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Battlestar Galactica: Downloaded

Caprica Six: "We're dangerous, Sharon and I. We're celebrities in a culture based on unity."

Until now, I didn't believe Six truly loved Gaius. But she really, really does. Her first words when she was reincarnated were about him. Caprica Six and Sharon One have been changed by their love for Gaius and Tyrol and the people on Galactica. Whoever thought Six and Sharon would bond over their experiences with humans?

And omigod. I love it that Caprica Six has her very own imaginary Gaius. Every scene he was in with her was priceless. Last season, I convinced myself that Harvey Six had some sort of physical origin. The advent of Harvey Gaius, lounging about with a martini in one hand and a cigar in the other, has made me reconsider. I still don't know what it is. I just know that I love it.

Number Three, or D'Anna, or Xena, fits well into the series. (I love Lucy Lawless.) She appeared to be a lot like the Six model: tough, dedicated, scary, just as "hard core," although perhaps not as upfront about it as Six is. I spent a lot of time watching and re-watching the Cylon crowd scenes, playing the Cylon version of "Where's Waldo." Mostly, we got backs. A few of them could have been other versions of Xena, but the long, blonde hair also hinted at Ellen Tigh – and there was a bald man in the distance in one shot that made me wonder about Saul Tigh, too. There were doubles in Leoben's distinctive outfit, and a couple of Simons, but other than that, all of the male Cylons we saw were "Aaron Doral." The three female Cylon models we know appear to be the important ones. Is Cylon culture matriarchal? Is that why their infant Chosen One is female?

The birth of Sharon Two's baby happened sooner than I expected. How did they fake that dead infant convincingly? Not important, I guess. What's important is that the baby is alive, and Sharon and Helo think she's dead. For now. I noted that the small group who knew the truth about the baby consisted of Laura Roslin, Doc Cottle, and Laura's new assistant, Tory. That made me think right off the bat that Tory must be a Cylon. Wouldn't that be a plum assignment for a double agent?

Sharon and Helo named their baby "Hera." Hera was queen of the gods, a vicious, manipulative bitch: not a comforting name. The extremely important changeling baby being raised anonymously by a stranger is a very common literary and mythological archetype. I also noticed that Hera's foster mother's name is Maya. Sounds a lot like Mary.

One of the Aaron Dorals recognized Caprica Six as a specific Six, the hero of the Cylon. Can Cylons tell one version of each model from another? It doesn't seem likely. After they do whatever they're planning in the next thirty-six hours, couldn't Caprica Six and Sharon One masquerade as another version of the same model?

Bits and pieces:

— This week's survivor count: 49,579. No changes. Will Laura add one next week for little Hera in order to maintain the sanctity of her whiteboard? Or will she leave her off in order to keep her a secret?

— It has been nine months since the attack, and ten weeks since Cally killed Sharon One. The nine month period made me think baby, too.

— Anders has taken Helo's place as our man on Caprica. I wonder if his group was also infiltrated by the Cylons? After all, as was pointed out, the Cylons can download into a new body and aren't really losing anyone, and Anders wasn't hitting a military target. (And why not?)

— Xena is Number Three, Sharon is Number Eight, and I think Aaron Doral is Number Five. Do we know what number Simon is? And who is Number One?

— Replicants in Blade Runner were also called "skin jobs."

— Helo and Chief Tyrol have had time to become friends, which is probably why Chief was helping Helo release what they thought were Hera's ashes into space.

— Interesting cars they had in that parking garage. One of the license plates read "Sexymom."

Quotes:

Doc Cottle: "I find it absolutely amazing you people went to all the trouble to appear human, and didn't upgrade the plumbing."

Harvey Six: "You can see where this is headed, Gaius. We're going to have to take our child."

Imaginary Gaius had the best lines. Like:

"Oh, I love it. This one thinks she's more human than Cylon."

"Well, that's a charming way of dealing with emotional problems. One might almost call it inhuman. Oh, that's right. You are."

"You know, for a self-aware cybernetic lifeform, sometimes you can be unbearably obtuse."

"Life is short. But the next one's not. Let your heart adrift and your soul will get caught." Poetry? Do Cylon souls reincarnate, too?

This couldn't have been an easy episode to film. And I'm again at that point in the season where I start second-guessing my ratings. This one was at least a three, and possibly a four,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

5 comments:

  1. For now my theory is metaphysical not scientific cause the show semms more the former then the latter. I think Six imprinted on Gaius and Gaius imprinted on Six when the explosion hit them. After all Gaius wasn't seeing her before the explosion.

    Great stuff seeing the ressurection procedure and life as a Cylon. Although the episode would be more in place right after Sharon was downloaded/killed. They'd just have to scrap the baby plot.

    Jo from Eureka is raising he baby Cylon now! Yay, so many familiar faces from other Canadian-produced shows. I love it.

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  2. Faking the dead infant...it wasn't the aborted one from the episode before (I know, sick, I am sorry it even crossed my mind)...or was that girl not that far along?

    This episode had me spellbound. I can't wait to find out what the deal is with the "Harvey's" and why Six and Gaius have visions of each other. Introducing a Harvey Gaius has just made Harvey Six all that much more interesting to me. I was actually getting tired of that part of the story.

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  3. Definitely a four Billie :)
    Another very strong episode, and one of my favorites - every scene with Sharon and Caprica Six was awesome.

    Again with the uncomfortable baby scenes - this time the death of a newborn to mirror the abortion ban from last week.

    I am right back into wanting to watch an episode a day now - these last two episodes have been that good :) Can't wait for the next few eps.

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  4. onigirli, your comment has spoilers that would be hard for someone reading these reviews to avoid. We really like to keep the site as spoiler-free as we can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, the all caps spoiler-tagging isn't enough? Well, noted

      Delete

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