tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post1876253320007118174..comments2024-03-18T04:36:26.547-04:00Comments on Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress: Battlestar Galactica 4.3: Deaths, Lessons, QuestionsPaul Levinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-3333116312993810492008-04-27T01:07:00.000-04:002008-04-27T01:07:00.000-04:00Good points, too, tvindy!Good points, too, tvindy!Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-53354544371845151722008-04-25T02:28:00.000-04:002008-04-25T02:28:00.000-04:00It is interesting that human-form Cylons have supe...It is interesting that human-form Cylons have super strength, and yet there is no simple way to detect them through a medical test. Wouldn't they have considerably different musculature? (And of course, they also have a transmitter in their heads that sends out everything in their brains upon death.)tvindyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09944046580562714104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-19746309666063832782008-04-25T01:00:00.000-04:002008-04-25T01:00:00.000-04:00Good point - agreed!Welcome to Infinite Regress, p...Good point - agreed!<BR/><BR/>Welcome to Infinite Regress, patrick.Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-21922077217018859792008-04-24T14:35:00.000-04:002008-04-24T14:35:00.000-04:00RE: "I did have one quibble with this superb scene...RE: "I did have one quibble with this superb scene - if Tory is able to hurl Callie across the tube, did she never notice she had this power before?"<BR/><BR/>Maybe her abilities are only now starting to manifest. Tory told Tyrol at the beginning that she liked the new sensations and feelings she was experiencing, so interpreting it this way would be consistent with that...Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03909464218861335517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-8681561836031635762008-04-24T12:52:00.000-04:002008-04-24T12:52:00.000-04:00bertas - good point ... Callie so hates the Cylons...bertas - good point ... Callie so hates the Cylons that she would kill her hybrid baby ...<BR/><BR/>A line or two in the dialogue would have helped bring this point across (I don't recall any either)...<BR/><BR/>Great episodes this season!Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-11004182584077026202008-04-24T03:34:00.000-04:002008-04-24T03:34:00.000-04:00Paul thanks for the interesting read... and these ...Paul thanks for the interesting read... and these are some great comments :)<BR/><BR/>Uh I was worried about the baby I have to admit, but throughout the episode one thought that kept coming to me time and time again was it is another cylon hybrid baby... and none addressed it directly (or maybe Tory or Callie did, but I simply could not watch :) <BR/>So maybe that was the idea, maybe that was going through her head when she went into the airlock...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-85244376012774638502008-04-21T03:37:00.000-04:002008-04-21T03:37:00.000-04:00Good points about the Final Five, Scott.Tvindy - y...Good points about the Final Five, Scott.<BR/><BR/>Tvindy - yeah, that bothered me, too. In fact, why would she want to kill her baby in any way?<BR/><BR/>I guess we're supposed to think that she was so distraught, she was close to crossing that terrible line that we hear or read about every once in a while... But I'm not sure that was sufficiently motivated in the story.Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-65931531391463208422008-04-21T00:54:00.000-04:002008-04-21T00:54:00.000-04:00One thing that kind of bothered me about the episo...One thing that kind of bothered me about the episode is that Callie's choice of suicide method is the airlock. She's already experienced the vacuum and cold of space, and it wasn't very pleasant. Would she want to put her baby through that?tvindyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09944046580562714104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-2403232743393977122008-04-20T23:57:00.000-04:002008-04-20T23:57:00.000-04:00Paul, thanks for the reponse about Benford's point...Paul, thanks for the reponse about Benford's point being one anthropologists and media theorists had made. This is what happens when I let myself become a poorly read person (outside of the mostly dry legal scholarship I have to read) -- I end up thinking the latest sci fi I read is the source of all worthy ideas!<BR/><BR/>As to your question, "is there any other case of Cylons modeling skin jobs on living humans (and then replacing them)?" No, there isn't -- but I think the answer to, "what's the deal with the Final Five?" has to involve them being <I>unique</I> in some way to explain why the first seven might view them as too "holy" to discuss. Viewing the Final Five as "holy" because they're a link between Cylon and human (i.e., they're Cylons modeled on humans) would also be consistent with the Cylon view of Sharon's human/Cylon hybrid baby as special and holy -- that merging the two "races" is a religious goal....