Review of Battlestar Galactica 4x15: "No Exit"

[flowrs4ophelia]

Well, after the juicy controversy of the last story arc this was a pretty straightforward informative episode, so I don't really have many editorial comments to make, just a few things...


— Writers picking Ellen as the Fifth = not a bad move. I told everybody so. :P Seriously, this was a heavily plot-oriented expositional episode that I could have just gotten completely lost in but she's what made it awesome and kept me from becoming too removed from it. Her comment about "the swirl," hahaha. And damn is Kate Vernon a gorgeous lady or what?

— Gods how I love the whole dysfunctional family dynamic between the oldest Cylons that we're seeing now. Something about this dark history with Cavil destroying Daniel's entire line immediately struck me as seeming very Cain and Abel. And this isn't the first time I've thought of the Cylon population as being like the first of a creation. The seven all call each other brothers and sisters, and I've thought before that even though all the Cylons were made using a common gene pool and them trying to procreate with each other is technically incestuous, maybe it's not that weird if you think of them as being like the first descendants of Adam and Eve. They're the first people of a newly formed monotheistic society, after all. I guess the parallel makes some sense. So Ellen and Saul = the Cylon Adam and Eve? Haha.

— Tyrol/Tory? DO NOT WANT. Haha. On a random note, I'm perpetually distracted now by how Tory looks a lot like my roommate (a much, much more loveable person, lol).

— Nice scene with Lee and Laura on Colonial One. I can't talk too much about how I love the relationship those two have always had. The occasional mom-and-son dynamic isn't played up so much that it's cheesily archetypal and but made more subtle and believable.

— "Duuuude. Everybody's glowing." LOL!

— Uh, Ishay was not very smooth about breaking the news to Kara that her husband is brain dead. What an insensitive bitch. :( I was actually scared earlier on in the episode that she was going to end up doing something to hurt Anders since we've seen her act a little anti-Cylon before.

I want to believe he's not really gone for good, but that could be my difficulty with grasping how close we really are now to the end of the story talking. I just don't see a practical and justifiable reason for the writers to get rid of him at this time. I guess there is something kind of dramatic about him suffering and sacrificing this much just to be able to tell the others what they need to know, but if this is really the end for him then the way we found out was pretty anti-climactic.... Sammy :'(((

— Boomer is coming back home. WANT. WANT. I really have gotten kind of frustrated with her by now and it was so great to see her do something good again. I can't help but really, really want her and Tyrol to somehow get back together because I just wish he would have something to make him truly happy for once, but at the same time it seems so doubtful things will end up that nice and neat for them, or possibly anybody.

— Overall this episode was just fine, and the kind we've been waiting for and needing, but it was the first one I've seen yet in S4.5 that I didn't immediately feel like watching parts of again. Though I definitely will be watching it again because everything was being explained way too quickly for me to follow everything and there's still some things I'm fuzzy on understanding.

— Oh yeah, and since everybody and their mom is calling this one, one of the Sevens was totally Kara's father. "Artist"? Piano player? Yep. Socrata Thrace did serve in the first Cylon war and maybe there were humanoid agents around even back then.

Comments

[swashbuckler332.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that the whole 'missing Cylon' situation is being dealt with. That was something that had been hanging over the series, although I'm a little surprised that nobody noticed that the Sharons were skipping something...

[flowrs4ophelia.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention that. Ron Moore said a while back they messed up and jumped the gun when they decided the Sharons are model eight, and I thought it was a pretty smooth way to explain the missing sevens.

[workerbee73.livejournal.com]

Oh, I totally forgot to mention the swirl!!! That was money. And yeah. Kate was fantastic.

I so want Boomer and Tyrol to get together (need to tie up those mini-series relationships!!) They've both suffered so much, I just want them to be happy.

[ellcrys70]

My reaction was much like Chief's when Anders said that he and Tory had been in love. Mwa ha ha ha ha!!

I don't think so!

Boomer finally doing something right again was good, and I will admit, finally that maybe they did know what they were doing when they said Ellen was the 5th...and for once, and I mean it, I liked her this ep. A lot. Which is saying A LOT, because I HATED Ellen before.

I hope Anders isn't gone too, because I really do think he's a great character.

Cavill hopefully gets his before the end. He drives me nuts.

And yes...the swirl...hilarious!

[flowrs4ophelia.livejournal.com]

I can't say I ever liked Ellen before either, but I kind of liked hating her, you know. Haha.

I just remembered Michael Trucco said in some interview that after he got in some kind of accident they figured out a way to incorporate a scar on the back of his neck into his character on the show...which probably means he's going to be okay. Yay!

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Writers picking Ellen as the Fifth = not a bad move. I told everybody so. :P Seriously, this was a heavily plot-oriented expositional episode that I could have just gotten completely lost in but she's what made it awesome and kept me from becoming too removed from it.
Kate Vernon has done the impossible (or just improbable) and made me like Ellen as the Fifth. She was fantastic this week. Lots of exposition, but absolutely riveting exposition!

Regarding Sam and his little brain activity...Ellen says that the Five could re-reinvent resurrection using her equipment back on Earth, so any end for Sam might not be final...although I would really rather the Cylons kept their mortality. Not that I want Sam to die (I don't), but they're all so much more interesting when they have a life to lose.

[cherise.livejournal.com]

Going from the bottom up, I definitely didn't even think of who Daniel might have been. I watched the scene of Kara in her apartment and listening to her father's music today too! Agh. I love it; Kara is half-Cylon. It's still confusing but what with Hera and her amazing destiny, and probably the same for Tigh and Six's kid, it makes sense. I can't think of any other half-Cylons, actually. hm.

I didn't catch that Sam might be gone forever. :\ I know nothing about comas so I figured that was typical, especially since she broke it rather rudely.

I reallllly like Boomer and Tyrol together, except for the whole thing with Cavill/John was completely nauseating.

I love Ellen as the Fifth. To me that is the person she was always meant to be. Kate Vernon is a much better actress than her first role allowed her to be.

[flowrs4ophelia.livejournal.com]

From what I've heard, the real chance of anyone ever coming out of a coma is incredibly small and it's really unrealistic how often you see people wake up from them in movies and stuff. But if Ellen can help bring back resurrection technology, then maybe he'll have a chance since he's not dead yet.

Kate Vernon is a much better actress than her first role allowed her to be.
Yeah, Ellen used to be the kind of character I really liked hating, and I think it makes some hilarious irony for her to turn out to be this wise mother figure Cylon character because she always struck me as the kind of person who's really shallow but actually a lot smarter than she seems.