Battlestar Galactica "Scattered" Talkback (SPOILERS)

[Swordfish_II]

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Battlestar Galactica
201 - Scattered
Written by: David Weddle & Bradley Thompson
Directed by: Michael Ryme

With Adama mortally wounded
and President Roslin in the brig,
Col. Tigh must endure the crucible of command.

Comments?

[Lord Dalek]

I hope shooting Adama wasn't a shark jumping moment.

[ManicWebb]

So... was Boomer shooting Adama a Cylon sleeper action, or was it an "I give up on life" thing? She obviously doesn't have it in her to shoot herself, so maybe she only shot Adama so someone else would shoot her?

Meanwhile, Caprica Boomer seems to have betrayed Helo and Starbuck by ditching them. $5 says she either never left them, or she comes back with either supplies or information that can help them.

Seeing Olmos and [actor who plays Tigh] made up to look younger in those flashbacks was silly. It's amazing to see that Tigh is a bit suicidal. Can't say I'm that surprised, though.

Baltar is the father to Six's child? But the only time they've physically had sex was during the miniseries. Does this mean a copy of Six that had sex with Baltar wasn't on Caprica when the nukes went off? She should be several months along, shouldn't she? Interesting...

[GMB]

Seeing Olmos and [actor who plays Tigh] made up to look younger in those flashbacks was silly. It's amazing to see that Tigh is a bit suicidal. Can't say I'm that surprised, though.


God help me, Young Adama looked so much like Ron Burgundy with that 'stache. I wonder how the ep woulda gone if they'd run with that.

Not sure what to think about this episode just yet. After the expansive season finale this felt a little rushed and small-scale (and you're really asking for trouble with me when you have Tigh attempt to carry and episode) but hopefully a repeat viewing will give me a more definite read of this one.

That said, it's good to have some new BSG on. :)

[Funkatron]

I still think Boomer has her Jeckyl/Cylon Hyde thing going on. She didn't remember shooting him minutes after..well, shooting him. I wonder if they'll be a merger of personalities. I feel sorry for the good Boomer.

[Supremus]

That was alright... I think. I don't know... no, it was good...wasn't it? I guess I expected a little bit more. Season 1 was a bit of whirlwind romance for me, having watched the mini and the entire series in the space of 2 or 3 days, so just one slow-paced episode seemed somewhat anti-climactic, and didn't quite recapture the magic for me.

So, it looks like Adama is going to make it, and thank Frak for that, because judging by the heavy-handed flashbacks, he must have many an interesting story to tell about his previous career as a 70s pornstar.

I had forgotten how annoying Tigh's wife is. I really hope she isn't going to be much of a regular on the show.

Gaeda's soap-inspired(?) firewall vs the Cylons didn't get me particularly excited, and the space battle was one of the most confusing ones yet, but perhaps it served to set up a bit of fun for next week, I guess. Who's thinking univited, toaster-shaped stowaways?

Team Kobol didn't really interest me much either, and it's going to take more than a few lines of dialog to get me to care about the death of a couple of characters I don't even remember from season 1. Hands in the air if you saw the missing med-kit stunt from a mile off, let alone the ambush in the middle of the surprisingly casual banter. Who was attacking, btw? Since we didn't really see the attackers, perhaps it will turn out they weren't actually Cylons?

I was hoping for more scenes with Dr Baltar, Vice President of Looooove, or whatever his current title is, and his imaginary trip to see his new family at an undisclosed location didn't add anything we hadn't seen last season, so it seemed like a waste of time.

Interesting that Hole-In-The-Head-Boomer wasn't totally aware that she had shot Adama. It's one thing to be a sleeper, but to go back to sleep? And what about Pregnant-Boomer? Did she betray Helo? Is she going for help? Or perhaps Cylon morning sickness just requires a larger safety perimeter than she was able on cover by foot? I like all the various Boomers, so although I hope Pregnant-Boomer hasn't gone bad, I could see an interesting Mr and Mrs Smith subplot developing between her and Helo with Duckface as the much needed comic sidekick. Btw, did she look a lot bloodier than in the season finale? For a second there I thought they had even re-cast with a less fowl-looking actress. That's fowl, not foul, btw... because I definitely would.

I think I might save up a few episodes before I watch it again, and hopefully I can rekindle the magic of season 1. I got a bit of a "Lost" feeling after watching this episode, and I don't want to start disliking BSG as well, just because the show can't get its ass in gear.

[Lord Dalek]

It wasn't the opening I was hoping for with that "We're no further along than last season", but it was fairly good. Next week's cylon centurian infiltration should rock though.

