Battlestar Galactica-episode 2: "Water"

Fenster

So what did you all think of it?

RuggieBear

i enjoyed it but i'm finding it a little bit confusing tbh...not really sure of the characters yet i suppose...

ixoy

Well what did YOU think of it Fenster?

Oddly enough, watching this episode I thought it should be called "Water"... I quite liked this - not as tense as last week but there's still the sense of desperation there. The Council where they discussed the lack of water was exactly the sort of gritty bit I liked and wasn't it a nice nod to reality for them to ackownledge the lack of water in the galaxy and that any water they did find would be as likely to be frozen?

Credit definetely goes to Grace Park, playing Boomer. She did a neat little job of having this sort of odd blank look as her Cylon instincts conflicted with her outward human programming. It'll be interesting to see if she turns out to be a defunctive Cylon in the end, torn between her interests.

I enjoyed Bonkers Baltar as well. He seemed more focused in the card game as well (and notice how the cards were either pentagonal or hexagogonal? Nice touch).

Still well pleased with the show. Notice this week's episode was penned by Ronald D. Moore, who did last week's episode. Maybe he's going to provide a strong input throughut the season which, on the evidence so far, is a good thing.

Fenster

Well firstly, I'll say they made a scientific cock-up of Star Trek porportions.

So the water tanks on the Galactia blew open. So the water got vented. So what's to stop them patching up the tank, sending out a few shuttles with a big net and scooping it all the water-ice back up? It would've made more sense if the recycling facilities were targeted, as opposed to the tanks. *shrug*

Other than that, I felt the episode had no real start or ending (so it seemed to me), so it had that middle-of-a-trilogy effect on me. I suppose Bastille Day next week will tie it off.

But on the whole, it was enjoyable. Nowhere near as good as 33, but good nonetheless.

secret_squirrel

Fenster wrote:

So the water tanks on the Galactia blew open. So the water got vented. So what's to stop them patching up the tank, sending out a few shuttles with a big net and scooping it all the water-ice back up?=

Maybe the fact that the water would have formed tiny droplets?

Good ep though - not as tense as 33. Still not sure where the caprica storyline is going....

Fenster

Caprica plot..

As far as I know, both Boomer and Helo make it off of Caprica and make it to the Galactica. They both have some role in the season ending, where they find Kobol.

bus77

It didnt really feel like a complete episode to me. I dunno if it's the writing or if sky are cutting pieces out to make space for ads, but I've been left with the feeling of somthing being missing from these first two episodes.

ixoy

I don't agree bus77 - it's just a style issue. The show uses choppy editing to increase the tension/realistic air. So where you'd have normally slow fixed shots, in something like Trek, BSG is instead employing handheld camera tactics.

There's also the fact that the episodes are, time wise, set close to each other. This took place 3 days after '33'. It's more of an ongoing storyline/struggle. Each episode can stand alone but to get the full effect and pacing I imagine we're meant to be watching all continously - again unlike regular sci-fi.

Nukem

Had to say that not as good as 33 and Baltor is really starting to irriatate me(as a character), not enough action this week. Mulled along slowly hope it gets better in the coming weeks.

Fenster

Probably feels short due to there being so much going on. You really do have a large cast for this Galactica. I like the handheld camera approach. I loved it in Enterprise as it really made you feel like you were there.

David Stewart

I like the fact that they are addressing the issue of resources. This was one thing the original series never addressed in any real sense. Baltar put the whole thing into perspective when he read out the figures for just how much food and water the fleet would need per week. And there were other more subtle references such as Tighe measuring out how much whiskey he had left, or the President referring to the fact that she only had three outfits. (And she's lucky. Most of the people travelling on Colonial One probably didn't bring a change of clothes.) And of course Baltar offering a cigarillo to Starbuck mentioning that it was probably one of the last in the Universe.

Next week sees the first appearance of Richard Hatch (the original Apollo).

Fenster

secret_squirrel wrote:

Maybe the fact that the water would have formed tiny droplets?

Good ep though - not as tense as 33. Still not sure where the caprica storyline is going....

