Wrong Turn

After three great episodes, I thought Battlestar Galactica was back in the groove, and would hurtle toward the finale. That's why I was so confused that the latest episode, "Deadlock," didn't go in the direction I thought it would.

First, the Baltar subplot. I wasn't sure if it was necessary. There aren't that many hours left--you'd think everything would contribute to the overall arc. But in the end, with Baltar arguing his case to high command, and relating it to the human-Cylon conflict, perhaps it does tie in. Still, I don't get it. Why would anyone, much less Roslin and Adama (and soon after an attempted mutiny) give Baltar, whom they have little reason to trust, and his nutty cult huge weapons? If you need to keep the peace in Dogville so bad, use your own people, or others you know you can work with.

Speaking of which, where did this food problem come from? It must be new since it's causing trouble. If so, shouldn't the Admiral or someone have been on it?

And then there was the reappearance of In-Head Six. So does that mean she's just a manifestation of Baltar's psyche?

But let's get to the main story--the return of Ellen Tigh. What I figured would happen is a sense of wonder and amazement, followed by warm feelings of reunification, followed by further revelation. Anders was only getting started. Ellen now has her memory back, and her faculties. The previous episode was wonderful, as she confronted Cavil, her first "child," and they discussed higher Cylon issues. So when she returns to Galactica, after the shock (which should be considerable) wears off, they should be spellbound by her knowledge and insight.

Instead, in almost no time flat she returns to the petty alcoholic slattern we never liked in the first place. Hey, that was her life when she had false memories. I know she's still the same person inside, but having died, come back, and now knowing more about the past than anyone else alive, you think she'd be a bit different.

Furthermore, and this is a problem I've noted before, the security and management of Galactica is amazingly lax. Roslin and the Adamas have a lot on their minds, but the return of the fifth human/Cylon is pretty significant. While they might allow Ellen to meet with whomever she pleases (then again, they might not--they do immediately arrest Boomer who flew Ellen in), at the very least you figure they'd monitor everything she says and does. In fact, since they've known about the Final Five, they should have kept close tabs on all of them.

Instead, Ellen's given run of the ship, and she meets the rest of the Five, along with 6 and 8 (they're completely free, too), and what do they do? They start plotting, exactly what should have been feared. They try to figure if they should leave the fleet. Since Adama and Roslin now seem to accept (or are at least resigned to the fact) that they're working with the Cylons, this is a pretty big deal--especially since they still have Cylon violence to fear from Cavil et al. I should also add that the Five, whom you'd think might still identify a bit with humans (Tyrol is working heavily to save the ship with Cylon goo), and have heard Anders, the only one who knows anything, say they must remain with the fleet, are amazingly ready to fly the coop. And you figure Ellen, who knows better, would put a quick stop to it, but that's not how it goes.

What did I expect to happen? I don't know the particulars, but it should have been something like this: In a meeting closely monitored--perhaps attended--by Roslin and Adama, Tyrol, Tory and Saul (Anders can't make it--he was conveniently out this episode, till a miraculous recovery at the end so he's ready for next week) should have sat at the knee of Ellen, to hear her wondrous stories. And 6 and 8 should have been more amazed, treating her with awe--not unlike D'anna after her vision.

But instead of dealing with the grand sweep of things, Ellen inserts herself into a tawdry triangle, and even potentially screws up their mission just to mess with Saul and 6. She's even successful in killing 6's baby. (This seems odd, but I don't know enough about the delicate Cylon physiology to say it's wrong.)

PS What follows is for those interested in BG background, and it's all fan speculation.

Here's another version of BG's past, from Hercules at AICN:

Last week’s installment explained a lot.
As I understand it:
The planet Kobol birthed 12 human colonies and a 13th (Cylon) colony called Earth.
At first the Kobol Cylons couldn’t reproduce, so they invented the resurrection machine. Then they discovered how to reproduce and forgot about the resurrection machine.
Saul & Ellen, Galen & Tory and Sam all lived on Cylon Earth re-inventing resurrection technology -- until Cylon Earth was annihilated in a nuclear holocaust.
The five Cylons, resurrected post-catastrophe, traveled for 2,000 years at subluminal speed until they stumbled upon Cylon War I, being fought by the human descendants of Kobol and new Cylons “invented” only a few decades before by a billionaire scientist who looked just like Eric Stoltz.
The five 2,000-year-old humanoid Cylons somehow sat the Stoltz Cylons (which looked like 1978 Cylons) down and told them they’d give the Stoltz Cylons resurrection technology if they called off their war with the humans.
The five also created John Cavil, who was modeled after Ellen’s Cylon dad.
Cavil killed the five, then resurrected them with false memories. He kept the five’s identities secrets from the Leoben, D'Anna, Simon, Doral, Six and Sharon models.
Cavil made Saul Tigh believe he was a veteran of Cylon War I, and that Tigh’s father was a viper pilot and that Tigh’s grandfather was a presidential military advisor.
Cavil made Ellen Tigh believe she was a Picon refugee. He also boned her on New Caprica.
Cavil made Galen Tyrol believe his parents were a priest and an oracle. The first time we met Cavil, he was tormenting Tyrol with the idea of a godless universe, and the idea that Tyrol secretly suspects himself to be a sleeper Cylon.
Cavil made Sam Anders believe he was a Caprican pyramid player. He made Tory Foster believe she was a Caprican expert on political polling.
But wait a minute -- wasn’t the Temple of Five on the Algae Planet constructed 4,000 years ago? 400 years before the members of the 13 colonies fled Kobol?
And who or what has been keeping spare copies of Kara Thrace lying around?

