Deep Thoughts

There is a Languor of the Life
More imminent than Pain --
'Tis Pain's Successor -- When the Soul
Has suffered all it can --

– Emily Dickinson

As we process the latest events, and steel ourselves for all that is coming, consider this:


On immortality and death in BSG.

On the bittersweet, dignified demise of BSG.

On coming to terms with our inner Cylon.

On the differences in meaning between BSG and STAR TREK.

On one of my own favorite aspects of BSG…and why, naturally, this aspect has become a bit…”complicated”…as of late.

On BSG’s relevance in the Obama era.

On the powerful melodramas at play both on BSG…and back in reality, as Obama ascends.

On the semiotics of facial hair and shaving in BSG.

A couple of fans expounding eagerly and well about BSG.

On the special language of BSG.

A few final trifles: a knitting project. A well-thought chart of upcoming character death predictions. (Baltar is “expendable”? Really?)

On The Auction Block This Week...

The latest auction batch went live this past weekend; here are a few favorite items...

Gaeta's "stump butter"

Caprican Imperials cigarette box

The Blackbird operations manual

Duck & Nora photo (RIP)

Space in Canada

Space promo for Blood on the Scales posted to YouTube by pennyfeline:

SPOILERS!

Superbowl Ad

Trek Movie Report, the best Star Trek site, reports on the new Star Trek Superbowl ad:

The Oath 415, Enhanced

With commentary track...

Terrific Post-Oath Reads

Still a frakkin Razor. Any questions?

After you've watched THE OATH, check out Mo Ryan's interview with writer/producer Mark Verheiden and Bear McCreary's discussion of the episode (which includes again this week running commentary from other crewmembers...and lots of details about new instruments starring in Bear's music this season).

This gave me chills.

Preview for Blood on the Scales

BEWARE: Possible Spoilers in the preview



Thanks to SevorTB

Also, this weekend, Maureen Ryan will post an interview with writer of "The Oath" Mark Verheiden.

Open Thread: #415 The Oath

Please read our spoiler policy before you post on the open threads.


Past 4.5 open threads can be found in the index on our blogroll rightside column. If you know of other fun sites or forums that are having lively non-spoilery episode discussions, please feel free to post links here as well.


EPISODE 415: THE OATH
Writer: Mark Verheiden
Director: John Dahl

More Roslin & Adama

TV Guide just posted Part 3 of their great video interview with Olmos and McDonnell. Love. Enjoy.



[Parts 1 & 2 are here.]

What Ron Said

Two more good interviews are available with Ron Moore this week: he talks with Geek Monthly Magazine in their February issue about BSG, DEEP SPACE NINE, CAPRICA and VIRTUALITY, as well as the changing face of sci-fi television. You can see a sample of the interview here. Several of the more, um, critical fanboys who hang over at the SciFi.com BSG forum and GalacticaBS somehow managed to corral Moore into an interview for MediaBlvd, with some very entertaining results. I guess this second interview should have a mild spoiler warning on it. Moore says some very interesting things about several key characters. Interesting…yet vague.

Meanwhile as you’ve all probably noticed by now, Moore’s new THING prequel/sequel film has a director. Some are happy about this…some, not so much.

Cons: Starfury and New York Comic Con

For those of us who can never make it over to the UK for Sean Harry's fantastic Starfury cons, a fan known as hobbitofkobol has done us a lovely favor and transcribed the sessions at last month's Q&A sessions with Tahmoh Penikett, Nicki Clyne, Jennifer Halley, Michelle Forbes, Katee Sackhoff, James Callis and Mark Sheppard. Terrific photos (some of which we've borrowed here) provided by fan benelie. BRAVO.

By the by if you are in the neighborhood and can get to one of Starfury's events, every fan I've talked to about these cons just loves them. The next BSG one is Mission Starfury in November 2009. Go if you can!

Speaking of good conventions: the New York Comic Con is coming up Feb 6-8. As you can see from their official schedule (and this blog by con Director Lance Festerman) no official BSG panels seem to be happening, which is a shame. Though the con does say: “Most Movie and TV Panels are Still Not Announced – And Will Be Revealed Closer To NYCC.”



