And yes, we are still expected to do our jobs!

[lostinapapercup]

Welcome to BSG Monday!

This week we're talking about 33, and I think there's a lot to love about this episode. There will be series spoilers without warnings under the cut and in comments.

Comments

[in_the_blue]

In retrospect, there's something I love so much about this episode that I couldn't possibly have known the first time watching: it sets the pace for the entire series. The pilot did a great job setting the scene, but this one really is so completely relentless in every possible way. From the jumps every 33 minutes to the decisions that have to be made to the interactions between crew members, there really is no respite.

Until the end of the series.

The most touching moment of this episode: There are so many, from Tigh giving up his ten minutes to Bill to the way everyone touches the photograph to how exhausted Starbuck is in her little lecture to Lee. But I have to say that for me, the most touching moment comes near the end when Billy tells President Roslin that he has an update on the survivor count and you can just see she's about to break, that she can't take one more piece of bad news... and he tells her about the baby boy born on the Rising Star. I think my heart just about fell out of my chest at that one, especially on the

[lostinapapercup]

and he tells her about the baby boy born on the Rising Star. I think my heart just about fell out of my chest at that one, especially on the rewatch. I wanted to bawl out of happiness.
That tearful smile on her face after updating the count for the baby gets me every time.

I figured she was Gaius's annoying conscience
Me too. I was a little disappointed by how it turned out in the end. Especially with all the ambiguity surrounding Starbuck.

I... liked Angel!Six better than ILU-Tigh!Six
As a general rule, I like real Six better than angel Six. That does falter pretty seriously in the last season, though.

It shows us that he knows who he is and what he has to do, and what he needs to suffer because of it.
I don't think all of his abrasiveness is because he knows his role, but I do think he's very aware of his role. I love him for both aspects of his character.

My least favorite recurring theme is that Gaius always ends up getting away with murder.
Yes!

The whole business with the Olympic Carrier seems to me like a test from the

[in_the_blue]

Oddly enough, there are a lot of things about real-Six and her story arc that I came to appreciate over time. With the exception of the Six/Tigh nonsense which seemed misplaced as well as gratuitous, she really does mature a lot as a character. Angel!Six doesn't have to, of course.

One of my favorite things about the show is the ingrained level of duplicity, and they've set it all up so we don't know who to trust (ever) and don't know who's right (ever), and that's not easy to pull off. Usually there's a clear-cut case of right and wrong, but everybody in this show (man or machine or in-between) is drawn in such fine shades of gray that I find myself rooting for the wrong side from time to time, catch myself doing it, and have to reset. It's maddening and keeps me off-balance and I love the show for it.

[elliotsmelliot]

From the jumps every 33 minutes to the decisions that have to be made to the interactions between crew members, there really is no respite. Until the end of the series.

I really loved how they conveyed the exhaustion in this episode, and the reluctance to give up. You're right, after this episode they may have longer than 33 minutes, but there is no respite until the end.

Starbuck had good point about the stims slowing her reflexes, but it was probably moot because exhaustion would hinder her anyway. I am amazed everyone was still standing after 5 days of this!

I forgot that Helo appeared right away. I like how his storyline gave a sense of the broader universe. His situation was a different variation on no respite from being in full survival mode. There was no method to the madness he was experiencing. I bet he would have liked a 33 minute break from the cylons. Of course, he only had to look out for himself, which was different.

[elliotsmelliot]

I’m sorry for the late response. It has been a crazy week. This are very thoughtful questions.

1. I felt really bad for Dee in this episode because she took responsibility for the carrier disappearance. She is so relieved to find them again, and then devastated at what finally happens. I bet she wonders if that was still her fault.

2. I went back and forth between guessing she was either a hallucination or a chip. Gaius was smart enough to have created her in his head, but I also thought maybe Six was communicating to him somewhat. I think Gaius was the only one I was sure was not a Cylon. Did we ever figure out what Six was?

3. I appreciate him more on the re-watch in S1, but I remember not being too fond of him until the resistance storyline.

4. I am not good at remembering dialogue. Hard choices are definitely a recurring theme. So is suspicion.

5. If I just had to make the order, I would make the same call Bill and Laura made. But If had to do the actual shooting, I might chicken out.

[lostinapapercup]

Don't be sorry! I'm clearly late myself here, and we're just glad to have you whenever you can make it