Review of Battlestar Galactica Season Premiere

Mark Newgent -- another BSG freak like myself -- asked my thoughts on the season premiere for Battlestar Galactica.  I thought my analysis might be entertaining for other fans of the show, so I am republishing it here below the fold.

Note:  if you have never watched the show, none of this will probably make sense to you.

I was pleasantly surprised.  Moore has never scrimped in the special effects... unlike Babylon 5, which used models early on, and only moved to CGI later on.  I thought it was a good start.

The fact that the fleet didn't incur GREATER damage was surprising.  The role of the "4" known extra Cylons is interesting:  unlike Boomer, their discovery didn't uncover some hidden programming.  In fact, the exact opposite seems to be the case (their presence seems to save the fleet).

I'd like to know why the initial jump into the nebula space caused the power failure; did the same thing happen to the Cylon fleet?  Was it some sort of EMP?  Was it the nebula, or the Cylons?  And what was the "near faint" that Roslin had right after the jump?

It's interesting that the "7" are programmed not to think about the "5"... but the "3s" got boxed for doing just that (was their programming faulty?)  Better yet, why aren't the raiders, who seem to be an entirely different model unto themselves (not pure machines like Centurions, not "humans" like the "7") programmed to ignore them?  Does the "hybrid" -- who is tied into to both the base stars and the raiders -- have a clearer picture?

From a numerology perspective (and I am not into numerology in general, just as an exercise in fiction):

1.  There are 12 colonies we know of.
2.  There are 12 Cylon models we know of.
3.  There is a 13th colony, that is rumored to have gone to Earth.
4.  Why isn't there a 13th Cylon model?

I hope they explain how they knew the 13th colony actually made it to earth... did anyone ever come back?  And why Earth?
I thought Apollo's decision to join the government was weak from a writing perspective. They go there a little quick.  If there is a position the "government" has been talking to him about, wouldn't have Laura Roslin mentioned it to Adama?  After all, she's staying with him in his quarters.  The "government" isn't that big.  Seems like it would be a big thing to be recruiting the former Commander of the Pegasus, former Galactica CAG, for military advisor to the President, former mutineer, and son of the Admiral.  I don't think Roslin would be out of the loop on that, do you?

The conversation between Adama and Apollo WAS interesting... especially the part about "what if my brother showed up and was a Cylon, and had been all this time?"  It seems to me that they are setting up that the "4" will be revealed to the fleet sooner rather than later, and everyone will have to confront that.  Especially given Starbuck's comment that she would shoot Anders between the eyes if he turned out to be a Cylon.

I wonder if the 12th Cylon will be Tom Zarak.  Moore has stated that it isn't one of the major characters --- Adama, Roslin, Starbuck, Cottell, Apollo, Baltar, or Gaeta.  But I doubt it is one of the knuckle draggers, or some unknown in the fleet.  The irony of it being Zarak -- that the "7" were prepared to execute him -- would be VERY COMPELLING.

I was VERY surprised that the issues surround "Razor"-- that Adama had uncovered the earliest attempts to create a Cylon/Human hybrid over 40 years ago -- haven't made it in the story yet.  And in the episode "Hero", they went to great lengths to show that Adama actually started the war on the Valkyrie with the treaty violation... but that hasn't shown up (I would have thought one of the "7" would have mentioned it).

It was good to see Gaius Baltar as a womanizer again. He's like the Bill Clinton of BSG. What is surprising to me, though, is that how come this is the first time we have heard of this cult who only believes in the "One True God".  Whatever happened to the "Cylon Peace Movement" sympathizers that "Pegasus 6" was part of (until she blew up Cloud Nine in Season 2.5)?