Funny how, 'Can't Go home'...

[RedSalmon]

... has become the most popular episode so-far.

Why is that?

We know piloting a raider via it's internal bio-pipes is far fetched. But why do people feel this is the best episode?

Is it because of a simple conquering all, is it because of her Starbuck character, or is it because there's a simple begining and triumphant end to this episode?

Are there possible lessons to be learnt from this story format?

Should it be a one off highlight to several episodes, to be carefully played, like a good hand in a game of poker over a season?

Should we see some more victorious story lines??

[Alan]

You've hit the nail on the head. "Can't Go Home" is the only episode so far with a triumphant ending, the only one that leaves you with a happy smile.

Of course, if they did positive endings all the time (like most Hollywood shows) then it wouldn't be a big deal anymore...

[RedSalmon]

Agreed, a series should be a rollercoaster, not a merry-go-round. I also like the non-plussed endings to the shows.

I'm a stalewart TNS fan, for it's darkness, for it's depth of understanding. But now we are in the lull of it's airing, that last episode was a bad one to leave us on for 4 weaks.

My brother and his girlfriend are a litmus test (excuse the pun) for this series. I like it, but that's probably for it's real space flavour, which they don't hold. They are 2 of the 3/4 million viewers in the UK, they at the moment are apathetic. We who talk about it are probably 50 out of 750,000 viewers, possibly 100 at a stretch.

Now you say that's Hollywood, I probably agree (the rollercoaster ride), but we've only seen 1 out of 9 where there's a typical HWood ending. Cool, but if I was, 're-inventing' sci-fi, I'd definately take note at what was really working and try and expand on that.

Quite possibly I'm playing devils advocate here. But when we see the story probing into different possabilities, then seeing a repitition of final outcome, warning signs start ringing with me. Is this going to be the easy outcome of an episode, like early x-files.

I don't want to spit dummies here, I just want it to be noted, that RDM's audience (me, lol) will not stand for regurgitated format, as time filler. Filling it with new possible Cylons will get very tiresome very soon.

As I said, not loosing faith, just pointing out, that there must be more.

[roblinb]

Speaking for myself, I just liked that we found out something really important about the Cylons with the organic ship and all. I also like how Apollo figured it out that it was Kara piloting the Raider just by the way she was flying the darn thing. That was cool. I can't wait to actually see it on t.v. instead of just reading about it.

I'm also starting to think that the Cylons aren't as bad arse as I initially thought. They seem to be weak in there own way, not physically, but emotionally. Only the Aaron Doral Cylon seems to lack emotional problems.

Just an observation.

[roblinb]

Not blowing smoke up y'alls butt, I have to say Alan is a very respectful and well-read person and Red Salmon is an engaging and original thinker.

You better not be Cylons!

[Sci-Fi]

Are you sure? GEOS, www.geos.tv/index.php/index/bg2 , has "Secrets and Lies" aka "Tigh Me up, Tigh me Down" as the top BSG episode so far, as voted by fans:

The ten Battlestar Galactica (2003) episodes with the highest mean score are:

1st 1x9 Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down 8.92
2nd 1x8 Flesh And Bone 8.87
3rd Tx2 Battlestar Galactica (II) 8.81
4th Tx1 Battlestar Galactica (I) 8.78
5th 1x1 33 8.67
6th 1x5 You Can't Go Home Again 8.56
7th 1x4 Act of Contrition 8.52
8th 1x2 Water 8.47
9th 1x3 Bastille Day 8.22
10th 1x6 Litmus 8.17

[Alan]

Great data, SciFi! However I would interpret it differently. Looks to me like the popularity of the show is simply increasing over time.

Look at the list again, consider the episodes in broadcast order. The miniseries and the first episode "33" are right in the same grouping, around 8.7-8.8.

The we get a drop, which is normal. Most shows see a drop in viewership following the (heavily advertised) pilot episodes, since some percentage of the pilot viewers will decide they don't like the show.

The interesting trend is the way it starts bouncing immediately back upwards. After episode 3, the trend is steadily upwards with only a single outlier ("Litmus"). By episode 8, viewership numbers already exceeded the mini and the pilot (!) and are still trending upwards.

Coolness! ;D

[Sci-Fi]

Episode 7 is outside the top 10 with a 7.95 score, which is still a good score. From the statistical breakdown of each episode, it appears the females viewers are grading each episode higher than their male counterparts. The U.S.A. voters tend to score the episodes much lower than the rest of the world. This may be because of some backlash voting since I had posted this site at several TOS sites a year or more ago and several joined the site to vote on TOS BSG episodes in an attempt to raise the numbers. The reason I say this is because many TOS episodes were in the 4-5 range and now are in the 6-7 range plus the new BSG show hasn't aired in the states yet.

I'm not suggesting that there should be a mass signup at that site, but if one does decide to join and vote on episodes, they should honestly critique the episode and not just blindly vote overwhelmingly positive or a higher rating than it deserves. That would throw off the ratings the other way and would reflect badly on new BSG fans in general.