[Don Pickett]

Originally Posted by goMac 

The Cylon "god" died in Razor. (At least as far as we know he's dead...)

God (RDM - Battlestar Wiki)

The article you linked to makes it clear the first hybrid wasn't the Cylon God.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Don Pickett 

The article you linked to makes it clear the first hybrid wasn't the Cylon God.

Ya I have been thinking the same thing lately. The first Hybrid said "His children think of him as a God" which is a bit strange as the Toasters made him not the other way around. Also this was just a small pack of cylons that seemed to think that this hybid was special but not special enough that ALL the skinjobs think he is a god.

[Don Pickett]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Ya I have been thinking the same thing lately. The first Hybrid said "His children think of him as a God" which is a bit strange as the Toasters made him not the other way around. Also this was just a small pack of cylons that seemed to think that this hybid was special but not special enough that ALL the skinjobs think he is a god.

When the Cylons talk about God they seem to mean capital-G God: noncorporeal, omniscient, etc., not the first hybrid. Anyway, be interesting to see how it all works out.

(And I went back and watched the ending again. They land in Brooklyn Heights, and the camera pans north to look at downtown Manhattan and the remains of the Brooklyn Bridge, proving once again that New York City is the most interesting place in the galaxy! )

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Don Pickett 

(And I went back and watched the ending again. They land in Brooklyn Heights, and the camera pans north to look at downtown Manhattan and the remains of the Brooklyn Bridge, proving once again that New York City os the most interesting plane in the galaxy! )

So then what is up with that Roman temple type ruins?

[Don Pickett]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

So then what is up with that Roman temple type ruins?

Redevelopment?

[scottiB]

Originally Posted by scottiB 

10.

Allowing myself to quote myself, according to the Chicago Trib, the finale will be three hours: a two-parter with the second part being two hours.

Also, rumination about another two-hour movie.

[Chuckit]

Of course, by the time the finale actually airs, I will have forgotten who these people are and what they're doing on some burned planet.

[ort888]

It's going to take so long that there is a good chance that by the time the finale airs, the earth really will be a nuclear wasteland.

They can just make it a reality TV show.

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by Don Pickett 

And I went back and watched the ending again. They land in Brooklyn Heights, and the camera pans north to look at downtown Manhattan and the remains of the Brooklyn Bridge, proving once again that New York City is the most interesting place in the galaxy!

Anybody got a screen shot of that? I didn't notice anything in particular.

[hwojtek]

OMG, even my wife, who has never been to the US, has recognized NY immediately ;-)

[jokell82]

Yeah the ruins of the bridge made it pretty obvious.

[Chuckit]

I'll admit to not recognizing New York either. I was even expecting something to jump out at me (like the Statue of Liberty scene in Planet of the Apes), but nothing clicked.

[Luca Rescigno]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I'll admit to not recognizing New York either. I was even expecting something to jump out at me (like the Statue of Liberty scene in Planet of the Apes), but nothing clicked.

Yeah, as they panned over, I was thinking they were going to show some big obvious landmark like the Empire State Building.

Hell, when I first saw the ending scene I didn't even recognize it as being a nuclear wasteland. I thought the buildings they were looking at were just ancient ruins from the 13th tribe since they didn't look anything like the buildings we have today. Then I came here and saw all the discussion and remembered the Geiger counter going off.

[xi_hyperon]

They just had a spot of bad luck in landing near Manhattan, where Cloverfield got nuked.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

So you think Athena is going to die next season and that other 8 that downloaded her memories will take her place? If not what was the point?

I also get the feeling that at some point in the future Starbuck will have some sort of feelings for Leoben and might even tell him that she loves him (even if just on a friendship level). That is why Leoben saw that in his vision and tried to force the vision to come true on New Caprica.

Roslyn is the dying leader she isn't supposed to live to see the new home so no way they are staying on whatever planet they are on.

Regarding the cylons... there is still a huge fleat of the Cavels, Simons and Dorals out there right? Is the rest of the show going to have them as the major threat?

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Roslyn is the dying leader she isn't supposed to live to see the new home so no way they are staying on whatever planet they are on.

Technically, couldn't Gina have been the dying leader?

[Uncle Skeleton]

Gina blew herself up at the end of season 2. This one was called Natalie.

[zerock]

those ruins look like the buildings in Adama's book

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

Gina blew herself up at the end of season 2. This one was called Natalie.