And here's a sinister theory:

The Final Five are Cavil's puppets by BurnHollywood
Feb 20th, 200904:08:10 PM
A few weeks back I reached the mistaken conclusion that the Final Four had regained their memories on Earth and were quietly misleading and sabotaging the humans...wrong. They're more of Cavil's sleepers, same as the Significant Seven, but at a more subtle level. After all, why kill off the Final Five only to bring them back with fake memories?
I'm certain Tyrol has (unaware to himself...maybe he sleepwalks) damaged the Galactica in order to shoehorn Cylon technology onto the command ship itself. Note that Ellen Tigh is also dancing to his tune...anyone else think it was a bit of a "coincidence" that the Number Eight who assisted her escape was introduced by Cavil himself?
Finally, an extremely lengthy discussion attempting to answer a whole bunch of questions:

All your questions answered (except for a few). by Tai_Pan
Feb 20th, 200903:47:28 PM
Boy, you guys can't masturbate fast enough to the "FTL jumped the shark!!!111!!!oneone!!!1!!" comments, can you?
Here's what's going on in BSG. If anyone sees an inaccuracy or illogical assumption, please point it out.
The timeline of BSG is best explained in terms of creation of Cylons. There are 10 types (not referring to model) of Cylons revealed in BSG so far.
#1. Kobol Skinjob Cylons: created over 4,000 years ago by Kobol Humans (who were expelled from Kobol for creating them). The 13th tribe of Kobol. Later settled on Earth to create the second and third types of Cylons. All the Cylons who were expelled are dead.
#2. Earth Centurion Cylons: created by Skinjob Cylons living on Earth (probably NOT created by Ellen, Tigh, Tory, Anders, and Tyrol). It is unknown as to exactly WHEN they were created. All the Earth Centurion Cylons are Dead.
#3. The Final Five: Born *as* Skinjobs on Earth about 2000 years ago; Tigh, Tyrol, Tory, Anders, and Ellen. Resurrected after Earth's destruction. Traveled to Earth and helped Colonial Centurions (#5 type) create Colonial Skinjobs (#8 type Cylons- Cavil, Leoben, D'anna, Doral, Simon, Caprica Six, Daniel, Boomer/Athena). Killed by Cavil, who re-resurrected them, erased their memories and introduced them into the fleet. Of these Five, Ellen died, was re-re-resurected.
#4. Caprica Skinjob Cylons: Created by Daniel Greystone and his daughter Zoe about 50 years ago (Zoe's friend insists that the One True God gave Zoe the knowledge to create life). Created after Earth was destroyed, but before the Final Five arrived on Earth, and before the Colonial Centurions (#5). As far as we know, the only Caprican Cylon is Zoe-R, a replication of Zoe Graystone. As the series hasn't even aired yet, much less finished, there is much left to learn, and it may well be that other Caprican Cylons exist.
#5. Colonial Centurions: Created by Daniel Graystone (and possibly others)about 50 years ago. Not much is known about their origin. These Centurions roughly resembled Earth Centurions (#2), and presumably were the first *Cylons* to worship the One True God (though there were Capricans who worshipped a One True God. Also, Ellen says that belief in the One True God came from Centurions, but she may have been referring to Earth Centurions, or both Earth and Colonial Centurions). These models evolved into the current Centurions, Raiders, and Heavy Raiders most commonly seen in fights with Galactica, Pegasus, and their crews.
#6. THE Hybrid/The Old Hybrid: Origin and date of origin unknown. Likely created by Colonial Centurions, but may be another Daniel Graystone creation. Might be the One True God. Might be Daniel Graystone.
#7. Ship Hybrids: Created by Colonial Centurions after the creation of the Old Hybrid, but before Colonial Skinjobs (#8). Function as the brain of the ships. These cylons speak in jibberish that often proves prophetic.
#8. Colonial Skinjobs: Created about forty years ago by the Final Five for the Colonial Centurions. Cavil, Leoben, D'anna, Doral, Simon, Caprica Six, Daniel, and Boomer/Athena. Colonial Centurions as well as Cavil helped create Colonial Skinjobs, though what degree of influence they had in helping the Final Five in creating this type is uncertain. Of the Colonial Skinjobs, the "Daniel" model is presumably dead and destroyed (though this model might actually be a cylon version of Daniel Graystone, or possibly Starbuck, or Starbuck's father, or Zak Adama).
#9. Human/Colonial Skinjob Hybrid- Hera. Born of Helo (human) and Athena (Colonial Skinjob).
#10. Final Five/Colonial Skinjob Hybrid- Tigh and Caprica Six's unborn child.
