scene with him being set up drinking during the interview was well played. His reaction was just how I expected him to react. I wanted someone who was going to shove Lawless and tell her she had gone too far. Thanks Tigh for being that guy.

Adama didn’t do a whole lot this episode, but he did show a softer more understanding side. He is definitely working with Laura as more of a healer now. I also found it interesting that he was the only one in the CIC to cheer when the vipers destroyed the raiders (that sounds like a football game). Ron Moore has said they want Adama to wear more of his emotions on his sleeve. I like what I have seen so far.

Conclusion
I was really surprised by this episode. It if fun to be out from underneath the arcs of season one. I can already see the threads of season two starting to pile up and there are so many more that need rise to the surface. Once again I find myself a little skeptical about next week. It has the potential to be a techno-babble fest. However this week proved that even when I think the show is going to slip into mediocrity, it dashes forth at the last moment and exceeds my expectations.

Principal MVP of the week goes to Michael Hogan as Colonel Tigh. He wasn’t on screen much this episode, but I felt he stayed the truest to his character throughout the reporter’s reign. His scene facing down the assault was bone chilling. He took charge of every second of screen time and really shined through for me.

Secondary MVP of the week has to go to Lucy Lawless. She dominated this episode and will be a welcomed addition to the guest star cast. I am excited to see what other appearances the writers have in store for her. Like I have said, I never saw her in Xena, but after watching her in BSG I see why the buzz for her was so high. She did an excellent job.

Additional Resources

• Official episode synopsis
• Podcast commentary
• TV Squad episode chat (just like my old website filmtease.com)

Comments

[Lucy Fan]

Thank you for that excellent review. Lucy Lawless is a superb actress and she has certainly made D'anna Biers a memorable character.

It was very interesting to see the crew a bit differently. My favorite scene was Apollo and his wandering towel :)

[Kev]

And the original theme under the final cut of Lawless' news story - and a crewman whistling along with it!! Woo hoo!!
Great show all around!
I must have missed the spoilers about her being a cylon - I expected it, but don't remember reading about it - and thought it was a total cop-out on the part of the writers - she could have been a really great character - an antagonist to the entire military (read bitc*)- but instead she turns out to be just a cylon (where doing that stuff is her way of life, instead of just being a bitc*).
Just my opinion - I still thought the show rocked - and cylon Sharon in the theatre - her reaction to seeing herself alive was great.
Question - was that the same Lawless cylon in the theatre with the other cylons, or was it another one?

[Marc]

YES! Just when you think it's just gonna be a "filler" episode, bam! Right between the eyes.

[Trapper Markelz]

Kev - I am thinking that the Lawless cylon in the theater is a different one. She specifically speaks of having to send the footage back using those two raiders. At this point it would be pretty unbelievable to think that they were watching that footage from a theater within the fleat given the man-hunts that took place to find Cylons that looked similar to them.

I went back and forth on it, but at this point I am thinking she is a different version of the Lawless cylon.

[John]

For some reason it seems that a very large number of people missed the text that appears during that scene that reads "CYLON-OCCUPIED CAPRICA."

I wouldn't have seen it if I didn't have Tivo.

[John]

I actually think it would have been much cooler had it been in the fleet, and D'anna's humanity ambigious. But whatevs.

[Trapper Markelz]

John - Seriously? I watched that scene twice!! Ha! That is hilarious. I totally do not remember seeing that.

[John]

Totally:
Screengrab (http://www.flickr.com/photos/beelerspace/43306603/)

[Will Collier]

Honestly? This one gets my CBG "Worst Episode Ever" award.

Sorry, I love the show, but "Final Cut" was just a mishmash of been-done-before cliches. Pushy reporter shown her preconceived notions were wrong--check. Interviews in character--check. Soldier (okay, pilot) on drugs--check. Cheesy television jeapordy plot--check.

Dualla and Data--whoops, I mean Gaeta--were good. I liked the scene with the Marine LT putting the gun to Tigh's head, and bringing back the old theme as the "national anthem" was great, but other than that, I thought I was watching "MASH" a lot of the time, without the laugh track--except that MASH did it a lot better.

Weak effort from Moore and Company. I really, really hope this isn't a sign that they don't have a thought-out plan for going forward with the overall story (can you say, "Twin Peaks?"). I can't comment on the value of the ending, 'cause I accidentally saw a spoiler a few weeks back. Maybe that would have changed my mind about the episode as a whole, but as it is, bleah. This is one I won't be re-watching.

[Trapper Markelz]

Will - I can't help but think the spoiler ruined you a bit. Like I said in my review, the ending saved this episode for me. If I knew it was coming, it wouldn't have been as nearly exciting.

Just like a good punchline needs a joke, a smash ending needs an episode.

[Trapper Markelz]

John - thanks for the awesome detective work! That screen shot answers a lot of questions.

[gleek]

as to whether the-six-in-baltar's-head knows about d'anna being a cylon, i would say, yes, she knows. she does whisper to gaius, "this one can help us" when he is trying to get d'anna's attention. i believe that six's ultimate goal is to bring gaius between man and cylon in the fight. he will play both sides but will need help from the cylons to do it. my guess is that d'anna will have a very important role to play. by "cheesing" (and i mean that in the nicest of terms) up the ending of her documentary and not blowing the fleet to pieces with some trashy commentary, she gained roslin's and adama's trust. if she hadn't, it would have been a serious blow to her acceptability.

my opinion is that this was one of the best episodes! the season 1 story arc is done and it was a great decision to start off season 2 with a wholly character based episode. like ron moore said in the podcast, this was an episode that people who are interested in the characters would love. you get to see all of the little things that make them human... and this is just the tip of the iceberg of coming storylines. will collier, i think that you are not giving ron moore enough credit. the man knows what he's doing.

[Kim]

i thought this episode was very good, but i know it would have been a hugely different experience had i known the ending while watching it. i agree that the character exposes were very interesting, especially gaeta and is tatto.

1. i was VERY disappointed that cmdr adama fell for the take-the-tape-from-the-camera-and-assume-it's-the tape-with-the-incriminating-footage-on-it trick. i mean, *seriously*. . he's got to be smarter than that!

2. while michael hogan's acting was excellent, and the scene with him and the would-be assasin was spine-tingling, i feel like the character of tigh has gone too far in the direction of "no redeeming value" in terms of his leadership capabilities. here's a guy whom pretty much no one respects, whose every opinion is pretty much directly countered by adama, and who can't be trusted to exercise the least bit of good judgment (sitting there drinking during his interview? what did he think that was going to look like?). for the sake of believability, i feel like he needs to display more redeeming qualities than his history with adama. (think the bobs from office space: "what would you say you do here?")

[Cherry Hafeez]

I think the Final Cut Episode of Battlestar Galactica was pretty awesome. Awesome enough to keep me saying "Damn!" That was one hell of an episode. I just could not believe the last moment of that episode. My mouth just totally dropped in disbelief. I can still recall shouting a little bit from across the room making my two boys looking at me like I am sort of a nut. I also love the way they integrated the old Battlestar Theme music when the viper pilots where coming off from somewhere. It was just beautifully done. I cannot wait for the next episode where they meet Pegasus. The show deserves a third season. I can definitely tell you that I will be attending the Battlestar Galactica second official convention in Burbank, CA next year. Five stars to what they have done with this show so far. God! it would be nice and an honor to do a scene with the cast and crew of this show.

[angela]

I wouldn't classify Lucy Lawless as a 'unknown' actress. When you hear that name, someone will instantly think "XENA!" Just like Lynda Carter, Christopher Reeve, Tobey McGuire, so on and so forth.