I thought Gina is the one preggers from the Tigh? You're thinking of the one that got rapped on Pegasus, that's the lesbo model that was finger banging Admiral Cain.

[lavar78]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

Gina blew herself up at the end of season 2. This one was called Natalie.

Thanks.

[Luca Rescigno]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

I thought Gina is the one preggers from the Tigh? You're thinking of the one that got rapped on Pegasus, that's the lesbo model that was finger banging Admiral Cain.

No, Gina was the one from the Pegasus. She was in Razor, which took place before she blew herself up. Then she got out, killed Cain, and joined the Cylon sympathizers, where she eventually nuked herself.

The one that Tigh impregnated is Caprica Six.

[greenamp]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

I thought Gina is the one preggers from the Tigh? You're thinking of the one that got rapped on Pegasus, that's the lesbo model that was finger banging Admiral Cain.

Caprica Six is preggars with Tigh's baby ( or someone's). Gina was the one on Pegasus, and Natalie was killed by Athena.

[greenamp]

Panorama of Earth scene:
imgDump / BSGPano02 Image Gallery

Looks to me like a destroyed futuristic version on Brooklyn/NYC.

[voodoo]

This would be a fine point to end the series. Kind of funny ending!

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by greenamp 

Caprica Six is preggars with Tigh's baby ( or someone's). Gina was the one on Pegasus, and Natalie was killed by Athena.

What he said. Caprica Six never got a real name (beyond "Caprica"), but she's the one on Galactica.

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by jokell82 

Yeah the ruins of the bridge made it pretty obvious.

That could be any bridge. I still don't see it.

[Don Pickett]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

That could be any bridge. I still don't see it.

I ride over the Brooklyn Bridge twice a week, and that looks like it to me. Am I 100% sure? Nope, but I'm pretty sure that's the Brooklyn side pier of the Brooklyn Bridge, with downtown Manhattan in the background. The shot even shows the proper perspective of Manhattan Island to the right (northwest), as the island bulges out a bit and then curves back, which means you can see buildings around the mid-30s and up, which are visible on the right below the sagging portion of the bridge proper.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

What he said. Caprica Six never got a real name (beyond "Caprica"), but she's the one on Galactica.

Weird I thought Caprica six's name was Gina also.

[mrtew]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Weird I thought Caprica six's name was Gina also.

I read that it was a sign of how shallow Baltar is that even he never knew Caprica six's name even after sleeping with her for 2 years and casually giving her the secrets to destroy mankind. Either he never asked or he forgot the first morning and was too embarrassed to ask again after a week or two. (All he could remember is that it rhymed with part of the female body..... )

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by Don Pickett 

I ride over the Brooklyn Bridge twice a week, and that looks like it to me.

If you see it everyday it is obvious. I have never been there.

As far as the Galctica landing in New York, that is a very likely choice. They are not going to land in Iowa. They are going to land in the most built-up area of the planet and that's New York (or Tokyo).

[MRTrauffer]

Looks like the Brooklyn Bridge to me:

ImageShack - Hosting :: bsgbrooklynbridgeyx0.jpg

[Uncle Skeleton]

The problem I see is the land behind it. I don't see any vantage point where you can see the brooklyn bridge in the foreground and the west edge of manhattan in the background.

brooklyn bridge - Google Maps

Could it be the manhattan bridge? Golden Gate (looking towards SF)?

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

The problem I see is the land behind it. I don't see any vantage point where you can see the brooklyn bridge in the foreground and the west edge of manhattan in the background.

brooklyn bridge - Google Maps

Could it be the manhattan bridge? Golden Gate (looking towards SF)?

Unless, of course, the city has been destroyed by nuclear war and part of it is under water...

[andi*pandi]

my thought was greece. some of the ruins/arches/columns reminded me of old greek temples.

[Don Pickett]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

The problem I see is the land behind it. I don't see any vantage point where you can see the brooklyn bridge in the foreground and the west edge of manhattan in the background.

I'm not sure how you can say this, as even the Google Maps view makes it clear the west side of Manhattan is directly aross the water from Brooklyn Heights, which is where the Brooklyn side of the Bridge terminates.

Looking at the posted image, it appears they're standing somewhere around the middle of Furman Street. The land rises up from the shore here (hence the Heights in Brooklyn Heights) offering a view of the western side of downtown, the bulge of Aplhabet City and the coastline upriver. Now, given that this image is of an imagined, post-apocalyptic, alternate New York, I don't know if you will get an exact match, but it's 99% there.