Assuming that they weren't near a star, like they hinted at, the water would've flash frozen once it hit hard vacuum, so you wind up with a big lump of ice.

Vokes

Still well pleased with the show. Notice this week's episode was penned by Ronald D. Moore, who did last week's episode. Maybe he's going to provide a strong input throughut the season which, on the evidence so far, is a good thing.

Ronald D. Moore was a writer/producer on DS9, right??

ixoy

Fenster wrote:

Assuming that they weren't near a star, like they hinted at, the water would've flash frozen once it hit hard vacuum, so you wind up with a big lump of ice.

Would the speed of Galactica had any impact though? It wasn't stationary at the time. Or is the fact there's no atmosphere mean there's no friction (or whatever the term is) to generate the heat to melt the ice?

Asides from that fact, do you agree the show seems to be more scientifically thought out than most sci-fi? I still enjoyed them noting how rare hospitable planets and water sources are.

bus77

ixoy wrote:

I don't agree bus77 - it's just a style issue. The show uses choppy editing to increase the tension/realistic air. So where you'd have normally slow fixed shots, in something like Trek, BSG is instead employing handheld camera tactics.

Yeah, that's probably it, still paranoid about sky cutting bits out though.

Really enjoying the story line in any case. The Cheif and Boomer thing is great, cant wait to see how that pans out.

Fenster wrote:

Caprica plot..

As far as I know, both Boomer and Helo make it off of Caprica and make it to the Galactica. They both have some role in the season ending, where they find Kobol.

I think I know now what the next star child is going to be. And with Boomers asian lineage he's gona be like a little Budda;)

Nukem

ixoy wrote:

Would the speed of Galactica had any impact though? It wasn't stationary at the time. Or is the fact there's no atmosphere mean there's no friction (or whatever the term is) to generate the heat to melt the ice?

Asides from that fact, do you agree the show seems to be more scientifically thought out than most sci-fi? I still enjoyed them noting how rare hospitable planets and water sources are.

Np speed of the ship would have no impact but the pressure difference would.

Consider space a vacuum and anything thats above it pressurized hence the water expelling so fast and because it was expelling so fast it would not freeze although it would after the inital movement.

Not getting into to physics anymore it will mess the show up as fun

David Stewart

Quick physics lesson. The boiling point of water is 373K at standard atmospheric pressure. The lower the pressure, the lower the boiling point. In a vacuum, no matter how cold it gets, and even though space is cold it is still a few K above absolute zero, water will boil. The water ejected from the Galactica's tanks would have transformed into an expanding cloud of vapour. There would have been no way for Galactica to recover the water.

David Stewart

Fenster

David Stewart wrote:

Quick physics lesson. The boiling point of water is 373K at standard atmospheric pressure. The lower the pressure, the lower the boiling point. In a vacuum, no matter how cold it gets, and even though space is cold it is still a few K above absolute zero, water will boil. The water ejected from the Galactica's tanks would have transformed into an expanding cloud of vapour. There would have been no way for Galactica to recover the water.

David Stewart

I bow to your superior geekdom.

Sooner or Later

Not as good as 33 Minutes. That said, I doubt they could keep the tension levels cranked up that high for an entire season. Slower episodes are inevitable.

There was still plenty happening and I enjoyed Boomer's Jekyll/Hyde conflict.

secret_squirrel

Sooner or Later wrote:

There was still plenty happening and I enjoyed Boomer's Jekyll/Hyde conflict.

That didnt ring true for me tbh - possibly the only cylon infiltrator left in the fleet and she was gonna blow herself up to prevent them finding water - rather than biding her time waiting for the next chance for sabotage.

Stark

Credit definetely goes to Grace Park, playing Boomer. She did a neat little job of having this sort of odd blank look as her Cylon instincts conflicted with her outward human programming. It'll be interesting to see if she turns out to be a defunctive Cylon in the end, torn between her interests.

Well it seems obvious so far that Cylons can fall in love, so it's likely her feelings for whatshisface are genuine.

secret_squirrel

Just seen the trailer for ep 3 - looks good from the clips - all about acting as a police force as aluded to in the last ep.