[GMB]

For the most part, fairly mundane stuff.

I remember writing when "Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down" aired that Moore and co. had inherited from their time on Star Trek the inability to successfully do a comedic episode.

Unfortunately, they also seem to have picked up the inability to resolve a cliffhanger in any way that doesn't feel like a cheat or totally derail the momentum of the show, because that's what they did here. Sure there were all the earmarks of good BSG (even if that space battle when the Galactica tried to link up with the fleet felt a little rushed) but it didn't come together at all.

After a really exapnsive season finale where there seemed to be some answers about to be given we're left with. . .uh, not much. Focusing the episode on Tigh The Walkin' Talkin' Cliche (still the worst, most ill-conceived character on the show) was a mistake, but the flashback's to Adama's days as Lt. Castillo were funny in spite of that.

As to the rest, I'm not quite sure if the cast works well spread out in three different groups, especially considering BSG's rather limited set of locations, things tend to blend together and get a little confusing.

I don't know. It was good enough, but BSG's been better and more consistent than this. The cliffhanger and the promise of the Galactica being under siege does give me hope for next week tho. Let's call it at C

[DarkAngel]

Let's call it at CA "C" seems a little harsh, though, if it's due to a lack of resolution of the cliffhanger. Unlike Star Trek, I don't think they wanted to try to wrap-up the cliffhanger in a tidy concluding part, but to do so over several episodes, which I don't think is a bad thing. If there's anything that I'd identify as the cliffhanger, it was Adama being shot, which isn't something they can remedy quickly, if it's to be believable.

If there's anything this episode gave us, I'd say it's indication that things are going to unravel fast with the fleet under the command of someone who's unready and unwilling to lead on this level. I think it's a great move for this season, or at least the first part of it, and I like Tigh because he is a regular and very flawed guy in well over his head.

[Supremus]

A "C" seems a little harsh, though, if it's due to a lack of resolution of the cliffhanger. Unlike Star Trek, I don't think they wanted to try to wrap-up the cliffhanger in a tidy concluding part, but to do so over several episodes, which I don't think is a bad thing. If there's anything that I'd identify as the cliffhanger, it was Adama being shot, which isn't something they can remedy quickly, if it's to be believable.They could have killed him?

I don't mind the resolutions lasting several episodes, but the whole thing seemed a little unfocused and not terribly interesting.

...and I like Tigh because he is a regular and very flawed guy in well over his head.Tigh is a painfully clichéd stock character, right off the angry drunk production line. On a show that's really strong on characters, he is by far the weakest link in the chain, and the fact that so much focus was put on him was part of the problem of this first episode.

Does anybody know who wrote this episode? After the regime change at TVtome (tv.com), it's nearly impossible to get any kind of useful information on my favorite shows, and my copy didn't have any credits.

[DarkAngel]

They could have killed him? Sure, but I didn't really expect them to having not heard anything about Olmos leaving the show.

Tigh is a painfully clichéd stock character, right off the angry drunk production line. On a show that's really strong on characters, he is by far the weakest link in the chain, and the fact that so much focus was put on him was part of the problem of this first episode.I'm not talking about the drunk aspect, but the fact that he's now in charge of the fleet while indecisive, possibly possessing poor command skills, and not having any desire to lead. There's potential there for something interesting and for leadership that's quite different from what we typically see from characters such as Kirk, Picard, Sheridan, or even Adama.

Does anybody know who wrote this episode? After the regime change at TVtome (tv.com), it's nearly impossible to get any kind of useful information on my favorite shows, and my copy didn't have any credits.David Weddle and Brad Thompson.

[GMB]

A "C" seems a little harsh, though, if it's due to a lack of resolution of the cliffhanger.

Not just for the lack of resolution, because I felt like some elements of it were resolved, it's just that the resolutions and concurrent plot advancements were'd done with the force and momentum the previous season had accrued. This whole episode just seemed . . .half-assed.

Unlike Star Trek, I don't think they wanted to try to wrap-up the cliffhanger in a tidy concluding part, but to do so over several episodes, which I don't think is a bad thing. If there's anything that I'd identify as the cliffhanger, it was Adama being shot, which isn't something they can remedy quickly, if it's to be believable.

I'd split the dog with ya on that one--I think Season 1 ended on multiple cliffhangers:

-The fracturing of the military/civilian leadership of the Fleet
-The Kobol mystery
-Adama's shooting
-The Human/Cylon hybrid (aka the "How 'bout letting US see the damn baby too?" cliffhanger)
-The whole metaphysical Cylon God stuff that had been drifting in via Six and Baltar.

