open discussion thread for Episode 320 - Crossroads part 2

[The Admiral]

Warning....spoiler heavy thead

[Kaleb]

So does that mean that that Chief Tyrol also has a half-breed? Why is the other one important, though. Is it like the difference between a liger and tigon?

[Gordon Brown]

The biggest surprise in this was chief tyrol being a cylon, I had him down as being definatey human because he has a son. So now there are two half breeds s this a sort of adam and eve thing going on.

The other three I had sort of guessed after the previous episode but would have thought that Gaeta was a better bet to be a cylon.

Who is the fifth? I would imagine it would have to be someone not on Galactica at the time obvious guesses would be Starbuck but it could also be Ellen Tigh or Billy (the original presidents Aide).

[J. Banks]

No it has to be Starbuck or they can't reintroduce her into the series. Also Col.Tigh being a cylon doesn't make any kind of since.

[William Patrick Butler]

i've got this theory that starbuck is, to lee, like Head!Six is to Baltar...

[Isdeirinnme]

I have been hesitant to reply on this thread because I've been trying to absorb the implications to the story line. I think the writers are going to have one huge task writing the backstories on these newly revealed Cylon charactors and how they came to be, and making those stories plausible to the audience. I am really curious about Col. Tigh's story. Like another contributor stated above...it doesn't make any kind of sense at all. It's actually very disappointing as well. Tigh and Doc Cottle are my two favorite charactors and it will be hard to view Tigh in the same way. I was also disappointed that they revealed 4 of the final 5 for sure. The jury seems to remain out on Starbuck being a Cylon at this point. It lends to less drama going forward and certainly would have given us more reasons to watch next season if they hadn't revealed so many of the final five all at once. All that being said I feel this was perhaps the best episode to air since the early ones at the beginning of the season when the rescue from New Caprica was taking place. All in all, as far as drama and dialogue are concerned it was a great episode, and James Callis deserve an Emmy for his portrayal of Balter...just fantastic. Let's hope next season carries the same momentum that this last episode began.

[Max Herschfeld]

So you think Starbuck is just in Adama Jr's head?

[Isdeirinnme]

Not really sure. Now that would be interesting wouldn't it. She could be to Apollo what Six is to Baltar. But I'm not convinced she is a Cylon.

[Max Herschfeld]

OMG, so Bob Dylan is a Cylon?

What is up with the Cylon/Colonials all quoting "All Along the Watchtower?" I thought it was facinating when Tigh let a few lines slip in & it took a bit before I remembered where those familiar lines came from. I thought it was subtle & funny. But at the end by the point when they were actually singing the entire song, it just seemed a little outrageous. Granted, the whole second round of sleeper Cylons thing seems a little wild.

But really the biggest puzzle, that has the possibility of being so fracking absurd as to be a series killer for me, is how in the heck is Bob Dylan tied up in this?

Maybe Cylon-Starbuck can tell us since she says she has been to Earth. Could be that She got here in the late sixties and installed a turntable on her Viper. But, if she showed up in the early seventies it could be an 8-track.

Otherwise it was a pretty good show, but wow, I bet even Bob is surprised that his song is the new Cylon National Anthem.


FLASH - Hippies really were from outer space!


/

[Charles A. King]

I too was disappointed. The ripples from this really are staggering. It would mean over 40 years ago the Toasters evolved into skinjobs and then placed themselves throughout the Colonies. Then managed not to get wiped out in the attacks by their brethen, (and the Colonel surviving the 1st war) happened to get picked up by BSG, and got front row seats to the journey to Earth. There's a lot of hurdles to jump there. ... I think others have suggested that the 5 are a collective onto themselves within the Cylon ranks, so they could work against the Copies if they felt it served them. That's intriguing. Too the fact there's a measure of free will within the Clyons gives hope the identities they've adopted or been programmed for having a greater impact on their actions than just being evil Clyons. ... Botomline the show and writers have earned a measure of trust. I'll wait and see what happens with interest, and just hope they didn't frak the whole thing up with these twist.

PS; I am little confused. The religious books of the Colonies meantion "the five" as well. If this is part of the new Clyon god mythos, how can their acient texts conttain stroies from that mythos??? Unless The Five are kind of random elements, maybe. Beholden to neither side. Hmmm? Maybe I'm, reading this wrong, though.

[Max Herschfeld]

Its possible that the Cylons wish to appropriate the human's myths and have driven them to make a group of five that possess gods-like autonomy. The Cylons have a spiritual quest, but they -are- 'bots. So their impulses could lead them to make real the spiritual. I think they have a literalist view of the ineffable nature of spirituality.

And yeah, the 5 may have come to different conclusions than the lower-level "skin-jobs." My vote for the final member of the 5 is Bob Dylan. Not the old wrinkly dude of today, but the baby faced young Bob of the early sixties. Maybe the pre-motorcycle wreck Bob D.

[Jeffrey Smith]

I always thought that Bob Dylan had beattie eyes, a funny voice, and his songs were mathematic in nature. Now it all makes sense - he's Cylon!

Seriously though, the writers have taken a huge gamble with this epsiode. Just throwing the four of them out there and huge foreshadowing towards Starbuck as the 5th (although that probably means it's not her). How do they write the backstories for these 4? How do these 4 carry on going forward as members of the crew?
The writing so far (most of the time) has been 'stellar' so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. However, they are definitely rolling the dice on this story line and if it doesn't work out I think the whole series could be toast.
One huge hole for me - in the initial attack on the colonies, the Cylons miscalcuated as they 'missed' the fact that Galactica had the older vipers which were unaffected by the Cylon jamming and thus they remained operational. Why now have all the final 5 seemed to converge on the Cylon's mistake? Seems a bit much.

Ur thoughts?

[Max Herschfeld]

Well, these guys have proven themselves to be much better writers than I am, so maybe they can pull this off. But I've seen too many shows & movies that dip into incredible implications in the story line, only to wimp out at the end.

The writers of BG have dug themselves a deep hole in an effort to create compelling story lines. If they wimp out & dodge the implications or create implausible back stories, this will be the last season of BG for me even if it isn't the last for the series.

I really like this show, (hence my involvement here) but I have my limits.

I will be watching at least at first, to see how they make a mansion out of the hole they dug, but if they don't pull it off... then I'll have to find other avenues for my attention.

And yeah, Bob could be a Cylon, that would explain a lot...