Ivan

I thought "water" was quite excellent, tbh. I just didnt really care enough, in "33" about them blowing up the ship.

No people on board, cause of cylons following them, left behind for long enough for someone to fook with the ship = cut and dry case of "blow the hell out of them".

The decision was a non-conflict in my mind. Its something to be regretted, certainly, but for a military force, not one you should hesitate on.
Good of the many etc.

I really like Baltar tbh. He's a great character. Nice the way he took starbuck down a peg. She annoys me at times. Also, some sexual tension there?

As was said, the boomer character is brilliant and the actress plays the role well.

All in all, great acting from all the cast, nice camera-work and a decent story to boot. This could end up being my favourite Sci-Fi to date.

Excellent, keep it coming.

Fenster

secret_squirrel wrote:

Just seen the trailer for ep 3 - looks good from the clips - all about acting as a police force as aluded to in the last ep.

Is the trailer on Sky, or online also?

Putting "episode 3 trailer" into Google would return hits for another, more well-known sci-fi series.

secret_squirrel

Sky - the second or third break in Stargate SG1.

Fenster

If only I hadn't seen all the Stargate episodes already.

c0y0te

Apologies - I'm a bit late to the thread, been working and catching up on other things (notably Farscape PK:))...

So, what did I think of it.. well as usual here is the good and bad imho:-

The Good:-

Resource Management (gritty realities)
Conflicted Cylon (boomer at the H20 detection piece)
Slow pace but increased tension (more character moments, "fingers" of remaining hooch etc.)
Duty vs Personal Interest (Chief / Boomer / Duty triangle)
Caprica sub-plot (So what exactly are they after from helo?)

The Bad:-

Ep 2 Title (What the hell was "NEW" all about???)
Olympic Champion (in the pocket??)... a bit smooshy and cop-out for my tastes.

The Ugly:-

Chat up lines from pressies assistant to babe on bridge:)

Overall I'd give this ep a 4 out of 5. I'm still interested, still enjoying it and will probably watch it every week till its done, but it didn't have the pace and drive (or beards:)) of ep 1 season opener.

c0y0te

AngryBadger

I hate getting into discussions of where plots are leading, think stories are just meant to be told, but I have to say, if they're going to play Boomer as the Cylon infiltrator, they need to address why she hasn't already let the other Cylons know where the fleet is. I mean, ok, the Olympic Carrier was destroyed because that was being used by the cylons to track the fleet, but why wouldn't Boomer have let the Cylons know where they were already, and we've already seen that she's doing a lot of stuff subconsciously, like not being able to say she'd found water, and turning off the G4 detonator.....

Also, nvery interested to see how they're going to keep the momentum going for the entire series without constant Cylon intervention, loving the survivors in space angle though.

Stark

What's interesting is Boomer having a backstory, she's obviously well trusted by the crew, and apart from the being an orphan thing, has a childhood. So the Cylons have been planning their attack for decades. And since Boomer has been raised by humans, in the military it seems she's taken on their values as a normal human would. So even though physically she's a Cylon, she's human for all intents and purposes other than the subconcious control the Cylons have placed on her. Should be interesting down the line assuming they do it right.

c0y0te

OK - there are some things you need to get straight about the boomer/cylon scenario as follows:-

1) Some cylons look like humans
2) Those that look like humans are varied across 12 models and within those 12, across several "traits"
3) Some are infiltrators / spies etc.
4) Some are warriors

... and here is the key part...

5) Some are 'sleepers', who don't even know they are cylons.

So when considering boomer think on this...

The boomer on the galactica is a sleeper. She doesn't know anything other than the memories she has - but is now beginning to realise that something is 'amiss'.

The boomer on the planet with helo, is the same model but with different programming. That one is an infiltrator, specifically programmed to get info or do something with the helo character - hence the staged escape.


Just thought I'd clear that one up for yez

c0y0te

azezil

Really, where'd you get that from?

But it will be interesting to see if she can continue to resist her programing