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Thought you might like this article located here:
https://right-thoughts.us/index.php/weblog/comments/battlestar_galactica_crossroads_pt_2/
Battlestar Galactica - Crossroads Pt. 2
I feel like there should be another three or four episodes after this, but this is the season finale...this third season simply wasn’t good enough.&nbsp; There’s no other way to say it.&nbsp; BSG was the greatest show on TV in 2005, now it feel a lot like a middle-of-the-pack show with occasional bursts of greatness.
 The recap covers the song people are hearing, Gaius as Jesus, Gaius’ trial and Lee resigning.&nbsp; For like, five minutes anyway.
The old man is shaving and cuts himself.&nbsp; I suppose that’s a metaphor, eh?&nbsp; Then Laura calls him and they have what feels like a husband and wife conversation.&nbsp; They so want to do it.&nbsp; This isn’t Moonlighting, it’s OK if they screw.
Cut to: Chief Tyrol hearing the sitar music while half asleep.&nbsp; Cut to: Anders sleeping with Laura’s assistant lady.&nbsp; Who is hearing the music.
OK, that’s Anders, Tyrol, Tigh and Whats’ername.&nbsp; If one more and only one more hears it, I think we have something&#8230;
Cut to Jesus, Lee and Badger talking about trying to force a mistrial.&nbsp; Lee told the lawyer what The Old Man said about Gaius being a piece of garbage.&nbsp; So now Lee is divulging personal, military-record conversations between he and his commander to the defense?&nbsp; Anyone else think he’s crossed a line?
Cut to: hangar deck, where...umm..is that Racetrack?&nbsp; She’s giving Starbuck’s orientation speech to the nuggets.&nbsp; Anders is hearing things.&nbsp; Buzzing noises, he seems to be hearing Tyrol singing from across the bay.&nbsp; He asks about the song.&nbsp; 
So, like...electronic interference, super hearing, music that isn’t there?&nbsp; Gee.&nbsp; So far four people are hearing it.&nbsp; Show me the fifth.
Question from the commercial break: Who is responsible for the strange music?&nbsp; A. The Cylons, B. Human Saboteurs or C. A third party yet to be revealed.&nbsp; Well...the answer is A and partially C.&nbsp; The music is how the Cylons are tracking the fleet, but the third party yet to be revealed may be Cylon in nature without being part of &#8220;The Cylons&#8221; as we know them so far.
Back to the show and Laura is with The Cigarette Smoking Doc (Oh come on, surely you remember The X-Files).&nbsp; She has a dream about chasing Hera and it turns out that Athena is in the medbay having it at the same time.&nbsp; Everyone trots down to see Six to try to find out what the frack is going on.
Laura: &#8220;Were you with us, just a moment ago, in the lobby of the opera house?
Six: &#8220;...&#8221;
Laura: &#8220;I’ll take that as a yes from the look on your face.&#8221;
We better get an answer here.&nbsp; I’m sick of adding mysteries without answering questions.&nbsp; Six thinks she has to protect Hera.
Cut to: Adama’s quarters.&nbsp; SaltySeaDog is trying to convince Adama that the music is real and it’s important.&nbsp; Of course it is.&nbsp; It’s very, very important but due to Saul’s recent behavior it seems like Adama is not really believing it, even though he says he does.
Cut to the trial, and Gaeta is testifying to the fact that he was there when Gaius signed the death order.&nbsp; He said he personally witnessed Baltar signing the document.&nbsp; Now...why would he lie?&nbsp; Because he’s trying to get Baltar convicted.&nbsp; The only other human witness was Gaius himself, and no one will believe anything he says.&nbsp; The other witness they can have access to was Six...and that;s the wrench in the works for Gaeta.&nbsp; She’s either going to back his play or tell the truth, depending on her agenda and how slighted she feels by Gaius (or, how connected and worth something Laura makes her feel).&nbsp; I predict Gaeta not getting away with this.&nbsp; This lie could be the thing that forces them to acquit Jesus. 