Now for answers to questions:
Q: Is Admiral Adama/Lee/Starbuck the dying leader? A: No. None of these candidates 1) are suffering from a wasting disease or 2) saw a vision of serpents. Only Roslin qualifies as the dying leader.
Q: Why did Tigh age? Explanation: There's nothing to indicate that manipulating Tigh's age is impossible or even difficult. This is not a continuity error. At no point has it been said that any of the Cylons DON'T age. Cavil may simply have introduced a re-resurrected Tigh in his 20s-40s. Since the science behind creating Skinjobs has yet tobe explained, we must simply assume that manipulating age is possible.
Q: If they were so advanced, why didn't Earth have FTL technology? A: Why does Japan make better electronics and Finland makes better phones? Again, this is not a continuity error. Some cultures simply do better jobs at creating certain things. It may be that space travel was less important to Earth, who had no neighbors (unlike the 12 colonies, who had to travel through space to see each other). You don't expect superiority in EVERY field of acheivement to be held by a single culture in real life, so why are applying such a standard to the show?
Q: Why are the Colonial Centurions following Colonial Skinjobs? Remember last season? A six named Natalie, along with the Leobens and Sharons wanted to STOP Cavil from lobotomizing Raiders and inhibiting the thoughts of Centurions. Cavil mysteriously opposed this... NOW we realize that Cavil knew what happened to Earth Cylons and Earth Centurions. Cavil wanted to inhibit Centurions and Raiders because he did not want a repeat of Earth (or the 12 Colonies, for that matter).
Q: Aren't the Final Five actually humans who cloned themselves? A: No. The Final Five were BORN Cylon. Everyone on Earth was a Cylon. Earthlings are the descendants of the Cylons who were expelled from Kobol, also called the 13th tribe. Tigh, Ellen, Tory, Anders, and Tyrol were all BORN on Earth and were thus Cylons BEFORE they died, and were resurrected to look for the other 12 tribes.
Q: Were there any humans on Earth before it was destroyed? A: No. The first humans to set foot on Earth came from Galactica.
Q: Why did Ellen create the Earth Centurion Cylons? A: There is NO evidence to suggest that any of the Final FIve had anything to do with the creation of any Centurions.
Q: What's the deal with the timeline? Did the exodus from Kobol and the destruction of Earth happen at the same time? A: Yes. According to Tyrol's statement on the Algae Planet, the 13th tribe left 1,600-2,000 years BEFORE the other 12 colonies left. Why this happened is unclear. As such, around the time Earth was destroyed, the 12 colonies left Kobol. It may be that the gods, or perhaps the One True God, expelled the humans from Kobol BECAUSE Earth was destroyed. Zeus warned the humans not to return. The goddess Athena also committed suicide at this point in time. Alternately, it may be that the humans left Kobol and then returned, only to be booted out again. Alternately, it may be that returning to Kobol was PART of the Cycle that happens again and again (most recently when the 12 colonies led by Adama and Roslin left to find their new home).
Q: Was Adama's memory changed? Why did he see Tigh 20 years ago if Tigh was a Cylon? A: Adama DID NOT have his memory changed. Cavil introduced the Final FIve gradually. Tigh was reintroduced in a younger before shortly after the end of Cylon War 1 almost 40 years ago.
Q: How did the Final Five survive Earth's holocaust? A: They didn't. They died, and were resurrected on a spaceship were copies of them were waiting. When they awoke in the ship, they left Earth's system for the 12 colonies to warn them of disaster.
Q: Wait a sec. How is it that the Temple of Five/Hopes was created 4,000 years ago when the 13th tribe left 3600 years ago. A: There are 2 answers. First, the 3600 figure is for when the Pythian Prophecy was written, NOT necessarily when the 13th tribe left. It may be the 13th tribe left 4000 years ago, but was not recorded until Pythia 3600 years ago. Second answer: There is no definitive proof that the 13th tribe built the Temple of Five/Hopes.
