Your Favorite BSG Episode

Overheal

We'll have a poll when the Series finishes in a few weeks, but for now, lets hear your nominations for your favorite BSG Episode of all time.

For me, its hands down got to be The Hand of God from season 1. It had fantastic action, tension, and just enough drama so it wasnt an overpowering stench that took over the entire episode. It really was the only time in the series where the Vipers are at their best. After this they take a backseat to nukes and Battleships, or, every other combat they get engaged in is just a boring empty-space scrim with a few raiders. Long before the days when the drama got tripped up on itself, Baltar was still talking to an imaginary 6, and there wasnt any political crap. They were the early days after running from the cylons when the fleet was just scraping by just to stay alive.

List of Episodes

Derek Coleman

I'm gonna say Exodus part 1 and 2. I just loved the site of Galactica jumping into New Caprica and falling towards the ground and then jumping out. And Pegasus coming to the rescue was perfect. The music from that scene is amazing.

Look for Storming New Caprica on soundtrack 3.

(Special mention for the Razor film/episode)

Kidchameleon

Derek Coleman wrote:

"I'm gonna say Exodus part 1 and 2"

+1 on that. Those episodes were some of the best sci-fi ive ever seen, i was shouting at the screen for them to suceed, just like a football match. Pure class.

Regards.

Johnny Storm

I liked "Exodus" too. (AFAICR it came after a string of fairly dodgy eps?)
The ep that sticks out in my mind is "33" which was maybe the first ep after the mini-series? Every time the fleet jumps the Cylons track them and arrive 33 minutes after they do. One of the things I really liked about this ep was that it was made clear that things would have consequences and there was going to be no Trek-style reset button in BSG.
The mini-series was also excellent IMHO

bazz26

I don't have only one favourite episode, there are a few of them:

Season 1:- 33, Kobol's Last Gleaming

Season 2:- Pegasus, Resurrection, Lay Down Your Burden

Season 3:- Exodus, The Passage, Crossroads Part 2

Razor

Season 4:- Sometimes A Great Notion

DeVore

I also liked the scene where BSG jumps into New Caprica's gravity well, but 33 is an absolute killer of an episode because you can see the tiredness etched into their faces and it really conveyed the idea that they were on the run from a totally ruthless enemy who wouldnt stop! So thats my favourite episode

But without doubt my favourite "scene" from BSG is the way the writers had the stones to juxtapose the cyclons with the american "liberators" during the Iraq war. That took a lot of stones...

DeV.

DeVore

Oh, and the episode where I totally nailed predicting the resurrection ship destruction from the Hamlet clip on the radio the week before AND managed to write it up here.... Yeah, ummm, for personal reasons that episode rocked. (I spent half the episode throwing things at my BSG-mad flatmate shouting "WHOS YOUR DADDY???WHOOO????")

*ahem*.


DeV.

Stark

Probably "Downloaded". Gave us our first real glimpse into how the other half lived and really moved the plot along.

"Final cut" was also a grower. Didn't like it at first, but on re-watching, Lucy Lawless seriously rocked that episode.

Dr. Baltar

Season 1: The Hand of God

Season 2: Pegasus

Season 3: Exodus

Season 4: Sometimes a Great Notion (So Far)

Overheal

As far a S2 goes pegasus was a great mid season episode, but in terms of greatest episodes, I think I preferred The Captain's Hand. Valley of Darkness was also good, but really belongs right alongside Scattered.

jayok

Don't know the name of the episode, but it was the one where Captain Lee Adama was, seeing the prostitute and working to deal with the underword of drugs, sex and other items for barter.

Wasn't a particularily action packed episode, but I thought it was well written as it allowed the Lee Adama character to realise that the world isn't as perfect as we all might like. Removing the existing Organized Crime Leader and claiming that their function could continue if the inappropriate prostitution, etc, would stop.

I suppose the show has something for everyone.

Anyone know the exact episode I am on about?

Edit found it: Black Market http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Market_(Battlestar_Galactica)

Apparently, it was Ron Moore's biggest disappointments! We'll it has one fan. Reminds a little me of the Star Trek TNG's The Inner Light http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inner_Light_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)

Overheal

Black Market, S2. Aired shortly after the destruction of the Resurrection Ship.

Vokes

Pegasus Extended Cut is hands down the best for me.

Volvagia

33 has always been my favourite but that could all change with the rest of season 4.