The prosecutor asks if he resisted, and Gaeta says no.&nbsp; Oh felix, what are////heh, Gaius just said those EXACT words.&nbsp; This isn’t the way to get it done, Felix.
&#8220;The whole fleet know this man tried to stab me through the neck - and you missed - but-ter-fingers!&#8221;
No defense questions for Gaeta.&nbsp; Okily-dokily.&nbsp; We all know Gaius is going to get off, so I guess I shouldn’t question Badger the SuperLawyer’s methods&#8230;
Back from commercial, and the defense offers a mistrial motion.&nbsp; Gaius erupts and says he doesn’t want a mistrial.&nbsp; The grounds of course are Adama’s statements to Lee.&nbsp; Badger wants Lee to testify against The Old Man.&nbsp; If he does...that was a military discussion between two officers and in private quarters no less.&nbsp; Having an opinion doesn’t mean you can’t set it aside and do your job.&nbsp; 
OK...looks like Lee isn’t going to willingly cross that line.&nbsp; Prosecution objects to Lee testifying.&nbsp; Adama wants to hear his testimony.&nbsp; Come on...that’s clearly Bill saying &#8216;Make your choice, Lee.&nbsp; Right here, right now, for the last time, decide.&#8221;
Lee asks the entire room to ask what they would have done.&nbsp; He makes a compelling argument that some people had no choice, and that Roslin offered a blanket pardon to everyone.&nbsp; He lists things that everyone has done over the last two years.&nbsp; He spills it the most about himself, how he tried to get Bill to stay away.&nbsp; He’s making some compelling arguments.&nbsp; &#8220;We’re not a civilization anymore, we are a gang and we’re on the run.&nbsp; And we have to fight to survive.&nbsp; We have to break rules, we have to bend laws, we have to improvise.&nbsp; But not this time no, not this time not for gaius baltar.&#8221;
Hmm.
I might be coming around to his point of view except for one thing;  It;s not the fact that Gaius surrendered.&nbsp; Hell, the 12 Colonies surrendered during the first 30 minutes of the war when they realized that Caprica and all the other worlds were going to be destroyed.&nbsp; Sometimes surrender is the only option.
And sometimes it’s the cowardly thing to do.&nbsp; Gaius could have stood up to the Cylons a hundred different ways.&nbsp; Instead he lived the life of a kept king, with sex and booze and food and never the cold realities the rest of the humans were forced to live with.&nbsp; He chose his own pleasures over doing right by his people.&nbsp; The day they put a gun to his head and made him sign a death warrant for 200 humans, he made a choice; his life over that of those who he was supposed to protect.&nbsp; For that, he deserves some kind of punishment.&nbsp; But...I don’t know what that punishment should be under these circumstances.&nbsp; Death might be too much...and Lee’s speech is having an effect on me.
He makes one last valid point...this is all about the guilt and shame of those who ran away from New Caprica.&nbsp; Hmm&#8230;
Point one: It’s prudent to retreat and regroup when you are hopelessly outnumbered and your death would not accomplish anything.&nbsp; This isn’t a &#8220;300&#8221; situation - victory there was simply holding the pass long enough for others to gather to protect Athens and Sparta.&nbsp; If Galactica and Pegasus had tried to stay and fight the day the Cylons took over New Caprica, they;d be dead right now and New Caprica would, by now, likely be nuked.
BUT.
Point two: Gaius standing up to the Cylons and refusing to sign the order and then dying, would not have been futile.&nbsp; It would have been a rallying moment for humanity...I can just hear Tigh speaking to a crowd on New Caprica.&nbsp; &#8220;If Gaius fracking Baltar can stand up to these toasters,&#8221; Saul would say, &#8220;why aren’t you doing it?&nbsp; That selfish sonofabitch never did anything good for anyone in his life, and he sacrificed himself so that you wouldn’t be executed, and look at you, just sitting there doing nothing!&#8221;
His death would have had purpose...but Gaius never does anything selfless.&nbsp; Ever.&nbsp; As eloquent as Lee is being, there are still two sides to this argument.
