This weekend saw the release of a new mobile app, Battlestar Galactica: Squadrons, which returns gamers to the 12 Colonies as they assemble their fleet and fulfill their dreams of becoming Commander of the Air Group (that’s pronounced CAG). While the game itself is a fairly standard card based battle game that relies heavily on nostalgia for continuous enjoyment, it did offer a nice excuse (as if one was actually needed) to go back and rev isit the entire BSG series.
On the surface, Battlestar Galactica is a fun—yet gritty—space opera filled with epic space dogfights in the ultimate clash between humans and Cylons (robots for those of you that haven’t seen the series). At the show’s core, however, we are taken deeper, much deeper, as the show begs us to ask the question, “When all the familiarities of humanity are stripped away, what is it that makes us human”? The show takes a hard look at all facets of politics, war, organized religion, racism, classism, and morality that make it one of the most relevant shows for our society ever made. Like any show, it has its ups and downs, (I still cringe every time I watch Episode 2.14 “Black Market”) but for every “What the frak???” [puzzled] moment there are 10 moments of “WHAT THE FRAK!!!!!!!!” [excited].
Here are our 10 WHAT THE FRAK!!!!! moments from the show. (Spoilers..obviously)
10) The Red Line
Maybe not Adama’s most moving speech, but the one that always gets me in the feels. Every. Fraking. Time. Suicide mission to go rescue a little girl even though she’s different from you? Make your choice.
9) Gaeta’s Lament
Felix Gaeta has arguably the most tragic story lines in all of BSG. Hearing him sing his lament is one of the most beautifully haunting pieces ever sung on television.
8) Earth
We did guys! We finally found Earth, the 13th tribe, our new home…oh Frak. Looks like humans done nuked ourselves into oblivion.
7) Adama vs Cain
The arrival of another Battlestar is reason enough to celebrate, more weapons to fight the Cylons! Chaos escalates quickly as opposing ideologies drive a massive wedge between these two alpha-dogs. The victory celebration post destruction of the Resurrection Hub where each has ordered the assassination of the other, is still one of the most tense moments of television history.
6) 33
Cylons show up every 33 minutes—like clockwork. When humanity is pushed to the brink of destruction and the only thing you have left in the tank is the will to survive, how much of your morality will you sacrifice to insure that survival? RIP Olympic Carrier.
5) The Trial of Gaius Baltar
I’m just going let Lee Adama’s speech speak for itself.
“What would you have done? If he had refused to surrender, the Cylons would have probably nuked the planet right then and there. So did he appear to cooperate with the Cylons? Sure. So did hundreds of others. What’s the difference between him and them? The President issued a blanket pardon. They were all forgiven, no questions asked. Colonel Tigh. Colonel Tigh used suicide bombers, killed dozens of people. Forgiven. Lieutenant Agathon and Chief Tyrol. They murdered an officer on the Pegasus. Forgiven. The Admiral. The Admiral instigated a military coup d’état against the President. Forgiven. And me? Well, where do I begin? I shot down a civilian passenger ship, the Olympic Carrier. Over a thousand people on board. Forgiven. I raised my weapon to a superior officer, committed an act of mutiny. Forgiven. And then on the very day when Baltar surrendered to those Cylons, I as commander of Pegasus jumped away. I left everybody on that planet, alone, undefended, for months. I even tried to persuade the Admiral never to return, to abandon you all there for good. If I’d had my way nobody would have made it off that planet. I’m the coward. I’m the traitor. I’m forgiven. I’d say we are very forgiving of mistakes. We make our own laws now; our own justice. And we’ve been pretty creative in finding ways to let people off the hook for everything from theft to murder. And we’ve had to be, because… because we’re not a civilization anymore. We are a gang, and we are on the run, and we have to fight to survive. We have to break rules. We have to bend laws. We have to improvise. But not this time, no. Not this time. Not for Gaius Baltar. No, you… you have to die, because, well, because we don’t like you very much. Because you’re arrogant. Because you’re weak. Because you’re a coward, and we, the mob, want to throw you out of the airlock, because you didn’t stand up to the Cylons and get yourself killed in the process. That’s justice now. You should have been killed back on New Caprica, but since you had the temerity to live, we’re going to execute you now. That’s justice. This case… this case is built on emotion, on anger, bitterness, vengeance. But most of all, it is built on shame. It’s about the shame of what we did to ourselves back on that planet. It’s about the guilt of those of us who ran away. Who ran away. And we’re trying to dump all that guilt and all that shame on one man and then flush him out the airlock, and hope that just gets rid of it all. So that we could live with ourselves. But that won’t work. That won’t work. That’s not justice; not to me. Not to me.”
4) All Along the Watchtower
The reveal of 4 of the Final Five Cylons at the end of Season 3 as they recite Bob Dylan lyrics is still my favorite season finale cliffhanger of all time.
3) A Good Lighter
In a show filled with dark intensity, Commander Adama passing along his father’s lighter to Lee is a touching moment at the heart of this relationship between father and son. Plus, Bear McCreary’s score here is completely on point.
2) New Caprica
This entire story arc is my personal favorite, I could write an entire article based on my Top 10 moments from these episodes alone. However, one of the underrated moments happens to be my favorite quote from Saul Tigh, “Which side are we on? We’re on the side of the demons, Chief. We’re evil men in the gardens of paradise, sent by the forces of death to spread devastation and destruction wherever we go.”
1) So Say We All
The Colonies have been destroyed. Everything looks bleak. Here Adama singlehandedly brings life and hope back to the crew with a mantra that reminds us of that hope every time things look darkest in the series.
No matter how bad things get, there’s always a hope to hold onto. So Say We All.
So Say We All.
Matt Goodman
via The Nerd Machine
http://www.nerdhq.com/battlestar-galactica-revisted-our-top-10-moments/
No comments:
Post a Comment