Who watches over who?

Stream of thought since watching "Someone to Watch Over Me"...

Actually, the meaning of the title is just now clicking. Someone or something is watching over Kara. Or/and is someone watching over Tyrol and Boomer? The Five? Everyone?

Since pretty early in the series, I've made some logical deductions that there are human creators of the Cylons out there that have more to do with this than just making the clankers. I kind of shoved it to the wayside for the most part though, since "They evolved" was nailed into our heads at pretty much the beginning of every episode. I figured they, the Cylons, evolved into skin-jobs on their own, but we've recently discovered that the Final Five, also skin-jobs of some sort, gave the clanker Cylons the know-how to make their own skin-jobs and keep them resurrecting. At this point, I'm trying to imagine who or what exactly the Five were in talks with before they made Cavil and the other models. How did Cavil come to enslave those Centurions which assumably brought him to existence with the help from the Five, and why did those Centurions want to be skin-jobs anyway? Didn't they rebel against the humans?

Anyway, those thoughts of human creators from the 12 Colonies, still out there somewhere, are starting to creep back in, especially since Piano Guy came around.

In the med clinic with Sam, and as the Cylons leave the room, an 8 mentions that she wonders if they might be able to hook him up to the ship's system like a hybrid.

Piano Guy - "The point is to bring a little grace and beauty to an otherwise brutal existence". Kara asks him if his music stopped any missiles when the Cylons attacked the 12 colonies. He calls her POV cynical. "Something happened to you".

Jumping to above theory of human Cylon creators... If Piano Guy perhaps had anything to do with Cylon creation, he would have been the one to add the art element, appreciation for "grace and beauty", and perhaps some of the tactility to be creative. Oh hey, wasn't Daniel an artist too? Hmmmm.

So, Piano Guy ends up being all in Kara's head, since when Tigh disrupts her Dylan (read totally awesome McCreary) jam session, Piano Guy is no longer there. Presumably a younger version of her dad? Here are larger versions of the images of Piano Guy and Dreilide Thrace seen below. Same guy?



Edit - Boing! That says "Opera House" doesn't it? Coincidence?

I still won't presume as to what Kara is since her return. Not yet. That she is just a regular old Cylon seems too easy, and so does the idea that she may have simply been resurrected Cylon-style. I'm definitely not willing to accept that Kara was anything but human before "Maelstrom". It does seem feasible that her father was either guilty enough, or perhaps somehow torn away from his family (maybe to join a covert team of Cylon builders?) but still had the ability to "watch over her", that he would be compelled to recreate her with some form of Cylon technology, again - if he had it and if he's out there somewhere. Just a thought.

I am however, beginning to smell some of the themes promised to us in the Caprica series, mixed with some of the stuff we've learned recently. Organic Memory Transfer was around for a long time on Kobol. It took a group, being the Final Five, to take this technology and re-adapt it on Earth. They also knew how to build skin-jobs apparently. This leads my imagination to think this: On the 12 Colonies, Cylons were developed with some amount of intelligence, reasoning skills, and other human traits ala carte. If this has all happened before, it's not hard to imagine that these creators of the Cylons could have been a relatively small and elite group of scientists, who also figured out how to make skin-jobs. Perhaps they even created skin-jobs first (and covertly) before realizing how to trim them back to something more manageable within human society - that being Centurions, or some form of. Since these human creators were human, they surely had loved ones, perhaps ones that they were desperate to recreate for themselves, or perhaps those loved ones accessed the creators information or were just smart enough to mimic it.

And just what were those old school Cylons and hybrid from Razor?

Speaking of elite scientists with top secret information, what was Baltar back on Caprica really? Way back (season 3?) when Baltar flew away with the Cylons, we already touched upon the theme of Baltar possibly being a Cylon, and whether his head 6 "hallucinations" were proof of that. So maybe Baltar isn't a Cylon (?), but could he have partook in the development of Cylon tech back on Caprica? Does he know how to make a skin-job, and/or could his memory of such somehow been tampered with? Could he have tampered with Cylon tech, even on himself, and had a resulting permanent virtual sex partner in head 6? Does he have a primitive and maybe human version of Cylon Projection? Now Kara has a head Piano Guy/dad. Could this be some kind of Cylon Projection? Is she a sleeper agent since she came back?