Q: How did Cavil sneak the FF into society? A: Unknown. Here's some speculation: Cavil may have chosen to give Tigh a background involved with the Brenik BECAUSE there were so few survivors in that battle. Q: How did the 13th Tribe see the other tribes in Constellations. A: Take your pick: 1. It's metaphorical, like telling someone far away that you are both looking at the same sky. 2. The 13th tribe knew where the other tribes would go if they were ever to leave Kobol. Q: Who is Daniel? A: This is unknown, but some things can be said about Daniel. First, the exclusions: Daniel CANNOT be Baltar. Baltar has been told by Head 6 that he is not a Cylon. She may have lied, but even if she did, Baltar is known to Ellen and Anders, neither of whom mentioned Baltar being Daniel when they were questioned. Also, Cavil killed the #7 line out of jealousy, yet he could have killed Baltar immediately following the Caprica invasion when Baltar was a puppet figure (though he did suggest doing so at one point, there was no jealousy evident there, simply a desire to send a message to New Capricans about authority).
So who is Daniel? Ron Moore's Podcast said that Daniel would feature in Caprica. We already know that the Caprican Skinjobs creator (no, not Ellen or the FF. They came later.) is named Daniel Graystone, who took his daughter's technology of creating life (actually creating a perfect copy of a human personality/mind/soul) and applied it to organic bodies (Pre-FF Skinjob Cylons). This guy is most likely Daniel. We know that Ellen, Tigh, Anders, Tory, and Tyrol created Cylon copies of themselves. We know that Daniel Graystone created a copy of his daughter. Thus, it seems entirely plausible that a Cylon version of Daniel Greystone was created as #7, and was killed by Cavil.
Other legitimate possibilities: -Daniel is Starbuck's father. Evidence? Not much. Starbuck's father is an artist, as was Daniel.,p> -Daniel is Starbuck. Possible as Daniel's genetic soup was corrupted by Cavil Evidence? Starbuck is an artist. Starbuck has returned from the dead. Evidence to the contrary: No one knows how the hell Starbuck returned. If Starbuck IS Daniel, then she is probably a pawn of Cavil.
-Daniel is Starbuck AND is Daniel Graystone. If Graystone was #7, it is posible Kara is just a realignment of genes and chromosomes.
-Daniel is Starbuck's father AND Daniel Grasytone. Now it's just getting silly.
-Daniel is Zak Adama. Extremely unlikely. If this is so, then the only explanation is that someone swapped Zak Adama with Daniel at a VERY young age, fooling Admiral Adama and his wife.
-Daniel is simply Daniel. He is not a copy of anyone already mentioned or seen on this show or in the upcoming Caprica series, and is simply a throwaway character created to fill in a plothole/continuity error. Evidence: Ron Moore admits that there was a plot hole in the Cylon numbering. He states that he DID NOT want the show to turn into "who is the 13th Cylon?" Oops. Guess you gave your audience too much credit.
Now the REALLY TOUGH QUESTIONS (that are unanswered.
-Who is the One True God? Is it Daniel Graystone? The Old Hybrid? The jealous lord of kobol? Moreover, were there ever any Lords of Kobol, or are they lies as suggested by the Cylons? Which of the two theologies are correct, or rather which gods/God were malevolent and which were beneficent?
-Who or what is Starbuck? Was she always an oddity, or did it happen after her death? Is her father a Cylon, or perhaps the One True God?
-Who and what are the visions seen by Baltar, Caprica Six, Starbuck, and the Final Five? Are they angels, as suggested by Anders? Are they malevolent devils or Angels?
-Why did the Final Five awaken, and what does the music mean?
-What happened to Daniel Graystone, Zoe-R, and any other Caprica Skinjobs?
-What is the mystery of the Operahouse?
-Why is Hera so Special? Is it simply because she is a half-breed, or is there more to it than that? Why does she feature so heavily in th eoperahouse visions? Is the Tigh/Six baby similarly revered?
-Why did Doral want Lee to board the Galactica?
-Does Zak Adama return from the dead, and if so, how?
-Was "The Plan" to teach the Final Five a lesson in parenting?
-Why is Kara called the harbinger of death and the herald of the Apocalypse who will "lead them all to their end"? Was that a warning that Kara would lead them to the destroyed Earth, or does it mean that Kara's return will literally destroy everyone? Does this prophecy mean that Kara will end the Cycle (for good or for bad)?
-What is "the Promised Land" as foretold by the Old Hybrid, and why is it that he prophecies destruction AND reaching the promised land? Moreover, who or what is the Angel referred to when the Old Hybrid said that they would reach the Promised Land "gathered on the Wings of an Angel"?
My guess is that Starbuck was a diversion sent by some force to stop the fleet from reaching the promised land (not Earth). But who knows?