User Reviews

To me, Ellen's return really did improve the final season primarily because she was instantly back in "Ellen" mode from seasons 1 and 2. That's why I rate this one higher.

She was never a favorite of mine, but her presence did remind me of the far better early seasons. So little actual things happen throughout this season (with a few stellar exceptions like the mutiny) that it's really not the same show it was in seasons 1 and 2.

This season consists so much of people simply arguing and not much actually occurring. The reason I rate this episode higher is it really WORKS when Ellen is in those conversations. When Cavil goes off he just sounds like a crotchety old man griping. When Ellen just starts quietly talking, I still get nervous!

And there's particularly inane "stories" like Baltar's harem/followers. Could they really not give him something more interesting (and logical/plausible) to do?

The series is littered with so-called "heroes" (SCH). These SCH are people like Starbuck, Apollo, the Admiral, and Roslin. Each of them has been deeply flawed. And then, Baltar started out as a villain to the worst degree. Tigh also to a lesser degree. But both of the latter two being reformed. They are starting to show some integrity and, believe it or not, compassion. All of these people are thriving in power, and except for Roslin in welfare.

But what about the people with real integrity. Helo is the exception as far as welfare since he too is thriving so far. Athena has had mixed blessings. But then there are the others. First it was Cally. She's been mistreated since the start yet remained loyal and finally got thrown out the airlock. Then it was Dee. I'm not sure there was anyone more faithful and even sweet than Dee, and boom, goodbye. Now Caprica Six. OK, she caused the holocaust, but since then she has done nothing but good and she suffers a fate that many women consider one of their worst fears - losing her baby. And Caprica's baby was a sign of a hopeful future for her race. I'd also like to throw in Felix. Based on his last actions, he deserved what he got, but those actions were the result of bitterness which sprung from a long series of hardships with the latest being the loss of his leg. And don't forget what he really did behind the scenes at New Caprica, yet no one will acknowledge it (except that he barely escaped execution).

My complaint is not really central to the message behind BSG, but it is more about the 21st century culture. We seem to love shows and stories where the good guys get punished and the bad guys thrive.

..if there future is a future for mankind in the (non-BSG) real world, that future is either:

(a) Simply that all the races on Earth (Chinese, Caucasian, Maori, black, aboriginal,.....)need to get it on and have kids, and that children of same race parents should slowly? become a thing of the past.

(b1) A future with the children born of a union between humans and genetically modified humans. Most humans are already becoming GM'd from all the GM crops and synthetic stuff in our diet, aspartame, melamine etc...

(b2) it could even mean a future where each child is born of one elite pure parent (royal blood lines) and one commoner (most of us).

(c) simply that meddling with nature is bad. GM babies won't make it..

There is another completely different hidden meaning scenario I call (d) based on Sumerian clay tablets.

(d) Some analysts of Sumerian clay tablets (dating back to at least 6000 years ago I believe), most notably Zacharia Sitchin, claim that these tablets illustrate the history and origin of humanity. The claim is that long ago humans were literally created as a slave race. They made hybrids (in a lab at first) using DNA of Earth primates together with their own DNA. These early test tube babies failed. It was only by using one of their own females to carry the child that it was born unimpaired. Sitchin's interpretation also ascertains that some of the male 'ET's' were stricken by the beauty of the hybrid women and had children with them. So! is the death of the cylon baby Liam a reference to the early failed pregnancies outlined in Zacharia Sitchins version of things? Who knows?

I base this on the words of the colonel in the scene with the argument between the cylons in the med ward (around 30:00) "Pure human doesn't work, pure cylon doesn't work.."

If there is any hidden meaning in BSG, I think (c) and (d) are the strongest possibilities. With (d), there is a lot of evidence IMO. Firstly, there is lots of innuendo and code speak that seems to point to (d) even obvious stuff like Bill Adama's speech at Galactica's decommissioning: "Humanity is a flawed creation...People still murder one another for petty jealousy and greed" Indeed this quote is reiterated later in the episode where Galactica and Pegasus take on the 3 base stars.

Anyway, when I first read Zacharia Sitchin's interpretation of the tablets, I was shocked of course. The possibility that human life is really a creation is profound. For a few months I was quite depressed at the possibility that I'm the legacy of genetic engineering. But I got over it. It could be a trick the ET's or God played to make us strive to create something better than ourselves, because that's what humans do now. Some scientists are pushing ahead with genetic engineering of humans. There's lots more evidence. This revamped BSG comes at a time when creationism is seen as a viable educational alternative to Darwin's evolution in the American classroom. Also, human DNA is a mystery. It doesn't look like what evolved ape DNA should theoretically look like at all! so maybe we're not evolved apes. Many human beings feel they are confused, torn, "in 2 minds". This in itself may be further evidence.

I believe it would be some task to condition most humans to ACCEPT that they are the legacy of genetic engineering. It would have to done slowly in a sequence of increasingly profound revelations. Something like this:

At first: Cylons suck <--> being a test tube baby sucks Later: humans created Cylons <--> ET's created us (we're the cylons?) ->we cr.. Cylons aren't all bad <--> humans aren't all bad Cylons are divided <--> we're divided In some ways, cylons are better than humans <--> in some ways we're better than the Et's

Anyway, I could write for hours but that's my 3 cents.