Anders in "No Exit" says "Chief... you thought you had a chip in your head" while trying to explain how the Five knew to build resurrection for themselves and leave Earth in the nick of time.

Hera's picture - They're stars *and* the same musical composition that brought (four of) the Five out. Star chart to a new home? Star chart to pending doom? After all, Kara is the harbinger of death and doom and stuff. Speaking of Razor, I ask again - Just what the frak was that rogue old school hybrid and Cylon anyway? Ya think they could've had a copy of Daniel with them, as well as resurrection abilities? Did they get Kara in Maelstrom? Leoben certainly doesn't seem to know what the frak she is, so it's doubtful it had anything to do with the everyday Cylons, except of course if Cavil did something secretly. I have doubts that Cavil is *that* perfect of a machine, and he didn't seem to be in much control over what happened with Kara and the nebula. I'm remembering what Cavil said in "No Exit" to Ellen about it being a "nice trick" with the exploding star/nebula, and Ellen denied having a hand in that or the Temple of Five by saying it must have been "the one true god". We also have yet to discover who exactly named Cavil "John" after Ellen's father.

Anyhew, if this has all happened before and it will again, is it possible that another set of planetary systems exist that are similar to Kobol, the 12 Colonies and Earth? Could this be the star chart Hera drew? Could it be the formula for resurrection? A cure for infertility among Cylons?

Laura Roslin mutters "Hera" as she falls to the floor just at the same time Boomer jumps away from the fleet. It doesn't appear that Roslin had any way of knowing that Boomer had actually jumped away. Is Roslin somehow connected to Hera and this whole cycle? Is it because Hera's blood helped revive her before? Is Roslin part Cylon now?

Sooo disappointed that Helo couldn't differentiate Athena from Boomer. Wonder if he could have gotten Boomer preggers. WHAT is the deal with the Opera House?

Ellen and Tigh in the school room:

E: "It had to be orchestrated from the beginning. The escape, all of it. It was just a means to get Boomer here. Cavil wanted Hera, Boomer got her for him."

T: "How can a 3 year old girl spontaneously write down that song?"

E: "She's plugged into something that's manipulating all of us... Maybe Anders could help us."

T: "If he ever wakes up."

So who is controlling Hera then? Is she connected to some unknown mystical force? A group of humans who originally created Cylons? The old school Cylons and hybrid from Razor? Is it also what gave the Five the message to leave Earth and warn the 12 Colonies? Is it what gives Baltar a head 6, Kara a head Piano Guy, and Chief a chip? Rethinking the meaning of the title "Someone to Watch Over Me".

I really don't think, or at least I don't want to believe that Cavil planned this all out with Boomer beforehand. I really want Boomer to be taking Hera as a hostage for herself, to leverage with Cavil and the Fleet for her own independence, and to give her Tyrol. I hope she's on her way to Kobol and not back to Cavil. I dunno what good that will do, but that's what I hope. Kobol is where it all started after all, at least as far as we've been told and as far back as the history we know tells. Plus, The Opera House is on Kobol, at least the ruins of it are. Sharon is part of the vision, and both Boomer and Athena are derived from the same Sharon memories. Maybe Boomer will go back to Cavil first, but the eventual path to Kobol seems inevitable to me. Everyone knows how to get to Kobol too, which reminds me... How did Ellen and Boomer get from Cavil to the fleet so quickly?

I just want there to be happiness for Chief. Please let him and Boomer live happily ever after! Yeah, like that's gonna happen.

The Questions

Still pondering some of the information we were flooded with in "No Exit", I am compelled to write down the lingering questions (and new questions) having to do with the series that may or may not get an answer or further explaination:

1. Kara. Her destiny. What she is since she returned. The harbinger of death? I think these answers are coming very soon.
2. How/why did Tigh have hair and was presumably younger in the flashbacks to his first meeting with Adama soon after the first Cylon War? From what's been gathered about the Final Five, they download in a similar fashion as the other skin-jobs, "as is". Tigh's physical differences would contradict this.
3. This may not be important to the plot anymore and is tied into the above question, but if Tigh was "sent first", presumably around the time he met Adama back before WW1, when exactly did Tory, Galen and Anders show up on the scene? They all look to be 30 something at best, so perhaps Cavil sent them in closer to the time before WW2 - ? I'm thinking about the movie "The Plan" we have coming up after the series concludes, which will supposedly take a closer look at Galen and Anders, and Cavil!
4. The Opera House. It was almost starting to come together until Caprica Six's miscarriage. But it wasn't really. An aside from this - What is the deal with the "Temple of the Five", the glowy five that D'anna saw, which also appeared in the Opera House? Who did D'anna see if the five were living among the fleet (and how did she see them), and what's the deal with the nebula (which is also somehow connected to Starbuck)?
5. Baltar and head Six's "child of humanity". Which leads to...
6. Hera. Is she relevant other than being the first child born of a human plus Cylon? Seems to me like proof that the Cylons can't live/evolve without the humans if they don't have resurrection.
7."The dying leader" leading them to Earth. Could it simply be a false prophecy? Is it Roslin? Will she die? Will her death prove the prophecy to be true? They did already get to Earth though, and Roslin ain't dead yet. Here's a thought - Was it just her leadership that was dying?
8. Daniel. I "suspect" we aren't going to get much of an answer to this, but I've been trying to stay away from spoiler interviews and commentaries. Could the fact that there are 13 total Cylon skin-jobs be relevant to the 13 Colonies? That thought leads me to wonder whether the 12 Colonies only divided into 12 because they had 12 available planets to disperse themselves amongst, or if they were already 12 distinct groups of humans upon leaving Kobol.
9. This is a question of confusion... Even though Ellen resurrected before the resurrection hub was destroyed, she still seemed to be resurrected in a special separate resurrection pod. It looked to me that she was actually on Cavil's baseship. It wouldn't make much sense for Cavil to allow the big secret he was keeping about the final five to be given up by any of them resurrecting openly in the res hub anyway. If that special res-pod was in Cavil's base ship, then they wouldn't have lost resurrection completely. If Ellen was resurrected in the hub, did Cavil have some way to keep her hidden from the other skin-jobs? Why did Cavil allow her to be resurrected at all? Why does he need to cut her head open to get memories? Haven't we seen other skin-jobs access the memories of the others through other means? Can of worms!
10. I still want to know if or how the final five are different physically from the skin-jobs. Maybe they are just the same. I'm still not clear on that. I have to watch "Sometimes a Great Notion" again, because I'm pretty sure they verified that the skeletal remains found on Earth were the same Cylon skin-jobs as the One through Eight's (skipping the Seven) that currently exist. But still, are the final five only unique because they were the sole survivors of the Earth holocaust? Or are they different, maybe not physically, because the "angels" told them to get the heck out and find help the 12 Colonies. Also, do the five age at all? Time did slow down for them for the thousand some odd trek to the colonies. This leads to another question...
11. Cylon resurrection vs. Cylon procreation. Apparently the Cylons resurrected (on Kobol?), then by the time they got to Earth, they had somehow come to procreate naturally and didn't need resurrection anymore so it became a lost art. Train of thought here: A baby born of Cylon descent must grow old and die. Are they then completely natural and no longer a machine? If a natural-born Cylon dies and is resurrected via "organic memory transfer", then is it only a machine as far as the process of recreating it goes? Do those resurrected Cylons age at all? Eventaully? Slowly? Or is it simply frozen at the point in time/age that it died? Could it be another evolutionary process? This might help explain Tigh's loss of hair ;)
12. Were there simply just humans on Kobol in the beginning, and furthermore are we to believe that the Earth we live on now is hundreds of thousands or billions of years after (or before) the Earth seen at the end of season 4.0? I don't think we'll get anymore clarification on either of these issues, but since "this has all happened before" I'm guessing it has and will happen for infinity, so the inhabitants of Kobol were most likely the result of a previous human split with the Cylons. If that's the case, then we should be able to consider the humans of the 12 Colonies to be distant relatives of Cylons, and the 13th Colony of Earth, who are Cylons, to actually have evolved into full humans. As for the question of when on Earth this takes place, I like to imagine that it was long before and things like Atlantis are remnants that have survived the ice ages as well as volcanic or meteoric catastrophes.

Here's a bonus speculative thought (consider it the 13th question, representing the 13 Colonies, and/or Cylons):

- If the final five were planted amongst the humans by Cavil, with their new memories, there's an assumption that Cavil had reason to do so with the intent to sabotage the humans. At first I wondered if the faulty construction of the Galactica might have had something to do with Cavil's intervention and if Chief could have been a catalyst to that. But alas, Chief seems too young to have been planted in time to see the Galactica built and then experience WW2 so many years later. But could he have existed as a sleeper agent all that time? It would add more meaning to the sub-plot of the Galactica's reconstruction taking place currently, but then again, it might just add more complexity to an already complex mythology.

Aside from these things, I'm anxiously awaiting that big looming space battle that they seem to have been saving up for with the lack of significant FX in recent episodes. Cavil is somewhere just around the corner!

Super Trucco?

IS MICHAEL TRUCCO BEING CONSIDERED FOR THE NEXT SUPERMAN MOVIE FRANCHISE?? He's certainly got my vote! Cast your vote here at Coventry Telegraph.

More BSG cast in "The Plan", and other shiny stuffs

The Battlestar sequel movie begins filming this Monday, and according to The Watcher, more of the cast from BSG proper will make an appearance, including (but hopefully not limited to) our Cylon friends Tricia Helfer, Rick Worthy, Matthew Bennett, and Callum Keith Rennie. Michael Hogan and Rekha Sharma will also be making minor appearances unfortunately. But you never know until you see the final cut!

Ooh ooh! Maureen also notes that BSG writer Mark Verheiden will be writing for the second story arc in season 3 of Heroes! Additionally, no new word on whether or not Caprica will get picked up as a full series yet.

io9 posted some more info in their Morning Spoilers on Tuesday on some minor characters from the series who will get big parts in the prequel movie, as well as the general fate of the humans. Read more on this info gathered from Dragon Con at DoorQ.com (mild spoilers - not purist friendly! I know of some of you out there who won't be reading this!).

Also check out this entry at io9 for some very minor spoilers about what Olmos said about "the feel" of his character as the series draws to an end, as well as what SciFi EVP Mark Stern said about the final Cylon (from Huffington Post).

Other updates:


If you're an old school BSG fan and enjoy cruises, Galcticruise pushes off next week! I'm wondering what the future may bring us for RDM BSG fans. Space Shuttle tours perhaps?

Old school fans mourn the loss of Jeff MacKay who played Corporal Komma on the original BSG. MacKay died on August 22nd in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

NBCU reports that SCIFI has seen it's best summer ratings ever, and the scifi.com website hasn't been too shabby either with the Battlestar site hitting number 1:

"SCI FI ’s Website www.scifi.com had record traffic for the summer with double-digit increases among all key metrics year-to-year. SCI FI Rewind averaged 2.6 Million streams (+565% vs. last summer) and Battlestar Galactica was the #1 ranked section on the site with an average of 4 million page views (+141% vs. last summer). Battlestar Galactica also ranked first in video with an average of 1.2 Million streams (+343% year-to-year). "

Speaking of NBCU, Prez Bonie Hammer's hottest moment was giving Battlestar Galactica the greenlight at SciFi. (Conde Nast Portfolio)

AskMen.com is holding their own 2008 elections for the top 49 in several categories. You can vote for Ron Moore in the Cultural Icons section by clicking here.

