posted
Curse you, Snay, that's exactly what I was thinking when the rank pins were presented, too!
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
I suppose, first, it was supposed to be 100% obvious that the whole incident was a Cylon trap from the very beginning. It seemed that it was just intended to reinforce the dramatic tragedy of the entire story. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it, because the plot device of the "Peter Principle" (a person being promoted to one's level of incompetence) is all too common.
It might've been necessary, though, because it seems that the writers are building a theme of "The Beast" being something like a cursed ship. If Starbuck is supposed to be a screw-up, then the Pegasus is the mother of all screw-ups!
One possible plot hole: If the engineer-commander-dude was not a people-person and liked to run things like machines, then why wasn't he doing his job and obeying orders?
I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised that Apollo was made the commander of Pegasus, or that he was promoted all the way up to the Rank of Commander, since it wasn't suggested that Colonel Fisk or whats-his-face got promoted, either. I have a feeling that there's going to be some cries of nepotism in upcoming episodes. And I also have a feeling that Lee is not going to get along well with the Pegasus crew. They're not going to be able to see past his last name, and figure that he's nothing more than a stooge to fill in for his old man. (Of course, what's-his-face did give Lee the conn during the battle, and Lee was able to hold it together enough to hold off the Cylons so they could repair things and escape.)
Other tidbits...
How about those heavy cannons mounted on the Pegasus bow? It helps explain in part how the battle went so well in "Resurrection Ship", since it means that the battlestars have the sheer kinetic firepower to leave the Cylon capital ships seriously hurting, assuming the battlestars can survive the long-range pounding. I also would assume that the Galactica used to have such weapons, but that they were removed as part of the pre-decommissioning process.
As for the politics... geez, Baltar, way to do a very public backstabbing like that! Even Tom Zarek has better class than you do. (Of course, we all know that it just happened to be the issue of the moment that Baltar chose to take advantage of to make a huge splash and gain attention.) Once again, Richard Hatch gets a very short scene, but a very important role. He needs to have a little chat with Dirk Benedict some time...
Finally, the question of "right to life" versus "freedom to choose"... It figures that Baltar would choose the totally selfish side. And I think that's the best way to sum it up in the circumstances that the Colonials are in � it's simply selfish to choose an abortion, considering the needs of Humanity as a whole. Assuming Baltar was right � the Human race will die out within 18 years � then babies must be protected at nearly all costs. Collective survival is far too big of a concern to worry about individual rights. Certainly, the need for collective survival can't be taken as a carte blanche for trampling any and all rights, but in this case, I'd say that the benefits are solid and obvious.
(Coming below: speculation based on the teaser for next week.)
. . .
Next week: Angry Boomer returns again. Looks like we're going to be adding a third major/recurring copy of Sharon to the mix!
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
quote:since it wasn't suggested that Colonel Fisk or whats-his-face got promoted, either.
Gardner was referred to by rank as "Commander", so Adama promoted him. I don't know the rank pins well enough to know if Fisk was wearing a Commander's pins when he was murdered, or if he was mentioned as 'Commander Fisk' in the episode.
posted
I thought the whole abortion thing, while interesting in theory, wasn't really. . . a practical concern. That is, I doubt abortion on its own would be statistically important. (Not to mention that the only extra people this will produce will be to parents who don't want them.)
If, as stated, population growth is now a primary concern, than making abortion illegal isn't going to cut it. They need to remove women from high risk roles, since sperm is much easier to come by than eggs, not to mention wombs; and perhaps even make insemination mandatory. In which case Baltar's rhetoric might take on an ominous truth.
Having said that, I thought this episode was awesome, though by jumping ahead a month they seem to have rushed Dee through the grieving process.
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
I also really liked the apparent hurt on Six's face during Baltar's "The Cylons hate us for our freedom" speech.
Registered: Mar 1999
| IP: Logged
posted
Yeah, I notices Six's expression, plus Baltar seeming to look directly at her during that "the Cylons hate us" comment. Who knows whether he actually believes that or if he was just spouting bullshit for the audience.
Concerning the abortion issue, you do have a point, Sol, but I think that falls under my previous carte blanche comment. Certainly forcing women to have babies is extreme to the point of making us just like the Cylons (re: "The Farm"). Okay, so this girl doesn't want her kid. I'd bet that there are thousands of couples in the fleet who would love to have a newborn child to take care of. ...Well, hundreds, anyway, considering the economic issues plaguing the fleet.