I really didn't like Black Market, probably one of the worst episodes.

Overheal

I have to agree, Black Market did nothing for my attention span.

Derek Coleman

I never understood the hatred of Black Market. I liked that episode.

jayok

Derek Coleman wrote: »

I never understood the hatred of Black Market. I liked that episode.

I suppose it wasn't very BSGish. It didn't progress the main story in anyway, and it was just simply a side track to what was really going on. No hardcore action, ship-to-ship stuff. In the middle of season 2 it was probaby a flatline. I liked it - but then again, each to their own.

Looking at Razor, which was another side story, that was well done and plenty of action and breaks in the chain of command. Maybe this is that most BSG fans like?

Stark

The main problem with Black Market for me was that it was far too Lee Adama focused. I really don't like that character.

Much as I hate to move with the crowd, but "33" was the best episode thus far.

I watched it not expecting much, but it got me hooked on the series.

+1 to the hatred of Lee Adama, though.

Overheal

So far for the poll we have

33
Hand of God
Pegasus
Black Market
Exodus
Crossroads
Razor
Sometimes a Great Notion

everything else mentioned is going to need second opinions before theyre put up on the poll later. How many poll options can we have? I think its limited to 10, so we'll keep it at that (or whatever the limit is). Episodes with the most nominations will make the cut.

I'll vouch a bit for Crossroads as well; the last 5 minutes and The Watchtower was just full of epic win.

edit: may decide to put the Miniseries up as well. thoughts?

Johnny Storm

The miniseries is excellent IMHO

noodler

Hmmm Razor.

Pegasus.

Occupation ("I'll see you soon Nora...")

Lay Down Your Burdens PT1-I mean the opening 10 minutes before the title kicks in with "Something Dark Is Coming" playing in the background, arguably my favourite ever ten minutes of BSG.

The Passage deserves a mention for the outstanding way they dealt with Kat's death.

The Oak looks like it may well be up there too.

DirkVoodoo

Yeah, a lot of the two parters are in there: Resurrection Hub, Exodus, etc.

The miniseries, purely because when I watched it on sky movies I was expecting a "reimagining" along the lines of what we got in the Knight Rider remake.

"33" Because it set the tone for the series. "Bastille Day" because Richard Hatch showed he could act and Tom Zarek was an intriguing character.

"The Hand of God", "Valley of Darkness", "Fragged" (I liked the survivors on Kobol scenes and the rising insanity of Crashdown), "Scar", "Sacrifice".

Season 3 had some decent stand-alone episodes, but it failed in my view to keep the momentum going after New Caprica, at least until the last few episodes. Having said that, I did like "Unfinished Business" for the way it dealt with the residual bitterness among members of the crew.

I won't pick any from season 4 until I watch it in its entirety.

Rascal77

All of em!:D

I think the episodes are better now that the storyline / arc is more prevalent, some of the earlier episodes, while ok, suffered a little from having a "villain of the week" feel about them.

spooydermot

Derek Coleman wrote: »

I'm gonna say Exodus part 1 and 2. I just loved the site of Galactica jumping into New Caprica and falling towards the ground and then jumping out.

Without a doubt one of my all time favourite BSG moments!

Exodus and 33 get my vote too, 33 because as has been mentioned before we really see the toll that the chase has taken on the crew and it sets up the series nicely

degrassinoel

Exodus part 2,

specificlly when galactica is disasterously outnumbered and taking heavy fire, the camera pans away in a classic "this is it" finale, to the guns of the pegasus blazing into a cylon ship, father is rescued by son.

probably the greatest tv ever.

Dr. Baltar

Worst Episode Ever: Season 3's Unfinished Business.
What the frack were they thinking?

Slutmonkey57b

Really? I thought that episode was a great one - back to the system of fleshing out the lives of lots of characters instead of just the main few. Provided explanations and motivations for a lot of the "missing months" on New Caprica and showed the complexity of a lot of relationships.

DeVore

I liked Black Market for a couple of reasons but mainly because of the end of the bad guy. I've always always wanted to see the "good guy" do something like that. The baddie goes "you wont shoot me because you have your principles etc etc" and the goodie thinks about it and says something cheesey like "you're right, but you'll rot in jail. I'm arresting you, you have the right to blah blah blah".
I always wanted one, just one to shoot them and go "wrong. anyone else?"