Unfortunately, it seems as if the nukes took out Grimaldis, destroying the best pizza in the galaxy.

[Uncle Skeleton]

grr, I meant east. I'm bad with cardinal directions.

[Don Pickett]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

grr, I meant east. I'm bad with cardinal directions.

The image from Revelations appears to be seen from the east coast of Brooklyn, looking west.

I also realized that my apartment was nuked along wtih Grimaldis. . .

[Uncle Skeleton]

I think there is still a communications problem. I think I've put the little yellow man approximately where you were talking about, and I've drawn a rough line of sight (red) past the bridge. I don't see how the little yellow man can possibly see open water instead of the large land mass, which I've covered with a red oval:


Can you explain?

[::maroma::]

Does it really matter at this point if the special effects team got a post nuclear NY 100% accurate? How do we know its not 100 years into our (yours and mine) future and global warming had changed NY's shorelines drastically?

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

Does it really matter at this point if the special effects team got a post nuclear NY 100% accurate?

Don't rain on my parade. If we only did things that "really mattered," we wouldn't be visiting the lounge at all.

How do we know its not 100 years into our (yours and mine) future and global warming had changed NY's shorelines drastically?

All the scaremongering simulations I've seen show downtown Manhattan being the first part to submerge, not the last.

[::maroma::]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

Don't rain on my parade. If we only did things that "really mattered," we wouldn't be visiting the lounge at all.

That is probably the most excellent point I've heard all day. My bad.

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

All the scaremongering simulations I've seen show downtown Manhattan being the first part to submerge, not the last.

Ahh... well now my parade has been rained on! Damn you!

[Don Pickett]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

Can you explain?

Certainly: the scene starts looking from Brooklyn across to Manhattan and pans to the right. You have the red oval in the wrong place: the first thing we see is in the direction of FDR Drive South. As the view pans right, we see the wreckage of the bridge and the coastline until it's lost in the post-apocalyptic fog.

If you don't believe me, come to NYC and I will show you!

[voodoo]

Is it important whether this is NY or not, plotwise or in any other way? I think not.

They take themselves too seriously, because they should have had a Heston moment and a statue of liberty. I still think the best thing would be to end the whole thing right here, but failing that make a miniseries to end it. Not another ten episodes of this long winded soap opera.

Let's go over the cast, seeing as we are in an intermission:

Series Cast (courtesy of imdb)

Edward James Olmos ... Admiral William Adama / ... (63 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- a very underrated actor who manages to carry the entire series on his shoulders, but is arrogantly left out of some episodes by the producers who think they are the ones doing a good job.

Mary McDonnell ... President Laura Roslin / ... (63 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- An actress so bad she can manages to emulate a person whose face has been pumped full of botox (or is she really on botox?) while not managing to pronounce entire words nor create any dimension to her character. She has been nominated for an Academy award, but then so has Kiera Knightley. At least Kiera is sort of pleasant to look at.

Jamie Bamber ... Captain Lee 'Apollo' Adama / ... (63 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- A day-time drama quality actor who has the charisma of a cardboard mannequin and the producers have in their infinite wisdom tried to make him carry entire episodes and worse make him perform 'inspiring monologues'. One feels nauseous at the mere thought, I never made it through any of his 'drama' or 'speeches' without fast-forwarding.

James Callis ... Dr. Gaius Baltar / ... (63 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- This actor has exactly two expressions, much like Jason Priestley of 90210 fame. One concerned and one neutral. That makes him twice the actor of Mary McDonnell and yet he isn't very good. Granted he isn't given much to work by the writers, he completely lacks any power on screen. One just doesn't care whether he is on or not.

Tricia Helfer ... Number Six / ... (63 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- This is the third best actor on the show.. which is surprising because she is a hot babe. They don't always excel in the acting department, but we forgive them. What we don't forgive is ugly dogs being bad actors. That's why Kathy Bates is ok, but Mary McDonnell is not. Tricia Helfer is both a pleasant actor and a hot babe. Kudos to her.

Grace Park ... Lt. Sharon 'Athena' Agathon / ... (63 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- On the other hand, Grace Park is just a hot babe. Dry, uninspired acting is her forté, along with looking hot. Fortunately she hasn't been asked to carry entire episodes and plotlines and has been quite appropriately cast as a robot in a humanlike body.

