BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Sometimes a Great Notion – The Final Cylon Revealed
January 17, 2009 by Kath Skerry
That fizzing sound you hear might be the sound of my brain trying to figure just what happened during last night’s season premiere of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. So much to take in, and for me, so many more questions.
If you haven’t seen last night’s episode, I’d stop reading right about now because we are going to be talking about some big time stuff. Go watch and come back later to chat. (The entire episode including full commentary with Ron Moore is available on SciFi.com’s Sci Fi Rewind. After I post this I’m going to watch the ep with the commentary and probably find out just how off base I am about my take on the episode).
As for those of you who have seen it, can we please discuss what the frak happened?
The Holocaust that obliterated Earth over 2,000 years ago completely wiped out the human race that inhabited Earth. But hold the phone. Last night it was revealed that the founders of the 13th colony weren’t human, but rather Cylon. Say what?!
There were a lot of jaw dropping moment last night, but this reveal was the one that I am the most intrigued by. Bear with me, because I don’t know if I have it straight in my mind so explaining my comprehension is going to be a bit messy. Ok so the Cylons discovered Earth. We know from Tyrol’s flashback that he once lived on Earth. But who were all the other people that lived with Tyrol on Earth? They certainly didn’t look like the other 12 Cylon models. So did the Cylon’s bring humans with them and together they reproduced? That seems a little strange as Cylons have long thought that humans were innately flawed and they should be destroyed. Why would the Cylons be interested in furthering the race even in hybrid form? Perhaps (and this is the theory I’m going with this week) there are more than 12 Cylon models.
The existence of more than 12 models could explain one of the other night’s big WTF moment – Kara discovering her crashed Viper and body on Earth. If Kara crashed on Earth then who is she? Or who was it? Is Kara a Cylon? Hello mind frak.
Could it be possible that NO humans exist? Are they perhaps ALL Cylons? Is that even a possibility given the lore of BSG? I am by no means a scholar on this show so it might not even be feasible based on information we’ve been given in the past. Hey, you’re lucky that I can keep any of this straight. So please enlighten me. But can you imagine the ramifications of the realization that the humans are exactly the same at the Cylons they have been fighting all this time? I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but can you imagine?
As for Kara burying “herself”…yeah, that’s not going to end well. Someone is going to find that and bring forth a whole bevy of questions that Kara just doesn’t have answers to.
Another huge moment in an overall depressing episode was the death of Dee. Poor cute, innocent Dualla. I didn’t see that coming. I knew she was going to have a huge part in the episode. (Whenever a particular character, especially not a major character, is the focus of the “previously on…” then you know something big is going down with them). The focus on Dee in the first half of the episode had me wondering if she was the 5th Cylon. Especially when she found the jax on the beach. I thought perhaps she was having some kind of memory about her former life or something of that sort. Even thought I had my suspicions, I didn’t truly buy that Dee was a skin job because I knew the directors would never be so obvious about it.
It took me some time to really understand why Dee killed herself. Of course I still don’t know for sure, but I surmise that is was the devastation of finding a barren Earth that was the final straw for her. All her hope was pinned on finding Earth and beginning again, and when that was no longer a possibility she gave into the despair that most aboard Galactica were feeling. In hindsight it was as if by reconnecting with Apollo, Dee was trying to have her final moments be filled with joy. She knew her end was near and she wanted to spend them with the man she loved. But again, with the humming and smiling, I thought for sure she was going to start singing “All Along the Watchtower” and then be revealed as a Cylon. I’m glad it wasn’t so. Rest in Peace Anastasia Dualla.
And it must be said. Does Dee’s finality once again open the door for Lee and Kara? Here’s to hoping.
So as for the final Cylon, well I really didn’t see that coming. Ellen wasn’t even on my short list. It makes sense and actually fits in very well when you think about it. The D’Anna model did say something about the final Cylon not being with the Fleet or something like that, right (I’ve been on a massive BSG brush up the past two days and I’m not sure I’m getting this all right).
At first I was a little bummed out. I wanted the final Cylon to play a big role this season. I wanted to see the mental and emotional repercussions of someone else finding out that they were Cylon. At first I was underwhelmed, but the more I stewed on it, the more intriguing I found the information to be. Ellen as a Cylon lends even more complexity and layers to her relationship with Tigh. Tight killed Ellen for collaborating with the Cylons only to find out that he was a Cylon, and now he knows that Ellen was a Cylon too. Once again with the total mind frak.
