Before The Fall

This is going to seem like a completely out of left field opening comment, but I am going to throw it out there anyway. I've been reading "And the Band Played On...", a book about the first few years of the AIDS crisis in America (what can I say? When life gets me bummed, I like to get even more bummed), that divides the crisis into two parts, the before and the after. The before and the after are at different points for different people in the book. That one defining moment in time and space where your life divides and you become completely different people, out of necessity, out of the need to survive. Sometimes, you forget how life was in the before, the person you were because that dividing line feels like a chasm and there is no going back.

As cliche as this sounds, 9/11 was the event for me. Being in downtown Manhattan and going through everything I went through, feeling, actually feeling, those towers collapse, the Earth shaking under my feet, that thick powder that was once the World Trade Center rushing towards my office window, and knowing that I just felt thousands of people die is that dividing line for me. There is no going back to the before. That place doesn't exist anymore and there is only forward, only living in the after. The before is sometimes a hard concept to grasp.

I love these BSG characters so much, the versions we know, the versions made by surviving the destruction of humanity, the people they have become living in the after ... that I forget there was a before. These people were just ... people ... before.


Adama
He has to restart his life as a civilan. With Galactica being turned into a floating museum, he is at a new beginning. It makes me wonder what kind of jobs he would be looking for. I don't see Adama as being anything but the commander of a ship. I've never given much thought to what his life would have been like as a retired commander.

Gaius/Six
Oh, Baltar. Sucking face with a woman. Just the way god intended. As CapricaSix said last week, he is still the same person he was before the fall, which is fairly amazing if you think about it. Caprica witnesses Baltar and his father go at it. Baltar, forever the little boy trying to outrun his roots, is ashamed of everything this man, his father, represents. I love that Caprica just sits back and watches the two Baltar men interact, sizing both of them up and getting their number immediately. Caprica figures out here that the way to get to Baltar is through his vanity.

Roslin
Her pretty sisters. Her family. I don't think I've ever witness Roslin this happy and warm. She is free of that burden she has always carried, ever since we met her in the miniseries. It was refreshing to see this side of her, even if only for a moment. I think Roslin would have made an awesome big sister.

Lee/Kara
I always imagined their first face-to-face meeting happening a little bit different. I always they met as Starbuck and Apollo, two viper jocks who both loved Zak, but here, they look so young and so human. The Adama boys are certainly a pair.

All Alone...



Roslin
Roslin had her own personal end of days. In the series bible, Roslin was the youngest sister and lost her two sisters and father early in life. They decided to change it and made Roslin the older sister, losing her two baby sisters later in life. I think this is the more tragic of the two scenarios. Like any older sister, she helpd raise these two girls. She watched them grow into young women, each with their own happy lives and that was taken away in one tragic accident. Her mother was probably dead by this point. Laura Roslin was all alone.

Gaius/Six
I am not quite sure how to read this scene and either take is valid. Caprica Six found a home for Gaius father because a) she saw a problem and had a flash of compassion b)this move helped build a measure of trust and a bond between her and Baltar and further the cylon plot to gain access to his weapon codes. I think it is a little of both. Either way, Gaius sends his family, his ties to a past he was deeply ashamed of, away .. once and for all. Gaius Baltar is all alone.

The Loss



This show has always been about the measurement of loss and the loss we are willing to live with. Blowing up the Olympic Carrier so that the rest of the fleet is safe, going to war with Cain to protect the fleet, New Caprica, Earth ... it has all been measured in loss, but it is loss they could live with for the alternative was not an option. But is there a line in the sand? A line that divides between loss that you can live with and loss that you can't? When Adama sees Hera's picture, he realizes he has found his line. If it were Lee, Kara, Zak, Laura ... would he be willing to drop it that quickly. Could he live with that picture on the wall? A faded memory that grows dimmer as the years pass. When he tells Kara she is his daughter, there is an acknowledgement that he is ... everyone's father. He is responsible for everyone's life under his care. He is responsible, in a way, for the loss the fleet has been willing to live with, but no more. No further. Plus, as my friend pointed out, if Adama and Tigh could have a kid, it would be Starbuck.

Perfection


Sam
"Making the perfect catch, the perfect step and block. Perfection it's what it's about. It's about those moments when you... when you can feel the perfection of creation: the beauty of physics, the wonder of Mathematics, you know. The elation of action and reaction. And that is the kind of perfection that I want to be connected to."

Roslin
I just appreciate Roslin eating and talking on the phone. Plus, who is the dude she is being set up with on a blind date. His name is familiar.

The Dividing Line



So many things to love about this one sequence:
— We don't actually hear Adama's speech, but here it piecemeal as told by other members of the crew. The Galactica grapevine. The network of people who make this ship work. Who needs firewalls!

— I LOVE COTTLE! I would have loved to have seen Cottle with a weapon, killing cylons with a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

— Baltar can't cross the line. He wants to. This would be his one selfless act, perhaps proving that he has changed. Proving it to Caprica Six. It seems important to him that he convinces her that he is not the same man .. even though .. HE TOTALLY IS .. but that's why I love him. Baltar has always had keen self perservation instincts. That's just how he is wired.

— Roslin joining her man on one last mission. Have to say that ... Roslin is just not looking good. Oh my. Are we actually going to see her die? I don't know if I could really handle that. I really don't. We get a wonderful Starbuck/Roslin moment where Starbuck supports her SpaceMommy. Despite their difference and that whole gun to the face thing, there is love and respect there.

— Everyone on the port side of the ship are pussies! Kidding.

The Plan

The cylon colony is near a black hole. Great! The only parking spot is directly on top of it. Fabulous! They will probably all die by either getting blown the frak up or sucked into that black hole. WONDERFUL.

One last suicide mission .. where the frak do I sign up? Going after Cavil... it's on, bitches. It is so on.

This is the before and soon there will be an after. Who will make it to the after? And how will they be different? There is no going back.