<BR/><BR/>Anyhow, I'm under no delusion this "the five were modeled on the real humans and were given their memories" is the actual answer, and you're absolutely right that "from a story-telling point of view, it's a little like pulling a rabbit out of a hat" -- but I'm worried the show has written itself into a corner (e.g., Starbuck's "resurrection," and mystical coincidence like the supernova coinciding with the human/Cylon arrival at the eye of Jupiter late last season), so I'm fishing for any explanation that'd make some shred of sense! Of course, as a screenwriter I just make a decent lawyer, so I'm sure (I hope?) the BSG team can come up with something much better than my rabbit-from-hat explanation!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-25514652960585727632008-04-20T01:44:00.000-04:002008-04-20T01:44:00.000-04:00Welcome to Infinite Regress, Scott - and thanks fo...Welcome to Infinite Regress, Scott - and thanks for your well-reasoned, excellent comment.<BR/><BR/>1. Your explanation is the best I've heard so far about the apparent inconsistencies in earlier lives of the Secret 4, and their being Cylons now.<BR/><BR/>One problem it has, though, is this: is there any other case of Cylons modeling skin jobs on living humans (and then replacing them)? If yes, then I'd sign on to your explanation. If no, then it still could be the best answer, but, from a story-telling point of view, it's a little like pulling a rabbit out of a hat.<BR/><BR/>2. Good point, too, about Tory. Yet, as you say, being ruthless is a long way from being murderer. I'm pretty ruthless in opposing people politically, negotiating some of my publishing contracts, etc - but, so far, I haven't even come close to doing what Tory did... :)<BR/><BR/>3. Good thoughts too about Earth. (But here I would just mention that, although Greg Benford does indeed make that point about folktales and songs passing on important information through time, it's an observation that pretty much universally held by anthropologists, media theorists, etc).<BR/><BR/>Anyway ... it will be fun to see where the series goes ... it's off to a brilliant final start.Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-34540052087814255672008-04-19T19:27:00.000-04:002008-04-19T19:27:00.000-04:00I just came across this blog, so I apologize if th...I just came across this blog, so I apologize if these points are a little scattershot:<BR/><BR/>(1) My guess is that the 4 "secret" Cylons <I>were</I> real humans but were replaced by the Cylons (and somehow "programmed" with their human memories) not long before the Cylon attack on the colonies -- which would (a) entirely explain Tigh's age, and (b) partially explain why none of the four noticed having superhuman strength in his/her first decades of life (I mean, yes, it's still confusing why, say, Andera didn't notice it in his athletics recently, but it's less confusing than if he had that strength all his life -- maybe if you don't know you have superhuman strength, you just get used to performing at normal human level? runners talk about how until they <I>try</I> a marathon, they think, "I can't possibly do more than 5 miles" or so).<BR/><BR/>(2) Tory was ruthless as a politician long before she knew she was a Cylon; wasn't she instrumental in trying to fix the presidential election? That's not the same as murder, granted, but it's not clear her murder here shows any new character trait.<BR/><BR/>(3) I'm relatively new to online discussion of the show, so my apologies if this sory of speculation is trite, but: Wouldn't a likely answer to the "what about Earth" riddle be that the twelve colonies were colonies that departed <I>from</I> Earth thousands of years ago, leaving a cryptic trail back home via mystical/religious folklore (not unlike Greg Benford's speculation that folk tales/songs can be used to pass important information down through time)? That'd set up a somewhat happy ending to the series -- the humans and the Cylons all get to Earth, which leaves Adama & company wirred that the Cylons will destroy earth -- but Earth turns out to be far superior technologically, because the colonists came from a spacefaring civilization but then fell behind, starting from scratch on the new colonies, making the Cylons no threat. I'm under no delusion that this definitely will be the ending, but I think it'd tie up some loose ends (e.g., how these wacky mystical tales might have a grain of truth) and yield some satisfying closure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-82191537947742829342008-04-19T16:00:00.000-04:002008-04-19T16:00:00.000-04:00Good point, JY - welcome to Infinite Regress.Good point, JY - welcome to Infinite Regress.Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-49440905352172750602008-04-19T14:44:00.000-04:002008-04-19T14:44:00.000-04:00The hybrid babies are the key. Have to be. Having ...The hybrid babies are the key. Have to be. Having to secure Nikki from an unstable Callie threw another Cylon switch in Tori's head. She just got kicked up a notch to 'ruthless'.JYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04353755012909312384noreply@blogger.com