Katee Sackhoff ... Captain Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace / ... (61 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- She is miscast, like Jamie Bamber, in a starring role when she can barely lift a minor supporting role. To watch her repertoir of emotions is a short experience and seeing her shouting out commands or inspireing the troops takes more suspension of disbelief than, say accepting that in a fictional universe mankind behaves like the United States in politics and traditions. She's not good, but nice enough to look at. Should have worn blue contact lenses.

Michael Hogan ... Colonel Saul Tigh (59 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- Delivers the role of a cowardly, uninspireing anti-leader fine but when he became the leader of the resistance he was like a fish out of water. He, like many of the leading actors, can't lead.. but his saving grace is that he has a supporting role. Average actor, who is easily forgettable.

Aaron Douglas ... Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol (57 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- This actor is awful. Just check out his interpretation of being angry or brooding. His character is irrelevant and seems the actor knows this. He seems to make little effort outside the occational neanderthal grunt every now and then. Makes it more believable because he looks like a neanderthal.

Tahmoh Penikett ... Lt. Karl 'Helo' Agathon / ... (57 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- Why is this actor not in a football movie on the Disney channel? He has the voice, the posture and the acting talent of a football player. Reckon he'd make a fine quarterback in the 'bad' team.

Alessandro Juliani ... Lt. Felix Gaeta (55 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- This actor's part is as demanding as Nichelle Nichols' part in Star Trek as Uhura. He's fine at explaining beeps on monitors and counting down for dramatic effect. Other than that, he isn't really doing anything. Actually, Nichelle had a more demanding role in Star Trek.

Kandyse McClure ... Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla / ... (52 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- Not a very good actress at all. I reckon she could manage as a nurse in an episode or two on ER, but even the talentless people who cast, write and produce these series realized that she couldn't even handle a simple sideplot involving a crush some understudy of Oscar nominee Mary McDonnell.

Nicki Clyne ... Crewman Specialist Cally / ... (36 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- Her best moment was when she was airlocked out of the series. Need I say more?

Donnelly Rhodes ... Dr. Cottle (30 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- Oh yes here is an actor, a character, a memorable persona and they cast him as a doctor. All right, I don't mind at all his performance, I just involuntarily sigh when I think of what could have been. Imagine this actor as the President or as colonel Tigh. Big casting misuse of a talent.

Leah Cairns ... Lt. Margaret 'Racetrack' Edmonson (29 episodes, 2005-2008)
-- A forgettable actress, but hot. I think that's about exactly the same thoughts the casting people had when they hired her. Her part was way too small to know whether she had any talent or not.

Michael Trucco ... Samuel Anders / ... (26 episodes, 2005-2008)
-- Should have been cast as a football player... oh he sort of was. Also, since he's a cylon I can't really criticize his lack of human emotions. Was Arnold miscast in the Terminator? Of course not!

Bodie Olmos ... Brendan 'Hot Dog' Costanza / ... (26 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- A good example of when talent skips a generation.

Paul Campbell ... Billy Keikeya (25 episodes, 2004-2006)
-- Played the love interest to Kandyse McClure and when it was discovered neither of them had any talent to maintain a tangent one of them had to go. Sorry Paul, she's the babe.

Rekha Sharma ... Tory Foster (23 episodes, 2006-2008)
-- If you can accept the nose, she is very hot. Plays a cylon and a cold hearted bitch like a natural, but that's just saying she's a pretty bad actress and a woman. In other words, that's not saying much. While not offensively bad, this is probably the high-point of her carrier as an actress. I can't remember her in AvP:requiem so CGI is more memorable than her performace.

Richard Hatch ... Tom Zarek (21 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- Has been on most if not all BSG games, remakes and continuations of the original BSG, so he isn't a surprise in casting. The BSG 'franchise' pays his bread. He's not so bad actually, but his part is. He seems comfortable in the BSG universe, which counts for a lot.

Luciana Carro ... Captain Louanne 'Kat' Katraine / ... (18 episodes, 2004-2006)
-- Oh she's hot. She's also performing as a Viper pilot, which just puts her in the background. In other words, it doesn't matter whether she has any talent or not. It will never be put to the test.

Jen Halley ... Crewman Specialist Diana Seelix / ... (18 episodes, 2005-2008)
-- Plays another hottie, a mechanic. The few lines she has uttered have been forced, but she is just one of a myriad of small-part actors on the series who demand your attention for a while not to be seen for so many episodes you'll have forgotten all about her if it wasn't for the fact that she's pretty hot. So next time she appears, you don't listen and just watch.

