BSG: "Home, pt. 2"

[stoutfellow]

A few random thoughts on BSG in general and last night's episode in particular:

1. A large fraction of the human population believes in (what seems to be) the Greek pantheon. Under the circumstances, isn't it a bit audacious for a pilot to take "Apollo" as his callsign? Does this offend no-one?


2. Boomer's comment concerning Athena ("whoever - or whatever - she was") make me wonder if there isn't a third player in the game, besides the humans and the Cylons. What is the reality behind the myths of the gods? (There's been some speculation on the boards that the "gods" were actually ordinary humans, and that the "humans" of BSG are themselves artificial constructs - which accounts, perhaps, for their trouble in distinguishing humaniform Cylons from humans. I'm inclined to doubt it, but it's an interesting thought.)


3. When Baltar started mocking Six (just before she turned the tables on him), did he remind anyone else of Basil Fawlty? (Six as Sibyl. Brrr.)


4. Boomer #2 still worries me. So far, she's behaving, but I'm not sure I believe her insistence that - since she knows she's a Cylon, unlike Boomer #1 - she can't have any secret programming. A lot depends on whether the other Cylons foresaw her defection. The bit with Tyrol was disturbing, too. (And in front of Helo?)


5. Katee Sackhoff - Starbuck - sure knows how to act with her eyes. Her part of the reunion scene with Adama, though completely wordless, was remarkably expressive.


6. The scene on "Earth" (VR, perhaps?) irritated me. Sorry, folks, there's no place on Earth where you can see all twelve Zodiac constellations at once.

It's been a wild ride so far; I have no idea where they're going next.

Comments

[sraun]

Are the Signs of the Zodiac not visible from either of the rotational poles?

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Mm. I'm inclined to doubt it. My references say that the Zodiac extends about nine degrees either side of the ecliptic. With the Earth's axial tilt at about 23 degrees, that should put at least a few of the signs well below the horizon even from the poles. Even those which were visible wouldn't (I think) be more than 32 degrees up.

In any case, the place where they appeared to be standing was grassy, and the constellations were all high in the sky.

[pompe.livejournal.com]

Maybe you'd have to shift the axial orientation of Earth as the zodiac is inclined to the celestial equator. Might happen in the distant future, I guess, so you could see parts of all signs at once.

But even then, yes, the entire signs would not be visible even in polar midwinter darkness and getting all of them high into the sky is patently impossible. Don't sci-fi show authors ever have hobby astronomers to reference?

On the other hand, "VR" could of course be selectively alternate...

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

On second thought, it might be possible to see the twelve, all low on the horizon, from points on the Arctic or Antarctic circles (at the right time of year, of course). Still no grass, though.

[pompe.livejournal.com]

Plateaus in the Scandinavian mountains can be rather grassy at the polar circle and even beyond. However, in the season where they are grassy the sun generally doesn't set enough to make one being able to see constellations at the horizon. Late August-September, maybe.

But with some global warming, I suspect we can make that change.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

The third player in the original BSG were the folks in the Ship of Lights that showed up occasionally to give enigmatic messages. But they always seemed to help with threats that had nothing to do with the Cylons (Count Iblis forex).

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

since she knows she's a Cylon, unlike Boomer #1 - she can't have any secret programming

Why not? Do we have any evidence that Cylons can't have hidden subroutines even from themselves? What if all Boomer models come with a built in "fall in love with humans" matrix?

Love, love, love this show...

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Why not?

That's what I said. Boomer #2 has made that claim, and I doubt it.

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

Sorry. I misunderstood.