It was one of pieces of writing that made me think the writers were serious about shaking things up and not taking the easy route.

I'm concocting a piece about Lee and his situation but I'll start another thread.

DeV.

Stark

Reminds me of that moment in Serenity:

"I'm not threatening you; I'm unarmed".
"Good!" (fires pistol)

bazz26

Sir Baralot wrote: »

Worst Episode Ever: Season 3's Unfinished Business.
What the frack were they thinking?

+1 pointless filler episode. Though this season's "The Disquiet that follows My Soul" runs it a close second.

robby^5

I suppose it'd be 33 for me, but that said I don't judge the show based on individual episodes, more as one complete story or each story arc which each have their high points and low points.

Pepe LeFrits

I thought Unfinished Business was a great little episode. The Disquiet that follows My Soul was cack alright though.

There are too many good episodes for me to nominate just one really. The likes of 33, Pegasus, Exodus etc are all terrific. Beyond those though; -

From season 1 Hand of God is pretty outstanding and I've watched it many times. It's a bit Star Warsy but the stuff between the Adama and Lee and Adama and Kara really makes the episode. On that tack, I think Act of Contrition is also an outstanding episode. However I think my personal favourite from S1 is Flesh and Bone. I could watch the Leoben/Kara stuff again and again.

Haven't seen it here yet but Flight of the Phoenix merits a mention from season 2, as well as Lay Down Your Burdens (1 & 2).

Collaborators is the best non-two part episode from season 3.

DirkVoodoo

I don't think any of BSG suffers from "filler" episodes. There may be episodes that are less exciting than others, or don't have as many pivotal action moments or mind-blowing revelations, but important story developments are there.

In unfinished business we saw the promise of New Caprica before the Cylons arrived and more importantly we saw some pretty major details in the Apollo-Starbuck relationship. I think they needed an episode to explain why some relationships and attitudes had changed since New Caprica, and watching season 3 again it was quite an enjoyable episode. I think at the time I may have thought "Oh, that was it?"

Also agree with Black Market being a good episode. I don't think Jamie Bamber is the best actor out there (watching the mini-series again he looks distinctly green) so maybe he wasn't able to carry this episode all on his own. I'm also not convinced that he strikes me as the kind of guy who would run away from a relationship because of a baby, he seems a little stronger than that. But I suppose it was just there to explain why he felt such a strong duty to the girl he was with on cloud 9.

I'm also a fan of the glimpses of life in the fleet that we occasionally get to see (like "dirty hands"). It's basically a 3rd world, people are desperate and there are always going to be greedy crooks looking to build an empire on the backs of people's misery. I liked the final scene also, hinting that maybe Tom Zarek is more involved in the black market than we were led to believe, and maybe even manipulated Apollo to tighten his grip on it.

EDIT: Also gotta love those bag pipes in hand of god!

Volvagia

From what I remember Scar was a bit of a filler episode.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It was a decent episode but didn't move the season arc along that much. I'm just saying there is at least some element of filler in BSG.

Stark

The latter half of Season 3 was mostly filler I thought. Felt like they were faffing about waiting to seeing how long they'd have to stretch out the finding Earth plot for and only got back on track when the news came that Season 4 would be the last.

Caliden

For me it has to be Exodus: Part 2. The scene where Gallactica plummeted to the ground while vipers were launched and then jumped just before the ground was unreal.

Dr. Baltar

The Woman King was a filler episode.

sadista

Season 3 finale was awesome, when Kara comes back and Bear Mcrearys version of all along the watchtower is playing in the background. That was frackin awesome!

TerrorFirmer

No one episode particularly stands out, more a few select few. Valley of Darkness was pretty damn cool, when the Cylons boarding party...well, got aboard.

jasonbourme.cs

few of my personal favourite eps

Season 1, Episode 1: 33
Season 1, Episode 10: The Hand of God
Season 3, Episode 4: Exodus: Part 2
Season 3, Episode 9: Unfinished Business
Season 3, Episode 17: Maelstrom

noodler

jasonbourme.cs wrote: »

few of my personal favourite eps

Season 1, Episode 1: 33
Season 1, Episode 10: The Hand of God
Season 3, Episode 4: Exodus: Part 2
Season 3, Episode 9: Unfinished Business
Season 3, Episode 17: Maelstrom

Funny, most of my favs are in Season 2!