Kate Vernon ... Ellen Tigh (18 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- There were never any sparks flying between her and Michael Hogan. Was that her fault? I don't know. Other than that she just had the part of the wife of the XO. Not any character to speak of.. they tried to Greek things up a bit by making her suggest to Tigh that he was the man, but Hogan's character was a coward. And then she died.

Callum Keith Rennie ... Leoben Conoy (17 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- A good actor a little bit wasted as a cylon. Certainly he makes his character interesting and sympathetic, which is more than most of the first-billed actors can brag about. It is always appreciated when he is on camera.

Matthew Bennett ... Aaron Doral (16 episodes, 2004-2008)
-- An average actor perfectly cast as a cylon. Completely forgettable, could be an insurance salesman. I can't even be bothered to write anything more about him.

Lucy Lawless ... D'Anna Biers / ... (14 episodes, 2005-2008)
-- She has her fans, but she is a bad, bad actress. In fact I feel it is Xena pretending to be a cylon. I can't take her seriously, her acting, her posture, her attitude and her MILF like looks.

Brad Dryborough ... Lt. Hoshi (12 episodes, 2005-2008)
-- Another actor to perform explainations of beeps and countdowns. You can imagine the talent needed.

Sam Witwer ... Crashdown (11 episodes, 2004-2005)
-- Honestly I don't remember this actor at all, he played a Raptor pilot who was shot by Baltar. Meh.

Dean Stockwell ... Brother Cavil (11 episodes, 2006-2008)
-- This actor has been in as many episodes as Sam Witwer according to imdb. I know his lines haven't been much longer than Witwer's so far. He feels like he has always been there, when he enters frame all attention is focused on him and he automatically carries everything. He, like Edward James Olmos, can carry anything. Stockwell does so with ease, humor and a very sympathetic characterization of his persona. This is something the producers are apparently blind to or willfully ignoring. Granted he is not exactly miscast as the number one cylon, but imagine what could have been if he had been a lead actor. The entire series perhaps wouldn't have been bad, just average or perhaps a hair above average.

There are more actors, but none that matter. Not that all of the above matter, but they've appeared in enough episodes so one knows their face at least.

Enjoy season 4 part 2!

[Lateralus]

^In general, I agree. BSG's strength certainly doesn't come from casting.

But there are a few I couldn't disagree more on. Namely Michael Hogan, who is fantastic. Same for James Callis.

I also have no qualms with Bamber whatsoever.

[::maroma::]

Wow. Why do you even bother watching this series? Its sounds to me like you dislike 95% of it. Masochist?

[lavar78]

You're funny, voodoo.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

Wow. Why do you even bother watching this series? Its sounds to me like you dislike 95% of it. Masochist?

I've asked that many times, and was simply berated as being an apologist.

[mrtew]

I asked and was called a fanboy. Hey voodoo... you should challenge yourself. Make us a list of your 10 favorite things about BSG. And no slipping in backhanded slams or backpedaling reservations. Just a straightforward list of what you love.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by Lateralus 

^In general, I agree. BSG's strength certainly doesn't come from casting.

But there are a few I couldn't disagree more on. Namely Michael Hogan, who is fantastic. Same for James Callis.

I agree. James Callis in particular is fantastic — his scenes always grab me and make me really interested in Baltar. Some TV show interviewed me a couple of years back and asked me which characters I was most interested to see developed in the next season, and I said Baltar and Tigh.

I'd also add Katee Sackhoff to the list of good actors (not OMG great, but good). And I can't give Olmos such unreserved praise. He reminds me of Mary McDonnell. They both seem to be delivering lines in a sleepy daze most of the time, though admittedly Olmos has really outdone himself on several occasions while Mary hasn't.

Originally Posted by Lateralus 

I also have no qualms with Bamber whatsoever.

This one I can't agree with. Voodoo had the "daytime soap actor" thing pretty much dead on, and he hasn't managed to sell me on this cult of Apollo the writers seem to want everyone to join. Every time they try to remind us how awesome Lee is, I groan.

[mrtew]

Originally Posted by voodoo 

This would be a fine point to end the series. Kind of funny ending!

I just realized that the first half of the season was filmed as rumours of cancellation were floating around and the writer's strike was looming making it very uncertain how many more episodes were left. Today, a friend at work asked me what was going on with the show because his wife was freaking out that it was over and the ending was not what she expected and wanted to know if that was really it. It definitely could have been the end: I bet that episode actually was filmed so it could stand as the series finale if it came to it.