There are some BSG-related events on the books: a ton of BSG comic book related panels; Tahmoh Penikett at a DOLLHOUSE panel with Joss Whedon where they will screen part of the first episode and giveaway some posters; Mark Sheppard at the SEGA booth promoting THE CONDUIT; there is a panel about the web series EMMISARY, which co-stars Aaron Douglas. SuperBSGfan Seth Green and his ROBOT CHICKEN posse are doing a panel as well. Last year's RC panel was the best thing I saw at NYCC last year other than the all-cylon BSG panel, make sure to be there if you’re attending!

Best. Coffee Mug. Ever.

$9.95 at Split Reason. [HT battlestar blog]

Disquieting Reviews

Reviews and recaps of "A Disquiet Follows My Soul"...

Alan Sepinwall ponders what's next:

Last week's episode was about philosophy. This one's about practicality.

Where most of "Sometimes a Great Notion" was spent on the characters -- and the audience -- trying to make sense of the ruined state of Earth and one mind-bending revelation after another, "A Disquiet Follows My Soul" features the rag-tag fleet attempting to get back to business. There will be time for soul-searching, and for answers, later, but right now, everyone needs to figure out what to do now that Earth has turned out to be an even bigger dump than New Caprica.

Todd VanDerWerff for The House Next Door:

“A Disquiet Follows My Soul” is probably going to piss off a lot of Battlestar Galactica fans, especially coming this late in the show’s run. Many of the big plot developments occur offscreen and are only alluded to, the episode tries to shove us into the point-of-view of the members of the fleet instead of our heroes, and the whole thing is more of a grim mood piece about a species giving up without its leaders instead of the razzle-dazzle space opera we’re used to....

I suspect this was ultimately a “setting things in motion” episode, where we got to see the beginnings of many plots that will carry through to the end of the season and series, but it was an elegantly constructed one all around and a fine directorial debut for Moore.

Daniel Fienberg writes: "Is this the calm before the storm? Well judging by the preview for next week's episode it sure looks like it."

MaryAnn Johanson says:

Wow. I just sat stunned through most of this episode. The intensity kept building and building and I couldn’t believe when it was over: it seemed to zip by. And then after all the awfulness, to end on that aww-sweet moment with Bill and Laura... that was almost like another punch in the gut, this tiny bit of happiness after all the bad stuff. And I guess it’s like a punch in the gut because we know it can truly be only a tiny bit of happiness for Bill and Laura.

The Guardian observes:

Yes, it's time for one of those episodes where the space battles (and effects budget) take a back seat to the human (and Cylon) drama; the disquiet before the storm, perhaps? Not that the episode passed without incident. Lee accidentally let the press know that the Final Cylon is a woman. Caprica Six and Tigh's all-Cylon baby is fine. Gaeta's harbouring a serious grudge. Chief punched out Hot Dog. Not much more was revealed about the Cylons that were found on the burnt-out Earth last week, or indeed about the nature of the Final Five, but maybe they felt like we'd had enough to digest already?

IGN notes:

This episode was written by Ron Moore, who also made his directorial debut. While not among the strongest installments Moore has written, there were plenty of notable moments – from the casual way we found out that yes, Adama and Roslin are now sleeping together (finally!); to a small moment like Adama pausing to pick up some trash in a Galactica corridor, wanting to keep his ship together as chaos threatens to take over. And on a show known for being extremely dark, there also were a couple of very funny moments this time – one during the scene in which Tyrol kept getting confused over how to refer to Cylons and if he should use "our" or "their"; the other during an otherwise grim scene showing Baltar's acolytes also getting worked up and angry, when Baltar told them they were not children, and then had to stop and point out to the little boy sitting in the front, that okay, he was a child.

Other reviews and recaps from: Zap2It, BeliefNet, DigitalSpy, North By Northwestern, TV Squad, TV Fodder, BuddyTV, Mania.com, Tim Goodman, and NY1.

Buddy TV wonders where the show goes from here, and Geeksugar has a recap quiz.

In the news...