But here’s what got me from being a bit blase about the 12th Cylon reveal to really excited. Ellen was killed on New Caprica, but the Resurrection Ship had not yet been destroyed. So wouldn’t it be logical to assume that another Ellen is out there? Perhaps the latest version of Ellen is with Cavil? I’m thinking she is going to be reunited with Tigh at some point soon. And if Ellen is siding with Cavil, and he and his crew are against the new Cylon/Human alliance, then will Tigh once again be forced to eliminate his wife for the sake of the greater good? Ok, ok, I am getting way too far ahead of myself. But it certainly could be interesting, right?
As for Bill and Laura – my heart breaks for them. They wanted nothing more than to do right by their people and lead them to the new life they have been promising. Their despair was palpable and I wanted them to realize that they needed to find solace in each other rather than the pain…and the bottle. As Bill did at the end, I am sure that Laura too will rise and lead. Those living upon Galactica don’t need Earth, they need something to aspire to.
So that’s that. Overall a very dark and depressing episode. Last night was a pretty major episode filled with show altering revelations. Despite all that happened, I felt the show was dragging a tad bit. But that might have more to due with the subdued tone of the episode rather than the pacing. As with every BSG episode, this one needs a rewatch from me as I’m sure there are things that I missed.
After all this BSG babbling I really hope that some of you GMMR readers are into this show and have something to say about it. Did you think Ellen would be the final Cylon? What do you make of Kara I and Kara II on Earth? So much to discuss. The floor is yours.
But one more thing before we get to the comments. From me to you with love…
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The long layoff may hurt but frankly this episode was pretty underwhelming for me. More anguish, more drinking, more guns to the head blah, blah, blah. Haven’t we seen enough of this already?
The reveal of the final Cylon was also a letdown. A character that I never cared for. She’s the final Cylon? OK. I guess. I’m less interested in who the final 5 were and more why they were Cylons. And this reaching back 2000 years stuff is not floating my boat too much right now.
Still, given the show’s track record, I’m confident things will pick up.
I liked the episode but I thought Ellen as the final cylon was sort of predictable and a let down. Of course it does leave us with this delicious mystery about what the hell is going on with Starbuck. I can’t wait to see where they take it with the final nine episodes!
I’m thinking too that there must be other models out there too, and possible another Resurrection ship. Since how wouldn’t the cylons know about the final 5 unless they resurrected on a different ship?
Also think back to Tigh having visions of Ellen when he was with Six. Hmm. Kind of makes more sense now. I’ll have to go back and watch those interactions. But wouldn’t D’anna know that Tight killed Ellen? She knew she wasn’t with the fleet, she knows she’s the last cylon. She must be wondering where Ellen resurrected to. I sure am.
Looking forward to seeing where this is going.
I only just started S2 and couldn’t resist the spoilers. That’s me. But now I am even more confused and excited to watch everything I haven’t seen yet!
This episode KILLED me. It was so heavy, and dark and complex. But what BSG episode isn’t. I think this episode struggled in the editing. There were too many scenes to hit into an hour episode (they even cut the opening credits and the episode ran 3 min over). After sleeping on the episode I really feel more strongly for it now than I did last night. Also, maybe it’ll take watching the series through the finale before we’re able to really get a grasp on “Sometimes A Great Notion”.
I need to watch it again but I LOVED last night’s episode. So I’ve never put too much thought into trying to figure it all out but now I do have a bit of a theory. If The 13th colony left Kobol, and they were cylons, then at one time humans and cylons lived together. So they could have procreated and made hybrids and what they think of as the human race could really be the cylon-human race. Every one’s got a little cylon in ’em. So the colonies create their cylons, big cylon war ensues, then those cylons leave and find the seven models in space somewhere. Maybe they were originally from Earth and off the planet when it went nuclear. Have I lost you? So we know the final five are special, maybe they don’t download when the die but are reincarnated? What did Saul say to Ellen in his flash about a plan and they’d be together again? As for Starbuck…we don’t know her dad but we know her mom was in the military. Maybe Saul Tigh is her dad and that has something to do with her ability to die and be reborn? I wasn’t crazy about Ellen being the final cylon but whatever. There was so much goodness in that ep, they’re forgiven. So far much, much better than the first half of season 4.
Like every BSG episode it leaves you with questions. I loved that Kara found her body and how she even freaked out Leoben! Ellen as the Cylon…bleh, I wished it was someone I cared about. But I will trust the powers that be and stick with them until the end! Dualla, they had me going thought she was a Cylon then bang she’s gone! Still a compelling episode.
I’m on board for the ride though, will miss this show when gone!
I think we need to get Dwight to explain every thing we don’t understand!
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