How writers watch TV
Me, while watching “Battlestar Galactica” tonight:
“Hm. They’re giving this character a lot of play. Why? She’s got nothing to do with anything going on with this show any more. Why is she even in this scene? Here she is again. I guess she dies tonight.”
Five to ten minutes later:
“No wonder my kids think I’m psychic.”
January 17th, 2009 at 4:57 am
I remember when you pulled the psychic bit with me way back in 1978 after I saw “The Eyes of Laura Mars”. I was impressed then, and actually led me to a more critical eye when it came to films.
Back to BSG, I did see her death coming, but more on an emotional level than a count of scenes. I’ve heard that once suicide victims make their decision that they are somewhat relieved and it actually makes them seem happier.
Anyway, how were your psychic abilities with the other revelations? Kara and the final Cylon? I kind of saw it coming with Kara, but thought that the final Cylon was out of left field.
January 17th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Just goes to show ya, “never play against kids, dogs or people who are going to die.”
…paraphrase of WC Fields.
January 26th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Re Tim’s comments and questions:
1978. Ah yes, the halcyon days. Back in the era when I saw the Frampton/Bee Gee’s movie “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” THREE times I loved it so much; I’ve carefully avoided it ever since so as not to besmirch the memory.
I remember the “Eyes of Laura Mars” incident too. Luckily, here’s something one of my college professors taught me: “Suspense is cheap.” So even if I see every turn of a play/movie/tv show/novel coming, that’s okay — so long as there are rewards. And I think therein lies the difference between, say, “Anna Karenina” and “The Road” on one hand, and the Brad Meltzer books on the other.
Re the Kara Thrace question, yes it was clear to me that “she’d already crashed” there. The final Cylon feels like a cheat; the writers had been misleading us for quite a while into thinking it was a major character — although to me it was never going to be Adama (because it was already Tigh), they wanted us to think he was a candidate, as well as Roslyn and Starbuck. To choose the one they did makes it seem as though they painted themselves into a corner, because this is heretofore not an important character. But I’m open to the possibilities, and I am enjoying the show. (Although glad it’s wrapping up.)
January 27th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I was surprised to see that Helen was the fifth Cylon. The writer/producers had me thinking it would be a main person in the show. I am not sure how they are going to resolve the fact that she’s dead.
I was wondering why the writes had brought Dee back as a focus for the show. She had been put into the background for awhile. Then when she killed herself I realized that she was a metaphor for the sense of disappointment most people of the fleet felt at finding Earth a nuked wasteland.
Kara’s finding herself dead was not too much a surprise. I had been thinking that she had died and was a Cylon. That conclusion was voided when Helen was revealed. How Kara came back seems to be the subject of the next episode.
One question that has not been answered is how did the reincarnated Kara get pictures from her Viper showing Earth as a green planet when it was nuked 2000 years before?