The defense rests.&nbsp; Umm...hello?&nbsp; There was a motion for a mistrial that no one ruled on.&nbsp; Off they go to decide.
Back from break and it’s verdict time.&nbsp; No word on the mistrial motion, I guess we’re just supposed to forget that.&nbsp; Fucking lazy writers.&nbsp; The head judge chick says the vote is three to two, not guilty.&nbsp; Jesus rises!&nbsp; The crowd wants his blood...it’s turning to a near riot.&nbsp; Of course they get him out.
Back in his cell, Baltar gloats and Lee gets all up in his grill.&nbsp; Gaius wants to partner up with Badger the Superlawyer for &#8220;a book tour&#8221; and so forth, and of course, Badger wants to move on, his deal is being a defense lawyer, not bonding with defendants.&nbsp; So now his motivation becomes clear: he wanted to set some precedent for a legal system.&nbsp; There really hasn’t been one before now, and what;s a defense lawyer to do unless there’s a court in which he can ply his trade?&nbsp; Baltar is all &#8220;What about me?&nbsp; What about me?&#8221;  As usual.
Cut to CIC, and Roslin is all sorta upset about the verdict.&nbsp; Adama admits he voted to acquit.&nbsp; Duh.&nbsp; Of course he did.&nbsp; He set aside his personal feelings and did the job.&nbsp; Laura is also right; Gaius is a traitor regardless of the trial’s results.
Adama tells Gaeta to start the jump, they’re going to the nebula.&nbsp; Cut to Baltar walking around the halls carrying his entire box of worldly possessions looking for all the world like jesus carrying a cross, albeit a small, square one.&nbsp; Cut to CIC: Jump!&nbsp; Hello, Starbuck. (you know she’s going to show up right?)
Everything goes haywire.&nbsp; Power goes out around the fleet.&nbsp; Tigh hears the music louder than ever...and commercial.
Chaos everywhere.&nbsp; Batteries only.&nbsp; Cut to Jesus in the hall, and two shadowy figures come to him and lo and behold they are his disciples and they come unto him to whick him off to safety.
  Six is seeing some kind of room with five super-bright stripe things, and Gaius and Hera are with her.&nbsp; They turn, and it;s the opera house, and there are five cloaked, bright white figures standing in the balcony.
OK, speculation time: Female, male, either/or, female, male.&nbsp; The first one kind of looks like a lot of hair is pushing the hood out, and that could be a fold or some curls over the shoulder.&nbsp; Second one looks like they might not be wearing a hood at all, and if that’s a guy, it could be a guy with long hair?&nbsp; the relative sizes make that figure seem like it should be male.&nbsp; Third figure could be a woman or a short guy, the fourth is clearly the smallest, and the fifth looks like it could be a stocky dude.
Interesting.&nbsp; As they get closer, the second is definitely not wearing a hood.&nbsp; That could be short, puffy hair like Anders or Tyrol...that middle one looks for all the world like an outline of Laura’s assistant chick.&nbsp; The fourth look like Starbuck.
Woah, the frame went negative for a couple of frames...it sharpens up the outlines.
Ok, bets on the table, in order, left to right
Jim: Pres’ assistant, Anders, Saul, Starbuck, Chief Tyrol.&nbsp; Donna: Pres’ Assistant, ChiefTyrol, Tigh, Starbuck, Anders.&nbsp; Everyone’s a Cylon!
Six was dreaming this.
Cut to: Tyrol having more auditory hallucinations.&nbsp; He says the same thing Tigh said in Adama’s office: &#8220;There must be some kind of way out of here.&#8221; PAUSE!&nbsp; I just realized they’re hearing Dylan’s &#8220;All Along The Watchtower.&#8221;  Wow, I feel stupid and slow.
&#8220;There must be some kind of way out of here&#8221;
Said the joker to the thief
&#8220;There’s too much confusion
I can’t get no relief
Businessmen they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth&#8221;
&#8220;No reason to get excited&#8221;
The thief, he kindly spoke
&#8220;There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late&#8221;
All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
But outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl
Point one: WHY THE FRACK ARE THEY USING AN EXISTING BOB DYLAN SONG IN THE FRACKING BSG UNIVERSE?&nbsp; Unless...no.&nbsp; No way.&nbsp; NO fucking goddamned way.