Bear McCreary's music will be performed in Europe:

March 7th, 2009 will mark the first European performance of my music: The World Premiere of “Prelude to War” by the Hagen Philharmonic and Ballet of the Hagen Theatre in Germany. It will run throughout the spring, for 13 weeks.

“Prelude” is based on my scores for Battlestar Galactica, incorporating music from all four seasons. The orchestra will be in the pit, but the taiko drums will share the stage with the dancers, incorporating their movements and energy into the visual performance. This ballet tells no specific narrative, but rather allows the dancers, lights, taiko drum ensemble and full orchestra to come together and support the story within the music itself.

The Fresno Bee and Sci-Fi Wire talked with Ron Moore and Kate Vernon.

From The Daily Journal:

San Mateo native Michael Trucco spent lunchtime Tuesday with the Battlestar Galactica class at Crystal Springs Uplands School. Yes, the handsome movie and small screen star is a hometown boy. Yes, Crystal Springs Uplands has a special elective class devoted to studying the sci-fi drama. And yes, there is plenty to learn about history, psychology and sociology from Battlestar Galactica.

Kandyse McClure talks about Children of the Corn to Sci-Fi Wire.

At the Phoenix Comicon Aaron Douglas hung out with Wil Wheaton.

DVICE and ScreenRant ask, Enterprise vs. Galactica: Who Would Win?

Take a look at the single largest gathering of Battlestar Galactica in Lego.

Rob Loftis reviews the book, Cylons in America.

An article from George Reisch adapted from “I am a Cylon,” by Richard Hanley in Battlestar Galactica: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up?, finds a way to compare Battlestar Galactica, and Bernard Madoff.

Steampunk Cylon Contest

DVICE is having a Design a Steampunk Cylon Contest.

Not just any Cylon: one that might have existed in an era of steampunk. You know, a Charles Babbage, Jules Verne, pneumatic brass and crystal Cylon!

Imagine a Cylon Heavy Raider crashes in the 1800s somewhere on Earth. Only a single Centurion survives, and it's heavily damaged. Realizing its only chance at survival is to use the tools available, it repairs itself with the materials of the era.

Mark Verheiden at the Cort & Fatboy Portland Frak Party

Just a reminder to all you Portland, OR fans, that Mark Verheiden is apparently coming to this Friday's Cort & Fratboy Frak Party at the Bagdad Theater to watch his final episode, "The Oath," with you frakkers and do a post-show Q&A.

Lucky you! Let us know how it goes.

(Notes for you HEROES/BSG crossover fans: Verheiden's first episode written for HEROES airs Feb. 9th. And...did you know these three HEROES folks were twittering?)

It's on the Auction Block, right now:

So hurry up if you're interested.

[Unknown Soldier photo prop eBay auction ends Jan 30 10:30am USA PT]

Space promo for 415 The Oath

OMG no, not Lee! Noooooooo!

Commentary track for 414

The "enhanced" episode with commentary is on Hulu and SciFi.com, and the commentary podcast is now up on iTunes and the SciFi.com RSS page. I don't know if it was the gin and tonics, or "MrsRon's" presence, or all the discussion of sandwiches and the BSG Auction...but this was one of my favorite podcasts in quite some time. Two things one might consider newsworthy in the 414 podcast: Moore bought Baltar's cigarette case from the auction; Terry Moore seemed to indicate that Moore will be directing again quite soon.





Also on iTunes this week: Celebrity Playlists from Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, and Michael Trucco. [HT to bsg blog] ...OT: For you LOSTies in the house, they also posted lists from Michael Emerson, Evangeline Lilly, Naveen Andrews.


Other great links after you have seen ep 414:

• Mo Ryan, bless her heart, has another interview with Ron Moore discussing this week's show.

• Bear McCreary has posted his weekly exploration of the music for this week's ep, and includes comments from Ron Moore, Richard Hatch, and Alessandro Juliani. Bear also mentions a portion of the Baltar prayer meeting sequence that was cut from the version we saw on air.

• This is just another frakkin great interview with Michael Hogan. And here's another.
  

TV Guide talks with Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos

[ETA: some of you feel these clips, especially the first one, have one or two possible spoilers. I beg to differ, but I'll post this warning anyhow.]

Part 1


Part 2