To: KevinDavis
Analyses and predictions like these are futile when it comes to BSG. The writers are winging it and have been for some time now. There is no logic to the overall arc and thus no puzzle pieces to put into place on which to base predictions. The future story will be whatever the writers happened to think up at the time they wrote the episodes. That's it.
Why do I say this? Because trying to take BSG seriously, at face value, on its own terms makes one's head hurt. The holes, problems, and inconsistencies include but are not limited to:
- What the hell are "Cylons" (the non-metal variety) in the first place? If the "skinjobs" (=humanoid cylons) are biologically indistinguishable from humans, as we are often told, then just how are they not humans? Remember that Baltar invented a "Cylon test", but it was a fake. There is no "Cylon test" because Cylon skinjobs are, well, identical to humans. Thus: they are humans. Show's over. So this entire series, you have to watch it pretending to be stupid enough to think there's a meaningful difference because these "Cylon" people and the other people.
- But wait - Cylon spines glow red when having sex. Um, is this not a biological difference? Why can't this be turned into a Cylon test? (I've never observed my or any other human's spine glowing red.) I guess we have to ignore/forget that.
- Being human (i.e. nothing more than human clones, as I insist they are), how do Cylon skinjobs communicate/'download' anywhere at all? What is the mechanism by which they 'download', get 'activated' and so on? (And again: if there is one, why isn't it detectable thus why couldn't one test for Cylons with it?)
- I keep coming back to the same point: either the Cylon-skinjobs are different from humans, or they are not. Pick one. If they are different, the difference can be tested for. Yet we were told it can't, indeed that even the cellular structure was the same. The idea that a humanoid made of living biological tissue can have a cell structure identical to humans and yet not be human is...well, stupid. The entire series is premised on this stupidity and all characters in the series subscribe to it.
- But pretending (as we must) that there is such a thing as a "Cylon" skinjob that is different from human, we then have to ask things like: How in the hell can Tigh be a Cylon? Makes no sense. Was skinjob technology developed prior to the first Cylon War, in which Tigh fought? Apparently. But then why weren't there any other skinjobs at that time? Why wasn't Tigh activated? Why did they develop a 'Tigh model', place him amongst humanity, see him rise to a military position, and...nothing more?
- Why do those four people even think they are Cylons? Because they heard music and wandered into the same room at the same time? This makes them Cylons? Why? Wouldn't the conclusion "this makes us Cylons" require having a coherent definition of "Cylon"? But if "Cylon" just means "susceptible to hearing/receiving such-and-such hidden messages" isn't it just a different type of human?
- When this happened, and they decided they were Cylons, Tyrol said: "..and always have been". Wasn't this a stupid thing to say? What was the alternative there: "We're Cylons...but we haven't always been"? "Always have been" is a statement that makes sense to a TV viewer discussing the show, but not to the character in the show. The writers irritatingly lack the ability to separate these two things.
- What was the Cylons's "plan"? Whatever happened to that?
- The nonrevealed 5 skinjob models are always called "The Final Five" within the show. Why? What's "final" about them exactly? Why aren't they just called "The Other Five"? I understand why they are "Final" to the TV viewers, because they are the last to be revealed to us. But there's nothing "Final" about them within the context of the show; indeed, it would seem that Tigh would've had to be among the first skinjobs, not a "final" one.
- There was all sorts of mysticism surrounding how the 7 other skinjobs discuss "The Final Five". They are not supposed to talk about them, we were told they "worship" them, etc. That was all nonsense, right? Designed to drum up suspense and wonderment in the viewer? I did not observe e.g. D'Anna doing any obvious "worshipping" of Tory. Besides, I thought the Cylons were all supposed to be monotheists. Why would they "worship" 5 other Cylon models?
- Starbuck coming back, her ship, etc.: not explained.
And on and on. I hate this show. So much that I can't stop watching it, obviously. But I do hate it. And believe me, if there's a coherent Adam-and-Even parallel coming up as the show concludes, it's something the writers only thought up on the fly, and it won't be consistent with what came before.
Because those guys are totally winging it.
To: Dr. Frank fan
Man, you must have told your kids that there's no Santa Claus, Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy.
All in one night.
When they were five.
61 posted on
06/17/2008 7:33:14 PM PDT by
buccaneer81
(Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
To: Dr. Frank fan
What was the Cylons's "plan"? Whatever happened to that?I'm with you 100%. I like this description of the Cylon Plan, which I've "borrowed" from an infamous (and awesome) poster on another board:
The Cylon Plan Explained
- Blow everyone up.
- Breed with the radioactive leftovers.
- Make them love you and/or steal their ovaries.
- Admit you made a mistake.
- Enslave them and/or blow them up. Again.
- Find Earth. Repeat.
In fairness, the last point may now be out of date.
To: Dr. Frank fan
Remember that Baltar invented a "Cylon test", but it was a fake. I seem to remember in the 'Cylon test' episode, Baltar administers the test to Boomer and it does detect her as a Cylon, but he does not reveal the results to her.
76 posted on
06/17/2008 8:43:14 PM PDT by
6SJ7
To: Dr. Frank fan
Baltar’s test wasn’t fake, Baltar’s test worked (it identified Sharon). Baltar’s published RESULTS were fake, the test worked. They are nearly identical, but not 100%.
To: Dr. Frank fan
I don’t hate the show, but I agree with you. The writers have never had a long term plan. I look at it like Hillary’s campaign - no plan after Super Tuesday. This is frustrating just like “Lost” where there has never been a hint of a story line originally planned.
95 posted on
06/18/2008 12:56:55 PM PDT by
Gaffer
To: Dr. Frank fan
What the hell are "Cylons" (the non-metal variety) in the first place? If the "skinjobs" (=humanoid cylons) are biologically indistinguishable from humans, as we are often told, then just how are they not humans? Remember that Baltar invented a "Cylon test", but it was a fake. There is no "Cylon test" because Cylon skinjobs are, well, identical to humans. Thus: they are humans. Show's over. So this entire series, you have to watch it pretending to be stupid enough to think there's a meaningful difference because these "Cylon" people and the other people.Nope, that's not the case. If you remember, Baltar's test DID flag Boomer as a Cylon, but he falsified the results, and then sabotaged the machine that did the testing. Plus the Cylon babes are NOT human, unless that little glow in the dark spinal column is a normal part of human physiology of which I'm not aware... Or maybe it is normal, since nobody on the show is human, technically.
Mark
102 posted on
06/18/2008 5:28:44 PM PDT by
MarkL
(Al Gore: The Greenhouse Gasbag! (heard on Bob Brinker's Money Talk))
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson