IC Forum Archive

aderack · Posts: 5018

I know, I can't get it to shut up!

* * *

BSG's ratings went up last week to 1.5, from the previous week's new low of 1.4.

Has it always been broadcast on Fridays?

108 · Posts: 2600

finnagain wrote:

In a totally narcissistic and unrelated point, I went to high school with Katee Sackhoff, although she graduated my freshman year. We had a theater class together, oddly enough. I had a big 'ol 14 year old crush on her.

EDIT: Sackhoff plays "Starbuck," in case you didn't know.

Man!! I would totally buck her star, if you know what I mean.

EDIT: What I mean is, she really gets my Sackh Off.

internisus · Posts: 961

I find her pretty unattractive. Look at those shoulders!

108 · Posts: 2600

internisus wrote:

Look at those shoulders!

Oh, I've looked at them plenty!! And I'll look at them plenty more!!

klikbeep · Posts: 485

108 wrote:

internisus wrote:

Look at those shoulders!

Oh, I've looked at them plenty!! And I'll look at them plenty more!!

You'd crash sausage-first into a wall that had "WOMAN!!" spray-painted on it.

internisus · Posts: 961

Considering his state of excitement, that's a horrific pain-image.

finnagain · Posts: 181

As I remember it, her shoulders weren't really that broad 8 years ago; or at least, she hadn't bulked up to play a muscular female space pilot with all sorts of authority issues etc.

I can't find my yearbook for '98, unfortunately -- I'll ask around former classmates to see if I my memory jives with the photography.

finnagain · Posts: 181

As I remember it, her shoulders weren't really that broad 8 years ago; or at least, she hadn't bulked up to play a muscular female space pilot with all sorts of authority issues etc.

I can't find my yearbook for '98, unfortunately -- I'll ask around former classmates to see if I my memory jives with the photography.

internisus · Posts: 961

I bet her face was pretty when she was a high school aged girl. She looks like a mutant to me now.

I like her as an actress; don't get me wrong. Her confession to Adama in episode 1x5 is incredible.

108 · Posts: 2600

internisus wrote:

I like her as an actress; don't get me wrong. Her confession to Adama in episode 1x5 is incredible.

You're lucky I just watched that episode last night!! Or else I'd be all SPOILERS and shit

finnagain · Posts: 181

internisus wrote:

I bet her face was pretty when she was a high school aged girl. She looks like a mutant to me now.

I like her as an actress; don't get me wrong. Her confession to Adama in episode 1x5 is incredible.

She IS a good actress, and I'm not sure if she looks so weird on BSG because she is usually covered in grime or blood, not exactly glammed up like most actresses are on TV shows.

But because I can't find my damn yearbook, I'm working mostly from memory, which can change and distort quite a bit.

Also -- you know, we were in theater together. EVERYTHING in High School theater is totally ridiculous.

internisus · Posts: 961

Nah, even in her rare glammed-up BSG scenes she still looks very weird to me. However, her looks fit well with her role and I think she's a great piece of casting.

I bet Tim think's she's a great piece of casting, as well.

108 · Posts: 2600

Oh, I'd say she was cast well somewhere!!

Finely cast, even!!

aderack · Posts: 5018

duckzero wrote:

Last I heard it was official because the ratings of this season have been high enough

Update: Galactica's ratings have now slipped dramatically enough that Sci-Fi is going to move the show to Sunday nights in effort to salvage it, breaking up their "Sci-Fi Friday" block that they've making so much noise about for the last few years. No telling what this will mean for the other shows on Friday.

They're not making the move until January, by which point Doctor Who should be over -- so maybe it won't have any negative impact.

In other news, I watched the first four episodes of season two -- and they kind of suck! The writing went way downhill, suddenly; it's all action and plot. All of the nuance and sparkle of series one is gone. I have to keep dodging these sledgehammers, whereas I was constantly surprised by earlier episodes.

You know that moment when they have a lottery to choose one civilian to let onto the shuttle, and this blind woman has the final number, and she asks Baltar to read it for her? And how Baltar takes the number and clenches his teeth and hesitates... then suddenly steps forward and screams "she's here! This woman -- she has the number!"? And how that stuff kept happening ALL THE TIME through the first season? Yeah, it's stopped doing that. It's just some generic spaceship show now.

I hope it gets better later!! I know season three returns to form, at least. Though last Friday's episode was only so-so.

internisus · Posts: 961

Last week, I didn't bother to watch just because the preview looked really generic.

I thought there was some great stuff in early season 2. For one thing, the entire first four episodes is like complete chaos and very dark compared to how together things always were under Adama in season 1. But you seem basically interested only in Baltar character pieces, so I'll give you an example: When he's in back of the burning Raptor on Kobol, with a wall of fire blocking his exit and reluctant to jump through it, Tyrol reaches his hand in and is screaming for Baltar to take it and jump. Baltar's face goes mystic, and in slow-motion he sees a glowing, angelic Six offering her hand, so he takes it and she/Tyrol pulls him out. In the shot right after that, Baltar is like fluttering out of the burning wreckage with this look of utter peace and joy on his face, and the chief yells his name twice before Baltar sort of shakes it off and looks at him, like, "What is it?!" I love that bit.

Also, when Tigh declares martial law and walks out and drinks from his boot in slow motion with that music it's really dark and incredible. If the Baltar humor is your driving force, then that's not there so much in early season 2, it's true.

aderack · Posts: 5018

I don't mean Baltar; I mean that kind of writing for the series in general: characters, plots. The writing of the first four episodes is extremely generic and predictable compared to the miniseries and first season.

aderack · Posts: 5018

To clarify, I mean that characters act, and situations develop and resolve, exactly the way you expect them to -- whereas THE ENTIRE APPEAL of the series, the ONLY THING that sets it apart from everything else out there, is how intelligently it's written. How from the tiny level -- dialog and the details of the world -- to the huge -- characters and storytelling -- the show constantly is setting you up to presume one thing then surprising you by resolving things in a much less contrived, more satisfying, somehow more logical manner that you'd never have predicted because we're all used to the lazy plotting and characterization of other productions; we think we know the cues and what they mean. So does the show, and it makes pains to surprise us by not being stupid.

To contrast, the beginning of season two is mostly fake drama propped up by fake tension created with "idiot plotting" (in the Ebert sense; things that only work because people act like morons and never tell each other what they need to), false deadlines, technobabble (!), and deus ex machina (in the "hey, here's a perfect technological solution we've never mentioned before!" sense). In addition, it's riddled with on-the-nose exposition (whereas up to this point there was practically zero, and the same is basically true of season three).

It's mostly just Things Happening, for four episodes straight -- things that don't matter at all, because they're almost all fake and being handled in a fake way -- and then the show explaining to us what they mean, instaed of letting us decide that for ourselves. It's like they're all being checked off of a list of plot events that need to be addressed, and thereby handled with an absolute minimum of wit or elegance. It's all bullshit, and I'm waiting for all the running around to end.

Speaking of contrivance, there's also the matter that there's way too much plot tackled in these four episodes. At any time there are something like four different plot threads progressing simultaneously, all just as stupidly, all with completely conflicting styles, all driven by false situations created just for the purpose of being dramatic.

It's like watching a fucking action movie. This part of the season falls prey to all of the traps that the series otherwise avoids, and it bores me. Agnes noticed it as well, though she didn't have a way of describing it. It bored her as well, whereas she's been absolutely gripped by the series so far. She was wandering around, going to the bathroom, not caring if she missed anything because nothing mattered. She's losing interest in the series, and frankly so am I. I'm mostly continuing from this point because I know it gets better and because everyone hates the second half of the season, which usually spells something refreshing.

Also!!! The music was bizarrely overbearing in these episodes. Again, both of us were voicelessly giggling at it. It's so uncharacteristic of the series to hit the audience over the head like this.

internisus · Posts: 961

Hmm. Okay. Thinking more now, I do realize that, after my first time through, and with the exception of Tight and Batlar/Six stuff in Fragged, I've never really felt compelled to watch those early season 2 episodes again. Yeah.

I'd encourage you to stick with it. First off, up through 2x09 or so, it's basically still season 1. It's finishing up the first season. And the first few episodes of the real season 2 are probably going to knock your socks off. However, don't expect something refreshing from the crappy episodes later in the season just because everyone dislikes them. We dislike them for very good, obvious reasons. They suck. Horribly. Don't expect otherwise. You will be disappointed. However, I hope that the next few episodes get better for you. Keep at it.

BEIGE · Posts: 208

Roslin is kind of hot.

internisus · Posts: 961

yeah it was pretty exciting when she made out with baltar

aderack · Posts: 5018

And she's got a neat robot dog.

digi · Posts: 25

AFFIRMATIVE!

internisus · Posts: 961

I'm lost. =(

aderack · Posts: 5018

Picking up slightly around the time Caprica Boomer arrives on Galactica. Still kind of forced and contrived. Not as much as earlier, though -- I guess because there isn't so much pressure to tie up the open plot threads so the series can continue? There are even a few cute or witty or surprising moments, though about half of those end up in the cut scenes.

At this rate I'm thinking the last disc of 2.0 might be back to around the standard of the other two seasons.

Mr. Pointy · Posts: 191

Season 2 overall went a bit shit. There are great moments in it (all of Downloaded, most of the Pegasus arc, much of the last 2 episodes, etc IMO), but there's a lot of lacklustre bits in it as well (all of Black Market, a big chunk of the first 5 episodes, most of Sacrifice, etc IMO). Season 3 is so far awesome, although I haven't seen past Collaborators yet.

I get the feeling it's because BSG had a shorter break from Season 1 to 2 and the writing had to be compromised to be on deadline. Less self-criticism.

Also, wasn't Katee Sackhoff an almost-professional swimmer? It would explain the shoulders.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Yeah, the first part of the season is really, really rushed. It feels like it was just crapped out according to a set of bullet points that needed to be covered. By episodes 6 and 7 it's starting to get a bit more nuanced again, though it still is recovering from some of the earlier nonsense. Then episode 8 is kind of disposable and sledgy, aside from introducing Xena.

Two more for 2.0!! Then we'll see about 2.5.

And yes, season three is amazing so far. Again, that last episode was the least of the bunch and it was still solid; it just felt like it was treading water a bit, whereas all of the episodes have been going somewhere important and interesting. Also, it was a bit... uh, expository.

SP_86 · Posts: 31

I liked last Friday's episode more the second time I watched it.

Sucks that it moved, as I always had Friday nights off from work.

aderack · Posts: 5018

Not moving for a month; it's just got a week off for Indian huntin'.

internisus · Posts: 961

I can't seem to get a download of last week's episode. =\

So, we're still on for Fridays, right? This week's sounds good.

George · Posts: 1656

I watched the miniseries based on everyone's reccommendation. It was well made, though I can't say that it really hooked me. BSG is the first live action show I've watched set primarily on sci-fi sets (Firefly and Dr. Who avoid some of the problems of sci-fi TV due to their settings), and CG technology has gotten good enough that it almost works. I still prefer animated sci-fi like Gundam and Legend of Galactic Heroes, however.

Does anyone know why they did a remake of a minor 70s TV series rather than a completely new story? I had never heard of BSG before the new series, and from what I've read about it, it was less of a cult classic than a Star Wars cash in that was cancelled as soon as Star Wars got a real sequel. BSG is, like Buffy, a show whose source material probably limited its audience. In the case of Buffy the creator was trying to salvage something of his that been turned into crap, but I don't see why Ron Moore cares about turning BSG into something good.

aderack · Posts: 5018

aderack wrote:

Not moving for a month; it's just got a week off for Indian huntin'.