I think it's a great move for this season, or at least the first part of it, and I like Tigh because he is a regular and very flawed guy in well over his head.

I liked Tigh back when he was Garibaldi on Babylon 5. Tigh smacks of the regressive Season 5 version of Garibaldi and reminds not only of what an idiotic move that was on B5's part, but how utterly tired the Drunk Looking For Redemption character is.

The problem with Tigh is that he's nothing but that cliche. One season later, he's the same boring guy. Over the past season we saw most of the characters evolve into something more, and most of them watchable. Tigh I always felt like got lost in the shuffle (and then got saddled with his wife, who may be a worse character than him) and basically seemed to show up just to wring his hands over the plot du jour and bust Starbuck's balls.

I'm willing to recant (as I did with Duckface--thanks, Supremus ;) ) if some evolution finally happens, but right now Tigh is just a void dragging things down for the moment.

And Weddle and Thomspon wiritng this one explains a lot. Nothing against Weddle--he wrote and incredible biography of Sam Peckinpah--but he and Thompson's DS9's episodes had much the same problem as this episode does in terms of impact and cohesion.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Was I the only one who really liked this episode specifically because it didn't tie up last season's cliffhangers in a nice, neat little bow? Given how they dealt with things in season 1, I'd have been disappointed if they did.

I liked Tigh back when he was Garibaldi on Babylon 5. Tigh smacks of the regressive Season 5 version of Garibaldi and reminds not only of what an idiotic move that was on B5's part, but how utterly tired the Drunk Looking For Redemption character is.

The problem with Tigh is that he's nothing but that cliche. One season later, he's the same boring guy. Over the past season we saw most of the characters evolve into something more, and most of them watchable. Tigh I always felt like got lost in the shuffle (and then got saddled with his wife, who may be a worse character than him) and basically seemed to show up just to wring his hands over the plot du jour and bust Starbuck's balls.
I don't know, I thought Tigh ended up being a lot more approachable in this episode than he did before, mostly because he was thrown into a situation he wasn't ready for and didn't really want. I thought they hit a lot of high points dealing with the nature of command, and how there are some people who aren't cut out for command no matter how much training they get at the military academy of your choosing.

A friend whose dad was an officer in the Navy said, "The military will take a good man and turn him into a great man, and take a mediocre man and turn him into a (rectal orifice)." Unfortunately, officers in the latter category can end up in positions of command due to the vicissitudes of war, and Tigh is in exactly that position. He becomes interesting because, despite his rank, he is far more suited for the position of executive officer than in command, and his plot thread is really about how he manages that transition. The decision to go against Adama's last standing orders and network the computers to find the fleet was a pretty major step for him. In contrast, Chakotay or Riker never had to deal with this because they were Perfect Officers marking time until they got command of their own ships.

I also think that this issue of how not everybody is cut out for command is what's driving the Kobol away team plot thread. The lieutenant in charge of the squad down there is in the same situation, writ smaller, and is failing miserably. I'm convinced that the ambush that the Chief and Callie stepped into was a friendly fire incident, but that the lieutenant is going to blame the Chief for it.

-- Ed/Ace

[DarkAngel]

I'm willing to recant (as I did with Duckface--thanks, Supremus ;) ) if some evolution finally happens, but right now Tigh is just a void dragging things down for the moment.But what's the alternative, then? Don't use Tigh because he hasn't been developed enough? Then we're never going to see much of him and his character will never improve. I see this as the beginning of a period over which he can be developed greatly. Let's wait to see how things turn out with him (and this arc) before being too critical. I think putting him in this position is a great move for the reasons Ace has mentioned. Obviously it remains to be seen how well they execute things over the next several episodes, but there's great potential.

[GMB]

But what's the alternative, then? Don't use Tigh because he hasn't been developed enough? Then we're never going to see much of him and his character will never improve. I see this as the beginning of a period over which he can be developed greatly. Let's wait to see how things turn out with him (and this arc) before being too critical. I think putting him in this position is a great move for the reasons Ace has mentioned. Obviously it remains to be seen how well they execute things over the next several episodes, but there's great potential.

I didn't say I wouldn't wait to see how it played out, I'm just saying what I have seen so far has really disappointing. I think Ace makes a good point of how this might play out in a realistic way, the question is is Tigh appealing or interesting enough to invest that much as an audience member in how it turns out?

At the moment, I'd say "no," while keeping an open mind. Because I didn't think Starbuck would really work out either, and ended up being pleasantly surprised. So we'll wait and see, I guess.