Battlestar Galactica: Final Season

Lum · 2009-03-17T10:05:28.000Z

nixon66:

So is Daniel now just a red herring

Daniel was always explained by the writers as an explanation of why there was never a Number Seven in the initial numbering scheme, nothing more. The speculation among fans over any hidden significance was always just that.

Brian_Seiler · 2009-03-17T10:08:21.000Z

Lum:

Daniel was always explained by the writers as an explanation of why there was never a Number Seven in the initial numbering scheme, nothing more. The speculation among fans over any hidden significance was always just that.

Well, that and the hook for Caprica, where he will apparently matter or something. I’m guessing that was more of a post-hoc thing they did, but still.

Dave_Markell · 2009-03-17T12:29:52.000Z

ColonelT:

I listened to the RDM podcast this morning, and he seemed genuinely surprised that so many on the Internet have obsessed over the Kara/Father/Daniel relationship (or non-relationship, as the case may be). He was essentially apologizing for leading us down that path. It’s got to be one of those things they missed in the writer’s room, because it’s a glaringly obvious connection to make.

As one of many who made it, I have to say I’m disappointed. It fit so well that not having it be true feels wrong and sloppy. When so many factors point in that direction, to say to your audience “hey, sorry, we didn’t mean for any of that to matter!” is lame.

Freezer-TPF · 2009-03-17T13:14:35.000Z

Dave Markell:

Right, knew that. I thought the special was a lead-in to the finale. I did not know it was on tonight, and therefore I missed it.

The special is on Friday night as well at 7pm eastern. 8 pm will be a rerun of last week, then the 2-hour finale at 9 pm eastern.

In fact, the whole day Friday is a BSG marathon.

Zylon · 2009-03-17T13:19:51.000Z

Dave Markell:

As one of many who made it, I have to say I’m disappointed. It fit so well that not having it be true feels wrong and sloppy. When so many factors point in that direction, to say to your audience “hey, sorry, we didn’t mean for any of that to matter!” is lame.

If the alternative is no explanation at all for Starbuck, THEN I’ll get stabby.

Hugin · 2009-03-17T13:22:09.000Z

Dave Markell:

As one of many who made it, I have to say I’m disappointed. It fit so well that not having it be true feels wrong and sloppy. When so many factors point in that direction, to say to your audience “hey, sorry, we didn’t mean for any of that to matter!” is lame.

Fanon can really creep up on a writing staff. You never know what little clue or idea will catch fire, and it’s especially dangerous on a show where the writers like parallels and callbacks. Gina/Cain was fanon that the writers decided to go with when they had the opportunity to go back and do Razor.

Lum · 2009-03-17T13:34:23.000Z

Hugin:

Gina/Cain was fanon that the writers decided to go with when they had the opportunity to go back and do Razor.

I thought that was more that they wanted to have a gay relationship in BSG and it gave an opportunity to flesh out the Cain character’s motivations for torturing Gina.

bloo · 2009-03-17T14:36:58.000Z

Hugin:

Fanon…

What is that? An STD? An ink-spread infection?

Lum · 2009-03-17T14:52:56.000Z

bloo:

What is that? An STD? An ink-spread infection?

It’s a constant struggle against colonialism, duh.

Hugin · 2009-03-17T15:15:53.000Z

bloo:

What is that? An STD? An ink-spread infection?

Fanon is non-canonical stuff that takes strong root in fannish communities for some piece of source material, such that it achieves a kind of canonical status even though the fans pulled it out of their collective asses.

Hugin · 2009-03-17T15:27:18.000Z

Lum:

I thought that was more that they wanted to have a gay relationship in BSG and it gave an opportunity to flesh out the Cain character’s motivations for torturing Gina.

The writers had, in a very vague and tertiary way, a desire to have a gay relationship on BSG, or at least make it clear that gay people existed in the BSG universe and it wasn’t a problematic thing in the culture. And they got a lot of pressure from various segments of the fan community, and there was speculation about Starbuck leading up to the show and Gaeta after the show started.

On the other hand, Ron Moore has a couple sociological axes he likes to grind, but gay rights isn’t really one of them, and the stab the writers tried at updating sociolators from the original series and showing prostitution existed in the series and was not a problem, wound up going into Black Market, arguably the worst episode of the series up till then (or ever, though I’d argue The Woman King was as bad).

So anyway, Pegasus happens, fans see the scenes with Cain and Gina and start writing fanfics and whatnot, the writers see feedback about that in fannish spaces. Then they regret killing off Cain, come up with Razor as a way to explore the character more, and are now holding the Cain/Gina relationship thing in the back of their head as something some fans might want to see, and which might have some plausible underpinnings, and helps give some shape to Cain’s craziness afterwards, so they rolled with it.

Dean · 2009-03-17T17:31:53.000Z

Didn’t they promise Gaeta was going to be openly gay this season?

Yeah, that happened.

Andrew_Mayer · 2009-03-17T17:33:09.000Z

Dean:

Didn’t they promise Gaeta was going to be openly gay this season?

Yeah, that happened.

It happened in the webisodes.

Zylon · 2009-03-17T18:33:28.000Z

Andrew Mayer:

It happened in the webisodes.

I thought he had sex with a Sharon in the webisodes.

bloo · 2009-03-17T18:53:59.000Z

Hugin:

Fanon is non-canonical stuff that takes strong root in fannish communities for some piece of source material, such that it achieves a kind of canonical status even though the fans pulled it out of their collective asses.

I think “Fanon” is pure Felgercarb as a word that humans should use that doesn’t refer to Frantz Fanon. I’m off to be inoculated against this new cylon-manufactured language virus before it contaminates me. First with centurions, then skinjobs, and nukes, now with neuro-linguistic programming!

ColonelT · 2009-03-17T19:25:02.000Z

Zylon:

I thought he had sex with a Sharon in the webisodes.

He did that too.

Scrax · 2009-03-17T19:28:29.000Z

Gasp! Bisexuals exist!

I was more annoyed that there seemed to be no reaction from Gaeta’s boyfriend when Gaeta staged the revolution/was executed. Beyond the webisodes, there were no real references to Gaeta’s male relationships. Even the webisodes were weak, because the furthest they explored that relationship was a male/male kiss. Big deal. That was only really done to make the fangirls squeal.

Tankero · 2009-03-17T19:52:57.000Z

Scrax:

That was only really done to make the fangirls squeal.

No shit? All two of them?

Andrew_Mayer · 2009-03-17T21:07:35.000Z

Tankero:

No shit? All two of them?

I’m not even going to Google the phrase “Gaeta Girls” because I’m afraid what I might find.

jerri_blank · 2009-03-17T21:35:05.000Z

Poor Hoshi - Gaeta was a nightmare of a boyfriend. Sent off on a mission with Krazy Kara, gets his leg shot off, gets addicted to drugs, gets on a shuttle with a Cylon he once slept with, comes back and starts a mutiny, gets airlocked… it’s probably enough to make Hoshi want to date women.