Tricia Helfer adds to her resume of video game voice acting with the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Spider-man: Web of Shadows, in which she voices Black Cat (she also voiced the same character in one episode of Stan Lee's TV toon The Spectacular Spider-man). Tricia also voiced in Command & Conquer 3 (Kane's Wrath and Tiberium Wars).

If you don't mind being spammed by the Think Geek newsletter (doesn't sound too awful), when you sign up for the newsletter you can enter to win a sweeet limited edition Cylon Raider model (the base is signed by Katee!). Click here, and while you're at it check out some of their other frakking awesome BSG merchandise like this "What the Frak" tee (hoodie also available), or the ever popular "How to Spot a Cylon" poster. The drawing ends September 30th,

Check out BSGCast's Part 2 of their video coverage (with always excellent commentary) of Eddy and Aaron at Toronto's Fan Expo '08. They have promises of part 3 (the final part) for next week!

There are all sorts of videos up of the Battlestar panel at Dragon Con 08. I haven't watched any yet, or read reviews from the event, so I can't testify for the spoiler content, but one would assume that they are keeping a very tight seal on what they do and do not say about the series finale. I've at least read around enough to be pretty sure there aren't any major spoilers leaked from the con, but there are certainly mild spoilers as to the general feel and content of the series end. I was about to dig in to nnaylime's youtube page for expansive video coverage of all things BSG (and related) from D*C.

Edit - Also found some D*C 08 BSG footage from this post by Livejournalist wisteria.

The after party hosted by The Colonial Fleet seems to have been a smash hit, with an appearance and speech by EJO. James Callis, Michael Hogan, Tahmoh Penikett, ad Aaron Douglas also showed up! Here's some video from said frak-down. Look for Part 2 in related video, and be prepared to have a strange desire to chug ambrose!

Whew! Enough for one post already!

Don't Believe the Hype

And bookmark this SCIFI Wire statement that the rumors flying about suggesting that the Battlestar series finale won't begin airing until April of 2009 are unfounded. Sciffy boldly states that it is indeed slated to begin in January of next year:

"12:00 AM, 02-SEPTEMBER-08


Battlestar Rumors Debunked

SCI FI Channel is calling "inaccurate" rumors that the second half of Battlestar Galactica's fourth and final season will be delayed and confirmed again that the original series will return with new episodes in January 2009.

Several Web sites, including io9 and Galactica Sitrep, have posted the rumors, reportedly based on comments made by Battlestar cast member Aaron Douglas at Dragon*Con.

The reports are erroneous, the channel confirmed to SCI FI Wire. "It is still slated to return January 2009," a spokesman for the channel said."

Galactica News o' the Week

Interesting little write-up from The Associated Press about how Battlestar Galactica remains strong while official ratings don't, and some comments on Caprica.

This is a semi-spoilerific (but only in the most extreme sense) recap of Eddy Olmos' and Aaron Douglas' appearance at Toronto's FanExpo 2008 by TVaddict.com's Melissa Grimonte.

Speaking of the above-mentioned (spoilerish!) FanExpo appearance, there are loads of recaps pouring in on the net. BSGcast.com has 3 part video coverage of the event. Love the Baltar tees guys! Below is part one, and stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 either from their above website, the BSG Cast youtube channel, or their Veoh.com page (like the vid quality on Veoh better):


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Eddy and Aaron weren't the only ones to make a recent public appearance lately. Tricia Helfer appeared at NVISION 08 and "talked about the challenges of acting with virtual characters and took the crowd through the steps of blocking and filming some of the scenes from the hit Sci-Fi Channel series." (Nvidia blog). Still searching for more coverage and video of Tricia from this event, but she wasn't the only trace of Battlestar there - FX consultant Kelly Meyers showed off some of the tech used for rendering CG on the show. (edn.com) I'd love to see a video of that too. Maybe soon?

