Episode eight ("Flesh and Bone") was full of fun psychological twists. In particular, I enjoyed the way they kept
switching sides on everybody! First Starbuck is good and Leoben is bad, but by the 3/4 point of the episode, Leoben is a religious martyr and Starbuck is the oppressor. Then Roslin appears as the savior, Leoben provides information at last... and BLAMMO, another flip! Very fun. First Roslin seems critical of Starbuck's methods on moral grounds, but later we find out that her objection was more about the lack of success, and then Roslin tells Starbuck she "lost her perspective". They certainly kept everyone guessing!
Same thing with Boomer, of course. Valerii (on Caprica) knows she is Cylon but is struggling with her human emotions, while Boomer (on
Galactica) thinks she is human but is struggling with her inner Cylon feelings.
Here are my questions and comments for this episode:
(1) Roslin had a dream sequence that predicted Conoy's appearance within the fleet. How did she see the future? Was Conoy using some form of telepathy to reach her? Is she a Cylon? Or is it possible to see/predict the future in this version of BSG?
(2) Roslin has another brief vision of Conoy during the episode, in which he says he has something to tell her. Again: how? The same three possibilities that I mentioned above spring immediately to mind.
(3) Roslin's dream contains a specific image that occurs in the closing minutes of the episode. This argues for the future-prediction theory rather than telepathy, since even a telepathic Leoben wouldn't know exactly how the whole thing would play out unless he could also see the future.
(4) Finally, Leoben tells Starbuck that the fleet will find Kobol. Those viewers who read the episode titles for the remaining first-season episodes
already know that he's right. Does that mean that the fleet is somehow being
guided to Kobol by Cylon design, or does it mean that Conoy can predict the future and knows they will get there?
(5) Adama predicts that Leoben's information will be a mixture of truth and lies, and the episode proves that he's absolutely right. He says there's a nuke in the fleet (false) and that they will find Kobol (true). That keeps us guessing about his two biggest predictions! Is Adama really a Cylon? And will they find Earth? Presumably the first is a lie, and the second hasn't been determined by the producers yet... but who knows?
(6) Speaking of finding Kobol: when the fleet really does get to Kobol at the end of the season, will Starbuck get freaked out by the fact that it was predicted by a Cylon?
(7) The question of Colonial religion has been answered at this point. Combining the information in this episode with the prior information from "Bastille Day", we can say with confidence that the Colonials worship the Greek pantheon.
(8) Since Leoben wasn't planting a nuclear warhead, what was his actual mission? Is it possible that getting caught and interrogated was part of it?
(9) How many more Cylons are hidden in various tanks, crawl spaces, etc. throughout the fleet?
(10) Surprise! Baltar's Cylon detector
actually works! Presumably they will screen the entire crew within the next few episodes, which will eliminate the possibility of new Cylons appearing within the existing cast.
(11) Baltar - the man on the fleet with the most secrets to keep - has now been given another one! What's he going to do with the information? If he's smart, he'll go straight to Adama and report it, but since that would destroy one of the most interesting characters aboard
Galactica I'm guessing he will postpone for now.
(12) Inner-Six basically pushed Baltar to
not tell Boomer the truth about herself. Was it concern for Baltar, or was it concern for Boomer?
(13) Inner-Six also implied that Boomer's Cylon personality could take control immediately in conditions of danger or stress, and perform acts of extreme violence. If true, this could be a crucial point later if/when Boomer is finally confronted with the truth.
(14) Leoben's violence in the interrogation room tells us that Cylons are way stronger than we thought. If Adama hadn't delayed the Ragnar Anchorage fight until the first Leoben was totally crippled by the radiation, he would be lying on a slab right now. Unless he's a Cylon, of course. ;D
(15) How much does Roslin now suspect Adama? It was clear from the closing scene that she isn't going to tell him about Leoben's accusation, which suggests that she is considering the possibility it might be true.
(16) Of course, Adama's efforts to have Leoben destroyed prior to interrogation at the beginning of the episode was kind of strange, and certainly would look suspicious to the President in retrospect...
(17) I understand why Roslin risked herself in Leoben's presence. She was the President, and there were only minutes remaining to find the (hypothetical) nuclear warhead and save thousands of lives. Desperate measures were reasonable, including the threat to her own life. However there's one thing I don't understand: Why didn't Leoben kill her when he had the chance?
(18) Valerii (back on Caprica) has fallen in love, and is going to try and escape with Helo from the other Cylons. Obviously Six didn't trust her loyalty, but have Six and Doral predicted that she would flee? Are they prepared for it, or do the fugitives actually have a chance?
(19) Is the whole purpose of the Caprica storyline to test Valerii rather than Helo?
(20) Where will they go? Remaining on Caprica is a losing situation in the long run, so the logical move is to try and get off-world. Leoben knows that the
Galactica will find Kobol. Is it possible that Valerii knows it too? Could Helo and Valerii find an FTL capable ship and rejoin the fleet?
(21) If they do, what will the roles be between Boomer and Valerii? With Boomer becoming more Cylon as Valerii becomes more human, is it possible that Boomer will turn out to be the "bad" Cylon while Valerii turns out to be the "good" one?
(22) We have strong hints in this episode that the Cylon models are more specialized than we first understood, and that all Cylons of a given model are similar to each other. Six is clearly designed for seduction and ruthless manipulation. Boomer is designed with stronger human emotions than the others, and is presumably more useful for deep-cover work. Are all the Boomers unreliable when placed in close contact with humans? And Leoben: is it possible that Leoben is a priest? Both Leoben models that we have seen talked extensively about religion and god. This episode's Leoben spared two enemies when he could have killed them.
(23) In previous mentions of the Cylon's immunity from real death, it's been discussed as a concrete thing. Get killed and BLAMMO you wake up in a new body - presumably with all the same memories and such. However this episode raises the question of whether the transfer is more mystical or religious. Is it the consciousness that transfers, with memories and such included? Or is it just the soul? It paradoxically makes more sense from a science point of view if it's a mystic soul-thing, since a concrete personality transfer would require some rather remarkable tech.
) he lied about the warhead and she probly didnt even no about what leoben told starbuck.
