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Net work with me

gensubuser — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:36:49 -0800

Where can I find reasonably verbose Battlestar Galactica (2004+) summaries? I am looking for spoiler/synopses of every season of the new Battlestar Galactica. Something that can do an ok job of synthesizing results between episodes, and more than just the 2 sentence published summaries that are often vague about key events (like: "the final 5 cylon humanoids are revealed").

Google has too many bad results, and I figured it would be better to network the hive mind together for this... I would like to spend no more than an hour reading the whole thing.

Dipping in to Bluray--is it worth a shot?

Gordion Knott — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:55:10 -0800

Bluray disc players significantly improve the visual and auditory quality of movies, so we're told. Does this hold true for TV programs recorded on Bluray? The final season (4.5) of Battlestar Gallactica is on its way to Netflix, and lo and behold, both DVD and Bluray will be up for grabs. (I know that the season's been pummeled by negative reviews, but that's another topic).

Does Bluray improve, either slightly or dramatically, the quality of TV shows like this one? Or does the inferior quality of video defeat any gains over DVD? I'm guessing that from here on, most TV shows will be available in both DVD and Bluray, meaning it might be time to buy a player.

On that note, and as a corollary question, can anybody vouch for the quality of the PS3 as a Bluray player? Does it measure up to other players on the market?

Caprica good! BG…, nah.

dpcoffin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:27:25 -0800

Does Battlestar ever get as good as Caprica? Just watched Caprica and loved it, but (no disrespect to fans!) have bounced off BG several times, never making it beyond the 4th episode. Is there some point where the show starts to get the production values and general tone of the prequel, or just somehow feels more like it? (Same crew, right?) Wouldn't mind jumping in mid-stream, if so…

(What we didn't like about BG: The dialog, the FX, the pacing; hated that "soldier-bluster" thing between the various warrior-pilots; seemed like TV…)

Is there a Battlestar Galactica complete series DVD?

nickhb — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:40:24 -0800

Does anyone know anything about a Battlestar Galactica (2004) complete series DVD? I'm a cult-TV fanatic who somehow entirely missed the Battlestar Galactica Boat. I want to watch it, but I understand it's now over. I want to get the whole thing on DVD, but if possible I'd like to get a complete series set. The problem is that no one can say if/when a complete series DVD is coming out, and I can't decide whether I should wait for it or just get the individual DVD sets. Does anyone know anything about this? (On a side note, what's the deal with the season numbering? Season 4.5? WTF?)

BSG in NO?

palindromic — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:10:29 -0800

I'm staying with a friend who has no cable in New Orleans. This Friday is the last episode of my beloved Battlestar Galactica. Is there anywhere in this city that would show the episode? Bars, coffee shops, gaming stores - I am not fussy, just nerdy.

Help me watch BSG

philosophygeek — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:29:07 -0800

How can I watch the (half-)season opener of Battlestar Galactica on Friday, as close to live as possible? I do not have: TV or access to one via a friend because I'm traveling abroad. I have: internet access, including a VPN connection that lets me fool streaming media sites into thinking that I am in the US.

Sci-Fi shows no love for BSG these days

kerning — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:22:05 -0800

Will the Sci-Fi Channel show the first half of season four of Battlestar Galactica before they show the second half? I realize that you can't predict the future, and unless you work for the Sci-Fi channel, you have no way of knowing this for sure.

However, due to a lazy DVR and a bit of not-smartness on my part, I missed the first 4 episodes of the first half of season 4. And due to my home computer being a bit on the old, wheezy slow side, I can't watch them online.

So based on previous season airings, does the Sci-Fi channel usually run a BSG marathon of sorts before they show the new season, or am I probably going to have to wait until it comes out on DVD?

Battlestar Galactica Continuity?

pwicks — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:24:48 -0800

I'm working my way through Battlestar Galactica on DVD and I've watched the 1st and 2nd seasons so far. Now I've a bit of a conundrum. Do I watch season 3 first or Razor? And where do those webisodes I keep hearing about fit in? No spoilers, please! I just want to know what order to watch things in (sigh, why does everything have to be so complicated?)

Balls? Check. Ovaries? Not anymore...

junkbox — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:53:53 -0800

Help me understand the methaphor/mythology behind female sci-fi characters losing their ovaries (slightly spoilery for Alias, X-Files, and S2 of Battlestar Galactica). I just watched the Battlestar Galactica episode "The Farm," in which Starbuck awakens during her recovery from a gunshot wound to discover a mysterious scar over one of her ovaries. It reminded me of a similar scar Sydney Bristow received in S3 of Alias, as well as the fertility saga of Dana Scully in the X-Files.