If you haven't checked out the official site for Battlestar Galactica props and costumes, it's a must! Battlestarprops.com is preparing inventory for an auction in 2009. They're often adding new stuff, and have lots of tips for the collector in you!

If you're a BSG collector and a guitar player, then check out this Strat signed by most of the major cast members, which is now up for auction on ebay from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation for an inordinate amount. (Battlestar Blog)

Disney toy designer Steve Thompson shows off his BSG tattoo over at Wired magazine!

Den of Geek's funny little speculation for season 4.5.

Zap2Zit has some comments about recent episodes of The Middleman, and Mark Sheppard's character. I gotta watch that show!

io9 talked to Sam Witwer at Comic Con, and posted some video and comments from him just yesterday! Why you gotta hold out on us io9? *winks*

Dualla? Really?

Gaeta	2 (18%)
Dualla	5 (45%)
Zak Adama	3 (27%)
Leoben	0 (0%)
Caprica Six	0 (0%)
Muffit	1 (9%)

Seems as though the poll is telling us people think Dualla is the fifth? Surprised I am! At least Muffit got a vote. I demand a recount. New poll with different choices coming soon.

So say... some of us!

Frik and Frak

Poor attempt at an original headline, I know. Let's just cut right to it, shall we?

Emmy nominated BSG writer Michael Angeli talked to Variety about his research for the show. Surprisingly, it's not so much about science:

...his research usually involves classical literature, Westerns and history.

"Those have struggles of obsession, survival and possession, which we feel is what the show is really about," Angeli says.

"If we go to the Bible, a Western or the transcripts of the trial for Saddam Hussein -- which we did at the end of season three -- we can look for cultural differences, questions of race, gender, class, conspicuous consumption and sex," he adds. "We like to touch on the idea of what it means to be human."

Michael recieved some well deserved kudos from Variety for his work on BSG episode "Six of One" as well.

Speaking of award snubs, Television Without Pity tells it like it is with Emmy: TWOP List of the Most Egregious Snubs, of which Battlestar gets some respect.

Sticking with the above theme of lists, EW.com, famous for lists, has a top 25 of the scifi genre (TV and film) in the last 25 years, and of course BSG is in the mix. Not quite sure how Blade Runner snuck in there, since it's actually 26 years old, but I'm okay with that! Uh, no Star Wars except The first Clone Wars series? WUWT?

Bear McCreary's Eureka soundtrack came out yesterday, and top40-charts.com talks about the composer's accomplishments. Interestingly, I've caught some recent reruns of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and I'm now totally hearing Bear! When the series first aired, I didn't realize Bear worked on it (the music is waaay subtle on that show). Another duh moment was when I realized Bruce Davidson, who plays the not so ethical Dr. Robert in BSG's The Woman King, plays the also not so ethical nor sane Dr. Silverman in episode 7 of TSCC.

SyFy Portal relays the scoop on Mark Sheppard reuniting with Joss in at least (*hopes*) 3 episodes of Dollhouse. Thanks Dollverse, just for existing.

David Eick Talks Battlestar Galactica Past, Present, Future (and Caprica!) to Newsarama. No spoilers of course.

Anyone who knows what a Cylon is can confirm that this Peugeot concept car is one. :O

Shout out to Geek Sugar for using Battlestar Galactica as an example of how to use Scribd services.

I had no idea about the A-Team thing. If anyone knows the details, I would really appreciate being saved the trauma of researching the A-Team. I'm guessing it was a gag with Dirk Benedict (whom I actually don't mind researching so much).

Speaking of Starbuck (above... kind of), Den of Geek compares Shawn McCormick in Knight Rider 2K, to RDM's Starbuck gender change. Doesn't look like it helped the new Knight Rider, and I for one really hope to kidnap Paul Campbell and put him on a different show.

Edit - Thanks 'iguanamom' for pointing out the A-Team intro, and the Cylon appearance. Now, if anyone knows exactly which episode that was clipped from, that would be the rulingest!