Is this NOT a Cylon transmission and in fact is a radio transmission from fracking EARTH?&nbsp; Could it be that they are actually hearing the Bob Dylan song we all know here on our Earth?
Now I want some fracking answers.&nbsp; What is it?&nbsp; Is it just a random radio transmission that has drifted outward for decades?&nbsp; It it a beacon?&nbsp; Are they hearing it because they;re Cylons?
Point two: what do these lyrics mean to what is happening?&nbsp; Feel free to speculate in the comments.
OK, now everyone’s running around quoting lines and heading somewhere.&nbsp; Tyrol, PresAssLady and Anders are gathered around what looks like...an airlock or something?&nbsp; Tyrol thinks he’s a Cylon.&nbsp; Saul walks in.&nbsp; Anders is getting it.&nbsp; Now everyone’s humming it together and SaltyCylonDog takes charge!&nbsp; &#8220;Deadbolt that fracking door.&#8221;
Saul: &#8220;40 years in the service two wars, combat, locked in that dungeon at New Caprica, Ellen...my Gods, what about Ellen?&#8221;  Anders is refusing to believe it, but Tyrol says it.&nbsp; &#8220;We’re Cylons and we have been from the start.&#8221;
We’re just missing the one now.&nbsp; Cut to:
CIC, and a Cylon fleet appears on draedis.&nbsp; Guess what?&nbsp; They’re escorting Starbuck.&nbsp; Cut to: the four Cylons in the cargo bay.&nbsp; He says they need to report to their stations and do their jobs.&nbsp; He’s Saul Tigh, an officer in the Colonial fleet and that’s who he wants to be.&nbsp; That convinces them.&nbsp; They do it&#8230;
Cut to the pilots running through the halls to their ships, past Lee.&nbsp; Lee turns and gets in a Viper.&nbsp; Oh look at that, he gets a contact inside the nebula.&nbsp; Guess who?&nbsp; Three guesses, and the first two guesses don’t count.&nbsp; And there she is.
&#8220;Hi Lee.&#8221;
&#8220;Kara?&#8221;
&#8220;Don’t freak out it really is me.&nbsp; It’s gonna be OK.&nbsp; I’ve been to Earth, I know where it is and I’m gonna take us there.&#8221;  And then we get the &#8220;Contact&#8221; shot where we track a radio transmission back to Earth, and it looks like I was right.&nbsp; This is coming from Earth and they are not far away.&nbsp; Was the song the trigger?&nbsp; Or was it the proximity to the nebula?&nbsp; Remember, stellar phenomenon is the road map - someone somewhere knew the way to Earth, and wrote it up in both the Colonial religions and the Cylon’s One True God religion.&nbsp; All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again.
Rumor has it that Season 4 will be the last, plus the movie to bridge the gap between what we just saw and whatever season 4 brings.&nbsp; I hope so, because I do not have faith that this is going to go well.&nbsp; Of course, if they wanted to, they could have the Cylons attack Earth and turn this into a true test of survival for the entire human race...but somehow I doubt that is going to happen.
Note that all the new Cylons are in positions of power but are not THE powerful person in their respective worlds.&nbsp; Except Anders...he’s no one right now.&nbsp; Unless that means he’s like, the HCIC? (Head Cylon In Charge).&nbsp; I dunno...all I know is that was a second-to-last episode, not a season finale.&nbsp; I really hope the producers buckle down and spend more time on the details, on continuity, etc. during the next production run.
Over at The Llama Butchers, Gary said:
Just when Fonzie was barreling down toward the ramp that would &#8220;jump the shark&#8221;, Moore and co. manage to keep us riveted. A whole new season queued up for 2008. You bet I’ll stay tuned.
Yeah...me too.&nbsp; Doesn’t mean I’m entirely happy about it though.&nbsp; ;)
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