Strong, ass-kicking female character has her ovaries stolen by an unknown but powerful group because she is somehow "special" or "chosen." Further plot developments usually include the discovery of hybrid "children" created from the harvested eggs, and the emergence of powerful maternal feelings that had previously been dormant/repressed. Both Dana Scully and Sydney Bristow were ultimately able to conceive and bear children of their own, although Scully gave hers up while Sydney got to live happily ever after. Not sure what will happen to Starbuck's ovaries, but no further spoilers, please.

As a woman with ovaries of my own, I have ambivalent feelings about this storyline, especially now that I'm about to watch it play out for the 3rd time. I think I'm bothered by how it subtly reinforces the idea that women who carry guns and fight bad guys must be disconnected from their maternal side (their ovaries), and that the only way they can develop as characters is to discover their repressed maternal instincts, recover their stolen ovaries and bear children of their own.*

So: are there essays or books (fan-produced okay, if they're quality) analyzing the lost-ovaries storyline and the different ways it works metaphorically? Can the Hive Mind offer a different viewpoint on why strong women in sci-fi keep misplacing their reproductive parts? Bonus points if you or your resource can identify the original lost ovaries in sci-fi or earlier mythology.

* I was a huge X-Files fan, and I'm confident that Battlestar Galactica will do something awesome with Starbuck's storyline. Not trying to pick on these shows, just trying to better understand what they're doing with these characters.

Battlestar Galactica Scene

Beaufort — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:25:38 -0800

In the opening credits of Battlestar Galactica, there is a brief scene of Dr. Gaius Baltar ducking down if front of Number Six (the blond cylon) as the windows of the lake house burst in from an explosion. What episode did this scene come from? It might only be an outtake because I don’t remember seeing such a vivid scene, although, I am only half way through season 2.
(p.s. not too many spoilers please)

Frakking Cylons!

matkline — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:21:49 -0800

I'm interested in coming to a more academic understanding of Battlestar Galactica (particularly Cylons). Are there any resources or texts out there which can help me? I've scoured the library, but haven't found much. The show is relatively new, so mostly, I've just been reading about more general topics: cyborgs, post-apocalyptic literature, etc.

Confused about apparent contradictions in BSG, need help

cyrusdogstar — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:18:57 -0800

I have a couple plot/setting-related questions about part of Battlestar Galactica's first season, and was hoping to get non-spoilery answers if possible. I'm sure it'd be possible to find discussions or answers relating to these questions all over the place, but I'm terrified of spoilers, which are similarly all over the place. I've only seen the first 8 or so episodes of Season 1 of BSG, for reference.

Question 1: What's the deal with Cylon-occupied Caprica? The miniseries implies that Caprica was nuked to hell by the Cylons, and yet all the scenes planetside afterwards, aside from the occasional mention of radiation antidotes, make it look like it wasn't nuked so much as all the people just disappeared into thin air. No destroyed buildings (although there is some implied neglect), and no corpses.

Is this a plot point that is revealed further on? Otherwise it seems like a major oversight of some kind. Or maybe future-nukes actually do just destroy people but leave buildings intact?

Question 2: If the Twelve Colonies were all in the same solar system (is that true? although even if they are just a close-knit group of solar systems, my question still holds), why do they have FTL drives?

It seemed implied to me that there is no human habitation outside of the immediate vicinity of the twelve planets, which I'd expect given the obvious ability of the fleet to jump to various star systems outside their one of origin. You know, like most other sci-fi settings with FTL travel - people live all over the galaxy. That doesn't seem to be the case here, which doesn't add up.

Again, if these are things explained in more detail later in the story, please let me know (preferably without actually spoiling anything :)). And if there are any decent backstory/explanation type sources out there that somehow won't spoil me on future plot developments, also please clue me in.

