BSG: Season 4

[Malakriss]

Flesh and blood Cylons are effectively indistinguishable from humans when resurrection is removed from the equation. But yes, it would require more than 2 people to perpetuate a species.

[FulorianC]

Why is that unfeasible?

Genetically, it's going to cause some problems, since their entire line would be incestuous in order to maintain the species, but that could explain why it took so long to return to any semblance of intelligent civilization. Two people COULD repopulate a species, just not create a civilization.

[Algol Devilstar]

Hypothetically answered here (based on 28 days later apocalypse)

If each of the two woman has a child by each of the ten men there will be 20 children, but two sets of ten half-siblings (and ten orthogonal pairs of half-siblings, one from each man). Each child would have nine unrelated potential mates. The real problems would arise later: everyone in the third generation would have four ancestors from the base population, and the same two grandfathers, making them all cousins. Even if distinct lines were kept genetically separated during the second generation the same problems would arise in the fourth generation. Inbreeding would eventually concentrate bad genes and it's doubtful that the population would survive.

[Heavens_Myst]

Originally Posted by Malakriss

Flesh and blood Cylons are effectively indistinguishable from humans when resurrection is removed from the equation. But yes, it would require more than 2 people to perpetuate a species.

No, Baltar had a working Cylon detector in the first season but he lied about Boomer's test which led to them thinking it didn't work and couldn't be done.

I really hope Baltar is the focus of the main arc in season four and not Starbuck. He's the most interesting character in my opinion with the issues he and Caprica Six have mentally projecting each other and his paranoia with people being out to get him causing him to fuck over other people in the process of trying to survive.

[Mist]

I've always known Baltar is not a Cylon from the first day, because it would make no sense in the storyline. He WISHES he was a Cylon, because then he wouldn't have been betraying his own people and getting billions of them killed, but in the end his character would have no significance if he was actually a Cylon.

[Havelock]

Originally Posted by Mist

I've always known Baltar is not a Cylon from the first day, because it would make no sense in the storyline. He WISHES he was a Cylon, because then he wouldn't have been betraying his own people and getting billions of them killed, but in the end his character would have no significance if he was actually a Cylon.

Then how do you explain his survival of the nuke and the strange intermingling of his consciousness and Six's? I'm not saying he's definitely a Cylon (based on the EW teaser it seems clear he's pretty definitely not), but something really weird is going on there that has demanded explanation from the get-go.

[Malakriss]

Originally Posted by Heavens_Myst

No, Baltar had a working Cylon detector in the first season but he lied about Boomer's test which led to them thinking it didn't work and couldn't be done.

The point was about their psychology rather than a random biological indicator. If a flesh and blood model is never made aware that they are a cylon, they effectively are human and will live their lives the same as us. Models that are aware of their origins can make the choice as well, the only issue for them would be overcoming discrimination from others, a concept and bias that is already within the natural realm of human society.

I guess the point is, they are the exact same as us, the only differences are motivation and opportunity.

[Frax]

Originally Posted by Havelock

Then how do you explain his survival of the nuke and the strange intermingling of his consciousness and Six's? I'm not saying he's definitely a Cylon (based on the EW teaser it seems clear he's pretty definitely not), but something really weird is going on there that has demanded explanation from the get-go.

With all the talk about God/Gods there is going to be some unexplained shit when this is all over.

[Candiarie]

I wouldn't be surprised if Six in Baltar's head is one of those things either, actually.

[Algol Devilstar]

well that would suck

[eVasiege]

Originally Posted by Heavens_Myst

I really hope Baltar is the focus of the main arc in season four and not Starbuck.

Yea Baltar is infinitely more interesting then Starbuck. As we have seen though the show wouldn't survive without a large focus on her.

[spronk]

As with anything where the authors don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end preplanned a lot of the stuff is never going to make sense. The "glowing spinal columns", how Baltar survives the blast, is there a working cylon detector or not, the particle system that "melts" cylon brains (early episode on a resupply station), etc, etc are all stuff that seems convenient and fun at the time but make later episodes bizzare. And trying to retcon that stuff back in makes things even worse, so a lot of it gets ignored or explained in dumb ways.

In many ways I think the BBC has it right - BSG, Lost, Heroes, etc would have been vastly better shows IMO if they were 6-8 episodes per season and only 2-3 seasons long. So much filler, so much continuity issues.

[Frax]

Originally Posted by spronk

As with anything where the authors don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end preplanned a lot of the stuff is never going to make sense. The "glowing spinal columns", how Baltar survives the blast, is there a working cylon detector or not, the particle system that "melts" cylon brains (early episode on a resupply station), etc, etc are all stuff that seems convenient and fun at the time but make later episodes bizzare. And trying to retcon that stuff back in makes things even worse, so a lot of it gets ignored or explained in dumb ways.

In many ways I think the BBC has it right - BSG, Lost, Heroes, etc would have been vastly better shows IMO if they were 6-8 episodes per season and only 2-3 seasons long. So much filler, so much continuity issues.

They cylon detector 'worked' when Baltar used it on Sharon. IIRC at that point he lied to her about the result and then made a decision that it would never actually detect any cylons, so it basically became a non-player after that point because no one (except maybe Gaeta) would have been smart enough to figure it out.

[Burf]

If this series ends with Adama eating an onion ring and then 5 seconds of black, there's going to be a riot.

[Mist]

It might be worse. The last 7 episodes might never be written. :P