Besides, if the girl was four months pregnant, that means the kid was certainly conceived after the Cylon attack, which means that she had to have known the consequences and the needs. Regardless of any other circumstances, I think that just aborting the pregnancy was an incredibly stupid and selfish thing to do. It's not just about freedom or principles, it's just plain selfish.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
quote:Originally posted by Malnurtured Snay: I don't know the rank pins well enough to know if Fisk was wearing a Commander's pins when he was murdered, or if he was mentioned as 'Commander Fisk' in the episode.
quote:One possible plot hole: If the engineer-commander-dude was not a people-person and liked to run things like machines, then why wasn't he doing his job and obeying orders?
He's an engineer, they tend to think they're right most of the time. Soldiers obey orders, engineers tend to go with what they know...or in this case think they know. He knew Thrace and her theory was full of it and he knew Adama was wrong, hence the disobedience.
quote:How about those heavy cannons mounted on the Pegasus bow? It helps explain in part how the battle went so well in "Resurrection Ship", since it means that the battlestars have the sheer kinetic firepower to leave the Cylon capital ships seriously hurting, assuming the battlestars can survive the long-range pounding. I also would assume that the Galactica used to have such weapons, but that they were removed as part of the pre-decommissioning process.
Or they're still there but they didn't have any of the heavy ordinance ammo for them until Pegasus showed up. I can't say for sure but I think Galactica was indeed throwing high calibre rounds during the Ressurection Ship assault. Also I got the impression that they mostly picked up the anti-fighter flak rounds at Ragnar. We know they have nukes, but it's been made clear they don't have many to spare, certainly not enough to throw at every Basestar that jumps in front of them.
quote:Once again, Richard Hatch gets a very short scene, but a very important role. He needs to have a little chat with Dirk Benedict some time...
From what I've read it looks like Benedict is persona non grata, at least as far as his successor is concerned. Apparently he said some unkind things about the new show and Katee Sackhoff in particular. Don't know what was said, but apparantly Sackhoff wasn't terribly flattered.
quote:Finally, the question of "right to life" versus "freedom to choose"... It figures that Baltar would choose the totally selfish side. And I think that's the best way to sum it up in the circumstances that the Colonials are in � it's simply selfish to choose an abortion, considering the needs of Humanity as a whole. Assuming Baltar was right � the Human race will die out within 18 years � then babies must be protected at nearly all costs. Collective survival is far too big of a concern to worry about individual rights. Certainly, the need for collective survival can't be taken as a carte blanche for trampling any and all rights, but in this case, I'd say that the benefits are solid and obvious.
Sticky subject, at least I gather it's a sticky one over in the states which is probably why the writers included it in the show. In the very unique situation that is the Rag-tag fleet, the more births the greater the chances of humanity's continued existence, which is oddly opposite to our terrestrial situation where the problem is over population. Anyway, I can see that any enforced law concerning birth control has to walk a very fine line between the needs of the population at large and the rights of the individual. Lest they stray into the sort of thing we saw in "The Farm" or the equally disturbing idea of eugenics and arranged genetic pairings. On the one hand, yes in this fictional situation it's probably a good idea to ban abortion on anything other than medical grounds (although that's a sticky grey area all by itself) that should be balanced by a legislated support system to protect girls like the one featured in this episode. For starters if she's under genuine threat (we never did find out what her family is liable to do to her) there should be a mechanism to relocate her within the fleet and secondly, if the mother truly is unwilling then there has to be a competent adoption system in place.
Of course if humanity does survive there's always the danger of overpopulation, which is just as threatening when there's only so much living space on board the ships and only so much food and water.
Without know the exact figures it's hard to know what's more of a likely hood given the inherent death toll of a mobile population in a constant state of war with an outside force. There's the natural birth and death rates to consider; are there allot of old people in the fleet? How many children die due to lack of medical assistance? Is there a problem with sterility on ships with poor reactor containment or inadequate or damaged shielding from interstellar radiation? I think we'd have trust Baltar's assessment (assuming he wasn't bullshiting Laura to drive her to a decision opposite to the stance he intended to make.)
1. Cottle was apparently running an illicit abortion clinic.
2. Nice Tommy Gun. Did I already mention this?
3. I think Gardner might've been trying to BE a bit more reckless when he jumped the ship -- he wants someone to cut him "a little slack." The Viper pilots get away with this kind of crap all the time, why can't he? But since his career has been in engineering, his intuition lead him in the wrong direction.
4. If I were Adm. Adama, I think I would seriously considering integrating the two crews. Many of Pegasus officers & crew seem to hold themselves superior to Galactica's complement.
5. Nice, quick ref for "Stinger." Wasn't he Pegasus' CAG before Cain relieved him in favor of Starbuck?
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