Battlestar Galactica Season 2 Epiode "Home, part 2"

CKZ — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:02:21 -0800

Please help me understand the second season of Battlestar Galactica, especially the episode "Home, part 2" (spoilers inside) I don't understand the scene in the tomb of Athena (and what happens after that). This is a summary of the scene:

They are now in center of a room surrounded by twelve monoliths, and above each monolith is a cluster of constellation patterns identical to the gem patterns that are set in the monoliths. Billy asks, "Where the hell are we?" Laura replies, "I don't know. Tomb of Athena, I think." Adama comments, "I thought we were already in the tomb" and Kara adds, "I think that was the lobby." Laura tells them, "Again the ancient symbols. These patterns... were on the original flags of the Twelve Colonies back in the days when the Colonies were called by their ancient names: Aeries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Virgo." Adama adds, "The jewels match the constellations." Kara tells them they're standing on Earth. "The scriptures say that when the the Thirteenth Tribe landed on Earth, they looked up into the heavens and saw their twelve brothers." Laura tells them, "Earth is the place where you can look up in the sky and see the constellations of the Twelve Colonies."

Kobol is Earth! Mission accomplished!

But then this follows:

Kara asks, "What are we supposed to do? Search the entire galaxy for one particular star pattern?" Lee points to one. "There in Scorpio. I've seen that before. It's the lagoon nebula." Commander Adama tells them, "Astro body M8. That's a long way for here." Laura replies, "Yeah. But at least now we have a map and a direction."

What!? Search for what? A map of what? Directions to where? Didn't you just find Earth? Huh?

After this, they take off again and in the rest of the season Earth seems to be irrelevant and they're back to fighting the Ceylons as usual as if they're still searching for Earth. I don't understand this. Have they left Earth because the Ceylons know that humans have returned? Is the plan to return to Earth after the Ceylons have been defeated? Where are they actually going right after they leave Earth? (I have seen the whole season and Earth stays completely out of the picture...)

Convince my roommate to watch BSG.

nervestaple — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:32:02 -0800

How can I convince my roommate to watch Battlestar Galactica? My roommate and I usually spend an hour a night working our way through a television show - previous shows include Arrested Development and The Sopranos. Recently, I agreed to watch the entirety of Entourage with him (ugh.) if he'd watch the miniseries and first episode of Battlestar Galactica.

We just finished the first episode, and he's still on the fence as to whether he wants to continue. One of his complaints was that it was too predictable. It was obvious that he was engaged and excited by what we've seen, but I think he's just trying to prevent himself from liking it too much, because of some strange prejudice against the show. Is there anything I can do to persuade him to keep going?

Where could I find Battlestar Galactica at a bar in NYC?

milovoo — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 16:04:12 -0800

Can anyone think of a bar in NYC that would likely be watching the Battlestar Galactica premire tonight? My cable is off at home (there's so seldom anything that I can't just download) and I really don't want to watch it at work. I would like to get a drink and join an appreciative crowd (but not at someone's house - it's been a long day and I'm not up to socializing) This town has upwardly mobile geeks, there must be somewhere that caters to this sort of vice, I've just never looked before. If they decided to watch Dr. Who first that would be a plus (although I'll have to miss the beginning).

What's this room from BSG and 4400?

nervestaple — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 06:17:51 -0800

Can you identify this conference room from Battlestar Galactica and The 4400? Battlestar Galactica - Quorum of Twelve Meeting Room
The 4400 - 4400 Center Conference Room

I've been watching The 4400 and noticed that the conference room in the '4400 Center' is the same as (or remarkably similar to) the Quorum of Twelve conference room on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series. Is it a famous conference room? Or one that all on-the-cheap cable-channel-original-series use? I know both series have filmed in Vancouver, but can't pin down a location of the room. Any help would appreciated for this pointless question that's been nagging at the back of my brain!

What is the music from the Battlestar Galactica season finale?

mmcg — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:19:16 -0800

Help me identify a piece of music from Friday's Battlestar Galatica season finale. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet, so my description of the scene will be a little vague. The music in question starts right after someone says "and it begins now," and plays as the camera does a slow push in towards a close up. If you've seen the finale, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

I know the series uses a lot of Philip Glass in addition to a Glass-like original score. Does anyone know if this particular piece was written specifically for the show, or if it is a licensed song? If it's not part of the original score, does anyone know the title and artist?

Thanks.

Starbuck's jacket?

salad spork — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 18:35:59 -0800

BattlestarFashionFilter: Where can I get the jacket that Starbuck wears in Battlestar Galactica, episodes 206 and 207? There's a not-so-good picture of it here. It's like a track jacket, zips up the front, black body, grey sleeves, with a high neck. I want this jacket! (If I can't find the real thing, something darn close would be great. Though I would like the "Galactica" patch on the shoulder, because yes, I am a dork like that.)