And Baltar piles on the authority. But is a Cylon puppet more dangerous than a violent political dissident?
Shouldn't this Cloud 9 ship be given over entirely to agriculture?
(I wonder if the internet commentaries will be the same as the DVD commentaries, because the internet ones are apparently recorded in Ron Moore's house, and there are sirens and airplanes and dogs in the background.)
I also wonder about the wisdom of holding on to the Colonial form of government. I mean, the colonies themselves no longer exist, and so they don't seem like the best things to organize local governments around. Obviously, they've got to run with what they've got, and there's a symbolic value, but Zarek is probably right, inasmuch as their lives have radically changed and lots of old principles no longer apply, and might even now be dangerous.
I'm not so sure people would be particularly in the market for an angry loud talk show. On the one hand, people sure like to argue. On the other, I think people would be anxious to have things appear as happy as possible, and might be put off by overly argumentative programming.
Roslin's friend and ace bureaucrat would have had more of an impact on the story if he had been on the show before.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Yeah, I was sitting there thinking "who's this guy?" when he showed up. Apparently he's getting a lot done around the fleet.
BTW, did anyone catch the names of all the colonies?
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
See here.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Okay, so does anyone else think that Zarek might not have anything to do with those assassins? Aside from the fact that he asked Tigh's wife where the guy-with-the-briefcase was being held (and I admit that's pretty suspicious), there's literally nothing to connect him to the plot, either something that the Galactica crew saw, or that the audience saw.
It's obvious that Zarek has an agenda that may or may not be entirely aboveboard. And given his past, I'm not sure I'd be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and vote him into any position of power at all. He says a lot of nice things about saving Human society, but so did every single other dictator in history who promised to make things better as a way of gaining popularity and attention.
On a totally unrelated note, what's with those talking heads in "The Colonial Gang" claiming to be the only remaining journalists in the fleet? Those people crowding into the press conferences in past episodes sure looked like journalists to me. Sure, I've heard of hyperbole and self-aggrandizement, but that claim was too silly to take seriously at all.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
Well the reporters are a bunch of catty bitches is the point. The line is 'only remaining legitimate journailists left in the universe.' (emphasis mine) Just like the Fox News bobbleheads never talk about how perceptive and cunning Dan Rather is (or vice-versa). They're still seeing it as a popularity game, playing it as viciously (if not more viciously) as they did before the Cylons blowed everything up.
This complements Zarek's primary point perfectly: Society is fundamentally different now and we should examine the processes by which we live our lives in this new context. (Which isn't to say that he's not a sneaky basturt who'd assasinate President Roslin in a heartbeat given half the chance.) Remember how everything was totally going to be different after Sept. 11th?
Zarek (and indeed Richard Hatch's) performance was (intentionally, I suspect) ambiguous on whether he had foreknowledge of the assassination plot. The death of the would-be assassin, Valence, seems much less ambiguous. Right after Apollo tells Zarek they caught Valence, Zarek tells Ellen Tigh he's looking for a friend of his. Cut to the dead briefcase bearer. Zarek's specific request for information must imply at least some complicity. Furthermore it's at least suggested that the luxury suites aboard the rising star could be Ellen's blood money.